News Headlines - 18 April 2013
▽Explosion hits fertilizer plant north of Waco, Texas - CNN.com
A massive explosion at a fertilizer plant in the small Texas town of West left at least two people dead, sent dozens more seeking medical attention and prompted a widescale evacuation in the community of 2,600 people. Fire officials fear that the number of casualties could rise much higher.
▽North Korea demands US withdrawal from peninsula before resuming talks | guardian.co.uk
The demands from the North's top military body include the withdrawal of all UN sanctions imposed due to Pyongyang's nuclear and missile tests, and a US pledge not to engage in "nuclear war practice" with the South. It said denuclearisation of the peninsula should begin with the withdrawal of US weapons.
▽BBC News - Japan reports record annual trade deficit
Japan, the world's third-largest economy, has reported a record trade deficit for the year to 31 March. The deficit hit 8.17tn yen ($83.4bn; ￡54.5bn) as a slump in global demand hurt exports, while greater domestic consumption of fuel boosted imports.
A Conservative Cabinet minister who refused to go on strike when he was working as a miner in 1984 has hit back at critics of Baroness Thatcher.
▽Stonehenge occupied 5,000 years earlier than previously thought - Telegraph
Excavation of a site just a mile from the stone structure provided what researchers claim is the first firm evidence of continuous occupation from as early as 7,500BC. Earlier evidence had suggested that humans were present at the site, known as Vespasian's Camp, around 7,500BC but there were no signs anyone had lived there until as late as 2,500BC.
