Italy allows use of air bases
Italy is one a growing number of countries willing to take part in UN, EU and Nato backed military action against Libya. Its air bases, such as the one at Sigonella in Sicily, are likely to play a key role in implementing the resolution.
On Thursday the UN voted to authorise a no-fly zone over Libya and to use “all necessary measures” to protect civilians from Colonel Gaddafi’s forces.
Italy, which has close ties with its former colony , has already suspended a 2008 “friendship treaty” prohibiting its bases being used for military action against Libya.
France, the country that led the calls for action, has confirmed that it will take an active part in military operations.
Denmark and Norway have now joined the list which also includes the UK and the USA.
A number of Arab countries are also expected to play a role.
Do you agree with the UN resolution authorising military action in Libya?
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HMS Cumberland back in Benghazi to rescue Britons
The British naval frigate, HMS Cumberland, has returned to the Libyan port of Benghazi to evacuate remaining Britons.
Read our news file
It comes as volunteers from Libya, Egypt, Tunisia and Turkey combine efforts to distribute food and aid to residents of the city.
Benghazi has been under the control of a disparate coalition of people and rebel military units for a week now.
Freelance journalist Francesa Cicardi talked to euronews about conditions in the city: “Life in Benghazi has not yet returned to normal because people here are thinking only about the revolution and they’re waiting for Tripoli to fall,” she said.
“Nevertheless, there is some semblance of normality. Some shops are open, traffic is more or less the same. Banks are shut and schools remain closed. But communication is far from normal. It’s very difficult, there’s no internet for example. As a result, the city feels isolated from the rest of the country,” Cicardi added.
Mock Mars mission ‘lands’ on red planet
After eight months inside a cramped steel capsule, astronauts from the Mars 500 project have ‘touched down’ in a virtual landing on the red planet.
The simulated landing and walk on a fake Mars surface – in a hall at the Institute of Biomedical Problems in Moscow – was the highlight and halfway point in an ambitious isolation exercise.
Six astronauts from Russia, China and Europe ‘blasted off’ in June last year.
The experiment is designed to study the effects of isolation over the 520-day return trip to Mars.
Berlinale: Cinema for Peace
The Cinema for Peace charity gala is one of the highlights of the Berlin Film Festival, attracting film-makers, artists, politicians and celebrities from around the world.
HSBC profit disappoints
HSBC is the latest UK based bank to disappoint investors with lower than expected earning for last year, even though pretax profit more than doubled from 2009 to the equivalent of 13.7 billion euros.
HSBC, which is Europe’s biggest bank in terms of market value, also cut its profitability targets due to the cost of tougher banking regulations.
Its share price fell to their lowest level in nearly a month.
HSBC’s decision to cut back its profitability expectations followed a similar move by rivals Barclays and Credit Suisse as regulatory requirements require banks to hold more money in reserves.
New chief executive Stuart Gulliver said he did not think that HSBC would need a rights issue to raise new capital.
However, its finance director Iain Mackay said the bank’s new, scaled back return on equity target reflected the tougher capital requirements for banks, as well as global economic uncertainty, as highlighted by recent political tensions in the Middle East and north Africa.
Saudis up output as Libyan oil exports disrupted
Oil prices retreated from their recent highs on Friday as a senior industry official said top exporter Saudi Arabia has increased output following disruptions to supplies from Libya.
Saudi Arabia’s Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi said this week that the producers’ cartel OPEC is prepared to meet any shortage if needed and has enough spare capacity to do that.
OPEC has resisted calls for a formal increase in output and does not plan to meet until June.
But sources say Saudi Arabia – the only country able to pump large amounts of extra oil at short notice – has raised output about eight percent to above nine million barrels per day.
Some European oil firms said they plan to buy crude from Iran as well as Russia and other Caspian countries.
The West’s energy watchdog, the International Energy Agency, said on Friday there was no need for an immediate strategic stock release.
Angry protester in front of Libyan consulate in Paris
A man protests at the Libyan consulate in Paris after ripping the Libyan flag from the front wall of the building.
By Rapha?�l Beaugrand
Lactalis lifts stake in Parmalat
The French dairy group, Lactalis, has strengthened its grip on Parmalat by raising its stake in the Italian firm.
Europe’s largest dairy goods company is buying 15.3 percent of Parmalat, taking its overall stake to 29 percent, despite loud resistance from Rome to a foreign takeover.
With a turnover of some 4.3 billion euros, Parmalat is widely seen as an attractive target because of it dominates Italy’s liquid milk market.
Lactalis, however, says it has no intention of taking over the firm. Nevertheless, counter-measures are now expected from a consortium of potential Italian buyers ahead of an April 12-14 shareholder meeting at which the French outfit could win overall control.
Lactalis, the maker of President camembert cheese, has grown through acquisitions and in Italy also owns top cheese brand Galbani. Its greater share in Parmalat will give it a springboard for growth into new markets and broaden its product range.
Egyptians celebrate a week without Mubarak
Celebrations have gone on through the night in Cairo, as hundreds of thousands turned out for what has been dubbed a victory march.
The event came exactly a week after the popular revolt that toppled Hosni Mubarak.
One man said: “All we want is for Egypt to be Egypt again … a president that is aware, a country that’s aware, and a good government that takes the people into consideration and takes the poor into consideration.”
A woman said: “I’m very proud to be Egyptian. And when I travel abroad I can now tell people that I’m Egyptian and not be embarrassed. All of them will respect me because I’m Egyptian and I took part in this revolution.”
Amid the celebration, however, Egypt’s ruling military council has warned it will not allow any further strikes that harm the economy and what it calls national security.
An abandoned house near Chernobyl in Belarus
Makar Krosovsky, 73, visits his abandoned in the state radiation ecology reserve in the 30 km (18 miles) exclusion zone around the Chernobyl nuclear reactor in the village of Pogonnoe, in Belarus. REUTERS/Vasily Fedosenko
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