The bases could therefore be attacked with greater precision, as the EU decided Friday - in spite of warnings that this could lead to a further escalation of the conflict in Somalia. Geo-strategic considerations are at the core of the militarization projects, being promoted by the Bundeswehr. The Indian Ocean has become extremely important in global policy and it will play a pivotal role in future conflicts with China. Under no circumstances should the "new momentum in the greater region of the Indian Ocean" be neglected, warns the director of the SWP. Military strategists are underlining the importance of a strong naval presence in the ocean between Africa and Southeast Asia.

The appeal of the German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP) for new militarization projects corresponds to the decision taken by the EU's foreign ministers last Friday, to combat piracy also on shore in the future. According to this decision, not the pirates themselves, but their weapons, vessels, fuel and even food supplies should be attacked and destroyed. This should be permitted "on shore," but the military seeks to avoid clarifying, what exactly is meant by "shore," and what is being targeted.

These regulations are of particular importance to Germany, not only because of the endorsement by Berlin's foreign minister, but also because of the prominent role the Bundeswehr is currently playing in the EU Operation Atalanta. The Bundeswehr had just dispatched its combat unit logistical support vessel "Berlin" to the Horn of Africa - "not as a logistical support vessel, but as a combat unit," the German Armed Forces underlined.

The "Berlin" is therefore carrying more personnel than usual - military police and a so-called boarding team, but also two "Sea King" helicopters. These helicopters are equipped with machine-guns, to be used against alleged piracy infrastructures, in line with the EU's decision. "Particularly the Bundeswehr, at this point" can launch these attacks, writes the press, "because it has the appropriate helicopters in the theater of operations."

This aim was not helped by economic measures which "unfairly burden" Cuba's people, he said. Earlier, Pope Benedict met Cuba's revolutionary leader and former president, Fidel Castro, and celebrated Mass in front of vast crowds in Havana. The Pontiff made his parting comments in the airport in Havana, in the presence of the current president, Raul Castro.

He said all Cubans should be able to share in "forging a society of wide horizons, renewed and reconciled. No-one should feel excluded from taking up this exciting search by the limitations of their basic freedoms, or excused from this by indolence or a lack of material resources - a situation which is worsened when restrictive economic measures, imposed from outside the country, unfairly burden its people," he said. The US trade embargo, known as the blockade or "el bloqueo" in Spanish, was introduced soon after the 1959 Revolution.

Earlier, Pope Benedict met the revolutionary leader and former president. The meeting was described by a Vatican spokesman as "animated and cordial", with the two men even sharing a joke about their ages. According to the spokesman, Federico Lombardi, they discussed Church liturgy and the inability of science to solve all future challenges.

On Tuesday, Fukushima workers inserted a remotely controlled probe into Reactor Two to assess the damage. The device is equipped with a video camera, a thermometer, and a dosimeter – which registered radiation levels much higher than expected. The probe also discovered that the level of cooling water in the reactor is significantly lower than expected.

The other two melted-down reactors have not yet been examined, but some fear their condition could be even worse. The management of the Tepco company, which owns the plant, says the findings will not affect the process of cooling down the nuclear fuel. However, their assurances are unlikely to calm down local people, who are extremely concerned over radiation levels in the area.

A recent study by psychiatrists at Fukushima Medical University found that almost a quarter of Fukushima's residents hospitalized after last year’s devastating earthquake and tsunami were diagnosed with a “psychiatric disorder” because of their fears over radiation. Tepco officials and Japanese authorities have been repeatedly caught lying about the real situation at Fukushima. Hence many locals live in constant stress over the possibility of radiation poisoning.

The Iwo Jima Amphibious Ready Group is comprised of amphibious assault ship USS Iwo Jima, amphibious transport dock USS New York, and amphibious dock landing ship USS Gunston Hall. It is also reinforced with an atomic submarine and a marine helicopter squadron. The group, which is “a versatile sea-based force that can be tailored to a variety of missions,” left port on Tuesday and is heading to the Gulf, the US Navy says.

Over 2,000 US Marines are to come on board Iwo Jima when the group makes a stop in North Carolina. Many of those marines are veterans of ground combat in Iraq and Afghanistan making their first shipboard deployment, dailypress.com points out. The US already has an amphibious group with an expeditionary marine unit in the Gulf region. The Makin Island Amphibious Ready Group was deployed there in January, after Iran’s threat to close the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial route that allows the delivery of around 20 per cent of the world's oil.

Iran has repeatedly reiterated this threat over the last six months, while the US and its NATO partners kept increasing their naval presence in the region. The US is aware that Iran has enough resources to mine the strait within a relatively short period of time. General Michael Dempsey, Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, said earlier that the US must be prepared to reopen the Strait of Hormuz by force. In March, the US sent another four minesweepers to join those already deployed there, bringing the overall number in the region to eight.

Firefighters say the potentially lethal drought conditions caused by unusually warm spring weather sparked several wildfires including one at the country's largest cemetery. Large fires were reported across the south-east, and parts of North Yorkshire, Lancashire, Wales and Scotland. One blaze raged over 17 acres of the 500-acre Brookwood Cemetery near Woking, Surrey, with more than 40 firefighters battling to bring the flames under control.

It came amid warnings from fire chiefs that a lack of wet weather combined with dry conditions throughout the South East were the ''perfect recipe'' for wildfires. It comes after the biggest wild fires for years threatened homes and left this trail of devastation in South Wales. Fire crews who battled dozens of fires said the warm weather had left the grass "dry enough just to ignite itself".

It incurred net claims of £12.9 billion in the year, including £4.6 billion of catastrophe claims. Catastrophes during the year included flooding in Australia and Thailand, the earthquake and tsunami in Japan and the earthquake in New Zealand. "Make no mistake, 2011 was a difficult year for the insurance industry," said Lloyd's chief executive Richard Ward.

"I am disappointed that, given the exceptional level of catastrophes in 2011, insurance rates have not responded more positively." Lloyd's of London is a market, in which syndicates meet brokers and agree to take on particular risks. Its chairman said that the market was still in a strong financial position, but warned that 2012 would be another challenging year.

The landmark decision is binding on Ontario courts and sets up a final showdown at the Supreme Court of Canada next fall or in early 2013. Ontario Attorney-General John Gerretsen said on Monday that he intends to discuss appealing the decision with his federal counterparts. “Our main concern is that people feel safe in their communities, feel safe in their homes, and this kind of issue may very well need legislative action,” he said. The five-judge appellate panel said unanimously that prostitutes may set up brothels and hire staff to protect them.

They said that it is senseless to have a law that compels prostitutes to work in dangerous isolation, given that prostitution itself is legal. Nikki Thomas, executive director of SPOC, (Sex Professionals of Canada) told reporters that prostitutes will be normal citizens who file income taxes, purchase investments and quietly go about their work. “We are not going to have fire and brimstone and sex workers raining down from the sky,” she said.

The Environment Agency will today announce that parts of Yorkshire, the largest county, are officially in drought following the hottest March for seven years. That could mean 4.7 million households will be hit by hosepipe bans by the summer.

And experts warn the entire country could face similar water restrictions in a matter of weeks. Trevor Bishop, the Environment Agency’s head of water resources, said they were striving to balance the water needs of the community and of the environment.

He said: “We are working with businesses, farmers and water companies to plan ahead to meet the challenges of a continued drought.”

Wildlife experts warn that some species, including dragonflies and water voles, could lose their habitats. The official drought zone now includes parts of North Yorkshire, East Yorkshire and South Yorkshire, as well as a whole swathe of the country stretching from Bournemouth on the south coast to Scarborough, affecting 27 million people. That is already more than half of England’s 52 million population.

This comes after a public outcry following revelations in November that a neo-Nazi cell had apparently been able to go on a nationwide spree of racially motivated murders over several years, under the noses of the German intelligence services. The group of three are being held responsible for the deaths of eight Turkish and one Greek immigrant between 2000 and 2006, as well as a German policewoman in 2007.

Yet the existence of the group, dubbed the Zwickau cell after the name of the town where they spent most of their time in hiding, only came to light in November when two of its members died in an apparent joint suicide or murder-suicide and the third handed herself in to the authorities. The NPD has been linked to the group, though the allegations have yet to be accepted in a court of law.

The story of the killers has dominated headlines in Germany for months now and given rise to one of the biggest scandals in post-war Germany. It turns out intelligence agencies had had the group under surveillance for years, and even found a bomb-making factory in their garage back in 1998. So why were the trio not stopped earlier? Why were they allowed to disappear and then stay underground? And why was it that security services blamed the murders on the Turkish mafia at the time? A right-wing motive was never investigated.

‘Martin’, a former neo-Nazi said, “The leadership is always trying to attract members of the so-called upper classes and students who, one day, can act as lawyers or doctors for the far right”

South Korean President Lee Myung-bak said nuclear terrorism remained a "grave threat", while US President Barack Obama said action was key. The meeting was dominated by North Korea's plan to launch a rocket. North Korea says the long-range rocket will carry a satellite when it goes up in April. The US says any launch would violate UN resolutions and constitute a missile test.

Iran's nuclear programme was also on the minds of the summit participants, with Mr Obama pledging to meet the leaders of Russia and China on the sidelines to work towards a resolution.

Although the exact number of nuclear weapons in each country's possession is top secret, the Federation of American Scientists has made best estimates about the size and composition of national nuclear weapon stockpiles based on publicly available information.

Russia 10,000

US 8,500

France 300

China 240

UK 225

Israel 80

Pakistan 110

India 100

North Korea Fewer than 10

His weight dropped from 210 pounds to just 140 pounds (64 kg), he couldn't work, and was constantly borrowing money. One night last July, Coomer tried something new - OPANA, A POWERFUL OPIOID PAINKILLER CONTAINING OXYMORPHONE. He overdosed and died at the age of 24. "It's a nightmare every single day," said his mother, Melissa Himmelheber, 43, who wiped away tears as she showed pictures of her lost son. "This is a family that was extremely close. Now we're just picking up the shattered pieces."

Prescription drug abuse is the new scourge of rural America. It now leads to more deaths in the United States than heroin and cocaine combined, and rural residents are nearly twice as likely to overdose on pills than people in big cities, according to the Centers for Disease Control.

Neither Japanese nor US authorities issued a tsunami warning, though a small change in sea levels may follow. No damage or injury from Tuesday's quake has been reported. Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO) and Tohoku Electric say no abnormalities at nuclear plants across the region have been registered, including those in the province of Fukushima. Fukushima nuclear facilities, which were severely damaged just a year ago by a magnitude 9.0 quake and a massive tsunami that followed, became an epicenter of one of the worst nuclear crises in global modern history.

Since that disaster, which left some 19,000 people dead or missing in Japan, there has been A FIVE-FOLD INCREASE IN EARTHQUAKES IN THE TOKYO METROPOLITAN AREA, says the Tokyo University Earthquake Research Institute as reported by Reuters.

Sources urged drivers not to hoard petrol, but said they should take ‘prudent’ steps to ensure they have a full tank over the next week or so. When asked if the Government would advise drivers to fill up, Downing Street’s official spokesman said: ‘People will draw their own conclusions.’ But with the AA warning against filling up tanks in case it caused a shortage, Labour accused Downing Street of stoking the risk of a mass rush to the pumps.

‘It’s the height of irresponsibility for Downing Street to give the impression that people should be panic-buying. They should be using all their efforts to get a settlement,’ a spokesman said. Labour leader Ed Miliband has so far refused to condemn the strike threat, with the Unite union behind the ballot being the party’s largest paymaster.

Petrol stations up and down the country saw unusually big queues of motorists filling up their cars or buying petrol cans. A walkout of drivers could take place as early as April 3, but ministers believe it is more likely to begin around April 8 or 9, causing massive disruption over the Easter weekend.

The head of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development claimed that to survive the euro needs to boost its financial firewall to at least €1 trillion to return to growth. Angel Gurria, the secretary-general of the Paris-based international development body, said current commitments to the rescue funds, which are limited to €500 billion ($664 billion), are not enough to restore market confidence in the eurozone.

Europe needs "the mother of all firewalls," he said at a news conference in Brussels, where he was flanked by Olli Rehn, the EU's economic affairs commissioner, who has also been pushing for a larger bailout fund. Germany yesterday signaled its intent to come to the aid of ailing eurozone countries such as Spain and Italy in order to keep the euro afloat. Both Spain and Italy are struggling to keep up with debt repayments which together have more than 2.5 trillion euros worth of debt.