Fukushima leak alert hiked to level-III
Tokyo: Japan declared a radioactive water leak at the crippled Fukushima plant a level-three “serious incident” on Wedensday, its highest warning in two years, as operators scrambled to seal a tank that has seeped 300 tonnes of toxic water. The leak is the worst since the nuclear crisis began in March 2011, when a quake-generated tsunami knocked out reactor cooling systems and sparked meltdowns. At its height, the Fukushima crisis was classified as level seven — one of only two events ever rated in that category along with the Chernobyl disaster a quarter of a century ago.
US scribe’s partner sues over uk detention
london: The partner of the US journalist behind the Edward Snowden leaks has launched legal action against Britain for holding him under anti-terror laws as the government admitted it was kept informed about his detention. David Miranda, a Brazilian national who has been working with his boyfriend Glenn Greenwald on the US intelligence leaks, was held and questioned for almost nine hours at london Heathrow Airport. The Guardian, meanwhile, said the British government had forced it to destroy files or face a court battle over its publication of US security secrets leaked by Snowden, who has been granted temporary asylum in Russia.
Australian Wikileaks candidate quits
Sydney: Julian Assange’s Australian Wikileaks Party was in crisis on Wednesday after one of its most prominent candidates quit, saying she was disillusioned with its lack of democracy. Ethicist leslie Cannold was the party’s number two candidate for the Senate behind Assange. She would have likely taken his place in the upper house in the event the party was successful in the September 7 polls and its leader unable to return to Australia.
Pak floods affect nearly million people
Islamabad: Nearly 140 people have died and close to one million have been affected by torrential monsoon rains and floods across Pakistan, an official disaster control body said on Wednesday. The National Disaster Management Authority said the death toll in rain and flood-related incidents has risen to 139 while over 800 people were injured.
33 feared dead in Malaysian mishap
Kuala lumpur: At least 33 people were believed killed and 16 injured when a bus carrying tourists plunged into a deep ravine near the popular Genting Highlands resort in Malaysia on Wednesday. The nationalities of the victims could not immediately be ascertained though media reports said most of the passengers were Malaysians.
19 killed in Indonesia church bus crash
Jakarta: A car and a packed church bus returning from an outing collided and plunged into a river Wednesday in Indonesia’s West Java province, killing at least 19 people and injuring more than a dozen, officials said.
Egypt temporarily closes Dhaka embassy
Dhaka: A student activist of Bangladesh’s fundamentalist Jamaat-e-Islami was arrested on Wednesday on charge of threatening to blow up the Egyptian embassy here, which was earlier shut down for 11 days over “security reasons”. Shawkat Afsar of Islami Chhatra Shibir, student wing of the Jamaat, was arrested on a tip-off, police said.
OZ woman charged with INDIAN’S murder
Melbourne: An Australian woman was on Wednesday charged by a Queensland court for killing her 37-year-old Indian partner by pumping 10 bullets in his head last month. Gold Coast-based businessman Shyam ‘Sam’ Dhody was allegedly shot dead by 27-year-old Melissa lee Shaw in July this year. Shaw was arrested on Tuesday.