World

In the United Kingdom, the unemployment rate has increased by twenty-seven thousand and has achieved a total of 2.53 million. This figure, which was measured between October 2010 and January 2011, is the highest rate of unemployment the country has experienced since 1994. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) stated that the percentage of those jobless was eight per cent, the peak for that rate since 1996. In the three months approaching February 2011, nearly five hundred thousand occupations were vacant, an increase of twenty-four thousan

Libyan government forces and rebel fighters have been fighting in two different cities Wednesday, in both the east and west of the country. Fighting was reported in the cities of Ajdabiya, an eastern city that is the last settlement before Benghazi, the main rebel location, and in Misrata, the only town still controlled by rebels in western Libya. Rebels claimed to have held off government troops in both cities, though dozens of people are reported dead in the latest violence. Control of Ajdabiya has reportedly shifted between government and

A state of emergency was declared in Bahrain on Tuesday by King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa as protests in the country escalated further, leaving at least two dead. The declaration was announced on state television, and "authorized the commander of Bahrain's defense forces to take all necessary measures to protect the safety of the country and its citizens." The state of emergency will last for three months. Further protests took place Tuesday in both the capitol of Manama and the nearby city of Sitra. Two people were reported to have died, one

A wildfire affected eighteen hectares of scrubland, grassland and eucalyptus in the Ranguilí area of Lolol, Chile. Due to strong winds and climatic conditions in the area, as well as the imminent risk of it spreading to homes, the National Emergencies Office of the Ministry of the Interior (ONEMI) declared a red alert for the commune on Sunday. It was then decreased to yellow alert, until it was finally lifted on Tuesday, after the wildfire was extinguished. Both Chile's National Early Warning Centre, and the O'Higgins Region ONEMI monitored

Government security forces and Saudi Arabian troops have killed at least six protesters and injured around a thousand others in Bahrain. Protesters have expressed their objection to any foreign intervention within Bahrain. One protester said that security forces "fired tear gas and then opened fire. ... We lifted our arms and started saying ‘Peaceful, peaceful.’ Then we had to run away." Live ammunition was fired by soldiers both on the ground and in helicopters, who attacked people in at least five villages. According to a medical source spe

Akihito, the emperor of Japan, has made a live appearance on national television saying he was "deeply worried" after the earthquake and tsunami that hit last Friday. The emperor made his announcement shortly after technicians working to stabilise a nuclear plant temporarily abandoned it as radiation started to surge. The emperor's appearance caused television stations to interrupt scheduled programming. During his appearance he said "I hope from the bottom of my heart that the people will, hand in hand, treat each other with compassion and

Dr Freddy Patel, a former British Home Office pathologist, has been criticised by a panel at the General Medical Council (GMC), Britain's regulatory body for doctors. Dr Patel had concluded that the death of Sally White in 2002, the first victim of Anthony Hardy (the so-called "Camden Ripper"), could have been from natural causes. The report produced by Dr Patel concluded that Sally White had been having consensual sex in her apartment when she died of a heart attack, in spite of blood stains on her clothing, blood at the scene, damage to Ms W

The official death toll from the devastating Japanese earthquake that hit on Friday is now nearing 1,900, while police officials say that it is all but certain the final toll will be at least 10,000 people dead. Bodies are still being recovered—2,000 thus far in the Miyagi Prefecture alone. The official count of those missing has now reached 2,300, though in one town alone, an estimated half of the 17,000 person population is still unaccounted for. Approximately 350,000 people have been left without homes; shelters are providing housing for

Troops from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have arrived in Bahrain at the government's request after major protests on Sunday. An estimated 1,000 Saudi Arabian troops entered the country early Monday, followed by around 500 troops from the UAE. The troops entered as part of a broader deployment by the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf (GCC), a regional group of six countries. It is unclear what purpose the troops are serving, though speculation is that they will guard major infrastructure facilities. Al Wefaq,

A thirteen-month-old Canadian infant dying from a unknown neurological condition was transferred Sunday night from a Canadian hospital, where he had received treatment since October 2010, to a U.S. hospital. In January, a Canadian Superior Court judge had ruled that the Canadian hospital could remove the infant's breathing tube against the parents' wishes and issued a do-not-resuscitate order. According to court documents, Joseph Maraachli, known as "Baby Joseph", has been repeatedly diagnosed as in a vegetative state with no hope of recover

David Emmanuel, a British reggae singer known as Smiley Culture, has died during a police raid at his home in Surrey, England. The singer is believed to have died from a stab wound when the Metropolitan police arrived at his house at 07:00 (GMT). Emmanuel, aged 48, was due to face trial for conspiracy to supply cocaine next week. It is unclear how Emmanuel received the stab wound but investigators from the Independent Police Complaints Commission are looking to see if it was self-inflicted. Mike Franklin, the South East IPCC commissioner, rele

According to the Italian-based National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology, the magnitude 8.9 earthquake that struck Japan on Friday caused the axis of the planet Earth to shift by approximately ten centimetres. Experts believe that According to La Nación, the impact of the Japanese earthquake caused an energy release one hundred times larger than that of the earthquake which struck Haiti in 2010. Leading the research at the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology, Antonio Piersanti stated that Richard Gross, of NASA's Jet Pro