Culls of hundreds of thousands of chickens, turkeys and ducks to stem bird flu outbreaks rarely make international headlines these days, but they are a worryingly common event as the deadly virus continues its march across the globe. As scientists delve deeper into H5N1 avian influenza, they have discovered it is only three steps away

Vienna prosecutors have ruled out foul play in the death of Libya's Gaddafi-era prime minister and oil chief Shokri Ghanem, concluding he drowned after suffering a heart attack, Austrian media reported on Wednesday. The investigation will continue to get a full picture of the circumstances of the drowning of 69-year-old Ghanem in the Danube river

Cyprus has drawn up plans to take in up to 200,000 refugees from the fighting in Syria, where the crackdown by government troops against opposition forces has intensified in recent weeks. While the figures are a worst-case scenario, the number is equivalent to a quarter of the population of the Republic of Cyprus, a huge

The first EU Economy and Finance Ministers Council under the Cyprus EU Presidency took place yesterday in Brussels. Ministers exchanged views and adopted a general position on the issue of the "two pack", two draft regulations on strengthened fiscal surveillance of the euro area. Cypriot Minister of Finance Vassos Shiarly, who chaired the meeting, referred during

The captain of the wrecked cruise liner Costa Concordia apologised on Tuesday for the accident in which as many as 32 people died and said he had been distracted when the vast ship struck the rock which holed it. In his first full television interview since the accident on January 13, Francesco Schettino acknowledged his

London murder detectives are investigating the death of the American wife of an heir to the Tetra Pak drinks carton fortune and have arrested a man reported to be her husband. Eva Rausing, 48, daughter of U.S. businessman Tom Kemeny, led a gilded life marred by drug addiction and had a host of connections with

**A change in expectations is needed** By Fiona Mullen, Director Sapienta Economics Ltd One by-product of the population census in October 2011, which led to a sharp upward revision in the estimated 2011 population from 806,800 to 862,000, is that the figures for the labour force have also changed. Whereas the labour force in 2011

 The decline in retail sales deepened in April, according to preliminary figures, with the volume of retail sales dropping by 5.9% in May compared with the year earlier, having dropped by 3.3% in March. Non-food products fared worse, dropping by 12.2%, while food products continued to increase, rising by 3.4%. The biggest decline was in

**Building permits still in decline** The index for production in construction fell by 16.5% compared with the same period of the previous year in the first quarter of 2012, recording its 14th consecutive quarter of decline. Building construction fell by 11.3% while the civil engineering, boosted last year by roadbuilding, fell by 30.6%. Construction output

The EU-harmonised consumer price inflation rate (HICP) dropped to 2.9% in June, from 3.7% in May, thanks in large part to a fall in the prices of food and non-alcoholic beverages. Similarly, the national consumer price index dropped to 1.8% in June from 2.9% in May. From 2012 the weights of the HICP are calculated