Six In The Morning

Japan: Powerful earthquake hits north-east

A powerful earthquake has hit north-east Japan, exactly one month after the devastating earthquake and tsunami.

The BBC  11 April 2011

The 7.1-magnitude tremor triggered a brief tsunami warning, and forced workers to evacuate the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant.

The epicentre of the quake was in Fukushima prefecture, and struck at a depth of just 10km (six miles).

It came as Japan said it was extending the evacuation zone around the nuclear plant because of radiation concerns.

The cooling systems at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant were damaged in last month’s disaster. Workers have been struggling to prevent several reactors from overheating, and avert a large-scale release of radiation.

China says milk was tainted with nitrite intentionally

Suspect has been accused of poisoning milk from two dairies, which killed three children in Gansu province

Associated Press

guardian.co.uk, Monday 11 April 2011

Investigators have found that a tainted milk incident in north-west China which killed three children appears to be a case of intentional poisoning and have detained a suspect, state media said.

Investigators found that nitrite, an industrial salt that can be deadly, was added to fresh milk from two dairies last week in Gansu province in order to harm people, the China Daily newspaper reported on Monday. A suspect in Pingliang, where the poisoning took place, had been taken into custody.

Battles rage as African leaders claim Gaddafi is intent on peace



By Patrick Cockburn in Ajdabiya Monday, 11 April 2011<

Plumes of black smoke rose over Ajdabiya yesterday as rockets and mortar bombs exploded in this empty town that pro-Gaddafi troops and rebel militiamen have now been fighting each other to control for several weeks.

As the battles continued, Muammar Gaddafi met with African leaders in Tripoli to try to negotiate an end to the conflict. The African Union (AU) planned to press their efforts with the rebels in a separate meeting today. The South African President Jacob Zuma said Colonel Gaddafi had accepted the AU’s “road map” for peace, which calls for an immediate ceasefire, opening channels for humanitarian aid and talks between the rebels and the government.

Powerful yakuza boss released from prison



April 11, 2011 – 2:19PM

Police in Japan are bracing themselves for the possibility of conflict with the underworld after the head of the country’s most powerful crime syndicate was released from prison.

Kenichi Shinoda was freed from the Fuchu prison, near Tokyo, on Saturday (9APR) after serving a six-year sentence for firearms offences.

Shinoda – also known as Shinobu Tsukasa – served 13 years in prison for killing a rival with a samurai sword in the 1970s while he was the leader of the notorious Kodo-kai, a Yamaguchi-gumi affiliate based in central Japan

Sudan says Israel behind air strike

 

KHARTOUM, SUDAN – Apr 11 2011

Tuesday’s attack was carried out by two AH-64 Apache helicopters, about 15km south of Port Sudan, Sudan’s foreign ministry said in a statement.

They flew in from the Red Sea and unleashed a barrage of Hellfire missiles and machinegun fire on the car after having jammed the local radar system, the statement added.

The US-made helicopters were not owned by any country in the region except Israel, said the statement.

Leftist Humala leads Peru election polls, but undecided voters could cause upset

Eleven percent of the electorate was still undecided ahead of today’s Peru election, a fact that could swing the vote away from leading candidate Ollanta Humala.

By Lucien Chauvin, Correspondent / April 10, 2011

Lima, Peru

Peru’s closely fought presidential election may come down to voters like Miguel Peña when more than 19 million people go to the polls today.

Mr. Peña, who helps park cars at a supermarket in Lima, the capital, has not decided who he will vote for out of a field of 10 candidates. He says he is still trying to decide between front-runner Ollanta Humala, former President Alejandro Toledo (2001-2006), and former Finance Minister Pedro Pablo Kuczynski.

“I like Humala, because he says he will work for the poor, but we hear on the radio that he will take the country backwards. I haven’t decided, but I think it might be Humala,” he says.