A way of life on the brink of extinction in the Louisiana bayous
Forced out of their homes near a toxic sinkhole, the residents expected help. A year on, they still wait
"It used to be the most beautiful place on Earth. I thought that I'd die down there." The wistful words of Mike Schaff crackle through the co-pilot headphones as he banks his single-propeller plane to make one last circle over the small jumble of homes and canals deep in the verdant bayou country of Louisiana that he has called home all his life.
The burly Mr Schaff, who barely fits in the tight quarters of the cockpit, is not up here to show how the bayous shimmer in the evening light. He has returned, as he has repeatedly in the past year, to view the saucepan-shaped lake that sits to the side of his tiny hamlet of Bayou Corne. "Did they tell you it's still growing?" he asks, before pointing to a faint oil sheen you could only see from up here.
NATIONAL
Huge leak of tritium feared in Fukushima
KYODO
Tokyo Electric Power Co. said Friday that an estimated 20 trillion to 40 trillion becquerels of tritium from the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant may have flowed into the Pacific Ocean since May 2011.
The utility reported the estimate Friday to the Nuclear Regulation Authority after recently admitting that toxic water from the emergency cooling system set up after the nuclear crisis began on March 11, 2011, is leaking into the sea.
Nevertheless, Tepco said the size of the release is roughly in the allowed range of 22 trillion becquerels a year but acknowledged it didn’t take place in a controlled manner. Tritium has a half-life of about 12 years.
Robert Mugabe wins (again). Opponent cries fraud
Robert Mugabe was declared winner of Zimbabwe's election with 61 percent of the vote. His main rival Morgan Tsvangirai said the results were a "monumental fraud."
Africa's oldest leader Robert Mugabe was declared winner of Zimbabwe's disputed election on Saturday, while his main rival Morgan Tsvangirai dismissed the result as a fraud and said he would challenge it in court and in regional forums.
Mugabe, 89, who has ruled the former British colony in southern Africa since its independence in 1980, was formally proclaimed re-elected for a five-year term barely an hour after Tsvangirai announced his planned legal challenge.
"We are going to go to court, we are going to go to the AU (African Union), we are going to go to the SADC (Southern African Development Community)," Tsvangirai angrily told a news conference in Harare. He rejected the result as "fraudulent".
Conciliatory tones in Egypt as envoys seek to avert bloodbath
By Tom Perry and Matt Robinson
Egypt's army-backed rulers and allies of its deposed Islamist president gave the first signs on Saturday of a readiness to compromise, pressed by Western envoys trying to head off more bloodshed.
Faced with the threat of a crackdown on supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood, diplomacy appeared to pick up pace, a month to the day since Egypt's army deposed President Mohamed Mursi and plunged the country into turmoil.
Recognizing for the first time the strength of popular protest against his one-year rule, Mursi's allies said they respected the demands of millions who took to the streets before his overthrow.
Honduras to Militarize Main Prison After Clash
TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras August 4, 2013 (AP)
Honduran President Porfirio Lobo ordered the militarization of the country's main prison on Saturday after a gunfight there left at least three gang members dead and 12 people injured, including three guards.
The aim of the measure, which involves putting soldiers in charge of the prison's security, is to "end the reign of criminals in our prison system, which has done so much damage to our society," Lobo said in a statement.
Police spokesman Miguel Martinez said members of the "Barrio 18" gang fought with other inmates in Honduras' National Penitentiary, which houses 3,351 inmates and is located about 10 miles (15 kilometers) north of the capital, Tegucigalpa.
4 August 2013 Last updated at 00:48 GMT
A Point of View: Why getting the sack was good for Machiavelli
Machiavelli may have bemoaned his fall from favour in 16th Century Florence, but his enforced departure from politics led to the creation of his great work, The Prince, says Sarah Dunant.
He is a singularly impressive civil servant.
His first job came in '98 after a major change of government. He was still in his twenties and obviously knew some of the right people, but it was also a meritocratic appointment - right from the start he showed an acuity and passion for politics.
Part-diplomat, part-adviser, over the next 10 years he travelled ceaselessly to political hot spots, meeting the players, assessing risk and threat and sending back detailed observations and advice.
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