The leaders of Britain and the United States have spent nearly three hours in talks in Washington. President Obama said they saw virtually eye to eye on every major challenge before them. The British Prime Minister David Cameron said they discussed the war in Afhanistan, sustained global economy recovery and the Middle East. But in a joint news conference, they faced questions about the BP and the Lockerbie bombing. As Paul Adams reports.
The two leaders spoke with enthusiasm about their close relationship in the wide range of common interests which bind their two countries. David Cameron and Barrack Obama were peppered with questions about allegations that BP played the role in securing the release of the convicted Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset al-Megrahi. Mr. Cameron said he and President Obama had had what he called a violent agreement on the subject. He urged people not to confuse BP's responsibilities in the Gulf of Mexico with the Libian Bomber. But he said his government will look again to see if any further light could be shed on the whole affair. For his part, Mr. Obama said he was confident that the Cameron government will make sure the facts were known.
The British energy firm BP says it will sell businesses in Vietnam and Pakistan to help meet the costs of dealing with its oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. These are the first major assets sales BP has announced since saying it would raise 10 billion dollars to pay for the spill.
A report by the International Energy Agency or IEA says China has overtaken the US to become the world's top energy consumer. Vivian Marsh reports.
Provisional figures from the IEA indicate that China's energy consumption has doubled in a decade, fueled by a rising population and rapid economic growth. Last year the figure showed it consumed about 4% more energy than the United States. And though China's ascent through the IEA rankings was faster than expected, it comes the American energy use is stagnating with the US suffering much more than China in the global economic crisis. The average Chinese person still consumes just a fifth the energy of the American. But as city dwellers become more prosperous, future energy demands could be huge.
Cuba said it was ready to release more jailed dissidents in addition to the 52 whose release it announced earlier this month. The president of the Cuban national assembly said they could remain in Cuba if they so wished. Michael Voss reports.
The 52 prisoners who have been freed of the last remaining opposition figures who were arrested during a major government crack-down in 2003. But according to the unofficial Cuban Human Rights Commission, there are more than a hundred additional political prisoners on the island. None of them were included in the recent deal, broker between the Cuban authorities, the Roman Catholic Church and the Spanish government. Now, a senior Cuban official has indicated that the government is prepared to release the majority of these prisoners.
World News from the BBC. |