US President Barack Obama is departing for a five-day trip to Latin America aimed at building markets for US exports and extending US influence.

The United States has signed a long-awaited nuclear accord with Chile despite growing misgivings about the safety of nuclear power in Chile.

US President Barack Obama has said Libyan government forces must end their offensive against rebel-held towns and pull back - or face military action.

Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh declared on Friday a 30-day nationwide state of emergency as the death toll for clashes in the capital Sanaa on Friday rose to at least 45 and around 617 others injured, state media and the protest's organizers said.

The situation of Japan's Fukushima No.1 nuclear power plant remains "very serious," but there has been "no significant worsening" over the past 24 hours, said the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on Friday.

Rescuers have found a survivor of Japan's earthquake and tsunami, eight days after the disaster devastated coastal areas in the north.

Military strikes against Libya will take place "swiftly" and France will definitely participate, government spokesman Francois Baroin said in an interview on Friday with RTL radio.

Jubilant Libyan rebels in Benghazi erupted with fireworks and gunfire after the UN Security Council voted on March 18 evening to impose a no-fly zone and permit "all necessary measures" to protect civilians.

Japanese engineers raced to restore a power cable to a quake-ravaged nuclear power plant on March 17 in the hope of restarting pumps needed to pour cold water on overheating fuel rods and avert a catastrophic release of radiation.