Diplomatic Briefing
Your exclusive news aggregator handpicked daily!Archive for March 28, 2011
Newsline: Greek protesters occupy Chile consulate in support of hunger strikers
A group of Greek protesters have briefly occupied the Chilean consulate in central Athens in support of jailed hunger strikers in the South American country. Police say the occupation on Monday lasted for an hour and ended peacefully with no arrests being made. The protest was held in support of 14 hunger strikers in Chile, most of whom have been refusing food for more than a month. The suspects are in pre-trial detention in connection with arson attacks and small bombings carried out by anarchist groups and groups representing demands by Mapuche Indians for improved indigenous rights. In November, the Chilean embassy in Athens was targeted in a spate of mail bombings claimed by an armed anarchist group. Police destroyed the device by controlled explosion.
US embassy cables: Nuclear plant not prepared for accident
Leaked diplomatic cables published in a Romanian newspaper show U.S. officials believed the Romanian government would struggle to cope with an accident at a nuclear plant. The government could not handle a radioactive leak at the Cernavoda plant in eastern Romania despite official assurances that safety measures were adequate, according to the cable dated Jan. 28, 2009, and published Monday in the Jurnalul National daily. U.S. embassy officials say in the cable there are only seven members of a team that trains only once a month to handle emergencies — too few to take care of a leak. The newpaper is a media partner of the Romanian Center for Investigative Journalism. The centre has signed an agreement with the secret-spilling site, WikiLeaks, to release 1,027 U.S. cables about Romania.
Newsline: Azerbaijani embassy in Libya steps up security
Sources in the Azerbaijani embassy in Libya have said that there is no specific threat to the embassy. The sources said that security had been strengthened in all embassies in Libyan, including the Azerbaijani embassy. Asked whether the embassy was in touch with representatives of the Libyan opposition, the sources said they were watching the situation. “Our embassy acts in line with the interests of Azerbaijan,” the sources said.
Newsline Iodide tablets sent to Australian Embassy in Tokyo
The Australian Government has sent potassium iodide tablets to the Embassy in Tokyo. The Department of Health and Ageing (DOHA) and Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency (ARPANSA) has issued the following advice on exposure to radiation arising from nuclear incidents in Japan, based on available information and current assessments: Advice for Australians remaining in Japan on food and water precautions, the availability and use of potassium iodide tablets and on appropriate sheltering from radiation if required have been provided today by Australia’s Chief Medical Officer and the Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency (ARPANSA). As a result of new assessments of the situation in Japan, ARPANSA and the Department of Health and Ageing recommended, as a precautionary measure, that Australians within an 80 km zone from the Fukushima nuclear power plant move out of the area. The US had made a similar recommendation in accordance with the standard guidelines of their Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Their guidelines would require a zone of 80 km (50 miles) around the Fukushima nuclear power plant. Australians returning home from Japan are highly unlikely to be contaminated or exposed to significant radiation and will not require checks for radioactivity. However, if people wish to seek medical advice they should contact their local GP.ARPANSA and the Chief Medical Officer advise that iodine tablets are only required when exposed to substantial radiation doses from radioactive iodine. There is no current need for those returning from Japan or those in Japan outside the Exclusion Zone to consider the use of potassium iodide tablets at this time.
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