World News: BP set to cement well as 75% of spilled oil cleaned up

Almost three-quarters of the oil spilled in the Gulf of Mexico has been cleaned up or broken down by natural forces, the US government has said.

A government report says only a quarter of the oil from the BP well remains and that it is "degrading quickly".

The majority has been captured, burned off or evaporated. But more clean-up is necessary, officials warn.

Meanwhile, the government has cleared BP to cement the blown oil well, one of the final steps required to seal it.

The clearance came after the British-based oil giant announced "encouraging" progress on its "static kill" effort to seal the leak.

BP senior vice-president Kent Wells said yesterday that the company had finished pumping mud into the ruptured oil well.

He said the pressure from the oil bursting out of the ruptured well was being matched by the mud pumped from the surface, a "static" condition that leaves it ready for an injection of cement.

The company will continue drilling a relief well to intersect with the damaged well. When that well is complete later this month, BP could pump more mud and cement into the bottom of the damaged well.

Public flogging for transvestites

A GROUP of young Muslim men have been publicly flogged in Sudan after they were convicted of wearing women's clothes and make-up.

The court said the 19 men had broken Sudan's morality codes.

Police arrested them at a party where they were found dancing "in a womanly fashion".

Bankrupt airline suspends sales

Bankrupt airline Mexicana de Aviacion has indefinitely suspended ticket sales but will continue providing flights to people who have already bought them.

Mexico's largest airline said the decision was to provide "more space" for negotiations with its unions.

Row over anti-sub drills

South Korea has launched its biggest-ever anti-submarine exercises, the military said, despite warnings of retaliation from the North.

Some 4500 personnel are taking part in five days of drills in the Yellow Sea.The South is making a show of strength amid continuing anger over the sinking of one of its warships in March.

Seoul says a northern torpedo sank the Cheonan, but Pyongyang denies the accusation.

Campbell due at war crimes trial

Supermodel Naomi Campbell is set to face questioning from prosecutors at the war crimes trial of ex-Liberia President Charles Taylor in The Hague.

Ms Campbell will be asked to confirm allegations that Mr Taylor gave her "blood diamonds" as a gift in 1997.

Gerardo Marin waves a flag in celebration in San Francisco after a federal judge overturned a ban on same-sex marriages in California.

Farmer accused of feeding victims to pigs

Canada: A publication ban has been lifted in the case of a pig farmer accused of butchering women and feeding them to pigs.

Most of the ban was lifted after British Columbia's attorney general formally stayed 20 murder charges against Robert Pickton, who police have called Canada's worst serial killer.

New Zealand: Authorities want to rename a ridge on the nation's highest mountain to honour Sir Edmund Hillary.