Fear Goes Nuclear

Here’s the worst-case scenario: sometime soon, workers at the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant will realize they can’t pump seawater into the cores of the wrecked reactors fast enough to keep up with the steady heating. The temperature in the core will exceed 5,000°F , causing hundreds of uranium fuel rods to slump to the bottom of the containment vessel like melted wax

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Japan jobless rate hits postwar high

Unemployment in Japan has hit 5.7 percent in July, the highest on record since World War II. Joblessness in the world’s second-largest economy has been steadily rising from 4.8 percent in March to 5.4 percent in June. The record July number exceeded analyst predictions of 5.5 percent, which would have matched the previous postwar record

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Watching TV: Even Worse for Kids Than You Think

It’s no secret that sedentary behavior contributes to obesity and chronically poor health. But not all sedentary behaviors are created equal, according to a new study that examines the link between blood pressure in children and their choice of inactive pastimes, including watching TV, using the computer and reading. Researchers in the U.S

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French Unemployment Drops, Worse Expected

No one is ever going to accuse the French of knee-jerk exuberance. Case in point: the reaction to Monday’s announcement by government officials that France’s main unemployment index actually shrank in June — the first reversal in rising joblessness since April 2008.

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Defending champion Nadal out of Wimbledon

Defending champion and world number one Rafael Nadal has been forced to withdraw from next week’s Wimbledon Championships because of his on-going knee injuries. The Spaniard, who was the top seed to defend his crown at the grass-court grand slam event, announced his decision at a press conference in London on Friday evening after succumbing to the tendonitis problems that have troubled him in recent weeks

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Can the U.S. Government Afford to Let California Fail?

With his round face and sad eyes, Oracio Sandoval, 33, sits at a Los Angeles County welfare office in Carson, Calif., armed with a thick pile of job-application forms. Out of work since January, Sandoval is struggling to stay afloat financially. Married with two children, he and his wife used to make $3,000 a month

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