BBC news with Debby Ross.

Republican leaders in the US congress have said they want to reconsider a legislation allowing the families of victims of the 9.11 attacks to sue Saudi-Arabia. The White House had warned that the law could expose American troops to prosecution abroad. The senate majority leader Mich McCornell admitted the law makers hadn't understood the possible consequences.

Investigators say they hope soon to retrieve the data recorder from the train that crashed in Holboken station in New Jersey on Thursday. One person was killed and more than 100 injured when the train tore into the station smashing through a barrier.

A US hedge fund has been ordered to pay almost half a billion dollars to settle charges it bribed officials and a number of African countries to secure mining and investment rights. Och-Ziff operated in Democratic Republic of Congo, Chad, Niger and Guinea as well as in Lybia where it paid millions to a son of Canal Quadafei.

There has been another day of heavy fighting in Syria with government troops seizing more terroritory around Aleppo while rebel forces launched a contra-affensive in the central city of Hamar. The UN humanitarian chief Steven O'Brien said conditions in Aleppo had descended into a merciless abyss of humanitarian catastrophy.

The mission of the Rosetta space probe is drawing to a close after scientists of the European Space Agency sent the spacecraft on a collision course with the comet that it's been tracking for the past two years. They hope to get some final closeup pictures and measurements.

President Obama had celebrated the achievements of African American Olympians in the ceremony at the White House. Among those present were relatives of Jessy Owens who won four gold medals at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin. Unlike white athelets Owens received no message of congratulations from president Roosevelt on his return and now Mr.Obama said he want to redress.

BBC news.