Laurent Gbagbo’s time as the Ivory Coast’s president may seem to be drawing to an end. He’s been refusing to relinquish the presidency ever since he lost November’s election. But troops loyal to the man who did win that poll are fast advancing on Mr Gbagbo’s remaining stronghold after capturing the country’s capital and a key port.

 

An Australian author who has been missing in China has told the ABC he’ll be leaving the country within days. Dr Yang Hengjun who has been an outspoken critic of China’s human rights record went missing on Sunday. It was thought he was being held by the secret police, but it’s now believed that he’ll return to Australia via Hong Kong.

 

Radioactive iodine 10,000 times higher than the recommended safety level has now been found in groundwater underneath Japan’s Fukushima nuclear plant. And as radiation leaks worsen, there’s also been a worrying insight now into how just woefully unprepared the plant was for a disaster. The Wall Street Journal has got hold of the plant’s disaster readiness plan. And this plan shows that the plant had only one satellite phone and just a single stretcher in case of accident.