Contaminated water with dangerously high levels of radiation is leaking from a storage tank at Japan's crippled Fukushima nuclear plant, the most serious setback to the cleanup of the worst nuclear accident since Chernobyl. [...] The latest leak is so contaminated that a person standing half a meter (1 ft 8 inches) away would, within an hour, receive a radiation dose five times the average annual global limit for nuclear workers. After 10 hours, a worker in that proximity to the leak would develop radiation sickness with symptoms including nausea and a drop in white blood cells.
The latest leak is so contaminated that a person standing half a meter (1 ft 8 inches) away would, within an hour, receive a radiation dose five times the average annual global limit for nuclear workers.
After 10 hours, a worker in that proximity to the leak would develop radiation sickness with symptoms including nausea and a drop in white blood cells.
Twice in the past two weeks, conservative leaders have turned her name—a name that has filled the fantasies for millions of girls—into an insult for Texas state senator Wendy Davis. First conservative pundit Erick Erickson of Redstate.com and Fox News called Davis “Abortion Barbie” on Twitter, in an apparent reference to her pro-choice views and physical appearance. Then last weekend Texas attorney general Greg Abbott thanked a supporter who called Davis “Retard Barbie” over Twitter. Both slurs caused a media and political firestorm. Neither were approved by Mattel, Barbie’s manufacturer and a fierce protector of Barbie’s reputation. “As a pop-culture icon, Barbie is often referenced as part of larger conversations occurring in culture,” a spokesperson for the company says. “The so-called ‘Wendy Davis doll’ is not produced or endorsed by Mattel.”
Afghanistan's president, Hamid Karzai, has lined up a high-profile negotiating team to thrash out a critical long-term security deal with the US, raising hopes that talks suspended in June might restart soon. [...] The bilateral security agreement will provide a framework for American soldiers to stay on in Afghanistan after the [NATO] combat mission ends next year.
The bilateral security agreement will provide a framework for American soldiers to stay on in Afghanistan after the [NATO] combat mission ends next year.
Republican Rep. Tom Reed isn't great at paying his taxes. Over the weekend, a story from The Buffalo News reported that the New York lawmaker has been late 38 times paying his property taxes since 2005. Having paid $3,486.51 in late fees, Reed is now on the right side of the law, but as a member of the committee that actually writes tax law it's more than embarrassing. At least he has plenty of company. For it turns out that several members of Congress aren't so into writing that check to the government.
At least he has plenty of company. For it turns out that several members of Congress aren't so into writing that check to the government.
According to an analysis conducted by the National Women’s Law Center (NWLC), more than 70 percent of the new abortion restrictions enacted in the first half of 2013 don’t include any kind of exemption for pregnancies that result from rape. And state lawmakers proposed even more measures to limit rape victims’ abortion access that didn’t make it into law — the NWLC’s report finds that 86 percent of the anti-abortion bills proposed during the same time period didn’t have a rape exception.