World News
Greater than expected damage seen at Japan reactor
Posted 2 years 1 week ago by Greg Boyce
TOKYO (AP) Nuclear officials say repairs to monitoring equipment have revealed greater than expected damage at one of Japan's troubled reactors that could delay a resolution to the crisis.
They said Thursday the findings indicate it is likely that partially melted fuel rods inside Unit 1 of the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant had fallen to the bottom of pressure vessel and possibly into the larger containment vessel soon after the March 11 quake and tsunami.
Nuclear Safety and In… Click to Read More
Maori head returns to New Zealand after 136 years
Posted 2 years 2 weeks ago by Greg Boyce
Source: The Associated Press
ROUEN, France (AP) Chanting tribesmen have opened a signing ceremony that will see the return of the mummified and tatooed head of a New Zealand Maori after it spent 136 years in a Normandy museum.
An elaborate ceremony was being held at Rouen City Hall during Monday's handover of the head to New Zealand diplomats.
The head is the first to be returned from of a total of 16 in France that were once displayed as exotic curiosities.
The Rouen Museum tried once before,… Click to Read More
Gates: Some US troops may stay if Iraq wants
Posted 2 years 1 month ago by Bea Karnes
Source: The Associated Press
BAGHDAD (AP) The Obama administration would keep U.S. troops in Iraq beyond the agreed final withdrawal date of Dec. 31, 2011, if the Iraqi government wanted them, but the Iraqis need to decide "pretty quickly" in order for the Pentagon to accommodate the extension, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Thursday during what he said is probably his final visit to this war-torn country.
Whether to negotiate an extended U.S. military presence is up to the Iraqis, he said, adding that h… Click to Read More
British military unveils royal wedding plans
Posted 2 years 1 month ago by Bea Karnes
Source: The Associated Press
LONDON (AP) Britain's military says it plans to line the streets with soldiers and perform a flypast in honor of Prince William's wedding to Kate Middleton later this month.
The Ministry of Defense says planes from World War II will join modern combat jets in soaring over Buckingham Palace shortly after the couple tie the knot on April 29.
Soldiers, sailors and airmen will line the path after the couple leave Westminster Abbey, while more than 1,000 military personnel and … Click to Read More
Strong magnitude 6.4 earthquake strikes near Tonga
Posted 2 years 1 month ago by Bea Karnes
Source: The Associated Press
NUKU'ALOFA, Tonga (AP) A strong magnitude 6.4 earthquake has struck at sea northwest of Tonga in the South Pacific. There are no immediate reports of injuries or damage and no tsunami warning has been issued.
The U.S. Geological Survey says Thursday's quake was centered 272 miles northwest of the Tongan town of Neiafu at a depth of 14 miles.
Earthquakes are common in the South Pacific.
High school baseball unifies tsunami-hit Japan
Posted 2 years 1 month ago by Bea Karnes
Source: The Associated Press
TOKYO (AP) If Japan has a field of dreams, it's a well-groomed patch of grass and dirt called Koshien.
Twice a year, high school baseball teams compete at the field outside Kobe in nationally televised tournaments that rivet the country. Last week, at the start of the spring tournament, a teen stood on a podium in front of home plate and made a speech watched by millions, with a dignity and conviction some Japanese find lacking in their leaders as the nation confronts its earthqua… Click to Read More
US aircraft engage Libyan coastguard vessel
Posted 2 years 1 month ago by Bea Karnes
Source: The Associated Press
ROME (AP) U.S. aircraft have fired on a Libyan coast guard vessel, forcing it to limp to shore, after it launched missiles at merchant ships in the port of Misrata, U.S military officials said Tuesday.
A U.S. Navy P-C3 Maritime Patrol aircraft fired at the Vittoria after multiple explosions were seen near the Libyan port Monday evening, according to Joint Task Force Odyssey Dawn statement.
The 12-meter patrol vessel "was hit and no longer operational, and forced to beach n… Click to Read More
Australian writer missing in China feared detained
Posted 2 years 1 month ago by Bea Karnes
Source: The Associated Press
CANBERRA, Australia (AP) Australian diplomats are asking China for information on a Chinese-born Australian novelist and blogger who disappeared in the country.
There are fears Yang Hengjun may have been detained in China's massive crackdown on political expression.
Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs confirmed Tuesday that it is investigating the disappearance of the Sydney-based spy novelist and former Chinese Foreign Ministry official.
The Sydney Morning H… Click to Read More
China launches crackdown on tainted pig feed
Posted 2 years 1 month ago by Bea Karnes
Source: The Associated Press
BEIJING (AP) China's government has launched a yearlong crackdown on illegal additives in pig feed after some pigs owned by meat suppliers tested positive for a banned chemical that can be dangerous to humans.
Tainted pork has become the latest food safety scandal to shock China after state broadcaster CCTV ran an expose earlier this month showing that a subsidiary of China's largest meat producer, based in central Henan province, used pork tainted with the fat-burning drug clenbu… Click to Read More
For Peru schoolkids, sun hats now de rigeur
Posted 2 years 1 month ago by Bea Karnes
Source: The Associated Press
LIMA, Peru (AP) Hundreds of thousands of Peruvian children returned from summer vacation this month with a new addition to their school uniform: a hat.
Education officials in the highland provinces of Cuzco and Arequipa ordered hats for their 740,000 students after a study by a Cuzco hospital found that most children had developed skin irregularities due to exposure to the sun's harmful ultraviolet rays.
Some private schools have chosen baseball caps in school colors. Publ… Click to Read More
