| » Japan’s government struggled to contain an unfolding nuclear disaster at its Fukushima Dai-ichi power complex, about 240 kilometres (150 miles) north-east of Tokyo. After an earthquake of magnitude 9.0, the biggest in Japan’s modern history, and the devastating tsunami it triggered, at least four of the  complex’s six reactors suffered damage, and there was some leakage of radiation. Radiation levels around the plant at times rose sharply, leading at one point to the evacuation of workers trying to control the disaster. See article » The number of dead and missing after the earthquake and tsunami stood at more than 14,000 by mid-week and was expected to climb. Around 500,000 people were rendered homeless and endured desperate conditions in temporary shelters, with no electricity and freezing weather. » A number of foreign embassies and firms withdrew their personnel from Tokyo. But the government insisted that the 35m people in the Tokyo area faced no immediate health threat. Emperor Akihito took the extraordinary step of appearing on television to express his concern. » The disaster in Japan revived German concerns over nuclear power. Angela Merkel announced a three-month moratorium on a plan to extend the lifespan of the country’s 17 nuclear-power plants, and said that seven facilities built before 1980 would be temporarily shut. The European Union announced plans to test the safety of all nuclear plants in the 27 member states and China suspended approvals for new nuclear facilities. » Raymond Davis, a CIA contractor arrested in January in Lahore for murdering two local men he said he killed in self-defence, was released by a Pakistani court. Details of the deal that led to his freedom were not made public, but it involved the payment of blood money to the families of the men he killed. The case had led to a serious rift with America, which insisted Mr Davis enjoyed diplomatic immunity and should never have been detained. See article  » A Christian serving a life sentence under Pakistan’s Islamic blasphemy law died in jail in Karachi. Officials said the man had a heart attack, but his family claimed he had been fit and healthy. » The Dalai Lama asked Tibet’s parliament-in-exile, based in Dharamsala, in northern India, to accept his decision to step down as its leader and devolve his formal authority to an elected politician. He also proposed amendments to the constitution of the exiled government. Many Tibetans were aghast. » At his annual press conference to mark the end of the session of the National People’s Congress, China’s parliament, Wen Jiabao, China’s prime minister, renewed his arguments for the importance of “political reform”. But he did not say what he meant, and rejected comparisons between China and the “jasmine revolutions” in the Middle East. See article
Pleasing to Putin » In elections to regional legislatures in Russia, United Russia, the pro-Kremlin party, swept the board. But in several regions it took fewer votes than some observers had expected. The Communists finished a distant second. See article » In a television interview, Saif al-Islam Qaddafi, son of the Libyan ruler, said that his father’s regime had helped fund Nicolas Sarkozy’s 2007 presidential election campaign. However, he provided no evidence for the claim and a spokesman for the president issued a denial.
Cracking down » Forces loyal to Muammar Qaddafi won control of rebel towns in Libya’s east and west. Western powers discussed the imposition of a no-fly zone to protect civilians. The Arab League endorsed such a move, so did Britain and France. America gradually moved towards that camp, but Russia and others voiced doubts. See article  » The embattled government in Bahrain invited 2,000 troops from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates on to its soil to help its security forces curb a growing protest movement. After police opened fire on a crowd of mainly Shia demonstrators, the government declared martial law. See article » In Yemen protests spread against President Ali Abdullah Saleh but were met with a fierce crackdown. See article » Five members of an Israeli family were murdered in a West Bank settlement. The attack was blamed on Palestinian extremists » In Niger Mahamadou Issoufou, a long-time opposition leader, won an election run-off and was declared president.
Harmful to thawing relations » A court in Cuba sentenced Alan Gross, an American aid worker, to 15 years in prison. Mr Gross was arrested in December 2009. Cuba’s government said he was illegally distributing satellite equipment and accused him of subversion. Meanwhile, Cuba’s government devalued the convertible peso by 8% against the dollar. The communist island is suffering a foreign-exchange shortage. » The United States State Department said that Jean-Bertrand Aristide, a former president, should refrain from returning to Haiti before a presidential election on March 20th, and that it had asked South Africa, where Mr Aristide has lived in exile since being ousted in 2004, to delay his departure. See article » Mexico’s government confirmed a report that it has allowed unmanned American drones to fly over its territory to gather intelligence on drug- traffickers.
Day by day  » America’s Congress looked set to pass another temporary budget measure (the sixth) to fund government services and avoid a shutdown of operations, this time until April 8th. But some congressmen grumbled that it would be the last time they support such a compromise. See article » Philip Crowley resigned as the State Department’s spokesman, after telling a university audience that the Pentagon’s treatment of Bradley Manning was “ridiculous and counterproductive and stupid”. A soldier, Mr Manning is allegedly behind a mass leak of classified documents to WikiLeaks. He has been held in custody in a military prison and could face a court-martial. His lawyer has complained about the circumstances of his detention, including being placed on suicide-watch and deprived of clothing at night. | 
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