Rebel News - Independent News and Analysis

Oil giant British Petroleum (BP) has removed the temporary cap that stemmed the flow of oil from its ruptured oil well in the Gulf of Mexico, reports say.

"Under the direction of the federal science team and US government engineers, BP has completed the capping stack removal procedure," retired Coast Guard Admiral Thad Allen said on Thursday, according to AFP.

Five people have been killed after Typhoon Kompasu pounded South Korea with heavy downpours and stormy winds.

Four people died in Gyeonggi and South Chungcheong provinces after being hit by flying tiles, sign boards or tree branches, Yonhap news agency reported on Friday.

The US Coast Guard says the fire on an oil and gas well in the Gulf of Mexico is out and there is no indication of oil being leaked.

Despite a concern over the possibility of fresh pollution in the region, there is no evidence of oil sheen. US Coast Guard Capt. Peter Troedsson said there were no visible leaks, adding, "We continue to investigate and to monitor that situation," quoted the CNN.

A new wave of forest and brush fires in Russia has claimed two lives and has burnt down nearly 500 houses and buildings, a ministry report says.

Strong winds with gusts of up to 90 km/h (56 mph) in temperatures that approached 40 degrees Celsius (100 degrees Fahrenheit), have put fuel on fires in about 20 villages in Volgograd and Saratov, southeast of Moscow.

Iranian Interior Minister Mostafa Mohammad Najjar arrives in Islamabad to discuss ways to send relief aid to flood-hit Pakistani people.

Upon his arrival at Islamabad Chaklala Airport on Thursday, the Iranian minister was welcomed by his Pakistani counterpart Tasneem Ahmed Qureshi and Iranian Ambassador to Pakistan Masha'allah Shakeri, IRNA reported.

An offshore oil rig has exploded in the Gulf of Mexico, forcing 13 people into the water, one of whom was injured, the US Coast Guard said.

"All 13 are accounted for and they are all wearing some sort of an immersion suit that protects them from the water," Coast Guard chief petty officer John Edwards told MSNBC, adding that the extent of any injuries suffered by the workers was not immediately clear.

The United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) says world food prices have climbed to their highest level in two years, partly due to a drought in Russia.

The Rome-based UN agency said Wednesday that its food price index climbed 5 percent between July and August, although still 38 percent lower than its peak in June 2008, AP reported.

Hurricane Earl continues closing in on the eastern shores of the US as the coast braces for a possible shift in Earl's predicted path.

Governors of North Carolina, Virginia and Maryland have declared states of emergency in preparation for a worse-case scenario, as the USS Cole reportedly rushes to its home port of Norfolk, Virginia ahead of the storm.

Landslides in southwestern China have left at least three people dead and about 57 others missing, local officials say.

The natural incident took place in the village of Wama in Yunnan Province late Wednesday, China's Xinhua news agency reported.

A Saudi official says the account of a Sri Lankan maid who said her Saudi employers forced 24 nails and needles into her body is “fabricated.”

L. G. Ariyawathi's allegations were baseless and amounted to blackmail, said Saad al-Badah, the head of a Saudi government department responsible for foreign workers.