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24 Mar 2011 10:45

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World: Experts: Fukushima nuclear situation getting under control

  • The reactors are more stable as time progresses. By now, the decay heat is greatly reduced and it becomes easier to supply sufficient water for cooling. As far as we know, the containments are holding and the radiation levels have dropped.
  • UC Berkley nuclear expert Peter Hosemann • Suggesting that Fukushima is quickly becoming less of an issue, and more under control. He does warn, however, that radiation may still get into the environment: “We might see some more release of radioactive material, mostly due to the water going through the systems.” Overall, though, this is promising in terms of getting things handled. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

23 Mar 2011 15:11

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World: Tokyo tap water unsafe for babies, young children

  • As smoke again rises, a warning on water: The workers at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Plant were again forced to evacuate as black smoke began to rise from Reactor 3, which as the video details is the lone reactor to utilize plutonium, making such a sight somewhat more serious than normal (though certainly, smoke pouring from any nuclear reactor is bad news). At the same time, parents in Tokyo are being told that babies and young children should not drink the tap water, as it contains high levels (nearly double the legal limit) of radioactive iodine. source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

23 Mar 2011 14:55

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World: Shrapnel bomb rocks Jerusalem bus stop this morning

  • four years since a bomb was last set off in Jerusalem
  • 24 people injured, as the bomb shot out shrapnel
  • one person killed in the incident, an Israeli source
  • » The old tension beginning to boil again: This bomb attack comes on the heels of rocket and mortar attacks launched from Gaza on Wednesday, which wounded one person. That attack was called retaliation by some Palestinians, in response to Israeli air strikes that killed eight people, amongst them three children. So, basically, this is all (still) shot to hell, and with Israeli/Palestinian peace talks having fallen apart last year, it’s anybody’s guess what the future holds for this most bloody and depressing of conflicts.
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

23 Mar 2011 13:33

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World: Scuba-capable Japanese man saves wife, mother

  • problem Hideaki Akaiwa was at work when the dual threats of earthquake and tsunami rocked Japan. He went home to find his neighborhood was under ten feet of water, his wife and mother nowhere to be found.
  • solution Akaiwa strapped on scuba gear and swam some 200 yards through debris (his estimate) to his house, where he found his wife. He found his mother that way, too, in the 2nd floor of another home. source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

23 Mar 2011 11:17

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World: Syrian protests heat up: Security forces kill six in mosque attack

  • Here’s some amateur video, parsed by Euronews, of last night’s conflict at a Omari mosque in the Syrian city of Daraa. Despite bans on protests in the country for almost 50 years, some have cropped up in the southern Syrian city in the past week. A number of protesters were inside attempting to protect themselves from Syrian security forces threatening to attack the mosque. “Brother don’t shoot,” one protester shouted inside of the mosque. “This country is big enough for me and you.” Apparently, Syria disagrees. And this is a problem.  source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

23 Mar 2011 10:49

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Biz, World: Egypt’s stock market opened today, and it was kinda rough

  • 2 months the length of time Egypt’s stock market went without a single session — something about a revolution
  • -9% the stock market’s decline on its first day back, caused in part by foreign investors freaking out source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

23 Mar 2011 10:42

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U.S., World: FDA’s Fukushima food ban: Not really that big a deal

  • scary The FDA just limited the import of food from the area of Japan near the Fukushima nuclear disaster, days after officials discovered radiation in some foods, including milk and spinach. A lot of people have been freaking out over this.
  • not scary However, this almost assuredly isn’t a big deal — only four percent of our imported foods come from Japan, and the ones we usually eat from the country are things like fish, which weren’t significantly affected by Fukushima. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

22 Mar 2011 23:53

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World: Yemen: Ali Abdullah Saleh’s losing friends faster than MySpace

  • Friday broke our hearts; yesterday opened our eyes. We saw people of our generation killed with head shots and chest wounds. We don’t want that pain again.
  • DC-based Yemeni spokesperson Mohammed al-Basha • Describing the pain he felt over the violence in his country, pushed forth by president Ali Abdullah Saleh. The bloodshed in particular pushed many in the government over the edge. While many other government figures resigned yesterday, al-Basha hasn’t. Rather, he says he seems himself as a “neutral” civil servant. Saleh, meanwhile, threatened civil war at the same time he was offering an olive branch to the people he was threatening civil war against. Follow that? Neither did we. Clarity is not Mr. Saleh’s strong suit. Nor is human rights, apparently. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

22 Mar 2011 14:21

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World: Released NYT journalists recount arrest horror

  • I heard in Arabic, ‘shoot them,’ and we all thought it was over.
  • New York Times foreign correspondent Anthony Shadid • Reflecting on his arrest, as well as his three NYT compatriots, at the hands of pro-Gaddafi forces in Libya. The story seems to indicate a reluctance Gaddafi’s people had to actually make good on that remark and shoot the journalists; upon realizing they were Americans, they thankfully scuttled that plan. Lynsey Addario got the worst treatment, having “every inch of [her] body” groped by the pro-Gaddafi soldiers, while photographer Tyler Hicks was threatened with decapitation. So, all in all, a pretty sickening story, and one that we hope people remember when somebody is mocking a journalist on the ground for feeling threatened. These are real dangers, folks. source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

22 Mar 2011 13:49

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World: China, South Korea strictly checking Japanese food

  • China and South Korea wary of radiation in food: Some countries (and even individual restaurants) that import food from Japan are concerned about the possibility of radiation contamination. The Japanese government has assured their citizenry that the radiation levels detected in milk, spinach, and some water is not enough to do rapid or lasting damage, though they’ve imposed a freeze on food from that region. China and South Korea want to look into the matter themselves, though, absent the responsibility of keeping the Japanese citizenry from being stricken with panic, which their government obviously has. That seems reasonable enough. source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
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