Today, on the 25th anniversary of Chernobyl, Link TV's original production Earth Focus released a detailed exposé about the possibility of a massive cover up surrounding the 1986 nuclear disaster. According to the report, international agencies, the nuclear industry, and governments all ignore critical scientific data about the real impact of the fateful accident at Chernobyl.

Authors of a new book Chernobyl: Consequences of the Catastrophe for People and the Environment say that almost a million people worldwide have died since Chernobyl-- not 4,000 as officially claimed by theInternational Atomic Energy Agency and the World Health Organization. Watch the following report for an indepth look at the real consequences of the fallout from Chernobyl -- including birth defects, mental handicaps, and diminished human intelligence -- and for how long these effects will last:

Watch more episodes of Earth Focus.

White Smoke and Steam at Fukushima

(Euronews: 0630 PST, March 22, 2011) White smoke and steam can be seen rising from reactor number 2 at the stricken Fukushima nuclear plant in Japan, suggesting the battle to avert a meltdown and stop the spread of radiation is not yet won.

Ivory Coast's Gbagbo Issues Call to Arms

(Euronews: 0230 PST, March 22, 2011) Thousands of young people have lined up to answer a call to arms by former Ivory Coast leader Laurent Gbabgo. Gbabgo contests the result of November 28 presidential elections that declared his rival Alassane Ouattara as the winner. Ouattara is recognised by the international community as the rightful president of Ivory Coast and who is backed by rebel forces. But Gbagbo's retains a tight grip on the military and has refused to go quietly, rejecting pleas for him to step down.

(Al Jazeera English: 1056 PST, March 18, 2011) The Japanese fire department has been called in to help control the situation at the Fukushima nuclear power plant. Al Jazeera's Andrew Thomas reports from Osaka.

(Associated Press: 0448 PST, March 18, 2011) Japan's nuclear safety agency raised the severity rating of the country's nuclear crisis from level four to level five on the seven-level international scale, putting it on par with the Three Mile Island accident in Pennsylvania in 1979.

Japan's Nuclear Crisis Deepens

(Al Jazeera English: 0800 PST, March 18, 2011) As Japan's nuclear safety commission upgrades the situation at the earthquake-damaged Fukushima plant to a level five on the seven-level International Nuclear Events Scale, the country's prime minister says circumstances remain grave.

Justin Dargin, nuclear analyst and research fellow at the Dubai initiative, tells Al Jazeera of the wider implications of Japan's ongoing emergency.

More information about the Sendai Earthquake from Wikipedia

Google Person Finder: 2011 Japan Earthquake

Find out what you can do to help in the saving and rebuilding of lives in Japan

(Euronews: 0720 PST, March 17, 2011) Army helicopters have once more been dumping sea water on the stricken Fukushima nuclear plant in north-eastern Japan. They are concentrating on Reactor Number 3, trying desperately to bring down the temperature.

Japanese television broadcast some pictures shot from 35 kilometers away. The helicopters are taking off from a military base in Sendai. For days, people here and at the site itself have been working tirelessly to avert an environmental catastrophe.

Fallout Fears Force Foreigners to Flee

(Euronews: 0702 PST, March 17, 2011) Foreigners are packing their bags and heading out of Japan as many distrust government announcements about the true state of the Fukushima nuclear plant.

Those gathering at Tokyo's Haneda and Narita airports say the earthquakes don't worry them, but nuclear fall out does: "They want to tell people it is safe. I personally feel that when stuff gets in the air, and the wind blows it around, I don't know which side of the exclusion zone would be safe," said one man on his way back to South Africa.

More information about the Sendai Earthquake from Wikipedia

Google Person Finder: 2011 Japan Earthquake

Find out what you can do to help in the saving and rebuilding of lives in Japan