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.
It is now clear that the second explosion at the Fukushima plant was at reactor 3—a source of special concern because it contains “mixed oxide” fuel, a highly toxic mixture of uranium and plutonium.
Dozens were injured as police cracked down on protesters in Casablanca and stormed the offices of the United Socialist Party. Leaders pledged to go ahead with a massive mobilization on March 20.
Saudi Arabia sent 1,000 troops into neighboring Bahrain to put down protesters that have occupied Manama’s financial center, as a White House spokesman said “This is not an invasion.”
A second explosion is reported at Japan’s stricken Fukushima nuclear power plant, with four apparently killed and officials issuing contradictory statements on radiation levels.
Qaddafi-loyalist forces pushed deeper into rebel-held eastern Libya, overrunning the oil hub of Port Brega as opposition leaders in Benghazi issued an urgent call for a no-fly zone.
Two protesters were shot by police in Aden, as disturbing reports emerged from Sanaa of protesters passing out and going into convulsions after inhaling gas fired by police.
Following a day of clashes between police and protesters, Saudi Arabia is preparing to send troops to neighboring Bahrain in response to a request from crown prince Salman bin Hamad al-Khalifa.
Israeli cabinet minister Moshe Yaalon told thousands of mourners of the Itamar massacre victims: “The conflict is not about Israel’s borders, but a struggle for our existence.” Yet Itamar is outside Israel.
Some 60,000 Germans marched against nuclear power, forming a 45-kilometer human chain from Neckarwestheim power plant to the city of Stuttgart in Baden-Württemberg state.
Officials admit that the explosion at the Fukushima reactor was sparked by an emergency release to avoid a meltdown. A second reactor at the complex has now lost coolant, and is at risk of overheating.
