Fukushima: robot images show massive deposits thought to be melted nuclear fuel
Robot spots suspected debris of melted fuel for first time since 2011 earthquake and tsunami destroyed the plant
Images captured by an underwater robot on Saturday showed massive deposits believed to be melted nuclear fuel covering the floor of a damaged reactor at Japan’s destroyed Fukushima nuclear plant.
The robot found large amounts of solidified lava-like rocks and lumps in layers as thick as 1m on the bottom inside a main structure called the pedestal that sits underneath the core inside the primary containment vessel of Fukushima’s Unit 3 reactor, said the plant’s operator, Tokyo Electric Power Co.
On Friday, the robot spotted suspected debris of melted fuel for the first time since the 2011 earthquake and tsunami caused multiple meltdowns and destroyed the plant. The three-day investigation of Unit 3 ended on Saturday.Texas schools bring back corporal punishment for bad behaviou
Staff can beat disobedient students with a wooden paddle - but only children whose parents consent to the policy will receive physical punishment
Three schools in Texas are reintroducing corporate punishment for bad behaviour.
Staff will be able to use a wooden paddle to beat disobedient students in Three Rivers Schools District, which educates children from four to 18 at its elementary, junior and senior high schools.
The child will receive one paddling for each misdemeanour, such as not following rules in the classroom or not obeying teachers.
When parents enrol their children, they will be asked whether they consent to the use of corporal punishment. Only children whose parents agree will receive it.From Paragon To PariahHow Kaczynski Is Driving Poland Away from Europe
Jaroslaw Kaczynski, the most powerful politician in Poland, is the architect of judicial reforms that have drawn massive criticism across Europe. As the Polish government chips away at checks and balances, is it possible the politician could drive the country out of the EU?
By Jan Puhl
The nucleus of Poland's political power lies not in the parliament in Warsaw, not in the presidential palace, but in a windowless, slightly strange looking building that most resembles a multistory car park. It's not quite part of Warsaw's city center, although downtown's many new glass and steel skyscrapers are still just in sight.
Every day, an official car picks up Jaroslaw Kaczynski from his apartment in the Zoliborz neighborhood and brings him to this office block at 84-86 Nowogrodzka. The building houses a sushi restaurant, a copy shop and an insurance company -- and the headquarters of Kaczynski's ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party.
Mexico City expands program to recognize gender identity
Scores of trans people have received birth certificates recognizing their genders in Mexico City. They were the first to have their genders acknowledged by authorities as part of the capital's new program.
On Saturday Mexico City received more than 2,000 trans people from 24 states to distribute the first birth certificates that acknowledge the true gender identities of petitioners from outside of the district. They lined up outside the capital's recently inaugurated Plaza de la Identidad (Plaza of Identity) in front of the municipal's civil register.
"It is a historic day for Mexico City, for the trans community and for the country because, for the first time, there is a large-scale event at which certificates are generated that give recognition to gender reassignment," municipal Justice Minister Manuel Granados told the Spanish news agency EFE on Saturday. He said the recognition would give "juridical and legal certainty" in a "very important" matter.
DONALD TRUMP AND THE COMING FALL OF AMERICAN EMPIRE
EVEN AS PRESIDENT DONALD Trump faces ever-intensifying investigations into the alleged connections between his top aides and family members and powerful Russian figures, he serves as commander in chief over a U.S. military that is killing an astonishing and growing number of civilians. Under Trump, the U.S. is re-escalating its war in Afghanistan, expanding its operations in Iraq and Syria, conducting covert raids in Somalia and Yemen, and openly facilitating the Saudi’s genocidal military destruction of Yemen.
Meanwhile, China has quietly and rapidly expanded its influence without deploying its military on foreign soil.
A new book by the famed historian Alfred McCoy predicts that China is set to surpass the influence of the U.S. globally, both militarily and economically, by the year 2030. At that point, McCoy asserts the United States Empire as we know it will be no more. He sees the Trump presidency as one of the clearest byproducts of the erosion of U.S. global dominance, but not its root cause. At the same time, he also believes Trump may accelerate the empire’s decline.
Islamic State galvanized in Asia by Philippine city siege, report says
AP
The attack by Islamic State group-affiliated militants on a Philippine city has galvanized its Southeast Asian supporters and spells trouble for the region, a top terrorism researcher said Friday as the occupation of Marawi nears two months despite a sustained military offensive.
In a new report, Sidney Jones, an expert on militant networks in Southeast Asia at the Jakarta-based Institute for Policy Analysis of Conflict, said there now may be a higher risk of attacks in other Philippine cities and cooperation between militants across regional borders could expand. Militants in Indonesia and Malaysia will want to redouble efforts to attack police and may also lift their sights to targeting foreigners, she said.
“The initial photographs from Marawi released over social media as the ISIS assault began — smiling fighters hold guns aloft on trucks — seemed to have the same impact as the iconic ISIS victory photos from Mosul in 2014,” Jones said, using another acronym for IS and referring to its past occupation of Iraq’s second-largest city. “They generated a shared sense of triumph and strengthened the desire of ISIS supporters in the region to join the battle.”
No comments:
Post a Comment