Buy nike running shoes Residents cleared store shelves of bottled water after Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara said that levels of radioactive iodine in tap water were more than twice what is considered safe for babies. Officials begged those in the city to buy only what they need, saying hoarding could hurt the thousands of people without any water in areas devastated by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami.
"I've never seen anything like this," clerk Toru Kikutaka said, surveying the downtown Tokyo supermarket where the entire stock of bottled water sold out almost immediately after the news broke Wednesday, despite a limit of two, two-liter bottles per customer.
The unsettling new development affecting Japan's largest city, home to around 13 million people, added to growing fears over the nation's food supply.
Radiation from the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant has seeped into raw milk, seawater and 11 kinds of vegetables, including broccoli, cauliflower and turnips, from areas around the plant.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said it was halting imports of Japanese dairy and produce from the region near the facility. Hong Kong said it would require that Japan perform safety checks on meat, eggs and seafood before accepting those products, and Canada said it would upgrade controls on imports of Japanese food products by requiring documents verifying their safety.fashion 2011 nike running shoes
Concerns also spread to Europe. In Iceland, officials said they measured trace amounts of radioactive iodine in the air but assured residents it was "less than a millionth" of what was found in European countries in the wake of the 1986 Chernobyl disaster.
The crisis already is emerging as the world's most expensive natural disaster on record, likely to cost up to $309 billion, according to a new government estimate. Police estimate that more than 18,000 people were killed.
The overall situation at the Fukushima plant 140 miles (220 kilometers) north of Tokyo remains of serious concern, the International Atomic Energy Agency said. The deposition of radioactive iodine and cesium varies across 10 prefectures on a day to day basis but "the trend is generally upward," said Graham Andrew, senior adviser to IAEA chief Yukiya Amano.
The Fukushimi Dai-ichi plant has been leaking radiation since the tsunami engulfed its crucial cooling systems, leading to explosions and fires in four of the facility's six reactors in the ensuing days.buy Reebok EasyTone
Nuclear workers have struggled to stabilize and cool down the overheated plant.
Unit 3 has stopped belching black smoke, an official at Tokyo Electric Power Co. said Thursday, a day after a plume forced an evacuation of nuclear workers. However, white smoke was rising intermittently from two other units, spokesman Masateru Araki said.
The U.S. has said it wants to hand over leadership of the military operation but that negotiations between coalition partners is delaying the transfer of power, according to a defense official, Buy nike running shoes who asked not to be identified due to the sensitivity of negotiations.
A NATO-led operation has powerful backers, including the British Prime Minister David Cameron, who in a recent speech to British lawmakers in Westminster said he wanted to see the "transfer to a NATO command, using NATO machinery. It's tried and tested."
In addition, there are also differing opinions among coalition countries about the best way of dealing with the Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi himself, say analysts.
So, why does the U.S. want to hand over control?
The potential financial burden and the fears of negative public opinion at home, especially if the operation extends over a long period of time and is expensive, say experts.
"From the beginning it was always on the cards that the U.S. would come in early with its (military) specialty and then hand over control. Uncle Sam is quite entitled to step back," says Charles Heyman, senior defense analyst at ArmedForces.co.uk.
"Libya is on the fringes of Europe and the reality is that you can't expect the U.S. to pay for Europe's defense. The U.S. is under all kinds of pressure... the U.S. defense budget is sucking $712 billion from the economy every year. It is also facing pressure over its presence in Afghanistan."
Barak Seener, a Middle East research fellow at the Royal United Services Institute, a London-based think tank, says: "The Obama administration may seek to back out of the no-fly zone, placing the onus on Britain and France... domestically there will be increased condemnations for the open-ended costly nature of the no-fly zone."
Why is the Arab League protesting?
Some analysts believe that the Arab League is back-peddling in its opposition to some of the air strikes and NATO leadership of the campaign.
"Amr Moussa (Arab League Secretary-General) was at the meetings in Paris so it is a bit disingenuous of him to say that this is not what was expected," says David Hartwell, senior Middle East and North Africa expert at London-based defense analyst Jane's.fashion 2011 nike running shoes online
"The Arab League, having approved the U.N. Security Council resolution, then suddenly goes wobbly."
Some Arab nations are hesitant to fly under a NATO banner, the U.S. defense official told CNN. "NATO has the capability to do a rapid switchover," the official said. "The problem is, they have to do everything by consensus."
Seener says: "The Arab League is acting disingenuously by claiming their opposition to the
weekend's military strikes is due to the fact that they oppose the shelling of civilians. The Obama administration's worship of 'consensus' to include the Arab League, is at the expense of protecting the civilians by embracing a narrow definition of Resolution 1973 and in turn keeping in power Gadhafi."
Moussa now publically again backing the no-fly zone and there are moves to get Arab nations to help militarily with the campaign.
Turkey is a member of NATO, so why is it objecting?
"The man in the street in Turkey distrusts operations against Muslim countries, so the (Turkish) government has to listen to the man on the street. If the mission was not led by NATO it would take the Turkey problem out of the equation. I think Turkish government would be quite happy with that," says Heyman.
Is NATO control inevitable?
Some experts believe only NATO could effectively take over from the U.S., while others say that keeping the Arab League and Turkey in the coalition is crucial, so an alternative will have to be found.
"Perhaps one way around it is to use EU (European Union) military staff and EU military headquarters in Brussels. It is very much an air operation so it is not as complicated as when you have many different services involved. I am sure NATO will remain peripheral to the operation," says Heyman.buy Reebok EasyTone
Other analysts say that a handover to NATO is only days away.
"There definitely needs to be streamlining, it is hard to imagine any other organization taking control, there is really no alternative (to NATO) in the absence of the U.S.," says Hartwell.
Is Gadhafi a target?
No major political leader has yet openly called for the assassination of Gadhafi, although Cameron, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and his U.S. counterpart Barack Obama have said they want Gadhafi to go.
There are divisions about the nature of the military operation in Libya because the U.N. Security Council resolution is too ambiguous, say experts.
"I think the fact that there is some flexibility, some ambiguity in the resolution has created the impression that it can mean many things to many people... tensions remain," says Hartwell.
After heated exchanges between NATO ambassadors in Brussels, the alliance announced Tuesday an operation to enforce the arms embargo against Libya. But it went no further on deciding if or when NATO would take command of the mission already under way, in which several allies are participating.nike running shoes online
In a statement, NATO only said that it had plans on the table to enforce the no-fly zone "if needed."
The backdrop was a simmering feud between France and Italy that turned more cynical by the hour. Italy is demanding that NATO take a lead role in the military and political decision-making during the remainder of the Libyan mission.
But resistance within the alliance mounted even as the United States expressed its desire to take a back seat in the operation and hand over any command role to European allies. France seemed most reluctant to submit to NATO command, but Germany and Turkey also voiced objections.
These countries also argue that Arab League nations would be shut out of any decision-making if NATO took control.
German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said he continues to believe it was right not to participate in the United Nations-sanctioned mission. He noted that Germany is not alone in its skeptical view of military action, pointing to the fact that other European nations are not taking part either.
Westerwelle also refused to comment on whether NATO should take a leading role in enforcing U.N. resolution 1973.
"That is for the coalition of the willing to debate," Westerwelle said.
French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe told French media that NATO would play a role in the mission in coming days but that France, Britain and a council of2011 nike running shoes online other coalition partners would make political decisions. One NATO official described this to CNN as putting the alliance's assets at the disposal of the coalition, but NATO would have no formal political role.
The squabbling continued as Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini again threatened to take back complete control of Italian airbases if NATO did not take the reins of the mission.
"Who, if not NATO, can take on this task?" said Frattini in comments to Italian media.
Some Italian politicians sought to settle old colonial scores by cynically noting that if France was allowed to lead this mission, it would get all the Libyan oil contracts and Italy would get all the Libyan refugees.
On a busy day at the Gioia Del Colle Air Base in southern Italy, RAF Typhoons executed a number of sorties to enforce the no-fly zone in Libya.
"The Italian support is crucial," said Royal Air Force Commander, Group Captain Sammy Sampson, but added that his fighters could operate from other locations. "It's a decision for our headquarters and our political masters."
Discussions between NATO allies will continue this week as the alliance continues to disagree over the parameters and scope of the U.N. resolution that authorized all means necessary to protect civilians in Libya, as well as imposing a no-fly zone over the country.nike running shoes online
As well as disagreeing over whether Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi is a legitimate target, there is the question of whether Libya will split along tribal lines or whether a united Libya is even a possibility. There is no appetite among coalition allies to get involved in a tribal grudge match or civil war. buy Reebok EasyTone
Turkey, also a NATO member, also voiced its opposition to a political role for the alliance and has forcefully suggested that the mission so far has already gone beyond the intention of the U.N. resolution to protect civilians. However, one NATO source told CNN that they did not see Turkey's objections so far as a major stumbling block to a further role for NATO.
Libyans who went to investigate the US warplane's crash site said that a US helicopter had come in with guns firing,y nike running shoes online creating panic and wounding onlookers, some of whom had to be taken to hospital; one 20-year-old man is expected to have his leg amputated.
The villagers said they had been searching for the plane's missing airmen to welcome them and help them.
A member of the Libyan rebel forces at the site of the crash, Omar Sayid, a colonel of the military police, told Channel Four News: "We are disturbed about the shooting, because if they'd given us a chance we would have handed over both pilots. This shooting created panic."
The airmen ejected from their F-15E at 10.30am local time on Monday after what the Pentagon described as "equipment malfunction"; it had not been shot down. The airmen's parachutes opened and they landed at separate locations in rebel territory, near Bu Mariem, 24 miles east of Benghazi.
One hid in a sheep pen before being found by rebel forces, hugged, given juice and food, and taken to Benghazi. The other was picked up by US marines. Both are back in US hands, with only minor injuries.
One villager who saw the crash, Mahdi Amrani, told AP: "I saw the plane spinning round and round as it came down. It was in flames. They died away, then it burst into flames again."
Although the US military refuses to confirm or deny reports of any shooting, villagers told reporters that the American rescuers strafed the field where one airman had landed, and villagers had been injured.
Hamid Moussa el-Amruni, whose family owns the farm where the US plane's weapons officer had hid, told AP that he himself had wounds in his leg and back from shrapnel. He was using a crutch, but said he held no grudge, believing the incident to have been an accident.
A team of 12 marines was sent to rescue the two aboard two large Osprey helicopters launched from the USS Kearsarge, a large assault ship off Libya.buy Reebok EasyTone
Channel Four's Lindsey Hilsum spoke to the villagers, and visited Jala hospital in Benghazi where some of the injured were treated. Among them was Hamad Abdul Ati, 43, who had bullet and shrapnel wounds. He said he was puzzled rather than angry, and did not understand why the Americans had been so aggressive in their rescue mission.
"We consider that whoever is shot down or a prisoner of war, we should save him and hand him over," he told Hilsum from his hospital bed. "But another plane shot at me and Hamdy, my son. I have shrapnel in my hand."Hospital staff said that Hamdy, aged 20, wa s having an operation to amputate his leg.
"Why did this happen? My car is destroyed, my home is damaged. We would have just picked the second pilot up and put him wherever he wanted in a safe place. Even the other one, we had a celebration for him," Abdul Ati said.
Reporters said the villagers had showed no animosity after the incident; instead, they expressed gratitude for the US-led coalition, which they said had saved them from massacre by Gaddafi's forces.
The downed plane is the first confirmed loss on the US side.buy Reebok ZigTech The F-15E Strike Eagle was based at RAF Lakenheath but had been flying out of Aviano airbase in Italy; it was totally destroyed.
One board the USS Kearsarge, the commander of the US naval flotilla stationed off Libya did not respond to questions on whether civilians had been shot by US marines. "I have no knowledge of reports," said Rear Admiral Peg Klein. She said that the F-15E pilot had been picked up by one of the Osprey helicopters and brought to the USS Kearsarge.
The second member of the F-15E's crew, its weapons officer, was "recovered by the people of Libya and treated with dignity and respect", said Klein. A US officer had earlier said he was now in US hands.
Klein declined to give any furtherdetails about the crew, beyond saying: "These jets go several times the speed of sound, they eject and it is fairly traumatic.
"We are solely focused on those two crew members being cared for. It is a thorough process. We want to evaluate them to make sure they are OK."
Admiral Samuel Locklear, the US commander co-ordinating coalition operations from aboard USS Mount Whitney in the Mediterranean, declined to deny that the marines had opened fire.
"We believe it is appropriate that NATO takes over the command of the mission because NATO has a structured intervention scheme and would monitor with greater transparency the quality of the operations in Libya," Defense Minister Ignazio La Russa said. nike running shoes onlineHe told reporters after an extraordinary cabinet meeting called to describe Libyan developments and Italy's role in it.
La Russa further clarified that Italy doesn’t oppose United Nations’ resolution on imposing no-fly zone over Libya, but not keenly interested in using force either. Italy last week offered its navy and air bases for missile attacks on Libya, while its firefighter patrolled skies of the North African nation. However, the minister confirmed that they had not carried out any raids.
Meanwhile, Russia, India and China have urged the West to immediately stop military strikes. Russian politicians seen divided on Libyan strikes with Prime Minister Vladimir Putin denounced the U.N. resolution and described it as a "medieval call to crusade". Putin said, "To me, it resembles some sort of medieval call to crusade when someone would appeal to someone to go to a certain place and free someone else." President Dmitry Medvedev later criticized Putin for using "crusade" in reference to a Muslim country like Libya. However, Medvedev said that Moscow would neither take part in any operation nor send any troops against Libya.
Brazil, India, China and Germany also opt not to vote the resolution, which was supported by 10 countries to use all ‘necessary measures’ to stop Gaddafi from hurting innocent civilians. Indian Foreign Minister S.M. Krishna called for immediate halt to strikes, which were affecting foreign nationals, civilians and diplomatic missions.
"India calls upon all parties to abjure violence and the use of threat and force to resolve the differences. Reebok EasyTone I think the need of the hour is cessation of armed conflict," he told reporters.
Despite Germany’s abstention, Chancellor Angela Merkel wishes success of west’s military mission in Libya.
In Tripoli, foreign forces bombed veteran leader Muammar Gaddafi's compound, his southern strongholds and a navy base. However, Britain clarified that Gaddafi would not be the target of their forces, said Britain's chief of defense staff, General Sir David Richards. His comments came after Foreign Secretary William Hague’s comments hinted that Gaddafi could be specifically targeted in the attacks.
Meanwhile, rebels claimed that Gaddafi's forces continued their attack in Misrata city near Tripoli. A day after criticizing west’s air strikes and called them to stop them, the Arab League on Monday reassured its support for the military operation called 'Operation Odyssey Dawn'.
In Cairo, U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, who is on a trip to Egypt and Tunisia, on Monday said that the authoritarian leaders of the Middle East and North Africa should take Libyan war and people’s uprising in Tunisia and Egypt as a warning.
In an interview to AFP, Ban called on nations to speak out when a wind of change was apparently sweeping the region. "The international community, while we closely follow the situation,, Find brand shoes has a responsibility to help those people, so that leaders could hear clearly and sincerely the voices of the people, their aspirations," he added.
Meanwhile, the U.N. Security Council has agreed to convene another round of meeting next Thursday to discuss Libya amid worldwide criticism over West’s military strikes over Gaddafi’s regimes after a resolution was passed to allow use of force in the North African nation.
Explosions were reported in Tripoli and anti-aircraft fire was heard over Col Gaddafi’s residence.ghd hair straighteners A plume of smoke was reported to be coming from near the dictator’s home. The Americans were said to have taken over the airwaves to warn residents not to interfere with the military operation.
On Sunday, an increasingly erratic Col Gaddafi initially refused to back down following the first round of air strikes from the United Nations-backed allies, declaring that he was arming more than one million of his people for a “long war”.
However, as the second round began, a spokesman for the Libyan military ordered all units in the country to observe a ceasefire.
Coalition commanders were cautious over whether the order was genuine. A No 10 spokesman said: “Everyone will recall that in recent days Col Gaddafi declared a ceasefire which was promptly violated. We said then we would judge him on his actions, not his words, and we will do so again.” Last night Tornados took off from RAF Marham as reports came through that Gaddafi troops were still targeting rebels in Misurata and Zintan.
Col Gaddafi’s defiance led to suggestions that British ground forces might need to be deployed. Admiral Mike Mullen, the head of the US armed forces, warned of a potential stalemate as he admitted he was unclear of the “endgame”. Dr Liam Fox, the Defence Secretary, raised the possibility that Col Gaddafi could be personally targeted in air strikes.
Senior British defence sources insisted that no plans were being drawn up to send in forces on the ground but ministers yesterday refused to rule out the possibility. William Hague, the Foreign Secretary, indicated that ground forces could be used for specific missions under the terms of the UN mandate, providing they did not become an “occupying force”.
Barack Obama has already ruled out the use of the American military and David Cameron is likely to come under pressure in Parliament today to clarify the British terms of involvement in the international mission.
The Coalition suffered its first diplomatic blow yesterday when the Arab League criticised the operation, expressing concern about a “bombardment” rather than the enforcement of a no-fly zone. Russia and China also condemned the attack.
On Saturday, forces from Britain, France, Canada and the US launched a series of bombing raids on Libyan airfields, tanks and air defence systems. Qatari and Italian planes were due to join the offensive last night.
Ships and submarines fired 124 cruise missiles to destroy dozens of tanks and aircraft. Commanders said most of Libya’s military air capacity was destroyed with few, or no, civilian casualties.
In a briefing yesterday, senior Ministry of Defence officials said they were “entirely comfortable” with the success of the attacks, which had struck “high-value targets” in Tripoli and other parts of Libya.
Adm Mullen said Col Gaddafi was no longer able to deploy helicopters and aircraft, meaning that “effectively the no-fly zone has been put in place”. However, he warned that the dictator could use chemical weapons, ghd hair straighteners sale including a “significant quantity” of mustard gas in the desert. “We’ve had our eyes on that for a significant period of time, literally the last two or three weeks,” he said. “There’s no indication he’s moving toward using that, but certainly that’s something we’re watching very carefully.”
Yesterday afternoon, there were reports that regime forces had entered the coastal town of Misurata. The regime was also said to be using civilians as human shields at military sites.
Residents reported that Col Gaddafi’s tank commanders had pushed through to the centre of the city, triggering clashes that caused dozens of casualties.
A spokesman for the rebels who goes by the name Abdelbasset said: “There is fighting between the rebels and Gaddafi’s forces. Their tanks are in the centre of Misurata. There are so many casualties we cannot count them. He is using a scorched earth strategy, burning and destroying everything in his way.”
This presents coalition forces with a dilemma, as air power cannot easily be used to stop Libyan aggression in dense urban areas without the risk of large numbers of civilian casualties. Shashank Joshi of the Royal United Service Institute, the think tank, said: “In terms of the mission to enforce a no-fly zone, they are likely to be extremely effective.
“But the question is, even once you have established a no-fly zone, what happens next?”
British Typhoon aircraft arrived at an Italian airbase last night, where British fighter jets will now be stationed along with those from other countries. The British base in Cyprus will still be used for support aircraft, despite protests from the Cypriot government.y cheap ghd australia online,
Yesterday, senior British ministers said that although no “occupying force” would be deployed, the use of ground forces could not be ruled out. Mr Hague said: “There can’t be an occupation force. But I don’t think that means you can’t have a ground invasion of Libya.”
Mr Osborne also indicated that ground forces may be used in future after only saying their deployment was not being discussed “at the moment”. He declined to rule out their use in future.
The comments stand in contrast to assurances given by the Americans, who are wary of being dragged in to another prolonged military campaign alongside operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.
On a trip to Brazil, President Obama said: “As I said yesterday, we will not, I repeat, we will not deploy any US troops on the ground.”
The Americans are also preparing to hand over responsibility for the operation to Nato in the next few days.
Yesterday there were signs of international unease at the mission, and even splits within the coalition.