Fukushima warning: danger level at nuclear plant jumps to 'serious'
Japan's nuclear agency dramatically raises status after saying a day earlier that radioactive water leak was only an 'anomaly'
Japan is to issue its gravest warning about the state of the wreckedFukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant since the facility suffered a triple meltdown almost two and a half years ago.
The new warning, expected on Wednesday, comes only a day after the nuclear watchdog assigned a much lower ranking when the plant's operator, Tepco, admitted about 300 tonnes of highly toxic water hadleaked from a storage tank at the site.
The Nuclear Regulation Authority has now said it will dramatically raise the incident's severity level from one to three on the eight-point scale used by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) for radiation releases. Each single-digit increase in the scale actually represents a tenfold increase in the severity of a radiological release, according to the IAEA.
Guardian reveals how it destroyed NSA, GCHQ files
Threat of legal action by UK government led senior editor and computer expert to pulverise equipment with angle grinders
Guardian editors yesterday revealed why and how the newspaper destroyed computer hard drives containing copies of some of the NSA and GCHQ secret files leaked byEdward Snowden.
The decision was taken after a threat of legal action by the British government that could have stopped reporting on the extent of American and British government surveillance revealed by the documents.
It resulted in one of the stranger episodes in the history of digital-age journalism. On Saturday July 20th, in a basement of the Guardian’s King’s Cross offices, a senior editor and a computer expert used angle grinders and other tools to pulverise the hard drives and memory chips on which the encrypted files had been stored.
'The Fearless One': Rape Trial Galvanizes India
The horrific gang rape that killed Indian physical therapy student Jyoti Singh Pandey last December created an international uproar. Now, the trial is approaching a verdict amid heightened emotions and accusations that one of the defendants was murdered.
Courtroom 304 at the district court in the southern part of Delhi is an austere place, with its wood-paneled walls and fluorescent lights on the ceiling. The judge may look surprisingly modern as he sits between two large computer screens, but this is still India -- which helps explain why this case, which triggered worldwide outrage, seems to be hitting a few snags.
Brics council meeting: Failure is not an option for Africa
Leaders have thrown their weight behind the need for development of the African continent as expressed at the first Brics business council meeting.
Leaders, including President Jacob Zuma, on Tuesday threw their weight behind the need for urgent development of the African continent as expressed at the inaugural meeting of the Brics (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) business council, which took place in Sandton.
"Africa is rising and full of hope and promise … it is becoming a remarkable success story," said Zuma in addressing the conference. "In Africa's success lies our success, failure is not an option," said Onkar Kanwar, chairperson of the India Brics business council.
The Brics forum was formed in 2011 with the aim of encouraging commercial, political and cultural cooperation amongst its member countries. The Brics leaders resolved to prioritise Africa's development at the summit held in Durban in March and at the same time formed the Brics business council.
Chasing the 'Brazilian dream,' migrants strain the country's immigration laws
An investigation this month found illegal immigrants from Haiti living in squalor in an overcrowded camp – highlighting Brazil's lack of policies for dealing with a growing issue.
Putting a spotlight on the problem are hundreds of Haitians being trafficked illegally into the country. Since a massive 2010 earthquake upended many of their lives, around 10,000 undocumented Haitians have surged into Brazil, with 4,000 alone arriving in Brasiléia, in Acre State, over the past seven months. Every day, 40 more arrive.
But Brazil's response has been chaotic. A three-day investigation earlier this month into the conditions at a refugee camp in Brasiléia by Conectas, a São Paulo-based human rights organization, revealed that more than 830 immigrants – mostly Haitians and including some 20 unaccompanied children – are living in a makeshift shelter built for 200 people.
Will Col Inocente Orlando Montano face criminal trial?
The commander of one of El Salvador's notorious death squads, active during the 1979-92 civil war, could soon become the first top-ranking Salvadoran officer to face trial for murder. But if so, he will be tried in Spain, not his own country, where an amnesty protects even those guilty of atrocities against civilians.
Inocente Orlando Montano was quietly working in a sweet factory in Massachusetts in May 2011, when he and 19 others were indicted by a Spanish court for their alleged role in the 1989 murder of six Jesuit priests, along with their housekeeper and her teenage daughter.
Five of the priests - outspoken critics of El Salvador's military regime - were Spanish. Spain asked for Montano to be extradited - and soon afterwards he was indicted by the US for having lied about his entry date and military past to obtain papers giving him the right to work in the US.
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