The US Congress called oil giant BP and its drilling partners to account for a “cascade of failures” behind the spreading spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

BP PLC told Congress last night its massive Gulf oil spill was caused by the failure of a key safety device made by another company.

The US Senate today narrowly blocked a Republican plan to tap into the nation’s largest untapped reservoir of oil beneath the frozen tundra of an Alaska wildlife refuge.

US Under-secretary of State John Bolton’s chances of winning Senate approval to be UN ambassador appeared to brighten as Republican fence-sitters drifted in his direction.