Author: xaurav

At least four suspected militants have been killed by an unmanned US drone in Pakistan’s tribal region of North Waziristan, local officials say.

The plane fired missiles at an alleged hideout some 30km (20 miles) from the region’s main town, Miranshah.

The US has stepped up pressure on Pakistan’s government since linking a failed car bombing in New York to the Pakistani Taliban.

North Waziristan has been the focus of dozens of drone attacks since 2008.

The strikes have proved controversial, with hundreds of people including civilians being killed.

An unnamed Pakistani security official told the AFP news agency that five US drones had fired into the compound early on Tuesday.

"They targeted a compound and vehicles parked outside the house," the official said.

The US has recently stepped up drone attacks in North and South Waziristan, where they believe many al-Qaeda and Taliban fighters find shelter.

Over the past 18 months, Pakistan has publicly criticised drone attacks saying they fuel support for militants.

But observers say the authorities privately condone the strikes.

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A new study of a 150 million year old fossil of an Archaeopteryx has shown that remnants of its feathers have been preserved.

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Firms in the Gulf of Mexico oil disaster are set to present conflicting claims at the first US Senate hearing, US media say, citing leaked testimony.

BP intends to tell the Senate that the spill was due to the failure of safety equipment owned by drilling company Transocean, the reports say.

Transocean is expected to blame the spill on the failure of a cement wall built by a firm contracted by BP.

Meanwhile BP says it will try to place a new dome over the blown-out well.

An attempt to drop a huge dome on the gushing well failed at the weekend, and BP is now working on lowering a smaller device known as a "top-hat" dome on to the well.

The BBC’s Rajesh Mirchandani in Alabama says there are also reports it is exploring plugging the well with debris, including every day rubbish like tyres and golf balls.

The growing slick is threatening an environmental disaster along the US coast.

Following rules?

As executives prepared for the Senate hearing, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs reiterated the US government’s views on responsibility for the slick.

"BP will be paying for all costs of stopping the spill and cleaning it up, and we will aggressively pursue full compensation for damages," he said in a statement.

US media, including the Associated Press and Wall Street Journal, quoted leaked statements they said senior executives would be giving in testimony to the Senate later.

According to the reports, Lamar McKay, head of BP America, will blame the spill on the failure of Transocean’s "blowout preventer" – a series of valves designed to stop oil from escaping.

But Transocean’s chief executive Steven Newman is expected to point the finger at BP.

"All offshore oil and gas production projects begin and end with the operator, in this case BP," the Associated Press quoted a leaked statement of his testimony as saying.

He will say BP’s contractor Halliburton was responsible for encasing the well in cement and ensuring the cement’s integrity.

Halliburton executive Tim Probert is expected to argue that his firm followed all rules and guidelines.

Dow Jones Newswires said it had received testimony from an oil-drilling expert that will tell the Senate that human error may have created the conditions for the disaster, despite the safety measures.

Nature reserves

Some 5,000 barrels of oil have been flowing into the sea every day since the leak began late last month.

BP and US officials have been combating the slick on several fronts – spraying chemical dispersants on the oil and manufacturing huge contraptions to drop on to the leaking well.

Booms and bundles of absorbent material have been laid along shorelines to try to protect them.

But the broken pipe is almost one mile (1.6km) below the ocean’s surface, with little visibility for engineers using remote-controlled vehicles.

And the slick has so far thwarted all efforts to bring it under control.

A sheen from the edge of the slick is surrounding island nature reserves off Louisiana and tar balls have reached as far as the Alabama coast.

The low-lying region contains vital spawning grounds for fish, shrimp and crabs and is an important migratory stop for many species of rare birds.

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The failure of the UN climate process and questioning of the science mean a new approach is needed, a report says.

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Memorial services are taking place later to mark the 25th anniversary of the fire at Bradford City’s Valley Parade stadium in which 56 people died.

Hundreds of people are set to gather in the city’s Centenary Square at 1100 BST for a service involving the Archbishop of York and the Bishop of Bradford.

Civic leaders from Bradford and Lincoln – the club’s opponents on 11 May 1985 – will be among those at the service.

City Hall flags will fly at half mast and a one-minute silence will be held.

A short service is also planned at Bradford City’s Valley Parade ground at 1500 BST.

Bradford Cathedral is then due to host a service for the victims’ relatives and friends at 1930 BST.

Burns victims

During the day of remembrance, a new stone street marker commemorating the tragedy will be installed at the junction of Manningham Lane and Hamm Strasse, a street named after Bradford’s twin city in Germany.

It will be unveiled by the Lord Mayor of Bradford, John Godward, and Thomas Hunsteger-Petermann, the Lord Mayor of Hamm.

In 1985, the then Lord Mayor of Hamm, Sabine Zech, was at the match while on a civic visit.

The stone will have a granite plaque bearing the date of the fire and the crests of the two cities and Bradford City football club.

The fire also left more than 200 people injured, many with serious burns.

As a result, the University of Bradford set up its Plastic Surgery and Burns Research Unit in the wake of the tragedy.

On Tuesday, the university is to launch the UK’s largest academic research centre in skin sciences, bringing together in one unit expertise spanning pharmacology, biology, chemistry, biochemistry, physics, and medicine.

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The UK’s property market is benefiting from its normal spring pick up, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors says.

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A 79-year-old man has been charged with the murder of his wife in Kent, police have said.

Alan Thomas, of Deanwood Drive, Gillingham, is accused of killing his wife Winifred, 77, whose body was found in Gillingham on Sunday.

Mr Thomas is due to appear at Medway Magistrates’ Court later.

Police were called to an address in Deanwood Drive at 1030 BST on Sunday, and said shortly afterwards that they were treating the death as suspicious.

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The brother of a murdered Dorset woman has visited Italy where a teenager’s disappearance may be key to the case.

Heather Barnett, 48, had been mutilated and had hair strands placed in her hand when she was found dead by her children at their home in Bournemouth in 2002.

Police think the case is linked to the 1993 disappearance of Elisa Claps, who is also thought to have been murdered.

Ms Barnett’s brother, Ben, met Miss Clapp’s family who spoke of their hopes police were close to solving the cases.

Cut hair

Remains found bricked into a church roof in Potenza, where Miss Claps lived, are thought by her family to be that of the missing 16-year-old.

It is understood she had been stabbed in the chest more than once and then suffocated, BBC South Home Affairs Correspondent Damon Embling said.

Strands of someone else’s cut hair had been placed in Ms Barnett’s hands, and it is this which produced possible links to the case of Miss Claps.

Women have come forward both in Bournemouth and in Potenza, saying they have had their hair cut in suspicious circumstances.

Dorset Police have been to Italy many times to investigate a possible link with the unsolved murder of Ms Barnett who was found at the family home in Capstone Road, Charminster.

Her brother told BBC News while he was in Potenza: "I just wanted to express my sadness that they should be in this situation.

‘Long 17 years’

"It was quite upsetting to meet Elisa’s mother, she’s still deeply, deeply upset as you would expect.

"The people of Potenza… that I’ve spoken to are very much behind what we’re doing in the UK to try and find the killer of Elisa Claps and the killer of my sister.

"Whether it’s one of the same person I don’t know."

Miss Claps’s brother, Gildo, said through an interpreter: "For 17 years we’ve been frightened to find out the truth, they were horrible, very long 17 years.

"We’ve known for years about the link between Potenza and Bournemouth and the person that killed Elisa might be the same person who killed Heather, so for me it’s very important to meet Ben."

Italian police believe one of the last people to see Miss Claps alive was Danilo Restivo, who lived in the same town in Italy.

Mr Restivo who now lives in Charminster, Bournemouth, has also been questioned by Dorset Police over Heather Barnett’s murder.

He has denied knowing anything about either case.

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US President Barack Obama has revived a civilian nuclear energy pact with Moscow, which was shelved in the wake of Russia’s 2008 conflict with Georgia.

Mr Obama resubmitted the pact to Congress, saying US-Russian co-operation over Iran justified the move.

The planned agreement would allow the transfer of technology and equipment, including reactors.

Mr Obama has vowed to "reset" relations with Moscow, which became strained under his predecessor George W Bush.

As well as co-operating on Iran, Russia and the US have also this year agreed to replace the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty governing nuclear arsenals.

Washington summit

In his letter to Congress, Mr Obama said: "The level and scope of US-Russia co-operation on Iran are sufficient to justify resubmitting the proposed agreement to the Congress.

"I have determined that performance of the proposed agreement will promote, and will not constitute an unreasonable risk to, the common defence and security."

The pact had been signed in 2007 by Mr Bush and Vladimir Putin, who was Russian president at the time.

But the conflict in Georgia meant the deal was never put to a Senate vote.

Russia and the US have taken a number of steps on nuclear issues this year.

Last month they agreed a new Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, reducing each country’s deployed nuclear arsenal to 1,550 weapons.

Also last month the nations agreed to dispose of tonnes of surplus weapons-grade plutonium under a deal signed at a nuclear summit in Washington.

The war between Georgia and Russia was sparked by fighting in Georgia’s breakaway region of South Ossetia in August 2008.

Hundreds of people are thought to have died in the five-day-long conflict and thousands were displaced.

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Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai has arrived in the US for four days of talks aimed at repairing rocky relations between Kabul and Washington.

US envoy to Afghanistan Karl Eikenberry said he believed the visit would leave the two nations "well aligned".

While the Afghan leader is expected to focus on civilians being killed by foreign troops, US officials are likely to tackle Mr Karzai on corruption.

He is scheduled to meet President Barack Obama on Wednesday.

‘Candid relationship’

Relations between Kabul and Washington nose-dived last year after Mr Karzai won an election widely condemned for corruption.

But the BBC’s state department correspondent Kim Ghattas says the US has rolled out the red carpet for Mr Karzai’s visit.

Mr Eikenberry said every relationship experienced "ups and downs" and insisted Mr Obama had full confidence in Mr Karzai.

"What measures true partnership is the ability, when the stakes are as high as they are for Afghanistan and the US, to be able to work our way through difficulties," he said.

Gen Stanley McChrystal, the top US commander in Afghanistan, insisted he had a good relationship with Mr Karzai.

"I think it’s important that I have an effective, candid, responsible relationship. And I’ve been real happy with it thus far," he told reporters.

As well as holding three hours of talks with Mr Obama, the Afghan leader is also scheduled to meet Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Defence Secretary Robert Gates.

The trip comes at a crucial time for Afghanistan.

Nato is preparing for an assault in southern Kandahar province, and Afghan officials are set for a forthcoming meeting of tribal leaders who will discuss how to promote peace.

The US hopes to start pulling out troops from July 2011, but the country has seen a marked increase in violence over the past year.

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