TEPCO to give money to residents unable to return to homes near nuclear plantTOKYO (AP) ― Japan’s government Friday ordered the operator of a tsunami-damaged nuclear plant leaking radiation to pay about $12,000 to each household forced to evacuate from the area.Tens of thousands of residents unable to return to their homes near the nuclear plant are bereft of their livelihoods and possessions, uns

World News April 15, 2011

TOKYO (AP) ― Japan’s nuclear regulators raised the severity level of the crisis at a stricken nuclear plant Tuesday to rank it on par with the 1986 Chernobyl disaster, citing the amount of radiation released in the accident.The regulators said the rating was being raised from 5 to 7 ― the highest level on an international scale overseen by the International Atomic Energy Agency. However, there was

World News April 12, 2011

KABUL (AFP) ― As a civil servant, Afghan Ahmad Mahfooz earns nearly 10 times the average annual salary in his impoverished homeland, but he still cannot afford to marry his fiancee.Already thousands of dollars in debt after hosting a lavish engagement party for 500 guests in December, Mahfooz says he doesn’t know how he will ever afford the kind of wedding his wife-to-be and her family expect.“I o

World News April 11, 2011

TOKYO (AP) ― Once Japan’s leaky nuclear complex stops spewing radiation and its reactors cool down, making the site safe and removing the ruined equipment is going to be a messy ordeal that could take decades and cost hundreds of millions of dollars.Radiation has covered the area around the Fukushima Daiichi plant and blanketed parts of the complex, making the job of “decommissioning” the plant ―

World News April 10, 2011

TOKYO (AP) ― Workers stopped a highly radioactive leak into the Pacific from Japan’s flooded nuclear complex Wednesday, but with the plant far from stabilized, engineers prepared an injection of nitrogen to deter any new hydrogen explosions. Nitrogen can prevent highly combustible hydrogen from exploding ― as it did three times at the compound in the early days of the crisis, set in motion March 1

World News April 6, 2011

MINAMISANRIKU, Japan (AP) ― The only thing left of Minamisanriku City Hall are its two front steps.Nearby, a pink octopus lies dead in a pool of sea water, its tentacles wrapped around a crumpled sheet of corrugated aluminum that may have been a roof, a gate, a wall. Beside it, a broken tarmac road runs as far as the eye can see through fields of demolished houses and debris.As post-tsunami Japan

World News April 4, 2011

IMPHAL, India (AP) ― In his years as a police officer in the badlands of Manipur, Khaidem Muhi had survived an attack on his post and an ambush on a convoy he was guarding. He had been overpowered by insurgents and had his weapon stolen so many times he was hit with a 12-year suspension.Back on the job last month, the 50-year-old was guarding the home of a government official under threat from ins

World News April 4, 2011

WASHINGTON (AP) ― President Barack Obama is about to make one of Washington’s worst kept secrets official: He wants a second term.Democratic officials familiar with the president’s plans said Saturday that Obama intends to file papers as early as this coming week with the Federal Election Commission to launch his 2012 re-election campaign. He also will announce his candidacy to supporters by email

World News April 3, 2011