BBC news 2011-03-17
BBC News with Gaenor Howells
The United States has expressed alarm about the crisis at the Fukushima nuclear complex in Japan, which was severely damaged following the huge earthquake last week. The head of the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission said he thought the cooling pond of the plant's No. 4 reactor was completely dry, leaving its fuel rods exposed. The US energy secretary said the situation appeared to be more serious than the partial meltdown at Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania in 1979. Adam Brooks reports from Washington.
The United States military says that none of its personnel in Japan has shown any sign of radiation poisoning, but these were precautionary measures. US warships and personnel were being kept away from the damaged nuclear power plant, and some air crews were taking potassium iodide, a drug which can help prevent the effects of exposure to harmful radiation.
The Japanese authorities are still struggling to bring down temperatures in four reactors at the stricken nuclear plant. Rupert Wingfield-Hayes reports from Tokyo.
The only certainty about the situation at the Fukushima nuclear plant is that it's out of control. The measures being used by the Tokyo Electric Company and the Japanese government to bring it back under control appear increasingly desperate and improvised. The latest pictures from the site show three of the reactor buildings shattered by a series of explosions over the last five days. A hundred and fifty miles to the south in Tokyo, radiation fears are growing fast. At Tokyo station this afternoon, hundreds of people rushed to board bullet trains heading south to Osaka and beyond.
The International Committee of the Red Cross says it's had to withdraw from Benghazi amid fears an attack on the town by Libyan government forces is now imminent. In a statement issued by ICRC in Geneva, the organisation said it remained extremely concerned about the fate of civilians of the sick and of the wounded and called on all sides to protect them. Imogen Foulkes reports from Geneva.
The International Committee of the Red Cross is often the first humanitarian organisation into a conflict zone and the last to leave. It had teams in Benghazi and other areas of eastern Libya, but it never, despite repeated requests, received security assurances from the Libyan government to allow it to work anywhere controlled by Colonel Gaddafi's forces. Now amid signs an attack on Benghazi is imminent, the ICRC has decided it has no choice but to withdraw.
President Nicolas Sarkozy of France has called on the United Nations Security Council to endorse a draft resolution, authorising a no-fly zone over Libya. A closed session discussing the situation in Libya is underway. Council members are divided over the issue. But Britain, France and Lebanon want to prevent Colonel Gaddafi's air attacks against the opposition forces. Several Arab states have said that they'd be prepared to participate in enforcing the no-fly zone.
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Security forces in Bahrain have used tanks, water cannon and helicopters to disperse demonstrators in the capital Manama. The military leader imposed a curfew in several areas of the city. The American Secretary of State Hillary Clinton criticised the crackdown on anti-government demonstrations.
"I think the situation in Bahrain is alarming. We have made it very clear at the highest levels of the government there that we think they are on the wrong track, that they need to resume immediately a political dialogue. We deplore the use of force against demonstrators, and we deplore the use of force by demonstrators. We want a peaceful resolution."
The European police agency Europol says an international operation has broken one of the largest ever networks of paedophiles. The network operated a website with a legal front, but users could access an illegal part where material depicting child abuse was available. Danny Shaw reports.
Members of the network subscribed to a website run from the Netherlands, which claimed to be a forum where people could discuss their sexual interest in boys. Having made contact, members emailed each other to share illegal images and films of children. A four-year international operation led by the UK child protection centre Ceop has identified 670 suspected offenders, of whom more than a third are in Britain. So far 121 of the British suspects have been arrested. They include police officers, teachers and a scout leader.
Mexico has confirmed that it's been allowing United States drone aircraft to fly over its territory to gather intelligence on drugs traffickers. The Mexican government said the flights were made at its request and were closely supervised by the Mexican air force and other agencies. It's the latest sign of growing US involvement in Mexico's campaign against violent drugs gangs.
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