More than 60,000 Americans were victims of state-sanctioned sterilization during the 20th century. After getting married at age 18, Elaine Riddick desperately tried to start her own family. It wasn’t until she was in her 50s, however, that the North Carolina woman found out that doctors sterilized her when she was a teenager. Riddick was raped at age 13 and says that, when she awoke in a hospital... 

Mexican authorities arrested Jose de Jesus Mendez, known as “El Chango,” or “The Monkey,” the alleged leader of the Familia Cartel and one of the nation’s most-wanted traffickers. Mendez was captured today in the central state of Aguascalientes by members of the federal police, government security spokesman Alejandro Poire said today. He said the arrest was the government’s... 

Ethnic minorities now constitute a majority of babies in the United States, marking a significant demographic shift, according to official figures. Preliminary census estimates reveal that, for the first time, ethnic minorities make up the majority of infants in the country. This change underscores a growing age divide between older, mostly white Americans and a younger, predominantly minority population,... 

Population Research Institute (PRI) President Steven Mosher. Given the precipitous decline in the birthrates of European countries, all anti-natal programs funded by the United States should immediately be replaced by pro-natal programs, one top population expert recently told the U.S. Senate. “It doesn’t matter whether we call them reproductive health programs, family planning programs, or population... 

American USS Monterey cruiser. Russia is outraged at the maneuvers of American USS Monterey cruiser carrying the AEGIS air defense system near the Georgian coast on the Black Sea, the Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday. The U.S. warship arrived for joint exercises with Georgia as part of the Phased Adaptive Approach program designed to shape the European segment of the U.S.-led project to build a global... 

German Defense Minister Thomas de Maizière in Berlin: “Significant progress must be made in Afghanistan.” The US has been critical of Germany for not supporting NATO in the mission in Libya. SPIEGEL spoke to German Defense Minister Thomas de Maizière about Berlin’s skepticism of getting involved in Libya and Syria, and about the future of the NATO alliance. SPIEGEL: Minister de... 

Rebuke: David Cameron and other ministers have launched an unprecedented attack on Alex Salmond and the SNP over plans to open the Scottish borders. Alex Salmond’s bid to open Scotland’s borders to thousands of immigrants has provoked a stinging rebuke from David Cameron and his Ministers. In an unprecedented attack, the First Minister has been told Scots should be given the chance of any... 

French-built Mistral class amphibious assault ship. France has transferred to Russia all the technology it asked for under a $1.7-billion deal for two French-built Mistral class amphibious assault ships for the Russian Navy, a Russian arms exporter said on Monday. Under the deal signed on Friday, the first warship will be delivered in 2014 and the second in 2015. “The French side has transferred... 

Pictures of diseased lungs and a man blowing cigarette smoke out of a tracheostomy hole in his neck are among the final nine graphic images that will be part of new health warnings on cigarettes and advertising. The warnings represent the most significant changes to U.S. cigarette labels in more than 25 years and are required to be placed on all cigarette packs, cartons and ads no later than September... 

The Cooper Nuclear Power Station near Brownville, Nebraska. As the Missouri River continues to swell, the US state of Nebraska has issued an emergency flood warning at the Cooper Nuclear Power Station. The Nebraska Public Power District has issued a flood alert for the state’s southeast Cooper nuclear plant, the Associated Press reported. “We knew the river was going to rise for some time,”... 

A Tu-134 passenger plane of RusAir airline crashed in Russia’s Karelia Republic on Monday night. It was originally said that the plane performed a hard landing, although it became clear later that the situation was much more serious. The plane bound for Petrozavodsk from Moscow’s Domodedovo airport was landing in complicated weather conditions – in heavy fog and rain – at 23:40.... 

Richard James Verone, 57, shown in this booking photo, “robbed” a bank for $1 to get health care in prison. A 59-year-old man has been jailed in Gastonia, North Carolina, on charges of larceny after allegedly robbing an RBC Bank for $1 so he could get health care in prison. Richard James Verone handed a female teller a note demanding the money and claiming that he had a gun, according to... 

An outbreak of a peculiar strain of the E. coli bacteria has already taken 40 lives worldwide. With fear that this outbreak will become a full-blown epidemic, scientists and citizens alike are wondering why this seemingly invincible strain is here and what they can do to combat it. “If you look at it genetically…you have to come to the conclusion that this strain was exposed to eight different... 

Braidwood Nuclear Generating Station in Will County in northeastern Illinois, US. Radioactive tritium has leaked from at least 48 of 65 sites of commercial nuclear power sites in the United States, investigations have shown. According to the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission records, tritium a radioactive form of hydrogen has leaked through corroded pipes into the ground and that the number and severity... 

A view of Israel's Dimona nuclear reactor. Head of Israel’s Nuclear Energy Commission Shaul Horev says Tel Aviv has returned nuclear waste from its Sorek nuclear reactor to the United States. Horev, who spoke at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) ministerial conference on nuclear safety in Vienna on Monday, did not specify the exact amount of waste, Israeli daily Ha’aretz...