BP PLC has several options to explore in dealing with the worst environment disaster in U.S. history, but the oil giant may file for bankruptcy if it faces a never-ending flow of claims, lawyers and bankers said Tuesday.

"BP has many options besides bankruptcy and is a long way from exhausting those," said Loretta Cross, a national managing partner at Grant Thornton's corporate-advisory and restructuring-services group, during a conference call organized by the American Bankruptcy Institute.

The Deepwater Horizon platform exploded on April 20, killing 11 people. It sank two days later, triggering a massive oil leak that's still spewing oil and gas. BP shares have plummeted on concern that the company could be overwhelmed by tens of billions of dollars in claims and other liabilities.

Cross, who specializes in energy-company reorganizations, estimated Tuesday that BP needs roughly $30 billion in cash outside of what the company can generate from its balance sheet.

A 36-year old Dutch man conned thousands of pounds out of show jumpers and horse riding fans by claiming to be the son of a big boss at IBM.

George Carlo Schouten of Finchampstead, Berkshire said his old man was helping out by sponsoring his show jumping team, a Reading court heard yesterday.

He convinced one of Britain's best female riders to join the fictional team and persuaded others to spend thousands of pounds on providing IBM-branded clothes and other kit for the team.

Nearly three dozen alleged members and associates of the New York-based Lucchese crime family have pleaded not guilty to state racketeering, conspiracy and money laundering charges in New Jersey.

Among the defendants who appeared in court in Morristown on Monday was Nicodemo Scarfo Jr., son of former Philadelphia crime boss Nicodemo "Little Nicky" Scarfo.

Also charged are Joseph DiNapoli of Scarsdale, N.Y., and Matthew Madonna of Seldon, N.Y., alleged members of the Lucchese family's three-man ruling panel.

An indictment alleges a litany of offenses under the racketeering charge, including gambling, theft, aggravated assault and bribery.

Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan says she considers recent high court decisions expanding gun rights to be "settled law."

Kagan was asked at her confirmation hearing about two recent decisions, including a 5-4 ruling Monday, which essentially guaranteed citizens' Second Amendment rights to have guns, no matter where they live.

Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California decried growing gang violence in her state, saying officials need leeway to deal with it.

Kagan responded that "once a court decides a case as it did, it's binding precedent." And she said judges must respect a precedent unless it proves unworkable or new facts emerge that would change the circumstances of a case.

BP Plc was sued by members of its employee savings plan over losses tied to the company’s plunging stock price amid the oil leak disaster in the Gulf of Mexico.

BP has lost more than half of its market value since the April 20 explosion that caused the largest oil spill in U.S. history. The fire and blast aboard the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig that was working on a well for London-based BP killed 11 members of its crew.

The lawsuit, for which the workers are seeking class- action, or group, status was filed yesterday in federal court in Chicago.

“Defendants knew or should have known that investment in BP Plc equity was -- and continues to be -- an imprudent investment of the ESP’s assets due to serious mismanagement and improper business practices that resulted in catastrophic incidents of international significance, including, among others, the BP spill in the Gulf of Mexico,” the plaintiffs claimed.

Full-time, part-time, occasional and temporary employees are eligible to invest in the employee savings plan, or ESP, according to the lawsuit. Regulatory filings show that the plan held $2.45 billion worth of BP American depositary shares, or 29 percent its $8.27 billion of assets, at the end of 2009, according to the complaint.

A man was convicted Monday of murder as a hate crime during his retrial on charges that he beat an Ecuadorean immigrant with an aluminum baseball bat after mistaking him and his brother for a gay couple.

Jurors deliberated for about seven hours before convicting Keith Phoenix in the death of Jose Sucuzhanay. He also was convicted of attempted assault as a hate crime in the attack on Romel Sucuzhanay.

The trial started about six weeks after the mistrial was declared on May 11 when a juror refused to deliberate.

The brothers were walking home from a bar after a party at a Brooklyn church on Dec. 7, 2008. Romel Sucuzhanay had put his coat around his brother to keep him warm and was helping him walk because he was drunk.

Meanwhile, Hakim Scott, 26 and Phoenix, 30, also leaving a party, pulled up in a sport utility vehicle. They began yelling anti-gay and anti-Hispanic slurs, according to Assistant District Attorney Josh Hanshaft.

Baton Rouge rapper Torrence "Lil Boosie" Hatch has pleaded not guilty to several charges including first-degree murder.

Hatch appeared Monday before state District Judge Mike Erwin.

Hatch's attorney, Marcus Allen, spoke after the hearing and said Hatch is "absolutely not guilty."

The Advocate reports that Hatch is accused of paying a man to kill 35-year-old Terry Boyd, who was shot to death through a window while inside his home on Oct. 21. Two other Baton Rouge men also face first-degree murder charges in Boyd's death.