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Afghanistan to Ask NATO for Bigger Army Afghan officials will go to the NATO summit in Romania Thursday with a request: pay to increase our national Army by 40 percent. A bigger Army, Afghan officials argue, will allow the US and other coalition members to scale back in the coming years. This appeal comes amid pleas from the US and Canada for other NATO members to commit more to the Afghanistan mission, which many analysts say has floundered over the past year for lack of resources and a coherent strategy. France is expected to contribute another 1,000 forces and...

Chinese Scientist Sentenced Over Iridium BEIJING - A Chinese nuclear scientist has been given a suspended death sentence for planting radioactive materials in the office of a business rival, sickening the man and 74 other people, official newspapers reported Monday.   Nuclear medicine researcher Gu Jiming stashed a case containing pellets of iridium 192 above ceiling panels at a hospital in the southern city of Guangzhou, the Beijing Evening News reported. Soon after the victim — identified only by his surname, Liu — began complaining of fatigue, loss of appetite, headaches and vomiting, the paper said. A medical checkup two...

<p>SAN DIEGO — A small pellet of radioactive material disappeared just south of California's border with Mexico, prompting the U.S. Customs Service to put its inspectors on alert.</p> <p>Mexican authorities confirmed Friday that an inch-long capsule of iridium-192 disappeared from a truck in Mexico earlier this week. It was unclear whether the equipment was stolen or fell off the truck.</p>

Police were seeking help Thursday locating a stolen truck that was carrying radioactive material. The white 2001 Ford F-350 was taken Wednesday morning from the Sunlight Food Mart at 1935 South Jupiter Road in Garland. Garland police Lt. Scot Bunch said the truck has a cab-over camper and flames painted on the hood and front quarter panels. It has the name Bonded Inspections Inc. on the sides, and Texas license plate 5YL-T51. ------------------------------------------------------- Anyone with information about the theft or the suspect can call the Garland Police Department at 972-485-4840 or the investigating officer at 972-205-2060.

Missing radioactive capsules cause Venezuela alert 31 Mar 2005 20:39:32 GMT Source: Reuters By Tomas Sarmiento CARACAS, Venezuela, March 31 (Reuters) - Venezuelan authorities have launched a nationwide hunt for two capsules of radioactive material that went missing this month and which could kill people exposed to them, officials said on Thursday. One of the two missing capsules of radioactive Iridium-192, which were being used in equipment to check oil industry pipes for faults, disappeared from a barge on March 15 in Lake Maracaibo, Venezuela's western oil producing hub. The other went missing after apparently falling off the back of...