Highly radioactive water has been found for the first time outside one of the reactor buildings at Japan's quake-hit Fukushima nuclear plant, officials say.

Highly radioactive water has been found for the first time outside one of the reactor buildings at Japan's quake-hit Fukushima nuclear plant, officials say.

The leak in a tunnel linked to the No 2 reactor has raised fears of radioactive liquid seeping into the environment.

Plutonium has also been found in soil at the plant, but not at levels that threaten human health, officials say.

Earlier, Japan's government strongly criticised the plant's operator, Tepco, over mistaken radiation readings.

Tepco announced on Sunday that a highly radioactive pool of water in the No 2 reactor was 100 times more radioactive than it actually was.

Officials said the radiation scare was caused by a partial meltdown of fuel rods.

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disgraced former Tory MEP faces criminal charges unless he pays back over £345,000 in "misused" staffing expenses paid to a family company

disgraced former Tory MEP faces criminal charges unless he pays back over £345,000 in "misused" staffing expenses paid to a family company in a European Union case that has dwarfed similar Westminster scandals.
Den Dover was the Conservative European whip until a scandal over his use of expenses emerged from an investigation in The Daily Telegraph three years ago.
He was expelled from the Tories in Nov 2008 after the European Parliament attempted to recover money that should have funded staff salaries but instead had been put towards family expenses.
Mr Dover, 72, stepped down as an MEP in May 2009 and remains entitled to two publicly funded pensions worth over £35,000 a year for a decade of service in the EU assembly.
After refusing to pay back the money and a two year legal battle, EU judges on Thursday ruled that the European Parliament was right to act over Mr Dover's "significant and serious misuse" of expenses.
The former North West Conservative MEP now faces an investigation by Olaf, the EU's anti-fraud agency and calls for him to be arrested by British police.

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British Olympic Association chairman Lord Moynihan and chief executive Andy Hunt have been suspended from the board of Locog

British Olympic Association chairman Lord Moynihan and chief executive Andy Hunt have been suspended from the board of Locog - the London 2012 organising committee - following the legal row over the financial surplus from the Games, the BBC has learned.
Locog has suspended them because of a conflict of interest and both Lord Moynihan and Hunt did not attend a meeting of the board on Thursday.
The BOA has been invited to nominate replacements until the case, which is to be considered by the Court of Arbitration for Sport, is resolved.
But by suspending the pair Locog is sending the clearest indication yet of the seriousness of the dispute which is overshadowing London's preparations.
A Locog spokeswoman said: "Colin Moynihan and Andy Hunt remain directors of Locog.
"The Locog board has decided to exclude them from board meetings whilst they are individually and actively involved in pursuing a dispute against Locog.
"Both have been invited to send alternate representatives to board meetings. The BOA is ably represented on the Locog board by HRH the Princess Royal, Sir Craig Reedie, Sir Philip Craven and Adam Pengilly."
Meanwhile, in a separate development, the International Paralympic Committee has accused the BOA of undermining its vision for London 2012.

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Accused Arizona shooter’s lonely descent into instability and paranoia - The Globe and Mail

Accused Arizona shooter’s lonely descent into instability and paranoia - The Globe and Mail: "For a time, Jared Loughner appeared to be no more than a troubled teenager, the kind that causes heartache for parents but doesn’t make headlines. He got drunk at school, smoked pot regularly and sent friends strange stories he had written.

Soon, though, there were signs he was sliding toward something far darker. By this past spring, his odd outbursts and twisted ramblings had begun frightening his classmates and alarming his professors. One teacher later described him as “someone whose brains were scrambled.”"

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Three injured in suspected gangland assassination attempt - Haaretz Daily Newspaper | Israel News

Three injured in suspected gangland assassination attempt - Haaretz Daily Newspaper | Israel News: "Three people were lightly wounded after an explosive device detonated inside a SUV on Highway 5 on Monday, in what police say may have been a gangland assassination attempt."

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Microsoft confirms new Windows zero-day bug - Computerworld

Microsoft confirms new Windows zero-day bug - Computerworld: "Microsoft today confirmed an unpatched vulnerability in Windows just hours after a hacking toolkit published an exploit for the bug.

A patch is under construction, but Microsoft does not plan to issue an emergency, or 'out-of-band,' update to fix the flaw.

The bug was first discussed Dec. 15 at a South Korean security conference, but got more attention Tuesday when the open-source Metasploit penetration tool posted an exploit module crafted by researcher Joshua Drake.

According to Metasploit, successful attacks are capable of compromising victimized PCs, then introducing malware to the machines to pillage them for information or enlist them in a criminal botnet.

The vulnerability exists in Windows' graphics rendering engine, which improperly handles thumbnail images, and can be triggered when a user views a folder containing a specially crafted thumbnail with Windows' file manager, or opens or views some Office documents.

Microsoft acknowledged the bug in a security advisory, and said Windows XP, Vista, Server 2003 and Server 2008 were vulnerable. The newest operating systems, Windows 7 and Server 2008 R2, were not."

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Surge in Britons converting to Islam - Telegraph

Surge in Britons converting to Islam - Telegraph: "The number of converts to Islam may have risen from around 60,000 in 2001 to up to 100,000, according to estimates in a report for the Faith Matters organisation.
A study by Kevin Brice, of Swansea University, on behalf of Faith Matters, found 5,200 people converted to Islam in the UK last year.
A survey of 122 converts last year showed 56% were white British, with women making up 62% of respondents. The average age at conversion was just over 27.
The majority reported difficulties after converting because of the negative attitude of their family, but over time this attitude became more ''positive'' according to the report.
The majority of the converts saw themselves as both British and Muslim and did not feel disillusioned with British society and culture."

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Three Argentines detained in Spain with 900 kilos of cocaine - BuenosAiresHerald.com

Three Argentines detained in Spain with 900 kilos of cocaine - BuenosAiresHerald.com: "Two sons of a retired Argentine brigadier were detained when they arrived at Barcelona’s El Prat airport in a private plane from the Argentine company Medical Jet with more than 900 kilos of cocaine, according to sources from Spain’s police.
Investigators reported that those detained are the pilot, identified as Gustavo Juliá, and his brother. Spanish police also detained a third man also from Argentina who was the copilot of the plane, identified as Gastón Miret.
Meanwhile, a fourth person who travelled in the plane from the Argentine company was apprehended, but later police confirmed he was not linked to the case.
Juliá and his brother are sons of the retired brigadier José Juliá, ex chief of the Argentine Air Force, and one of the main shareholders of the Medical Jet Company.
The plane, a Challenge04 jet, arrived in Barcelona on January 2 from Cape Verde, Africa. The investigation states that the accused might have gotten the cocaine from the African country.
Members of the Spanish Civil Guard were waiting for the plane and once it landed, they detained the suspects."

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Divers: Wreck of Adm. Perry ship discovered off Rhode Island - USATODAY.com

Divers: Wreck of Adm. Perry ship discovered off Rhode Island - USATODAY.com: "team of divers say they have discovered the remains of the USS Revenge, a ship commanded by U.S. Navy hero Oliver Hazard Perry and wrecked off Rhode Island in 1811.
Perry is known for defeating the British in the 1813 Battle of Lake Erie off the shores of Ohio, Michigan and Ontario in the War of 1812 and for the line 'I have met the enemy and they are ours.' His battle flag bore the phrase 'Don't give up the ship,' and to this day is a symbol of the Navy.

The divers, Charles Buffum, a brewery owner from Stonington, Connecticut, and Craig Harger, a carbon-dioxide salesman from Colchester, Connecticut, say the wreck changed the course of history because Perry likely would not have been sent to Lake Erie otherwise. Sunday is the 200th anniversary of the wreck."

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