Risky stalemate over Fukushima radioactive water
Pact on Rohingya refugees
ONAHAMA: More than six years after a tsunami overwhelmed the Fukushima nuclear power plant, Japan has yet to reach consensus on what to do with 1 million tons of radioactive water, stored on site in 900 large and densely packed tanks that could spill should another major earthquake or tsunami strike.
The stalemate is rooted in a fundamental conflict between science and human nature.
Experts advising the government
Club faces racism charges over banner
NYON: Russian club Zenit St Petersburg is facing a Uefa racism charge after its fans displayed a large banner honouring convicted war criminal Ratko Mladic.
Zenit fans unfurled the banner during Thursday’s 2-1 Europa League group-stage win over Macedonian club Vardar Skopje.
The game took place the day after former Bosnian Serb military chief Mladic was convicted by a UN tribunal of genocide and other crimes in the wars following the collapse of Yugoslavia in the early 1990s. – AP have urged a gradual release to the nearby Pacific Ocean.
Treatment has removed all the radioactive elements except tritium, which they say is safe in small amounts. Conversely, if the tanks break, their contents could slosh out in an uncontrolled way.
Local fishermen are baulking. The water, no matter how clean, has a dirty image for consumers, they say.
Despite repeated tests showing
Anger at killing of escaped tiger in Paris
PARIS: Police in Paris say a tiger escaped from a circus and roamed the streets of the French capital before being killed – “neutralised” by a circus staff member near a bridge over the River Seine, 2km from the Eiffel Tower.
A police official confirmed the tiger had been loose for “some time” but no injuries or casualties were reported.
Residents in the 15th district where the tiger was shot circulated photos of the beast’s limp corpse on social media – many angry that it had been killed. – AP most types of fish caught off Fukushima are safe to eat, diners remain hesitant. The fishermen fear any release would sound the death knell for their nascent and still fragile recovery.
“People would shun Fukushima fish again as soon as the water is released,” said Fumio Haga, a dragnet fisherman from Iwaki, a city about 50km down the coast from the nuclear plant.
Autumn is high season for saury
Cat hair leads to Obama bomb arrest
FORT WORTH: A woman accused of mailing potentially deadly home-made bombs to former US president Barack Obama and Texas governor Greg Abbott last year was arrested, in part, owing to cat hair, a cigarette box and an almost-destroyed shipping label bearing her address. Julia Poff,
46, mailed the devices in October, according to an indictment. A grand jury indicted her this month on six counts, including mailing injurious articles and transporting explosives with the intent to kill and injure. – AP and flounder, among Fukushima’s signature fish. It was once a busy time of year when coastal fishermen were out every morning. Today, only about half of the 1000 fishermen go out, and just twice a week.
Naoya Sekiya, a University of Tokyo expert on disaster information and social psychology, said the water from the nuclear plant should not be released until people were informed about the basic facts and psychologically ready. – AP
Driver error puts car in the drink
BERLIN: A German motorist mistook a ferry access ramp with a car park access ramp on Friday, plunging his car into the Main river in Offenbach by mistake.
The man drove across the ferry access ramp and straight into the river, police said late Friday. The car floated for a while and the motorist was able to free himself and swim to shore. He was unharmed.
Shipping lanes on the waterway in Germany’s central Hesse state were closed while emergency services retrieved the submerged vehicle. – DPA DHAKA: Bangladesh and Myanmar have agreed to take help from the UN refugee agency to safely repatriate hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslims who had fled violence in Myanmar, Bangladesh Foreign Minister Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali said yesterday.
More than 600 000 Rohingya sought sanctuary in Bangladesh after the military in mostly Buddhist Myanmar launched a brutal counter-insurgency across Rakhine State after attacks by Rohingya militants on an army base and police posts on August 25.
Faced with a humanitarian crisis, the two governments signed a pact on Thursday agreeing the return should start in two months.
The agreement came just before Pope Francis’s week-long visit to Myanmar and Bangladesh, which is set to begin today. It is aimed at promoting “reconciliation, forgiveness and peace”. – Reuters