International

• Sunday, March 13th 2011 - 00:33 UTC

  Explosion at quake-damaged Japanese nuclear power station; 170.000 evacuated

  

  An estimated 170,000 people have been evacuated from the area around a quake-damaged nuclear power station in north-east Japan that was hit by an explosion, the UN atomic watchdog says.

• Saturday, March 12th 2011 - 23:39 UTC

  Euro-zone tightens budget rules; bail-out facility will buy bonds directly from governments

  

  European leaders widened the scope of the Euro’s rescue fund, authorized it to buy government bonds and eased the terms of Greek bailout loans as they unexpectedly pushed through fresh measures to end the bloc’s debt crisis.

• Saturday, March 12th 2011 - 23:26 UTC

  Arab League calls on UN Security Council for a no-fly zone over Libya

  

  The Arab League threw its support behind calls for a no-fly zone over Libya on Saturday as the Libyan military closed in on the opposition. The League urged on Saturday the United Nations to close Libyan airspace, as forces loyal to Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi continued using war planes to bombard the country's rebels.

• Saturday, March 12th 2011 - 05:48 UTC

  Bordering Spanish towns want to improve cooperation with Gibraltar

  

  Spanish towns neighbouring with Gibraltar have said they want to improve cooperation and day to day communications with the Rock. Isabel Beneroso president of the Mancomunidad de Municipios (Commonwealth of municipalities) visited Gibraltar’s Chief Minister Peter Caruana, the second PSOE politician to call within the space of a week.

• Saturday, March 12th 2011 - 05:40 UTC

  Lord Mandelson calls for UK to boost trade with Bric countries

  

  Britain could boost its exports by £27 billion if it increased its share of trade with four of the world's fastest growing economies, Lord Mandelson has said. In a speech in London, the former business secretary drew attention to findings that suggest UK exports to Brazil, Russia, India and China - the so-called 'Bric countries' - are lagging behind the rest of the world.

• Saturday, March 12th 2011 - 05:33 UTC

  Nuclear emergency and thousands of residents evacuated

  

  The Japanese government declared a state of emergency at five nuclear reactors as cooling systems failed. Authorities battled Saturday to contain rising pressure at the plants damaged by a massive earthquake and were moving tens of thousands of residents from the area.

• Saturday, March 12th 2011 - 05:21 UTC

  Japan begins huge relief effort: hundreds killed but more feared disappeared

  

  A mammoth relief mission is swinging into action in north-east Japan, a day after it was struck by a devastating tsunami, claiming hundreds of lives. Whole villages have been washed away and at least one town has been largely destroyed.

• Friday, March 11th 2011 - 01:48 UTC

  In spite of inflation, Bank of England leaves interest rates at record low 0.5%

  

  UK interest rates have been held again at their record low of 0.5% by the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee. There has now been no change to the Bank rate for two years, despite the fact that inflation is currently twice the Bank's target rate.

• Friday, March 11th 2011 - 01:23 UTC

  European Parliament casts uncertainty over EU/Mercosur trade talks

  

  This week’s strong statement from the European Parliament warning about concessions that ‘can adversely affect European farmers’, precisely a week before Mercosur and EU delegates meet in Brussels to advance trade discussions has caused a certain degree of uncertainty among the South American group delegates.

• Friday, March 11th 2011 - 00:53 UTC

  Decline of bees’ colonies threatens pollination, essential for growing more crops

  

  More than a dozen factors, ranging from declines in flowering plants and the use of memory-damaging insecticides to the world-wide spread of pests and air pollution, may be behind the emerging decline of bee colonies across many parts of the globe.