This damaged reactor crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant

Many are sceptical that government-led effort will make area habitable again

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A scene from 'The Impossible'

DVD & Blu-ray review: The Impossible (12)

Juan Antonio Bayona (114mins)

Graeme Smith of Surrey is out for two as he edges a ball from Peter Trego of Somerset to James Hildreth in the slips

Just half an over and out: Graeme Smith fails on Surrey bow

Somerset 384 Surrey 98-4

George Galloway plans to oppose cancellation of Prime Minister's Questions for Margaret Thatcher's funeral and attacks 'canonisation of wicked woman'

Respect MP also plans to disrupt plans to cancel PMQ's to allow MPs and peers to attend service

Smell a rat? Rodent blamed for meltdown scare at Fukushima

A power cut that prompted renewed fears of a meltdown at the crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant has been blamed on a hungry rat.

Portfolio: Noriko Takasugi

The World Health Organization's recent report on the fall-out of the Fukushima disaster appeared largely positive: radiation exposure has had only a minor impact on the overall health of the local population. Yet the meltdown of the Daiichi nuclear plant, two years ago tomorrow – not to mention the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami that induced it – continue to have solemn ramifications for those who live in the area.

Review: A Tale for the Time Being, By Ruth Ozeki

Opening Schrödinger's lunchbox

Kunio Sunow, president of the Ishinomaki Fish Market, shows off two slabs of gold each weighing one kilogram as well as the parcel's invoice and an enclosed magazine article

Gold bars sent to devastated town in Japan

People in the small fishing port of Ishinomaki have expressed their shock and gratitude after being sent gold bars in the post by an anonymous benefactor.

Lord Hanningfield illegally claimed £13,379 in expenses

Disgraced peer Lord Hanningfield wins damages from Essex Police over arrest

A former Tory peer who was jailed over the parliamentary expenses scandal has won £3,500 damages from Essex Police.

Tsunami kills at least five people in Solomon Islands

A powerful 8.0-magnitude earthquake set off a tsunami that killed at least five people in a remote part of the Solomon Islands and triggered evacuations across the South Pacific.

Deadly tsunami hits Solomon Islands

A powerful earthquake off the Solomon Islands has generated a tsunami that damaged dozens of homes and reportedly killed several people in the South Pacific island chain.

Surf's up: Catching the waves on the Severn Bore

A row of men clutching surfboards stand waist-deep in a sludge-coloured river, buffeted by a chill wind. As a distant roar draws near, they look nervously over their shoulders.

What Has Nature Ever Done For Us?, By Tony Juniper

This remarkable book brings into focus a revolution in ideas about the true value of the natural world

UK firms to bid for Japan's nuclear clean-up

British engineers Amec, Babcock International, and Atkins are believed to be circling nuclear decommissioning work estimated to be worth at least $5bn (£3.2bn) in Japan as a result of the Fukushima disaster.

Watts makes waves, but not a perfect storm

We can't get enough of disaster movies. Whatever the scale of horror and devastation they depict, we know that somebody will survive. (United 93, about the hijacked plane that fought back on 9/11, is the only recent exception). The suspense concerns which ones will survive. Who will have the nerve, or the nous, or the sheer good fortune, to escape catastrophe? And what proportion of survivors is required to send home an audience with a sense of catharsis, if not a happy ending – 10 per cent? Five? A handful?

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Special report: How my father's face turned up in Robert Capa's lost suitcase

Special report: How my father's face turned up in Robert Capa's lost suitcase

The great war photographer was not one person but two. Their pictures of Spain's civil war, lost for decades, tell a heroic tale
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The unmade speech: An alternative draft of history

Someone, somewhere has to write speeches for world leaders to deliver in the event of disaster. They offer a chilling hint at what could have been
Funny business: Meet the women running comedy

Funny business: Meet the women running comedy

Think comedy’s a man's world? You must be stuck in the 1980s, says Holly Williams
Wilko Johnson: 'You have to live for the minute you're in'

Wilko Johnson: 'You have to live for the minute you're in'

The Dr Feelgood guitarist talks frankly about his terminal illness
Lure of the jingle: Entrepreneurs are giving vintage ice-cream vans a new lease of life

Lure of the jingle

Entrepreneurs are giving vintage ice-cream vans a new lease of life
Who stole the people's own culture?

DJ Taylor: Who stole the people's own culture?

True popular art drives up from the streets, but the commercial world wastes no time in cashing in
Guest List: The IoS Literary Editor suggests some books for your summer holiday

Guest List: IoS Literary Editor suggests some books for your summer holiday

Before you stuff your luggage with this year's Man Booker longlist titles, the case for some varied poolside reading alternatives
What if Edward Snowden had stayed to fight his corner?

Rupert Cornwell: What if Edward Snowden had stayed to fight his corner?

The CIA whistleblower struck a blow for us all, but his 1970s predecessor showed how to win
'A man walks into a bar': Comedian Seann Walsh on the dangers of mixing alcohol and stand-up

Comedian Seann Walsh on alcohol and stand-up

Comedy and booze go together, says Walsh. The trouble is stopping at just the one. So when do the hangovers stop being funny?
From Edinburgh to Hollywood (via the Home Counties): 10 comedic talents blowing up big

Edinburgh to Hollywood: 10 comedic talents blowing up big

Hugh Montgomery profiles the faces to watch, from the sitcom star to the surrealist
'Hello. I have cancer': When comedian Tig Notaro discovered she had a tumour she decided the show must go on

Comedian Tig Notaro: 'Hello. I have cancer'

When Notaro discovered she had a tumour she decided the show must go on
They think it's all ova: Bill Granger's Asia-influenced egg recipes

Bill Granger's Asia-influenced egg recipes

Our chef made his name cooking eggs, but he’s never stopped looking for new ways to serve them
The world wakes up to golf's female big hitters

The world wakes up to golf's female big hitters

With its own Tiger Woods - South Korea's Inbee Park - the women's game has a growing audience
10 athletes ready to take the world by storm in Moscow next week

10 athletes ready to take the world by storm in Moscow next week

Here are the potential stars of the World Championships which begin on Saturday
The Last Word: Luis Suarez and Gareth Bale's art of manipulation

The Last Word: Luis Suarez and Gareth Bale's art of manipulation

Briefings are off the record leading to transfer speculation which is merely a means to an end