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Czech authorities, helped by the U.S. Department of Energy, have transferred 176 pounds of highly enriched uranium to Russia, the U.S. Embassy in Prague said Monday.

The move took place under a Russian-American program to secure Russian-produced, highly enriched fuel located in often poorly guarded research institutes in one-time Soviet-allied countries. Under the program, the fuel is returned to Russia to be blended down to a less dangerous concentration no longer suitable for weaponry.

The uranium, from the Nuclear Research Institute AS in Rez near Prague, was transported through Slovakia and Ukraine by train and reached a secure reprocessing facility in Russia on Saturday, the embassy said in a statement. (Content Read …)

A Briton who turned up alive - years after being declared dead in a canoe accident - appeared in court Monday on fraud charges for allegedly faking his own death in an insurance scam.

John Darwin, 57, was ordered by Hartlepool Magistrates’ Court to be held in jail until Friday, when he is to appear again via video link.

Dressed in a maroon sweat shirt and red track trousers, Darwin, a former prison officer, appeared disheveled and confused. He spoke twice during the four-minute hearing, responding “That’s correct” when the court read him his full name and saying his date of birth. (Content Read …)

This article was written by Rym Ghazal.

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In the midst of overlapping murmurs of prayers in a sea of white-cloaked worshipers, a woman’s voice interrupts the collective trance as she asks: “Are you single?”

For hundreds of years, Mecca has been the sacred meeting point of millions of Muslims from across the world. They come to perform the hajj, the annual major pilgrimage, or umrah, a minor pilgrimage that can be performed anytime.

Matchmaking is a profession that’s at least as old as Mecca. But until now, say Saudi scholars, it hasn’t been practiced at Islam’s holiest site. (Content Read …)

The United States will impose travel and financial sanctions against 38 additional people and two companies with ties to Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe, a senior State Department official said.

Jendayi Frazer, assistant secretary of state for African affairs, warned in a speech Monday that the U.S. will expand the sanctions further if violence does not cease, saying “Mugabe’s tyranny needs to end.”

She did not identify the people or the companies affected, but she said they included nine state security officials and five adult children of Zimbabwean government officials studying in the United States.

The United States already has imposed travel and financial sanctions against 130 people with ties to Mugabe. (Content Read …)

Recent congressional and public attention has focused on access problems at the Dept. of Veterans Affairs, which provides medical care to servicemen and women once they have left active duty in a time of war or an official period of hostility. Although investigators note that improvements are under way, they say the VA has a long way to go. With this article

Nearly , active-duty personnel and reservists who served in Operation Iraqi Freedom and Afghanistan’s Operation Enduring Freedom have been eligible for VA health care since healthhealth. More than health, have sought it out so far, the Congressional Budget Office reported in October.

(Content Read …)

The Bangladesh government pledged Thursday to feed more than two million people left destitute by Cyclone Sidr amid warnings the country faces acute food shortages after the storm ravaged crops.

The pledge comes as officials and relief agencies struggle to get desperately needed rice, drinking water and tents to remote villages wrecked by the Nov. 15 storm, which killed more than 3,100 people and left hundreds of thousands homeless.

The government will distribute 33 pounds of rice per month to each of the estimated 2.5 million people, many of them in crowded relief camps, starting Dec. 1, said Tapan Chowdhoury, the government’s adviser on food and disaster management. (Content Read …)

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"President Bush called President Putin of Russia today to discuss the upcoming Annapolis conference," US National Security Council spokesman Gordon Johndroe said in a statement. (Content Read …)

• INITIALLY SIGNED: Nov. 19, 1990, between NATO and Warsaw Pact nations in an area between Atlantic Ocean and Ural Mountains.

• LIMITED: each bloc to 6,800 combat aircraft, 2,000 attack helicopters, 20,000 tanks, 30,000 armored personnel carriers, and 20,000 artillery guns; eliminated Warsaw Pact’s overwhelming numerical superiority in Central Europe.

• RESTRICTED: basing of military forces near the dividing line to reduce chance of surprise attack; also allowed for inspectors to monitor military maneuvers and verify weaponry destruction.

• AMENDED: Nov.

(Content Read …)

Meanwhile, the armed forces chief of staff, General Yury Baluyevsky, also confirmed that Russia would suspend adherence to a key Cold War arms treaty on December 12, news agencies reported.

"In violation of previous agreements, certain member countries of the NATO alliance are increasing their resources next to our borders," Putin told a meeting of defence chiefs in Moscow in comments broadcast on state television.

"Russia cannot remain indifferent to the clear muscle-flexing," he said.

The Kremlin leader, who earlier this year threatened to target nuclear missiles at Europe, said he wanted the atomic arsenal put on a higher level of readiness.

"One of the most important tasks remains raising the combat readiness of the strategic nuclear forces.

(Content Read …)