Briefly

UNITED STATES

Govt to loosen marijuana rules

The US Department of Justice said on Thursday it would immediately loosen restrictions on some marijuana products and move quickly to reclassify the drug as less dangerous, in one of the biggest changes to US drug policy in decades. The move does not legalize marijuana across the United States, but it is likely to reshape the $47 billion industry, which has faced continued barriers at the federal level, even as all but two US states have legalized it in some form for medical use and nearly half have legalized it for recreational use as well. State-regulated medical marijuana products would now be moved from a group of drugs classified as highly addictive, such as heroin, to a less restrictive category for products that have a low to moderate potential for abuse, including common painkillers, ketamine and testosterone.

JAPAN

High radiation detected in Fukushima reactor

"Extremely high" levels of radiation were detected inside the No 2 reactor at the crippled Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, according to the results of an investigation published by Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings, the plant's operator, on Thursday. This marks the first time since the 2011 nuclear accident at the Fukushima Daiichi plant that TEPCO has measured radiation inside a reactor that suffered a core meltdown. According to public broadcaster NHK, the investigation was conducted on April 16. A fiberscope equipped with measuring instruments was inserted into the reactor through piping. At a point approximately five meters above the reactor bottom, radiation levels were measured at approximately 4.7 sieverts per hour, classified as "extremely high". TEPCO stated that the findings indicate a certain amount of nuclear debris remains inside the No 2 reactor.

Xinhua - Agencies