International

• Wednesday, April 15th 2009 - 05:14 UTC

  French fishermen block Channel ports to protests EU quotas

  

  French fishing boats have mounted a blockade of three Channel ports, interrupting ferry and freight traffic in a dispute over fishing quotas. At Calais, Boulogne and Dunkirk fishing fleets are preventing ships entering or leaving the harbour.

• Wednesday, April 15th 2009 - 05:08 UTC

  Germany bans GM maize; “scientific and not political” decision

  

  Germany is to ban the cultivation of genetically modified (GM) maize - the only GM crop widely grown in Europe. The decision, announced on Tuesday by German Agriculture Minister Ilse Aigner, is a blow to the US biotech firm Monsanto, which markets the maize.

• Wednesday, April 15th 2009 - 05:05 UTC

  “Aurora” round-the-world cruise ends short and with compensation demand

  

  The stricken cruise ship Aurora has arrived back in Britain amid the threat of legal action from passengers, reports The Daily Telegraph. Engine trouble forced the ship to miss out three ports in New Zealand and two in the Pacific Islands on the £16,000 per passenger round-the-world trip.

• Tuesday, April 14th 2009 - 13:33 UTC

  Japanese whaling fleet limps back home with lower catch

  

  Japan’s Fisheries Agency said on Monday ships from the country’s whaling fleet returned to port from the Antarctic Ocean with a lower catch than planned after being harassed by anti-whaling campaigners. The agency also indicated that several ships report some damage from clashes with the conservationists.

• Tuesday, April 14th 2009 - 13:19 UTC

  China optimistic about recovery but ready to “spend more”

  

  China's economy is showing some signs of recovery from the global financial crisis, the country's Prime Minister Wen Jiabao has said. The economy is showing “positive changes” but still faces “very big difficulties”, he said on the sidelines of Thailand's cancelled Asean summit.

• Monday, April 13th 2009 - 11:10 UTC

  House and flat sales in Britain remain very sluggish

  

  Nearly a third of flats and more than a quarter of houses up for sale in Britain have been on the market for more than six months, research has shown. Around 30% of flats and 26% of houses have failed to sell during the past six months, while 10% of flats and 7% of houses have been on the market for more than a year, according to property website Globrix.com.

• Sunday, April 12th 2009 - 19:09 UTC

  Urbi et Orbi message of his holiness pope Benedict XVI

  

  From the depths of my heart, I wish all of you a blessed Easter. To quote Saint Augustine, “Resurrectio Domini, spes nostra – the resurrection of the Lord is our hope” (Sermon 261:1). With these words, the great Bishop explained to the faithful that Jesus rose again so that we, though destined to die, should not despair, worrying that with death life is completely finished; Christ is risen to give us hope (cf. ibid.).

• Saturday, April 11th 2009 - 19:33 UTC

  Cruise industry’s trust in further growth suggests continued prosperity in Falklands

  

  Albeit intensely debating the global economic downturn and its impact on tourism, this year’s Seatrade Miami Cruise convention – the world’s most important gathering of cruise industry professionals – has emitted a generally positive signal: The industry believes in continued growth.

• Saturday, April 11th 2009 - 08:28 UTC

  Pope’s Good Friday special prayer for survivors of earthquake

  

  Pope Benedict reflected on the tragedies and disasters that test faith during a Good Friday procession in Rome, just hours after Italians buried victims of the country's devastating earthquake.

• Friday, April 10th 2009 - 20:08 UTC

  Italy: Day of mourning for quake victims

  

  Grieving relatives collapsed over flower-draped caskets of the victims of Italy's worst earthquake in three decades as the nation joined in a day of mourning.