The daunting task of digging out from yesterday’s 8.9 earthquake in Japan has been made that much more difficult by the crisis at the Fukushima nuclear plants near Tokyo. The building housing one reactor and its containment facility exploded, and the cooling systems in all six reactors at the two plants have failed.
Japanese authorities believe that a partial meltdown has occurred at one of the reactors, and emergency measures are underway to try to cool all six reactors and prevent a Chernobyl-like explosion. Steam is being released on a controlled basis, which also causes radiation to escape into the atmosphere. 200,000 residents have been evacuated from an area within a 20-kilometer radius around the plants. About 160 people are thought to have been exposed to radiation, and emergency agencies are preparing to distribute potassium iodide pills, which are used to treat people for radiation exposure.
In other news, five members of an Israeli family in the West Bank, including both parents and two small children, were murdered in their home by Islamic terrorists. Two other children manage to escape. The freedom fighters of Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade claimed “credit” for the deed. Al-Aqsa is part of Fatah, the ruling party of the Palestinian Authority.
To see the headlines and the articles, open the full news post.
Thanks to C. Cantoni, JD, JP, Kitman, Zenster, and all the other tipsters who sent these in.
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