International

• Wednesday, March 16th 2011 - 01:32 UTC

  ‘Frozen’ Japanese economy expected to rebound positively in third quarter

  

  Friday's earthquake and tsunami have left parts of Japan's economy “frozen”, but analysts forecast that it will bounce back later this year. Some of the country's leading producers, including the world's biggest carmaker, Toyota, have closed all of their plants in the country.

• Wednesday, March 16th 2011 - 01:23 UTC

  State elections behind Merkel’s decision to halt 7 of Germany’s 17 nuclear reactors

  

  German Chancellor Angela Merkel is backtracking on nuclear power as the atomic emergency in Japan becomes an issue in state-election campaigns. Merkel’s decision to halt seven of Germany’s 17 reactors includes two in Baden-Wuerttemberg, where her party is battling to retain its 59-year-hold on the state in a March 27 vote.

• Tuesday, March 15th 2011 - 23:49 UTC

  Mercosur claims EU is willing to continue negotiations, but requests more time

  

  Mercosur was prepared to listen to proposals on liberalizing trade, but the European Union requested more time and continue working with the negotiations, according to Mercosur delegates attending the trade talks with EU in Brussels.

• Tuesday, March 15th 2011 - 23:38 UTC

  EU chief negotiator admits ‘complications’ but confident of a trade accord with Mercosur

  

  A strongly worded resolution from Members of the European Parliament earlier this month outlining their concerns over agriculture does not represent a setback for EU-Mercosur trade talks, the EU chief negotiator said in Brussels.

• Tuesday, March 15th 2011 - 11:12 UTC

  The Queen’s Commonwealth Day speech

  Last week, on the 8th of March, we marked the hundredth anniversary of the first International Women’s Day. The idea of having a women’s day was first proposed against the backdrop of the rapid industrialisation of the early twentieth century.

• Tuesday, March 15th 2011 - 10:19 UTC

  Harvard ranked as the university with the world highest reputation

  

  According to Times Higher Education (THE) ever World Reputation Rankings, Harvard, MIT and the University of Cambridge are the most globally well-regarded universities.

• Tuesday, March 15th 2011 - 10:16 UTC

  China became world’s top manufacturing nation, ending 110 year US leadership

  

  China has ended a 110-year-long US leadership, overtaking the country as the world's top manufacturing nation in 2010, reports quoting a research report by US-based consultancy IHS Global Insight said.

• Tuesday, March 15th 2011 - 10:09 UTC

  FAO organizing seminars world wide to help respond to the escalating food prices

  

  The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, FAO, is running a series of seminars in Africa, Asia and the Pacific, Central Asia, Europe, Latin America, and the Near East to help governments to make informed decisions on how to respond to high food prices which are becoming increasingly destabilizing.

• Tuesday, March 15th 2011 - 10:04 UTC

  North Korea with FAO and OIE aid combating trans-boundary FMD outbreaks

  

  North Korea has accepted a team of animal health specialists from FAO and the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) to assist veterinary authorities in combating outbreaks of Foot-and-Mouth disease among pigs and cattle, which seem to be endemic in the country.

• Tuesday, March 15th 2011 - 10:00 UTC

  Saudi troops march into Bahrain amid escalating protests

  

  Hundreds of Saudi troops have entered Bahrain to help protect government facilities there amid escalating protests against the government. Bahrain television on Monday broadcast images of troops in armoured cars entering the Gulf state via the 26km causeway that connects the kingdom to Saudi Arabia.