Photos published of alleged U.S. atrocities in Afghanistan
By the CNN Wire Staff
Kabul, Afghanistan (CNN) -- The German news outlet Der Spiegel has published photographs of what appear to be two U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan posing over the bodies of dead Afghans -- images which threaten to further complicate the American military effort there.
Two images show the soldiers kneeling by a bloody body sprawled over a patch of sand and grass. A third shows what appears to be two bodies propped up, back to back, against a post in front of a military vehicle.
Der Spiegel identifies the soldiers as Spc. Jeremy Morlock and Pfc. Andrew Holmes, who are both facing charges relating to the wrongful deaths of Afghan civilians.
Specifically, Holmes is charged with the premeditated deaths of three civilians, possessing a dismembered human finger, wrongfully possessing photographs of human casualties, and smoking hashish.
He is also accused of conspiring with Morlock to shoot at a civilian and then toss a grenade so it would look like the soldiers were under attack.
Morlock is charged with three counts of murder. He is accused of killing one Afghan civilian in January 2010 with a grenade and rifle; killing another in May 2010 in a similar manner; and shooting a third to death in February 2010.
U.S. military rules also prohibit "taking or retaining individual souvenirs or trophies," which the photographs may be construed as.
The trial for the two soldiers is being conducted at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington. Morlock's court martial is slated to begin Wednesday, while the start date for Holmes' court martial has not been publicly announced.
The U.S. Army released a statement Monday calling the photographs "repugnant to us as human beings and contrary to the standards and values of the United States Army."
"We apologize for the distress these photos cause," the statement said.
Army officials asserted in the statement that ongoing court-martial proceedings related to the alleged atrocities "speak for themselves. The photos appear in stark contrast to the discipline, professionalism and respect that have characterized our soldiers' performance during nearly 10 years of sustained operations."
They also stressed that the "United States Army is committed to adherence to the Law of War and the humane and respectful treatment of combatants, noncombatants, and the dead. ... Soldiers who commit offenses will be held accountable as appropriate."
In all, officials have charged 12 U.S. soldiers in what they called a conspiracy to murder Afghan civilians and cover it up, along with charges they mutilated corpses and kept grisly souvenirs. Five of the soldiers face murder charges, while seven others are charged with participating in a coverup.
All of the accused men were members of a 2nd Infantry Division brigade operating near Kandahar in southern Afghanistan in 2009 and 2010.
CNN's Alan Silverleib and Scott Zamost contributed to this report
Thứ Ba, 22 tháng 3, 2011
Yemen leader, top general discuss transition of power
From Mohammed Jamjoom, CNN
(CNN) -- Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh and a top military general are discussing a deal for a peaceful transition of power that would allow Saleh to stay in place for the rest of the year, a Yemeni official and senior U.S. official said Monday.
The discussions come amid cracks in support for Saleh's 32-year rule after weeks of anti-government protests.
Three top generals declared their support for the protests Monday, including Maj. Gen. Ali Mohsen Al-Ahmar, the man now discussing the deal with Saleh.
Al-Ahmar, who belongs to an important tribe whose backing is significant for Saleh, also said he will order his troops to protect civilians demonstrating against the president.
A wave of other officials announced their support for the opposition Monday.
They included Yemen's ambassador to Britain and the embassy's entire diplomatic staff, and Yemen's ambassador to the European Union, Mohamed Jaffer. They did not resign but rather threw their support behind the protesters.
Dozens of other ambassadors and officials also announced their support for the "peaceful revolution," a high-level Yemeni source said. Among them were a provincial governor, members of parliament and the governing party, an official in the prime minister's office, top envoys to Saudi Arabia, China and Pakistan, and diplomats in the U.S. and Russia.
Yemen's United Nations ambassador, who resigned Sunday, said Monday that Saleh should make a dignified exit for the good of the country.
"The president has done some good things, but everything has an end, and he should step down," Abdullah Al-Saidi said.
According to the Yemeni official who confirmed the talks between Saleh and the general, the president has officially accepted five points demanded by the opposition and is now waiting for a response from the opposition and the generals who defected.
The five points are that Saleh step down by the end of the year; that Yemenis be allowed to protest without fear of violence; that a committee be formed to investigate attacks against protesters; that families of all protesters killed or wounded be compensated by the state; and that the government implement constitutional and electoral reforms, including the removal of Saleh's family members from the armed services.
"The ultimate goal is peaceful transition with a clear, set timeline" that has yet to be determined, the Yemeni official said.
A U.S. official said Monday that Saleh is losing the support of his political and military leaders. Although most of the top brass still supports the regime, the official said, their support is "tenuous."
Saleh has been a key United States ally as al Qaeda turns his country into a base. Radical American-born cleric Anwar al-Awlaki is believed to be hiding in Yemen.
The cleric has been linked to terror plots including the attempt to bomb a Detroit-bound plane on Christmas Day 2009, and he corresponded separately with a British Airways employee about trying to smuggle explosives onto planes.
Top American officials including U.S. President Barack Obama's counterterrorism chief have traveled to Yemen to meet with Saleh, and leaked diplomatic cables suggest Saleh's government helped disguise strikes by U.S. unmanned drones on terror targets in Yemen by calling them Yemeni actions.
In terms of U.S. counterterrorism efforts with Yemen, the U.S. official said it "doesn't help when you don't have government cooperation," but there are "other things being done" to continue the work, including "dialogue with partners" as well as the use of other "multiple means to gain information on terrorist activities."
A high-level Yemeni source said Saleh can hang on to power if he unleashes the forces still loyal to him. The source did not know whether the president will do that, however, and was not sure a tipping point has been reached.
Saleh may be reaching out to regional powers for support in the face of protests.
He is sending Foreign Minister Abu Bakr Al-Qirbi to Saudi Arabia with "a presidential letter to the Saudi monarch," the first Yemeni source said, adding that he did not know what is in the letter.
The Saudis did not respond to requests for comments about the message from Saleh.
"Government officials in Yemen see what's going on today as having the signs of an early stage of a bloodless coup," the Yemeni official said.
Saleh dismissed his Cabinet on Sunday, after the weekend resignations of two top officials to protest a government crackdown on protesters that left 52 people dead Friday.
Saleh expressed his "deep regret" over the casualties and asked the officials to stay on until a new Cabinet is appointed, according to Tareq Al-Shami, a spokesman for the country's ruling party.
Yemen's chief prosecutor has launched an investigation into the shootings in Sanaa and is questioning 17 people accused of orchestrating the massacre, the country's embassy in the United States announced.
Human Rights Minister Huda al-Bann resigned over the crackdown, according to an official in her office who is not authorized to speak to the media and asked not to be named.
Senior ruling party member Mohammed Abulahoum said Sunday that Saleh "should seriously consider a good, safe exit strategy" to "prepare the foundation in Yemen for a good transfer of power from him to the next authority or president."
Abulahoum "strongly" condemned Friday's violence and, in protest, withdrew a plan he proposed to mediate between the president and the opposition.
High unemployment has fueled much of the anger among a growing young population steeped in poverty. The protesters also cite government corruption and a lack of political freedom.
The president has said he will not run for another term in the next round of elections. He also has pledged to bring a new constitution to a vote by the end of the year and transfer government power to an elected parliamentary system.
CNN's Caroline Faraj, Elise Labott, Richard Roth, Pam Benson and Jo Shelley and journalist Hakim Almasmari contributed to this report.
From Mohammed Jamjoom, CNN
(CNN) -- Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh and a top military general are discussing a deal for a peaceful transition of power that would allow Saleh to stay in place for the rest of the year, a Yemeni official and senior U.S. official said Monday.
The discussions come amid cracks in support for Saleh's 32-year rule after weeks of anti-government protests.
Three top generals declared their support for the protests Monday, including Maj. Gen. Ali Mohsen Al-Ahmar, the man now discussing the deal with Saleh.
Al-Ahmar, who belongs to an important tribe whose backing is significant for Saleh, also said he will order his troops to protect civilians demonstrating against the president.
A wave of other officials announced their support for the opposition Monday.
They included Yemen's ambassador to Britain and the embassy's entire diplomatic staff, and Yemen's ambassador to the European Union, Mohamed Jaffer. They did not resign but rather threw their support behind the protesters.
Dozens of other ambassadors and officials also announced their support for the "peaceful revolution," a high-level Yemeni source said. Among them were a provincial governor, members of parliament and the governing party, an official in the prime minister's office, top envoys to Saudi Arabia, China and Pakistan, and diplomats in the U.S. and Russia.
Yemen's United Nations ambassador, who resigned Sunday, said Monday that Saleh should make a dignified exit for the good of the country.
"The president has done some good things, but everything has an end, and he should step down," Abdullah Al-Saidi said.
According to the Yemeni official who confirmed the talks between Saleh and the general, the president has officially accepted five points demanded by the opposition and is now waiting for a response from the opposition and the generals who defected.
The five points are that Saleh step down by the end of the year; that Yemenis be allowed to protest without fear of violence; that a committee be formed to investigate attacks against protesters; that families of all protesters killed or wounded be compensated by the state; and that the government implement constitutional and electoral reforms, including the removal of Saleh's family members from the armed services.
"The ultimate goal is peaceful transition with a clear, set timeline" that has yet to be determined, the Yemeni official said.
A U.S. official said Monday that Saleh is losing the support of his political and military leaders. Although most of the top brass still supports the regime, the official said, their support is "tenuous."
Saleh has been a key United States ally as al Qaeda turns his country into a base. Radical American-born cleric Anwar al-Awlaki is believed to be hiding in Yemen.
The cleric has been linked to terror plots including the attempt to bomb a Detroit-bound plane on Christmas Day 2009, and he corresponded separately with a British Airways employee about trying to smuggle explosives onto planes.
Top American officials including U.S. President Barack Obama's counterterrorism chief have traveled to Yemen to meet with Saleh, and leaked diplomatic cables suggest Saleh's government helped disguise strikes by U.S. unmanned drones on terror targets in Yemen by calling them Yemeni actions.
In terms of U.S. counterterrorism efforts with Yemen, the U.S. official said it "doesn't help when you don't have government cooperation," but there are "other things being done" to continue the work, including "dialogue with partners" as well as the use of other "multiple means to gain information on terrorist activities."
A high-level Yemeni source said Saleh can hang on to power if he unleashes the forces still loyal to him. The source did not know whether the president will do that, however, and was not sure a tipping point has been reached.
Saleh may be reaching out to regional powers for support in the face of protests.
He is sending Foreign Minister Abu Bakr Al-Qirbi to Saudi Arabia with "a presidential letter to the Saudi monarch," the first Yemeni source said, adding that he did not know what is in the letter.
The Saudis did not respond to requests for comments about the message from Saleh.
"Government officials in Yemen see what's going on today as having the signs of an early stage of a bloodless coup," the Yemeni official said.
Saleh dismissed his Cabinet on Sunday, after the weekend resignations of two top officials to protest a government crackdown on protesters that left 52 people dead Friday.
Saleh expressed his "deep regret" over the casualties and asked the officials to stay on until a new Cabinet is appointed, according to Tareq Al-Shami, a spokesman for the country's ruling party.
Yemen's chief prosecutor has launched an investigation into the shootings in Sanaa and is questioning 17 people accused of orchestrating the massacre, the country's embassy in the United States announced.
Human Rights Minister Huda al-Bann resigned over the crackdown, according to an official in her office who is not authorized to speak to the media and asked not to be named.
Senior ruling party member Mohammed Abulahoum said Sunday that Saleh "should seriously consider a good, safe exit strategy" to "prepare the foundation in Yemen for a good transfer of power from him to the next authority or president."
Abulahoum "strongly" condemned Friday's violence and, in protest, withdrew a plan he proposed to mediate between the president and the opposition.
High unemployment has fueled much of the anger among a growing young population steeped in poverty. The protesters also cite government corruption and a lack of political freedom.
The president has said he will not run for another term in the next round of elections. He also has pledged to bring a new constitution to a vote by the end of the year and transfer government power to an elected parliamentary system.
CNN's Caroline Faraj, Elise Labott, Richard Roth, Pam Benson and Jo Shelley and journalist Hakim Almasmari contributed to this report.
Thứ Bảy, 19 tháng 3, 2011
Search for missing continues in Japan as death toll rises
By the CNN Wire Staff
Tokyo (CNN) -- As searches for thousands of missing continued Saturday, police in Japan said more than 7,300 people had died since the monster earthquake and ensuing tsunami struck last week.
On Saturday evening, 7,348 people were confirmed dead, according to Japan's National Police Agency. An additional 10,947 people were missing and 2,603 were injured, the agency said.
Search and rescue efforts have been hampered by snowfall in the hardest-hit areas, said spokesman Patrick Fuller of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.
"The cold is a real issue, particularly for the thousands of people in shelters, many of them elderly," he said, describing providing medical care as a "massive challenge."
While efforts accelerated Saturday to restore power to cooling systems at the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, the focus shifted toward rebuilding in some parts of the country hardest hit by the temblor and the devastating wall of water that followed.
"We need to go forward," Rikuzentakata Mayor Futoshi Toba told construction workers, according to Kyodo News.
Crews began building hundreds of temporary, pre-fabricated housing units in the coastal city, the agency said.
A widely reported rescue Saturday offered a brief glimmer of hope amid headlines of death and destruction. But Japanese authorities later changed their story, saying a man rescued from the rubble of his home Saturday had actually been staying in a shelter.
Originally, the Japanese Self-Defense Force reported that the man had been trapped for eight days.
Meanwhile, the Tokyo Electric Power Co. said workers had laid extensive electrical cable near the Fukushima Daiichi power plant's No. 2 nuclear reactor -- a key step in an effort to restore power to the plant in an effort authorities hope will keep temperatures low. That would curb the emission of radioactive material and, in a worst case scenario, a full nuclear meltdown.
Tokyo's fire department also began a new method of spraying water in and around the Fukushima Daiichi power plant's No. 3 reactor using an unmanned system that can spray seawater for up to seven hours at a time. In previous missions, firefighters, soldiers and plant owner Tokyo Electric Power Co. workers had manually done the same in brief intervals to avoid prolonged radiation exposure.
Tests revealed abnormally high levels of radiation that violate Japanese food safety laws in samples of spinach and milk from areas near the nuclear plant, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano told reporters Saturday.
Authorities are mulling regulating movement of agricultural products from the area, as well as collecting more data for analysis, Edano said.
On Friday, authorities acknowledged that the situation at the troubled power plant was far more serious than they'd originally estimated.
Tokyo Electric's managing director, Akio Komiri, broke down in a tears after leaving a news conference in Fukushima at which exposure levels were discussed.
In a written statement, the company's president Masataka Shimizu said "we sincerely apologize ... for causing such a great concern and nuisance."
Even as the country's emergency agency raised its rating of the crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant from a 4 to 5 -- putting it on par with the 1979 incident at Pennsylvania's Three Mile Island -- Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan told his compatriots to bury their pessimism Friday.
"With a tsunami and earthquake we don't have any room to be pessimistic," he said. "We are going to create Japan again from scratch. We should face this challenge together."
Kan acknowledged the situation at the Fukushima plant remains "very grave" and said his government has disclosed all that it knows to both the Japanese people and the international community.
"The police, fire department and self defense forces are all working together, putting their lives on the line, in an attempt to resolve the situation," he said.
Meanwhile, the government raised the radiation level for workers trying to avert a further crisis, Japanese public broadcaster NHK reported Saturday.
Tokyo Electric said workers at the plant -- including company employees, members of the military and firefighters -- can now be exposed to 250 millisieverts of radiation before they must leave the area.
An individual in a developed country is naturally exposed to about 3 millisieverts of radiation a year. The International Commission on Radiological Protection recommends no more than 50 millisieverts exposure in a given year for nuclear rescue and recovery workers. It offers no restriction in a crisis when "the benefit to others clearly outweighs the rescuer's risk."
Tokyo Electric has said it was doing all it can to protect workers' health. Japan's nuclear agency said Friday several hundred workers, including nonpower company employees, remained on site.
In populated areas outside of the nuclear facility, there have been few indications of any immediate, dangerous fall-out from the crisis so far. For the past eight days, weather patterns indicate that the wind has likely blown most emitted radiation out to sea.
CNN's Yoko Wakatsuki contributed to this report.
By the CNN Wire Staff
Tokyo (CNN) -- As searches for thousands of missing continued Saturday, police in Japan said more than 7,300 people had died since the monster earthquake and ensuing tsunami struck last week.
On Saturday evening, 7,348 people were confirmed dead, according to Japan's National Police Agency. An additional 10,947 people were missing and 2,603 were injured, the agency said.
Search and rescue efforts have been hampered by snowfall in the hardest-hit areas, said spokesman Patrick Fuller of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.
"The cold is a real issue, particularly for the thousands of people in shelters, many of them elderly," he said, describing providing medical care as a "massive challenge."
While efforts accelerated Saturday to restore power to cooling systems at the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, the focus shifted toward rebuilding in some parts of the country hardest hit by the temblor and the devastating wall of water that followed.
"We need to go forward," Rikuzentakata Mayor Futoshi Toba told construction workers, according to Kyodo News.
Crews began building hundreds of temporary, pre-fabricated housing units in the coastal city, the agency said.
A widely reported rescue Saturday offered a brief glimmer of hope amid headlines of death and destruction. But Japanese authorities later changed their story, saying a man rescued from the rubble of his home Saturday had actually been staying in a shelter.
Originally, the Japanese Self-Defense Force reported that the man had been trapped for eight days.
Meanwhile, the Tokyo Electric Power Co. said workers had laid extensive electrical cable near the Fukushima Daiichi power plant's No. 2 nuclear reactor -- a key step in an effort to restore power to the plant in an effort authorities hope will keep temperatures low. That would curb the emission of radioactive material and, in a worst case scenario, a full nuclear meltdown.
Tokyo's fire department also began a new method of spraying water in and around the Fukushima Daiichi power plant's No. 3 reactor using an unmanned system that can spray seawater for up to seven hours at a time. In previous missions, firefighters, soldiers and plant owner Tokyo Electric Power Co. workers had manually done the same in brief intervals to avoid prolonged radiation exposure.
Tests revealed abnormally high levels of radiation that violate Japanese food safety laws in samples of spinach and milk from areas near the nuclear plant, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano told reporters Saturday.
Authorities are mulling regulating movement of agricultural products from the area, as well as collecting more data for analysis, Edano said.
On Friday, authorities acknowledged that the situation at the troubled power plant was far more serious than they'd originally estimated.
Tokyo Electric's managing director, Akio Komiri, broke down in a tears after leaving a news conference in Fukushima at which exposure levels were discussed.
In a written statement, the company's president Masataka Shimizu said "we sincerely apologize ... for causing such a great concern and nuisance."
Even as the country's emergency agency raised its rating of the crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant from a 4 to 5 -- putting it on par with the 1979 incident at Pennsylvania's Three Mile Island -- Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan told his compatriots to bury their pessimism Friday.
"With a tsunami and earthquake we don't have any room to be pessimistic," he said. "We are going to create Japan again from scratch. We should face this challenge together."
Kan acknowledged the situation at the Fukushima plant remains "very grave" and said his government has disclosed all that it knows to both the Japanese people and the international community.
"The police, fire department and self defense forces are all working together, putting their lives on the line, in an attempt to resolve the situation," he said.
Meanwhile, the government raised the radiation level for workers trying to avert a further crisis, Japanese public broadcaster NHK reported Saturday.
Tokyo Electric said workers at the plant -- including company employees, members of the military and firefighters -- can now be exposed to 250 millisieverts of radiation before they must leave the area.
An individual in a developed country is naturally exposed to about 3 millisieverts of radiation a year. The International Commission on Radiological Protection recommends no more than 50 millisieverts exposure in a given year for nuclear rescue and recovery workers. It offers no restriction in a crisis when "the benefit to others clearly outweighs the rescuer's risk."
Tokyo Electric has said it was doing all it can to protect workers' health. Japan's nuclear agency said Friday several hundred workers, including nonpower company employees, remained on site.
In populated areas outside of the nuclear facility, there have been few indications of any immediate, dangerous fall-out from the crisis so far. For the past eight days, weather patterns indicate that the wind has likely blown most emitted radiation out to sea.
CNN's Yoko Wakatsuki contributed to this report.
Radiation found in food as workers scramble to curb nuclear crisis
By the CNN Wire Staff
Tokyo (CNN) -- The Japanese government said Saturday that abnormally high levels of radiation were detected in spinach and milk that came from farms near a tsunami-affected nuclear plant as emergency workers moved closer to restoring cooling systems in the reactors.
Crews connected electric cables needed to power up cooling systems in the six stricken reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, inoperable since last Friday's monster earthquake and tsunami.
Authorities also reported progress when an unmanned contraption began spraying seawater continuously Saturday to cool down the Number 3 reactor's overheating spent nuclear fuel pool.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said levels of radiation found in some but not all samples of spinach and milk from the Fukushima and Ibaraki prefectures exceeded the limits stipulated by Japan's food safety law.
Edano, however, insisted they weren't extremely high.
If a person consumed these products continuously for a year, he said, he or she would take in the same amount of radiation as a single CT scan. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration equates that to roughly 7 millisieverts, over double what a person in an industrialized country naturally gets in a year.
Authorities are mulling regulating movement of agricultural products from within the vicinity of the Fukushima plant, some 240 kilometers (150 miles) north of Tokyo, as well as getting more data for analysis under Japan's health ministry's watch, Edano said.
The news about food contamination came as emergency workers scrambled Saturday to set up electricity to power cooling systems for the reactors.
Tokyo Electric and Power Company officials told CNN that the connection of electric cabling has been completed, but the company still has to conduct safety and stability checks on the circuit before throwing the switch.
The company said workers hope to fully restore a stable power supply by day's end to the plant's Numbers 1, 2, 5 and 6 reactors. The plan is to get power up and running Sunday for the Numbers 3 and 4 reactors.
The cooling systems are essential to keep temperatures low, curb the further emission of radioactive material and, in a worst case scenario, prevent a full nuclear meltdown. A meltdown could occurs when nuclear fuel rods get so hot that they melt the steel and concrete structure containing them, spilling out into the air and water with potentially deadly results.
Meanwhile, authorities set up a new system to spray seawater continuously on the Number 3 reactor's overheating spent nuclear fuel pool.
A Tokyo fire department official said an unmanned contraption began operating around 2 p.m. Saturday and can spray water for up to seven hours at a time. In previous missions, firefighters, soldiers and plant owner Tokyo Electric Power Company workers had manually done the same in brief intervals to avoid prolonged radiation exposure.
The water, pumped from a nearby port and then funneled to the system, is being directed at the Number 3 reactor's spent fuel pool in order to cool it and prevent the emission of more radioactive material into the atmosphere.
"We believe the situation has been stabilized, though much remains to be seen," said Edano, adding that authorities are also looking into spraying the Number 4 reactor and its spent fuel pool as well.
Also Saturday, a Tokyo Electric official said three holes apiece have been drilled in the ceilings of the Numbers 5 and 6 units in order to alleviate pressure. A hydrogen gas buildup had previously contributed to explosions at the Numbers 1, 2 and 3 reactors.
A water pump, powered by a second diesel generator, began circulating water in the Number 6 units spent fuel pool shortly after 5 a.m. Saturday, according to a news release from Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan's office.
Graham Andrew, a special assistant to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) director, noted Friday that efforts to use seawater to cool overheated spent nuclear fuel pools -- both by pumping in seawater, as well as in the case of Unit 3 in which water has come from the ground -- in and around the Numbers 1, 2 and 3 reactors appear to be working.
While each of those reactors have damage to their fuel cores, Andrew said they appear to be relatively stable for now.
Beyond Saturday's food safety announcement, there have been few indications of any immediate fallout from the nuclear crisis.
Airborne radiation levels around Japan have shown no signs of spiking drastically, according to measurements posted online Saturday by the nation's education and science ministry.
Most readings showed detectable but relatively small amounts of radiation. Even the two top readings in Mito (in Ibaraki prefecture) and Utsonomiya (in Toshigi prefecture) are well below what's considered dangerous to humans and had fallen in recent days.
Still, no one has said that authorities are in the clear. In fact, authorities acknowledged Friday that the situation is far more serious than they'd originally estimated.
"We sincerely apologize ... for causing such a great concern and nuisance," said a statement from Masataka Shimizu, the president of Tokyo Electric.
And the company's managing director, Akio Komori, broke down in a tears after leaving a news conference in Fukushima at which exposure levels were discussed.
This came shortly after Japan's nuclear and industrial safety agency raised its rating for the crisis' severity (specifically, at the Numbers 2 and 3 reactors) from a Level 4 to a Level 5 -- putting it on par with the 1979 accident at Pennsylvania's Three Mile Island plant, the worst nuclear accident in U.S. history.
According to the International Nuclear Events Scale, a level 5 indicates the likelihood of a release of radioactive material, several deaths from radiation and severe damage to a reactor core. Each step on the scale indicates an increase of 10 times the severity of the step below it, the International Atomic Energy Agency says.
The Chernobyl nuclear accident in the former Soviet Union rated a 7, the highest level on the scale, while Japan's other nuclear crisis -- a 1999 accident at Tokaimura in which workers died after being exposed to radiation -- rated a 4.
But the rating change was not due to new problems at the plant, said Hidehiko Nishiyama, deputy head of the nuclear safety agency.
Rather, it came after Japanese authorities got a better assessment of what had happened, partly based on images showing damage to fuel rods and other structures inside certain reactor buildings.
IAEA Director General Yukiya Amano cautioned against reading too much into the raised assessment, saying it is too early to make a full assessment.
Yet Peter Bradford, a member of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission when the Three Mile Island incident occurred, said the Fukushima Daiichi crisis is worse than the partial meltdown of a single reactor at the Pennsylvania plant.
"In terms of severity, this accident left Three Mile Island in the rear-view mirror several days ago," he said.
Tokyo Electric has more than doubled the radiation threshold for those on-site trying to avert a further crisis.
The company said those at the Fukushima Daiichi plant can now be exposed to 250 millisieverts of radiation before they must leave the area, up from its previous standard of 100 millisieverts.
People are naturally exposed to about 3 millisieverts of radiation a year. The International Commission on Radiological Protection recommends no more than 50 millisieverts exposure in a given year for nuclear rescue and recovery workers. It offers no restriction in a crisis when "the benefit to others clearly outweighs the rescuer's risk."
A Tokyo Electric official said Saturday afternoon that the new standard applies to the several hundred people -- power company employees as well as soldiers, firefighters and others -- now on the site.
CNN's Yoko Wakatsuki, Stan Grant and Steven Jiang contributed to this report.
By the CNN Wire Staff
Tokyo (CNN) -- The Japanese government said Saturday that abnormally high levels of radiation were detected in spinach and milk that came from farms near a tsunami-affected nuclear plant as emergency workers moved closer to restoring cooling systems in the reactors.
Crews connected electric cables needed to power up cooling systems in the six stricken reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, inoperable since last Friday's monster earthquake and tsunami.
Authorities also reported progress when an unmanned contraption began spraying seawater continuously Saturday to cool down the Number 3 reactor's overheating spent nuclear fuel pool.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said levels of radiation found in some but not all samples of spinach and milk from the Fukushima and Ibaraki prefectures exceeded the limits stipulated by Japan's food safety law.
Edano, however, insisted they weren't extremely high.
If a person consumed these products continuously for a year, he said, he or she would take in the same amount of radiation as a single CT scan. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration equates that to roughly 7 millisieverts, over double what a person in an industrialized country naturally gets in a year.
Authorities are mulling regulating movement of agricultural products from within the vicinity of the Fukushima plant, some 240 kilometers (150 miles) north of Tokyo, as well as getting more data for analysis under Japan's health ministry's watch, Edano said.
The news about food contamination came as emergency workers scrambled Saturday to set up electricity to power cooling systems for the reactors.
Tokyo Electric and Power Company officials told CNN that the connection of electric cabling has been completed, but the company still has to conduct safety and stability checks on the circuit before throwing the switch.
The company said workers hope to fully restore a stable power supply by day's end to the plant's Numbers 1, 2, 5 and 6 reactors. The plan is to get power up and running Sunday for the Numbers 3 and 4 reactors.
The cooling systems are essential to keep temperatures low, curb the further emission of radioactive material and, in a worst case scenario, prevent a full nuclear meltdown. A meltdown could occurs when nuclear fuel rods get so hot that they melt the steel and concrete structure containing them, spilling out into the air and water with potentially deadly results.
Meanwhile, authorities set up a new system to spray seawater continuously on the Number 3 reactor's overheating spent nuclear fuel pool.
A Tokyo fire department official said an unmanned contraption began operating around 2 p.m. Saturday and can spray water for up to seven hours at a time. In previous missions, firefighters, soldiers and plant owner Tokyo Electric Power Company workers had manually done the same in brief intervals to avoid prolonged radiation exposure.
The water, pumped from a nearby port and then funneled to the system, is being directed at the Number 3 reactor's spent fuel pool in order to cool it and prevent the emission of more radioactive material into the atmosphere.
"We believe the situation has been stabilized, though much remains to be seen," said Edano, adding that authorities are also looking into spraying the Number 4 reactor and its spent fuel pool as well.
Also Saturday, a Tokyo Electric official said three holes apiece have been drilled in the ceilings of the Numbers 5 and 6 units in order to alleviate pressure. A hydrogen gas buildup had previously contributed to explosions at the Numbers 1, 2 and 3 reactors.
A water pump, powered by a second diesel generator, began circulating water in the Number 6 units spent fuel pool shortly after 5 a.m. Saturday, according to a news release from Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan's office.
Graham Andrew, a special assistant to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) director, noted Friday that efforts to use seawater to cool overheated spent nuclear fuel pools -- both by pumping in seawater, as well as in the case of Unit 3 in which water has come from the ground -- in and around the Numbers 1, 2 and 3 reactors appear to be working.
While each of those reactors have damage to their fuel cores, Andrew said they appear to be relatively stable for now.
Beyond Saturday's food safety announcement, there have been few indications of any immediate fallout from the nuclear crisis.
Airborne radiation levels around Japan have shown no signs of spiking drastically, according to measurements posted online Saturday by the nation's education and science ministry.
Most readings showed detectable but relatively small amounts of radiation. Even the two top readings in Mito (in Ibaraki prefecture) and Utsonomiya (in Toshigi prefecture) are well below what's considered dangerous to humans and had fallen in recent days.
Still, no one has said that authorities are in the clear. In fact, authorities acknowledged Friday that the situation is far more serious than they'd originally estimated.
"We sincerely apologize ... for causing such a great concern and nuisance," said a statement from Masataka Shimizu, the president of Tokyo Electric.
And the company's managing director, Akio Komori, broke down in a tears after leaving a news conference in Fukushima at which exposure levels were discussed.
This came shortly after Japan's nuclear and industrial safety agency raised its rating for the crisis' severity (specifically, at the Numbers 2 and 3 reactors) from a Level 4 to a Level 5 -- putting it on par with the 1979 accident at Pennsylvania's Three Mile Island plant, the worst nuclear accident in U.S. history.
According to the International Nuclear Events Scale, a level 5 indicates the likelihood of a release of radioactive material, several deaths from radiation and severe damage to a reactor core. Each step on the scale indicates an increase of 10 times the severity of the step below it, the International Atomic Energy Agency says.
The Chernobyl nuclear accident in the former Soviet Union rated a 7, the highest level on the scale, while Japan's other nuclear crisis -- a 1999 accident at Tokaimura in which workers died after being exposed to radiation -- rated a 4.
But the rating change was not due to new problems at the plant, said Hidehiko Nishiyama, deputy head of the nuclear safety agency.
Rather, it came after Japanese authorities got a better assessment of what had happened, partly based on images showing damage to fuel rods and other structures inside certain reactor buildings.
IAEA Director General Yukiya Amano cautioned against reading too much into the raised assessment, saying it is too early to make a full assessment.
Yet Peter Bradford, a member of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission when the Three Mile Island incident occurred, said the Fukushima Daiichi crisis is worse than the partial meltdown of a single reactor at the Pennsylvania plant.
"In terms of severity, this accident left Three Mile Island in the rear-view mirror several days ago," he said.
Tokyo Electric has more than doubled the radiation threshold for those on-site trying to avert a further crisis.
The company said those at the Fukushima Daiichi plant can now be exposed to 250 millisieverts of radiation before they must leave the area, up from its previous standard of 100 millisieverts.
People are naturally exposed to about 3 millisieverts of radiation a year. The International Commission on Radiological Protection recommends no more than 50 millisieverts exposure in a given year for nuclear rescue and recovery workers. It offers no restriction in a crisis when "the benefit to others clearly outweighs the rescuer's risk."
A Tokyo Electric official said Saturday afternoon that the new standard applies to the several hundred people -- power company employees as well as soldiers, firefighters and others -- now on the site.
CNN's Yoko Wakatsuki, Stan Grant and Steven Jiang contributed to this report.
Egypt considers constitutional amendments
By Reza Sayah, CNN
Cairo, Egypt (CNN) -- Egyptians proudly streamed to the polls Saturday to vote on proposed constitutional amendments, the first democratic initiative after the fall of Hosni Mubarak's regime.
An estimated 45 million Egyptians are eligible to vote in what is widely viewed as the country's first free election in decades, and the poll would set the stage for parliamentary and presidential elections later this year.
"I am very very happy," said Mohamed El Hourushy, a 19-year-old political science student. "This is something I've been fighting for all my life. I didn't think I would live to see this scene."
The proposed amendments include limiting the president to two four-year terms, capping emergency laws to six months unless they are extended by public referendum, and placing elections under judicial oversight.
Opponents say the proposed amendments were rushed and fall short of the people's demands. Many demand a new constitution and claim an early referendum gives an unfair edge to the Muslim Brotherhood and remnants of Mubarak's National Democratic Party -- well entrenched and politically savvy groups that are much better prepared to mobilize voters than newer factions still scrambling to get organized.
But presidential candidate and head of the Arab League, Amr Moussa, who is urging a "no" vote, lauded the referendum as "the first official step towards the democracy called for in the January 25 movements."
" 'Yes' or 'no' is not the issue -- that Egyptians are participating and voting today is what's important," he said.
The polls opened at 8 a.m. at more than 13,000 polling stations across the country, and many arrived early to polling stations to beat the crowds.
Outside the polling station at Kasr el Eini el Doubara -- a Cairo language school -- around 50 people lined up just before voting started. Many Egyptians, even senior citizens, said this was their first time voting.
"It feels good," said 80-year-old Nadia Risk. "It feels like, although I'm a senior citizen, I might be able to contribute to something that will be very democratic."
"I feel my vote will make a difference for the first time in my life," said 58-year-old Ibrahim Fahmy.
"I was born in 1952 during the first revolution and ever since I did not feel this country belongs to me. This is the first time I feel my vote will make a difference."
Voters filed in to a room where they picked up their ballots and went behind a blue curtain to mark their vote. A check inside the green circle was a "yes" vote. The black circle was a "no" vote.
Election officials marked voters' fingers with pink ink to keep them from voting more than once.
At about 8:30 a.m., Moussa, who called on Egyptians to vote against the amendments, arrived to cast his vote. A throng of reporters and cameramen surrounded him as he made his way to the ballot box.
"I honestly passed by many polling stations and they were all filled with people awaiting to make their decision. It is our duty to accept whatever they decide," Moussa said.
"It's very strange to have a referendum organized and implemented in one month," said Karim Elias, a 33-year-old software engineer who said he voted "no." "I want a new constitution. I want something that represents the Egyptian people."
Judge Mahmoud Atiya -- the head of the judicial committee overseeing the referendum -- told CNN the next step in the transition to a civilian government depends on the outcome of Saturday's referendum.
If the measures are voted down, the military will go back to the drawing board, Atiya said, and eventually issue another order, in accordance with the constitution, on what will come next in the transition to a civilian government.
It's not clear exactly what the army's instructions will be in case of a "no" vote or whether they'll extend their self-imposed six-month deadline to transfer power to an elected civilian government.
If the measures are approved, the military will move forward with parliamentary elections in June, Atiya said.
Analysts say it's hard to predict the outcome of the vote.
The ruling Egyptian Armed Forces announced this week that thousands of international monitors will be in place at polling stations across the country to ensure transparency in the voting process. More than 30,000 soldiers and security agents are also manning polling stations, security officials said.
Journalists Dina Amer and Mohamed Fadel Fahmy contributed to this report
By Reza Sayah, CNN
Cairo, Egypt (CNN) -- Egyptians proudly streamed to the polls Saturday to vote on proposed constitutional amendments, the first democratic initiative after the fall of Hosni Mubarak's regime.
An estimated 45 million Egyptians are eligible to vote in what is widely viewed as the country's first free election in decades, and the poll would set the stage for parliamentary and presidential elections later this year.
"I am very very happy," said Mohamed El Hourushy, a 19-year-old political science student. "This is something I've been fighting for all my life. I didn't think I would live to see this scene."
The proposed amendments include limiting the president to two four-year terms, capping emergency laws to six months unless they are extended by public referendum, and placing elections under judicial oversight.
Opponents say the proposed amendments were rushed and fall short of the people's demands. Many demand a new constitution and claim an early referendum gives an unfair edge to the Muslim Brotherhood and remnants of Mubarak's National Democratic Party -- well entrenched and politically savvy groups that are much better prepared to mobilize voters than newer factions still scrambling to get organized.
But presidential candidate and head of the Arab League, Amr Moussa, who is urging a "no" vote, lauded the referendum as "the first official step towards the democracy called for in the January 25 movements."
" 'Yes' or 'no' is not the issue -- that Egyptians are participating and voting today is what's important," he said.
The polls opened at 8 a.m. at more than 13,000 polling stations across the country, and many arrived early to polling stations to beat the crowds.
Outside the polling station at Kasr el Eini el Doubara -- a Cairo language school -- around 50 people lined up just before voting started. Many Egyptians, even senior citizens, said this was their first time voting.
"It feels good," said 80-year-old Nadia Risk. "It feels like, although I'm a senior citizen, I might be able to contribute to something that will be very democratic."
"I feel my vote will make a difference for the first time in my life," said 58-year-old Ibrahim Fahmy.
"I was born in 1952 during the first revolution and ever since I did not feel this country belongs to me. This is the first time I feel my vote will make a difference."
Voters filed in to a room where they picked up their ballots and went behind a blue curtain to mark their vote. A check inside the green circle was a "yes" vote. The black circle was a "no" vote.
Election officials marked voters' fingers with pink ink to keep them from voting more than once.
At about 8:30 a.m., Moussa, who called on Egyptians to vote against the amendments, arrived to cast his vote. A throng of reporters and cameramen surrounded him as he made his way to the ballot box.
"I honestly passed by many polling stations and they were all filled with people awaiting to make their decision. It is our duty to accept whatever they decide," Moussa said.
"It's very strange to have a referendum organized and implemented in one month," said Karim Elias, a 33-year-old software engineer who said he voted "no." "I want a new constitution. I want something that represents the Egyptian people."
Judge Mahmoud Atiya -- the head of the judicial committee overseeing the referendum -- told CNN the next step in the transition to a civilian government depends on the outcome of Saturday's referendum.
If the measures are voted down, the military will go back to the drawing board, Atiya said, and eventually issue another order, in accordance with the constitution, on what will come next in the transition to a civilian government.
It's not clear exactly what the army's instructions will be in case of a "no" vote or whether they'll extend their self-imposed six-month deadline to transfer power to an elected civilian government.
If the measures are approved, the military will move forward with parliamentary elections in June, Atiya said.
Analysts say it's hard to predict the outcome of the vote.
The ruling Egyptian Armed Forces announced this week that thousands of international monitors will be in place at polling stations across the country to ensure transparency in the voting process. More than 30,000 soldiers and security agents are also manning polling stations, security officials said.
Journalists Dina Amer and Mohamed Fadel Fahmy contributed to this report
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