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GBAGBO UNDER ASSAULT Opposition forces in the Ivory Coast launched an assault today to dislodge defiant strongman Laurent Gbagbo from his residence he has been holed up in for two days. The goal is “to seize Gbagbo physically,” the New York Times reports.
RADIATION REMEDY? The operator of Japan’s stricken Fukushima nuclear plant claims it has “plugged” a leak of highly radioactive water that had been flowing into the Pacific Ocean. Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO) stopped the flow with sodium silicate, also known as “water glass,” the BBC reports.
MIGRANTS MISSING A ship carrying approximately 200 North African migrants capsized overnight off the coast of Italy’s Lampedusa island. Italian rescue crews were able to save 48 of the passengers. The vessel’s other 150 migrants are still missing, according to the BBC.
CHINESE CRACKDOWN Uprisings in the Arab world have Chinese authorities on red alert. In recent weeks, police have arrested some 20 dissenters. Around 30 others have simply “disappeared” as a result of the secret crackdown, according to a Le Monde article published by Worldcrunch.
QUICKIE START TO BERLUSCONI SEX TRIAL A much anticipated trial over allegations Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi paid for sex with an underage prostitute got off to an anticlimactic start this morning. Proceedings lasted just seven minutes before being adjourned, the AP reports. The trial against the 74-year-old billionaire resumes May 31.
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