Japan has raised the alert level at the stricken Fukushima nuclear plant from four to five on the seven-point scale, due to containment core damage at reactors 2 and 3. Dangerous radiation levels have been noted 30 kilometers away.
The Libyan government announced an immediate ceasefire in its offensive against rebels in the country’s east, as a coalition of Western and Arab nations prepares for air-strikes as authorized by the UN Security Council.
A massacre is reported from Yemen, as armed regime loyalists opened fire on protesters in a square they have been occupying at Sanaa University, killing at least 32 and leaving some 200 wounded.
Thousands marched in angry protests in cities across Pakistan against a US drone attack that killed 41 people in North Waziristan. Pakistan also pulled out of upcoming talks with the US on the war in Afghanistan.
Qaddafi pledged an imminent assault on rebel stronghold Benghazi that would show “no mercy,” while France promised air-strikes on Qaddafi’s forces “within hours” after the UN Security Council approved military action.
Libyan rebels battle Qaddafi-loyalist forces at Ajdabiya, as the provisional opposition government in Benghazi, just 150 miles up the coast, prepare for an assault on the city.
Some 200 Syrians defied a state emergency in place since 1963 to gather in Damascus to demand a political opening, chanting “God, Syria, liberty” and “Syrians, where are you?”
Hundreds of riot police backed up by tanks, bulldozers and helicopters killed at least two and wounded dozens more as they cleared a protest camp in Bahrain’s Pearl Square.
The Japan Atomic Industrial Forum reports that following the explosions at the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant, “damage is suspected to unit 2’s inner or primary containment vessel (PCV).”
Two more reactors at the Fukushima nuclear power plant are reported to have lost cooling functions, as technicians continue their struggle to contain what threatens to become a meltdown.
In a televised statement, Prime Minister Naoto Kan said radiation from the three stricken reactors at the Fukushima nuclear plant has reached the danger zone. A fourth reactor is now aflame.
A third hydrogen explosion at the Fukushima nuclear plant is reported, destroying the outer building of reactor Number 2. All three damaged reactors at the site have now experienced explosions.
