The Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI) is petitioning for $3 billion in additional compensation from the U.S. government, after receiving $270 million in an agreement which expired in 2001.
The U.S. government performed a series of 67 tests of nuclear weapons in the Marshall Islands between 1946 and 1958. Fallout from the testing is claimed to have affected some of the island's near 60,000 inhabitants. "We're finding people on remote islands with high percentages of cancers," said RMI Foreign Minister Gerald Zackios.
A report last year
The three Romanian journalists kidnapped in Iraq on March 28 arrived in Bucharest yesterday afternoon, after being set free two days ago. The journalists — Marie-Jeanne Ion, Sorin Miscoci and Ovidiu Ohanesian — were returned by a Hercules military aircraft and were greeted by their families and hundreds of supporters in the Romanian capital. Aside from their families and supporters, the three were also welcomed back by an official Romanian delegation, including President Traian Băsescu and Prime Minister Călin Popescu-Tăriceanu.
Marie-Jeanne
Afghanistan opium cultivation was a record 323,700 acres last year and yielded almost 90 percent of the world's supply. Opium may account for one-third of Afghanistan's GDP.
On Sunday's CNN's Late Edition, Afghanistan's President Hamid Karzai laid the blame for the explosion of opium production in his country at the feet of the US and Britain. "This particular operation in Kandahar or in other parts of the country, which have not been so successful, was supposed to be done by an agency, a department that was funded by the international commu
The three Romanian journalists kidnapped in Iraq on March 28 were freed yesterday. The Presidency issued a release stating that Marie-Jeanne Ion, Ovidiu Ohanesian and Sorin Miscoci, as well as their guide, Mohamed Munaf, were under the protection of the Romanian authorities as of 13:44 UTC, yesterday.
Romania's president, Traian Băsescu, assured people that, for the journalists' release, no ransom was given and there was no negotiation in terms of changing Romania's foreign policy. Romania's 860 troops will remain in Iraq.
Ion Vasile, the fat
The Romanian government has approved a new draft minorities law which will give national minorities the right to study in their native language at all levels of education, from pre-school to university.
If the law is approved by the parliament, the state must guarantee mother tongue education to recognised minorities, either in separate institutions or separate classes. Class sizes in pre-school, primary school and middle school must not exceed 10 people, while 15 students is the limit for high school. All exams can also be taken directly in t
A compromise was reached late Monday in the United States Senate about the use of filibusters against several judicial nominees of President George W. Bush. Seven Republicans joined with seven Democrats to make the deal.
The compromise was announced by Senator John McCain (Rep., Ariz.). McCain said, "We have reached an agreement to try to avert a crisis in the United States Senate and pull the institution back from a precipice that would have had, in the view of all 14 of us, lasting impact, damaging impact on the institution." Future nominees
A protester from the resident's association HACAN Clearskies today pushed a pie into the face of UK Transport Minister Alistair Darling. Mr Darling was attending the launch of the pro-aviation industry pressure group Future Heathrow.
HACAN describe themselves on their website as an "independent lobbying group which campaigns for quieter, cleaner and safer conditions for residents living under Heathrow's flight paths". Future Heathrow believe that Heathrow airport is crucial to prosperity of the Thames Valley region, and are in favour of buildi
"Communism was much better," said Tsahiriin Daariimaa Saturday on the eve of Mongolia's presidential elections. Polls predict that many Mongolians plan to vote for their former communist rulers — the Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party (MPRP).
Under communism, "everyone worked for the collective farm," Daariimaa said. None of her children has a steady job these days.
Myatav Choijav is a Mongolian who shares that view; "Now, some people are very rich and some are very poor. In the old times, the government took better care of us ordinary pe
The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) looks tonight to be resigned to losing its flagship radio and television news, politics and current affairs broadcasting.
Staff at the technicians' union BECTU, the manual workers' union Amicus and the National Union of Journalists (NUJ) are taking part in a one day strike in protest to the 4,000 job cuts announced earlier this year.
The job cuts amount to almost 20% of the BBC's workforce and are part of a £355 million cost-cutting move by the new Director General Mark Thompson, which unions say wil
Since the United States presidential election in November of 2004, viewership in the 25-54 age bracket of Fox News has fallen from over 1,000,000 in October to under 450,000 in April, according to the Daily Kos, a liberal weblog.
Ratings for cable news stations have fallen globally since the election, but most have since stabilized, making Fox's continuing decline unusual. CNN's ratings, as an example, increased 27% in April. Fox still leads CNN in this demographic by nearly 35% however, with CNN only managing to reverse its viewership decline
Mayor-elect Antonio Villaraigosa was swept to victory in Los Angeles on Tuesday, winning nearly 60% of the vote to defeat incumbent James Hahn. Becoming the first Latino mayor in 133 years, the historic election was marked by an anticipated low voter turnout of 30%.
By capitalizing on voter discontent, Villaraigosa was able to over-come his loss to Hahn in the previous election and gain the key support of the African American community and San Fernando Valley. According to a Los Angeles Times exit poll, 7 in 10 voters said they wanted the city
A public meeting by Cuban dissidents was held in a rare celebration of Cuba's Independence Day on Friday. Although Cuban President Fidel Castro had expelled and refused entry to several European observers before the meeting started, police did not crack down on the peaceful protests by nearly 200 people. Called the "Assembly to Promote Civil Society", the meeting was to promote peaceful change and lay groundwork to introduce democracy in Cuba.
The meeting was planned by several leading Cuban dissidents and former prisoners including Martha Be
