More radioactive water spills at Japan nuke plant

Reuters/Tokyo Electric Power Co./Kyodo

People work in the control room of reactor No. 2 with restored lighting at the earthquake and tsunami affected Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Fukushima in this March 26, 2011 photo. More photos »

AP – A resident of Oshima island of pushes a wheel barrow past the destroyed port as he tries to salvage belongings …

By SHINO YUASA, Associated Press Shino Yuasa, Associated Press – 10 mins ago

TOKYO – Workers discovered new pools of radioactive water leaking from Japan's crippled nuclear complex, officials said Monday, as emergency crews struggled to pump out hundreds of tons of contaminated water and bring the plant back under control.

Officials believe the contaminated water has sent radioactivity levels soaring at the coastal complex and caused more radiation to seep into soil and seawater. Crews also found traces of plutonium in the soil outside of the complex on Monday, but officials insisted there was no threat to public health.

Plutonium — a key ingredient in nuclear weapons — is present in the fuel at the complex, which has been leaking radiation for over two weeks, so experts had expected some to be found once crews began searching for evidence of it this week.

Tokyo Electric Power Co. official Jun Tsuruoka said only two of the plutonium samples taken Monday were from the leaking reactors. The other three were from earlier nuclear tests. Years of weapons testing in the atmosphere left trace amounts of plutonium in many places around the world.

The Fukushima Dai-ichi power plant, 140 miles (220 kilometers) northeast of Tokyo, was crippled March 11 when a tsunami spawned by a powerful earthquake slammed into Japan's northeastern coast. The huge wave engulfed much of the complex, and destroyed the crucial power systems needed to cool the complex's nuclear fuel rods.

Since then, three of the complex's six units are believed to have partially melted down, and emergency crews have struggled with everything from malfunctioning pumps to dangerous spikes in radiation that have forced temporary evacuations.

Confusion at the plant has intensified fears that the nuclear crisis will last weeks, months or years amid alarms over radiation making its way into produce, raw milk and even tap water as far away as Tokyo.

The troubles at the Fukushima complex have eclipsed Pennsylvania's 1979 crisis at Three Mile Island, when a partial meltdown raised fears of widespread radiation release, but is still well short of the 1986 Chernobyl disaster, which killed at least 31 people with radiation sickness, raised long-term cancer rates, and spewed radiation across much of the northern hemisphere.

While parts of the Japanese plant has been reconnected to the power grid, the contaminated water — which has now been found in numerous places around the complex, including the basements of several buildings — must be pumped out before electricity can be restored to the cooling system.

Click image to see photos of quake, tsunami damage

AFP/GREENPEACE/Christian Aslund

That has left officials struggling with two sometimes-contradictory efforts: pumping in water to keep the fuel rods cool and pumping out — and then safely storing — contaminated water.

Hidehiko Nishiyama, a spokesman for Japan's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency, called that balance "very delicate work."

He also said workers were still looking for safe ways to store the radioactive water.

"We are exploring all means," he said.

The buildup of radioactive water first became a problem last week, when it splashed over the boots of two workers, burning them and prompting a temporary suspension of work.

Then on Monday, officials with Tokyo Electric Power Co., which owns and runs the complex, said that workers had found more radioactive water in deep trenches used for pipes and electrical wiring outside three units.

The contaminated water has been emitting radiation exposures more than four times the amount that the government considers safe for workers.

The five workers in the area at the time were not hurt, said TEPCO spokesman Takashi Kurita.

Exactly where the water is coming from remains unclear, though many suspect it is cooling water that has leaked from one of the disabled reactors.

It could take weeks to pump out the radioactive water, said Gary Was, a nuclear engineering professor at the University of Michigan.

"Battling the contamination so workers can work there is going to be an ongoing problem," he said.

Meanwhile, new readings showed ocean contamination had spread about a mile (1.6 kilometers) farther north of the nuclear site than before but is still within the 12-mile (20-kilometer) radius of the evacuation zone. Radioactive iodine-131 was discovered offshore at a level 1,150 times higher than normal, Nishiyama, a spokesman for the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency, told reporters.

Amid reports that people had been sneaking back into the mandatory evacuation zone around the nuclear complex, the chief government spokesman again urged residents to stay out. Yukio Edano said contaminants posed a "big" health risk in that area.

Gregory Jaczko, head of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, arrived in Tokyo on Monday to meet with Japanese officials and discuss the situation, the U.S. Embassy said in a statement.

"The unprecedented challenge before us remains serious, and our best experts remain fully engaged to help Japan," Jaczko was quoted as saying.

Early Monday, a strong earthquake shook the northeastern coast and prompted a brief tsunami alert. The quake was measured at magnitude 6.5, the Japan Meteorological Agency said. No damage or injuries were reported.

Scores of earthquakes have rattled the country over the past two weeks, adding to the sense of unease across Japan, where the final death toll is expected to top 18,000 people, with hundreds of thousands still homeless.

TEPCO officials said Sunday that radiation in leaking water in Unit 2 was 10 million times above normal — a report that sent employees fleeing. But the day ended with officials saying that figure had been miscalculated and the level was actually 100,000 times above normal, still very high but far better than the earlier results.

"This sort of mistake is not something that can be forgiven," Edano said sternly Monday.

Slideshow:Japan's Fukushima Nuclear Plant

Play Video Video:Japan's pet survivors face post-tsunami struggle AFP

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Associated Press writers Tomoko A. Hosaka, Mayumi Saito, Mari Yamaguchi and Jeff Donn contributed to this report.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110328/ap_on_bi_ge/as_japan_earthquake

World English Dictionary

plutonium (pluːˈtəʊnɪəm)
— n
	a highly toxic metallic transuranic element. It occurs in trace amounts in uranium ores and is produced in a nuclear reactor by neutron bombardment of uranium-238. The most stable and important isotope, plutonium-239 , readily undergoes fission and is used as a reactor fuel in nuclear power stations and in nuclear weapons. Symbol: Pu; atomic no: 94; half-life of 239 Pu: 24 360 years; valency: 3, 4, 5, or 6; relative density (alpha modification): 19.84; melting pt: 640°C; boiling pt: 3230°C
[C20: named after the dwarf planet Pluto because Pluto lies beyond Neptune and plutonium was discovered soon after neptunium ] http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/+plutonium+

Nuclear industry touts safety of new reactors

AP – In this March 23, 2011 photo, contractors at work in the reactor building at the construction site of …

By MATTI HUUHTANEN, Associated Press Matti Huuhtanen, Associated Press – 2 hrs 59 mins ago

OLKILUOTO, Finland – Halfway around the globe from Japan's atomic emergency, engineers building a cutting-edge nuclear reactor along Finland's icy shores insist the same crisis could never happen here.

And that's not only because Finland is seismically stable.

The 1,600-megawatt European Pressurized Reactor projected to come online in 2013 in Olkiluoto, 195 miles (315 kilometers) northwest of Helsinki, is the first of its kind expected to begin operating after the Japanese disaster.

It has walls thick enough to withstand an airplane crash, components designed to tolerate the extreme cold of the Nordic winter, and decades worth of new safety systems.

"(We have) so many backup systems that the kind of accident like in Japan could not happen," said project manager Jouni Silvennoinen.

With the renaissance of nuclear power at stake, the atomic industry faces the challenge of persuading an increasingly skeptical public that new reactors like the EPR units being built by French company Areva in Finland, France and China are not just safer than the old ones but are virtually disaster-proof.

The state-controlled company has marketed its expensive new-generation reactor technology to the United States and developing countries from India to Saudi Arabia and Brazil. Since news of Japan's catastrophe, Areva's shares have fallen 12.4 percent, trading at euro31.49 midday Friday.

Areva CEO Anne Lauvergeon has said an EPR plant would have survived the earthquake and tsunami without radiation leaks. And French Energy Minister Eric Besson, whose country gets up to 80 percent of its electricity from nuclear power, insisted last week it was his "profound conviction that nuclear energy will stay in Europe and the world and be one of the core energies in the 21st century."

But that's a tough message to sell, with explosions and radiation leaks at the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant in Japan eroding confidence in nuclear power. That confidence took decades to rebuild following the Soviet Chernobyl disaster in 1986 and the 1979 Three Mile Island accident in Pennsylvania.

Shocked by the Japanese crisis, the European Union has called for "stress tests" for its 143 reactors. Germany — the EU's biggest economy — has temporarily suspended plans to prolong the life of its aging nuclear plants and had already planned to abandon nuclear power altogether over the next 25 years. President Barack Obama, while expressing support for nuclear power, requested a comprehensive review of the safety of U.S. plants.

Even China, which plans a massive expansion of nuclear energy, has said it will hold off on approving new nuclear plants to allow for a revision in safety standards.

Suggesting that third-generation reactors like the EPR would have withstood the shock that crippled the Japanese plant is "sheer arrogance," said Mycle Schneider, an independent researcher on France's nuclear industry.

"There's no way we can say today that any plant in the world would have survived what happened in Japan," he said.

At the Fukushima plant, which began operating in 1971, the massive earthquake and tsunami damaged the critical cooling system, which overheated and began spewing radiation into the environment. For the first time, nuclear engineers were forced to head off a total reactor meltdown at three reactors simultaneously as well as dealing with overheating fuel rods in a damaged storage pool at a fourth reactor.

So how could a modern reactor have avoided those problems?

The principle of power generation is the same as in older water reactors like the ones at Fukushima: nuclear reaction heats water to create steam that turns turbines to generate electricity. But technological advances have improved efficiency and stricter safety precautions have made the third-generation reactors more secure, industry officials say.

New EPR plants have backup systems like diesel generators that are housed in separate buildings to protect them from any accident that might occur in the main reactor building. The plant must also have access to other sources of electricity, like gas turbines or the national grid, if the diesel generators fail to work.

At Olkiluoto, four large diesel generators act as a backup if the first step of connecting to the national grid proves unsuccessful. If they don't work, two smaller diesel generators kick in, and failing that, the new reactor can be connected to the joint backup systems of two older reactors at Olkiluoto.

There are also new "protective barriers" shielding the environment from radioactive products used in the reactor. These include encasing the fuel rods in thick metal containers and having a double concrete cover and walls over the containment vessel that houses the reactor.

Besides natural disasters, modern reactors worldwide must be able to withstand terror strikes and — since 9/11 — even a large airliner crash, Silvennoinen said.

Situated just 200 yards (meters) from the frozen Baltic Sea, the Olkiluoto nuclear plant is elevated so that it can withstand storm surges of up to 11 feet (3.5 meters), which is considered a worst-case scenario.

During a recent visit, dozens of workers in yellow vests clambered up and down stairs of the concrete buildings bordering the cylinder-shaped reactor as construction cranes swerved over its domed roof.

Since Olkiluoto is the first EPR scheduled to become operational, it has been seen as a flagship for the latest generation of nuclear reactors. But the project has been plagued by faulty materials and planning problems since construction began in 2005, and it's now running four years behind schedule.

The nearby town of Eurajoki, population 6,000, in the middle of Finland's sparsely populated countryside, has welcomed the project. It has created 4,000 jobs, even though 70 percent of them went to foreign workers.

Teijo Jantunen, who lives near the town, 10 miles (16 kilometers) from Olkiluoto, conceded that the problems at Fukushima had made him think about the possibility of a nuclear accident.

"But I'm not really very worried. I'm confident it will be a good plant," said Jantunen, a 57-year-old construction manager. "I trust them despite everything."

Leo Mantymaki, who lives 6 miles (10 kilometers) away, doesn't quite know what to believe.

"They tell us that a Japan-like accident couldn't happen here, but I'm not so sure," the retired welder said, sitting on a tractor as he took a break from clearing snow. "What if they press the wrong button?"

Jukka Laaksonen, director of Finland's Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority, stressed that safety features must be designed according to local conditions, and said a major flaw at Fukushima was that its seawall was too low.

"EPR has much better safety systems than old similar plants but having a good plant is not enough," Laaksonen said. "You also have to pay attention to the site conditions. If the EPR is not properly protected against a tsunami ... then you never know what will happen."

_______

Associated Press writer Angela Charlton in Paris contributed to this report.

(This version CORRECTS Corrects to remove high-pressure in paragraph 16)

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110328/ap_on_bi_ge/eu_nuclear_the_next_generation

Scramble as radiation spreads to ocean, soil

Officials: plutonium found at Japan's nuke complex

AP – A resident of Oshima island of pushes a wheel barrow past the destroyed port as he tries to salvage belongings …

– 10 mins ago

TOKYO – Power company officials say plutonium has been detected in the soil outside of the stricken Japanese nuclear complex.

Tokyo Electric Power Co. says in a statement that the plutonium was discovered Monday in five locations around the plant, which has been leaking radiation for nearly two weeks.

TEPCO official Jun Tsuruoka says the amounts were very small and were not a risk to public health.

Experts had expected traces of plutonium to be detected once crews began searching for it this week, since it is present in the nuclear fuel in the troubled complex.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

TOKYO (AP) — Power company officials say plutonium has been detected in the soil outside of the stricken Japanese nuclear complex.

Tokyo Electric Power Co. says in a statement that the plutonium was discovered Monday in five locations around the plant, which has been leaking radiation for nearly two weeks.

TEPCO official Jun Tsuruoka says the amounts were very small and were not a risk to public health.

Experts had expected traces of plutonium to be detected once crews began searching for it this week, since it is present in the nuclear fuel in the troubled complex.

Play Video ABC News – Japan Nuke Crisis: What Options are Left?

• Slideshow:Japan's Fukushima Nuclear Plant
• Play Video Video:Japan's pet survivors face post-tsunami struggle AFP

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110328/ap_on_bi_ge/as_japan_earthquake

Kejelitaan abadi Elizabeth Taylor

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ELIZABETH TAYLOR. Nama yang cukup popular dan berpengaruh dalam industri lakonan Hollywood. Memiliki sepasang mata berwarna ungu, raut wajah jelita dan bertahi lalat di pipi kanan antara pelengkap kehadiran Elizabeth di persada perfileman Hollywood yang masyhur.

Dia antara pelakon yang memulakan karier dalam bidang lakonan pada usia sembilan tahun. FilemThere's One Born Every Minute ialah filem pertamanya bersama syarikat pengeluar filem Universal Pictures.

Kejelitaannya sering diperkatakan apatah lagi pada usia remaja Elizabeth atau nama glamornya Liz terkenal dengan bentuk badan langsing dan ideal. Berikan apa jua busana semuanya tampak anggun membaluti tubuhnya itu.

Namun, kini nama Elizabeth Taylor hanya kenangan manis yang terus melekat dalam jiwa penggemar filem Hollywood. Tiada lagi kelibat wanita berambut ikal, kembang dan bergincu terang itu pada majlis anugerah atau program kebajikan.

Pada 23 Mac lalu, Liz yang pernah menggunakan kerusi roda telah pergi buat selamanya. Siapa sangka masalah jantung yang dihidapi selama bertahun-tahun telah meragut nyawa anak kelahiran Hampstead, England itu di Hospital Cedars-Sinai, Los Angeles, California, Amerika Syarikat (AS) biarpun selama ini dia lebih dihantui dengan kanser.

Tahap kesihatan Liz sering menjadi perhatian ramai. Selain masalah jantung, sekitar tahun 1997, Elizabeth pernah menjalani pembedahan tumor otak selain, pernah didakwa menghidap Alzheimer.

Mengikuti kelas balet

Menyoroti liku-liku kehidupan Elizabeth, dia yang dilahirkan pada 27 Februari 1932 merupakan anak kepada pasangan suami isteri Francis Lenn Taylor dan Sara Viola Warmbrodt. Bapanya memiliki perniagaan barangan seni yang pernah beroperasi di London, manakala ibu Liz pula seorang pelakon yang popular dengan nama pentas Sara Sotherm.

DUNIA pasti akan merindui Elizabeth, seorang ikon filem dan fesyen yang sarat dengan jiwa murni.

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Pernah menetap di London sehingga usia tujuh tahun, ibu bapa Liz cukup menitikberatkan soal masa depan dan sosial anak-anak. Enggan membiarkan Liz terlalu asyik bermain, pada usia tiga tahun dia dihantar ke kelas balet.

"Zaman kanak-kanak antara momen manis dalam hidup saya. Seperti kanak-kanak lain saya turut melakukan pelbagai aktiviti yang menyeronokkan," jelas Elizabeth yang juga pernah memberitahu selepas dilahirkan matanya mengambil tempoh lapan hari untuk dibuka.

Kehidupan Liz sekeluarga di London tidak kekal lama. Sewaktu Perang Dunia Kedua meletus ibu bapa Liz mengambil keputusan menetap Los Angeles.

Ternyata menetap di tempat baru sedikitpun tidak menjejaskan kehidupan Liz sekeluarga. Semuanya berjalan lancar dan mudah kerana faktor status elit mereka yang berlatarbelakangkan dunia glamor dan seni.

Menyentuh tentang status elit, pemerhati fesyen menyifatkan ia merupakan salah satu faktor yang menyebabkan Liz menyukai dunia kecantikan. Sejak memulakan karier pada usia kanak-kanak, melangkah alam remaja sehinggalah dewasa, Liz yang memiliki sepasang mata bak buah badam dan berkening tebal itu sentiasa tampil menawan dan jelita.

Tolak baju T dan jean

Tidak kira sama ada ketika bersantai, menghadiri majlis formal mahupun anugerah hiburan berprestij, Liz cukup berhati-hati dan mementingkan aspek pemakaian dan tata rias diri.

ELIZABETH tidak pernah gagal dalam bab berfesyen dari zaman remaja hingga ke usia emas.

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Hampir kesemua koleksi pakaian pilihannya menepati cita rasa dan mengikut trend semasa. Nenda kepada 10 cucu dan empat cicit itu menolak baju T dan seluar jean. Barangkali item fesyen berkenaan terlalu santai dan ringkas buatnya. Pereka fesyen Elizabeth, Emanuel pernah memberitahu Liz cukup meminati busana yang menampilkan elemen lipatan dan tindihan.

"Dia merupakan individu yang memiliki kecantikan dan aura tersendiri. Perwatakannya kelakar, bijak dan glamor. Biarpun melalui transisi imej mengikut peningkatan usia tetapi, gaya penampilannya tidak pernah mengecewakan.

"Buktinya dapat dilihat menerusi perbezaan imej Liz sewaktu remaja dalam filem National Velvet yang berambut kerinting. Sementara dalam filem Cleopatra, Liz yang pada ketika itu sudah melangkah ke alam dewasa diberi tanggungjawab melakonkan watak wanita seksi dan menggoda. Bagi saya, imej remaja atau dewasa, aura glamor Liz tetap terserlah," jelas pereka fesyen Michael Kors.

Kors turut menyatakan sehingga ke hari ini bintang pesona Liz masih belum mampu dirampas oleh mana-mana bintang baru. Elizabeth yang meninggal dunia pada usia 79 tahun itu dianggap satu dalam sejuta.

Sementara itu, Pengarah Kecantikan Allure, Amy Keller Laird menjelaskan, Liz memiliki kecantikan yang tiada tolok bandingnya biarpun pernah berumah tangga sebanyak lapan kali.

"Dia seksi dan sentiasa mengekalkan personaliti feminin yang anggun," tuturnya dalam satu temu bual.

Pengarah Fesyen majalah InStyle, Hal Rubenstein pula memberitahu, dalam kebanyakan fesyen yang pernah digayakan Liz, penampilannya pada tahun 1951 antara yang terbaik dan memukau pandangan orang ramai.

Memiliki pinggang bersaiz 48 sentimeter pada waktu itu, Liz tampil bergaya dengan dres tanpa tali di bahu berasaskan fabrik tulle. Enggan membiarkan busana rekaan Edith Head itu kelihatan kosong, Liz menghiasi bahagian leher dengan aksesori bunga. Menariknya, busana berkenaan antara pakaian popular yang digayakan wanita sewaktu menghadiri majlis tari-menari bertemakan gaya 50-an.

"Bukan itu saja, aplikasi solekan seperti pembayang mata dan celak hitam sewaktu membawa watak Cleopatra turut menjadi ikutan golongan wanita," ulas Rubenstein memuji kebijaksanaan Liz menyuntik elemen elegan pada busana kaftan yang pernah dipakainya pada era 70-an.

Pencinta aksesori

SOLEKAN pembayang mata dan celak hitam ketika Elizabeth membawa watak Cleopatra menjadi ikutan ramai.

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Selain berfesyen dan solekan, Liz yang menduduki ranking ketujuh dalam senarai Pelakon Legenda Wanita oleh Institut Filem Amerika turut obses pada koleksi barangan kemas.

"Saya cukup meminati aksesori yang dihiasi batu-batu permata. Ia memberi kepuasan dan seri yang sukar untuk dilafazkan dengan kata-kata," akui Liz yang memiliki tiga orang anak kandung dan seorang anak angkat.

Kecenderungan Liz pada barangan kemas tersemai sejak remaja dan minatnya itu didokumentasi dalam buku terbitannya iaitu My Love Affair with Jewelry pada tahun 2002. Ini termasuklah menghasilkan aksesori rekaan sendiri bagi koleksi The Elizabeth.

Dia juga merupakan pelanggan tetap barang kemas rekaan Shlomo Moussaieff. Pihak media pernah melaporkan Liz antara individu memiliki koleksi barang kemas yang menjadi rebutan ramai wanita. Antaranya berlian Krupp 33.19 karat dan berlian berbentuk buah pir 69.42 karat jenama Taylor-Burton Diamond.

Tidak ketinggalan dia memiliki 50 karat mutiara La Peregrina Pearl, yang dihadiahkan oleh bekas suaminya yang kelima, Richard Burton, pada sambutan Hari Kekasih tahun 1969.

"Elizabeth ikon fesyen yang tampil mengikut imaginasi dan kreativitinya yang unik. Dia memiliki visi fesyen yang sukar untuk diramal tetapi hasilnya cukup memukau," kata Pengarah Pusat Informasi Berlian, Jamie Cadwell.

http://www.kosmo.com.my/kosmo/content.asp?y=2011&dt=0328&pub=Kosmo&sec=Stailo&pg=st_01.htm

Zul Huzaimy, Isteri Cerai Talak Dua

Isnin Mac 28, 2011

Oleh FERIDE HIKMET ATAK

Zul Huzaimy

PETALING JAYA: Isteri kepada pelakon popular Zul Huzaimy, 33, Nor Dalilah Muhammad, 29 mengesahkan mereka sudah bercerai talak dua dan didaftarkan pada 1 Julai 2010 di Mahkamah Rendah Syariah Kajang.

Menurut Dalilah sebelum itu, mereka pernah mengalami konflik pada hujung tahun 2009 dan masing-masing telah menetapkan syarat untuk berbaik semula selepas kejadian berkenaan.

"Memang selepas itu Zul banyak berubah dan dia tidak seperti dahulu. Malah selepas penceraian tersebut, Zul berhasrat untuk merujuk semula dan merancang ingin melangsungkan perkahwinan secara rasmi.

"Bagaimanapun, mungkin kami tidak ada jodoh, perancangan itu tidak menjadi dan kami berpisah secara baik. Anak kami, Awal Haziq, 5, pun dah faham dengan keadaan yang berlaku," katanya yang dihubungi mStar Online, Ahad.

Tambah Dalilah, walaupun umum tidak tahu tentang hal penceraian mereka, rakan-rakan terdekat serta keluarganya sudah pun mengetahui hal tersebut.

Zul bersama Dalilah dan anaknya, Awal. Foto KOSMO!

Berikutan penceraian itu kata Dalilah mereka tidak berhasrat membuat sebarang tuntutan hak penjagaan anak mahupun harta sepencarian kerana kedua-dua mereka sudah bersetuju menyelesaikan masalah berkenaan bersama.

"Kami tak mahu membawa isu hak penjagaan anak dan pembahagian harta sehingga ke mahkamah kerana ia akan jadi lebih rumit. Tentang nafkah pula, saya tidak kisah jika Zul mahu beri ataupun tidak.

"Rumah yang diduduki kami sebelum ini pula berkemungkinan akan dijual," tuturnya.

Ditanya adakah kemungkinan mereka akan berbaik semula Dalilah memberitahu tidak akan berbuat demikian kerana mereka mahu membawa haluan sendiri.

"Kami dah tidak ada kaitan suami isteri lagi dan hanya akan bercakap tentang hal anak sahaja.

Lagipun saya ada dengar cerita yang dia sudah pun ada seseorang. Apa pun, saya mendoakan kebahagian diri serta kerjayanya," ujar Dalilah.

Sementara itu, Zul gagal dihubungi mStar untuk mendapatkan penjelasan selanjutnya tentang penceraiannya itu.

Gosip keretakan rumah tangga Zul Huzaimy sudah kedengaran sejak tahun lalu tapi pelakon itu enggan mengulas lanjut sebaliknya berkata ia adalah kisah peribadi yang tak perlu dihebohkan.

http://mstar.com.my/hiburan/cerita.asp?file=/2011/3/28/mstar_hiburan/20110327190308&sec=mstar_hiburan

Mayat Isteri Dalam Almari: Nasib Suami Diketahui 12 April

Published: Isnin Mac 28, 2011 MYT 7:37:00 PM

Oleh SALWA SHA'ARI

SHAH ALAM: Nasib seorang pengurus syarikat katering, Mohafri Mohamed sama ada dia akan diarahkan untuk membela diri atau dibebaskan daripada tuduhan membunuh dan menyembunyikan mayat isterinya di dalam almari pakaian akan diketahui pada 12 April depan.

Tarikh tersebut ditetapkan oleh Hakim Mahkamah Tinggi di sini, Datuk Wira Mohtarudin Baki selepas beliau mendengar hujahan yang dikemukakan oleh kedua-dua pihak pada Isnin.

Mohafri, 38, didakwa atas tuduhan membunuh Fazlina Ahmad, 38, yang merupakan seorang eksekutif swasta antara pukul 5 dan 10.30 pagi, 30 Disember 2009 di rumah nombor 70, Jalan Pinggiran 2, Taman Pinggiran Ukay, Ampang, dekat sini.

Tertuduh ditangkap pada 3 Januari 2010.

Dia yang mempunyai dua orang anak hasil perkongsian hidup dengan mangsa kini berhadapan dengan hukuman mati mandatori, sekiranya disabitkan bersalah mengikut Seksyen 302 Kanun Keseksaan.

Pada prosiding itu, Timbalan Pendakwa Raya Rosidah Abu Bakar menghujahkan bahawa pembelaan tertuduh yang mendakwa kematian mangsa disebabkan oleh serangan asma adalah tidak benar.

Sebaliknya beliau berkata, kematian itu diakibatkan oleh kelemasan selepas organ pernafasan luaran mangsa iaitu hidung dan mulut ditutup dengan menggunakan pita pelekat.

Tambah Rosidah, perkara itu juga disokong menerusi keterangan yang diberikan oleh Pakar Perubatan Forensik Hospital Kuala Lumpur, Dr Khairul Anuar Zainun yang turut berpendapat mangsa mati antara satu ke satu setengah minit selepas pita itu dilekatkan.

Menurutnya lagi, meskipun tiada keterangan secara langsung yang dapat menjuruskan tertuduh dengan jenayah tersebut, terdapat pelbagai keterangan ikut keadaan yang dapat mengaitkan tertuduh.

"Antaranya hubungan tertuduh dengan mangsa sememangnya tidak baik dan mereka dalam proses untuk bercerai. Teman wanita tertuduh juga mengakui bahawa mereka sepatutnya bertolak ke Thailand pada hari kejadian untuk berkahwin di sana.

"Jika benar mangsa terkena serangan asma, mengapa tertuduh tidak mendapatkan bantuan dan mengapa pula tertuduh perlu menghalang pembantu rumah mereka, Yayok daripada memasuki bilik dan menghampiri almari?

"Tertuduh juga tidak pulang ke rumah apabila diberitahu bahawa mangsa hilang dan hanya ditangkap beberapa hari kemudian. Tidak adakah sekelumit perasaan terhadap mangsa sebagai isterinya yang masih sah dan ibu kepada anak-anaknya?," tambah Rosidah.

Bagaimanapun, peguam Hisyam Teh Poh Teik menghujahkan bahawa berlaku kelompangan dalam kes pendakwaan apabila pihak pendakwaan tidak memanggil Yayok sebagai saksi sedangkan wanita daripada Indonesia itu merupakan seorang saksi penting.

"Yayok berada di dalam rumah tersebut semasa kejadian bunuh didakwa berlaku. Semasa tertuduh mencari ubat asma mangsa, Yayok tinggal bersendirian dengan mangsa selama empat atau lima minit.

"Yayok juga diketahui mempunyai masalah dengan mangsa," katanya dan menambah tiada kesan asid deoksiribonukleik (DNA) yang ditemui pada pita-pita pelekat bersaiz 35 sentimeter lebar yang ditemui pada mangsa.

"JIka benar tertuduh adalah individu yang melekatkan pita pelekat tersebut, sudah pastilah kesan DNA atau cap jarinya akan tertinggal pada pita pelekat," tambah Hisyam.

Selain itu, Hisyam juga menimbulkan persoalan mengenai kehadiran profil DNA yang tidak dikenali pada pita pelekat tersebut yang telah ditandakan sebagai 'Male 1'.

http://mstar.com.my/berita/mahkamah/cerita.asp?file=/2011/3/28/mstar_mahkamah/20110328193537&sec=mstar_mahkamah

Pemberontak Libya kuasai semula bandar minyak

BEBERAPA anggota pemberontak berhimpun di antara bandar Bin Jawad dan Sirte di Libya semalam.

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RAS LANUF - Para pemberontak yang menentang pemimpin Libya, Muammar Gaddafi semalam merampas semula bandar minyak ini.

Kekuatan kumpulan pemberontak itu meningkat selepas mereka berjaya menguasai semula sebuah lagi bandar minyak, Brega di timur Libya daripada tentera Gaddafi.

Bandar Ras Lanuf dan Brega menghasilkan sejumlah besar minyak mentah daripada 1.5 juta tong sehari yang dieksport Libya pada setiap hari.

Namun eksport minyak negara itu terhenti pada 15 Februari ekoran tindakan penunjuk perasaan yang menentang Gaddafi.

Anggota-anggota pemberontak itu kini dalam perjalanan untuk menawan kembali beberapa kawasan yang ditinggalkan oleh tentera Gaddafi.

Kejayaan kumpulan pemberontak itu dibantu serangan udara tentera Barat diketuai Amerika Syarikat (AS) yang menguatkuasakan zon larangan terbang di Libya.

Pada Sabtu lalu, kumpulan pemberontak itu berjaya menawan bandar Ajdabiyah.

"Tidak ada lagi askar-askar Gaddafi di sini. Kami mengawal keseluruhan bandar," kata seorang anggota pemberontak, Youssef Ahmed, 22, di bandar Bin Jawad, 525 kilometer ke timur bandar raya Tripoli.

Seorang wartawan agensi berita Reuters menyaksikan lebih 12 buah trak yang dipenuhi dengan mesingan di pusat bandar Bin Jawad.

Menurut kumpulan pemberontak, askar-akar yang setia kepada Gaddafi sudah berundur.

Pemberontak kini merancang untuk bergerak ke Sirte di timur Mediterranean yang dianggap kubu kuat Gaddafi.

Setakat ini, Gaddafi masih lagi belum membuat kemunculan selepas beliau memberikan ucapan kepada penduduk di Tripoli pada minggu lalu.

Sementara itu, di bandar Benghazi, seorang wakil pemberontak, Ali Tarhoni menyatakan, eksport minyak Libya akan dipulihkan dalam tempoh beberapa minggu lagi.

"Kami mengeluarkan kira-kira 100,000 hingga 130,000 tong minyak sehari," katanya pada satu sidang akhbar.

Dua minggu lalu, Pertubuhan Bangsa-Bangsa Bersatu menguatkuasakan zon larangan terbang di Libya bagi mengelak Gaddafi membuat serangan ke atas penduduk awam yang menentang kepimpinannya.

Kelmarin, tentera Barat melancarkan serangan udara di bandar Sabha yang terletak di selatan Tripoli.

Namun, maklumat lanjut berhubung serangan itu sehingga kini. - Agensi

http://www.kosmo.com.my/kosmo/content.asp?y=2011&dt=0328&pub=Kosmo&sec=Dunia&pg=du_01.htm

Pekerja nuklear diarah berpindah

GAMBAR menunjukkan loji jana kuasa nuklear Fukushima Daiichi di timur laut Jepun pada 23 Mac lalu.

TOKYO - Pihak berkuasa Jepun mengeluarkan pekerja-pekerja dari loji jana kuasa reaktor nuklear Fuskuhima Daiichi yang rosak selepas mengesan peningkatan bahan radiasi.

Pihak pengurusan syarikat Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO) yang mengendalikan loji jana kuasa itu menyatakan, tahap radiasi dalam air di reaktor nombor dua loji tersebut melebihi 1,000 milisievert sejam jika dibandingkan dengan standard keselamatan kebangsaan iaitu hanya 250 milisievert setahun.

Agensi Perlindungan Keselamatan Amerika Syarikat menyatakan kesan radiasi sebanyak 1,000 millisievert sudah cukup untuk menyebabkan perdarahan dalam tubuh manusia.

Pegawai-pegawai TEPCO berkata, pekerja-pekerja tersebut telah dikeluarkan daripada bangunan turbin di reaktor nombor dua untuk mengelakkan mereka terkena pancaran radiasi yang berbahaya.

Pekerja-pekerja tersebut telah berusaha sebelum ini untuk mengepam keluar air di reaktor tersebut yang mengandungi radioaktif.

Para jurutera TEPCO berhempas-pulas sepanjang dua minggu lalu bagi mengelakkan malapetaka yang disebabkan oleh sejumlah batang bahan bakar di Fukushima Daiichi cair selepas rosak akibat gegaran gempa bumi dan tsunami yang berlaku pada 11 Mac lalu.

Sementara itu, ujian menunjukkan air di loji nuklear tersebut mengandungi tahap radioaktif 10 juta kali ganda daripada normal didapati satu kesilapan.

Beberapa pegawai menyatakan tahap radiokatif itu mungkin lebih rendah daripada keputusan ujian tersebut.

Gempa bumi kuat pada skala 9.0 Richter pada 11 Mac lalu itu menyebabkan 27,500 orang terbunuh dan hilang.

Kerja-kerja tersebut sudah beberapa kali terhenti kerana kerap berlaku letupan dan kenaikan tahap radiasi di dalam reaktor.

Tragedi di Jepun itu merupakan krisis nuklear paling teruk sejak letupan loji di Chernobyl, Ukraine pada suku abad lalu.

Pada Khamis lalu, tiga orang pekerja TEPCO yang bekerja di reaktor nombor tiga telah dimasukkan ke dalam hospital selepas terkena air yang mempunyai tahap radiasi sebanyak 10,000 kali ganda tinggi daripada tahap radiasi di dalam reaktor.

Ketua Pengarah Agensi Tenaga Atom Antarabangsa (IAEA), Yukiya Amano berkata, langkah berhati-hati bagi menghadapi masalah nuklear akan berlanjutan selama beberapa minggu dan mungkin berlarutan selama berbulan-bulan.

Menurut Agensi Perlindungan Alam Sekitar Amerika Syarikat, jika seseorang itu mengalami pendedahan radiasi yang banyak di antara 50 hingga 100 millisievert, mangsa akan mengalami perubahan bahan kimia dalam darah.

Jika seseorang terkena radiasi di antara 100 ke 500 millisievert, dia akan berasa mual atau loya.

Seseorang itu akan muntah-muntah jika terkena pancaran melebihi 500 sehingga 700 millisievert.

Rambut akan gugur dalam tempoh hanya dua hingga tiga minggu jika terkena radiasi di antara 700 ke 750 millisievert.

Apabila terdedah di antara 750 hingga 900 millisievert, pesakit akan mengalami cirit-birit.

Pendarahan akan berlaku apabila seseorang itu terkena pendedahan bahan radiasi 900 hingga ke 1,000 millisievert.

Kematian boleh berlaku dalam tempoh dua bulan jika seseorang itu terdedah pada radiasi sebanyak 1,000 hingga 4,000 millisievert jika tidak mendapatkan rawatan.

Dinding usus akan rosak, pendarahan dalaman bakal berlaku dan seseorang itu boleh mati dalam tempoh di antara satu hingga dua minggu jika terdedah pada pancaran radiasi di antara 4,000 hingga 10,000 millisievert.

Pendedahan radiasi yang tinggi antara 10,000 hingga 20,000 millisievert pula akan menyebabkan kerosakan sistem saraf tunjang dan boleh membawa maut hanya dalam tempoh masa beberapa jam. - Agensi

http://www.kosmo.com.my/kosmo/content.asp?y=2011&dt=0328&pub=Kosmo&sec=Dunia&pg=du_02.htm