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by Kyoko HASEGAWA Agence France Presse TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Japan this week marks the 75th anniversary of the atomic bomb attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, which killed over 200,000 people and left many more deeply traumatised and even stigmatised. Here are some facts about the devastating attacks: – The bombs – The first atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima in western Japan on August 6, 1945 by the US bomber Enola Gay. The bomb, […]
by Shatha Yaish DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AFP) — The oil-rich United Arab Emirates on Saturday announced the startup of its Barakah nuclear power plant, scoring another first for the Arab world. The announcement, coinciding with the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha, comes hot on the heels of the UAE’s launch of the Arab world’s first probe to Mars. “UAE first nuclear reactor at the Barakah Nuclear Energy Plant has achieved first criticality and successfully […]
TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — A Hiroshima court issued a rare ruling Wednesday expanding the designation of atomic bomb survivors to include more people hit by radioactive “black rain”, 75 years after the US nuclear attack on Japan at the end of World War II. The Hiroshima District Court said all 84 plaintiffs, aged from their 70s through 90s, should be granted medical benefits given to the victims of the attack, known locally as “hibakusha”. After […]
SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said that Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons guarantee its safety, state media reported Tuesday, signalling once again that it will not give up its arsenal. Kim was addressing a conference of veterans on the 67th anniversary of the 1953 armistice that ended Korean War hostilities, the official Korean Central News Agency said. Up to three million Koreans died in the three-year conflict, in which the armistice […]
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo voiced hope Wednesday of holding high-level talks soon with North Korea and did not rule out a summit, a break with recent pessimistic signs from both countries. Pompeo, without elaborating, said there was “more discussion than is publicly noticed” with North Korea. “I’m hopeful that we’ll be able to have a senior discussion before too long and hopefully advance the ball,” Pompeo said at […]
by Béatrice ROMAN-AMAT Agence France-Presse FESSENHEIM, France (AFP) — France’s oldest nuclear power plant will shut down on Tuesday after four decades in operation, to the delight of environmental activists who have long warned of contamination risks, but stoking worry for the local economy. The Fessenheim plant, opened in 1977 and already three years over its projected 40-year life span, became a target for anti-nuclear campaigners after the catastrophic meltdown at Fukushima in Japan in […]
SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — North Korea rebuked Washington on Thursday for criticizing its decision to cut communication links with Seoul, warning it to stay out of inter-Korean affairs if it wanted to ensure a smooth presidential election. In a statement carried by the KCNA news agency, a senior North Korean foreign ministry official slammed the “double-dealing attitudes” of the US as “disgusting”. Washington should “hold its tongue and mind its internal affairs first”, said […]
TEHRAN, Iran (AFP) — Tehran on Thursday dismissed the impact of what it called Washington’s “desperate attempt” to end sanction waivers for nations that remain in the Iran nuclear accord. The United States had made the move in a bid “to distract public opinion from its continued defeats at the hands of Iran,” said Behrouz Kamalvandi, a spokesman for the Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran. “Ending waivers for nuclear cooperation with Iran… has effectively no […]
TEHRAN, Iran (AFP) — Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said Friday he wants to avoid war after Tehran and Washington appeared on the brink of direct military confrontation in early January for the second time in less than a year. Ahead of parliamentary elections on February 21 — predicted to be a challenge for Rouhani’s camp — and amid high tensions between Tehran and the West over Iran’s nuclear program, the president said dialogue with the […]
TEHRAN, Iran (AFP) — A magnitude 4.5 earthquake on Wednesday rattled an area less than 50 kilometers (30 miles) from Iran’s Bushehr nuclear power plant near the country’s Gulf coast, a US monitor said. The quake, which had a depth of 10 kilometers, struck 17 kilometers south-southeast of Borazjan city at 6:49 am (0319 GMT), the US Geological Survey said on its website. State news agency IRNA said the earthquake was felt in Bushehr. There […]
by Amir Havasi TEHRAN, Iran (AFP) — Iran on Sunday announced its fifth reduction in its nuclear commitments, saying it will forego the “limit on the number of centrifuges”, as tensions with the United States soar after the killing of a top Iranian commander in a US strike. Iran’s 2015 nuclear agreement with the United Nations Security Council’s five permanent members — Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States — plus Germany has been […]
TEHRAN, Iran (AFP) — An earthquake struck Iran on Friday less than 50 kilometers (30 miles) from the country’s only nuclear power plant, monitors said. There were no immediate reports of any damage. The US Geological Survey said the 5.1 magnitude quake struck 44 kilometers (27 miles) from the southwestern city of Borazjan and at a depth of 38 kilometers. Its reported epicenter is 45 kilometers east of the Bushehr nuclear power plant, on the […]
