International

• Wednesday, April 24th 2013 - 23:40 UTC

  New bird flu strain in China “one of the most lethal” warns WHO

  

  A new bird flu strain that has killed 22 people in China is “one of the most lethal” of its kind and transmits more easily to humans than another strain that has killed hundreds since 2003, a World Health Organization (WHO) expert said on Wednesday.

• Wednesday, April 24th 2013 - 23:29 UTC

  UK launches legal challenge against the EU financial transactions tax

  

  The UK government has launched a legal challenge against plans for a European financial transactions tax (FTT), according to the BBC. The FTT will be adopted by 11 EU states, but not by the UK and Ministers fear it could be imposed on UK firms trading with businesses based in one of the 11 states.

• Wednesday, April 24th 2013 - 23:20 UTC

  China plans more carriers as it extends naval influence and anticipates conflicts in the region

  

  China unveiled plans to build more aircraft carriers after commissioning its first last year, as the country extends its influence amid territorial disputes with neighbours including Japan and Vietnam. China already has the world’s second-biggest military budget after the US.

• Wednesday, April 24th 2013 - 23:06 UTC

  Newspaper reporters, “the worst job” in the US: low pay and high stress

  

  A new study has found that newspaper reporters have the “worst job” in the United States in 2012. CareerCast.com said that “low pay and high stress” are the main reasons why the job is considered the “worst.”

• Wednesday, April 24th 2013 - 06:14 UTC

  Eight years late Cuba’s Ladies in White collect the Sakharov Prize

  

  Members of the Cuban dissident group Ladies in White collected Tuesday the Sakharov Prize that the European Parliament awarded them in 2005, and in the process had harsh words to say about the situation in their homeland.

• Wednesday, April 24th 2013 - 01:47 UTC

  Falkland Island''s tells MPs ‘we’re no quaint toy town’ on suggestion of changing Stanley’s name

  

  A suggestion by some British senior Members of Parliament advocating a change of name for the Falkland Islands capital, Stanley to Port Margaret Thatcher in honour of the late Baroness had a strong reply from the local weekly, Penguin News.

• Tuesday, April 23rd 2013 - 06:38 UTC

  Spain official population fell in 2012, first time since 1946 because of the recession

  

  Spain's official population fell last year for the first time since the 1940s as immigrants fled a five-year on-and-off recession that has sent unemployment soaring. The number of residents fell by 206,000 to 47.1 million, the National Statistics Institute said on Monday.

• Tuesday, April 23rd 2013 - 04:15 UTC

  Ralph Lauren fined in the US for briberies committed by Argentine subsidiary

  

  Ralph Lauren Corp. has agreed to pay 1.6 million dollars to the US Securities and Exchange Commission, SEC, after finding that its subsidiary in Argentina repeatedly bribed customs officials, federal authorities announced Monday.

• Tuesday, April 23rd 2013 - 02:32 UTC

  Prince Harry in South Pole race in support of wounded servicemen

  

  Britain’s Prince Harry will take part in a race to the South Pole with a team of wounded British servicemen and women it was announced over the weekend. The 28-year-old will take on teams from the United States and the Commonwealth in the 335km Walking With The Wounded South Pole Allied Challenge in November and December this year.

• Tuesday, April 23rd 2013 - 02:09 UTC

  Argentina and Brazil private sectors team up to promote exports to Arab countries

  

  With the intention of boosting exports to Arab nations, the Argentine and Brazilian chambers of commerce have established an Arab-South American Commerce Federation it was reported in Buenos Aires.