International

• 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.

• Tuesday, March 15th 2011 - 07:58 UTC

  Japanese officials admit radiation levels at nuclear plant are eight times higher

  

  Explosions at a Japanese quake-stricken nuclear plant have led to radiation levels that can affect human health, a senior Japanese official has said. Prime Minister Naoto Kan has urged those living within 30km of the plant to stay indoors.

• Tuesday, March 15th 2011 - 05:32 UTC

  Corruption and inflation, main challenges to social stability admits China

  

  Premier Wen Jiabao said on Monday China would pursue political reforms only in a “gradual” manner and within the umbrella of one-party rule, even as he ruled out the likelihood of the recent West Asian uprisings having any impact on China.

• Monday, March 14th 2011 - 07:05 UTC

  Second explosion at nuclear plant damaged by Japan’s earthquake

  

  A second explosion has hit the nuclear plant in Japan that was damaged in Friday's earthquake, but officials said it had resisted the blast. TV footage showed smoke rising from Fukushima plant's reactor 3, a day after an explosion hit reactor 1.

• Monday, March 14th 2011 - 06:50 UTC

  Brazil preparing plan to stimulate industry and cut knick-knack Chinese imports

  

  Brazil imports too many knick-knacks from China complained Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff, who next month makes an official state visit to the Asian giant, according to reports in the Sao Paulo press

• Monday, March 14th 2011 - 06:45 UTC

  China working to become a leading defence-industrial power, says British report

  

  China has set its sights on joining the ranks of the world's leading defence-industrial powers, amid growing concerns in India over Beijing's recent assertiveness and its change in policy towards New Delhi's row with Pakistan over Kashmir, according to a top UK think tank.

• Monday, March 14th 2011 - 06:36 UTC

  India becomes world’s top weapons importer; US largest exporter, says SIPRI

  

  India replaced China as the world’s top weapons importer, according to a study by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, SIPRI, as it aims to modernize its armed forces and project power through the region.

• Monday, March 14th 2011 - 03:52 UTC

  Russian oligarchs turn Moscow to the world’s billionaire capital

  

  Russian oligarchs are back with a bang, making Moscow officially the world’s billionaire capital. Profiting from the recent commodity boom, the number of the country’s billionaires — most of whom built their empires during Russia’s anarchic 1990s — grew two thirds to 101, from last year’s 62, according to Forbes.