The Latest from Iran (10 January): "A Big Atomic Bomb Will Come Out"

1945 GMT: Elections Watch. Radio Zamaneh offers an overview of the MPs who have been blocked from running in Parliamentary elections in March. It notes that nine of them --- Ali Motahari, Hamidreza Katouzian, Alireza Mahjoub, Ali Abbaspour Tehrani, Fatemeh Ajorloo, Abbasali Noura, Peymon Forouzesh, Ghodratollah Alikhani and Dariush Ghanbari --- "have all been involved in strong criticism of the administration over the past year".

The Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Mohammadreza Bahonar, said disqualifying government critics among the Principlists from running for office is “narrow-minded". However, Tehran Governor Morteza Tamaddon insisted that the disqualifications were carried out according to the law and in the “interests of the sacred Islamic Republic system".

The nominees have four days to appeal the decision, with the final decision to be made by the Guardian Council.

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Japan Latest: A Moment of Silence as Death Toll Climbs

Today, at 2:46 p.m. local time (0546 GMT), Japan observed a moment of silence to mark one week since the 9.0-magnitude earthquake struck, followed by a tsunami and the ongoing crisis at its Fukushima nuclear reactors.

The National Police Agency has just released the latest casualty figures, with 6539 dead and 10,354 missing.

At Fukushima, the Tokyo Electric Power Company says it hopes to restore power to two of the troubled reactors by Saturday to activate cooling systems. Fire trucks have been dousing reactor No.3, while teams are trying to restore a power cable to reactors No. 1 and No. 2 to restart pumps to pour cold water on overheating fuel rods.

The damaged No. 4 reactor:

Photo: Reuters

Japan Latest: The Crisis at the Nuclear Plant

1611 GMT: The situation at the nuclear plants is urgent, indeed. Reuters has this flash update:

"IAEA head says core damage at units 1-3 of Japan's quake-hit nuclear plant confirmed, situation very serious"

1510 GMT: The mayor of Ishinomaki, in Miyagi Prefecture in northeast Japan, says it is likely that 10,000 are missing from the town.

The International Atomic Energy Agency says #Japanese authorities are concerned over the condition of pools for spent nuclear fuel pools at the Fukushima No. 3 and No. 4 nuclear reactor complexes.

0945 GMT: The New York Times summarises the situation at the Fukushima nuclear plant:

The authorities announced that a second reactor unit at the stricken Fukushima Daiichi plant in northeastern Japan may have ruptured and appeared to be releasing radio steam.

Such were the radiation levels above the plant, moreover, that the Defense Force put off a highly unusual plan to dump water from military helicopters to lower temperatures in an overheating pool containing spent fuel rods, news reports said.

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Japan Latest: Explosion at a Third Fukushima Reactor

Earlier LiveBlog: Another Explosion at the Nuclear Plant

2200 GMT: There is another fire tonight at the Fukushima No. 4 reactor complex.

1342 GMT: Reuters has an ominous report: "French nuclear agency says Fukushima nuclear accident is level 6 on INES scale." To put things in perspective, the Chernobyl nuclear disaster was rated a 7 on the same scale. Kyodo news is reporting that the radiation is now too high for normal work in the control room for nuclear reactor number 4.

There was an aftershock, measuring 6.0, just moments ago, though no tsunami warning has been issued.

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Japan LiveBlog: An 8.4 Earthquake and Tsunami Warning

We are in the second day of our LiveBlog coverage of the earthquake and tsunami in Japa. EA is also providing live coverage via Al Jazeera English. There is also on-line access to Japan's NHK World, in English.

Photo: Reuters

2145 GMT: A nuclear safety official says 160 people have tested positive for elevated radiation levels.

2125 GMT: The lights have been turned off at some of Japan's landmark buildings, including the Tokyo Tower, Tsutenkaku Tower in Osaka, Rainbow Bridge in Tokyo, and Bay Bridge in Yokohama, to help save electricity after the loss of the Fukushima nuclear plant.

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Japan Video: Explosion at the Nuclear Plant

The moment of explosion today at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant:

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Japan Video: Today's Earthquake

Neighbourhood swept away in Miyako in Iwate Prefecture, north-east Japan:

The swaying towers in Tokyo:

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Obama's Message En Route to Asia: Time to Make Money

President Barack Obama's Asia tour, with stops in India, Indonesia, South Korea and Japan, has started. 

As a good-bye wave before his trip, Obama's "Exporting Our Way to Stability" was published in The New York Times. The President set Washington's goal for the next five years: a doubling of exports. He added: "To do that, we need to find new customers in new markets for American-made goods. And some of the fastest-growing markets in the world are in Asia, where I’m traveling this week."

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China This Week: Sino-Russian Partnership; Cooperation With EU, Beijing Going to the Moon

China, Russia Talk Energy, Security, Finance:  China and Russia have issued a joint statement on strategic partnership in energy. 

The two sides pledged cooperation on crude oil, natural gas, coal, electric power, nuclear energy, energy efficiency, and renewable energy, and they looked for a quick consensus on the construction of the Sino-Russian natural gas pipeline. The two sides agreed to promote the development of coal mines, supported by railway and port construction, and to work together on trading of electric power and grid enhancement.

In a statement signed by Chinese President Hu Jintao and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, Beijing and Moscow called on Asian and Pacific countries to step up efforts to maintain regional security and stability amid mounting threats and challenges in the Asia-Pacific region.

Both sides also agreed to expand bilateral financial cooperation, including mutual trading between the renminbi (RMB), the Chinese currency, and the ruble.

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China Economy Weekly: Currrency and Trade Arguments, Rare Earths and Japan, Banks in Taiwan

Currency Issues:  Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao has there was no basis for the drastic appreciation of the yuan, the Chinese currency. He added the issue was an economic one and must not be politicized.

Critics have claimed that China keeps the level of the yuan low to win competitive advantages in trade. However, Wen said, there was no connection.

The yuan appreciated 55.2% from January 1994 to July 2010. Meanwhile, major currencies of the world had depreciated, with the US dollar dropping 2.5%, the euro 3.8% and the Japanese yen 19.5%.

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