AFP - British oil giant BP revealed Friday that the devastating Gulf of Mexico oil spill disaster has cost it eight billion dollars so far -- with a sharp rise in payments in the last month.

AP - Stark differences exist between the oil platform fire in the Gulf of Mexico and the blast that led to the massive BP spill. Most notably, no one was killed and no crude was gushing into the water, but the distinctions don't end there.

AP - Dubai's police chief says worries about spying by the U.S., Israel and others helped push plans to limit BlackBerry services in the United Arab Emirates.

AFP - Malaysia has formed a task force to scour the Internet for blog postings deemed harmful to national unity, authorities said on Friday in the latest of a series of actions against new media.

AP - Oil prices fell below $75 a barrel Friday in Asia as investors awaited a report on U.S. employment that will influence guesses about the strength of future energy demand from the No. 1 economy.

AFP - Greenpeace chief Kumi Naidoo on Friday likened Japan's treatment of two of its anti-whaling activists to the tactics of the former apartheid regime he once campaigned against in his native South Africa.

AFP - A Thai-owned firm Friday rejected Indonesia's 2.4 billion US dollar compensation claim over a major oil spill off Australia's north which campaigners say hit the livelihoods of thousands of poor fishermen.

Reuters - An oil and gas platform operated by Mariner Energy burst into flames in the Gulf of Mexico on Thursday, but the crew of 13 escaped and there were no signs of an oil spill, the Coast Guard said.

AFP - Farmers in eastern China are grappling with an explosion in the population of wild boars, who are destroying crops and upsetting the ecological balance, state media said on Friday.

AP - Dell Inc. doesn't have to start over in its quest to become a significant purveyor of technology for businesses after losing a multibillion dollar bidding contest for an obscure data-storage maker.

AP - An oil platform exploded and burned off the Louisiana coast Thursday, the second such disaster in the Gulf of Mexico in less than five months. This time, the Coast Guard said there was no leak, and no one was killed.

AFP - Millions of Africans may lose a key source of livelihoods as a fifth of freshwater African species are threatened with extinction, the updated Red List of endangered species showed Thursday.

AP - Dell Inc. is walking away from a bidding contest with rival Hewlett-Packard Co. for data-storage maker 3Par Inc.

AFP - An oil platform explosion Thursday in the Gulf of Mexico forced the crew to jump into the sea and threatened further damage to waters still recovering from the BP disaster.

AP - Engineers removed a temporary cap Thursday that stopped oil from gushing into the Gulf of Mexico from BP's blown-out well in mid-July. No more oil was expected to leak into the sea, but crews were standing by with collection vessels just in case.

AP - Engineers removed a temporary cap Thursday that stopped oil from gushing into the Gulf of Mexico from BP's blown-out well in mid-July. No more oil was expected to leak into the sea, but crews were standing by with collection vessels just in case.

AFP - Crews managed to extinguish a massive blaze on a rig in the Gulf of Mexico Thursday and have not been able to locate an oil slick spotted earlier in the day, the Coast Guard said.

AP - Oil prices ended higher Thursday after an initial retreat as investors put a positive spin on reports about jobs, manufacturing and home sales.

AFP - A mile-long slick was spreading from an oil platform ablaze in the Gulf of Mexico Thursday, the Coast Guard said, citing a report from rig workers who jumped into the sea to safety.

AP - India has widened its security crackdown, asking all companies that provide encrypted communications — not just BlackBerry-maker Research In Motion — to install servers in the country to make it easier for the government to obtain users' data. That would likely affect digital giants like Google and Skype.

Reuters - About 45 nations met on Thursday to seek ways to raise billions of dollars in aid to help the poor combat climate change as the United Nations warned them of a long haul to slow global warming.

AFP - There is no sign of an oil spill after a rig caught fire in the Gulf of Mexico, a spokesman for rig operator Mariner Energy said.

AFP - There is no sign of an oil spill after a rig caught fire in the Gulf of Mexico, a spokesman for rig operator Mariner Energy said.

AFP - UN climate chief Christiana Figueres on Thursday warned that a string of weather calamities showed the deepening urgency to forge a breakthrough deal on global warming this year.