Disasters

"Fears that the world will end on 21 December are rife, despite there being no evidence. So, why are we so fixated with end of the world theories?"

"LOS ANGELES -- A federal board Friday ordered the operator of a shuttered nuclear power plant in California to turn over dozens of pages of documents that were withheld when the company submitted a plan to restart one of its damaged twin reactors."

"Ferrying a load of soybeans from Seattle to China in 2004, the engine of Malaysian freighter Selendang Ayu lost power and the vessel broke in half on rocks off Unalaska Island in the middle of the Alaskan archipelago."

"ATLANTA -- If disaster strikes a nuclear power plant in the U.S., the utility industry wants the ability to fly in heavy-duty equipment that could avert a meltdown."

"In the streets that surround the New York Stock Exchange, the air is filled with the odor of generator fuel and frustration over the slogging recovery from Hurricane Sandy."

"An unusually late fire season may bring coal to more than a few Christmases this year. Ongoing drought conditions across much of the West, Midwest and South have left ample fuel for ignition, keeping firefighters on edge and raising alerts in a number of states."

"After two federal judges recused themselves from a criminal case against former BP PLC managers indicted for their role in the Deepwater Horizon disaster, a third has made disclosures of his own."

"A strong earthquake Friday struck the same Japanese coast devastated by last year's massive quake and tsunami, generating small waves but no immediate reports of heavy damage. Several people along the northeastern coast were reportedly injured and buildings in Tokyo and elsewhere swayed for several minutes."