Russian governor resigns over deadly mall blaze

Yahoo – AFP, Anna SMOLCHENKO, April 1, 2018

At least 64 people including 41 children died in the mall fire in Siberia
last weekend (AFP Photo/Dmitry Serebryakov)

Moscow (AFP) - The longtime governor of a Russian region where a huge mall inferno killed dozens of people -- most of them children -- resigned on Sunday after bitter criticism over his response to the tragedy.

Aman Tuleyev, who had been at the helm of the coal-mining region of Kemerovo since 1997, said in a video address that he could no longer remain at his post with "such a heavy burden" and that quitting was "the only right choice".

The Kremlin swiftly said that President Vladimir Putin had accepted his resignation.

Tuleyev's move is unusual as top officials in Russia rarely resign over failings in the emergency response to deadly tragedies.

But the huge fire which ravaged a shopping centre in the Siberian industrial city of Kemerovo last Sunday, killing at least 64 people including 41 children, plunged Russia into shock.

Some parents lost all their children, and the youngest victim was a two-year-old boy.

Many people who lost relatives have said they perished because of inaction by firefighters and police lacking the necessary equipment and skills, while some said a cinema door was locked, trapping children inside.

Kremlin about-face

Tuleyev, who himself lost a young relative in the blaze, came under heavy criticism for failing to visit the scene of the tragedy in the first few days or meet with angry relatives.

Putin had initially refused to sack the 73-year-old governor despite a rare protest which saw thousands of people pack a square in Kemerovo on Tuesday, the same day Putin travelled to the scene of the tragedy.

Aman Tuleyev, shown with Putin after a mine explosion in 2010, was one of 

Russia's longest-serving top governors (AFP Photo/ALEXEI NIKOLSKY)

Tuleyev apologised to the president over the rally -- where protesters also called for Putin's resignation -- calling its organisers troublemakers.

Officials have said that multiple safety rules were violated, the fire alarm system was not working and staff did not follow correct emergency procedures.

The four-storey shopping mall was redeveloped several times and previously housed a sweet factory.

Seven people have been arrested in the aftermath of the blaze, investigators said.

The ailing Tuleyev had long been expected to leave the post.

The Kemerovo region of around 2.7 million people has traditionally been considered one of Russia's most troubled areas and some have feared that Tuleyev's departure could spark a leadership crisis there.

Tuleyev, who first became governor in the era of president Boris Yeltsin in 1997, is one of Russia's longest-serving top officials.

A makeshift memorial has been set up in tribute to the victims of a deadly shopping 
mall fire in the Siberian city of Kemerovo (AFP Photo/Dmitry Serebryakov)

He was credited with helping pacify the region which was beset by miners' strikes in the turbulent 1990s but had come to symbolise the worst excesses of authoritarianism in his later years, critics say.

'Hated by everyone'

Lev Shlosberg, a former lawmaker and rights activist, said Tuleyev "had become senile", adding that the tragedy had clearly shown that Russia turned into a "mafia" state.

"This is not an emotional or symbolic but a very concrete state of the authorities: they do not represent people and absolutely do not defend the interests of citizens because they do not depend on them in any way and do not hear them," he wrote in a blog.

"The life of an ordinary man in a mafia state costs nothing."

"Tuleyev is an example of how one climbs down from the throne after failing to leave on time: disgraced and hated by everyone, with stains of blood and someone else's tears," one commentator said on Twitter.

Opposition politician Vladimir Milov said it would take "decades" for the region to recover from Tuleyev's 21-year rule.

Thousands of people packed a square in Kemerovo to protest over the Russian 

authorities' response to the deadly mall fire (AFP Photo/Dmitry Serebryakov)

Sergei Tsivilyov, who has been Tuleyev's deputy since March, has been appointed acting governor, the Kremlin said.

Tsivilyov is a business partner of one of Putin's closest lieutenants, Gennady Timchenko, who has been under sanctions imposed on Russia for its role in the Ukraine conflict.

Tsivilyov's behaviour in the aftermath of the blaze has raised eyebrows.

Igor Vostrikov, a man who lost his wife, sister and three children aged two, five and seven years, accused the authorities of treating people "like dirt".

Tsivilyov responded by accusing him of a "PR stunt" but later went down on his knees in front of the crowd massed in Kemerovo, asking for forgiveness over the fire.

Polls to elect a new governor will be held in September.

US authorities to re-route controversial North Dakota pipeline

Yahoo – AFP, Jim Watson, December 5, 2016

US military veterans joined protests against a controversial planned oil pipeline that
have led the Army Corps of Engineers to rethink the route (AFP Photo/JIM WATSON)

Cannon Ball (United States) (AFP) - The US Army Corps of Engineers nixed plans for a controversial oil pipeline crossing in North Dakota, a major victory for Native Americans and environmentalists who had staged months of protests.

The pipeline had been set to cross under the Missouri River and man-made Lake Oahe, which are drinking water sources for the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe.

"It's clear that there's more work to do," Jo-Ellen Darcy, the US Army's assistant secretary for civil works, said in a statement.

"The best way to complete that work responsibly and expeditiously is to explore alternate routes for the pipeline crossing."

The Standing Rock Sioux objected to building the 1,172-mile (1,886-kilometer) pipeline underneath the river and lake because of fears of possible leaks. The tribe also said the route would cross through areas with sacred historic artifacts.

The conflict between the tribe and pipeline operators Energy Transfer Partners and Sunoco Logistics Partners galvanized North American native tribes and supporters, who have camped in the thousands near the construction site for months in an effort to block it.

'Do the right thing'

Some 2,000 US military veterans joined the protest this week in a symbolically important move before a deadline for demonstrators to vacate the area on Monday.

"We wholeheartedly support the decision of the administration and commend with the utmost gratitude the courage it took on the part of President Obama, the Army Corps, the Department of Justice and the Department of the Interior to take steps to correct the course of history and to do the right thing," Standing Rock Sioux chairman Dave Archambault said in a statement.

"We are not opposed to energy independence, economic development, or national security concerns but we must ensure that these decisions are made with the considerations of our indigenous peoples."

Map charting the route of the controversial Dakota Access Pipeline

(AFP Photo/AFP)

Pipeline operator Energy Transfer Partners did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

However, a group representing the pipeline operators, the Midwest Alliance for Infrastructure Now, condemned the decision, blaming it on President Barack Obama.

"This purely political decision flies in the face of common sense and the rule of law," it said in a statement. "Unfortunately, it's not surprising that the president would, again, use executive fiat in an attempt to enhance his legacy among the extreme left."

Violent standoff

The Dakota Access Pipeline would snake through four US states, delivering oil from North Dakota to Illinois, where it can be shipped to other parts of the country.

It could help reduce the cost of transporting North Dakota oil, enabling it to better compete with cheaper oil from Canada.

The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe filed a lawsuit saying it was railroaded by the pipeline's developer and the US Army Corps of Engineers, responsible for approving construction under the river, but a federal judge denied its request to halt construction in September.

However, the government suspended the pipeline construction project last month, saying more analysis and debate were needed.

Energy Transfer Partners and its co-operator Sunoco Logistics Partners struck back, asking a court to stop regulators from further delaying the project.

The standoff turned violent at times, including last month, when hundreds of protesters clashed with police who fired tear gas, rubber bullets and a water cannon, soaking the crowd in subfreezing temperatures.

Protest organizers said 167 people were hurt, including three Native American tribal elders, and that seven people were hospitalized for severe head injuries.

Activists celebrate at Oceti Sakowin Camp on the edge of the Standing Rock

 Sioux Reservation outside Cannon Ball, North Dakota, after hearing that the Army

 Corps of Engineers has denied the current route for the Dakota Access pipeline

(AFP Photo/JIM WATSON)

Nationwide protests

The standoff has prompted sympathetic protests nationwide, with celebrities, politicians and environmental activists joining the cause.

News of the Army's decision prompted celebration and relief among those who opposed the pipeline route.

"Today, the voices of indigenous people were heard," Rhea Suh, president of the Natural Resources Defense Council, tweeted. "The Standing Rock Sioux & indigenous communities remind us of power of individuals to stand up to demand environmental justice."

Among the project's supporters, North Dakota's Republican Governor Jack Dalrymple, who had ordered the protesters to evacuate on Monday, called the decision a "serious mistake."

He was joined by the state's sole member in the House of Representatives, Kevin Cramer, who said in a statement, "I’m encouraged we will restore law and order next month when we get a president who will not thumb his nose at the rule of law."

But Vermont Senator and former presidential candidate Bernie Sanders praised Sunday's decision, saying, "I appreciate very much President Obama listening to the Native American people and millions of others who believe this pipeline should not be built."

Native Americans ride with raised fists to a sacred burial ground that was

disturbed by bulldozers building the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL)

September 4, 2016 near Cannon Ball, North Dakota (AFP Photo/Robyn Beck)

Related Articles:

Violence erupts as Native Americans resist oil pipeline

ING, ABN Amro urged to pull out of controversial US pipeline project

US seeks halt to work on pipeline opposed by Native Americans

US judge won't halt pipeline opposed by Native Americans

Members of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe confront bulldozers working on the

Dakota Access Pipeline in an effort to make them stop near Cannon Ball, North

Dakota on September 03, 2016 (AFP Photo/Robyn Beck)

Canada approves tripling capacity of Trans Mountain pipeline to Pacific pic.twitter.com/MF6eOdTBV1

— AFP news agency (@AFP) November 30, 2016

ING, ABN Amro urged to pull out of controversial US pipeline project

DutchNews, November 28, 2016

Amsterdam’s Zuidas business
district. Photo: DutchNews.nl

Dutch banks ING and ABN Amro are being urged to end their investment in a controversial oil pipeline project in the US. 

The construction has prompted violent clashes between the army and the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe who say construction of the pipeline through northern Dakota could affect its drinking water supply and put communities ‘at risk of contamination by crude oil leaks and spills.’ 

They also say the pipeline will threaten the environment and destroy Native American burial sites, prayer sites and culturally significant artifacts, CNN reported. 

According to fair banking campaign group Eerlijke Bankwijzer, ING has pumped the equivalent of €233m into the project in direct loans. ABN Amro has lent $45m to companies which are involved with the project. 

ING said in a statement it is concerned about what is going on and is investigating further. However, withdrawing from the project is not an option legally, news agency ANP quotes the bank as saying. 

ABN Amro points out it is not one of the 17 banks actively funding the pipeline and says it is in ‘continuous contact’ with the companies it has backed. This includes ‘explicitly’ ensuring that its concerns about the project are known, ANP said. 

Native Americans ride with raised fists to a sacred burial ground that was

disturbed by bulldozers building the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL),

September 4, 2016 near Cannon Ball, North Dakota (AFP Photo/Robyn Beck)

Related Article:

Violence erupts as Native Americans resist oil pipeline

US seeks halt to work on pipeline opposed by Native Americans

US judge won't halt pipeline opposed by Native Americans

Members of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe confront bulldozers working on the

Dakota Access Pipeline in an effort to make them stop near Cannon Ball, North

Dakota on September 03, 2016 (AFP Photo/Robyn Beck)

Canada approves tripling capacity of Trans Mountain pipeline to Pacific pic.twitter.com/MF6eOdTBV1

— AFP news agency (@AFP) November 30, 2016

Opposition to nuclear energy grows in Japan

Opinion polls show the Japanese people oppose nuclear plants going back into operation. It underlines the scale of the problem facing the government in convincing everyone that it's safe. Julian Ryall reports from Tokyo.

Deutsche Welle, 21 Oct 2016

Before October 16, Ryuichi Yoneyama had contested four regional elections and been soundly beaten each time. Now, however, the 49-year-old qualified doctor and lawyer is to be sworn in as governor of Niigata Prefecture after defeating a candidate who had the backing of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and was considered the firm favorite.

Yoneyama worked hard for his victory over Tamio Mori, a former bureaucrat with the construction ministry, but when the voters stepped into the voting booths there was a single issue that occupied their minds.

Mori and the LDP want to restart the world's largest nuclear power station, the sprawling Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant, which lies on the prefecture's coast. They insist that as Japan moves towards the sixth anniversary of the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami that crippled the Fukushima Dai-Ichi nuclear plant, triggering the second-worst nuclear crisis in history, new safety measures have been implemented that ensure the same thing could not happen in Niigata.

The voters did not agree, with 528,455 supporting Yoneyama's pledge to not grant approval for Tokyo Electric Power Co.'s (TEPCO) Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant to be restarted. In comparison, 465,044 voted for Mori.

Nationwide opposition

Those figures are broadly replicated across Japan, with a poll conducted by the Asahi Shimbun newspaper on October 15 and 16 determining that 57 percent of the public is against the nation's nuclear power plants being restarted, and just 29 percent supporting the resumption of reactors that have nearly all been mothballed since 2011.

At present, only two of the nation's 54 reactors have been restarted - and that after much wrangling through the courts after local residents and environmental groups expressed their opposition.

Nevertheless, a report issued by the Institute of Energy Economics, Japan (IEEJ) in July predicts that seven additional reactors will be on-line by the end of March next year and a further 12 will be operational one year later.

But as the opinion polls show, the majority of the public is against a policy that the government tells them is in the nation's best interests.

Poll: 57 percent of the public is against the nuclear power plants being restarted

"Since the accident at Fukushima, many people have realized the negatives that go along with the positives of nuclear power, and they simply do not want to take that sort of risk again," said Hiroko Moriwaki, a librarian who lives in Tokyo.

"And many think that we do not need to," she added. "Since the disaster, the reactors have not been operational and look around you; we have all the electricity that we need, there are no blackouts and everything is normal.

"Just after the earthquake, we were told to do everything we could to save energy, but not any more," Moriwaki told DW.

"So maybe we have reached the point where we don't actually need nuclear energy and that this is in fact an opportunity that the country can take advantage of," she said.

Japan is an advanced and industrialized nation with vast amounts of skills and technologies that could be put to use to develop and then commercialize new sources of safe, environment-friendly energy, she said.

As well as solar and wind power, which are already visible across Japan, there are moves afoot to harness Japan's tidal and wave energy, while vast amounts of potential geothermal energy remain virtually untapped.

"We have so much technology, so wouldn't it be best to divert some of that away from more investment in nuclear energy and put it into fuel sources that are safer and do not harm the environment at all?" Moriwaki asked.

The government says Japanese
 industry needs a secure supply
of energy

Japan's energy needs

Critics of this approach - of which the government is one - say Japanese industry needs a secure supply of energy right now and that Japan is presently importing 84 percent of its energy needs, primarily in the form of coal, gas and oil. And that is both expensive and to blame for the nation's emissions of carbon dioxide and other harmful greenhouse gases climbing.

Still, the Japanese public is far from convinced that nuclear energy is the answer.

"It's complicated and we keep hearing from the government how important it is to have the nuclear plants operating again, but after Fukushima, I think, a lot of people no longer trust the operators or the government," said Kanako Hosomura, a housewife whose family home is north of Tokyo and only about 250 km from the Fukushima plant.

Inquiries after the disaster revealed that TEPCO ignored experts' warnings about the potential size and power of tsunami and had failed to take precautions such as ensuring a backup power supply in the event the generators used to cool the reactors were out of operation.

The government also came under fire after the media reported that it did not have a full understanding of the severity of the crisis, while it was also issuing statements that the situation was completely under control at the same time as drawing up plans to evacuate tens of millions of people from a huge swathe of eastern Japan.

"When it comes down to it, I have a young son and a family and their safety is my number one priority," said Hosomura. "Maybe Japan was lucky the Fukushima disaster was not worse than it was. Maybe next time we will not be so lucky."

Map showing Japan's nuclear plants (AFP Photo)

Related Articles:

Japan orders shutdown of two nuclear reactors over safety fears

"A Summary" – Apr 2, 2011 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll) (Subjects: Religion, Shift of Human Consciousness, 2012, Intelligent/Benevolent Design, EU, South America, 5 Currencies, Water Cycle (Heat up, Mini Ice Ace, Oceans, Fish, Earthquakes ..), Middle East, Internet, Israel, Dictators, Palestine, US, Japan (Quake/Tsunami Disasters , People, Society ...), Nuclear Power Revealed, Hydro Power, Geothermal Power, Moon, Financial Institutes (Recession, Realign integrity values ..) , China, North Korea, Global Unity,..... etc.) - (Text version)

“... Japan

Let us talk for a moment about Japan, and then I'll close the day of messages. There are thousands of souls on my side of the veil and they're just fine, more than fine. We have spoken so often of what happens at the Wind of Birth. I told you, before they even came in, they saw the potential. I looked in their eyes. "You may not last long. You know that, don't you? You're coming into this planet and you may not be here very long. And the passing that you will have with your family will not be pleasant, if any ever are. Why would you come in anyway?" I want to tell you what they said. When a soul has the mind of God, it understands fully what generates peace and what generates energy shift. You can clearly see what generates what the planet needs the most when you are about to arrive. So they said, "We're going to be part of one of the biggest compassion events the planet has ever seen." One earthquake, one tsunami. All of those who left that day will change the earth forever. And it already has. It was the same for the last tsunami as well.

Every single one of them on my side of the veil is getting ready to come back. Many old souls were involved, and just for a moment, if they could give you any information, if they could talk to you right now, if they could speak your language and look into your eyes, they would thank you for your compassion for them and those who are left. And they would say, "Be with those family members who are still alive. Enter their hearts every day and give them peace and keep them from crying, because we're OK."

Nuclear Power Revealed

So let me tell you what else they did. They just showed you what's wrong with nuclear power. "Safe to the maximum," they said. "Our devices are strong and cannot fail." But they did. They are no match for Gaia.

It seems that for more than 20 years, every single time we sit in the chair and speak of electric power, we tell you that hundreds of thousands of tons of push/pull energy on a regular schedule is available to you. It is moon-driven, forever. It can make all of the electricity for all of the cities on your planet, no matter how much you use. There's no environmental impact at all. Use the power of the tides, the oceans, the waves in clever ways. Use them in a bigger way than any designer has ever put together yet, to power your cities. The largest cities on your planet are on the coasts, and that's where the power source is. Hydro is the answer. It's not dangerous. You've ignored it because it seems harder to engineer and it's not in a controlled environment. Yet, you've chosen to build one of the most complex and dangerous steam engines on Earth - nuclear power.

We also have indicated that all you have to do is dig down deep enough and the planet will give you heat. It's right below the surface, not too far away all the time. You'll have a Gaia steam engine that way, too. There's no danger at all and you don't have to dig that far. All you have to do is heat fluid, and there are some fluids that boil far faster than water. So we say it again and again. Maybe this will show you what's wrong with what you've been doing, and this will turn the attitudes of your science to create something so beautiful and so powerful for your grandchildren. Why do you think you were given the moon? Now you know.

This benevolent Universe gave you an astral body that allows the waters in your ocean to push and pull and push on the most regular schedule of anything you know of. Yet there you sit enjoying just looking at it instead of using it. It could be enormous, free energy forever, ready to be converted when you design the methods of capturing it. It's time.

So in closing, do you understand what you're seeing? You're seeing intelligent design, quantum energy and high consciousness. You are seeing changes in Human nature. You're seeing countries putting things together instead of separating. You are seeing those who don't want war and instead want peace, good schools for their children, safety in their streets and a say in their government. We told you it was going to happen this way. I want my partner to teach these things that I have said in his 3D lectures for awhile. Many won't be able to know these things otherwise.  …”

Violence erupts as Native Americans resist oil pipeline

Yahoo – AFP, Nova Safo, September 5, 2016

Native Americans ride with raised fists to a sacred burial ground that was
disturbed by bulldozers building the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL),
September 4, 2016 near Cannon Ball, North Dakota (AFP Photo/Robyn Beck)

Cannon Ball (United States) (AFP) - Protesters camping near Native American lands in North Dakota to protest the construction of an oil pipeline clashed late Saturday with construction company workers they blamed for destroying ancient sites.

Hundreds of protesters confronted a bulldozer crew in an area known as Cannon Ball, amid the vast grasslands of the northern US state.

The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe claims the crew dug up and destroyed sacred burial grounds, places of prayer and other cultural artefacts -- even after the pipeline developer had voluntarily paused construction in the disputed area less than a mile (1.6 kilometer) from the tribe's reservation.

Angry protesters broke through a fence and fought with private security guards, who employed dogs and pepper spray.

"They tried to push us back with their trucks and their bulldozers, but we just kept on coming," Seeyouma Nashcid, a protester from Arizona, told AFP.

Some protesters were left bloodied, and displayed signs of dog bites. The Morton County Sherriff's department said three private security guards were injured after being struck with fence posts and flag poles.

The tribe, whose reservation is located just south of where the 1,200-mile (1,900-kilometer) pipeline would cross the Missouri River, has been locked in a court battle to stop the project, which it says would endanger its drinking water and destroy historic sites.

Members of American Indian tribes from across the United States have rallied in support, gathering for months in a makeshift camp near the reservation.

On Saturday, protesters were suddenly alerted to renewed digging, a day after the tribe filed evidence in court of dozens of newly discovered artefacts, grave markers and sacred sites.

Native Americans march to the site of a sacred burial ground that was disturbed

 by bulldozers building the Dakota Access oil pipeline near Cannon Ball, North 

Dakota on September 4, 2016 (AFP Photo/Robyn Beck)

The tribe said in a statement that a two-mile stretch was destroyed before the bulldozer crew was confronted and stopped.

"This demolition is devastating," Standing Rock Sioux Tribe chairman David Archambault said in a statement. "These grounds are the resting places of our ancestors. The ancient cairns and stone prayer rings there cannot be replaced."

Witnesses said law enforcement officers were nearby during Saturday's clashes but did not immediately intervene. But sheriff's spokeswoman Donnell Preskey said deputies "were not on the scene when the conflict initially occurred," and arrived later.

The sheriff's office was notified of the situation by an emergency call from a private security officer.

Citing the safety and security of law enforcement, Morton County Sheriff Kyle Kirchmeier said that the number of protesters made it "unsafe for officers to directly respond until further officers were able to respond."

A federal judge is expected to decide by September 9 whether to grant a temporary injunction to stop the pipeline construction under the river, as the tribe pursues its lawsuit.

The pipeline's US developer Energy Transfer Partners did not return a call for comment placed during a holiday weekend.

Members of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe confront bulldozers working on the 

Dakota Access Pipeline in an effort to make them stop near Cannon Ball, North 

Dakota on September 03, 2016 (AFP Photo/Robyn Beck)

Related Articles:

US seeks halt to work on pipeline opposed by Native Americans - New

US judge won't halt pipeline opposed by Native Americans

Kabul locked down as minority Hazaras protest over power line

Yahoo – AFP, May 16, 2016

Kabul locked down as minority Hazaras protest over power line

Kabul (AFP) - Tens of thousands of minority Shiite Hazaras marched through the streets of the Afghan capital Monday to protest at the proposed route for a major power transmission line, in a brewing political crisis for the beleaguered government.

Security forces locked down central Kabul, blocking key intersections with stacked shipping containers as the protesters marched on the presidential palace -- demanding that the line linking energy-rich Central Asia pass through a central Hazara-dominated area in Afghanistan.

The demonstration highlights the war-torn nation's turbulent politics. It follows one of the biggest anti-government rallies for years last November, which was sparked by the beheading of a group of Hazaras.

Some protesters threw stones at officials and banged on the sides of containers but the demonstration was largely peaceful.

"(President) Ashraf Ghani is hiding himself behind blast walls," Dawood Naji, a Hazara leader, told flag-waving demonstrators, drawing rousing applause.

"We can break down these containers if we want but we are here to protest in a civilised way for our rights."

Authorities shut down roads to the presidential palace, fearing a repeat of the violence in November when protesters tried to storm the compound.

The 500-kilovolt TUTAP power line, which would connect the Central Asian nations of Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan with electricity-starved Afghanistan and Pakistan, is seen as a crucial infrastructure project.

But it has been mired in controversy, with leaders from the minority group demanding that the line be routed through Bamiyan which has a large Hazara population.

The line was originally set to pass through the central province but the government decided to reroute it through the mountainous Salang pass north of Kabul, saying the shorter route would speed up the project and save millions of dollars.

Persecuted community

Hazara leaders in the ethnically divisive nation lashed out at the Pashtun president, saying the decision to reroute the line was a sign of discriminatory policies -- a charge that Ghani denies.

"Bamiyan has seen no development in 15 years (since the Taliban were toppled from power)," Hazara lawmaker Arif Rahmani told AFP.

"We are demanding justice, not charity."

The rally comes in the midst of the Taliban's annual spring offensive launched last month and authorities have warned that it could be targeted by insurgents.

"Staging peaceful protests is the civil right of every Afghan citizen," the interior ministry said in a statement.

"We respectfully request that our countrymen not allow the enemy (to) misuse this opportunity and disrupt public security."

The dispute, which highlights the challenges of modernising the country, threatens to overshadow the TUTAP project, which is due to be implemented by 2018 and could help ease nationwide blackouts.

Hazara protesters repeatedly heckled Ghani during an anti-corruption summit in London last week.

The president faces rising unpopularity amid endemic corruption, rampant unemployment and growing insecurity.

The three million-strong Afghan Hazara community has been persecuted for decades, with thousands killed in the late 1990s by Al-Qaeda and the mainly Pashtun and Sunni Taliban.

There has been a surge in violence against the community, with a series of kidnappings and killings in recent months that have triggered a wave of fury on social media.

Last November thousands of protesters marched coffins containing the decapitated bodies of seven Shiite Hazaras through the Afghan capital.

Their bodies were found in the southern province of Zabul, which is under Taliban control and has been the scene of clashes between rival militant factions.

Ghani called the killings "the shared pain of a nation" and accused the militants of trying to divide Afghanistan.

Japan ends nuclear shutdown sparked by Fukushima crisis

Yahoo –  AFP, Harumi Ozawa, 11 Aug 2015

Operators restart the nuclear reactor at the Kyushu Electric Power Sendai 

nuclear power plant in Satsumasendai, on Japan's southern island of Kyushu on

August 11, 2015 (AFP Photo)

Japan on Tuesday restarted its nuclear power programme after a shutdown triggered by the 2011 Fukushima crisis, as the government pushes to return to a cheaper energy source despite widespread public opposition.

Utility Kyushu Electric Power turned on a reactor at Sendai, about 1,000 kilometres (620 miles) southwest of Tokyo, at 10:30 am (0130 GMT).

The 31-year-old reactor -- operating under tougher post-Fukushima safety rules -- was expected to reach full capacity around 11:00 pm Tuesday and would start generating power by Friday.

People stage a sit-in rally against the

restarting of the nuclear reactor outside

the Kyushu Electric Power Sendai 

nuclear power plant in Satsumasendai 

on August 11, 2015 (AFP Photo)

Commercial operations would begin early next month, a company spokesman said.

The restart comes more than four years after a quake-sparked tsunami swamped cooling systems and triggered reactor meltdowns at the Fukushima plant, prompting the shutdown of Japan's stable of 50 reactors and starting a pitched battle over the future use of atomic power.

The accident sent radiation over a wide area and forced tens of thousands from their homes -- many of whom will likely never return -- in the worst nuclear accident since Chernobyl in 1986.

Decommissioning of the crippled Fukushima reactors is expected to take decades and compensation expenses -- excluding the cost of the site's cleanup -- now top $57 billion.

Anti-nuclear sentiment still runs high in Japan and television showed protesters scuffling with police in front of the plant, which is on the southernmost main island of Kyushu.

Among the 200 protesters was Naoto Kan, prime minister at the time of Fukushima and now a high-profile anti-nuclear activist. He said the failure of pro-atomic premier Shinzo Abe to cancel the restart "cannot be forgiven".

The resource-poor nation, which once relied on nuclear power for a quarter of its electricity, restarted two reactors temporarily to feed its needs after Fukushima. But they both went offline by September 2013, making Japan completely nuclear-free for about two years.

'Safety first'

The country adopted stricter safety regulations to avoid a repeat of the accident, including more backup prevention measures and higher tsunami-blocking walls in some areas.

The restart of a reactor at the Kyushu Electric Power Sendai nuclear power 

plant ends a two-year nuclear shutdown in the energy-hungry country that was

sparked by public fears following the 2011 Fukushima crisis (AFP Photo/JIJI PRESS)

"It is important to restart reactors one by one from the perspective of energy security, the economy and measures against global warming, but safety always comes first," Industry Minister Yoichi Miyazawa told reporters..

Yukio Edano, a senior member of the opposition Democratic Party of Japan who criticised Abe for taking a holiday near Mount Fuji on Tuesday, said the restart was ill-advised and "trampled on the grave sacrifice seen in Fukushima".

Strengthened safety measures are key to Abe's bid to get some of about four dozen reactors back up and running. The government wants nuclear power to generate up to 22 percent of Japan's electricity needs by 2030, a lower percentage than before Fukushima.

Power companies that own the reactors are also keen for more restarts after having to import pricey fossil fuels.

Japan's post-Fukushima energy bill skyrocketed as it scrambled to fill the gap left by taking reactors offline, a problem worsened by a sharp weakening of the yen which pushed up the cost of dollar-denominated energy imports.

Several other reactors have been given a safety green light, but battle lines are drawn in many local communities strongly opposed to restarts.

About 200 protesters gathered in front of the Sendai plant to protest against

 the restart, including Naoto Kan, prime minister at the time of the Fukushima

disaster (AFP Photo)

"Abe is not listening to the voice of the people -- he is acting as if he has been given a blank cheque," said Takashi Kato, professor emeritus at Tokyo's Seikei University.

Officials have stressed that any switched-on reactor would operate under much tighter regulations than those that existed before Fukushima. Some will be decommissioned for safety reasons.

"A disaster like that at Tokyo Electric Power's Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant will not occur" under the new rules, Nuclear Regulation Authority chairman Shunichi Tanaka said in an interview with the Nikkei newspaper published at the weekend.

But Tanaka conceded there was "no such thing as absolute safety" and Japan's people are sceptical as the country remains deeply scarred by the legacy of Fukushima -- although no deaths have been directly attributed to the accident.

The government was strongly criticised for its cosy ties with Fukushima operator Tokyo Electric Power Co, which itself was accused of incompetence in dealing with the 2011 crisis.

Last month a judicial review panel decided that a trio of former TEPCO executives should be indicted, paving the way for the first criminal trial linked to the disaster.

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"Fast-Tracking" - Feb 8, 2014 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll) - (Reference to Fukushima / H-bomb nuclear pollution and a warning about nuclear  (> 20 Min)

"A Summary" – Apr 2, 2011 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll) (Subjects: Religion, Shift of Human Consciousness, 2012, Intelligent/Benevolent Design, EU, South America, 5 Currencies, Water Cycle (Heat up, Mini Ice Ace, Oceans, Fish, Earthquakes ..), Middle East, Internet, Israel, Dictators, Palestine, US, Japan (Quake/Tsunami Disasters , People, Society ...), Nuclear Power Revealed, Hydro Power, Geothermal Power, Moon, Financial Institutes (Recession, Realign integrity values ..) , China, North Korea, Global Unity,..... etc.) - (Text version)

“... Japan

Let us talk for a moment about Japan, and then I'll close the day of messages. There are thousands of souls on my side of the veil and they're just fine, more than fine. We have spoken so often of what happens at the Wind of Birth. I told you, before they even came in, they saw the potential. I looked in their eyes. "You may not last long. You know that, don't you? You're coming into this planet and you may not be here very long. And the passing that you will have with your family will not be pleasant, if any ever are. Why would you come in anyway?" I want to tell you what they said. When a soul has the mind of God, it understands fully what generates peace and what generates energy shift. You can clearly see what generates what the planet needs the most when you are about to arrive. So they said, "We're going to be part of one of the biggest compassion events the planet has ever seen." One earthquake, one tsunami. All of those who left that day will change the earth forever. And it already has. It was the same for the last tsunami as well.

Every single one of them on my side of the veil is getting ready to come back. Many old souls were involved, and just for a moment, if they could give you any information, if they could talk to you right now, if they could speak your language and look into your eyes, they would thank you for your compassion for them and those who are left. And they would say, "Be with those family members who are still alive. Enter their hearts every day and give them peace and keep them from crying, because we're OK."

Nuclear Power Revealed

So let me tell you what else they did. They just showed you what's wrong with nuclear power. "Safe to the maximum," they said. "Our devices are strong and cannot fail." But they did. They are no match for Gaia.

It seems that for more than 20 years, every single time we sit in the chair and speak of electric power, we tell you that hundreds of thousands of tons of push/pull energy on a regular schedule is available to you. It is moon-driven, forever. It can make all of the electricity for all of the cities on your planet, no matter how much you use. There's no environmental impact at all. Use the power of the tides, the oceans, the waves in clever ways. Use them in a bigger way than any designer has ever put together yet, to power your cities. The largest cities on your planet are on the coasts, and that's where the power source is. Hydro is the answer. It's not dangerous. You've ignored it because it seems harder to engineer and it's not in a controlled environment. Yet, you've chosen to build one of the most complex and dangerous steam engines on Earth - nuclear power.

We also have indicated that all you have to do is dig down deep enough and the planet will give you heat. It's right below the surface, not too far away all the time. You'll have a Gaia steam engine that way, too. There's no danger at all and you don't have to dig that far. All you have to do is heat fluid, and there are some fluids that boil far faster than water. So we say it again and again. Maybe this will show you what's wrong with what you've been doing, and this will turn the attitudes of your science to create something so beautiful and so powerful for your grandchildren. Why do you think you were given the moon? Now you know.

This benevolent Universe gave you an astral body that allows the waters in your ocean to push and pull and push on the most regular schedule of anything you know of. Yet there you sit enjoying just looking at it instead of using it. It could be enormous, free energy forever, ready to be converted when you design the methods of capturing it. It's time.

So in closing, do you understand what you're seeing? You're seeing intelligent design, quantum energy and high consciousness. You are seeing changes in Human nature. You're seeing countries putting things together instead of separating. You are seeing those who don't want war and instead want peace, good schools for their children, safety in their streets and a say in their government. We told you it was going to happen this way. I want my partner to teach these things that I have said in his 3D lectures for awhile. Many won't be able to know these things otherwise.  …”