Japan to lift evacuation order in Fukushima town

TOKYO • Japan will for the first time lift an evacuation order next month in one of two towns where the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant is located, an official said yesterday.

The government plans to lift the order for part of Okuma town - which hosts the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant - on April 10, said Cabinet Office official Yohei Ogino.

In March 2011, a massive tsunami caused by an earthquake slammed into Japan, killing more than 18,000 people and triggering a meltdown at the plant.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

Pentagon okays $1.35b for building border wall

WASHINGTON • Acting Pentagon chief Patrick Shanahan has authorised US$1 billion (S$1.35 billion) for the building of part of the wall sought by President Donald Trump along the US-Mexico border, the first funds designated for the project under the President's emergency declaration.

The Department of Homeland Security asked the Pentagon to build 92km of 5.5m-high fencing, build and improve roads, and install lighting to support Mr Trump's emergency declaration in relation to the border.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

Nude mermaid statues get dressed in Jakarta

JAKARTA • A pair of bare-breasted mermaid statues have been given the family-values treatment at an Indonesian amusement park, where officials slipped golden tube tops over their chests.

While the nude statues have been on display for years at Jakarta's Ancol Dreamland, a recent policy aimed at respecting "Eastern values" has seen the mermaids get an official covering. The statues have also been moved to a more secluded area after visitors kept pulling the coverings down, according to park sources.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE