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International News Title: Japan's nuclear crisis deepens as death toll hits 10,000 JAPAN'S crippled Fukushima plant now rates six on a seven-point international scale of gravity for nuclear accidents. "The incident has taken on a completely different dimension compared to Monday. It is clear that we are at level six," Andre-Claude Lacoste, head of France's Nuclear Safety Authority, said last night. "The order of gravity has changed." The 1986 Chernobyl disaster in the Ukraine registered as a maximum seven on the international scale. The 1979 Three Mile Island disaster in Pennsylvania, US, registered as five. Japan's nuclear watchdog previously rated the situation at Fukushima as four. The official toll of the dead and missing following the 9.0 magnitude earthquake and tsunami that flattened Japan's northeast coast on Friday has reached 10,000, with 3373 confirmed dead, police said. The total number of people unaccounted for in the wake of the twin disasters stood at 6746, the national police agency said in its latest update - more than double the estimate it offered earlier in the day. The number of injured stood at 1897. Japanese officials have warned of dangerously high levels of radiation leaking from the Fukushima plant, located 250km northeast of Tokyo, after an explosion and fire hit two further reactors yesterday. An early morning blast at the number-two reactor at the ageing plant was followed by a fire at the number-four reactor. The fire has been extinguished. Chief government spokesman Yukio Edano said the cooling systems at two other reactors - number-five and number-six - were not working properly. Explosions have already hit the plant's number-one and number-three reactors. The Government said radiation levels near the plant were harmful to human health after fire broke out at the number-four reactor. "There is no doubt that unlike in the past, the figures are the level at which human health can be affected," Mr Edano said yesterday. The Japanese Government last night said radiation levels near the Fukishima plant had fallen, but did not release a reading. Mr Edano said the earlier high reading could have been caused by rubble from Monday's explosion at one reactor rather than from any continuing leak. Radiation levels in the Chiba prefecture neighboring Tokyo are now more than 10 times above normal levels, Kyodo News reported. Earlier, Kyodo reported that radiation levels in Chiba were just four times the normal level. Tens of thousands of people have been evacuated from a zone within a radius of 20km from the Fukushima plant. Prime Minister Naoto Kan urged people living within 10km of the exclusion zone around the plant to stay indoors. "I would like to ask the nation - although this is an incident of great concern - I request that you act very calmly," he said yesterday. The level of radiation in Tokyo has fallen after rising above normal levels in the morning due to radiation from the Fukushima plant, metropolitan officials said. "We monitored a higher than normal amount of radiation in the morning in Tokyo. But we don't consider it to be at a level where the human body is affected," said Sairi Koga, an official of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government. WInds were blowing radioactive material towards the ocean, but there are "no implications" for Japan or nearby countries, the UN weather agency said. "All the meteorological conditions are offshore, there are no implications inshore for Japan or other countries near Japan," Maryam Golnaraghi, who heads the weather agency's disaster risk reduction program, said. A World Meteorological Organisation spokeswoman warned however that the conditions "will fluctuate as the weather systems progress." "We can't say over the next two to three days what is going to happen," she said. Panic selling hit the US and European markets overnight amid fears that a nuclear meltdown in Japan could threaten the global economy. The Australian share market tumbled to a six-month low yesterday. Investors wiped $30 billion from the value of Australia's biggest companies after Japan's Nikkei index plunged 10.5 per cent. Millions of people are enduring their fifth night without water, food or heating in near-freezing temperatures along the devastated northeastern coast. "There are very few people out in the streets," said Mako Sato, a cafe waitress in the town of Miharumachi just outside the evacuation zone. "They are either staying at home or in the evacuation centres. "Since conditions surrounding the nuclear plant are so uncertain, I am worried. Food supplies are low and all that customers talk about is the quake and how scary it is, because we still feel aftershocks." Fears are held for the safety of 143 Australians registered as having been in the disaster-affected areas when the quake and tsunami hit. Overall, the Department of Foreign Affairs has located 2891 Australians across Japan - including 119 in stricken areas. There are now 3414 Australians registered generally as being in Japan. There are no reports of Australian casualties. If you cannot contact family and friends in the region, ring the Department of Foreign Affairs on 1300 555 135.
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#1. To: The Blue Cat (#0)
This is what you libTURD filth do isn't it purple pussy? The headline infers that there are 10,000 deaths BECAUSE of some "nuclear" event doesn't it purple pussy? Why don't you show us proof that even one person has DIED from the effects of ANY "nuclear" event purple pussy? Oh yeah, because you cannot. You are doing what you libTURDS ALWAYS do, aren't you purple pussy, LYING TRYING to cause as much PANIC as possible without a F ing sintilla of actual TRUTH to back it up. Stick it where the sun don't shine purple pussy. Chicken Little call home.
Living in mouth breather's empty noggins 24/7/365 totally rent free!
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