Fukushima Residents Seek Answers Amid Mixed Signals From Media, TEPCO and Government. Report from the Radiation Exclusion Zone
Mistrust of the media has surged among the people of Fukushima Prefecture. In part this is due to reports filed by mainstream journalists who are unwilling to visit the area near the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. But above all it is the result of contradictory reportsreleased by the media, TEPCO and the government.
On the one hand, many local officials and residents in Fukushima insist that the situation is safe and that the media, in fanning unwarranted fears, are damaging the economy of the region.By contrast, many freelance journalists in Tokyo report that the central government is downplaying the fact that radiation leakage has been massive and that the threat to public health has been woefully underestimated. While the government long hewed to its original definition of a 20 kilometer exclusion zone, following the April 12 announcement that the Fukushima radiation severity level has been raised from a level 5 event (as with Three Mile Island) to a level 7 event (as with Chernobyl), the government also extended the radiation exclusion zone from 20 kilometers to at least five communities in the 30-50 kilometer range.
In recent weeks, many Fukushima residents who fled in the first week of the nuclear crisis have begun returning home and attempting to resume normal activities. For example, some local people in Iwaki city, 40-50 km from the Fukushima Daiichi reactor, are convinced that it is now safe to return despite the high radiation levels recorded. Here is one example.
Society's Child
© AP Photo/The Daily News, Miranda Pederson
Kathy Coy of Morgantown, Ky., listens to charges against her during a preliminary hearing in Warren District Court at the Warren County Justice Center, along with Diana Werkman, an assistant attorney from the Department of Public Advocacy, on Tuesday April 19, 2011, in Bowling Green, Ky. Coy is charged with the murder of a pregnant Jamie Stice and kidnapping of her newborn son.
Kathy Coy of Morgantown, Ky., listens to charges against her during a preliminary hearing in Warren District Court at the Warren County Justice Center, along with Diana Werkman, an assistant attorney from the Department of Public Advocacy, on Tuesday April 19, 2011, in Bowling Green, Ky. Coy is charged with the murder of a pregnant Jamie Stice and kidnapping of her newborn son.
Bowling Green - A woman used a stun gun to subdue an expectant mother before killing her and cutting the baby boy from her body, a Kentucky State Police investigator testified Tuesday.
Detective Chad Winn, speaking during a preliminary hearing in Warren County District Court, said Kathy Michelle Coy told 21-year old Jamie Stice they were going shopping for baby supplies but took her instead to a wooded area with plans to kill her.
Coy, 33, has been charged with murder and kidnapping of a minor.
Winn testified that after attacking Stice with the stun gun, Coy slit Stice's throat and wrists, then cut the baby out of her abdomen. Winn said Coy eventually led investigators to Stice's body and gave details of the slaying.
© EPA
Army Pfc. Bradley Manning, in an undated file photo.
Army Pfc. Bradley Manning, in an undated file photo.
The change for Army Pfc. Bradley Manning, which could come as early as Wednesday, sources told NBC News, could include a dramatic shift in the conditions of his confinement.
Manning was held in maximum security at the Marine Corps brig Quantico, Va., for more than eight months where he spent 23 hours a day and ate all his meals in an isolated cell, was permitted no contact with other prisoners, and was forced to wear chains and leg irons any time he was moved. He also was often forced to strip naked at night and stand nude in his cell for early morning inspection.
The Marines claim they took his clothes to prevent him from injuring himself. Military and Pentagon officials insist the action was punishment for what the Marines considered disrespect from Manning. Such tactics for disciplinary reasons are against military regulations.
© AP
As the one-year anniversary of the BP oil spill approaches, some scientists have deemed the health of the Gulf of Mexico as "nearly back to normal," though countless workers involved in cleaning up the aftermath of the disaster are reporting mysterious and unexplained illnesses.
The Associated Press reports that scientists have graded the Gulf's ecosystem health now as just a few points below where it was before the spill. Granted, the scientists go on to voice concern for the mysterious deaths of hundreds of young dolphins and turtles, dead patches of sea floor, and stained crabs.
Jane Lubchenco, the head of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said, the Gulf is "much better than people feared, but the jury is out about what the end result will be."
© Denise Henhoeffer/Courier-Post
On Sunday, April 17, 2011, Terrell Aycox, 13, Hydir Moore, 11, and Keayrah Johnson, 10, watch Tyreek Jones, 11, sign a memorial for Kapone, an 8-month-old pit bull shot and killed by Camden Police Friday night on Lemuil Avenue in Camden. Residents say 33 rounds were fired by police in the area, hitting not only the pit bull, but also homes and cars.
On Sunday, April 17, 2011, Terrell Aycox, 13, Hydir Moore, 11, and Keayrah Johnson, 10, watch Tyreek Jones, 11, sign a memorial for Kapone, an 8-month-old pit bull shot and killed by Camden Police Friday night on Lemuil Avenue in Camden. Residents say 33 rounds were fired by police in the area, hitting not only the pit bull, but also homes and cars.
Camden - Neighbors are seeking an apology from Camden police after a Friday night incident in which they say a dog was shot by officers who were carelessly firing on a street crowded with children.
The dog was killed around 9 p.m. Friday after officers responded to calls of a fight between teenagers in the Baldwin Run neighborhood of the city's Rosedale section.
But neighbors are also concerned by what they said is an excessive use of force after bullet holes were found sprayed around the neighborhood. Shots went through through the walls and windows of a home four houses away and punched holes in several vehicles parked in nearby driveways.
The president of the World Bank has warned that the world is "one shock away from a full-blown crisis".
Robert Zoellick cited rising food prices as the main threat to poor nations who risk "losing a generation".
He was speaking in Washington at the end of the spring meetings of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund.
Meanwhile, G20 finance chiefs, who also met in Washington, pledged financial support to help new governments in the Middle East and North Africa.
Mr Zoellick said such support was vital.
"The crisis in the Middle East and North Africa underscores how we need to put the conclusions from our latest world development report into practice. The report highlighted the importance of citizen security, justice and jobs," he said.
He also called for the World Bank to act quickly to support reforms in the region.
Robert Zoellick cited rising food prices as the main threat to poor nations who risk "losing a generation".
He was speaking in Washington at the end of the spring meetings of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund.
Meanwhile, G20 finance chiefs, who also met in Washington, pledged financial support to help new governments in the Middle East and North Africa.
Mr Zoellick said such support was vital.
"The crisis in the Middle East and North Africa underscores how we need to put the conclusions from our latest world development report into practice. The report highlighted the importance of citizen security, justice and jobs," he said.
He also called for the World Bank to act quickly to support reforms in the region.
© Unknown
A relative of the victims said about Narcy, the alleged killer, "I want her to experience pain, I want her to experience everything that lock up and jail would give her." In addition to the two deaths, court papers also allege Narcy may have been so deranged that she tried to bribe a potential witness to frame her own daughter for the killing, and then tried to have the witness killed.
Judge would decide if jury could hear previous uncharged allegations
In what critics say could be a "seismic change" in state criminal law, the Texas Senate tentatively approved a bill that would allow jurors in sexual assault cases to hear testimony about similar allegations against a defendant - even if the previous incident did not result in a conviction or even criminal charges.
The bill by Sen. Joan Huffman, R-Houston, would allow the introduction of testimony about allegations of other sexual assaults to be admitted during the guilt or innocence phase of a trial if a judge - outside the presence of the jury - hears the evidence and deems it relevant.
The bill gives "greater resources to prosecutors and victims of sexual assault," Huffman said Monday. Allowing testimony of similar sex offenses "brings Texas closer in line with federal rules of evidence," she added.
Sen. Royce West, D-Dallas, opposed the bill, arguing the measure would bring about "more wrongful convictions" because jurors will be afraid to acquit a defendant against whom they have heard multiple allegations. Jurors who are skeptical of the evidence of the case before them could feel compelled to convict "because he (the defendant) must have done something wrong," West said.
In what critics say could be a "seismic change" in state criminal law, the Texas Senate tentatively approved a bill that would allow jurors in sexual assault cases to hear testimony about similar allegations against a defendant - even if the previous incident did not result in a conviction or even criminal charges.
The bill by Sen. Joan Huffman, R-Houston, would allow the introduction of testimony about allegations of other sexual assaults to be admitted during the guilt or innocence phase of a trial if a judge - outside the presence of the jury - hears the evidence and deems it relevant.
The bill gives "greater resources to prosecutors and victims of sexual assault," Huffman said Monday. Allowing testimony of similar sex offenses "brings Texas closer in line with federal rules of evidence," she added.
Sen. Royce West, D-Dallas, opposed the bill, arguing the measure would bring about "more wrongful convictions" because jurors will be afraid to acquit a defendant against whom they have heard multiple allegations. Jurors who are skeptical of the evidence of the case before them could feel compelled to convict "because he (the defendant) must have done something wrong," West said.
© The Associated Press
Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer, seen in this 2010 file photo, has vetoed a bill that would have allowed guns on public college campuses.
Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer, seen in this 2010 file photo, has vetoed a bill that would have allowed guns on public college campuses.
"The bill was just poorly, sloppily written" Brewer told Fox News' Greta Van Susteren. "The legislation should have been crystal clear."
Brewer said in a written statement announcing the veto that the bill didn't adequately define the "public right of way" where guns could be carried on public university and community college campuses, and gun laws must be "crystal clear so that gun owners don't become lawbreakers by accident."
She also warned that the bill could have mistakenly included K-12 schools, "where federal and state laws generally prohibit weapons."
"While I support thoughtful expansion of where firearms should be allowed, the actual legislation that does so must be unambiguous and clear to protect the Second Amendment rights of gun owners. Senate Bill 1467 is neither," she said in the written statement.
A farm worker may have deliberately waded into a crocodile-infested river after a domestic row according to police in South Africa.
David Lubisi, 40, was eaten alive after he entered the Lepelle river following an argument with his girlfriend, detectives believe.
The father-of-three has not been seen for more than a week after allegedly telling a colleague about his plan on April 7.
"Our investigations have revealed that at around 7pm on April 7 he told a co-worker he wanted to walk into the river, which he knew to be infested with crocodiles," said Sergeant Malesela Makgopa.
"He was last seen heading towards the water and never turned up after that.
"We believe he may have been having domestic problems with his girlfriend ."
© Alamy
A crocodile in Kruger National Park.
A crocodile in Kruger National Park.
The father-of-three has not been seen for more than a week after allegedly telling a colleague about his plan on April 7.
"Our investigations have revealed that at around 7pm on April 7 he told a co-worker he wanted to walk into the river, which he knew to be infested with crocodiles," said Sergeant Malesela Makgopa.
"He was last seen heading towards the water and never turned up after that.
"We believe he may have been having domestic problems with his girlfriend ."
