International

• Tuesday, March 6th 2012 - 04:51 UTC

  China increases defense budget to 100bn dollars; India says it is closer to 150bn

  

  China has announced it will increase defense spending by 11.2% in 2012, for the first time taking its annual military expenditure beyond 100 billion dollars as it puts in place plans to modernize its Army against the backdrop of an uncertain regional environment.

• Tuesday, March 6th 2012 - 01:06 UTC

  China targets 7.5% economic growth as it prepares for change of leadership

  

  China expects economic growth of 7.5% this year as it looks for more sustainable expansion, prepares for a change in leadership and rides out a global slowdown. Premier Wen Jiabao unveiled the target at the start of the annual National People's Congress.

• Tuesday, March 6th 2012 - 01:00 UTC

  EU conservative governments openly support Sarkozy re-election, claims Spiegel

  

  German Chancellor Angela Merkel has agreed with other conservative European leaders to help President Nicolas Sarkozy in the French election campaign by spurning his Socialist challenger François Hollande, according to the German media Spiegel.

• Monday, March 5th 2012 - 23:58 UTC

  Brazil sends letter to Blatter: no dealings with FIFA’s Valcke: he’s a bum

  

  Brazil's Sports minister says he has delivered a letter telling FIFA that it won't deal with Secretary General Jerome Valcke during the country's preparations for the 2014 World Cup.

• Monday, March 5th 2012 - 23:47 UTC

  Wikileaks suspect suffered “cruel and degrading” treatment, says UN rapporteur on torture

  

  US authorities’ treatment of WikiLeaks suspect Private Bradley Manning was “cruel and degrading,” the UN special rapporteur on torture Juan Ernesto Mendez said Monday.

• Monday, March 5th 2012 - 20:05 UTC

  Chinese athletes banned from eating beef: fears of the clenbuterol substance

  

  Chinese athletes preparing for the London Olympics have been banned from eating meat over fears they may consume clenbuterol -the prohibited performance-enhancing substance led to Chinese Olympic judo champion Tong Wen's two-year banm, reports China Daily.

• Monday, March 5th 2012 - 19:54 UTC

  Russia bans European cattle and hog imports because of Schmallenberg virus

  

  Russia will ban shipments of Europe's cattle and hogs from March 20 due to an outbreak of the Schmallenberg virus, which causes birth deformities, said the Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Surveillance, the country's food-safety watchdog.

• Monday, March 5th 2012 - 19:32 UTC

  Spanish unemployment keeps rising; dispute with the EC over the deficit target

  

  The number of people claiming unemployment benefit in Spain rose by 112.269 in January, taking the overall figure to 4.7 million. Spain’s unemployment rate stands at 22.9%, the highest in the 17-nation Euro-zone.

• Monday, March 5th 2012 - 19:09 UTC

  Taiwan reluctantly accepts US beef imports with “safe level” of ractopamine

  

  The Taiwanese Executive was leaning toward conditionally lifting a ban on the import of US beef that has been grown with a leanness-enhancing drug banned in Taiwan, the government said Monday.

• Monday, March 5th 2012 - 19:03 UTC

  HMS Protector returns to spot in Antarctica where Shackleton saved his men

  

  Sailors from HMS Protector have returned to the exact spot where polar explorer Ernest Shackleton saved his men nearly 100 years ago. A team form the ice survey ship carried out scientific research at Point Wild on Elephant Island - a remote and forbidding shore where Shackleton expedition party spent months awaiting rescue in 1916.