Six In The Morning

Tokyo radiation fears spark run on bottled water
More countries impose curbs on imports of Japanese food
msnbc.com news services
TOKYO — Workers doled out bottled water to Tokyo families Thursday after residents cleared store shelves because of warnings that radiation from Japan's tsunami-damaged nuclear plant had seeped into the city's water supply, while more countries imposed curbs on imports of Japanese food.
Engineers are trying to stabilize the Fukushima nuclear facility nearly two weeks after an earthquake and tsunami battered the complex and devastated northeast Japan.
Japan's nuclear safety agency said Thursday that three workers have been exposed to radioactive elements and injured while laying electric cables. Two of the workers were taken to a hospital for treatment, spokesman Fumio Matsuda said.
Tokyo's 13 million people have been told not to give infants tap water because of contamination twice the safety level.

Students graduate after passing the toughest test

Michael Wines
March 24, 2011
SCHOOLS begin in April and hold graduation ceremonies in March; like spring, they represent renewal and rebirth.

On Tuesday morning, in a school meeting hall in the tsunami-ravaged seaport of Kesennuma, it became something else: an act of defiance.

Gathering in the shadow of the tsunami disaster zone, two solemn and often tearful crowds met to award diplomas to the year 6 and 9 classes of Hashikami Elementary and Junior High schools. Inside the junior high auditorium, hundreds of refugees from the March 11 tsunami rolled up their blankets and moved to the rear to make way for a ritual that any parent would instantly recognise: the strains of Pachelbel's Canon; the students' march to the podium; the singing of school songs; the snapping of mobile phone photos.

West African leaders under pressure over Côte d'Ivoire

SUSAN NJANJI ABUJA, NIGERIA - Mar 24 2011
Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan, the current chairperson of West African bloc, the Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas), said the two-day summit would consider whether to urge the United Nations to take further action on the crisis, but did not provide specifics.

"I believe we can pass a resolution to request the UN to take a little more serious steps on the Côte d'Ivoire situation," Jonathan said of the 15-nation Ecowas, whose summit ends Thursday.

He also said at the summit opening: "I have no doubt we have the will, the commitment and the collective resolve to bring to an end the unfortunate crisis in Côte d'Ivoire, hopefully without resort to use of legitimate force.

Syrian regime launches crackdown by shooting 15 activists dead
Some were killed when security forces opened fire on protesters surrounding the Omari mosque; others were shot at a funeral
Katherine Marsh
The Guardian, Thursday 24 March 2011
Violence escalated in the southern Syrian city of Deraa as protests entered a sixth day. At least 15 protesters are known to have been shot dead on Wednesday and scores more injured.

In a sign that the Syrian regime is using a brutal crackdown rather than concessions to quell protests, security forces opened fire on people in three separate incidents, according to human rights activists.

At 1am on Wednesday morning, at least six people were killed when security forces opened fire on protesters surrounding the Omari mosque, after cutting electricity and communications to the site that has become the focus of demonstrations.

Row over role of Nato splits coalition forces

By Oliver Wright, Whitehall Editor, Rupert Cornwell in Washington and John Lichfield in Paris Thursday, 24 March 2011
Attempts to reach an international consensus on a new command structure for military operations in Libya stalled last night after a row between Turkey and France over the role of Nato in the coalition.

Under a draft plan being discussed by ambassadors in Brussels, Nato commanders would have been guided by a political committee featuring representatives from not just the West but also, crucially, the Arab world.

But the talks broke up after a third day of wrangling after a row between Turkey and France over the precise role Nato would play.

Relatives sue banana firm over killings in Colombia
The Irish Times - Thursday, March 24, 2011
TOM HENNIGAN in São Paulo
FAMILIES OF victims in Colombia’s civil war are suing the biggest banana importer in the United States for its role in funding illegal armed groups in the country’s conflict.

Relatives of 931 people killed by left-wing guerrillas and right-wing paramilitaries want compensation after Chiquita Brands admitted paying the groups at various times during the conflict to protect its banana plantations in the Caribbean Urabá region.

One of the filings made with a US federal court in Washington DC on Tuesday relates to 254 murders by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or Farc.