Gates of Vienna News Feed 3/17/2011

The situation at the Fukushima nuclear plant in Japan is still dire, but has not worsened significantly since yesterday. Emergency workers have been dousing the pools containing spent fuel rods using helicopters and fire hoses, in an attempt to keep them cool enough until the new power line to the complex is completed. Smoke is rising from reactor #2, but officials are concentrating on reactor #3, whose condition they believe is more dangerous.

Meanwhile, the United Nations Security Council passed a resolution authorizing the establishment of a no-fly zone over Libya. The United States, Britain, and France voted for it, but China, India, and Russia abstained. There is no word about what mechanism will be set up to enforce the no-fly zone, or whether anyone besides the United States military will be assigned the task of enforcement.

In other news, anti-government demonstrations have broken out in Syria.

To see the headlines and the articles, open the full news post.

Thanks to AC, Anne-Kit, Blazing Cat Fur, C. Cantoni, Diana West, DS, Gaia, Insubria, JD, Takuan Seiyo, Zenster, and all the other tipsters who sent these in.

Commenters are advised to leave their comments at this post (rather than with the news articles) so that they are more easily accessible.

Caveat: Articles in the news feed are posted “as is”. Gates of Vienna cannot vouch for the authenticity or accuracy of the contents of any individual item posted here. We check each entry to make sure it is relatively interesting, not patently offensive, and at least superficially plausible. The link to the original is included with each item’s title. Further research and verification are left to the reader.