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<B>PACIFIC COAST. Japan and Russia on tsunami alert. </B>A tsunami was expected to hit northern Japan and Russia’s Pacific coast, the US Pacific Tsunami Warning Center says. Japan’s meteorological agency says a tsunami of at least two metres (6.5 feet) high could hit the islands of Hokkaido and Honshu. Warnings were being broadcast on all Japanese TV and radio stations advising people to move to higher ground. It came after an earthquake of at least 8.1 magnitude rocked the Kuril Islands, north of Japan. The earthquake struck about 390km (240 miles) east of Iturup, known as Etorofu in Japan, at 2015 (1115 GMT), Japan’s meteorological agency said. Other smaller waves may batter the Pacific coast of Japan, the agency said. The US Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said the tsunami warning also applied to Marcus island, Wake island and Midway island. There have been no reports of injuries or damage following the earthquake, while live television pictures from Nemuro, a port on Hokkaido, show calm waters. The BBC’s Chris Hogg in Tokyo says in the past tsunamis have caused extensive damage in Japan but they were of a far greater magnitude than is being predicted.
<B>PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS. Is France headed for a Royal leader? </B>If the pollsters have got it right, could the glamorous and feisty Segolene Royal be on her way to securing France’s Socialist Party nomination for presidential candidate – and then on to become the first woman in charge at the Elysee Palace? Today 53-year-old Royal faces off two political heavyweights, former finance minister, Dominique Strauss-Kahn and former prime minister, Laurent Fabius. Many believe that if she wins the pragmatist Royal represents the party’s best chance of beating the right’s most likely candidate, interior minister Nicolas Sarkozy, in the presidential elections in May. Royal’s campaign has been a rocky ride, amid questions over her socialist credentials, in the world of macho French politics. The fact that she’s a woman — and her relative political inexperience — have made her the subject of more domestic and international media attention than is normally devoted to a French opposition party nomination.
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