A second massive search by 22,000 U.S. military, and Japanese military and police, has turned up 103 bodies.
There are still more than 14,000 people missing. That number will be higher, because several cities have not reported missing people because they have lost most, or all, documentation on their residents.
NATO admits they shot down a Libyan rebel MiG 23. This is causing more problems between rebels and NATO. NATO has bombed rebel ground troops several times now.
NATO says the downing of the rebel aircraft shows that they are enforcing the UN “no-fly zone”. NATO says the no-fly zone applies to any Libyan aircraft.
The reason for NATO suddenly attacking a rebel aircraft, could be that the Libyan government has complained that rebel helicopters are being allowed to fly, despite the UN resolution stating that ALL military aircraft would be shot down by the coalition.
“We have completed our mission with the brother leader, and the brother leader’s delegation has accepted the road map as presented by us.”-South African President Jacob Zuma
African Union officials say Moammar Gadhafi accepted their “road map” for a cease-fire with rebels, and will meet with rebel leaders on Monday, April 11.
South African President Zuma also asked NATO to stop their airstrikes, to honor the ceasefire. Details will not be released until after the Libyan government, and Libyan rebels meet.
Most member countries of the African Union opposed UNSCR 1973, and are upset that Western leaders did not consult with them about attacking one of their African Union members (Libya).
The Japan Tourism Agency released its 2010 survey about who spends the most vacation money in Japan. Guess what, tourists from the United States didn’t even make the top three (probably a sign of how bad our economy is).
The survey looked at foreign spenders as groups, and as individuals.
In the group category China came in first, followed by South Korea, then Taiwan.
In the individual category the French came in first, then the Russians. The Chinese and Indians tied for third.
In the case of the Chinese, 49% go to Japan just to shop.
What’s the most purchased item, by tourists? Japanese confectioneries.
Prime Minister Naoto Kan has told quake-hit Miyagi Prefecture that 70,000 temporary houses will be built ASAP.
The Prime Minister met with Miyagi officials on 10 April 2011. They expressed their concerns for how they were going to rebuild after the 11 March disasters. Kan said he’s putting together a panel to address that, and that the temporary housing was just the beginning.
“The Russians have taken the existence of tectonic plates into consideration in designing the Bushehr nuclear plant.”-Nasser Rastkhah, Atomic Energy Organization of Iran
Recently Russia helped Iran with loading of nuclear fuel rods into their plant. The Bushehr nuke plant is scheduled to power up by May. ‘Sensitive phases of operation’ would be conducted between May 5 through May 10.
Some Chinese farmers have decided to stop fighting Mother Earth’s climate change, and have rented out their farm land to movie studios.
In one area, the farmers gave up farming and now use their land as huge film studios. The former farmers also double as movie extras. They have made enough money to replace their old farm homes with big modern homes.
It’s not only crops that are suffering in China, because of drought. Bee keepers say they’re losing their bees as well.
Honey production is down due to a decrease in flower pollen production, thanks to climate change. Bee keepers say it will also mean a decrease in bees, because pollen is their food.
China has the largest rapeseed field in the world. Rapeseed is used to make canola oil. Farmers there say drought keeps seed production too low for use in canola oil production. It also keeps rapeseed flower growth too low for the bees.
More than 14,000 people are still missing, even after a massive three day search by military and police forces. Local governments are begging for another large scale search.
The search will be conducted on April 10. It will involve 22,000 personnel, 50 vessels and 90 aircraft. It will not cover the radiation danger zones.
In Aneyoshi there is a one hundred year old stone tablet that gives a dire warning: “High dwellings are the peace and harmony of our descendants. Remember the calamity of the great tsunamis. Do not build any homes below this point.”
The families living in Aneyoshi are glad they headed their ancestors advice. But thousands of others suffered the wrath of the tsunami. There are hundreds of these stone tablets all along the coastal areas of Japan. Some are 600 years old.
Many tablets are not as specific as the one at Aneyoshi. Some simply say beware of tsunami, or were blank. Some of those stone tablets have been washed away by the March 11 tsunami, which is an indicator of that it was probably the mother of all tsunamis to hit Japan for the past thousand years.