International

• Thursday, March 17th 2011 - 07:44 UTC

  Japanese tsunami surprises Midway atoll killing thousands of albatrosses

  

  Thousands of albatrosses and other endangered species at a wildlife sanctuary north-west of Hawaii have been killed by the tsunami which devastated Japan, US officials say.

• Wednesday, March 16th 2011 - 23:28 UTC

  UK unemployment hits 17-year high: 2.5 million Brits out of a job

  

  The number of unemployed in the UK has hit a 17-year high of more than 2.5 million and pushed the unemployment rate to 8%, official data showed Wednesday.

• Wednesday, March 16th 2011 - 23:25 UTC

  Wikileads cables reveal Japan was warned about poor safety at nuclear plants

  

  As concerns about a meltdown at the Fukushima plant escalate, Britain’s the Telegraph revealed a series of two-year-old cables the paper obtained from Wikileaks that show unnamed experts telling Japanese officials they needed to update their nuclear safety protocols.

• Wednesday, March 16th 2011 - 15:05 UTC

  WHO: radiation risk in Japan limited to area next to damaged nuclear plant

  

  The risk of the contamination of food products from nuclear radiation in Japan is limited to the specific area surrounding the damaged nuclear plant, according to a source from the World Health Organization (WHO).

• Wednesday, March 16th 2011 - 14:38 UTC

  MEP warns on dangers to Scotland of ‘cheap meat’ imports from Mercosur

  

  European Agriculture Commissioner Dacian Ciolos has been warned of the dangers facing Scotland if the EU opens its markets to large quantities of ‘cheap meat’ imports from Mercosur, reports the Farmers’ Guardían.

• Wednesday, March 16th 2011 - 06:07 UTC

  Japan seems unable to control stricken nuclear plant; fears of radiation

  

  Workers were ordered to withdraw from a stricken Japanese nuclear power plant on Wednesday after radiation levels rose, Kyodo news reported, a development that suggested the crisis was spiralling out of control.

• Wednesday, March 16th 2011 - 05:58 UTC

  Gaddafi ever more confident he can defeat Benghazi ‘dogs and traitors’

  

  Libya’s Muammar Gaddafi appeared at a Tuesday evening rally in a huge tent in Tripoli, condemning the rebels as rats, dogs, hypocrites and traitors. As he spoke, thousands gathered in a Benghazi square denouncing him as a tyrant and throwing shoes and other objects at his image projected upside down on a wall.

• Wednesday, March 16th 2011 - 05:38 UTC

  Bahrain threatens to turn into a conflict between Sunni-rulers and Shi’ite majority

  

  Bahrain's king declared martial law as his government struggled to quell an uprising by the island's Shi'ite Muslim majority that has drawn in troops from fellow Sunni-ruled neighbour Saudi Arabia.

• Wednesday, March 16th 2011 - 03:59 UTC

  Uruguay recognizes Palestinian sovereign state and will open embassy in Ramallah

  

  Uruguay announced on Tuesday it had recognized a Palestinian state, becoming the latest in a string of Latin American countries to make an endorsement in recent months the United States has called premature.

• Wednesday, March 16th 2011 - 03:05 UTC

  Japanese stocks rebound; central bank injects 326 billion USD in three days

  

  Japanese stocks rebounded Wednesday as concerns over the long-term impact of Friday's earthquake and tsunami on Japan's economy ease.