Robots in Fukushima: Engineers at Japan’s wrecked Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant recently sent a small scorpion-like robot crawling down a pipe into an area with radiation levels that would kill a human in minutes. The journey killed the robot, too, writes Daniel Hurst. The ill fated machine, named Sasori, is one of several robots sent into highly radioactive zones in reactor buildings by engineers trying to deal with the nuclear disaster.
South Korea impeachment: The corridors of power have been home to South Korea’s Park Geun-hye as a child, de facto first lady and president but she is now leaving them in disgrace, crippled by a corruption scandal that made her the country’s first head of state to be removed by impeachment.
Agence France-Presse reports the president stands accused in a scandal that has allegedly squeezed tens of millions of dollars from South Korean businesses, including many of the country’s biggest companies, in exchange for governmental favors.
Mixed martial arts: The world of MMA will turn its attention to Bangkok on Saturday when the sport’s youngest-ever world champion, Angela Lee of Hawaii, puts her ONE atomweight world championship belt on the line against Taiwan’s Jenny Huang. Pedro Chan writes that the sport is on the rise across the region and Lee has been in the forefront of ONE Championship’s promotions. While Lee says she welcomes all the attention, she says it’s now time to get on with what she does best – fighting in a cage.
Indonesia and Australia: Indonesian President Joko Widodo’s official visit to Australia in late February was trumpeted for the full restoration of defense ties after a brief severance over hurt sensibilities. But, writes Helen Clark, Widodo’s off-hand remark and Canberra’s subsequent denial that the two sides are considering joint naval patrols in the South China Sea show that strategic ties between the two island-nation neighbors are still not well-coordinated.