The governor of the region at the centre of Japan's nuclear crisis has criticised official handling of the evacuation of the area around the stricken Fukushima Daiichi power plant.
Fukushima prefecture governor Yuhei Sato said: "Anxiety and anger felt by people have reached boiling point."
Engineers are racing to avert a nuclear catastrophe at Fukushima Daiichi, badly damaged by Friday's quake and tsunami.
The government has declared a 20km (12-mile) evacuation zone around it.
Another 140,000 people living between 20-30km of the facility were told on Tuesday not to leave their homes.
Mr Sato said centres already housing people who had been moved from their homes near the plant did not have enough hot meals and basic necessities such as fuel and medical supplies. "We're lacking everything," he said.
Japanese media have became more critical of Prime Minister Naoto Kan's handling of the disaster, and have accused both the government and plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co of failing to provide enough information on the incident.
Thousands of people were killed in the 9.0-magnitude quake and tsunami. In a rare public appearance, Japan's Emperor Akihito has said he is "deeply worried" about the crisis his country is facing.
The atomic crisis has been caused by the tsunami wrecking back-up diesel generators which kept the nuclear fuel cool at the Fukushima Daiichi plant, 220km from Tokyo.
Workers have been dousing the reactors with seawater in a frantic effort to stabilise their temperatures, since the first in a series of explosions rocked the plant on Saturday.
Helicopters deployed to dump water on the facility on Wednesday were pulled out amid concerns over radiation levels in the air above the site. Reports suggest another plan is now under consideration to use water cannon.
Earlier, the plant's operators evacuated its skeleton crew of 50 workers for about an hour as ground-level radiation spiked.
And yet another fire broke out in a reactor, while steam billowed from another one.
The power facility has sent low levels of radiation wafting into Tokyo, spreading alarm in the city and internationally.
The head of the United Nations nuclear watchdog, Yukiya Amano, said developments at the plant were "very serious", as he prepared to head to the country to assess the situation.
'Unprecedented'
Emperor Akihito went on live TV on Wednesday to make his first public comments on the disaster, and urged an all-out rescue effort.
TV stations interrupted programming to show the emperor describing the crisis facing the nation as "unprecedented in scale".
The 77-year-old - deeply respected by many Japanese - said: "I hope from the bottom of my heart that the people will, hand in hand, treat each other with compassion and overcome these difficult times."
Japan's titular head of state - who acceded to the throne in 1989 after the death of his father Hirohito - said he prayed that every victim would be saved.
He spoke as snow blanketed swathes of the disaster zone, where many survivors have little food, water or heat.
About 450,000 people have been staying in temporary shelters, many sleeping on the floor of school gymnasiums.
More than 4,300 people are listed as dead but it is feared the total death toll from the catastrophe, which pulverised the country's north-east coast, will rise substantially.
In other developments:
- After losing $620bn (£385bn) in the first two days of this week, Japan's stock market rebounded to finish Wednesday up by 5.7%
- France urged its nationals in Tokyo to leave the country or move south; two Air France planes were sent to begin evacuation
- Australia advised its citizens to consider leaving Tokyo and the most damaged prefectures
- Turkey warned against travel to Japan.
Questions:
1) What is going on in japan? (summary)
2) Are people affected?
3) Has the state got a solution to this situation that japan is facing now?
4) How many people died in the quake and the tsunami?
5) What cause the atomic crisis?
David Cameron: military action is "necessary, legal and right"
British jets and a submarine have fired missiles at Libyan military sites as part of a UN-backed international operation to enforce a no-fly zone.
Prime Minister David Cameron called the action "legal, necessary and right".
RAF Tornados flew 3,000 miles from RAF Marham, in Norfolk, and back to carry out their bombing mission.
France, US, Canada and Italy are also involved in the operation to protect civilians from attacks by Libyan leader Col Muammar Gaddafi's forces.
A British Trafalgar Class submarine and US submarines fired a total of more than 110 Tomahawk missiles at Libyan targets.
French planes had destroyed Libyan vehicles earlier on Saturday. US officials said it was a "carefully coordinated" joint operation known as Odyssey Dawn.
Defence Secretary Liam Fox said the Tornados' flights out of RAF Marham had been "the longest range bombing mission conducted by the RAF since the Falklands conflict".
The operation was supported by VC10 and Tristar air-to-air refuelling aircraft as well as E3D Sentry and Sentinel surveillance aircraft, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) said.
Dr Fox said: "This action has provided a strong signal - the international community will not stand by while the Libyan people suffer under the Gaddafi regime."
HMS Westminster is off the coast of Libya and HMS Cumberland is in the region ready to support operations, an MoD statement added.
'Just cause'
Libyan state TV reported that what it called the "crusader enemy" had bombed civilian areas of Tripoli, as well as fuel storage tanks supplying the western city of Misrata.
A Libyan government spokesman described the coalition attacks as "aggression without excuse" and claimed Col Gaddafi had accepted the UN resolution and declared a ceasefire.
He claimed many civilians had been hurt and said ambulance crews had been "doing their best to save as many lives as possible".
A US military spokesman said they would have to wait for daylight before they could assess the success of the missile strikes.
After hosting a meeting of the government's emergency management committee Cobra in Downing Street, Mr Cameron said: "British forces are in action over Libya. They are part of an international coalition to enforce the will of the United Nations.
"We have all seen the appalling brutality meted out by Col Gaddafi against his own people."
It was a "just cause" and in "Britain's best interests", he added.
The Chief of Defence Staff's strategic communications officer Maj Gen John Lorimer said: "This is the first stage. UK and partner forces remain engaged in ongoing operations as we seek to ensure that Col Gaddafi and his forces understand that the international community will not stand by and watch them kill civilians."
Labour shadow defence secretary Jim Murphy said: "We are trying to achieve something relatively precise, which is to stop Gaddafi, his military, his heavy artillery, his tanks, his aeroplanes, from being able to make attacks upon civilian centres.
"And I think that can be done in the way in which the UN's outlined. It won't happen immediately, but I think it can be done."
'Ignored warning'
The former British ambassador to Libya, Oliver Miles, told the BBC it was clear the long-term aim of the military action was to overthrow Col Gaddafi.
Conservative MP Col Bob Stewart, who was a UN commander in Bosnia, predicted that Col Gaddafi's forces would desert their leader.
"The onus is back on people in Libya to make their decision. I really am totally with the idea that all we've done is to stop the killing.
"I've watched what happened in Sarajevo in 1992 and 1993 and could see a repeat of that in Benghazi with brutes shelling civilians," he said.
A British journalist was being held by Libyan authorities in the capital Tripoli, Arab television station Al Jazeera revealed on Saturday night.
A British Trafalgar class submarine of the type in action in Libya, pictured recentlyCameraman Kamel Atalua was detained with a fellow cameraman and two correspondents, after the team had been reporting from Libya for several days.
The military action follows the passing of a UN resolution imposing a ban on all flights in Libyan airspace, excluding aid flights, and authorises member states to "take all necessary measures" to "protect civilians and civilian populated areas under threat of attack".
Questions:
1)Who and who are involved in the operation to protect civilians fron attacks by Libyan leader Col Muammar Gaddafi's forces?
2) what was the total number of Tomahawk missiles fired by the British Trafalgar Class submarine and US at the Libyan targets?
3) What did the French planes destroyed on saturday?
4) what did the US officials said about the destroyment cause by the French planes?
5) Which aircrafts where involved in the operation?
Obama trying to limit military involvement in Libya
Washington (CNN) -- President Barack Obama is trying to limit the United States' role in enforcing a no-fly zone over Libya to support aircraft only and is very reluctant to commit any offensive U.S. firepower, a senior U.S. official familiar with the military planning discussions said Friday.
"We will provide the unique capabilities that we can bring to bear to stop the violence against civilians, including enabling our European allies and Arab partners to effectively enforce a no-fly zone," the president said in a nationally televised statement about U.S. military action.
"The president chose his words deliberately and carefully, and you should be guided by them," the official said. "He is very sensitive that this not be a U.S. operation. We are part of it. And of course, we by nature of our superior capabilities have a lead and leadership role to play. But we are part of it and expect a lot from our partners," the official said.
Asked about the "unique capabilities" the president talked about contributing, the official said that at least for now, they would not involve combat fighters or bombers but instead would include AWACS, intelligence-gathering drones and other intelligence assets, and refueling and air traffic control.
Defense officials said, "Don't just think of a no-fly zone as American pilots flying American fighter jets." They also emphasized how the U.S. could use radar planes to coordinate air traffic control, to guide fighter jets from other countries to conduct air strikes.
They also talked about signal-jamming aircraft that could disrupt Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi's ability to communicate with his forces.
The U.S. official said that the U.S. might use cruise missiles and that although the president was very reluctant to commit to any offensive U.S. weapons, he understands that it is likely the U.S. will be called on to do so.
"Nobody is dying to do this, and you can make a fair case we were led there by the Europeans. One piece of advice I can assure you the president has heard many times in recent days that things can easily go wrong and, to a degree, always go wrong," the official said.
"There is not much time for Gadhafi," the official said. "They don't have a whole lot of time here. It is up in the air as to when. But the president is on the record now, and he knows words must have meaning.
"The hope is Gadhafi hears those words, and none of this is necessary," the official stressed. But when asked whether anyone believes that the Libyan leader will pull back from towns recently seized, the official responded: "No, I haven't heard anyone express that view."
White House officials declined comment.
A spokesman for GOP Sen. Richard Lugar -- who as ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee was briefed along with other congressional leaders by the president Friday afternoon at the White House -- said Obama focused on how the U.S. will mostly support enforcement of no-fly zone diplomatically rather than the U.S. enforcing it.
Lugar stands by his statement that for the U.S. to use military assets, Congress needs to act, but the administration is saying it is stopping short of that for now, his spokesman Mark Helmke said.
Separately, a senior Democratic source said the president emphasized the strong feeling that the U.S. should play a supporting role only and that the U.S. has assets that should be brought to bear in this situation.
Questions:
1) What is Obama trying to do in Libya?
2) What's are the American going to provide to stop the violence against civilians?
3) "Don't just think of a no-fly zone as American pilots flying American fighter jets." this statement was been stated by who?
4) What was the statement of the senior Democratic ?
5) What are the comments of the White House officials ?
