World News: Japan 'needs five years' to rebuild after $235bn quake

Japan may need five years to rebuild after the catastrophic earthquake and tsunami which have caused up to $235 billion of damage, the World Bank said today.

The March 11 disaster -which killed more than 8600 people and left more than 12,800 missing in north-eastern Japan - is likely to shave up to 0.5 per cent from the country's economic growth this year, the bank said in a report. The impact will be concentrated in the first half of the year, it said.

"Damage to housing and infrastructure has been unprecedented," the World Bank said. "Growth should pick up though in subsequent quarters as reconstruction efforts, which could last five years, accelerate."

The bank cited damage estimates between $123bn and $235bn, and cost to private insurers of between $14bn and $33bn. It said the government will spend $12bn on reconstruction in the current national budget and "much more" in the next one.

It said a crippled nuclear power station in the north-east that authorities are racing to regain control of is an unfolding situation that poses uncertainties and challenges.

President Evo Morales holds a pastry above his head as a symbol of good luck during the annual Pujllay festival in Tarabuco, southern Bolivia.

Filming starts at last on Hobbit

Filming has finally started on director Peter Jackson's production of The Hobbit in New Zealand.

The $500 million, two-movie production has suffered a series of troubles including funding problems, a threatened actors' boycott and ulcer surgery for Jackson.

Haitians vote for president

Haitians scarred by decades of poverty, political corruption and natural disasters have cast their ballots for a new president.

Voters are choosing between Michel "Sweet Micky" Martelly, a popular musician who has never held public office, and Mirlande Manigat, a former first lady.

Miners killed in gas blast

At least 21 people have been killed at a coal mine in south-western Pakistan that caved in after a methane gas explosion.

Iftikhar Ahmed, a senior mine inspector, says the chances of survival are bleak for the 31 miners still trapped in the mine after yesterday's accident. He said many of the miners found so far suffocated from methane gas. The mine, in Baluchistan province, was declared dangerous two weeks ago, but the warning was ignored.

Armed raid a Mexican takeaway

Armed men have stolen 157 million pesos (8 million) from a cash transporting company in southern Mexico.

Six gunmen wearing masks and latex gloves broke into the Cometra facility, subdued four guards and made off with the cash. No-one was hurt in the heist.

Two killed in clashes along Gaza border

Israel: Militants fired two rockets into southern Israel and Israeli troops killed two Palestinians in a new outburst along the volatile border with Gaza.

The Israeli military said soldiers killed two Palestinians crawling toward the border with what appeared to be a bomb.

Thailand: Suspected Muslim militants have ambushed a military patrol and killed two soldiers in the insurgency-plagued south of the country.