Horoscope: Pisces,1 SEP, 2013.

Horoscope: Pisces
Independence is key for you, Pisces, so even though it may not be Independence Day, feel free to celebrate anyhow. Give thanks to all the freedoms you have, and make sure you're taking advantage of them. You are your own entity with a strong life force that's capable of anything. Gather your spirit, mount your horse, and ride off to adventure.

Horoscope: Aquarius,1 SEP, 2013.

Horoscope: Aquarius
You may wake up to a cloudy brain fog, Aquarius. Emotionally, you may find it hard to make decisions about anything even though you're feeling called to do so. There are so many choices and you want them all. The good news is that you should feel much more clearheaded and stable by evening. Hang in there.

Horoscope: Capricorn,1 SEP , 2013.

Horoscope: Capricorn
Keep up the positive self-esteem that you've been working on for the past several weeks, Capricorn. This is one of those days when you'll be presented with a situation where you can demonstrate your courage and independent mind. Use your powerful spirit to overcome any fears you have. There's no reason to doubt yourself now. Feel free to strut your stuff.

Horoscope: Sagittarius,1 SEP, 2013.

Horoscope: Sagittarius
Be careful about planning things too much, Sagittarius. Leave the morning open for spontaneous acts and haphazard events. Let the structure of the afternoon slowly evolve from the morning's events. You don't need to build Rome in a day. Enjoy a leisurely morning, and see if you can convince someone to bring you breakfast in bed. This is the perfect way to start the day.

Horoscope: Scorpio1 SEP, 2013.

Horoscope: Scorpio
Whether your realize it or not, you'll have the upper hand today, Scorpio, so take advantage of this opportunity. Things may be going so well that you might not even notice what a fantastic time you're having. Sit back and take a moment to appreciate your good fortune. Others will gravitate to you naturally, and you'll always seem to have the right answers to the questions.

Horoscope: Libra,1 SEP, 2013.

Horoscope: Libra
Frustration may set in early today, Libra, but things should pan out for you as the evening approaches. Once you deal with an issue, let it rest. There's no need to keep revisiting an old dispute just because you want to prove you're right. If people don't agree the first time around, they probably won't agree the second or third time either.

Horoscope: Virgo,1 SEP, 2013.

Horoscope: Virgo
Overall, this should be a pleasant day, Virgo, and you'll be properly recognized for the person you are. You may feel like royalty, so feel free to dress in your most regal attire. Take an independent viewpoint when asked about running your castle. Be creative, honorable, and permissive in your rule.

Horoscope: Leo,1 SEP, 2013.

Horoscope: Leo
You may be trying to cling to something that doesn't want to sit still, Leo. It's like trying to grab a wet fish. The more tightly you squeeze it, the likelier it is to slip out of your grasp. The trick is to be more strategic and less frantic. You also might consider letting the fish go. It isn't yours anyway.

Horoscope: Cancer,1 SEP, 2013.

Horoscope: Cancer
Extend the day by getting up earlier than usual, Cancer. Even though it may be hard to leave the comfort of your bed, the rewards will be many. The celestial energy beckons you to get up and join the activities of the day. You'll be much more productive and accomplish a lot by the end of the day.

Horoscope: Gemini,1 SEP, 2013.

Horoscope: Gemini
Relationships should go well for you, Gemini. You should be able to find emotional stability when you form a relationship with someone you trust. Don't get discouraged if this person tends to be aloof. Your friend is just giving you space to breathe and grow. Direct more of your energy outward so you may begin to manifest the ideas that you store up inside.

Horoscope: Taurus,1 SEP, 2013.

Horoscope: Taurus
Make sure you have an equal amount of give and take in your life, Taurus. If someone gives you a compliment today, know how to receive it graciously instead of brushing it off as something meaningless. At the same time, be generous with your compliments to others. It costs you nothing and it's worth a treasure chest of gold. How can you beat a deal like that?

Horoscope: Aries,1 SEP, 2013.

Horoscope: Aries
Things may be unstable for you this morning, Aries, but improve quite a bit by the end of the day. If you can, you should probably just sleep this morning. Get a full amount of rest so you can fully enjoy the latter part of the day. This will leave you with plenty of energy so you can make the most of your night with someone special.

France, following US and UK, applies brakes on Syrian war rhetoric

France, following US and UK, applies brakes on Syrian war rhetoricFollowing Washington and London’s lead, French President Francois Hollande said he would wait for a parliamentary vote before committing France to a military attack on Syria.

The announcement comes as NATO countries reconsider whether to take military action against the Syrian government over a chemical weapons attack that killed hundreds of people in Damascus, amid growing public opposition to a US-led military intervention.

Paris backed off immediate military action against Syria after MPs in the UK House of Commons defeated Prime Minister David Cameron’s proposal that British forces take part in military action over the alleged use of chemical weapons by Assad’s government. The war vote – the first lost by a British prime minister since 1782 – was followed by US President Barack Obama saying Saturday that he would wait until he receives authorization from the US Congress before taking military action on Syria.

Surprisingly, given France’s past hesitation to join in military adventures, Hollande has been the most vocal supporter of a US military operation, which Obama said would not include “boots on the ground.”

The French president, unlike the British prime minister, does not require permission from the country’s parliament, the National Assembly, to order military action.

Hollande’s Socialist government was quick to jump on the anti-Assad bandwagon, accusing the Syrian leader of carrying out the attack, with his foreign minister saying that information pointed to Syrian government forces being behind what it called a "chemical massacre."

"All the information at our disposal converges to indicate that there was a chemical massacre near Damascus and that the Bashar regime is responsible," French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said on August 24.

Syrians walk past destroyed buildings in the northern city of Aleppo (AFP Photo)

Russia has criticized Western nations for jumping to conclusions over the attack, however, with President Vladimir Putin saying on Saturday that it was “utter nonsense” to believe that the Syrian government would use chemical weapons on its own people at the same time as UN weapons inspectors were in the country.

Before delivering his speech on Syria outside the White House, Obama explained his decision to Hollande in a telephone call, an official in the French president's office told reporters.

French Interior Minister Manuel Valls said on Sunday France would not act alone in Syria but would await a decision by the US Congress.

"France can not go it alone," Valls told Europe 1 radio. "We need a coalition."

French prime minister, Jean-Marc Ayrault, is scheduled to meet with the heads of the two houses of parliament and the opposition on Monday to discuss the Syrian situation in the run-up to a parliamentary debate on Wednesday.

Russia has warned that Washington’s apparent plans for military intervention in Syria would only serve to increase the violence now gripping the country.

"Any unilateral use of force without the authorization of the UN Security Council, no matter how 'limited' it is, will be a clear violation of international law, will undermine prospects for a political and diplomatic resolution of the conflict in Syria and will lead to a new round of confrontation and new casualties,"Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Aleksandr Lukashevich said. There was a lack of proof that the Syrian government used chemical weapons, he added.  

Egypt’s Foreign Minister, Nabil Fahmy, has said that his government is against military intervention in Syria.
 
"Egypt rejects military intervention in Syria, as we believe a political solution is the only way out for the crisis there. Egypt supports the Geneva-2 talks," Fahmy told reporters in Cairo on Tuesday, citing Chapter 7 of the UN charter, which provides for the use of military action if it is proven that a country has become a danger to international peace and security.
 
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said that he had discussed with Obama “how we can expedite the process of investigation” into the attack, but added: “I have also expressed my sincere wish that this investigation team should be allowed to continue their work as mandated by the member states."

Meanwhile, NATO's secretary general, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, said Friday that the military alliance has no plans to participate in a military attack on Syria, a move that would require the approval of all 28 member countries. 

Every possible scenario': Israel readies anti-missile defenses for probable Syrian strike

'Every possible scenario': Israel readies anti-missile defenses for probable Syrian strike
Israeli soldiers check an "Iron Dome" battery, a short-range missile defence system (AFP Photo)

Israel announced it is prepared for "every possible scenario," including a retaliatory strike, in response to a possible US attack on Syria. Over the weekend, the Israeli Defense Force deployed Iron Dome anti-missile batteries in the Tel Aviv area.

With the US threatening to attack Syria over its alleged use of chemical weapons, Israel fears Damascus may respond by firing missiles at Israel.

“Israel is calm and sure of itself, the citizens of Israel know that we are prepared for every possible scenario,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday.

Apart from deploying Iron Dome batteries and raising the alert levels of the Patriot and Arrow systems, the Israeli Defense Force canceled weekend leave for soldiers based in the north, Israel Hayom reported. Weekend leave was also canceled for soldiers serving in key units of the Israeli Air Force, Homefront Command and Intelligence Corps, and several hundred reservists have been called up to these units.

With gas mask distribution centers mushrooming around the country, Netanyahu issued a statement Thursday reassuring people that "there is no need to change our routine at this time."

"Despite the low probability that Israel will become involved in what is happening in Syria, we decided to deploy the Iron Dome batteries and other interception systems," Netanyahu said. "We are not involved in the civil war in Syria, but let me reiterate, if someone tries to harm Israel’s citizens, the Israeli Defense Force will respond with immense power."

While polls in the UK and France have found strong opposition to their countries attacking Syria, a similar poll in Israel showed that two-thirds of respondents would support American and European military intervention in Syria.

Israel may be the only pro-Western country where there is widespread support for an American and European attack on Syria, according to Israel Hayom newspaper. Its latest survey, conducted by New Wave Research, showed that 66.8 percent of the Israeli population approve of a possible attack, and only 17 percent are opposed to a US/EU strike. 

Up to 73 percent of Israelis believe that an attack against President Assad's regime will ultimately take place. To be on the safe side, over 71 percent of those questioned have already equipped themselves with gas masks.

Israelis queue up to collect gas mask kits at a distribution center in the Mediterranean coastal city of Haifa, northern Israel, on August 29, 2013 (AFP Photo)

Over 57 percent believe if the US attacks Syria, the Israeli Defense Force will act against specific targets or threats. Only 13 percent of Israelis think that things will worsen into an all-out war in the Middle East. Over 28 percent stated they are not concerned that a US attack will drag Israel into a war.

Another poll, published in Friday’s Ma’ariv newspaper, found that Israelis are strongly against an Israeli attack on Syria. If the US does not intervene in Syria, 77 percent of respondents said Israel should not get involved militarily, while only 11 percent believed it should.

The US government claims that Syria is responsible for using banned chemical weapons. US intelligence agencies claim that the Aug. 21 chemical weapons attack near Damascus killed a total of 1,429 Syrian civilians, including 426 children, and that Assad should be held responsible for the attack.

US President Barack Obama used the data to make the case for military retaliation against the Syrian government.

Syria’s Prime Minister has said his country is ready for any possible foreign strikes, saying that “the Syrian army is fully ready, its finger on the trigger, to face any challenge or scenario that they want to carry out,” in a written statement broadcast on television.

On Saturday, Obama said he was putting on hold the plan to strike against Syria until Congress votes on military intervention. A vote is planned for when US lawmakers return from summer recess on September 9.

Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin, said Saturday that the idea that the Syrian regime had used chemical weapons on its own people was "utter nonsense," and urged Washington to present its evidence to the UN Security Council. Earlier in the week, the UN chemical inspection team finished its work in Syria and headed to The Hague with samples taken at the sites of the alleged chemical attack. According to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, it may be two weeks before for final results of their analysis are ready.

Fireball in Russia’s Far East puzzles sky-watchers (VIDEO)

Witnesses in Russia’s Far East were astounded to see a spectacular burning object break up in the sky near Vladivostok. Though bloggers hailed it as a “meteor,” scientists are skeptical.

Photos and videos of the object posted online have provoked a debate on Russian social networks, with various ideas offered for what it might be.

“I was sitting in my car. I did not start taking pictures immediately – first I did not pay attention. It was flying soundless,” said one Internet user, who posted several photos of the event.  

Witnesses said the early morning sky over Russky Island, across Vladivostok Bay, was lit up by a fireball, which later turned into a flaming line that remained in the sky for an hour and a half.

Some Russian media reported the sightings as a “meteor,” saying it was some 15 kilometers above the ground.

Other people speculated that the object could be a plane, an unmanned aircraft, a space craft or a distress flare.

Russian astronomer Vladimir Surdin linked the sighting to the launch of a Zenit 3SLB rocket from the Baikonur Space Center in Kazakhstan on Sunday.

“The photos show that this was an artificial object,” Surdin, of the Stenberg Astronomical Institute in Moscow, said. “It was moving from west to east and was witnessed some 20 minutes after the launch.”

Speculation that the object could have been a meteor was heightened because of the global media attention attracted by a meteor that exploded near Chelyabinsk, in Russia’s Urals region, in February.  On that occasion, the impact wave damaged several buildings and blew out thousands of windows amid frigid winter weather. One of the fragments that struck near Chebarkul left a crater six meters in diameter.

Beslan marks 9 years since deadly school siege, Russia’s worst terror attack

Thousands of people are taking part in three days of remembrance ceremonies to mark nine years since the Beslan school siege in north Ossetia – Russia’s deadliest terrorist attack.

Local people are expected to flock to the site of the tragedy to light candles, leave toys and flowers and pay tribute to the victims of the attack, which left 334 people dead, 318 of them hostages, including 186 children. Funeral music will be played at the school's gym, which was turned into a memorial site after the attack. 

Over a thousand people were taken hostage in Beslan’s Secondary School No. 1 on September 1, 2004, the first day back at school after summer vacation. The hostages were held at gunpoint and denied water, food or medical help for three days. 

On September 3, the siege came to an end after terrorists, calling for a separate Chechnya, detonated explosives in the gym and security forces intervened to free the hostages. As well as the dead, the siege left 810 people were wounded. Seventeen children lost both parents. The cemetery where the victims of the siege are buried is described locally as the “Town of Little Angels.” 

A Russian police officer carries a released baby from the school seized by heavily armed masked men and women in the town of Beslan (Reuters / Viktor Korotayev)

Twins Soslan and Larisa were four years old at the time of the siege. Although they had not started school, like many people in Beslan they were in the school for the traditional “Knowledge Day” celebrations. 

"There was a shower room over there. We went there through lines of gunmen. One of the terrorists was here. And when we left the room, he fired at some of us," Larisa said in RT's documentary “Town of Little Angels.” 

"At first I thought it was a sound of bursting balloons or something. But then I got really scared when I saw people smashing windows," said another former hostage, school student Chermen Bugulov. 

Natalia Satsaeva, also a hostage, could hardly hold back her tears as she recalled the tragic events. "We were crowded into the gym as if we were cattle meant for the slaughterhouse. We sat wherever we could, some on the floor, others on benches. Senior pupils were told to suspend tripwires from the ceiling. Only then did I realize what was going on..." 

A Russian special police officer aims his rifle near the school seized by heavily armed masked men and women in the town of Beslan in the province of North Ossetia near Chechnya, September 2, 2004 (Reuters / Viktor Korotayev)

The siege began after a group of more than 30 terrorists stormed the school, where hundreds of pupils with flowers were attending the traditional ceremony marking the beginning of the school year with their parents. 

A total of 1,128 people were held as hostages in the gym, which the terrorists mined with explosives. Despite negotiations with the terrorists, the hostages were denied medical attention, food and water. 

Chechen separatist leader Shamil Basayev claimed responsibility for the attack. The terrorists reportedly demanded that Russia’s army leave Chechnya and that the republic be granted independence. 

On the afternoon of the third day of the siege, September 3, several blasts shook the school, and a fire broke out. Many of the hostages were shot as they rushed out of the gym. Russia's security forces then began an assault on the besieged school. Twenty-seven terrorists were killed, on top of four who had been killed earlier. The only terrorist captured alive, Nur-Pashi Kulayev, was later sentenced to life in prison.— Output - Tim Wall, Сегодня 17:47

A television grab shows soldiers at the scene of a hostage taking at a school in the town of Beslan in the province of North Ossetia (Reuters / Reuters TV)

A television grab shows a soldier helping a girl away from the scene at a school in the town of Beslan in the province of North Ossetia (Reuters / Reuters TV)

NSA hacked Al-Jazeera and Russia’s Aeroflot – report

Edward Snowden’s whistleblowing revelations about US surveillance got a little creepier with the revelation that the National Security Agency hacked into Al-Jazeera TV’s encrypted e-mails, as well as Russian airline Aeroflot’s ticketing system.

German newspaper Der Spiegel reported the latest leaks, after seeing documents supporting the claim.

According to the newspaper, hacking into Al-Jazeera’s protected e-mails is considered no small feat in the US intelligence community. Among other things, the Arab news network has been known for broadcasting messages sent to the world by top Al-Qaeda figures for more than a decade. A substantial number of Osama bin Laden’s video broadcasts, from the 9/11 attacks onward, were broadcast on Al-Jazeera. Bin Laden sometimes appeared in the videos alongside his successor as Al-Qaeda leader, Ayman al-Zawahiri, who is still at large.

One of the documents obtained by Der Spiegel refers to information from March 2006, when the NSA’s Network Analysis Center managed to gain access to e-mails from “interesting targets” protected by Al-Jazeera. But the document also says that NSA officials did not find its’ language analysis of the e-mails particularly useful.

Both Aeroflot’s ticket reservation system and Al Jazeera’s encrypted e-mails were deemed a “notable success,” the NSA document reveals. The spy agency apparently considered both of them as having a“high potential as sources of intelligence.”

The documents seen by Der Spiegel did not reveal the complete extent of the agency’s spying on Al-Jazeera’s journalists or executives, however, or how long it went on. No documents relating to the NSA spying on Al-Jazeera have previously come to light.

As far as Aeroflot is concerned, the hacked reservation system may not have been the last incident involving US spying on the airline. While Snowden was staying at the transit area of Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport, the Internet was awash with rumors that he was going to catch an Aeroflot flight headed for Cuba.

In mid-July, an Aeroflot flight from Moscow to Havana deviated off course, FlightAware live flight tracking indicated. The news sparked a rash of online speculation that Snowden may have been aboard the flight.

The detour spawned speculation in the media that the aircraft may have been trying to avoid entering US airspace. However, the rumors were quickly dispelled, as it was discovered that America’s eastern seaboard was undergoing some rough weather that may have prompted the plane to change course.

By law, Russian airlines are banned from sharing flight passenger data with third parties, Aeroflot spokesman Andrey Sogrin told RT.

On August 1, Snowden’s stay at Sheremetyevo came to an end, as his lawyer revealed that the 30-year-old American had been whisked away by taxi to an undisclosed location.

Reddit’s /r/news: RT banned ‘simply because it’s Kremlin’?

The reason RT.com was banned on Reddit’s /r/news section may not be spam or vote manipulation, as was stated officially, but “simply because it’s Kremlin.” This was revealed by a user from his discussion with one of the subreddit’s moderators.

RT.com was banned from /r/news this Thursday on accusations of “spam and vote manipulation”, with no evidence of the violations being presented by the moderators, who said that this information was only for “internal” use. 

The move caused uproar among the reddit users as the drama was then taken to another subforum, /r/worldnews, where several things were eventually revealed. 

Redditor BipolarBear0, who is listed as one of the moderators for the /r/news section, said that no “vote manipulation” ever took place, and that forum's leading moderator douglasmacarthur, who was behind the ban, made “an honest” mistake by making such announcement. 

When another user asked him to clarify if the ban was explained by “just spam of RT.com links,” the moderator’s answer was: “Yeah.” 

Responding to Michael Reed, co-founder of the Restore the Fourth movement, in another thread, BipolarBear0 stressed that he wasn’t involved in the current decision to ban RT.com, but added that he had in general been advocating the move: “Simply because… It’s the Kremlin.” 

Form the start, RT has denounced the claims of both spamming and vote manipulation as absurd, viewing the sanctions on its website as an act of censorship by the /r/news moderators. 

This stance was shared by a large number of redditors, with even RT’s usual critics, saying that banning a domain without providing any proof is unjustified.  

Many users refused to believe that the violations were committed as it’s not moderators, but administrators, who deal with spamming issues, and accused /r/news of being prejudice towards RT.

The others found the timing for the ban suspicious as it coincided with the escalation of events around Syria in anticipation of a US announcement of military intervention in the Middle Eastern country.

Some redditors demanded a ban of douglasmacarthur himself, while a number announced that their unsubbing from /r/news as they have lost trust in the section.

The moderators weren’t prepared for such an outcry for the users, who flooded the thread with angry comments, and could only reply with more censorship.

It later appeared that nearly all of the 985 comments posted in the thread had been deleted, with only a handful remaining visible on the site. 

RT long on douglasmacarthur’s ban list 

In his post from half a year ago, douglasmacarthur suggested banning a number of domains from the /r/news subreddit, including RT – alongside the Huffington Post, Gizmodo, Gawker, Mashabe, the Raw Story and others. 

The move was explained by his desire to turn /r/news “into the first large news-related subreddit largely free of the alarmism, bias, editorialization, etc.” 

It's noteworthy that after the subject of douglasmacarthur’s ‘media ban list’ was brought up in RT’sprevious story on the issue, moderators have wiped the old discussion clean of all comments and the original post, leaving only the headline. The archived copy of the censored thread however can still be found online.

“That a site is listed doesn't mean we're accusing it of being a bad site, or even that it isn't a trustworthy news-related organization. It merely means that much of the content on its website isn't appropriate for the specific purpose of this subreddit, which is to gather factual news content,” the moderator wrote in the opening post. 

It’s worth noting that RT.com was not singled out in any other way, apart from being on the list. The moderator proposed to ban it as according to him, RT.com fell in the same category as the Daily Mail for providing “misleading/sensationalist/unreliable” content. Others, like the Huffington Post, Gawker and the Raw Story were labeled “Blog Spam.”   

Some users were outraged by the intended ban and totally decried it, with douglasmacarthur being forced to “put this project on hold until further notice.”

'Douglasmacarthur caused fall of Restore the Fourth' 

Meanwhile, the Restore the Fourth movement co-founder, Michael Reed, has blamed douglasmacarthur of bringing disorder into the organization, casting some light on the /r/news moderator as a personality. 

According to Reed, whose Reddit nickname is RTFMicheal, after douglasmacarthur was granted operator rights at the organization’s IRC channel, he “constantly looked to gain access to additional accounts.” 

Reddit is one of the leading social networks. It works by allowing users to submit links from around the Internet, which other users then vote on. The American website, which was founded by Steve Huffman and Alexis Ohanian in 2005, has 2.5 million registered users, called the “redditors,” and nearly 70 million unique visitors every month.

On one occasion, he wanted to respond to a Mashable website interview from the official press inbox and when his request was denied, the threats of sabotage followed.    

“He threatened that if he did not gain access, he would tell Mashable and other reporters not to do an article,” RTFMicheal wrote. “This threat set off alarms; anyone that genuinely cared about our cause would not threaten such a thing, especially over something as simple as access to an email.”

The /r/news moderator refused to “shed his veil of anonymity” as he used TOR software, a hosted phone number and to share information about himself, Reed wrote.

After he “connected the dots,” Reed addressed the movement’s core leadership to remove douglasmacarthur from his position, but instead was asked to leave himself – and hasn’t been connected with Restore the Fourth for the last two months.

In his Reddit post, RTFMicheal said that the douglasmacarthur is responsible for “causing the fall of /r/RestoretheFourth,” but in his letter to RT on Saturday he stressed that now “the movement seems to be back on the right track, but has certainly lost a large amount of momentum.”

Restore the Fourth is a grassroots US organization, which sees its aims in strengthening the Fourth Amendment to the US Constitution and putting an end to the surveillance programs that violate it.

The movement originated on Reddit several days before former NSA contractor, Edward Snowden, started his leaks on the US government’s secret surveillance programs. 

New radioactive hotspots suggest more leaks at Fukushima

New radioactive hotspots suggest more leaks at FukushimaJapan's Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Toshimitsu Motegi (R), wearing a protective suit and a mask, inspects contaminated water tanks at the tsunami-crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Fukushima prefecture August 26, 2013, in this photo released by Kyodo. (Reuters/Kyodo)

Several new hotspots reading potentially lethal doses of radiation have been detected near the tanks storing the radioactive water, forcing the operator to admit there might be even more leaks at the crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant.

Follow RT's LIVE UPDATES on the Fukushima leak emergency 

The high radiation readings were detected during the daily inspection on Saturday near three water tanks and one pipe stretched between the tanks and the plant, Kyodo news agency reported.

Traces of water leak measuring 230 millisieverts per hour were found below the pipe, the agency added. Meanwhile, Jiji news reported a reading of 1,800 millisieverts per hour was near one of the tanks, while the other reported readings measured between 70 and 230 millisieverts.

Tokyo Electric Power Co has admitted the peaking radiation readings, but claimed that none of the containers showed any visible fall in their water levels, according to a statement cited in Japanese media.

Just last week the plant operator disclosed that at least one of the 1,060 temporary tanks used to store highly contaminated water sprang a leak discharging as much as 300 tons of radioactive liquid containing large amounts of cesium.

A worker takes radiation readings on the window of a bus at the screening point of the Tokyo Electric Power Company's (TEPCO) tsunami-crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Fukushima prefecture (Reuters/Toshifumi Kitamura)

Following the incident Japan’s Nuclear Regulation Authority raised the rating of the water leak to Level 3 – a "serious incident" on an international scale of radioactivity from the previously assigned Level 1, an “anomaly.” 

The International Atomic Energy Agency lashed out at TEPCO for ignoring their calls for stepping up patrolling efforts at the plant, accusing TEPCO of being slow in measuring the levels of radioactive elements that have flowed out of the station, as well as publishing its data.

“Unfortunately, TEPCO waited until a severe emergency arose to finally report how bad things really are,”nuclear accident researcher Christina Consolo told RT earlier. “Historically, everything TEPCO says always turns out to be much worse than they initially admit.”  

While Japanese government promised it would supervise the clean-up at the plant from then on, most experts say that it could still take between four decades and a century to eliminate the impact of the Fukushima disaster.