IAEA and Iran

Back in March we posted on the United Nations Security Council request that the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) submit a report on Iran's nuclear activities. This report has just been released to the public. In it the IAEA discusses the knowledge of Iran's nuclear program, but states that at this time the "Agency cannot make a judgment about, or reach a conclusion on, future compliance or intentions." For additional information on this discussion from the IAEA, see their web site "In Focus: IAEA and Iran." For more information on Iran, please check out our Iranian country page.

Wildfire preparation

As this has been a dry winter outside of the high country here in Colorado, many are worrying about the possibility of wildfires. The Government Accountability Office just released a letter outlining "Federal Agency Efforts to Develop a Cohesive Strategy to Address Wildland Fire Threats." On the Colorado level, the Governor's office has a collection of publications for homeowners to prepare for the wildfire season: http://www.colorado.gov/oemc/links/fire/index.htm. The Governor also has made $2 million available for the Emergency Management Fund for wildfire preparation and suppression activities (Executive Order D 008 06).

Country Reports on Terrorism

As a counterpoint to the Anna Nicole Smith opinion released today take a look at the annual Country Reports on Terrorism. This report is required to be written by April 30th of each year, for the archives of this report back to 2004, see http://www.state.gov/s/ct/rls/crt/. This page also has the previous version of this title, Patterns of Global Terrorism, available back to 1995, for the print or microfiche version back to 1975, search Chinook. According to the 2005 report, 56 "private citizens" were killed due to terrorism, 48 of them in Iraq. Overall there were 14,602 deaths in 2005 worldwide in attacks directed against noncombatants.

Anna Nicole Smith and the Supreme Court

Supreme Court Opinions are generally not popular in the entertainment media, but today is different. Anna Nicole Smith won her battle in the Supreme Court for the right to go back to the lower court to try for a portion of her late husband's estate. The Supreme Court opinion is available online. You can also read the Denver Post Article "Bombshell's Supreme Court Bombshell" for a description of the case up till now. The Supreme Court also released opinions on admitting evidence in death penalty cases and recovering Medicaid money for the state in lawsuits.

20th anniversary of Chernobyl

Twenty years ago this week the world's largest nuclear accident occurred at Chernobyl in present-day Ukraine (USSR at that time). Want to know more about the lasting effects of this accident? Check out the International Atomic Energy Agency's In Focus: Chernobyl which contains reports and stories of the effect of radiation. The United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation also has a number of reports on the Chernobyl accident, including the first report from 1988.