Environment

• Friday, March 18th 2011 - 03:29 UTC

  If power is restored and if pumps work Fukushima reactor could be cooled

  

  Engineers at Japan's stricken Fukushima nuclear power plant have managed to lay a cable to reactor 2, the UN's nuclear watchdog reports. Restoring power should enable engineers to restart the pumps which send coolant over the reactor.

• Thursday, March 17th 2011 - 07:44 UTC

  Japanese tsunami surprises Midway atoll killing thousands of albatrosses

  

  Thousands of albatrosses and other endangered species at a wildlife sanctuary north-west of Hawaii have been killed by the tsunami which devastated Japan, US officials say.

• Wednesday, March 16th 2011 - 23:25 UTC

  Wikileads cables reveal Japan was warned about poor safety at nuclear plants

  

  As concerns about a meltdown at the Fukushima plant escalate, Britain’s the Telegraph revealed a series of two-year-old cables the paper obtained from Wikileaks that show unnamed experts telling Japanese officials they needed to update their nuclear safety protocols.

• Wednesday, March 16th 2011 - 15:05 UTC

  WHO: radiation risk in Japan limited to area next to damaged nuclear plant

  

  The risk of the contamination of food products from nuclear radiation in Japan is limited to the specific area surrounding the damaged nuclear plant, according to a source from the World Health Organization (WHO).

• Wednesday, March 16th 2011 - 14:45 UTC

  US extends import duties on shrimp to protect local industry hurt by BP’s oil spill

  

  United States announced this week it will continue import duties on shrimp from Thailand, China, Vietnam, India and Brazil for five more years in a victory for the US shrimp industry hurt by last year's BP oil spill.

• Wednesday, March 16th 2011 - 06:07 UTC

  Japan seems unable to control stricken nuclear plant; fears of radiation

  

  Workers were ordered to withdraw from a stricken Japanese nuclear power plant on Wednesday after radiation levels rose, Kyodo news reported, a development that suggested the crisis was spiralling out of control.

• Wednesday, March 16th 2011 - 03:05 UTC

  Japanese stocks rebound; central bank injects 326 billion USD in three days

  

  Japanese stocks rebounded Wednesday as concerns over the long-term impact of Friday's earthquake and tsunami on Japan's economy ease.

• Wednesday, March 16th 2011 - 01:32 UTC

  ‘Frozen’ Japanese economy expected to rebound positively in third quarter

  

  Friday's earthquake and tsunami have left parts of Japan's economy “frozen”, but analysts forecast that it will bounce back later this year. Some of the country's leading producers, including the world's biggest carmaker, Toyota, have closed all of their plants in the country.

• Tuesday, March 15th 2011 - 07:58 UTC

  Japanese officials admit radiation levels at nuclear plant are eight times higher

  

  Explosions at a Japanese quake-stricken nuclear plant have led to radiation levels that can affect human health, a senior Japanese official has said. Prime Minister Naoto Kan has urged those living within 30km of the plant to stay indoors.

• Monday, March 14th 2011 - 07:05 UTC

  Second explosion at nuclear plant damaged by Japan’s earthquake

  

  A second explosion has hit the nuclear plant in Japan that was damaged in Friday's earthquake, but officials said it had resisted the blast. TV footage showed smoke rising from Fukushima plant's reactor 3, a day after an explosion hit reactor 1.