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‘Decade’ to shut down Japan plant

Japanese workers in protective suits at the Fukushima-Daiichi nuclear power plant - 8 April photo released by Japan's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency.Workers have been trying to stabilise the badly-damaged Fukushima-Daiichi nuclear power plant

Japanese reactor maker Toshiba says it could decommission the earthquake-damaged Fukushima nuclear power plant in about 10 years, a third quicker than the US Three Mile Island plant.

Radiation has been leaking from the Fukushima plant since a 9.0-magnitude quake and tsunami on 11 March.

Its operator said it would stop pumping radioactive water into the sea on Sunday, a day later than expected.

Meanwhile Banri Kaieda is set to become the first cabinet minister to visit.

Mr Kaieda has responsibility for all of Japan’s nuclear power stations and is scheduled to visit on Saturday.

He is expected to don a full protective suit for a tour inside the plant to inspect the work to stop radiation leaking from the site.

Radiation has seeped into tap water and farm produce, leading some countries to ban imports of Japanese produce and fish.

High levels of radiation have also been detected in the Pacific Ocean in the vicinity of the coastal plant.

The twin disasters on 11 March killed more than 12,800 people. Nearly 15,000 are listed as missing. Hundreds of thousands of people have been made homeless and a number of communities in Japan’s north-east have been devastated.

Toshiba, one of two Japanese nuclear reactor makers, said it could decommission the Fukushima-Daiichi plant in about 10 years, Kyodo news agency reported.

That would be about two-thirds of the time taken to dismantle the Three Mile Island nuclear plant in the US after it suffered a partial reactor core meltdown in 1979.

The work would involve removing the fuel rods from their containers and the spent fuel rods from the storage pools from four of the plant’s reactors and demolishing facilities, Kyodo said.

People in an office

A deadly aftershock struck just before midnight on Thursday

However, chief cabinet secretary Yukio Edano said it was too soon to have a timetable for decommissioning.

“The Japanese government has always hoped to draft a detailed [decommissioning] roadmap,” he said on Friday.

“But the very fact that the reactors are unstable puts us in a situation where we have to continue to debate whether we can issue a responsible outlook.”

The plant’s operator, Tokyo Electric Power Co (Tepco), said it would continue an operation to dump 11,500 tonnes of low-level radioactive water from the plant into the sea until Sunday.

The operation had been expected to last until Saturday, but Tepco said the work was delayed by a powerful aftershock on Thursday that killed three people.

The work is designed to make room for highly radioactive water that leaked into the basement of the turbine building next to the plant’s No 2 reactor and an adjoining tunnel.

Workers at the plant have pumped in tonnes of water to cool the overheating reactors, making the water radioactive.

China has urged Japan to observe international law and adopt effective measures to protect the marine environment, amid concern over the discharge of some of the contaminated water into the Pacific Ocean.

South Korea has also complained of not being notified that radioactive water would be pumped into the ocean.

Japan on Saturday announced it would ban farmers from planting rice in any soil found to contain high levels of radioactive matter and provide compensation.

“We had to come up with a policy quickly because we are in planting season,” said Agriculture Minister Michihiko Kano.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

Crunch talks as US shutdown looms

US President Barack Obama

President Obama: “There are a few issues that are outstanding… so I’m not prepared to express wild optimism”

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Crisis talks over bitterly disputed US spending cuts are still taking place as the deadline looms to strike a deal and avoid a government shutdown.

President Barack Obama said progress had been made after night-time talks with congressional leaders.

He said he was not prepared to express “wild optimism” but hoped to be able to announce a deal on Friday morning.

Without a deal, the law funding most of the US government will expire at midnight, forcing services to cease.

Some 800,000 government employees would be barred from working and would not be paid, government lending would cease and national parks and other government-run sites would close.

The US military would continue to operate but troops would not be paid until the deadlock was broken.

BBC North America editor Mark Mardell, in Washington, says both Republicans and Democrats might be damaged by a shutdown and may pull back from the brink.

But this is only a dress rehearsal for bigger rows about next year’s budget, the deficit as a whole and the debt ceiling, and each time doing a deal will become that bit more difficult, our correspondent adds.

“Even if a breakdown is averted today, there are many more moments yet to come over budget, debt and deficit – late night crisis meetings at the White House may become a fixture”

Mark Mardell BBC North America editorRead Mark’s thoughts in full

The last US government shutdown came in 1995, amid a dispute between the Republican Congress and Bill Clinton’s White House.

That shutdown lasted for 20 days and was estimated to have shaved a full percentage point off US economic growth for one quarter of the year.

This time around, talks have been stalled for days as Republicans – urged on by the fiscally conservative Tea Party movement – push for larger budget cuts than Democrats are willing to concede.

Mr Obama held two sessions of talks on Thursday with the Republican Speaker of the House of Representatives, John Boehner, and the Democratic Senate majority leader, Harry Reid.

The president spoke after the second session ended without an agreement.

“I’m not yet prepared to express wild optimism but I think we are further along today than yesterday,” he said.

The White House then announced that his planned trip to the state of Indiana on Friday had been postponed.

Government shutdownsUS government shut down 10 times during the Carter and Reagan administrationsLast shutdown was in 1995 under President Bill ClintonLaw passed in 1870 prohibits government from operating if a budget hasn’t been passedThis is interpreted to exempt so-called essential servicesThese include: National security, air traffic control, some but not all medical servicesBut not: Processing of visas and passports, museums and monuments, answering work e-mails (by non-essential workers)What ‘government shutdown’ means

Republicans in the US House have pushed for $61bn (£37.4bn) in cuts between now and the end of the fiscal year on 30 September, and have sought to use the budget bill to dismantle Democratic policy priorities.

The Democrats have accepted cuts of more than $33bn (£20bn) from last year’s levels but say the size of the cuts Republicans demand would hinder the nascent US economic recovery.

Our correspondent Adam Brookes says there is an ideological dimension to the dispute, with the Republicans calling for budget cuts in areas, such as abortion and environmental protection, that Democrats want to see protected.

A leading House Democrat, Steny Hoyer, said on Friday that lawmakers had come “70% of the way on the numbers” but were still fighting over social policies – such as on abortions and the environment – attached to the legislation.

“I think we’re very close. We have come 70% of the way in terms of dollars. That’s a long way to go in terms of trying to reach compromise,” he said.

Looking tired, Mr Obama spoke late on Thursday after leaving the cross-party meeting, which also included Vice-President Joe Biden.

“My hope is that I’ll be able to announce to the American people some time relatively early in the day that a shutdown has been averted, that a deal has been completed,” he said.

“There’s no certainty yet.”

He said his administration had spent the past two years trying to right the ailing US economy and that he feared a government shutdown would derail signs of recovery seen recently.

“For us to go backwards because Washington couldn’t get its act together is unacceptable,” he said.

Meanwhile, Mr Boehner and Mr Reid said in a joint statement they would work through the night “to attempt to resolve our remaining differences”.

Throughout the day on Thursday, congressional leaders from both parties insisted no deal had been reached but also said they were optimistic one could be struck before a temporary measure funding the US government expired.

The US government has subsisted without a long-term budget since 1 October, funded by a series of temporary measures.

The most recent of those is set to expire at midnight on Friday, forcing all government services deemed non-essential to shut down and keeping hundreds of thousands of government workers at home.

Republicans in the House approved another temporary measure on Thursday – but one that would cut $12bn from spending in a single week.

Mr Obama said in a statement that the US government could not continue to operate on a week-to-week basis and that he would veto the Republican bill if it arrived on his desk.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

VIDEO: Cheeky monkeys steal tourists’ sunglasses

London Zoo’s population of Bolivian squirrel monkeys have taken a liking to the glasses worn by visitors in the recent warm weather – and have begun to snatch the accessories off people’s heads.

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Further delay in Nigeria election

Supporters of opposition candidate Muhammadu BuhariSome opposition activists are worried about possible fraud

Legislative elections, initially due last Saturday, are to be delayed for a third time in some parts of Nigeria, the election chief has announced.

Attahiru Jega said the new postponements would affect 13-14% of electoral districts, where voting took place last week.

He said it was not possible to get replacement ballot papers in time.

The delays have raised new doubts over whether this month’s round of national elections can be free and fair.

Previous elections held since the 1999 end of military rule have been characterised by allegations of widespread fraud and violence.

Presidential elections have been put back a week to 16 April, with polls to choose the 36 powerful state governors now 10 days later.

It had been hoped that Mr Jega, a respected academic, would be able to run more credible elections.

He says he had no choice but to delay the polls.

Chairman of Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Attahiru Jega speaks at a news conference in Nigeria's capital Abuja April 7, 2011.

“What happened was unfortunate but it has happened… It is better to have a postponed election than to have a terribly flawed election,” he said.

He said polls would not be held on Saturday in 15 senatorial districts and 48 constituencies for the House of Representatives.

The National Assembly is made up of 109 senators and 360 members of the House of Representatives.

Electoral chief Attahiru Jega was brought in last year to overhaul a system often regarded as flawed.

Nigeria: A nation divided

The People’s Democratic Party (PDP) has won all elections since the end of military rule in 1999. It won two-thirds of Nigeria’s 36 states last time. But having a southerner – President Goodluck Jonathan – as its candidate in the presidential elections may lose it some votes in the north.

Nigeria’s 160 million people are divided between numerous ethno-linguistic groups and also along religious lines. Broadly, the Hausa-Fulani people based in the north are mostly Muslims. The Yorubas of the south-west are divided between Muslims and Christians, while the Igbos of the south-east and neghbouring groups are mostly Christian or animist. The Middle Belt is home to hundreds of groups with different beliefs, and around Jos there are frequent clashes between Hausa-speaking Muslims and Christian members of the Berom community.

Despite its vast resources, Nigeria ranks among the most unequal countries in the world, according to the UN. The poverty in the north is in stark contrast to the more developed southern states. While in the oil-rich south-east, the residents of Delta and Akwa Ibom complain that all the wealth they generate flows up the pipeline to Abuja and Lagos.

Southern residents tend to have better access to healthcare, as reflected by the greater uptake of vaccines for polio, tuberculosis, tetanus and diphtheria. Some northern groups have in the past boycotted immunisation programmes, saying they are a Western plot to make Muslim women infertile. This led to a recurrence of polio, but the vaccinations have now resumed.

Female literacy is seen as the key to raising living standards for the next generation. For example, a newborn child is far likelier to survive if its mother is well-educated. In Nigeria we see a stark contrast between the mainly Muslim north and the Christian and animist south. In some northern states less than 5% of women can read and write, whereas in some Igbo areas more than 90% are literate.

Nigeria is Africa’s biggest oil producer and among the biggest in the world but most of its people subsist on less than $2 a day. The oil is produced in the south-east and some militant groups there want to keep a greater share of the wealth which comes from under their feet. Attacks by militants on oil installations led to a sharp fall in Nigeria’s output during the last decade. But in 2010, a government amnesty led thousands of fighters to lay down their weapons.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

Mid-May target for Portugal aid

Portugal's Finance Minister Fernando Teixeira dos Santos (left) talks to ECB Vice President Vitor ConstancioThe views of Portuguese Finance Minister Fernando Teixeira dos Santos (left) will be key at the meeting

The European Union will discuss the size and terms of Portugal’s bail-out on Friday after receiving a formal request for aid late on Thursday.

EU finance ministers at a two-day summit in Budapest are likely to consider the scope of a potential deal.

But there is doubt about whether Portugal’s caretaker government can agree to the austerity measures that would be a prerequisite for the loans.

Jose Socrates’ government fell because he could not pass austerity measures.

At the EU finance minister’s meeting in Hungary, Spain’s finance minister has continued to stress that her country will not need bailing out.

Elena Salgado said that “of course” Portugal would be the last eurozone country that needed a debt bail-out and added that Spain applying for one was out of the question.

The European Commission was clear on Wednesday that it would discuss a deal with the current Portuguese authorities, stressing that with the Irish Republic’s bail-out it had spoken to opposition parties, business leaders and trade unions before agreeing to loans.

The Irish Republic’s bail-out took six weeks to negotiate, a time period that would take Portugal close to its scheduled elections on 5 June.

“The basic laws of economics are threatening to pull the eurozone apart, just as politicians are trying to pull it together.”

Read Stephanie’s blog in full Will the rate rise damage growth?

The next step in the negotiations on a bail-out will be for the European Commission, the European Central Bank (ECB) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to send a joint mission to Portugal.

EU rules require such a mission to be sent to a country asking for financial aid, to establish the details of the help needed.

Portugal’s cost of borrowing has risen sharply since the minority socialist government resigned last month after its proposed tougher austerity measures were defeated in parliament.

The ECB said on Thursday that it had encouraged Portugal to seek financial aid.

“Young people with talent are leaving Portugal because they can’t find jobs where they can progress.”

Jel Writer of Portugal’s Eurovision Song Contest entryBail-out views: Portugal and Germany

Portugal’s problems have been different from those of Greece and the Irish Republic, the other countries that have needed bailing out.

Low economic growth and high wages have meant that the country has struggled to raise enough money through taxation to pay for government spending.

When the banking crisis came, it found itself dealing with the same rising costs of debt that other countries had to deal with, and has finally had to concede that it cannot raise the money it needs through financial markets.

The Republic of Ireland on the other hand, had a much more severe banking crisis, largely as a result of a property bubble that burst.

Greece went on a debt-fuelled spending spree while failing to sort out the public finances to fund it.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

Osborne in Portugal bailout talks

Chancellor George OsborneGeorge Osborne has insisted that the UK will not find itself in the same trouble as Portugal
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George Osborne is discussing the terms of a possible bailout of the Portuguese economy with his European counterparts.

The UK chancellor is taking part in a meeting of EU finance ministers in Hungary dominated by Portugal’s request for external help to meet its debts.

Eurosceptics have warned that the UK may have to underwrite £4bn of any loan given, under existing EU arrangements.

Ministers have said it is premature to talk about the details of the UK’s involvement in any rescue package.

Friday’s Ecofin meeting is the first opportunity for the EU’s other 26 nations to consider the implications of Portugal’s call for financial assistance.

Although the country’s caretaker government has yet to make a formal request, it is believed a rescue package of up to 80bn euros (£70bn) may be needed.

The finance ministers are considering the size and structure of any bailout, including the likely financial terms and the conditions attached to it, amid reports it could be finalised by the middle of May, ahead of a general election in Portugal in early June.

“There would have to be a cascade of accidents before the British taxpayer incurred any direct loss from Portugal’s woes”

Read Robert Peston’s blog

Mr Osborne, who was not due to attend Friday’s meeting before Portugal’s debt crisis escalated, has warned that any bailout – such as those given to Greece and Ireland last year – would come at a “huge cost” to the Portuguese people.

He has so far declined to comment on the UK’s likely involvement in any rescue package, following suggestions by some MPs that EU members which do not use the single currency should not be obliged to rush to the aid of those which do.

Conservative MP Bill Cash has said the group of countries using the euro “should look after itself without any British contribution whatsoever” and that sufficient funds existed within a eurozone-supported fund to which the UK does not contribute.

While the UK’s “implied” contribution to any Portuguese bailout would be about £4.2bn, on the basis of its existing financial commitments to emergency funds operated by EU and the International Monetary Fund, the BBC’s Business Editor Robert Peston said this liability was “pretty indirect”.

“There would have to be a cascade of accidents before the British taxpayer incurred any direct loss from Portugal’s woes,” he said.

“Portugal would have to default. And the cost of that default would have to tip the EU’s Budget into the red before there was any draw down from the UK Exchequer.”

The UK has ruled out providing any assistance on a bilateral basis as it did with Ireland earlier this year.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

Man arrested over woman’s death

A 43-year-old man is arrested and charged over the death of a mother-of-three in Dumfries and Galloway almost a year ago.

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Men ‘stamped urban fox to death’

Three men who killed an urban fox by stamping it to death receive suspended prison sentences.

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Syrian city hit by deadly clashes

Syrians gathered to protest on Friday

Lina Sinjab on the reports of shootings at the protests in the Syrian city of Deraa

At least 13 protesters have been killed during anti-government rallies in the southern Syrian city of Deraa, witnesses have told the BBC.

Residents near the Al Omari mosque said they had seen at least 13 bodies in that area and more wounded.

However, officials said only a member of the security forces and an ambulance worker had been killed.

Deraa has been a focus of unrest since anti-government protests erupted across Syria in mid-March.

The protests have posed an unprecedented challenge to President Bashar al-Assad’s 11-year rule.

Thousands are reported to have staged rallies following Friday prayers in Deraa.

Eyewitnesses said security forces had opened fire on crowds chanting pro-democracy slogans, the BBC’s Lina Sinjab reports.

Another activist in Deraa told AFP news agency by telephone that demonstrators leaving from three mosques had marched to the city’s main court but were confronted by “security forces dressed in civilian clothing” who fired tear gas to disperse them.

He said protesters had thrown stones and clashes ensued.

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A resident quoted by Reuters reported seeing “pools of blood and three bodies” in the Mahatta area of Deraa.

The official Sana news agency said one member of the security forces and an ambulance worker had been killed and dozens of other people wounded.

State television showed footage from the protests and said that “saboteurs and conspirators opened fire on residents and security forces”.

Fresh protests have also been reported in cities including Qamishli, Hasakhe, Idlib, Banyas and Homs.

The town of Duma, near Damascus, has been sealed off, our correspondent adds, with internet and mobile phone communications blocked.

In northern cities with Kurdish majorities, protesters were reportedly chanting “we are calling for freedom and not only for citizenship” in response to President Assad granting citizenship for Kurds in Syria’s eastern Hasaka region on Thursday.

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Banks face ‘tougher’ stress tests

Europe’s banking regulator says banks will be subject to tougher rules in the latest test of the strength of their finances.

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NoW is to admit hacking liability

breaking news
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The owner of the News of the World is to admit liability in a number of cases brought against the paper for alleged phone hacking.

News International says it has approached some claimants with an “unreserved apology”.

It will also establish a compensation fund, with a view to “dealing with justifiable claims efficiently”.

A News of the World reporter and an ex-news editor were arrested earlier this week over the allegations.

The BBC’s business editor Robert Peston called it an “absolutely dramatic development”. He said the company believed most claims will be settled for less than £100,000 each.

“I understand the company’s hope would be that in total it will pay out less than £20m,” he added.

There are 24 active cases and they include claims of breach of privacy brought by the film star Sienna Miller, former culture secretary Tessa Jowell, football commentator Andy Gray, and the designer Kelly Hoppen.

News International, which also owns the Times and Sun newspapers, said: “Past behaviour at the News of the World in relation to voicemail interception is a matter of genuine regret.

“It is now apparent that our previous inquiries failed to uncover important evidence and we acknowledge our actions were not sufficiently robust.”

News International, which is owned by Rupert Murdoch, said it would continue to co-operate with the Metropolitan Police inquiry.

On Tuesday, the News of the World’s chief reporter Neville Thurlbeck, 50, and former news editor Ian Edmondson, 42, were arrested on suspicion of having unlawfully intercepted voicemail messages. There were released on bail until September.

The latest arrests are the first since the Met Police reopened its inquiry – known as Operation Weeting – into claims that staff at the Sunday tabloid had hacked into the phone messages of celebrities and other public figures.

In 2007, the first police investigation into phone hacking led to the convictions and imprisonment of then News of the World royal editor Clive Goodman and private investigator Glenn Mulcaire, who was employed by the paper.

Four alleged victims have reached out-of-court settlements with the newspaper, including celebrity publicist Max Clifford, who received a reported £1m.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.