World News

The world\'s second-largest re-insurer, Swiss Re says the earthquake in Chile may cost the global insurance industry as much as $7 billion.

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP):Dutch Catholic bishops announced an independent inquiry yesterday into allegations of sexual abuse of children by priests at church schools, and apologised to victims."Bishops and religious workers offer their deep-felt...

Japan has confirmed the existence of a secret Cold War deal allowing the transit of nuclear-armed US vessels through its ports.

The Brazilian government has announced trade sanctions against a variety of American goods in retaliation for illegal US subsidies to cotton farmers.

Toyota has rejected claims that faulty electronics are behind its worldwide recall of more than eight million cars.

Still no school for many after quake - SANTIAGO, Chile (AP)Chile's earthquake-delayed school year began Monday, but education officials said it may take until April 1 before all students are back in classrooms.About half of the schools in the disaster zone...

New York, United States (AP):The dollar was mixed against major currencies but slid versus the euro Monday after European leaders said they would back Greece through a debt crisis that has jeopardised the common currency.The 16-nation euro rose to...

The Indian government has reintroduced a bill, which would reserve a third of all seats in the national parliament and state legislatures for women.

The United Nations is hosting a meeting today to review the results of a landmark conference in Beijing in 1995, which came up with a plan to end discrimination against women.

CONCEPCION, Chile (AP): Huge piles of wreckage and tons of rotting fish and other debris blanketing the ground are turning the coastal towns shattered by Chile's earthquake and tsunami into nests of infection, doctors warned.

MADRID (AP):Spain last week approved a sweeping new law that eases restrictions on abortion, declaring the practice a woman's right and doing away with the threat of imprisonment, in part of a drive toward liberal policies that has angered conservatives...

VATICAN CITY (AP):The Vatican's top bioethics official dismissed calls for his resignation following an uproar over his defense of doctors who aborted the twin fetuses of a nine-year-old child who was raped by her stepfather.