The world in brief

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“It’s not about the personalities.This is about the responsibility.”

Arseniy Yatsenyuk, Ukraine’s parliament leader, pleading with colleagues to swiftly reach an agreement on an interim government Article, this page

Japan airs 1st post-meltdown energy plan

TOKYO - Japan unveiled its first draft energy policy since the Fukushima meltdowns three years ago, saying nuclear power remains an important source of electricity for the country.

The draft, presented Tuesday to the Cabinet for approval expected in March, said Japan’s nuclear-energy dependency will be reduced as much as possible but that reactors meeting new safety standards set after the 2011 nuclear crisis should be restarted.

Japan has 48 commercial reactors, but all are offline until they pass the new safety requirements.

The draft of the Basic Energy Plan said a mix of nuclear power, renewable energy and fossil fuels will be the most reliable and stable way to meet Japan’s energy needs. It did not specify the exact mix, citing uncertain factors such as the number of reactor restarts and the pace of renewable-energy development.

The meltdowns at the Fukushima Daiichi plant - caused by a 2011 earthquake and tsunami - contaminated some 700 square miles, forced more than 150,000 people to flee their homes and now require a challenging cleanup that has caused new releases of radiation into the environment. The plant’s decommissioning is expected to take several decades and cost roughly $100 billion.

Ex-Guantanamo detainee arrested in U.K

LONDON - A former detainee at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba who is a well-known advocate for the rights of terrorism suspects was arrested Tuesday on suspicion of Syria-related terrorism offenses, British police said.

West Midlands Police said Moazzam Begg was one of four people detained in the Birmingham area of central England.

Police said Begg, 45, is suspected of attending a terrorist training camp and facilitating terrorism overseas.

He was arrested along with a 44-year-old woman, her 20-year-old son and a 36-year-old man - all suspected of facilitating terrorism overseas. Their names were not released.

The four suspects were being questioned at a Birmingham police station and their homes searched.

In 2002, Begg was arrested in Pakistan as an “enemy combatant.” He was detained by U.S. forces at Bagram in Afghanistan and later sent to the prison camp in Cuba.

After he was released in 2005 without charges, he became a director of the advocacy group Cage, which campaigns against purported abuses committed in the name of fighting terrorism.

Israeli police storm Temple Mount protest

JERUSALEM - Israeli police stormed a sensitive Jerusalem holy site Tuesday to disperse a violent protest there, hours before the Israeli parliament debated a nationalist lawmaker’s motion to extend control over it.

Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said about 20 masked Palestinian youths hurled stones and firecrackers at troops from atop the Temple Mount. Police then entered the compound and arrested three people. He said two police officers were lightly wounded.

Revered as Islam’s third-holiest spot, the site’s iconic gold-topped Dome of the Rock enshrines the rock where Muslims believe the Prophet Mohammad ascended to heaven. Jews believe that the rock may be where the holiest part of two ancient temples stood about 2,000 years ago.

The site is so holy that Jews have traditionally refrained from praying on the hilltop, but attitudes among some Orthodox Jews have been evolving, and there has been growing demand to allow Jews to pray there freely as well.

Hundreds flee as Pakistan strikes Taliban

BANNU, Pakistan - Hundreds of families have fled Pakistani tribal areas near the Afghan border where the air force has been targeting Taliban insurgents and their hideouts for more than a week, officials said Tuesday.

Military and intelligence officials said jets and helicopter gunships killed nearly 25 insurgents in the latest strikes Tuesday.

Most of the fleeing families are headed from North Waziristan to neighboring Bannu city, said Lutfur Rehman, an officer with the provincial disaster management authority.

Tens of thousands of Pakistanis have died over the past decade in the Taliban’s war against the state. The militants aim to enforce their harsh brand of Islamic law.

Front Section, Pages 6 on 02/26/2014

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