1. BP accused of lying to U.S. during Gulf oil spill
NEW ORLEANS — BP lied to the U.S. government and withheld information about the amount of oil spilling into the Gulf of Mexico after its well blew out in 2010, attorneys told a judge Monday.
But lawyers for the London-based oil giant denied those accusations and said there was no way to prepare for such a blowout a mile below the sea floor. Second-guessing the company’s efforts to cap the well was “Monday morning quarterbacking at its worst,” BP attorney Mike Brock said during opening statements of the second phase of a trial over the spill.
This part focuses on BP’s response to the disaster and is designed help U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier determine much oil spewed into the Gulf.
The government’s estimate is some 70 million gallons more than what BP said spilled. Establishing how much oil leaked into the Gulf during BP’s struggle to cap the well will help figure out the penalties the oil company must pay. Billions of dollars are at stake.
2. Netanyahu urges Obama to keep Iran sanctions
WASHINGTON — Despite soothing assurances from Iran’s new leaders, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu implored President Barack Obama on Monday to keep punishing sanctions in place against Tehran — and even tighten them if the Islamic republic advances its nuclear programs while negotiating with the U.S.
Netanyahu nevertheless signaled he would not block Obama’s efforts to seek a diplomatic resolution to the nuclear impasse, even as he expressed skepticism about the Iranian government.
“If diplomacy is to work, those pressures must be kept in place,” Netanyahu said of the sanctions during an Oval Office meeting with Obama.
The two men met three days after Obama’s historic phone call with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, which marked the first direct conversation between a U.S. and Iranian leader in more than three decades. While the election of Rouhani, a more moderate-sounding cleric, has been viewed optimistically by the Obama administration, Netanyahu has dismissed the new Iranian leader’s outreach as a “smiley campaign” aimed at buying Tehran more time to pursue a bomb.
Obama, who has long called for a negotiated solution to the Iranian nuclear dispute, said it was important to test the possible diplomatic opening. But he insisted that U.S. officials were “clear-eyed” as they enter talks with the Iranians.
“Our hope is that we can resolve this diplomatically,” Obama said. “But as president of the United States, as I’ve said before and I will repeat, that we take no options off the table, including military options.”
3. Mall shopkeepers suspect Kenyan troops in thefts
NAIROBI, Kenya — Jewelry cases smashed. Mobile phones ripped from displays. Cash registers emptied. Alcohol stocks plundered.
For the second time in two months, poorly paid Kenyan security forces that moved in to control an emergency are being accused of robbing the very property they were supposed to protect.
First, the troops were accused of looting during a huge fire in August at Nairobi’s main airport.
Now, shop owners at Westgate Mall are returning to their stores after last week’s devastating terrorist attack to find displays ransacked and valuables stolen.
One witness told The Associated Press that he saw a Kenyan soldier take cigarettes out of a dead man’s pocket.
Shopkeepers spent Monday carting merchandise and other valuables out of their stores and restaurants to prevent any more thefts. No one can say for sure who is responsible, but Kenya’s security forces are strongly suspected.
Soon after the attack began Sept. 21, Kenyan officials put a cordon around the mall, allowing only security forces and a few government personnel to pass through.
Since then, alcohol stocks from the restaurants have been depleted. One business owner at the mall said money and mobile phones were taken from bags and purses left behind in the mayhem. The owner insisted on anonymity to avoid retribution from Kenya’s government.
4. Wave of bombs across Baghdad kills 55
BAGHDAD — A new wave of bombs tore through Baghdad on Monday, officials said, killing at least 55 people. Most of the blasts were car bombs detonated in Shiite neighborhoods, the latest of a series of well-coordinated attacks blamed on hard-line Sunni insurgents determined to rekindle large-scale sectarian conflict.
Multiple coordinated bombing strikes have hit Baghdad repeatedly over the last five months. The Shiite-led government has announced new security measures, conducted counter-insurgency sweeps of areas believed to hold insurgent hideouts, and sponsored political reconciliation talks, but has not significantly slowed the pace of the bombing campaign.
No group immediately claimed responsibility for the bombings, but they bore the hallmarks of al-Qaida’s local branch in Iraq, known as the Islamic State of Iraq. Al-Qaida is believed to be trying to build on the Sunni minority’s discontent toward what they consider to be second-class treatment by the government and on infighting between political groups.
In addition to helping al-Qaida gain recruits, the political crisis also may affect the security forces’ ability to get intelligence from Sunni communities.
“Our war with terrorism goes on,” Interior Ministry spokesman Saad Maan told The Associated Press. “Part of the problem is the political infighting and regional conflicts. ... There are shortcomings and we need to develop our capabilities mainly in the intelligence-gathering efforts.”
5. U.N. Security Council demanding aid access in Syria
UNITED NATIONS — The president of the U.N. Security Council said many members are pressing to follow up on last week’s resolution to eliminate Syria’s chemical weapons with a demand that President Bashar al-Assad’s government allow immediate access to the country for desperately needed humanitarian aid.
Australian Ambassador and council president Gary Quinlan said Monday the draft statement calls for delivering access in “the most effective ways, including across conflict lines and, where appropriate, across borders from neighboring countries ...” if necessary to bypass meddling from Assad’s regime in Damascus.
Council members are striving to adopt the statement by Wednesday or Thursday.
Quinlan said he sees “strong unanimity” to quickly adopt a non-binding statement rather than spend weeks trying to pass an enforceable resolution.
