Disasters

"Their lives are back in limbo because of the massive radioactive water leakage discovered at the tsunami-damaged nuclear plant."

"MOUNT VICTORIA -- Firefighters were battling an enormous blaze in southeastern Australia Monday, with officials warning it could merge with another to create a 'mega-fire' if weather conditions worsen."

"Nine blackened tankers are scattered around the site. Part of the rail is mangled, warped, and burned black."

"SYDNEY -- Nearly a hundred wildfires burned across Australia's most populous state on Thursday, 18 of which were out of control, as unseasonably hot temperatures and strong winds fanned flames across the parched landscape, officials said."

"NEW ZEALAND -- "A Pacific Island man trying to flee rising seas and environmental risks caused by global warming in his home country of Kiribati asked a New Zealand court on Wednesday to let him pursue his claim as a climate change refugee."

"CEBU, Philippines (AP) — The death toll from a 7.2-magnitude earthquake that struck the central Philippine island of Bohol reached 110 Wednesday with only three people pulled alive from rubble."

A large Typhoon is tracking toward the Fukushima nuclear plant.

"Nuclear power plants: Some regions have many more safety violations than others, suggesting inconsistent enforcement of nuclear power plant regulations, according to a GAO study."

"Japanese authorities may have underestimated by 20 percent the radiation doses workers got in the initial phase of the Fukushima nuclear power plant disaster, a Japanese newspaper reported on Saturday, citing a U.N. panel."

"The handling of an oil spill in North Dakota is raising questions, after a state agency waited to tell the public it had taken place. A wheat farmer was the first to recognize the spill had happened; it became public knowledge nearly two weeks later."