International

• Thursday, February 24th 2011 - 03:37 UTC

  Using a mobile phone stirs brain metabolism, says US medical report

  

  Using a mobile phone for 50 minutes stirs brain metabolism, although the health consequences are unknown and need to be studied further, U.S. researchers said.

• Thursday, February 24th 2011 - 03:35 UTC

  Moody cuts Japan’s credit rating to “negative” citing concern over debt levels

  

  Moody's Investor Services has cut its outlook on Japan's credit rating to “negative” from “stable” citing concerns about debt levels. Moody's currently rates Japan's government debt at an Aa2 level.

• Thursday, February 24th 2011 - 00:12 UTC

  Libya: Peru cuts links; Cuba, Venezuela support Gadaffi, blame “imperialist states”

  

  Peru announced it has suspended diplomatic relations with Libya over the use of force against civilians there. It is the first country to take such a step since the anti-government protests erupted in Libya last week.

• Wednesday, February 23rd 2011 - 22:24 UTC

  An alcoholic drink a day helps keep heart disease at bay, says medical report

  

  An alcoholic drink a day can help keep heart disease at bay, according to a review of 30 years of research. The work, published in the British Medical Journal, showed a 14% to 25% reduction in heart disease in moderate drinkers compared with people who had never drunk alcohol.

• Wednesday, February 23rd 2011 - 07:36 UTC

  Amnesty International top anti-poverty officials resign and pocket £ 850.000

  

  Amnesty International paid its outgoing secretary general and deputy secretary general a total of about £850,000 in the year that both women resigned, the organization’s accounts show.

• Wednesday, February 23rd 2011 - 07:04 UTC

  Canada and Australia have seven of the top ten most liveable cities in the world

  

  Canada’s Vancouver has been selected as the world's most liveable city, while Toronto remained the fourth most attractive place to live, according to the Economist magazine.

• Wednesday, February 23rd 2011 - 07:02 UTC

  OPEC promises to compensate for any oil drop off by unrest in Middle East

  

  Trying to calm turbulent oil markets, Saudi Arabia's Oil Minister said on Tuesday that the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) was ready to pump more oil to compensate for any drop-off caused by unrest in the Middle East.

• Wednesday, February 23rd 2011 - 06:32 UTC

  Biotech crops keep advancing and currently cover over a billion hectares

  

  The amount of land devoted to genetically engineered crops grew 10% last year, and 7% in the year before, as farmers in major grain and soy exporting countries such as Brazil and Argentina continued to adopt the new seeds.

• Wednesday, February 23rd 2011 - 06:24 UTC

  Ireland flatly opposes beef quotas in current EU/Mercosur trade talks

  

  Beef quotas being sought by the Mercosur countries as part of the ongoing negotiations with the EU were “simply not acceptable”, said Ireland’s Minister for Agriculture, Brendan Smith.

• Tuesday, February 22nd 2011 - 14:44 UTC

  NZ quake kills 65; 100 people trapped in the rubble; major glacier cracks

  

  More than 100 people are believed to be trapped in rubble after a deadly 6.3-magnitude earthquake rocked the southern New Zealand city of Christchurch on Tuesday, killing at least 65 people.