Region

Japan is facing shortages of bottled water after dangerous radiation levels were detected in water supplies in Tokyo and in other areas. Store shelves were empty across Tokyo after Japanese authorities warned that tap water was too dangerous for consumption by infants. Thousands of people remain without water in areas of northern Japan ravaged by the earthquake and tsunami.

While Barack Obama justifies the attacks and gives unconditional support to his Israeli equivalent, Netanyahu, Europe debates among numerous crises. Some governments have decided to get through the crisis with war, others have disassociated themselves, and Germany, on the other hand, finds Merkel trying to suspend her government.

The total death toll from a Syrian government crackdown on opposition protesters continues to rise today. At least 15 people were killed last Wednesday when repressive forces raided a mosque housing protesters in the early morning hours. But there have been reports insisting that the death toll may be significantly higher.

To avoid misunderstandings: Gaddafi is a brutal, cynical, corrupt dictator, who obviously considers Libya as his personal property. His sons were forged in the same furnace. And yet, to try to justify, as many do, especially the French government of Sarkozy, the international military mission against the Libyan regime as a matter of morality and values, is simply hypocritical.

Uncertainty looms large over India’s ambitious civilian nuclear programme as a consequence of the disasters that have struck Japan. The civilian nuclear agreement, which New Delhi and Tokyo were negotiating, is certain to be indefinitely delayed. Also, operationalization of India-U.S. civilian nuclear agreement may take more time than either New Delhi or Washington anticipated.

The U.S. and allied air strikes on Libya have entered their fourth day as part of an international effort to enforce a no-fly zone. An U.S. Air Force F-15 fighter jet has crashed after apparent mechanical failure in northeast Libya. Libyan rebels rescued the pilot after he ejected from the warplane, which came down near the eastern city of Benghazi.

Japanese officials say today that a fuel storage pool at the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station is at, or near to the boiling point. The storage pool is holding 2,000 tons of spent nuclear fuel rods. If the pool begins to boil, more radioactive steam could spew out. Authorities announced success in hooking up power lines to all six reactor units at the plant.

Over a year has passed since the end of the World March for Peace and Nonviolence and the Humanist organisation, World without Wars and Violence (WwW), is preparing itself to launch a new global campaign to build on the success of the March as another element in a string of increasingly large actions to take place since its foundation in 1995.

Following Western air strikes against Libyan military targets, Muammar Gaddafi looks set to try and bring the fighting to the big cities. Radio Netherlands Worldwide correspondent Hans Jaap Melissen reports that the tanks destroyed by French Mirage jets just a few dozen miles outside Benghazi have become a tourist attraction for the city’s residents.

The Libyan uprising continues and UN forces have started bombing to enforce a UN no-fly zone. World without Wars condemns the violence, the hypocrisy of Western governments and their policy of preventative war. “A war is underway and we believe that if it is not stopped immediately it will lead to a massive disaster affecting all the countries of the Mediterranean and beyond.”