World News: Japan emergency workers withdrawn from nuclear site

Chief cabinet secretary Yukio Edano said the workers, who have been dousing the reactors with sea water in a frantic effort to stabilize their temperatures, had no choice but to pull back from the most dangerous areas. "The workers cannot carry out even minimal work at the plant now," Mr Edano said, as smoke billowed above the crippled Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear complex. "Because of the radiation risk we are on standby."

The nuclear crisis has triggered international alarm and partly overshadowed the human tragedy caused by Friday's 9.0-magnitude earthquake and the subsequent tsunami. The quake was one of the strongest recorded in history.

Officials said they were considering using helicopters to dump water onto the most troubled reactors in a desperate effort to cool them down.

Meanwhile, officials in Ibaraki prefecture, just south of Fukushima, said radiation levels were about 300 times normal levels by late morning.

Crisis puts Chavez plans on hold

Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez said that the crisis at the Japanese nuclear plant has prompted him to halt his nation's plans to develop nuclear energy.

Mr Chavez announced last year that his government was carrying out studies to start a nuclear energy programme.

Five killed by US missiles

An American missile attack today killed five people in a north-western region of Pakistan that is under effective Islamist militant control.

The missile destroyed a house in North Waziristan close to the Afghan border, a major sanctuary for al-Qaida and Taliban militants.

Debt woes for Portugal

Global ratings agency Moody's has downgraded Portugal's sovereign debt rating, citing the country's need to cut debt and its poor growth prospects.

Meanwhile Portugal's main opposition party has announced it will oppose the government's austerity plans.

Prime minister Jose Socrates has warned the country could face a bail-out.

"The consequence of a political crisis would worsen the risks for our economy," he said.

Woman, 24, mauled by shark

A shark has mauled a woman who fell off a wakeboard towed by a speedboat off Australia.

A New South Wales state ambulance service spokesman said the 24-year-old was attacked today in Nelson Bay, north of Sydney. She suffered head, neck and arm injuries.

Troops attack protesters in Bahrain

Bahrain: Military troops and security forces opened a large-scale assault today against hundreds of anti-government protesters occupying a landmark square in the capital, a day after emergency rule was imposed and clashes erupted in the Gulf kingdom.

Libya: Negotiations are expected to begin on a draft UN resolution from the UK, France and Lebanon, which would impose a no-fly zone on Libya.