Interesting News Updates for Friday

Oil spill work on hold as Bonnie approaches

With a tropical storm approaching, hundreds of workers and more than a dozen vessels will begin moving from the Deepwater Horizon blowout site Friday, stopping work on the long-awaited final “kill” of the well for more than a week.

UN Command confronts North Korea over ship sinking

The U.S.-led military command monitoring the cease-fire on the Korean peninsula confronted North Korea on Friday about the deadly sinking of a South Korean warship, calling it a violation of the 1953 armistice.

Colonels from the U.N. Command, who met at the border with counterparts from Pyongyang’s Korean People’s Army, reminded North Korea of the U.N. Security Council order to honor the truce. Officers also proposed a joint task force to discuss the “armistice violations,” the military commission said in a statement.

Ford turnaround picks up speed

Ford Motor continued its successful turnaround as better-than-expected sales and profits easily outdistanced expectations and reversed the operating loss of a year ago.

The automaker earned $2.7 billion, or 68 cents a share, excluding special items. The consensus forecast of analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters was for earnings of 40 cents a share, and Ford easily topped even the most bullish forecast of a 48 cent a share profit.

UN expert: AIDS crisis in the world’s prisons

The U.N.’s top investigator on torture and punishment warned Friday that overcrowded prisons are breeding grounds for AIDS.

Often, inmates are held in inhumane conditions in which the HIV virus is spread through the use of non-sterile drug injection equipment, sexual contacts, tattooing and sharing of razors, Manfred Nowak said.

“There is a global prison crisis,” he told an international AIDS conference.