International

• Tuesday, March 29th 2011 - 00:55 UTC

  African migrants flood Italian islands: 19.000 since civil unrest begun in January

  Nearly 2,000 African migrants, many of them Eritrean and Somalis, have arrived on Italy's tiny, overcrowded Lampedusa Island in the past 24 hours. It is one of the biggest migrant waves to reach Lampedusa this year.

• Tuesday, March 29th 2011 - 00:53 UTC

  Royal Navy former flagship HMS Ark Royal up for sale on MoD website

  

  British aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal is up for sale on the Ministry of Defence's auction website. The Royal Navy's former flagship was decommissioned two weeks ago after 25 years in service as part of the government's defence budget review.

• Monday, March 28th 2011 - 16:38 UTC

  Israel demands Argentina clarifies an alleged “trade for silence” deal with Iran

  

  Israel may cancel a visit by Argentina's foreign minister after a report that the country told Iran it would stop investigating two bombings of Jewish targets in exchange for better trade relations.
  Argentinean Foreign Minister Hector Timerman is scheduled to visit Israel next week.

• Monday, March 28th 2011 - 04:30 UTC

  Japan’s losses open excellent prospects for Chile’s coho salmon

  

  The March 9 earthquake and tsunami destroyed most of Japan’s profitable salmon industry, but Japan’s loss may be Chile’s gain. <br />
  The catastrophe directly hit the main fishing areas in the provinces of Aomori, Iwate, Miyagi, Fukushima, Ibaraki and Chiaba, destroying 20% of the salmon industry and completely shutting down fishing ports.

• Monday, March 28th 2011 - 01:03 UTC

  IMF recommends ending fiscal stimulus before turning to capital controls

  

  Latin American policy makers should withdraw fiscal and monetary stimulus to prevent their economies from overheating before turning to capital controls to limit foreign currency inflows, said Nicolas Eyzaguirre, the International Monetary Fund Western Hemisphere director.

• Monday, March 28th 2011 - 01:00 UTC

  Fukushima thrashes Merkel; German Greens to appoint their first state premier ever

  

  The Fukushima syndrome hit hard in Germany for Chancellor Angela Merkel's ruling coalition that suffered bruising losses in two state legislative elections Sunday, losing control of the main prize, Baden-Wuerttemberg state.

• Sunday, March 27th 2011 - 22:55 UTC

  Libya: As you sow, so shall you reap

  The west has already scripted the ouster of the Libyan strongman Colonel Muammar Qadhafi. Coalition forces have given a severe blow to the Libyan Air Force and Army. Now, NATO has taken over the military command. Qadhafi’s one son has reportedly been killed. Qadhafi can be dethroned anytime.

• Sunday, March 27th 2011 - 05:04 UTC

  Radioactivity levels 1.250 times higher than normal in sea water at Fukushima

  

  Radioactivity levels are soaring in seawater near the crippled Fukushima Daiichi plant, Japan's nuclear safety agency said, two weeks after the nuclear power plant was hit by a massive earthquake and tsunami.

• Sunday, March 27th 2011 - 05:00 UTC

  Yemen president negotiating terms of transfer of power

  

  Agreement is close on a transfer of power from Yemen's veteran President, Ali Abdullah Saleh, a government minister says. After six weeks of protests, Mr Saleh has said he is willing to step down this year. But the demonstrators want him to go immediately

• Sunday, March 27th 2011 - 04:53 UTC

  Ending BBC Caribbean Service considered politically unwise for region’s public opinion

  

  BBC Caribbean Service has made its final broadcast, ending seven decades of programming for the region. The service is being shut as part of budget cuts announced by the BBC World Service in January.