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Ten people have been arrested in the United States for allegedly spying for the Russian government.
The US Department of Justice said they were held for allegedly carrying out “long-term, 'deep-cover' assignments” on US soil.
They have been charged with conspiracy to act as unlawful agents of a foreign government, a crime which carries up to five years in prison.
An 11th suspect remains at large, according to justice officials.
Money laundering
The BBC's Kim Ghattas in Washington says it is a story of Cold War-era espionage with the tools and technology of the 21st Century.
The alleged agents were trained by the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) and sent to the US to infiltrate policy-making circles and collect information, according to court papers filed in US District Court for the southern district of New York. Some of them had been living in the country under false identities since the early 1990s, using codes and and engaging in advanced computer operations, including posting apparently innocent pictures on the internet which contained detailed texts, investigators say.
The FBI also reported observing older techniques, such as money being buried next to a beer-bottle marker and “brush pasts” in parks.
“You were sent to USA for long-term service trip,” says one purported message to two of the suspects that was intercepted by US intelligence. “Your education, bank accounts, car, house etc – all these serve one goal: fulfil your main mission, ie to search and develop ties in policymaking circles in US and send intels.”
They allegedly got close to a scientist involved in designing bunker-busting bombs and a top former intelligence official.
Five of the suspects will appear later in a Manhattan federal court – a couple known as “Richard Murphy” and “Cynthia Murphy”, who were arrested in Montclair, New Jersey; Vicky Pelaez and a man known as “Juan Lazaro,” who were arrested in Yonkers, New York state; and Anna Chapman, who was arrested in Manhattan, New York City.
Another three – Mikhail Semenko and a couple known as “Michael Zottoli” and “Patricia Mills” – will appear in a federal court in Alexandria, Virginia, after being arrested in Arlington, Virginia.
The final two people – a couple known as “Donald Howard Heathfield” and “Tracey Lee Ann Foley” – were arrested in Boston, Massachusetts, and will appear in a federal court in the city.
A suspect known as “Christopher R Metsos” remains at large.
All of the arrested suspects, except Ms Chapman and Mr Semenko, have also been charged with conspiracy to commit money laundering, which carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.
Our correspondent says the arrests will come as quite a surprise, as relations between Washington and Moscow have warmed considerably in recent months. Just last week, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev was in Washington having lunch with President Barack Obama.
It is still unclear how the White House will react or how Russia will explain this, she adds.

Source:BBC

A Mexican politician who was expected to win a state election has been killed on the campaign trail.
Rodolfo Torre Cantu, who was running for governor in the north-eastern state of Tamaulipas, was shot along with four of his supporters.
Police say he was on his way to a series of campaign rallies when his convoy was ambushed by hooded gunmen.
He was standing for the Todos Tamaulipas coalition in Sunday's gubernatorial elections.
Mr Torre Cantu of the Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, was attacked near Ciudad Victoria, where he was going to catch a flight to Matamoros for an end-of-campaign event.
His rival for the post of Tamaulipas governor, Jose Julian Sacramento of the National Action Party, cancelled his campaign meetings in Matamoros following the killing.
Mr Sacramento said he had known Mr Torre Cantu for years and respected him.
Tamaulipas has been the scene of a fierce turf war between rival drug gangs fighting over access to lucrative drug smuggling routes to the United States.
The BBC's Julian Miglierini in Mexico City says Mr Torre Cantu had made the fight against drug-related violence his central campaign promise.
Our correspondent says that only hours before he was killed, Mr Torre Cantu told a rally that he wanted the people of Tamaulipas to feel safe and to be able to walk the streets without fear.

Source:BBC

Plans to increase the amount of oil being captured from a leaking well in the Gulf of Mexico could be delayed by a tropical storm, BP has said.
However, a relief well being drilled to staunch the flow is on target to be finished by early August, a senior BP executive said.
BP says the cost of cleaning up the slick has reached 2.65bn (1.76bn).
Tens of thousands of barrels of oil have leaked every day since the Deepwater Horizon rig sank in April.
A containment cap placed over the leaking pipe is collecting up to 25,000 barrels a day and sending it to two surface ships.
BP had hoped to collect up to 53,000 barrels a day by linking up another vessel, but Mr Wells, the firm's senior vice-president of exploration and production, said that conditions caused by Tropical Storm Alex would cause problems.
The expected heavy seas could cause a delay of up to a week in hooking up the new oil capture system, Mr Wells said a briefing.
“While we are on track for the end of June, it will be roughly a week after that, the 6th or 7th of July,” he said.
Alex is slowly intensifying and is expected to strengthen into the first hurricane of the Atlantic season, the US National Hurricane Center said.
Forecasters expects the storm to come ashore near the Texas-Mexico border early on Thursday.
Mr Wells said that a relief well – believed to be the best hope of plugging the leak – is now within about 20ft (6m) horizontally of the blown-out well.
Crews would drill another 900ft (274m) downwards before cutting sideways into the leak and starting to pump in heavy mud to try to stop the flow of oil, he added.
A second relief well is being drilled as a backup.
BP says more than 39,000 people are now involved in the response effort.
The spill has closed fishing grounds, killed wildlife and affected the coastlines of four US states.
On Sunday oil began washing ashore at the Mississippi resort town of Biloxi, forcing tourists to evacuate beaches.

Source:BBC

Defending champion Serena Williams came through her first genuine test to see off a resurgent Maria Sharapova and reach the quarter-finals of Wimbledon.The American top seed beat her Russian opponent 7-6 (11-9) 6-4 to set up a last-eight meeting with China’s Li Na. Sharapova, who overcame Williams in the 2004 final, bounced back from an early break of serve but squandered three set points in the first set tie-break. Williams then broke once in the second before serving out for a 96-minute win. “She played really well and is really doing good,” the world number one told BBC Sport. “I don’t know how I pull myself out of situations like that tie-break – I was just able to relax. “The crowd was great and I was really happy they were rooting really hard for me.” Williams said before the match that she was not entirely happy with her current form but, on this evidence, she has little cause for concern. Li is sure to pose a threat following her 6-3 6-2 victory over seventh seed Agnieszka Radwanska, but Williams has won four of their previous five meeting with the ninth seed. More to follow.

Source:BBC

LATEST ACTION (all times BST) * Querrey 2-5 Murray
After that early scare, the Murray serve has looked impregnable – hold to love, the service spitting, the follow-up forehands dip-dashing across the tape. Sam to serve to save the set. Querrey 2-4 Murray *
“Sam looking very loosey-goosey,” says John McEnroe in the Beeb commentary box, but perhaps a man can be too loosey – double-fault for 15-30. Netted from Murray on the stretch, ace down the middle – 40-30. Dreamy dipping forehand down the line for deuce, but that’s a solid brace of volleys from Sam. Nope – double-fault. Too goosey. Nothing to hit on that first serve, but the next forehand goes long – deuce again. Ace – ad to Uncle Sam. Encore – game.* Querrey 1-4 Murray
If it was a fortunate advantage, it’s rammed home by the steely-eyed Scot – hold to love. A young chap in the crowd who looks to have just lost his front two teeth grins gappily and waves a home-made laminated sign sporting a smiley acid face and the simple but punchy message ‘Go Murray’. Querrey 1-3 Murray *
That forehand is a weapon for Querrey, and he monsters that one into the distant backhand corner. Murray standing so deep to return the lady line-judge could reach out to tickle her chin, if that were her preferred tactics. Mmmm – cheeky dropper, pulling the Queen’s club champ in to the net for a weak-wristed netter. Another error when forced very wide on the forehand – break point – but he’s at the net now to put it awa… yikes, into the net! Murray has the break, handed to him on a silver salver with a “compliments” note attached.* Querrey 1-2 Murray
Lovely double-fisted backhand drives down the line for Murray, and he serves at 40-0, squinting into the sun – yup, nae dangers. Three Scottish saltires being waved down there, but it’s not quite Bannockburn yet – the crowd still returning from post-Serena/Shara courtesy breaks and snack-grabs. Querrey 1-1 Murray *
Chance here for Murray for an immediate break as his variety on the backhand foxes the square-jawed American, but that big booming serve rides to his rescue. Cheeky little fact for you: these two actually once met as juniors. The venue: US Open quarter-finals. The victor? Murray. The eventual champion? Murray. Wallop. * Querrey 0-1 Murray
They’ve met three times before, these two – Murray leading the match-ups 3-0, including a win on the grass in Newport. Newport Rhode Island, as opposed for Casnewydd Newport. Centre Court baked hard by the sun, and these hard and fast conditions might suit the big-hitting, big-serving Californian kid. Yup – crunching forehand, then another – two break points. Umph – millimetres long from Querrey, and the crowd murmur some collective phews. Pressure to the backhand side from Murray, and he’s at deuce – now advantage, moving the big unit around, and more of the same to hold onto his serve and still nerves.* denotes next server1639: Now then. Bleaching sunshine, pumped crowd, big big match.

Source:BBC

A set of three X-rays of Marilyn Monroe's chest taken during a 1954 hospital visit have sold for 45,000 (29,900) in Las Vegas.
The X-rays, sold at a movie memorabilia auction at Planet Hollywood, had a 3,000 (2,000) pre-sale estimate.
A chair from Monroe's final photo shoot sold for 35,000 (23,250).
Earrings worn by Kate Winslet in Titanic sold for 25,000 (16,600). A dress worn by Audrey Hepburn in musical Funny Face fetched 56,250 (37,360).
Other Monroe items up for sale included a prompt book from unfinished film Something's Got to Give and a bottle of Chanel perfume she owned.
A crystal-studded glove which belonged to Michael Jackson fetched 190,000 (126,000) at an earlier music sale at Julien's Auctions at Planet Hollywood.

Source:BBC

US President Barack Obama's Supreme Court nominee, Elena Kagan, is set to begin her confirmation hearing in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Republican senators have warned the 50-year-old solicitor-general and former Harvard Law School dean she will face tough questions about her background.
But Ms Kagan is expected to be approved by the Democrat-dominated panel.
She would be the youngest member of the current court and the first justice in 39 years not to have been a judge.
Ms Kagan was nominated to replace retiring Justice John Paul Stevens, 90, who is considered one of the court's leading liberals.
The selection of a Supreme Court justice gives a president the opportunity to influence US public life for decades, as the justices are not bound by term limits.
The first day of the judiciary committee hearing is likely to be dominated by statements from its 19 senators, after which Ms Kagan will herself speak.
She is expected to begin answering questions only on Tuesday. “You're going to see a brilliant woman, a brilliant legal mind,” the committee's chairman, Democratic Senator Patrick Leahy, told CBS on Sunday.
Sen Leahy said he was confident Ms Kagan would be approved by the panel, and then confirmed by whole Senate before the August recess.
But the top Republican on the committee, Senator Jeff Sessions, said she was seen as a “dangerous nominee” given her relative youth, limited legal record and political affiliation, and stressed that her approval was far from guaranteed.
“This is a confirmation, not a coronation,” he told CBS. “She has the least experience of any nominee at least in the last 50 years.”
Speaking in Toronto on Sunday, President Obama dismissed the reservations expressed by some senators as “pretty thin gruel”.
“Having said that, I expect that my Republican colleagues and my Democratic colleagues should ask her tough questions, listen to her testimony, go through the record, go through all the documents that have been provided to the Senate Judiciary Committee, and then vote their conscience,” he added.
Correspondents say Ms Kagan is regarded as a liberal on most issues.
But she has worked with conservatives and even attracted a liberal backlash against her support for continuing Bush administration policies on state secrets and the use of military commissions to try terrorism suspects, they add.

The US Supreme Court has restricted the rights of state and city governments to enforce controls on gun ownership.
The US's highest court ruled by 5-4 that a ban on handgun ownership in Chicago was unconstitutional.
Justices said the US Constitution protected the right to keep and bear arms for the purpose of self-defence.
The ruling could potentially change laws on gun ownership in many of the US states.
The Second Amendment of the US Constitution guarantees “the right of the People to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed”.

Source:BBC

St Louis has long been known as America’s beer capital. It’s the home of the US’s largest brewery, Anheuser-Busch, and more than a dozen craft breweries – which have been gaining new fans after Anheuser-Busch’s sale to Belgium’s InBev in 2008.To most people around the world, Anheuser Busch is America’s brewery and America’s beer is Budweiser. To its hometown crowd, it has simply been known as “the brewery”. “There was no part of this community that wasn’t a part of the brewery,” says Dan Kopman, who founded Schlafly Beer in St Louis in 1992. “Everyone in town knew someone who worked for the brewery.” Mike Sweeney, STL HopsIt gave its name to university and hospital buildings. It donated beer to charity events. It “touched so many people in so many ways,” Kopman says. The fact that “AB”, as most locals call the company, became a major international player only added to their sense of pride. When Kopman and his partner opened what was then the second brewery in town, they had to build a restaurant along with it, to get people to try their beer. Allegiances”Reaching consumers through the normal channels was going to be very difficult because the bars were so loyal to Anheuser Busch,” said Kopman, who learned his trade in the UK at Young & Co’s Wandsworth brewery. Dan Kopman, Co-Founder Schlafly BeerAt the time of Schlafly’s opening, there were around 100 small and independent craft breweries in the United States. That number has grown to more than 1,500 in the last two decades, according to the Brewers Association. There are now 14 in St Louis alone – and the sale of Anheuser Busch to the Belgian beverage giant InBev, has given them a big chance to expand sales to drinkers re-thinking their allegiance to the AB. “My grandfather, my father, they were the guys drinking this beer and they drank it because they had pride in St Louis and because they had pride in the brewery,” says Mike Sweeney, a local beer blogger. “The younger people are going to try something from the guys that they know are brewing here in St Louis,” said Sweeney. “The ones that are actually hands on, somebody that they can go into the bar and actually sit next to and start talking to about beer.” Broken rulesKopman calls it a revival not just of the beer culture in St Louis but in America in general. In St Louis, 40 breweries were wiped out during the prohibition, leaving only one. The variety of beer available in the city now would have been unthinkable just a few decades ago. “There are more new beer styles being created here, there are more rules being broken here, there are new beer styles being created every day in the 1,500 small American breweries,” says Kopman. “If I was to change our Pale Ale receipe at Young’s, the head brewer I worked for in London would have had something to say about that. “The new generation of brewers in the US wants to experiment with different combinations of grain, hops, and yeast strains. They do not feel that tug of a tradition that might tie them to do something a certain way.” Something uniqueWhile overall beer sales in the US were down 2.2% in 2009 and the sales of imported beer were down almost 10%, growth of the craft brewing industry in 2009 was up 10.3%, according to the Brewers Association. For Dan Kopman and Schafly Beer, the biggest challenge at the moment is how to stay small. Right now, the brewery is producing 50,000 barrels a year, while in St Louis alone, some 2.5 million barrels are consumed each year. For Kopman, it is not about challenging Anheuser Busch, but offering something that makes St Louis unique again. “You are not going to get Schlafly Light in 30-packs,” he says, with a smile. “In a time when you can get everything everywhere I really enjoy people coming up to me and asking where can I buy this beer. And I’ll say – St Louis.”

Source:BBC

Democratic Senator Robert C Byrd, who has died aged 92, was for many the embodiment of the ways and history of the US Senate.
His long career in politics began in 1952 when he was elected to the House of Representatives, but six years later he stood for a Senate seat to represent West Virginia – a position he occupied for the next 52 years.
Senator Byrd's oratorical skills and his ability to draw on his knowledge of the US Constitution, the Bible, ancient history and poetry enabled him to speak at length in Senate debates.
The Almanac of American Politics described him as coming closer than anyone to the kind of senator the founding fathers had in mind.
Mr Byrd was a fierce defender of the Constitution, often producing a battered copy from a pocket in his trademark three-piece suit.
He was for many years the chairman of the powerful Senate Appropriations Committee, which controls a third of the federal budget.
He also put his grasp of the rules of the Senate to effective use.
“Bob is a living encyclopedia and legislative graveyards are filled with the bones of those who underestimated him,” former House Speaker Jim Wright once said of him.
Senator Byrd's personal political history also encapsulates the transformation in US life during the 20th Century.
He was briefly a member of the supremacist Ku Klux Klan and took part in unsuccessful attempts to hold up the 1964 Civil Rights Act.
But he subsequently apologised for his views, becoming a staunch defender of civil rights and arguing that intolerance had no place in the US. He was also an outspoken and early opponent of the Iraq war.
For his voters in West Virginia, he was not seen as a Washington insider but a senator who worked effectively to ensure funds came to their state to build roads, bridges and buildings.
To his critics, he was the King of Pork, serving up billions of federal dollars for wasteful projects they dubbed “Byrd droppings” in return for political support.
But Senator Byrd was unapologetic for his success in getting money for West Virginia.
“I came from lowly beginnings. The bottom rungs of my ladder were gone,” Mr Byrd wrote in his autobiography.
“I had to have the help of the good Lord, and I've had to have the help of the people and the confidence of the people. And I've tried to repay them.”
In November 2006, he was elected for an unprecedented ninth term to the Senate.
That same year saw the death of his wife of 68 years, Erma.

Source:BBC

Former Panamanian leader Manuel Noriega is going on trial in France for money laundering in a case which could put him in jail for another 10 years.
Now 76, the man who ruled Panama from 1981 to 1989 was extradited from the US in April after serving two decades in a Miami prison for drug trafficking.
A French court convicted him in his absence in 1999, sentencing him to 10 years.
France agreed to give him a new trial if he was extradited from the US.
The trial is due to last three days. However, the verdict is not expected to be announced for several months, AFP news agency reported.
Noriega denies laundering 15m francs (2.3m euros, 2.8m, 1.9m) in the late 1980s from Colombia's Medellin cocaine cartel through the now defunct Bank of Credit and Commerce International.
The money was allegedly used by his wife Felicidad and a shell company to buy three luxury apartments in Paris. The properties have since been seized by the French state.
Since Noriega's transfer to France on 26 April, his lawyers have been trying unsuccessfully to have him released from the Sante prison in Paris, arguing he is being held in inhumane conditions.
They also argue that French courts cannot try him because he is immune from prosecution as a former head of state.
Noriega became Panama's de facto president in 1983 and was supported by the US until 1987. But in 1988 he was indicted in the US for drug-trafficking.
The US invaded following the death of a US marine in Panama City and Noriega surrendered on 3 January, 1990.

Source:BBC

Democratic US Senator Robert Byrd, the longest-serving member of Congress in history, has died aged 92, his spokesman has said.
The West Virginia lawmaker died peacefully at a hospital in Fairfax, Virginia, the spokesman says.
Mr Byrd was elected to the House of Representatives in 1952, becoming a senator seven years later.
His death is not expected to change the Democrats' current majority in the Senate.

Source:BBC

BP has said the cost of cleaning up its oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico has now reached 2.65bn (1.76bn).
The oil giant said this included the cost of the spill response, containment, relief well drilling, grants to Gulf states and claims paid.
BP added it was too early to quantify other potential costs and liabilities arising from the incident.
The company said more than 39,000 people were now engaged in the response effort.
More than 80,000 claims had been submitted, BP said, and it had made 41,000 payments totalling more than 128m.
On Sunday, US President Barack Obama and UK Prime Minister David Cameron discussed BP's problems at the G20 summit in Canada.
A Downing Street statement issued after the meeting between Mr Obama and Mr Cameron, said: “The leaders agreed that BP should meet its obligations to cap the leak, clean up the damage and meet legitimate compensations.
“They also agreed that it was to both countries' advantage for BP to remain a strong and stable company.”
There was no immediate official response from Washington, though a senior US official emphasised to reporters at the summit that BP's obligations “have got to be met”.
BP will be hoping the talks put an end to political attacks on the company.
Officials in the US administration have criticised BP's response to the spillage, and mounted strong attacks on chief executive Tony Hayward.
The criticism has spooked investors, who were already worried about the mounting costs of the clean-up operation.
BP's shares made a rare move higher on Monday, climbing 3.66% to 315p.
On Friday they hit a 14-year low of 298p amid speculation that the company may have to seek extra funds to pay for its oil spill costs.
BP's share price has more than halved since the oil disaster began in April, wiping about 90bn off the value of the company.
The company made an annual profit of nearly 14bn last year, but there is great uncertainty over the impact that legal action and compensation claims could have.
BP has already said it will not be paying any dividends to its shareholders this year, after agreeing to finance a 20bn (13.5bn) clean-up and compensation fund for the oil spill.

Source:BBC

Argentina manager Diego Maradona is confident his team will beat Germany in Cape Town on Saturday to progress to the World Cup semi-finals.Two goals from Carlos Tevez and one from Gonzalo Higuain secured a 3-1 win over Mexico in Johannesburg on Sunday. Joachim Loew’s team thrashed England 4-1 and Maradona conceded: “We know Germany are a different team to Mexico, they are stronger. “But we will field the right players to beat them.” Argentina took the lead in the 25th minute with a controversial goal from , who was clearly offside when the ball was played through by The assistant referee did not raise his flag as the Manchester City striker turned the ball into the net, much to the disbelief of Mexico’s players, who surrounded the referee in protest after watching a replay of the goal at Soccer City. Yet Maradona dismissed Mexico manager Javier Aguirre’s criticism of the match officials, instead claiming that striker Messi has not been protected during the tournament. BBC Sport’s Paul Fletcher”Aguirre must have felt the same as we have felt when Messi gets kicked around and the referee does not act,” stated Maradona. “I have lived that myself, when I was a player when you had three players on you 20 years ago. “Whenever Messi has the ball everyone is trying to kick his legs. What is being done to him is a scandal – they don’t even look for the ball, they try to kick him. “I understand the Mexicans’ feelings but there is a limit to everything.” Argentina’s victory set up an intriguing quarter-final rematch against Germany, who knocked them out of the tournament four years ago in Berlin. Germany’s impressive counter-attacking abilities ripped England’s defence to shreds in Bloemfontein and Maradona said he was fully aware of the threat posed by Loew’s team. “They played an open game against England and we must take stock of our situation on Monday and see how we have come out of this match, how the players are feeling and try to put together the right team to showcase our talents,” he added.

Source:BBC

Six people have died and another 15 have been injured during a riot in a Venezuelan prison, officials say.
The violence broke out at Los Teques prison, near the capital Caracas, on Sunday, during visiting hours for relatives.
It was not immediately known what sparked the incident.
Violence is common in Venezuela's prisons, where rival groups sometimes fight for control of cell blocks or the sale of drugs.
Prison official Consuelo Serrada said that eight of the injured inmates at Los Teques were taken to hospital, while the rest were treated at the jail, according to Venezuela's state media.
The official added that the authorities had the situation under control.

Source:BBC

Gunmen in Colombia have seriously wounded the president of the Medellin city assembly, Jhon Jaime Moncada Ospina.
They ambushed Mr Moncada's car and shot him repeatedly in the chest.
The mayor of Medellin has summoned police, civil and military officials for a security summit.
Murders have been on the rise again in Medellin after years in which the city won recognition for successfully tackling its high crime rate.
One of the two gunmen was killed when Mr Moncada's bodyguard opened fire.
Colombian President Alvaro Uribe has offered a reward of up to 100m Colombian pesos (50,000) for anyone with information leading to the capture of the other attacker.
President Uribe said Mr Moncada had sustained five bullet wounds in the chest.
Medellin Mayor Alonso Salazar Jaramillo said security measures for the city's assembly members would be reassessed at a meeting with officials later on Sunday.

Source:BBC

Mexican singer Sergio Vega, 40, has been shot dead only hours after he had denied reports he had been murdered.
The singer, also known as El Shaka, told an internet site he had increased his security measures after a growing number of Mexican musicians was killed.
Musicians performing narcocorridos, songs celebrating the lives of drug barons, often become the targets of rival drug gangs.
Gunmen opened fire on Mr Vega on his way to a concert in Sinaloa state.
Mexican media reported Mr Vega was driving his red Cadillac on Saturday night when a truck started following him.
Shortly afterwards, shots were fired at the car, injuring Mr Vega and making him lose control of the vehicle and crashing it, his passenger told El Debate newspaper.
The gunmen then “finished Mr Vega off” with shots to the head and chest, El Debate reported the passenger as saying.
Police confirmed they found spent bullet shells next to the driver's door.