In brief: Quake hits waters off eastern Russia
TOKYO – A magnitude-7.3 earthquake hit the waters off of far eastern Russia today, the U.S. Geological Survey said. There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries and no tsunami was generated.
The quake hit just before 1 p.m. today. It was centered in the Pacific Ocean 100 mileseast of Poronaysk, Russia, at a depth of more than 388 miles.
In Japan, the Meteorological Agency reported that there was no risk of a tsunami from the quake. Its readings showed the quake was mildly felt on the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido and in the northeastern section of Honshu, Japan’s main island.
Norwegian report blasts police work
OSLO, Norway – A Norwegian commission has criticized authorities for failing to take actions that could have prevented or interrupted the bomb and gun attacks by a far-right fanatic that killed 77 people last year.
The long-awaited report into the July 22 attacks also said the domestic intelligence service could have done more to track down the gunman, but stopped short of saying it could have stopped him.
Anders Behring Breivik has admitted to the bombing of the government’s headquarters in Oslo and the subsequent shooting spree at a youth camp, and is awaiting sentencing.
Monday’s report said the bombing “could have been prevented” if already adopted security measures had been implemented more effectively.
It also said a more rapid police response could have stopped Breivik’s shooting spree on Utoya island earlier.
More journalists killed in Somalia
MOGADISHU, Somalia – Two more Somali journalists were killed in the nation’s capital, bringing the number of journalists slain in the country this year to nine and highlighting the dangers media workers continue to face in the Horn of Africa nation despite increased security in Mogadishu.
U.N. and African Union officials on Monday decried the deaths and demanded that the Somali government put a stop to the killings.
None of the people involved in the nine media workers deaths this year have been prosecuted.