According to German newspaper, the Berliner Morgenpost, the Swedish man is thought to be the brains behind a smuggling operation which sought to sell vulnerable children to a paedophile ring within Germany.

“He is suspected for a total of 20 cases, both in Germany and Haiti,” Martin Steltner, spokesperson for the Prosecutor’s Office in Germany, told the Aftonbladet daily. “Most of them occurred between 2002 and 2003, but a few of them at least happened as recent as last year,” he added.

The 67 year-old, who worked at a school in Berlin, is a member of an aid organisation which is supposed to support Haitian orphans. According to reports, the children, mainly 11-12 year-old boys, were instead shipped to Germany, where they suffered sexual abuse.

The women say that there is a widespread emergency in Japan and people need help. There are shortages of food and drink in the affected region; and that is not all which is hindering survivors, RUV reports. Hundreds of thousands of people have lost their homes and many are receiving only very basic assistance or none at all.

Iceland Post has volunteered to get the collected clothing to Japan at no cost until the end of April.

The Japanese women are encouraging people all over Iceland to get out their knitting needles or buy something in the shops to send to Japan. Organisations are already getting involved, including the Gardabaer elementary school, Statistics Iceland and staff and residents at the Hrafnista retirement home.

Those interested can send an email to hjalpumjapan@postur.is and receive information including what addresses to send the clothing to.

“Although a complete picture is not available, Nokia expects some disruption to the ability of its Devices & Services unit to supply a number of products due to the currently anticipated industry-wide shortage of relevant components and raw materials sourced from Japan,” Nokia said in a statement. “However, Nokia does not expect any material impact on its first quarter 2011 results due to this event,” it added.

Other multinational firms, such as Honda, Nissan, Toyota and mobile phone rivals Sony Ericsson, also saw their factories closed in the immediate aftermath of the quake. Analysts have suggested that Nokia could be hit harder than its competitors, however, due to its success.

“The sheer number of phones it sells means it is likely more vulnerable to unexpected disruptions to component supply than rivals,” Ben Wood at CCS Insight told the BBC.

The Japan disaster, which begun with a 9.0 magnitude earthquake on Friday 11th March, came just days after Nokia announced that it is joining forces with Microsoft in an attempt to take a slice of the lucrative Smartphone market which is currently dominated by Apple and Google Android.

(Photo for illustration purposes only. Not directly connected to the story)

The statement recommends Icelanders to postpone all but essential travel to Japan at the moment and to let the Ministry of Foreign Affairs know their plans if they do choose to go to the country.

The advice continues that citizens currently in Tokyo or further north in Japan should consider moving south until the situation becomes clearer. Icelandic citizens are, of course, being strongly advised not to enter the area nearest to Fukushima. Areas outside an 80 kilometre radius are not considered to pose any direct health threat.

There is no plan to evacuate Icelandic citizens from Japan and it is hoped such action will not prove necessary. The ministry is, however, monitoring the situation closely.

American nuclear experts are advising that the local threat caused by damage and malfunctions at the nuclear facility 200 km north of Tokyo is very serious. Military helicopters have been used to dowse reactor number three with water in an effort to cool it; but smoke and/or steam is still escaping. If the cooling operation fails, it is feared the fuel rods could melt, releasing large amounts of harmful radiation.

Unmanned drone aircraft are being used to photograph the site and monitor developments, Visir.is reports.

Japanese authorities have confirmed that over 6,000 people died in the earthquake and tsunami which caused the damage to the nuclear power station; and also say that a further 10,000 people are still missing. Nearly half a million are sleeping rough in shelters set up in schools and sports halls.

Increasing the amount of potassium iodine or stable iodine in the body reduces the ability of the thyroid gland to absorb and retain radioactive iodine which would be in the atmosphere in the event of a leak. Officials from the Radiation Safety Authority in Finland have, however, emphasized that there is currently no need for self medication.

Tuija Tilander-Leppa of the Mannerheimintie University Pharmacy chain in Helsinki said the public had clearly been rattled by the high profile events in Japan. “The demand for iodine tablets has been very high everywhere. We received a large consignment at our Kaivopiha outlet today and it has already sold out,” she said, adding that there are similar reports from all over the country.

Many Finns have left Japan since the country’s largest ever recorded earthquake (registering 9 on the Richter scale) hit offshore on Friday. Japan has also suffered several strong aftershocks and a tsunami, but all Finns living in the country are thought to have been accounted for.

A second explosion at the Fukushima plant was reported on Monday, but the government insists that the reactor core has not been damaged and there should be no radioactive leaks. The first reactor blew on Saturday, prompting technicians to use seawater to cool the unstable gases and fuel rods.

A statement from the Icelandic Radiation Safety Authority last night stated that there remains a serious problem in cooling reactor number three at the Japanese power station, but that the risk of nuclear material escaping into the atmosphere seems relatively small at this stage. The statement also reads that there is a significant risk of another large explosion at the plant, but that it is unlikely to damage the actual nuclear reactor (something which has now happened since the time of the statement’s release). Radiation safety authorities in other Nordic countries are saying similar things.

Meanwhile the Icelandic president, Olafur Ragnar Grimsson, sent a message of condolence to the Japanese emperor saying that Iceland is thinking of and praying for its close friend in the Far East and that Icelanders are especially sympathetic because they also live with earthquakes. He added however, that Iceland has been extremely lucky in never having faced a disaster such as Japan is now dealing with.

Icelandic Buddhists are gathering in a focused week-long meditation at the SGI headquarters in Reykjavik. The SGI Buddhist association is originally from Japan. A press statement says that everybody is welcome.

An Icelander working in Tokyo told Visir.is she has never been more scared in her life than when the quake hit. She said at first it was like any other earthquake and not a problem; but that it intensified so that the walls and floors in her office were moving in waves. The ensuing communications blackout meant she could not contact her husband who was picking their daughter up from school. It turns out, however, that all Icelandic citizens in Japan appear to be safe.

“Many houses completely collapsed, but not ours,” says the well-known Icelandic/New Zealand singer Hera Hjartardottir, who lives in central Christchurch with her parents.

The 6.3 magnitude earthquake hit at a shallow depth of just 5 km around 10 km outside of the city. It is believed at least 200-300 people are still stuck in the rubble.

Hera told RUV that the destruction is widespread and not dissimilar to the aftermath of a volcanic eruption. “There is no electric, no water, the street is all broken up and we are just holding on closely to the things we love,” she said — adding that all her nearest friends and relatives are alright.

A 14-person group of Icelanders travelling to Christchurch for a wedding were out of contact for a long while, sending alarm bells ringing at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Reykjavik. However they, and all the dozens of Icelanders who live in Christchurch, appear to be fine and are thinking mostly of likely aftershocks, the state of their property and, of course, those who have been less lucky than themselves.

The earthquake in spring 2008 measured 6.3 on the Richter scale and caused extensive damage, although no serious injury or loss of human life.

ISK 270 million comes from infrastructure insurance to compensate the municipality for repairs to property, sewers and hot and cold water mains. ISK 100 million comes from the central government and some ISK 30 million from the civil emergencies fund.

The same is true for affected airports in Scotland, Ireland and southern Europe.

Meanwhile RUV reports a series of earthquakes under and around Eyjafjallajokull which could signal changes to the volcanic eruption.

According to geophysicist Steinunn Jakobsdottir, the quakes could be a sign of a new vent about to open. The volcano already has three vents, but only the one on the northernmost edge is still erupting.

Ash fall in the area has been decreasing and is currently very fine but large rocks have replaced the ash production, apparently caused by the earthquakes. The rocks are being shot high up into the air and crashing down onto the glacier, making holes in the ice. The size and weight of the rocks means that they are a very localised problem and only fall very near to the volcano.

The quake was accompanied by a number of smaller earthquakes under the northeast portion of the glacier.

According to volcanologist Einar Kristjansson, despite today’s seismic activity, all measurements still indicate a slowing down of the volcanic eruption, RUV reports.

Photos: Agust Rafnsson