Author: xaurav

US Defence Secretary Robert Gates orders a far-reaching review of administration costs at the Pentagon.

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Seven miners have been killed by a methane blast at a Russian coal mine.

Many miners were brought to the surface safely at the mine in Siberia’s western Kemerovo region, but 64 are still underground. Four miners are injured.

A total of 312 miners were inside the Raspadskaya mine near Mezhdurechensk at the time of the blast, Russia’s emergency situations ministry said.

Many of the country’s mines have poor safety standards and have not been updated since the fall of communism.

The governor of Kemerovo, Aman Tuleyev, has taken charge of the rescue operation.

The mine, about 300km (190 miles) east of Moscow, produces about eight million tons of coal a year, according to its website.

Kemerovo is part of the major coal-producing Kuzbass region.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

Spain has closed 15 airports as a cloud of ash from an Icelandic volcano drifts south over Western Europe.

National airport management agency Aena said nine airports closed early on Saturday and six more shut from 1200 local time (1000 GMT).

The restrictions would be in place until at least 1800, Aena said

Most flights between Europe and North America are being diverted because of the ash cloud’s latest drifting, officials at Eurocontrol said.

Flights are being rerouted north and south of the 1,200 mile (2,000km) long cloud.

On average, 600 airliners make the Atlantic crossing every day, correspondents say.

Aena said the airports affected were Bilbao, San Sebastian, Vitoria, Zaragoza, Pamplona, La Rioja, Santiago, La Coruna, Vigo, Asturias, Santander, Leon, Valladolid, Burgos and Salamanca.

Eurocontrol, the agency that co-ordinates aviation safety in Europe, said airports were also expected to close in northern Portugal and parts of southern France.

In the UK, some flights to Spain were being affected.

At London Stansted, 22 Ryanair flights to the Canary Islands, mainland Spain and Portugal were cancelled, along with three EasyJet flights.

Flights from Gatwick to Portugal, Alicante and Madrid were cancelled and at Heathrow some flights to La Coruna in northern Spain were also grounded.

Last month, thousands of travellers were stranded after ash shut down airspace across Europe.

Recent images have shown activity in the Eyjafjallajokull volcano intensifying.

Experts at the UK’s Met Office said it was sending ash up to heights of 30,000 ft (9,100m).

Flights across Ireland and parts of the UK were disrupted earlier this week.

Are you in Spain? Have you been delayed by the ash cloud? Send us your comments.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

Seven miners have been killed by a methane blast at a Russian coal mine.

Many miners were brought to the surface safely at the mine in Siberia’s western Kemerovo region, but 64 are still underground. Four miners are injured.

A total of 312 miners were inside the Raspadskaya mine near Mezhdurechensk at the time of the blast, Russia’s emergency situations ministry said.

Many of the country’s mines have poor safety standards and have not been updated since the fall of communism.

The governor of Kemerovo, Aman Tuleyev, has taken charge of the rescue operation.

The mine, about 300km (190 miles) east of Moscow, produces about eight million tons of coal a year, according to its website.

Kemerovo is part of the major coal-producing Kuzbass region.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

The oil company, BP, has encountered problems with the containment device it is trying to put over a blown-out well on the seabed of the Gulf of Mexico.

Chief operating officer Doug Suttles said the 98-tonne concrete-and-steel box had to be moved, after ice-like crystals began accumulating inside it.

He said BP’s engineers hoped they could find a solution to the problem.

The aim is to contain as much as 85% of the escaping oil and then funnel it into a waiting tanker on the surface.

US officials have closed the Breton National Wildlife Refuge to the public after the slick caused by the leak reached islands off Louisiana.

Some 5,000 barrels (210,000 gallons) of oil a day has been leaking for 19 days from the well, 50 miles (80km) offshore, since an explosion destroyed the Deepwater Horizon rig last month, killing 11 workers.

Rescued workers who were on the rig earlier described how a bubble of methane gas escaped from the well and expanded as it shot up the drill column before exploding. Some complained that safety devices had not worked.

On of them, Micah Sandell reportedly said: "There was people screaming and hollering. There was people jumping off the side."

Another, Dwayne Martinez, stated: "[There were] no kind of alarms. We didn’t hear any kind of alarms until there was one explosion."

‘Not yet failed’

Although the rig was operated by Transocean, it was leased by BP, which is responsible for cleaning the 3 million gallons that have so far leaked, creating a slick covering about 2,000 sq miles (5,200 sq km).

The company hopes the 98-tonne containment device, once operational, will allow it to collect oil leaking out of the well while it attempts to stop the leak altogether by drilling relief wells nearby.

On Friday, remote-controlled submersibles guided the 40ft (12m) funnel above the wellhead, 5,000 ft (1,500m) below the surface. The technology has only ever been used a few times in shallow waters.

BP initially said everything appeared to be going as planned, but on Saturday it said flammable gas hydrates – crystalline water-based solids physically resembling ice – had accumulated inside the device.

"As we were placing the dome over the leak source a large volume of hydrates formed inside the top of the dome, requiring us to move the dome to the side of the leak point," Mr Suttles told reporters in Robert, Louisiana.

"The dome is currently sitting on the seabed while we evaluate options to deal with the hydrate issue. We believe that it’ll probably take the next two days to look for opportunities to overcome this challenge."

These could include using hot water to heat up the hydrates at the ocean floor, or using hydrocarbons like methanol to thin them out.

"I wouldn’t say it’s failed yet," Mr Suttles added. "What I would say is what we attempted to do last night didn’t work."

If the funnel fails to work, BP faces the prospect of drilling a relief well nearby to cut off the leaky oil well, which could take two to three months.

In the meantime, residents of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida await news of when the massive oil slick will reach their shores.

A sheen of oil began arriving on barrier islands off the coast of Louisiana last week, and crews have been laying inflatable booms, spraying chemical dispersants and setting fire to the slick to try to keep it from coming ashore.

The US Coast Guard and BP said on Saturday that about 2.1 million gallons of an oil-water mix had been collected, about 10% of which was oil.

More than 160 miles (257 km) of booms had been put out and crews had used nearly 275,000 gallons of dispersants, they added.

Fears are growing that sea life may have been severely affected in the area, which includes vital spawning grounds for fish, shrimp and crabs.

Some environmentalists are calling for a ban on offshore drilling.

PROJECTED SPREAD OF OIL SPILL ON 7 MAY

Are you in the area? Have you been affected by the oil spill? You can send us your views and experiences Click here to add comments.:

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ICC World Twenty20, 30 April-16 MayVenues: Guyana, St Lucia and BarbadosCoverage:plus text commentary and reports on the BBC Sport website & mobiles

England set their sights on a place in the World Twenty20 semi-finals after beating Pakistan in their opening Super Eight match in Barbados.

Kevin Pietersen’s unbeaten 73 helped England to a comfortable six-wicket win over the defending champions.

They next face South Africa in their penultimate Super Eight match on Saturday and another win could seal their place in the last four.

"One more victory and maybe we can go to the semi-finals," said Pietersen.

England have never won a major global one-day tournament but the former captain believes the team’s batting power gives them a good chance.

"I’ve played in the team for five or six years now, and to have a batting line-up like we’ve got at the moment is incredible," he said.

We all know what KP can do and when he’s in that kind of form he’s very dangerous. It was an exceptional innings

"Every single bloke from one down to nine or 10 can hit sixes. That’s brilliant, a great improvement and great for English cricket."

Pietersen, who was named man of the match after steering England to their target with three balls remaining, was also full of praise for the bowlers, who restricted Pakistan to 147-9.

"It wasn’t an easy wicket, but I think our boys bowled really well," said the 29-year-old, who also took a stunning catch on the boundary.

"For the team to go out there and perform on a day like today when it was crucial was great."

Pietersen, who missed most of last year’s Ashes triumph with an Achilles injury, also played down concerns he had had hurt his ankle again during a freak incident early in his innings.

He needed on-field treatment after he missed the ball and instead smashed his bat into his ankle.

"The ankle is fine. When you win you don’t worry about injuries," added the Hampshire player, who could leave the squad at a moment’s notice because his wife Jessica is expecting the couple’s first child.

Collingwood hailed Pietersen’s contribution, saying: "We all know what KP can do and when he’s in that kind of form he’s very dangerous. It was an exceptional innings.

"It needed someone to get past 50 just to see the team home."

However, the captain sounded a note of caution ahead of the next match.

Bring on SA! I bet KP and co can’t wait. Maybe we should bring Jimmy into the side for the next game?

"There are a few areas to improve on, we were a bit sloppy at the end, but I was pleased with how we took the momentum back in the middle of Pakistan’s innings," he added.

Pakistan coach Waqar Younis was disappointed to see his side drop five catches, including three in the first five overs by Saeed Ajmal, but backed his side to recover.

"You must give Kevin Pietersen credit for the way he played," said Younis. "He batted like a champion and took the game away from us.

"It can be very frustrating, the way we dropped the catches and the way we fielded, but we’re not out of the tournament, so we don’t really have to worry about that.

"I thought 147 was a decent total, maybe 15 runs short – but with our bowling attack, I thought we could have managed it."

South Africa later beat New Zealand in the other match in the group, suggesting the winners of Saturday’s encounter between England and the Proteas will be almost certain to reach the semi-finals.

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Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg has met Conservative leader David Cameron for talks over the possibility of their parties forming a new government.

A Conservative Party spokeswoman said the private 70-minute talks were "constructive and amicable".

The Tories won most election votes and MPs but are short of a majority.

In an e-mail message to supporters, Mr Cameron said he would not be "rushed into any agreement" but may be able to give "ground" in some areas.

Gordon Brown remains prime minister and has offered the Lib Dems talks if no deal is reached with the Conservatives.

BBC political editor Nick Robinson said the talks between Mr Cameron and Mr Clegg at Admiralty House in Westminster followed an earlier brief conversation at the VE day commemoration event in London.

The Conservative and Lib Dem negotiation teams will meet again at 1100 BST on Sunday and there will be a meeting of Conservative MPs at 1800 BST on Monday, the BBC understands.

In Mr Cameron’s e-mail message, he said he would stand firm on his pledges not "to give more powers to Brussels, be weak on immigration or put the country’s defences at risk".

But he said areas of common ground with the Lib Dems included "the need for education reform, building a low-carbon economy, reforming our political system, decentralising power, protecting civil liberties and scrapping ID cards".

And he said in the "national interest" the Conservative Party may be able to give ground in areas such as the Lib Dem manifesto plan to reduce taxes on the lowest paid.

He added: "Of course, we hope to see a similarly constructive approach from the Liberal Democrats – not least on the urgent issue of tackling the deficit."

He said: "I hope we can sort things out as quickly as possible, for the good of the country. But we won’t rush into any agreement."

There was no direct reference to the Lib Dem desire for a referendum on voting reform although on Friday Mr Cameron offered an "all party committee of inquiry on political and electoral reform".

Earlier, Mr Clegg discussed the Tory power-sharing offer with his party, the leadership of which has "endorsed in full" his decision to talk to the Tories first.

‘Brown should quit’

Mr Clegg said the Conservatives, as the biggest party, had the right to seek to form a government first.

On Saturday afternoon, during Mr Clegg’s talks with senior party officials, an estimated 1,000 people gathered outside the meeting in favour of electoral reform, chanting "Fair votes now".

Mr Clegg left the talks briefly to accept their petition, and told them: "Reforming politics is one of the reasons I went into politics."

Meanwhile, Labour frontbencher Peter Hain said it was "clear" that Mr Clegg and Mr Brown had "a lot in common" on the need for electoral reform – Labour has offered a referendum on changing the voting system.

But Labour backbencher John Mann called for Mr Brown to step down as Labour leader before the party conference in September – arguing his position "rules out the credibility of a Lib/Lab pact".

The Lib Dems have denied suggestions from a senior Lib Dem source of an angry phone conversation between Mr Brown and Mr Clegg. A Lib Dem spokeswoman said it was "perfectly amicable".

Scotland’s First Minister, SNP leader Alex Salmond, called on the Lib Dems to join a "progressive alliance" involving Labour, the SNP and Plaid Cymru.

However a Labour source dismissed that as "a desperate attempt by Alex Salmond to make himself look relevant after a terrible general election result".

The Tories secured 306 of the 649 constituencies contested on 6 May. It leaves the party just short of the 326 MPs needed for an outright majority, with the Thirsk and Malton seat – where the election was postponed after the death of a candidate – still to vote.

Labour finished with 258 MPs, down 91, the Lib Dems 57, down five, and other parties 28. The Conservatives got 36.1% of votes (up 3.8%), Labour 29.1% (down 6.2%) and the Lib Dems 23% (up 1%).

Meanwhile, a YouGov poll for the Sunday Times suggests more than two-thirds of people want Mr Brown to leave Downing Street immediately.

The poll of more than 1,400 voters found people think he should have admitted defeat on Friday, rather than hanging on in case the Conservatives cannot come to a deal with the Liberal Democrats.

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