Powerful quake rocks Japan

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Japan atomic reactor : دجاپان اټومي بټۍ د سړيدونکي سيسټم تشر&#16

YouTube - Japan atomic reactor : دجاپان اټومي بټۍ د سړيدونکي سيسټم تشريØ*

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Japan crisis 'worst since WWII'

Japan crisis 'worst since WWII'

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Chris Hogg reports on the destruction wrought by the tsunami

Continue reading the main story Japanese Earthquake

• Japan tsunami Live
• Fears of second reactor blast
• Tsunami survivor rescued at sea
• Power cuts to last

Japan is experiencing its greatest hardships since World War II as it tackles the aftermath of an earthquake, tsunami and a growing nuclear crisis, Prime Minister Naoto Kan says.
In a televised statement, Mr Kan warned of sweeping power cuts to come.
He said the situation at the quake-hit Fukushima nuclear plant remained grave, a day after an explosion at a reactor.
Meanwhile, police have warned that the death toll in tsunami-hit Miyagi prefecture alone could exceed 10,000.
Japanese national broadcaster NHK says the total number of confirmed deaths now stands at 1,351.
Millions of survivors remain without electricity and authorities are stepping up relief efforts as the scale of the tragedy becomes clearer.
About 310,000 people have been evacuated to emergency shelters, many of them without power, Japanese broadcaster NHK reported.
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Naoto Kan said: "We as Japanese people can overcome these hardships"

Officials earlier announced that the number of troops helping with rescue work in the affected north-east region would be doubled to 100,000.
"The current situation of the earthquake, tsunami and the nuclear plants is in a way the most severe crisis in the past 65 years since World War II," Mr Kan said.
"Whether we Japanese can overcome this crisis depends on each of us.
"I strongly believe that we can get over this great earthquake and tsunami by joining together."
Continue reading the main story At the scene

Rachel Harvey BBC News
We are about 10km from Minamisanriku, where it's believed that as many as 10,000 people are unaccounted for.
I'm in a building that's being used as an evacuation centre - it's a primary school and there are about 250 people now sleeping on the floor of the sports hall. There isn't any mains power, there is a generator that has been set up for a couple of lights and blow heaters - but it is still bitterly cold.
The authorities have got diggers in place to try and clear the road a little further north from here. They need to get through to those towns and communities to see what they can do to help anybody who might still be alive there.
It does not mean that because 10,000 are unaccounted for they are necessarily all feared dead.
There will be people who managed to evacuate. But there is no power, no telephone network in this area - all of that has been knocked out.
If people have escaped to an evacuation centre they can report in with the authorities and that information is gradually fed back and collated. If they've gone to stay with friends and relatives who don't have power or telephones it's going to be difficult getting that information to the central authorities to account for who is where.
One woman who was in her car when she felt the quake told us that as soon as "the earth stopped shaking", she jumped out of the car, went into her home, grabbed her family, got back in her car and got out of town. But she said there would perhaps be many people who didn't move fast enough.

Mr Kan said the shutting down of the Fukushima plant and other power stations meant that electricity supplies were limited.
He said that from Monday there would be a programme of rolling power cuts that would also affect water and gas supplies and some medical facilities. Speaking after Mr Kan, government spokesman Yukio Edano said that although seawater was being injected into reactor 3 at the Fukushima plant to cool it, gauges were not showing the water levels rising.
"We do not know what to make of this," he said.
On Saturday, a huge explosion blew apart the building housing reactor 1, where technicians had been venting steam to cool the reactor.
Cooling systems to both reactors failed after the 8.9 magnitude quake struck off the north-east coast.
About 170,000 people have been evacuated from a 20km (12.4 miles) area around the plant.
Japan's nuclear agency graded the situation at the Fukushima plant as a Level 4 incident on the International Nuclear and Radiological Events Scale (Ines).
Level 4 incidents normally involve at least one death from radiation, although no-one at the plant has died.
Meanwhile, Japan's nuclear energy agency has declared a state of emergency at a second nuclear facility, at Onagawa, after excessive radiation levels were recorded there. It said cooling systems at all three reactors at the Onagawa complex, which were automatically shut down after the earthquake and tsunami, were functioning properly and the rise in local radiation levels might have been caused by the Fukushima leak.
Scores of ships and aircraft are struggling to reach areas worst-hit by the tsunami.
International rescue teams are also flying into Japan following an appeal by the government.
Stricken Miyagi prefecture includes the port of Minamisanriku which was mostly swept away by the tsunami.
But some survivors are being found. Japanese troops rescued a 60-year-old man who floated out to sea on the roof of his home after the tsunami hit.
A spokesman for Japan's military said Hiromitsu Shinkawa was pulled from the sea about 15km off the town of Minamisoma, in Fukushima prefecture, after he was spotted waving a red cloth.
Mr Shinkawa told his rescuers that the tsunami had hit as he and his wife returned home to gather some posessions after the earthquake, and that his wife was swept away.

Are you in Japan? Do you live near Fukushima? Have you been affected by the earthquake? Or are you a Japanese citizen living abroad? You can send us details of your experiences using the form below.

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Libya: Gaddafi troops force rebels out of Brega

13 March 2011 Last updated at 09:01 ET Share this page

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Libya: Gaddafi troops force rebels out of Brega

Rebels have continued to lose ground to the superior firepower of Col Gaddafi's forces
Continue reading the main story Libya Revolt

• Gaddafi's limited options
• The case against a no-fly zone
• Eyewitness: Tripoli in fear
• Q&A: Stalled revolution

Libyan forces supporting Colonel Muammar Gaddafi have advanced on rebel-held strongholds, reportedly recapturing the eastern town of Brega.
Dozens of rebel fighters pulled out of the area amid heavy shelling.
"Brega has been cleansed of armed gangs," a military source told Libyan state television.
Libyan rebel forces have been losing ground for days, including the key oil port of Ras Lanuf on Saturday.
In other regional developments:

• In Bahrain, riot police fired tear gas and rubber bullets at anti-government protesters blocking the main road into the capital's business district, and encircled the protesters' main camp, eyewitnesses said
• In Yemen, dozens of people are wounded in clashes between Yemeni police, firing live bullets and tear gas, and anti-government protesters at the main opposition sit-in in the capital, witnesses said

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The BBC's Wyre Davies reports from Bin Jawad, a town regained by pro-government forces

Rebels left on trucks equipped with anti-aircraft guns retreating from Brega along the coastal road towards Ajdabiya - the gateway to the main rebel-held cities of Benghazi and Tobruk.
They said Col Gaddafi's forces had carried out air strikes, as well as shelling Brega.
Rebels told the BBC they were heading towards Ajdabiya, 150km (93 miles) south of Benghazi.
Col Gaddafi's forces were on the chase, some 60km away from Ajdabiya.
In Benghazi itself the mood remains defiant, says the BBC's Pascale Harter, with many wounded fighters returning but other residents heading for the front line.
Meanwhile reports from the last major rebel base in western Libya, Misrata, say that Col Gaddafi's troops are on the outskirts of the city and tank fire can be heard.
Continue reading the main story

• Libya in maps
• Diplomatic options
• Is a no-fly zone possible?

International diplomatic pressure is growing for a no-fly zone to be imposed over Libya.
The policy would be aimed at preventing Col Gaddafi's forces using warplanes to attack rebel positions, although no clear position has emerged on exactly how this would be achieved.
On Saturday, the Arab League agreed to ask the UN Security Council to enforce such a zone.
The UK and France have pushed for the idea, but have failed so far to win firm backing from the EU or Nato.
Nato has previously cited regional and international support for the idea as a key condition before it could possibly go ahead.
Russia and China, which wield vetos on the UN Security Council, have expressed serious reservations on the issue.
Are you in Libya? Send us your comments using the form below:

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A Look at Political Unrest in the Middle East

March 12, 2011
A Look at Political Unrest in the Middle East

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

A look at anti-government protests, political unrest and key developments in the Middle East on Sunday:
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LIBYA:
Troops loyal to Moammar Gadhafi shell the oil town of Brega in eastern Libya, pounding pockets of resistance during their swift advance on the country's poorly equipped and loosely organized rebels. Libyan state television reports that government troops retake Brega, but the report could not immediately be verified.
___
YEMEN:
Police on rooftops fire live bullets and tear gas at protesters, injuring more than 100 people who were camping near Sanaa University, the latest in weeks of demonstrations calling for the Yemeni president to step down.
Wielding clubs and knives, police and government supporters also attack protesters on the ground.
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BAHRAIN:
Thousands of anti-government demonstrators cut off Bahrain's financial center and drive back police trying to push them from the capital's central square. For the tiny island kingdom it is the most disruptive protests since calls for more freedom erupted a month ago.
Demonstrators also clash with security forces and government supporters on the campus of the main university in the Gulf country, the home of the U.S. Navy's Fifth Fleet.
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SAUDI ARABIA:
More than 200 protest outside the Interior Ministry to demand the release of detainees in the largest demonstration in the capital since the regional outbreak of pro-democracy unrest. Saudi authorities ban demonstrations and are increasingly determined to prevent the wave of unrest sweeping across the Middle East from spreading to the oil-rich Kingdom.
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LEBANON:
Tens of thousands of Lebanese fill a central Beirut square to mark the 2005 protests that ended Syria's 30-year domination of the country. They also demand that the militant group Hezbollah, seen as a proxy of Syria, give up its weapons.
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OMAN:
Oman's ruler grants lawmaking powers to officials outside the royal family in the boldest reforms yet aimed at quelling protests for jobs and a greater public role in politics. The decree by Sultan Qaboos bin Said reflects the scramble to appease demonstrators and head off possible wider unrest in the strategically important nation, which shares control of the Gulf waterway that carries 40 percent of the world's oil tanker traffic.
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TUNISIA:
Authorities order a curfew in a central mining town amid simmering unrest following a bout of deadly clashes between police and protesters. It's the latest sign of Tunisia's struggle to restore stability after a revolution that deposed an autocratic leader and sparked uprisings in the Arab world.

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Leaked Cable Shows Details of BAE Saudi Arms Deal

March 13, 2011
Leaked Cable Shows Details of BAE Saudi Arms Deal

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

LONDON (AP) — A newly-released secret U.S. diplomatic cable has alleged that British-based defense contractor BAE Systems PLC bribed Saudi officials in return for lucrative arms deals.
The cable from the U.S. embassy in Paris, released by WikiLeaks on Friday, said Britain's anti-fraud agency told a private OECD meeting in Paris in 2007 that they had evidence that BAE paid more than 70 million pounds ($113 million) to a Saudi prince with influence over arms deal contracts.
The cable, dated March 2007, says other payments were made to an unnamed senior Saudi official and to overseas agents employed by the Saudi government.
The SFO dropped an investigation into BAE's overseas dealings in 2006 after Saudi objection.
BAE did not explicitly refute the cable's content on Sunday, but said in a statement that no charges of bribery or corruption were brought up against the company.