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Sarkozy says air forces in action over Libya
French President Nicolas Sarkozy said allied air forces had gone into action on Saturday over Libya and were preventing Muammar Gaddafi’s forces attacking the rebel city of Benghazi. “Our planes are already preventing air attacks on the city,” he said adding that military action supported by France, Britain, the United States and Canada and backed by Arab nations could be halted if Gaddafi stopped his forces attacking. With Reuters

Sex equality ruling ‘may make us all worse off’
Insurance companies have been quick to criticise a ruling by the European Court of Justice (ECJ) that will mean they will no longer be able to offer different rates according to clients’ gender. At present, women generally pay lower car insurance premiums than men as they are statistically less likely to have accidents. But the EU’s top court ruled on Tuesday morning that “taking the gender of the insured individual into account as a risk factor in insurance contracts constitutes discrimination.” Unisex premiums will need to be enforced across the European Union from December 21, 2012. Governments and insurers will have until that date to adapt. It’s thought the ruling will have significant consequences for both insurance companies and their customers. In the United Kingdom alone companies will have to raise more than a billion euros to cover themselves against “new uncertainties” in the market, according to one think-tank. The cost is then expected to be passed on to consumers. For example, a 17-year old female driver may find herself paying around 5,000 euros more in car insurance premiums by the time she has reached 26, a rise of around 25 percent. Men’s premiums meanwhile could fall by around 10 percent, says The Association of British Insurers, in order to make premiums equal. But men may also suffer later in life as the change in law will also impact on pensions. Men, whose lives are statistically shorter than women’s, currently enjoy a larger annual pension for the same amount of money invested. This will now have to change, with men’s annuities being reduced to bring them into line with the amount women receive. EU member states have been allowed to give insurers some leeway in taking gender into account when analysing risk but this was challenged by the Belgian consumer group Test-Achats. The ECJ’s advocate-general agreed with Test-Achats that factoring in gender violated the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the Lisbon Treaty. UK Conservative MEPs have joined insurers in criticising the ruling, with one calling it “utter madness” and a “setback for common sense.”

Rebels fight on but fail to make gains
The western Libyan city of Misrata has been besieged for days now and it has become one of the front lines between the rebels and forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi. Constantly under attack despite a government-announced but non-existent ceasefire, rebels were filming when a major explosion rocked the city centre. Gaddafi forces said they had now taken back the city after intense fighting claimed the lives of nine locals but other reports said the rebels still control the centre. READ – Libya: a timeline of international diplomacy A second besieged city, Zintan, has been under heavy shelling for three days. But one Swiss journalist said rebels had managed to rebuff government troops. Meanwhile rebels have been trying to take advantage of the coalition air strikes by advancing down the coastal highway, establishing another front line near Ajdabiya. But a government force attack soon turned them back. Analysts speculate the uprising could grind to a stalemate with neither side able to make significant gains but rebels say they will still march on Tripoli no matter what.

What future for Schengen?
Germany has backed France’s bid for member states to overrule Europe’s Schenegen border treaty in special circumstances. France has called for changes to Schengen rules to allow countries to reinstate temporary border controls when their frontiers come under pressure from non-european Union migrants. It comes as Europe tries to control thousands of migrants escaping politcal unrest in North Africa. Italy supports the idea. So far this year 25,000 migrants have swamped the small island of Lampedusa. German politician and Member of the European Parliament from the Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance, Franziska Keller said: “At the moment the Commission is not clear at all in what exceptions they mean. They have just said in an emergency situation and they have not defined what those emergency situations could be. “I am afraid that it might come down to creating too many exceptions, too many occasions for which border controls can be reintroduced and that would be a great danger to one of the core fundamental issues of the European Union.” The European parliament is considering the idea. A special meeting will be held later in the week and more talks are expected in the runup to an EU summit in June. MEP for the European People’s Party Joseph Daul defended the Schengen border treaty. “I say Schengen is fine, there are some technical improvements to be made it’s not a problem, we can always improve, but we do not need change Schengen, we need to apply it and every country can make border checks.” The events in the south of Europe have confirmed the need for a strong immigration and asylum policy in the EU.

European markets at close: 14.02.11
A roundup of the days markets data from euronews.net, brought to you as video on demand.

Japan gets cooling pumps working
Japanese engineers have succeeded in turning the cooling pumps back on at the Fukushima nuclear plant, although the government has now said that once the crisis is over, the plant will be closed down for good. Across the country, consumers are concerned about radiation levels in food. Tests have shown increased levels of radioactive iodine in milk and spinach and there are concerns that other products could also be affected. In Taiwan radioactive traces have been detected in beans from Japan, although the authorities say the levels are within safety guidelines. Refugees from areas affected by nuclear leaks are being tested for radiation amidst wide-spread distrust of government announcements. Read our news file Osamu Takezawa, a refugee: “The Japanese government says a 30km radius, but in reality I think it should be at last 40kms. Frankly, I don’t trust what the government says. Normally in this kind of situation, I would assume the radius should be wider, so people are saying “Well, if the government says 40kms, we think it should be 50kms. If they say it’s 50kms, we think it should be 60kms.” People think we should also add some extra distance to what the government says. It could be dangerous. That’s why I came all this way.” Airports across Asia have started checking passengers for radiation – in Jakarta, they are using Geiger counters on all new arrivals from Japan.

Italian tub boat whereabouts unknown
Italy says it is ready to intervene over an Italian tub boat which has been detained by Libya. The vessel’s current whereabouts have not been confirmed. The tug boat is well known in Italy having been the star of a maritime drama in 2009 when it rescued a large number of surviving immigrants in a sinking boat. Ignazio La Russa Italian Defence Minister said: “Of course we are prepared, if it becomes neccesary, to carry out an emergency intervention. Obviously we would only do this if we are asked to, and if it is opportune.” The tug boat is crewed by 8 Italians, 2 Indians and a Ukrainian, and provides support to oil platforms in partnership with Italian oil giant Eni. The Minister went on to say that Italy was contributing 8 airforce planes to the coalition effort in Libya under a single command post in Naples.

Moody’s warns on Japan’s ratings
Moody’s is warning it may cut Japan’s sovereign credit rating. The ratings agency said that could happen if the government does not carry out the comprehensive tax reform needed to bring ballooning public debt under control. Moody’s senior vice president and regional credit officer said needs stability at the top to enact effective fiscal reform. The country has had five prime minister since 2006. Prime Minister Naoto Kan, who took office last June, has staked his career on fiscal reforms, including a rise in the five percent sales tax to fund increasing social security costs. He urged the opposition to join talks on the topic. But the opposition is refusing and instead is piling pressure on the unpopular Kan to call a snap election by threatening to block budget-related bills. Kan also faces rebellion in his own party but said that Japan needed to press ahead. “To firmly carry out the unified reform of tax and social security systems is the most important thing in gaining market confidence,” he told reporters after Moody’s announcement. Japan, along with the United States, has faced criticism from the IMF and ratings agencies for lacking credible plans to bring their deficits under control. Mounting welfare costs and shrinking savings as a result of a rapidly ageing population raise questions about the longer term sustainability of Japan’s debt burden.

Libyans count the cost of their revolt
The violence which has accompanied Libya’s bloody revolt against the Gaddafi regime has left 300 dead, including over 100 soldiers. That is according to the Libyan authorities but as families buried their dead at a cemetery in Tripoli, residents believing their own eyes put the toll far higher. Human Rights Watch and opposition groups say more than twice that number have died. In towns where Gaddafi’s grip has been challenged, locals have been tearing down symbols of the regime. But overnight, in the town of Sabratah, large numbers of the Libyan army are said to have been deployed following the destruction of government buildings. In the east of the country, earlier fierce battles that accounted for many of the dead were caught on mobile phone cameras. But now Benghazi and Tobruk are reported calm and under the control of the protesters while Libya’s interior minister became the latest senior official to defect.

Pre-birth spina bifida breakthrough.
New research in the United States shows that babies with spina bifida recover better if they are operated on in the womb, rather than after they are born. Spina bifida occurs when the spine does not develop properly, causing possible paralysis below the waist as well as neurological problems. Foetal surgery has been carried out since 1997 but, until now, there has been no clear evidence that the benefits outweigh the risks, not just for the babies but for their mothers too. Babies who have the operation in the womb are more likely to be able to walk without help, and less likely to need a drainage tube in their brains. But the research did highlight some potential problems – 80 percent were born around a month early, and a third of the mothers suffered complications from the birth.