Attacks on churches and reprisals cause 45 dead in Nigeria

The attacks on three churches in northern Nigeria on Sunday, and the wave of reprisals from Christians against Muslims that followed caused the death of at least 45 people, with the authorities expect the number of victims is even higher. "This balance will increase as we reach the most current information," stated a charge of rescue teams in the region of Kaduna, shortly after local authorities have declared a curfew for 24 hours. The attacks, all suicide attacks and has not claimed , aimed at the Cathedral of Christ the King Catholic and an evangelical church in the city of Zaria, and yet another Christian church in Kaduna, with an interval of about an hour. At least 20 people died in those locations, according to the first results of the authorities, which suspect the action of the radical Islamist Boko Haram, which keeps a campaign of violent attacks against Christian communities in Nigeria. A few hours after the attacks multitudes of Christians in anger, overwhelmingly young, were launched in retaliation against Muslims in the suburbs of Kaduna, a mainly Christian population. correspondent French news agency AFP described seeing the bodies of at least ten people lynched in these riots. The main road from Kaduna towards the federal capital, Abuja, was blocked by groups of Christians, yet advanced to the same source.

Japan stimulus two nuclear reactors

The Japanese government ordered the restart of two nuclear reactors in western countries. This is the first time he announces such a decision since the accident at the Fukushima plant after the tsunami of March 11, 2011. The Minister of Industry, Yukio Edano, and a spokesman for the Kansai Electric Power Company explained that the work for re-commissioning of reactor 3 had already begun. The operations regarding reactor 4 should begin on June 21, they added. The decision to restart reactors 3 and 4 was taken Saturday morning after a long process and outcome of a ministerial meeting following the final agreement of local authorities. According to the Ministry of Industry, the two Ohio units were deemed safe by the Nuclear Safety Agency. The head of government, Yoshihiko Noda, had already pleaded last week for the restart of these units, highlighting the need to take into account the negative impact on the economy and the lives of citizens of a power failure . He also promised to do everything to an accident like Fukushima is not repeated. The reactor shutdown deprived the Japanese of "30% of its electricity production," according to the Prime Minister. The government's decision comes as opinion perplexed. Seven million Japanese have signed a petition for the abandonment of nuclear energy. The catastrophe of Fukushima Daiichi, which revealed the vulnerability of Japanese nuclear facilities, all located on the seafront, has prompted authorities to strengthen their security. More than 20 reactors have so far suffered further mandatory reviews which reports were submitted to the monitoring authorities.

Yemen: 40 al Qaeda militants killed in fighting

Yemeni government forces killed 40 Islamic militants in an offensive against fighters of Al Qaeda in southern Yemen, officials said. The militants were killed in the night from Thursday to Friday in fighting that took place between Zinjibar, capital of Abyan province, and locality of Shoqra, according to the Ministry of Defence. During the fighting on Thursday night, an air strike hit a house, killing four members of one family, according to a military official who requested anonymity. Yemeni forces have taken control of Jaar Tuesday and Zinjibar, two towns in Abyan province which were held by al Qaeda for over a year.