Japanese MP Drinks Water From UNDER Fukushima Plant

If I were Japanese, I wouldn't think the MP brave - I'd think him an idiot:

A Japanese official has drunk water collected from the quake-hit Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, after reporters challenged him to prove it was safe. 

Yasuhiro Sonoda appeared nervous and his hands shook as he downed a glass during a televised news conference. 

The water he drank was taken from puddles under two reactor buildings. It is decontaminated before being used for tasks such as watering plants.

He "appeared nervous," did he? Huh. Maybe that's because the Japanese people (along with the rest of us) have been lied to repeatedly ever since the disaster happened.

Best of health to MP Sonoda.

Update: Plant will take 30 years to close.

Update II: Just found this: Fukushima Diary.

NZ Trying to Avoid Huge Enviro Disaster

New Zealand is bracing for an environmental disaster amid fears that a container ship stranded off the North Island could break up and spill oil into the pristine Bay of Plenty, the environment minister has said. 

Nick Smith told local media on Friday that the accident "has the potential to be New Zealand's most significant maritime pollution disaster in decades". 

[...] 

Officials said the pollution would be far worse if the ship broke up on the Astrolabe Reef, releasing the 1,700 tonnes of heavy fuel oil on board into a marine environment that is home to whales, dolphins, seals and penguins.

Have You Always Wanted to Go to North Korea?

Now you can.

North Korea announced a plan Friday to designate the Mt. Geumgang tourist region as an international tourism zone to attract foreign investment.

[...]

It announced a development program to create a tourist district in the region covering some parts of Goseong, Tongcheon and Geumgang counties.

Fascinating: South Koreans have been allowed to go to the region since 1998. Now it will be opened to international visitors. Very cool.

Yemeni Leader Will Step Down

We are witnessing some extraordinary events these days.

President Ali Abdullah Saleh of Yemen has agreed to step down under a 30-day transition plan aimed at ending violent unrest over his 32-year rule.

Officials in the capital Sanaa confirmed the government had accepted the plan drawn up by Gulf Arab states.