The European Union announced a recovery package of 180 million euros for the Ivory Coast on April 12 as residents of the African nation attempted to adjust to life with a clear leader and relative stability after months of bloodshed.

Egypt's prosecutor general has ordered the detention of former President Hosni Mubarak, ahead of an investigation into corruption and abuse allegations.

Japan's prime minister vowed to wind down the month-long crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant "at all costs" on April 12 after his government officially designated the situation there a Chernobyl-level nuclear accident.

Nato must do more to destroy heavy weaponry used by Muammar Gaddafi's forces in Libya, the French and British foreign ministers have said.

The toll of murder victims buried in a series of mass graves in northern Mexico has risen to 116, Mexico's attorney general said on April 12, blaming the atrocity on the brutal Zetas drug cartel.

Japan raised the severity of its nuclear disaster to the highest level on Tuesday, putting it on a par with the world's worst disaster nuclear accident at Chernobyl after another major aftershock rattled the quake-ravaged east.

Libyan rebels, backed forcefully by European leaders, rejected a cease-fire proposal by African mediators on Monday because it did not insist that Muammar Gaddafi relinquish power.

The world's first ban on Islamic face veils took effect in France on Monday , meaning that women may bare their breasts in Cannes but not cover their faces on the Champs-Elysees.

The UN Security Council on Monday called for the establishment of specialized international courts and prisons and new laws to combat Somali pirates.

President Alexander Lukashenko said that a blast that tore through a crowded metro station in the Belarus capital Minsk in evening rush hour killing 11 people was an attempt to destabilize the country.