The authorities in Haiti are urging thousands of people to evacuate before a tropical storm hits the island. The storm is expected to make landfall early on Friday. Forecasters warned that it could destroy many of the makeshift camps where tens of thousands of people have been living since an earthquake in January.
Zimbabwe says that it will start exporting diamonds from its Marange mines, even though the organisation that regulates conflict diamonds says it hasn't yet approved the sale. At the end of a four-day meeting in Jerusalem, Zimbabwe's mining minister said sales would start immediately. Yolande Knell reports.
Zimbabwe is keen to exploit its diamond wealth in the Marange fields in the east of the country. It denies allegations of abuse of workers and smuggling by the military forces based there. Over the past four days, the Kimberley Process, the regulator which certifies diamonds, has been discussing the findings of a review commission. The chairman said no agreement had yet been finalised, although he hoped consensus could be reached in the coming days. Zimbabwe's mines minister, however, emerged from the meeting, declaring that sales of diamonds from Marange would resume immediately without conditions.
The engine maker Rolls-Royce has recommended precautionary checks on a model of its jet engines after one fitted to the world's largest passenger plane failed soon after take-off. An Airbus A380 operated by Qantas made an emergency landing at Singapore after what passengers described as a loud explosion seriously damaged one of its four engines. None of the more than 450 people on board was injured.