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Thursday, March 17, 2011

Japan misfortune (Updated Story)

An earthquake of magnitude 6 rocked Tokyo as radioactive emissions from Fakushima reactor increase. Fear gripped Japan when another earthquake shocked Tokyo city, on Wednesday. The people came out of the buildings which continued to shake violently. The government officials said that a tsunami threat has been quelled, but changes in sea level near the coastal areas are expected. On the other hand, a fire erupted in the Fakushima reactor which resulted in an increase in the leak of radioactive emissions. The government has given up on the efforts to cool down the nuclear reactors and has ordered the workers to evacuate the area. The Japanese government has asked the United States for assistance in the nuclear crisis. Hundreds of thousands of people living near Japan's crippled nuclear plant have been "pushed to the limit", the regional governor said on Wednesday night. Six days into the crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi power station, Yuhei Sato, the head of the province, said the ongoing fear and anxiety had left survivors of the earthquake at the limit of their endurance. More than 200,000 people living close to the nuclear complex have been forced to flee their homes, while another 140,000 living inside an 19-mile isolation zone have been told to stay indoors. Makeshift evacuation camps have been set up to care for those made homeless, but worsening weather conditions, including freezing temperatures and heavy snow, have heightened fears that many of those who survived the initial earthquake and tsunami, could perish in the aftermath. Mr Sato, the regional governor of Fukushima province, said there was a great deal of frustration and anger at the lack of clear information and advice about emergency. "The worry and anger of the people of Fukushima has been pushed to the limit," he said. "The anxiety and anger being felt by people in Fukushima have reached a boiling point." He criticized the evacuation process and said those ordered to stay indoors were running out of food and other vital supplies. With the infrastructure in the affected region in tatters, relief workers have been struggling to get aid to the suffering. Supplies of water and heating oil have been running perilously low at many of the evacuation centres and transport has been unable to reach some areas to move people to safety. Takanori Watanabe, a Red Cross doctor in Otsuchi, a town where more than half the 17,000 residents were still missing, said: "It's cold today so many people have fallen ill, getting diarrhea and other symptoms." It remained unclear how long the exclusion zone around the power station would be in place, but food, water and blankets were only expected to last for a few more days.

Raymond Davis free accepted the blood money Pay $2.3 million (Updated story)

The court has freed US gunman Raymond Davis, claimed Punjab Law Minister Rana Sanaullah on Wednesday. Sanaullah claimed that the victim families had accepted the blood money and signed papers, paving the way for Davis release. Faizan and Faheem were shot dead by Davis at Mozang Chowk Lahore on January 27. Meanwhile, Faheem s lawyer claimed that the signatures were forcibly taken from the victim families. Sanaullah said Davis was free to go anywhere and lawyers could knock the door of a court if they have any reservations. He claimed that the allegations of forcible signatures were baseless. According to sources, Rs 210 million have been paid to the victim families as a blood money. Davis has left for the United States along with six other Americans on a special plane from the old airport of Lahore, sources said. Later, it was confirmed that Davis was flown to Kabul to meet US officials. Earlier, Davis was indicted in the double murder by the court on Wednesday. However, the Kot Lakhpat Jail administration stopped the trial after the court ordered Davis’ release. The prosecution lawyer, Asad Manzoor, told the court that all documents related to the case have been submitted with the court and prayed the court to indict Davis in double murder case. The defence lawyer, Syed Zahid Hussain, objected to the indictment of his client and pleaded for more time. But the court charged the US citizen with double murder. Raymond Davis ,a US official arrested for gunning down two men in Lahore, ,immediately after his release was whisked away to US Consulate where US doctors and psychiatrists gave him a complete medical checkup. Raymond Davis was freed by the court after blood money was paid. US embassy sources told that US was in touch with all parties concerned for the release of Raymond Davis and his release was total legal and according to Shariah Law. Sources told that Davis immediately after his release started weeping and seemed to be in deep mental distress. The team of doctors of the US consulate performed counseling to clam him down. He was later whisked off to US as he wanted to get out of Pakistan at the earliest. Earlier Wednesday, Davis was indicted. The sessions judge charged Davis on two counts of murder at a hearing held at the Kot Lakhpat jail in Lahore. Davis, 36, shot dead two Pakistanis on a motorcycle in Lahore Jan 27 following what he described as an attempted armed robbery. He claimed that he acted in self-defence. The January shooting sparked a diplomatic row with the US, which persistently claimed Davis was an embassy employee and enjoyed diplomatic immunity, particularly after it emerged he was working for the CIA. The Obama administration did the same for Laura Ling and Euna Lee in August 2009. Bill Clinton, the former US president, went on a mission to Pyongyang and met with Kim Jong Il, after which the two journalists were set free. Since Ling and Lee were investigating the North Korean government, it was an easy bargain. The message that the Obama administration sent in Islamabad on Wednesday is loud and clear. If you work for the CIA, the US government will pay your way out of jail even if you are being held on murder charges. But if you are, like Shane Bauers, a US citizen wrongfully accused of being a spy but whose work has exposed the US government's shame, your case will be no kind of priority. The U.S. government did not pay any compensation to the families of two Pakistan is killed by Raymond Davis, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Wednesday. "The United States did not pay any compensation," Clinton told reporters in Cairo. Asked who paid the families, she replied: "You will have to ask the families." Asked if the Pakistani government had paid compensation, the U.S. secretary of state said: "you will have to ask the Pakistani government."