DISASTERS
Fukushima, two years later
In Japan's worst national crisis since the Second World War, the island nation known for its awe-inspring technological achievments was put at the mercy of nature. A 9.3-magnitude undersea earthquake triggered a massive tsunami that left 15,880 dead, 2,694 missing and 6,135 injured.
The tsunami also caused a nuclear meltdown at the Fukushima Daiichi plant, causing the entire world to re-evaulate the safety of atomic power. Two years later, Japan and the world are sill coping with the legacy of this historic catastrophe.
Russia puts dead whistleblowing lawyer on trial
Relatives say case against man who died in custody is revenge on part of Kremlin
A whistleblowing Russian lawyer whose death in custody became a symbol of rights abuses and strained relations with the United States will go on posthumous trial tomorrow in what relatives say is revenge by the Kremlin.
Sergei Magnitsky, who died while in pre-trial custody in 2009, is being prosecuted for defrauding the state in what will be the first time Russia has ever tried a dead person, a development Amnesty International says sets a "dangerous precedent".
Mr Magnitsky had been jailed after accusing police and tax officials of multimillion dollar tax fraud. His employer says the charges against him were a reprisal and that he was murdered, and the Kremlin's own human rights council aired suspicions he was beaten to death.
Rainforests may be more resilient than feared: study
March 11, 2013 - 8:20AM
The world's tropical forests are less likely to lose biomass, or plant material, this century due to the effects of global warming than previously thought, scientists said in a paper published in the journal Nature Geoscience on Sunday.
This adds to growing evidence that rainforests might be more resilient to the effects of climate change than feared.
Other factors not included in this study, such as fire and deforestation, will also affect the carbon stored in tropical forests
Tropical forests play an important role in the world's climate system because they soak up carbon dioxide and use it to grow leaves, branches and roots.
Post-election Kenya: Between joy and gloom
People danced in the streets after the announcement of Uhuru Kenyatta's victory on Saturday, while areas loyal Raila Odinga plunged into gloom.
In the western lakeside city of Kisumu, an Odinga stronghold and his home region, youths jeered at paramilitary units and chanted "No Raila, no peace", as local police and community leaders appealed for calm.
When the electoral commission confirmed that Kenyatta would be the new president, around 100 youths started stoning police. But amid fears of a repeat of the violence that devastated Kisumu and other towns five years ago after the last elections, police moved swiftly to contain the violence.
Shops in the centre of the city, which had begun opening up, quickly shuttered again, and the area became largely empty.
Malvinas curriculum helps Argentina revive Falklands claim
Residents of the Falklands vote today and tomorrow in a referendum that's expected to reaffirm the population's desire to remain an Overseas British Territory.
In a sunny classroom in rural Argentina, a teacher stands in front of a group of primary school students in white coats.
Behind her two maps pasted on the chalkboard display Argentina and the wing-like shape of a group of 800 tiny islands Argentines contend are being illegally occupied by the United Kingdom.
“Would I need a passport to go to Tierra del Fuego?” the teacher asks.
“No,” students say.
“Then why is a passport required to go to Malvinas?”
“Because it’s dominated by the English.”
Scientists say remains suggest
Stonehenge started as graveyard
By Sylvia Hui, The Associated Press
LONDON — British researchers have proposed a new theory for the origins of Stonehenge: It may have started as a giant burial ground for elite families around 3,000 B.C.
New studies of cremated human remains excavated from the site suggest that about 500 years before the Stonehenge we know today was built, a larger stone circle was erected at the same site as a community graveyard, researchers said
"These were men, women, children, so presumably family groups," said University College London professor Mike Parker Pearson, who led the team. "We'd thought that maybe it was a place where a dynasty of kings was buried, but this seemed to be much more of a community, a different kind of power structure."
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