Briefly World

Head of TEPCO resigns over n-crisis

TOKYO: The president of Japans troubled power company,Tokyo Electric Power,resigned Friday,shouldering responsibility for the crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant as the utility booked a 15 billion annual loss. Masataka Shimizu,66,will be replaced by Toshio Nishizawa,60,a senior executive at the company,Tokyo Electric said.

Pawlenty running for US president: Aide

MINNESOTA: Former Minnesota Gov Tim Pawlenty is running for the Republican presidential nomination and will announce his bid Monday,an adviser with direct knowledge of the plans,said. The adviser said Pawlenty will declare his candidacy at a town hall style event in Des Moines,Iowa. The adviser disclosed the information on condition of anonymity.

LIBYA UPDATE

TRIPOLI: NATO fighter jets struck three ports in bombing runs late Thursday in an effort to protect the nearby rebel-held port of Misrata,NATO said on Friday. One bombing run hit the port of Tripoli. Other targets were the Khoms port,between Tripoli and Misrata,and Surt,east of the city.

WASHINGTON: Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafis wife and daughter have fled the country to Tunisia,US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has said. The pressure on the Gaddafi regime has increased to the point that Gaddafis wife and daughter fled across the border into Tunisia in the last two days, she said,in an interview to CBS news.