For Fukushima supermarket owner, water release spells renewed battle for survival
By Akiko Okamoto, Kiyoshi Takenaka and Tom Bateman
On a recent Wednesday morning, supermarket owner Takashi Nakajima expertly sliced into slabs of raw sea bream and horse mackerel, placing the thin wedges of the local Fukushima catch on a plate to be sold in the store he inherited from his father.
It’s been a long battle to get radiation-wary customers back to the seafood from waters near the Fukushima nuclear power plant that was wrecked in the 2011 tsunami, Nakajima says. Now, with the imminent release of treated radioactive water from the plant into the Pacific, he fears a return to square one.
“This can’t be happening,” the 67-year-old said in the backyard kitchen of his supermarket in Soma city, just 45 km north of the stricken power plant.
Commandos rescue four children trapped in Pakistan chairlift after cable snaps
High winds hamper attempts to rescue seven children and one teacher stranded above ravine
Army commandos in Pakistan have rescued four children from a stranded chairlift where seven children and one teacher had been left hanging 274 metres (900ft) above a ravine after a cable snapped.
The children, stranded since 7am local time (0200 BST), were using the chairlift to get to school in a mountainous area in Battagram, about 125 miles (200km) north of Islamabad.
A rescue agency spokesperson and a district official confirmed the rescue of the first two children, which had taken place in difficult conditions in high winds.
Eighteen bodies found in Greek forest hit by fire believed to be migrants
Hundreds of firefighters struggled Tuesday to control major wildfires burning out of control for days in northeastern Greece
Greek authorities said the bodies of 18 people were found Tuesday in an area of northeastern Greece struck by a major wildfire.
The charred bodies were found in a remote village in northern Greece on Tuesday, where wildfires have been raging for days, the fire brigade said as a heatwave hitting southern Europe turned deadly.
Greek media said the bodies found south of the village of Avantas in northern Greece were thought to be of migrants. The broader Evros region is a popular route for migrants crossing from Turkey into Greece.
African Union suspends Niger over coup
The AU said the suspension would remain in place until civilian rule in the country is restored, and that it would assess the implications of a military intervention in Niger.
The African Union (AU) said it suspended Niger on Tuesday after a coup by the West African state’s military in late July.
The AU also reiterated calls for the coup leaders to release elected President Mohamed Bazoum and stand down.
It called on all member states to “reject this unconstitutional change of government and to refrain from any action likely to grant legitimacy to the illegal regime in Niger.”
AU to assess implications of ECOWAS deployment
Over the weekend, coup leader Abdourahmane Tchiani said that transitioning power to civilian rule could take up to three years.
Can BRICS end ‘apartheid’ against the Global South?
As the grouping of five emerging economies meets in South Africa, here’s what to expect.
Delegates from the world’s major emerging economies, and dozens of leaders from across the developing world, are meeting in Johannesburg for the BRICS summit starting Tuesday, with one question taking precedence: Is it possible to reshape global governance so the world’s majority has an equal voice in decisions that affect its future?
The Global South, which accounts for 85 percent of the world’s population, is “on the margins and outliers in terms of global decision-making” while political and financial institutions are still dominated by a select few in the West, said Anil Sooklal, South Africa’s ambassador to the BRICS, which also includes Brazil, Russia, India and China.
Ukraine war: The men who don’t want to fight
Ukraine is struggling to meet its demand for soldiers.
Volunteers aren’t enough. The country constantly needs to replace the tens of thousands who’ve been killed or injured. Many more are just exhausted, after 18 months fighting off Russia’s full-scale invasion.
Some men though don’t want to fight. Thousands have left the country, sometimes after bribing officials, and others are finding ways of dodging recruitment officers, who in turn have been accused of increasingly heavy-handed tactics.
“The system is very outdated,” says Yehor. He watched his father suffer from mental health issues after fighting with the Soviet Army in Afghanistan.
Recent Comments