Six In The Morning

Yemeni forces storm protest camp, killing 20
A medical volunteer says troops fired indiscriminately into a crowd.
By Iona Craig
Special to The Times
May 30, 2011, 1:08 a.m.
Reporting from Sana, Yemen— Yemeni security forces stormed a protest camp in a southern city early Monday morning, shooting indiscriminately, setting fire to the camp and killing at least 20 people, a medical volunteer said.

The city of Taiz has seen large anti-government protests calling for President Ali Abdullah Saleh's ouster since early February.

Sadek Shugaa, a volunteer medic at the field hospital at the protest camp in Taiz, said he watched as snipers took up positions around the camp while other Yemeni forces used water cannons to clear the area early Monday.

Germany pledges nuclear shutdown by 2022
Germany's ruling coalition says that it has agreed to shutdown of all of its nuclear power plants by 2022
Reuters
guardian.co.uk, Monday 30 May 2011
Germany will shut all its nuclear reactors by 2022, parties in Chancellor Angela Merkel's coalition government agreed on Monday, in a reaction to Japan's Fukushima disaster that marks a drastic policy reversal.

As expected, the coalition wants to keep the eight oldest of Germany's 17 nuclear reactors permanently shut. Seven were closed temporarily in March, just after the earthquake and tsunami hit Fukushima. One has been off the grid for years.

Who cares in the Middle East what Obama says?
President Obama has shown himself to be weak in his dealings with the Middle East, says Robert Fisk, and the Arab world is turning its back with contempt. Its future will be shaped without American influence
Monday, 30 May 2011
This month, in the Middle East, has seen the unmaking of the President of the United States. More than that, it has witnessed the lowest prestige of America in the region since Roosevelt met King Abdul Aziz on the USS Quincy in the Great Bitter Lake in 1945.


While Barack Obama and Benjamin Netanyahu played out their farce in Washington – Obama grovelling as usual – the Arabs got on with the serious business of changing their world, demonstrating and fighting and dying for freedoms they have never possessed. Obama waffled on about change in the Middle East – and about America's new role in the region. It was pathetic.

Japan PM to face confidence vote


irishtimes.com - Last Updated: Monday, May 30, 2011
Seventy per cent of Japanese voters want to get rid of Prime Minister Naoto Kan, a survey showed today, marking more bad news for the unpopular government leader who is likely to face a no-confidence vote as early as this week.

Mr Kan is under fire for his handling of the humanitarian aid to victims of an earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan's northeast on March 11th and the world's nuclear crisis triggered by the disaster.

Japan's biggest opposition Liberal Democratic Party said last week it would submit a no-confidence motion to parliament to force Mr Kan to resign or call a snap election.

The motion could be submitted as early as this week, a senior LDP lawmaker said yesterday and all opposition parties, except for tiny Social Democratic Party, have said they will back it.

Preaching peace, Zuma heads to Libya

May 30 2011

Zuma is scheduled to meet Gaddafi on Monday, amid intensified Nato strikes on the embattled Libyan leader's regime, as part of an African push to end the conflict, with sources saying the talks would focus on an exit plan.

The ANC said it supports African Union (AU) efforts to peacefully resolve the unrest "through negotiations by all parties involved in the conflict" in the uprising against Gaddafi's regime.

Pump failure nearly brings No. 5 to a boil
Tepco installs backup unit 15 hours later for halted reactor
By REIJI YOSHIDA
Staff writer
The seawater pump in the cooling system for the Fukushima power plant's No. 5 reactor broke down Saturday evening, prompting repair crews to install a backup pump 15 hours later on Sunday afternoon, Tokyo Electric Power Co. said.

Tepco discovered the pump had stopped at 9 p.m. Saturday but didn't announce it to the public until Sunday morning.

The beleaguered utility said it notified the local and central governments of the situation on Saturday evening.