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‘Last test’ to seal BP oil well

Development Driller IIIDevelopment Driller III has been working towards sealing BP’s damaged well for months

Crews working to seal BP’s damaged well in the Gulf of Mexico have to carry out one more pressure test before declaring the well permanently sealed, officials have said.

The test is on the cement seal completed on Friday.

The well’s closure will bring to an end a nearly five-month battle for BP after a rig exploded in April, killing 11 people and causing a massive oil spill.

No oil has spilled since a temporary cap was placed on the well in mid-July.

Once the pressure test is complete and officials are confident the seal will hold permanently, the well will be declared “dead”, Rich Robson, the offshore installation manager on the Development Driller III vessel, is quoted as saying by the Associated Press news agency.

The 74 barrels of cement pumped in on Friday have dried, he added.

The pressure test is expected to happen late on Saturday.

Engineers will exert 15,000lb (6,800kg) of pressure against the cement plug to make sure it will stay in place.

The cementing operation began on Friday, a day after a relief well finally intersected the damaged one.

BP said earlier that when cementing is finished, the relief well would also be plugged and sealed.

This final sealing will mean BP can leave the site and concentrate on dealing with the aftermath of the spill.

At the beginning of August, the US government announced that almost three-quarters of the oil spilled in the Gulf of Mexico had been cleaned up or broken down by natural forces.

The remaining quarter was thought to be “degrading quickly”.

But more recent research noted an undersea plume of crude oil-based chemicals up to 200m high and 2km wide, extending 35km from the spill site.

Despite optimism about the clean-up, the damage to the local economy, wildlife and the ecosystem of the Gulf is hard to fully assess yet.

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

Typhoon Fanapi sweeps into Taiwan

A woman braves the rain in Taipei. 19 Sept 2010Residents in Taipei rushed to shops to stock up for the duration of the storm

A powerful typhoon has swept into Taiwan, closing schools and offices and disrupting transport.

Typhoon Fanapi made landfall near the east-coast city of Hualien with heavy rain and winds up to 198km/h (123mph).

Taiwan’s Central Weather Bureau has warned of a risk of landslides in mountainous areas.

Last year more than 700 people were killed and thousands left homeless by floods and mudslides caused by Typhoon Morakot.

Fanapi – a category three typhoon – is forecast to reach the south-east of mainland China later on Sunday or by Monday morning.

TV stations aired footage of branches being ripped from trees in Hualien and a lorry overturned while driving along an exposed stretch of road.

Torrential rain and high winds were also reported in the capital Taipei and the southern city of Kaohsiung.

Train services and flights have been disrupted or cancelled and Taiwan’s defence forces have deployed armoured personnel carriers in case of floods or other emergencies, local media reported.

Fire and rescue officials said that about 6,500 people in mountainous areas prone to mudslides were evacuated late on Saturday.

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

Last ‘sin-eater’ in England to be celebrated

The Reverend Norman Morris at Richard Munslow's grave The Reverend Norman Morris will lead the service for Richard Munslow

The restored grave of the last known “sin-eater” in England will be at the centre of a special service in a Shropshire village churchyard later.

Campaigners raised £1,000 to restore the grave of Richard Munslow, who was buried in Ratlinghope in 1906.

Sin-eaters were generally poor people paid to eat bread and drink beer or wine over a corpse, in the belief they would take on the sins of the deceased.

Frowned upon by the church, the custom mainly died out in the 19th Century.

It was prevalent in the Marches, the land around the England-Wales border, and in north Wales, but was rarely carried out anywhere else.

Believers thought the sin-eater taking on the sins of a person who died suddenly without confessing their sins would allow the deceased’s soul to go to heaven in peace.

While most of the sin-eaters were poor people or beggars, Mr Munslow was a well-established farmer in the area.

“This grave at Ratlinghope is now in an excellent state of repair but I have no desire to reinstate the ritual that went with it”

The Reverend Norman Morris

The Reverend Norman Morris, the vicar of Ratlinghope, a village of about 100 residents on the Long Mynd near Church Stretton, will lead the “God’s Acre” service at St Margaret’s Church.

Mr Morris said: “It was a very odd practice and would not have been approved of by the church but I suspect the vicar often turned a blind eye to the practice.”

Locals began the collection to restore the grave, which had fallen into disrepair in recent years, believing it would be good to highlight the custom and Mr Munslow’s place in religious history.

It took a few months to raise the £1,000 needed to pay for the work, carried out by local stonemason Charles Shaw.

Mr Morris said: “This grave at Ratlinghope is now in an excellent state of repair but I have no desire to reinstate the ritual that went with it.”

The service, which begins at 1600 BST, is open to all.

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

Eta issues appeal for mediation

Car drives past road sign overwritten 'Eta'Spain took a hardline response to Eta’s latest ceasefire declaration

The outlawed Basque separatist group Eta has appealed for international mediation to resolve its conflict with the Spanish government.

The call, published in a Basque newspaper, comes two weeks after Madrid dismissed the group’s latest unilateral ceasefire as “inadequate”.

Madrid says the group must renounce violence forever.

Eta’s campaign for independence from Spain has cost more than 800 lives since 1968.

A previous unilateral ceasefire in 2006 led to preliminary talks, but the government broke off contact after a bomb at Madrid airport killed two people.

“Faced with the stubbornness of France and Spain, Eta has decided again to launch the boat of opportunity for the democratic resolution of the conflict,” the group said in excerpts of the communique published by the newspaper, Gara.

The paper said it would release the entire statement in its Sunday edition.

Eta said it took the decision “without throwing anchor, ready to navigate in deeper waters”.

Gara said Eta called on the international community to join the process to produce a “permanent, just and democratic” resolution to the conflict.

Eta has called two ceasefires in the past but abandoned them both. It is unclear if the latest is meant as a permanent or temporary move.

Earlier this month, Spanish Interior Minister Alfredo Perez Rubalcaba said Eta had broken too many ceasefires to be trusted.

He demanded “a definitive and unconditional abandonment” of Eta’s violent campaign.

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

Abducted Mexico police found dead

Mexican federal police in Morelia in August 2010Mexico’s police are on the front line in the fight against drugs gangs

Mexican police searching for nine officers who were abducted by armed men on Friday have found two of them dead.

The other seven are still missing after their patrol was ambushed as it investigated a murder in the southern state of Guerrero.

The Mexican army has joined the search near the border with Mexico state.

Guerrero, the centre of Mexico’s opium poppy production, has been a focus of drugs-related violence that has killed more than 28,000 Mexicans since 2006.

The nine agents from the federal investigative police had travelled to the city of Teloloapan after a man was reported shot dead.

As they went in pursuit of the suspected killers they were stopped by a large group of gunmen.

Two officers were found shot dead close to where they were abducted. The fate of the other seven is unknown.

Teloloapan is close to the mining district of Taxco, where in May 55 bodies were recovered from an abandoned silver mine that drugs gangs re thought to have been using as a mass grave.

It has also been the scene of a violent struggle between rival drugs gangs for control of smuggling routes to the US along the Pacific coast.

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

Warning over vitamin D levels

Woman sitting in the sunSunlight on the skin helps generate vitamin D

New leaflets are to be handed out urging people to make sure they get enough vitamin D.

Doctors are concerned people in Scotland are not getting enough of the vitamin from sunlight and are not topping up their levels with a healthy diet.

There is increasing evidence that a lack of vitamin D could be linked to cancer and multiple sclerosis.

Doctors are also concerned about a rise in the bone disease rickets.

Rickets is a rare condition which causes the softening and weakening of bones in children.

Pregnant and breastfeeding women are particularly at risk of vitamin D deficiency, along with children under five, the elderly, the housebound and people with darker skin.

About 10 to 15 minutes a day of sunshine is considered safe.

Analysis

Although the advice in these leaflets isn’t new, the Scottish NHS is the only health service in Britain highlighting the dangers of vitamin D deficiency.

If you live in Scotland you’ll be familiar enough with the Scottish weather to know why!

On the one hand we’re always being warned about the dangers of too much sunshine, now we’re being told we’re not getting enough.

It’s an easy balance to strike though – 10-15 minutes a day is safe and avoid the middle of the day when the sun’s rays just burn you.

But in Scotland the sun is only strong enough to provide vitamin D between April and September.

If the body’s reserves of vitamin D run out during the winter, they need to be topped up from oily fish, eggs, meat or a supplement.

Health Secretary Nicola Sturgeon said: “We know that in Scotland the winter sun is not strong enough to provide the minimum vitamin D needed for health – especially for those with darker skin.

“A significant proportion of the UK population has low vitamin D levels. This leaflet aims to ensure that those at risk are aware of the implications of vitamin D deficiency and know what they can do to prevent it.”

She added: “Vitamin D is key to maintaining healthy bones. Young children have a high risk of deficiency and we are seeing an increase in reported cases of rickets in Scotland.

“These conditions are easily prevented by improving diet and taking a supplement if you are at risk.

“Recent research suggests that vitamin D deficiency may also contribute to a range of other medical conditions. The Scottish government are keen to continue to monitor this evidence.”

The health secretary is due to speak at the Shine on Scotland conference on Tuesday, which will bring together academics from across the world to consider the possible links between vitamin D deficiency and various health problems.

The event is taking place after schoolboy Ryan McLaughlin took a petition to the Scottish Parliament which called on ministers to produce new guidelines on vitamin D supplements for children and pregnant women, along with an awareness campaign about the issue.

Ryan took up the cause after watching his mother Kirsten suffering from MS.

He said: “It’s amazing that I only launched Shine on Scotland early last year and so much has happened since.

“The petition lodged at the Scottish Parliament got great support and I’m really grateful to the Scottish government for being prepared to look at this issue.

“I hope the summit is a great success and that something positive can be done for people with MS and to prevent future generations from developing it.”

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

Susan Boyle enters Guinness World Record book

Susan BoyleSusan Boyle said she was honoured to be in the Guinness World Records book

Scottish singer Susan Boyle has been given three different entries in the new Guinness World Records book.

Her debut album I Dreamed A Dream was the fastest selling album by a UK female and also had the most successful first week’s sales of a UK debut album.

Boyle, who shot to worldwide fame after appearing on a TV talent show, was also the oldest person to reach number one with a debut album.

The singer, from West Lothian, was 48 when her album went to the top spot.

It broke the record set by then 35-year-old Jane McDonald in 1998.

Boyle said it was a “real honour” to appear in the Guinness World Records.

She said: “I used to read this book as a wee girl. I never dreamt that one day I would actually appear in the Guinness Book of Records.

“I only ever wanted to sing and perform. This is truly fantastic.”

Her debut album sold 411,820 copies in its first week in the UK – almost 50,000 more than the previous record holder Arctic Monkeys.

Other singers to make the new edition of the famous book of records include Sir Tom Jones, the oldest artist to have a number one single, and Lady Gaga, who was crowned the most searched-for woman on the internet.

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

Salmond looks to Basque partners

Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond (2R) talks to a Basque dancer next to President of Iberdrola power company Ignacio Galan (L) in front of the new Iberdrola TowerFirst Minister Alex Salmond visited Bilbao last week

Scotland and the Basque region of Spain are to work more closely together to share their expertise in areas such as renewable energy, ministers have said.

A formal partnership agreement between the two administrations is expected to be signed in the near future.

The move follows a meeting in Bilbao last week between First Minister Alex Salmond and Basque Country President Patxi Lopez.

Mr Salmond said both areas had much to offer each other.

“By sharing our knowledge, both nations can gain from this new relationship,” he said.

“Scotland’s world-leading role in renewable energy development provides the certainty – not least in terms of business investment – over Scotland’s low carbon future.

“President Lopez has expressed interest in working with us to identify areas where the Basque Country can work with us for mutual economic and environmental benefit, and we look forward to agreeing a memorandum of understanding between the two administrations.

“The Basque Country also enjoys considerable fiscal autonomy, with wide-ranging responsibilities over the collection of tax receipts and government expenditure.

“Scotland needs full financial responsibility – giving Scotland the economic powers needed to boost the economy – and in that respect the Basque experience is one that we should examine.”

The Scottish government said the first minister invited Mr Lopez to visit Scotland and the invitation was accepted.

Mr Lopez said he hoped to make the links between the Basque Country and Scotland closer.

He said: “In the world that we live in today, it is fundamental to establish alliances in the strategic sectors that we already stand out in, such as renewable energy and our advanced industrial sector.”

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

Ashcroft to quit Tory deputy role

Lord AshcroftLord Ashcroft has been deputy party chairman since 2005

Conservative Party deputy chairman Lord Ashcroft is to quit the role he has held since 2005.

He is expected to stand down at the next meeting of the party board on 27 September – the second day of the Tory’s annual conference.

The businessman and politician is the party’s biggest single donor, and reportedly has a fortune of £1.1bn.

A Conservative Party spokesman said it was “extremely grateful for his tireless work”.

“He has made a very significant contribution to the success of the Conservative Party and we thank him for his work and dedication,” a spokesman said.

Lord Ashcroft, 64, has been Tory deputy chairman since 2005, having previously been party treasurer from 1998 to 2001.

As treasurer, responsible for fund-raising, Mr Ashcroft was said to have widened the party’s pool of donors and allowed it to recruit more staff.

The powerful party figure was credited with devising its marginal seat strategy, pouring resources into constituencies where Labour MPs defended small majorities.

He has published several books including, in 2005, Smell the Coffee: A wake-up call for the Conservative Party.

In his latest – Minority Verdict: The Conservative Party, the voters and the 2010 election – he criticises the party’s election campaign, particularly the participation in televised leaders’ debates, and “counterproductive attacks” on the Labour Party and Gordon Brown, the Sunday Telegraph reported.

He also said the party failed to get its “message” and “brand” across to voters.

“The debates were arguably a tactical error which exposed a strategic problem: three weeks before the election the market was still wide open for a party of change.

“[Liberal Democrat leader] Nick Clegg was only able to appropriate the territory of ‘real change’ because we did not dominate it ourselves,” Lord Ashcroft was quoted as saying in the Sunday Telegraph.

A party spokesman said: “This book is part of the ‘lessons learnt’ exercise and we should welcome it.”

Lord Ashcroft praised Mr Cameron’s personal contribution to the election campaign and said the party should feel “proud” of the result, the Sunday Telegraph reported.

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

Police release ‘Pope threat’ six

A police officer outside a depot of Westminster cleaning contractors Veolia Five of the men were arrested at Veolia’s Chiltern Street depot in west London

Six men arrested by police investigating an alleged plot to attack the Pope have all been released without charge, Scotland Yard said.

Police sources had earlier said officers thought there was “no credible threat”.

The six – who work as street cleaners in Westminster – were arrested after they were overheard in the works canteen apparently plotting an attack.

Policing for Pope Benedict’s four-day UK visit is expected to top £1m.

The Metropolitan Police has refused to confirm reports that the men were joking, saying they had to investigate what might have been a genuine threat.

The men are employed by Veolia Environment Services, a cleaning company contracted by Westminster Council.

At least five of the men are not British nationals. Most are thought to be Algerian.

The men, aged between 26 and 50, were arrested on suspicion of the commission, preparation or instigation of acts of terrorism on Friday, and released late on Saturday and early on Sunday.

Threat level

Armed officers arrested the first five men at the company’s Chiltern Street depot in west London as they were preparing to go on shift. A sixth man was later taken into custody.

Police officers searched eight homes in north and east London and two business premises in central London, including a street cleaning depot.

Searches of the premises were completed and had not revealed any weapons or suspicious materials.

In the statement, the Metropolitan Police said policing arrangements for the papal visit were reviewed following the arrests, and that police were satisfied that the current policing plan for the Pope’s visit remained appropriate.

“The itinerary has not changed. There is no change to the UK threat level,” the statement added.

The current official threat level in the UK is “severe”, which means that security chiefs believe a terror attack is “highly likely”.

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