Evening Edition

Evening Edition is an Open Thread

With 52 Top Stories.

From Yahoo News Top Stories

1 Japan battles nuclear emergency after deadly quake

by Kelly Macnamara, AFP

1 hr 7 mins ago

FUKUSHIMA, Japan (AFP) – Japan battled a feared meltdown of two reactors at a quake-hit nuclear plant Sunday, as the full horror began emerging of the disaster on the ravaged northeast coast where more than 10,000 were feared dead.

An explosion at the ageing Fukushima No. 1 atomic plant blew apart the building housing one of its reactors Saturday, a day after the biggest quake ever recorded in Japan unleashed a monster tsunami.

The atomic emergency escalated Sunday as crews struggled to prevent overheating at a second reactor where the cooling system has also failed, and the government warned that it too could be hit with a blast.

AFP

2 Japan says quake impact on economy ‘considerable’

by David Watkins, AFP

Sun Mar 13, 12:16 pm ET

TOKYO (AFP) – Japan’s government said Sunday it expects a “considerable” economic impact from a huge earthquake and tsunami that plunged the nation into what the prime minister called its worst crisis since the Second World War.

Economists say it is still too early to assess the full cost of the destruction from the record 8.9-magnitude quake and the 10-metre wall of water that laid waste to the northeastern coast and triggered an atomic emergency.

The official death toll so far is 1,200, but is certain to rise substantially, with one hard-hit prefecture saying as many as 10,000 could be dead.

3 Mud-strewn wastelands replace Japanese towns

by Hiroshi Hiyama, AFP

Sun Mar 13, 1:31 am ET

SENDAI, Japan (AFP) – Wastelands of mud and debris now stretch along Japan’s northeast coast where towns and villages used to be, consumed by a terrifying tsunami triggered by Japan’s biggest ever earthquake.

The port town of Minamisanriku was practically erased, over half its 17,500 population unaccounted for after huge waves inundated the area following the 8.9 magnitude quake, a hospital one of few structures remaining.

For the lucky ones, such as some residents in Kamaishi city, tsunami evacuation sirens came quickly enough for them to scramble up to higher ground before watching in horror as the raging sea tore through their homes.

4 Kadhafi forces advance closer to rebel capital

by Tahar Majdoub, AFP

19 mins ago

BREGA, Libya (AFP) – Libyan rebels on Sunday retreated from another key town under heavy shelling from government forces as Moamer Kadhafi loyalists swept closer towards the main opposition-held city of Benghazi.

But the rebel commander, Kadhafi’s former interior minister, vowed to defend the “vital” next town.

A lightning counter-offensive over the past week has pushed ragtag rebels out of Mediterranean coastal towns, allowing the regime to wrest back momentum against a month-long uprising to end Kadhafi’s four-decade grip on power. ]

5 Libyan rebels retreat again

by Tahar Majdoub, AFP

Sun Mar 13, 7:56 am ET

BREGA, Libya (AFP) – Libyan rebels abandoned another key town on Sunday under heavy shelling from advancing government forces, as international backing grew only slowly for a no-fly zone over the country.

Dozens of rebels were seen leaving the coastal town of Brega and heading for Ajdabiya, 80 kilometres (50 miles) away on the road to the main rebel cities of Benghazi and Tobruk.

Rebel sources said forces loyal to Moamer Kadhafi were approaching from the west, and Libyan state television, quoting an unspecified military source, later declared Brega “purged of the armed gangs.”

6 Three killed, dozens wounded in fresh Yemen violence

by Hammoud Mounassar, AFP

1 hr 54 mins ago

SANAA (AFP) – The United States expressed deep concern over escalating violence in Yemen, where at least three people were killed in bloody clashes between security forces and protesters on Sunday.

Dozens were injured when police and loyalists of the ruling General People’s Congress party attacked protesters occupying Sanaa’s University Square with live gunfire and tear gas, witnesses said.

Six demonstrators were shot in the head during clashes with police overnight in the southern city of Aden, with two dying of their wounds, medical officials said.

7 Gbagbo forces go on killing spree in ICoast: rival

AFP

Sat Mar 12, 4:33 pm ET

ABIDJAN (AFP) – Troops loyal to Ivory Coast strongman Laurent Gbagbo went on a rampage Saturday, randomly shelling an area of Abidjan in what his rival’s camp said was a show of force as his power dwindles.

As international sanctions have cut off his funding and tighten the noose around his command, Gbago troops launched a “make or break” offensive to rid opponents from the Abobo district north of the capital Abidjan.

Gbagbo forces were “blindly launching artillery, which fell on civilian houses. The majority of those killed are innocent,” Patric Achi, spokesman for the internationally-recognised president Alassane Ouattara told AFP.

8 Ouattara back in I. Coast after crackdown on stronghold

by Christophe Parayre, AFP

2 hrs 53 mins ago

ABIDJAN (AFP) – Ivory Coast’s internationally recognised president Alassane Ouattara returned to Abidjan Sunday to the aftermath of a crackdown by his rival on his stronghold in which some 10 people were killed.

Violence in parts of the capital escalated in his absence in what Ouattara’s camp says is a show of force by strongman Laurent Gbagbo who has “his back to the wall” after the African Union endorsed Ouattara’s presidency.

“He has returned to the Abidjan Golf Hotel,” said a member of Ouattara’s entourage, referring to the hotel where the leader had been holed up under United Nations protection since being declared the winner of the November 28 presidential runoff election.

9 England down Scotland to keep rugby Slam dream alive

by Rob Woollard, AFP

1 hr 10 mins ago

LONDON (AFP) – England stayed on course for their first Grand Slam since 2003 here Sunday, defeating Six Nations rivals Scotland 22-16 in a scrappy encounter at Twickenham.

A second-half try from replacement flanker Tom Croft and 17 points from the combined boots of Toby Flood and Jonny Wilkinson clinched victory for England as Scotland’s 28-year losing streak at Twickenham continued.

Scotland’s points came from a late try by wing Max Evans while fullback Chris Paterson added two penalties and a conversion. Fly-half Ruaridh Jackson added a drop goal.

10 Kiwis, Aussies reach Cricket World Cup quarter-finals

by Dave James, AFP

54 mins ago

NEW DELHI (AFP) – Defending champions Australia and New Zealand eased into the World Cup quarter-finals on Sunday as Kenya and Canada toiled manfully, but fruitlessly, in defeat.

Australia extended their unbeaten World Cup record to 33 matches with a 60-run run win over Kenya in Bangalore while the Black Caps pulled off a 97-run victory over the Canadians in Mumbai.

The trans-Tasman neighbours joined Sri Lanka in qualifying from Group A with Pakistan poised to complete the four qualifiers from the pool with victory over Zimbabwe on Monday.

11 Afghan women boxers eye Olympic knock-out

by Katherine Haddon, AFP

Sun Mar 13, 7:16 am ET

KABUL (AFP) – In a gym at Kabul’s main stadium, where the Taliban used to publicly execute women accused of adultery, female Afghan boxers hoping to make it to the London 2012 Olympics are practising their jabs.

Some wearing headscarves, all in tracksuits, the slightly built young women pummel four heavy old punchbags hard, moving fast and light on their feet while their male trainer barks instructions.

The women are among a small number in Afghanistan training hard across a range of sports in the hope of being able to bring some pride to their war-torn country at next year’s Olympic Games.

12 Benin votes for president in twice-delayed poll

by Fiacre Vidjingninou, AFP

Sun Mar 13, 5:31 am ET

COTONOU (AFP) – Benin voted in presidential polls Sunday after chaotic preparations twice postponed the election, and some claimed scores remained off the voter list despite a last-minute rush to register them.

Organisation problems persisted on the morning of the vote, with a number of polling stations opening late in the economic capital Cotonou and elsewhere due to the late arrival of material and workers.

“It’s a total mess,” said Affo Djouneidou, a 45-year-old painter, after waiting for nearly two hours before voting began at a Cotonou polling place where hundreds stood in line. “It’s a catastrophe this year.”

Reuters

13 Japan fights to avert nuclear meltdown after quake

By Taiga Uranaka and Ki Joon Kwon, Reuters

Sun Mar 13, 1:06 pm ET

FUKUSHIMA, Japan (Reuters) – Japan struggled on Monday to avert a nuclear disaster and care for millions of people without power or water, three days after an earthquake and tsunami killed an estimated 10,000 people or more in the nation’s darkest hour since World War Two.

The world’s third-largest economy opens for business later on Monday, a badly wounded nation that has seen whole villages and towns wiped off the map by a wall of water, leaving in its wake an international humanitarian effort of epic proportion.

A grim-faced Prime Minister Naoto Kan described the crisis at Japan’s worst since 1945, as officials confirmed that three nuclear reactors were at risk of overheating, raising fears of an uncontrolled radiation leak.

14 Special Report: Can Japan find "New Deal" after triple whammy?

By Chisa Fujioka and Kiyoshi Takenaka, Reuters

Sun Mar 13, 11:34 am ET

TOKYO (Reuters) – The Daiichi nuclear power plant in Fukushima is built on the shoreline in northeast Japan. So when an 8.9 magnitude earth quake struck on Friday, the tsunami waves it spawned — as tall as a house and speeding like a jet plane — washed right over the reactors and put them at risk of a meltdown.

Engineers were dousing the plants with seawater in a desperate effort to prevent a calamity on Sunday, even as the government evacuated 140,000 from the area after radioactive steam was released from the stricken plant.

The nuclear crisis was a triple whammy for Japan, coming on top of the earthquake — Japan’s biggest and the fifth strongest ever recorded in the world — and one of the most powerful tsunami in history, which caused scenes of unimaginable destruction in northeast Japan.

15 Japanese inspired and angered; resigned to more quakes

By Terril Yue Jones, Reuters

2 hrs 31 mins ago

TOKYO (Reuters) – While images of brutal destruction wreaked by a devastating earthquake and tsunami have stunned the nation and the world, Japanese are finding both inspiration and reasons to vent in the aftermath of the disaster.

One sentiment that is emerging is that such a calamitous event could occur again at any time, in any place.

“We don’t know when it will happen to us,” said Masatoshi Masuda, 52, a seal carver in the southwest city of Kagoshima, far from the deadly, three-meter-high waves that surged across farmland, villages and cities in Japan’s northeast Friday.

16 Japan nuclear health risks low, won’t blow abroad

By Alister Doyle, Environment Correspondent, AFP

Sun Mar 13, 11:55 am ET

OSLO (Reuters) – Health risks from Japan’s quake-hit nuclear power reactors seem fairly low and winds are likely to carry any contamination out to the Pacific without threatening other nations, experts say.

Tokyo battled to avert a meltdown at three stricken reactors at the Fukushima plant in the worst nuclear accident since the 1986 Chernobyl disaster, triggered by Friday’s tsunami. Radiation levels were also up at the Onagawa atomic plant.

“This is not a serious public health issue at the moment,” Malcolm Crick, Secretary of the U.N. Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation, told Reuters.

17 Aid offers to Japan pour in as nuclear concerns mount

By Stephanie Nebehay, Reuters

Sun Mar 13, 9:49 am ET

GENEVA (Reuters) – As foreign rescue workers combed debris to locate victims of Japan’s quake and tsunami, countries offered further aid from field hospitals to atomic physicists to address an unfolding nuclear crisis.

Fire-fighters, sniffer dogs, clothing and food have been proposed in an outpouring of solidarity with Japan, with offers pouring in from nearly 70 countries, U.N. officials said.

Even the poor southern Afghan city of Kandahar announced it was donating $50,000 to the “brothers and sisters” of Japan.

18 Japan firms shut plants, quake to deal blow to economy

By Nathan Layne, Reuters

Sun Mar 13, 11:44 am ET

TOKYO (Reuters) – Japanese automakers, electronics firms and oil refiners shut key factories after a massive earthquake and tsunami struck the northeast coast, underscoring the challenge facing the government as it rushes to limit the economic blow.

Electronics giant Sony Corp has suspended operations at eight factories including one making optical film that was flooded by the tsunami triggered by Friday’s 8.9-magnitude quake. Nissan Motor halted output at all four of its domestic assembly factories and said restarting them could depend on whether it can get parts.

These are just two in a long list of companies unsure of how quickly they can get their plants back up and running. The widespread damage to infrastructure as well as power rationing after an accident at a nuclear plant could also hamper efforts to resume shipments, even if factory equipment is intact.

19 Millions face worsening crisis in quake-hit Japan

By Chris Meyers, Reuters

Sun Mar 13, 10:16 am ET

SENDAI, Japan (Reuters) – Japan faces a growing humanitarian crisis on a scale not seen since World War Two after its devastating earthquake and tsunami left millions of people without water, electricity, homes or heat.

As officials on Sunday predicted the death toll could top 10,000, the country mobilized 100,000 soldiers to deliver food, water and fuel, and pull stranded survivors from buildings and damaged homes. More than 450,000 people had been evacuated.

It is one of the largest aid deployments of Japan’s Self-Defense Forces and doubles the number of troops from Saturday.

20 Special Report: Advanced economies cope better with disasters

By Alan Wheatley, Global Economics Correspondent, Reuters

Sun Mar 13, 10:16 am ET

BEIJING (Reuters) – The earthquake that devastated northeast Japan displaced the country’s main island by 2.4 meters and even tilted the axis of the Earth by nearly 10 centimeters. The shock sounds awesome but it was imperceptible. History suggests the same will be true of the economic impact.

The instinctive reaction when viewing the extensive damage and frantic efforts to secure damaged nuclear reactors is to assume economic havoc will follow.

But researchers who have studied similar disasters in rich countries reach a reassuring conclusion: human resilience and resourcefulness, allied to an ability to draw down accumulated wealth, enable economies to rebound quickly from what seem at first to be unbearable inflictions – be it the September 11, 2001, attacks on New York or Friday’s 8.9-magnitude earthquake, the worst in Japan’s history.

21 Worried Japanese expats trawl web for news after quake

By Kazunori Takada, Reuters

Sun Mar 13, 10:03 am ET

SHANGHAI (Reuters) – It took a massive earthquake back in her homeland to persuade Yuki Kosuge to look beyond traditional news sources and log in to Twitter for the first time.

“I was relying on conventional media initially, but Twitter is by far the best,” said Kosuge, a 35-year-old music manager living and working in London. “You realize you can share the sense of fear more easily, it makes you feel close to the people affected and those who are concerned about Japan.”

Across the globe, Japanese expatriates are hungry for the least scrap of news about a double disaster that their prime minister has dubbed the country’s most serious crisis since World War Two.

22 "Is it a dream?" Stunned Japan grapples with disaster

By Yoko Kubota, Reuters

Sun Mar 13, 6:08 am ET

RIKUZENTAKATA, Japan (Reuters) – A wrecked airplane lies nose-deep in splintered wood from homes in the port of Sendai. An hour’s drive away, workers in white masks and protective clothing scan thousands of people for radiation.

Two days after a ferocious earthquake and tsunami submerged Japan’s northeast coast, killing thousands and leaving millions of people without electricity or running water, many are struggling to comprehend the scale of the disaster.

“Is it a dream? I just feel like I am in a movie or something,” said Ichiro Sakamoto, 50, in Hitachi, a city in Ibaraki Prefecture. “Whenever I am alone I have to pinch my cheek to check whether it’s a dream or not.”

23 Gaddafi offensive takes oil town

By Mohammed Abbas, Reuters

1 hr 59 mins ago

AJDABIYAH, Libya (Reuters) – Muammar Gaddafi’s troops seized the strategic Libyan oil town of Brega on Sunday, forcing rebels to retreat eastward and putting extra pressure on world powers still deliberating on a no-fly zone.

The government offensive had already driven the rebels out of Ras Lanuf, another oil terminal 100 km to the west on the coast road, and the seizure of Brega and its refinery deprived the rebels of more territory and yet another source of fuel.

The government, in a message on state television, said it was certain of victory and threatened to “bury” the rebels, who it linked to al Qaeda and “foreign security services.”

24 Two dead as Yemen police fire on protesters

By Mohamed Sudam, Reuters

1 hr 38 mins ago

SANAA (Reuters) – Two people died and scores were hurt on Sunday when Yemeni police fired live rounds and tear gas at protesters in Sanaa and Aden demanding an end to President Ali Abdullah Saleh’s 32-year rule, medical sources said.

Witnesses said most of the injured in the capital were suffering severe effects from tear gas but some were hit by bullets. Two were thought to be in serious condition in the clashes near Sanaa University, site of a weeks-long sit-in.

In the southern port of Aden one person died after being shot as protesters clashed with police, a hospital doctor said.

25 Forces pound eastern oil town, Libyan rebels retreat

By Mohammed Abbas, Reuters

Sun Mar 13, 9:32 am ET

AJDABIYAH, Libya (Reuters) – Rebels fighting the forces of Muammar Gaddafi in the east of Libya retreated from the oil town of Brega on Sunday after heavy bombardment delivered government forces another battlefield success.

“The rebels have left Brega. It is evacuated,” said 33-year-old anaesthesiologist Osama Jazwi. At about 10:30 a.m. (0830 GMT) the bombardment started. “We saw, it was on the main gate,” Jazwi told Reuters by telephone.

Abdul Hakim, also a resident of the bombarded town, told Reuters that the rebels had left. There were no details of the Gaddafi forces attack immediately available.

26 State Department spokesman Crowley steps down amid flap

By Susan Cornwell, Reuters

1 hr 52 mins ago

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley resigned on Sunday after reports that he labeled as “stupid” and “ridiculous” the Pentagon’s treatment of a U.S. soldier accused of leaking secret documents that appeared on the WikiLeaks website.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said in a statement issued by the State Department that she accepted P.J. Crowley’s resignation with “regret.” He has served as the department’s assistant secretary for public affairs and chief spokesman.

Crowley said in the statement he submitted his resignation “given the impact of my remarks, for which I take full responsibility.” His resignation came two days after President Barack Obama was asked about Crowley’s remarks during a televised news conference.

27 Lawmakers confident on short-term budget deal

By John Whitesides, Reuters

Sun Mar 13, 1:04 pm ET

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Senior lawmakers in both parties said on Sunday that Congress will pass a stopgap spending bill to avert a government shutdown this week, but warned there are still big obstacles to long-term deals on the budget and debt.

Leaders in both parties backed a plan by U.S. House of Representatives Republicans for a temporary three-week spending bill to keep the federal government operating through April 8 while they try to find a broader compromise.

“I don’t think we ought to let the government shut down,” Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell said on “Fox News Sunday,” predicting the Senate would approve the House Republican plan.

AP

28 10K dead in Japan amid fears of nuclear meltdowns

By JAY ALABASTER and TODD PITMAN, Associated Press

1 hr 1 min ago

SENDAI, Japan – The estimated death toll from Japan’s disasters climbed past 10,000 Sunday as authorities raced to combat the threat of multiple nuclear reactor meltdowns and hundreds of thousands of people struggled to find food and water. The prime minister said it was the nation’s worst crisis since World War II.

Nuclear plant operators worked frantically to try to keep temperatures down in several reactors crippled by the earthquake and tsunami, wrecking at least two by dumping sea water into them in last-ditch efforts to avoid meltdowns. Officials warned of a second explosion but said it would not pose a health threat.

Near-freezing temperatures compounded the misery of survivors along hundreds of miles (kilometers) of the northeastern coast battered by the tsunami that smashed inland with breathtaking fury. Rescuers pulled bodies from mud-covered jumbles of wrecked houses, shattered tree trunks, twisted cars and tangled power lines while survivors examined the ruined remains.

29 Japan races to prevent nuke reactor meltdowns

By ERIC TALMADGE and MARI YAMAGUCHI, Associated Press

2 hrs 59 mins ago

KORIYAMA, Japan – Japan’s nuclear crisis intensified Sunday as authorities raced to combat the threat of multiple reactor meltdowns and more than 180,000 people evacuated the quake- and tsunami-savaged northeastern coast where fears spread over possible radioactive contamination.

Nuclear plant operators were frantically trying to keep temperatures down in a series of nuclear reactors – including one where officials feared a partial meltdown could be happening Sunday – to prevent the disaster from growing worse.

But hours after officials announced the latest dangers to face the troubled Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear complex, including the possibility of a second explosion in two days, there were few details about what was being done to bring the situation under control.

30 Survivors of 2004 tsunami shaken by Japan disaster

By FAKHRURRADZIE GADE, Associated Press

Sun Mar 13, 12:06 pm ET

BANDA ACEH, Indonesia – Tears streamed down Maisara Mucharam’s face as she watched aerial shots of the tsunami pummeling Japan’s coast and remembered the day, six years ago, when her youngest daughter was ripped out of her arms by the heavy salty sea.

Survivors of the 2004 tsunami that started off Indonesia sat glued to their TV sets, stroking each other’s hands, as images of last Friday’s disaster in northern Japan flashed repeatedly across the screen.

“I heard someone screaming and ran to see what was going on,” said Mucharam, who also lost her husband and two other daughters.

31 Tsunami surge deals blow to struggling Calif. town

By JEFF BARNARD, Associated Press

Sun Mar 13, 6:07 am ET

CRESCENT CITY, Calif. – Harbor crews are assessing the damage caused by powerful tsunami surges that pounded this northern California port, sinking or damaging dozens of boats and wreaking havoc on port facilities.

“This harbor is the lifeblood of our community,” Del Norte County Sheriff Dean Wilson said as he scanned the wreckage from waves touched off by a massive earthquake in Japan late last week.

Last year saw landings of crab and fish worth $12.5 million. “The fishing industry is the identity and soul of this community, besides tourism,” he said Saturday.

32 In Japan plant, frantic efforts to avoid meltdown

By MARI YAMAGUCHI and JEFF DONN, Associated Press

Sun Mar 13, 1:12 am ET

TOKYO – Inside the troubled nuclear power plant, officials knew the risks were high when they decided to vent radioactive steam from a severely overheated reactor vessel. They knew a hydrogen explosion could occur, and it did. The decision still trumped the worst-case alternative – total nuclear meltdown.

At least for the time being.

The chain of events started Friday when a magnitude-8.9 earthquake and tsunami severed electricity to the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear complex 170 miles (270 kilometers) northeast of Tokyo, crippling its cooling system. Then, backup power did not kick in properly at one of its units.

33 Gadhafi drives rebels from one of last strongholds

By PAUL SCHEMM and ZEINA KARAM, Associated Press

47 mins ago

BENGHAZI, Libya – Moammar Gadhafi’s forces swept rebels from one of their final strongholds with hours of searing waves of strikes from warships, tanks and warplanes on Sunday but the insurgents claimed that they moved back in after nightfall.

One rebel said that after their initial defeat, opposition forces destroyed armored vehicles and captured dozens of fighters from Gadhafi’s elite Khamis Brigade in the oil town of Brega, driving others back into the town’s airport.

Another opposition fighter told The Associated Press by telephone that celebrations had broken out in the nearby city of Ajdabiya, and celebratory gunfire, honking and shouting could be heard in the background.

34 Police fire on Yemeni protesters, 100 plus injured

By AHMED AL-HAJ, Associated Press

1 hr 10 mins ago

SANAA, Yemen – Police on rooftops fired live bullets and tear gas at protesters Sunday, wounding at least 100 people camping out near Sanaa University. The day’s violence, which also left two dead in a southern province, was evidence that monthlong protests demanding the resignation of Yemen’s longtime leader may be spiraling out of control.

Embattled President Ali Abdullah Saleh has resorted to increasingly violent tactics to try to put down the burgeoning uprising against his 32-year rule, deploying dozens of armed supporters on the streets in an attempt to intimidate protesters.

Wielding clubs and knives, police and regime supporters described by protesters as government sponsored thugs attacked activists camped out near Sanaa university, said Mohammed al-Abahi, a doctor in charge of a makeshift hospital near the university.

35 Yemen clashes and Bahrain chaos as protests deepen

By BRIAN MURPHY, Associated Press

33 mins ago

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates – Yemeni police firing from rooftops wounded more than 100 in a protesters’ camp Sunday and anti-government demonstrators paralyzed Bahrain’s capital as unrest deepened in two of Washington’s most critical allies in the region.

The ruler of Oman, another key Western partner, shifted some lawmaking powers to officials outside the royal family in what an analyst called a historic change.

Meanwhile, Saudi authorities tolerated 200 activists demanding the release of detainees in defiance of stern warnings of crackdowns on pro-democracy rallies.

36 US training quietly nurtured young Arab democrats

By CHARLES J. HANLEY, AP Special Correspondent

Sun Mar 13, 12:01 am ET

CAIRO – Hosni Mubarak’s woes could be traced back to Egypt’s 2005 election, when an army of tech-savvy poll watchers, with a little help from foreign friends, exposed the president’s customary “landslide” vote as an autocrat’s fraud.

In nearby Jordan, too, an outside assist on election day 2007 helped put that kingdom’s undemocratic political structure in a harsh spotlight – and the king in a bind.

And when 2011’s winter of discontent exploded into a pro-democracy storm in Tunisia and then Egypt, opposition activist Bilal Diab broke away from his six-month “young leaders school” and its imported instructors, and put his new skills to use among the protest tents of Cairo’s Tahrir Square.

37 Clinton spokesman resigns after WikiLeaks flap

By MATTHEW LEE, Associated Press

2 mins ago

WASHINGTON – Chief State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley quit on Sunday after causing a stir by describing the military’s treatment of the suspected WikiLeaks leaker as “ridiculous” and “stupid,” pointed words that forced President Barack Obama to defend the detention as appropriate.

“Given the impact of my remarks, for which I take full responsibility, I have submitted my resignation” to Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, according to a department statement attributed to the office of the spokesman. In a separate statement released simultaneously, Clinton said she had accepted the resignation “with regret.”

Crowley’s comments about the conditions for Army Pfc. Bradley Manning at a Marine Corps brig in Quantico, Va., reverberated quickly, from the small audience in Massachusetts where Crowley spoke, to a White House news conference Friday where Obama was asked to weigh in on the treatment of the 23-year-old believed responsible for the largest leak of classified American documents ever.

38 Tough times undermine generosity at NY biker bar

By The Associated Press

Sun Mar 13, 11:23 am ET

SCHENECTADY, N.Y. – After spending the past 1,500 or so Sundays making sure he had enough food to give a lot of people a free, hot meal, Don Birch took a Sunday off – a casualty of the same hard times he tried to make easier for others.

Last weekend, the longtime owner of the Sawmill Tavern served up what he said was the last of the free buffets he has offered every Sunday afternoon since 1980, two years after opening his biker bar in the Little Italy neighborhood in this economically depressed city on New York’s Mohawk River.

Anyone who needed a meal – the homeless, the unemployed, the elderly, whole families struggling to make ends meet – could show up at the Sawmill, no questions asked.

39 Openness in state gov’t? AP survey shows obstacles

By BETH FOUHY, Associated Press

2 hrs 40 mins ago

NEW YORK – More openness in government. Lawmakers across the country, including the Republicans who took control in many states this year, say they want it. But a survey of all 50 states by The Associated Press has found that efforts to boost openness often are being thwarted by old patterns of secrecy.

The survey did find signs of progress in a number of states, especially in technological efforts to make much more information available online. But there also are restrictions being put in place for recent electronic trends, such as limits on access to officials’ text messages.

The AP analysis was done in conjunction with this year’s Sunshine Week, an annual initiative begun in 2002 to promote greater transparency in government. To observe Sunshine Week, which runs March 13-20, AP journalists in all 50 statehouses reported on both recent improvements and the obstacles that still exist in many places.

40 In ND, legislators’ travel not public’s business

Associated Press

Sun Mar 13, 1:02 am ET

BISMARCK, N.D. – Bob Stenehjem’s job as North Dakota’s Senate majority leader has given him a well-stamped passport. It also has made him made him an example of what critics say are the shortcomings of the state’s disclosure rules for lawmakers.

The Republican from Bismarck became the focus of criticism when he missed six days of the Legislature in January to take a trip to India, financed by an organization that promotes trade relationships between that country and the United States.

It wasn’t the only one. Since he became the GOP’s Senate leader a decade ago, Stenehjem (pronounced STEN’-jum) has traveled to Germany, China, Lithuania and other countries at the behest of a corporate-supported nonprofit foundation that arranges educational trips for state legislative leaders. Stenehjem is the foundation’s vice chairman.

41 Lawmakers’ cell phones often out of public reach

By JULIE CARR SMYTH, Associated Press

Sun Mar 13, 12:08 am ET

COLUMBUS, Ohio – It was 1992 and Ohio Senate President Stanley Aronoff was on the golf course when his cell phone rang.

The Republican lawmaker stepped away from his companions, Coca-Cola executives, to take the call. When the exchange was over, Aronoff and then-Democratic House Speaker Vernal Riffe had agreed to wedge an unpopular carbonated beverage tax into that year’s state budget. At a penny per 12 ounces, the decision would cost distributors of Coke and other sodas $67 million – that’s $148 million in today’s dollars.

And it happened right under their noses.

42 AP Enterprise: Ga. not prosecuting sunshine cases

By GREG BLUESTEIN, Associated Press

Sun Mar 13, 12:01 am ET

ATLANTA – As Georgia’s new top attorney pushes for stiffer penalties for violations of sunshine law violations, records show the state has not criminally prosecuted any open records or open meetings complaints since the attorney general’s office began mediating those cases in 1998.

Most of the more than 2,200 cases in Georgia reviewed by The Associated Press were resolved when attorneys explained the law. In hundreds of those cases, the agency handed over the records after state attorneys intervened, and the complaints were resolved satisfactorily.

But in a handful of complaints – the AP review found at least a dozen – the office declined to pursue probable violations in court. In several of those instances, state attorneys identified clear breaches of the law but suggested the individual who filed the complaint hire private counsel to pursue the case in court.

43 "There will be a season." You sure?

By BARRY WILNER, AP Pro Football Writer

16 mins ago

NEW YORK – There will be an NFL season in 2011.

That’s what Commissioner Roger Goodell keeps saying. So do many of the owners and lots of players, even though labor talks collapsed, the union dissolved itself, and star players including MVP Tom Brady asked for a preliminary injunction to prevent a lockout hours before the league even implemented one.

Despite the nasty rhetoric of last week, no one would paint the doomsday scenario of no football come September. Instead, we hear Chargers president Dean Spanos say, “We will get through this. There will be a new agreement and we’re looking forward to playing football this season.”

44 Big GOP donors taking time to get into 2012 race

By PHILIP ELLIOTT, Associated Press

Sun Mar 13, 9:24 am ET

WASHINGTON – The potential White House candidates need cash.

But donors aren’t eager to shell out until the hopeful prove they’re credible.

Which they can’t – until they have the cash lined up to start their campaigns.

45 Bachmann flubs Revolutionary War geography in NH

By HOLLY RAMER, Associated Press

Sun Mar 13, 1:45 am ET

NASHUA, N.H. – U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota stood before New Hampshire Republicans with a tea bag clutched in her hand Saturday, but her grasp on Revolutionary War geography wasn’t quite as tight.

Before headlining a GOP fundraiser, the possible presidential hopeful told a group of students and conservative activists in Manchester, “You’re the state where the shot was heard around the world in Lexington and Concord.”

But those first shots of the Revolutionary War were fired in Massachusetts, not New Hampshire.

46 Wis. labor protesters say next fight at the polls

By TODD RICHMOND, Associated Press

Sun Mar 13, 1:48 am ET

MADISON, Wis. – Clogging the Wisconsin Capitol grounds and screaming angry chants, tens of thousands of undaunted pro-labor protesters descended on Madison again Saturday and vowed to focus on future elections now that contentious cuts to public worker union rights have become law.

Protests have rocked the Capitol almost every day since Gov. Scott Walker proposed taking nearly all collective bargaining rights away from public workers, but the largest came a day after the governor signed the measure into law. Madison Police estimated the crowd at 85,000 to 100,000 people – along with 50 tractors and one donkey – by late afternoon. No one was arrested.

Speakers delivered angry diatribes while the crowd carried signs comparing Walker to dictators and yelled thunderous chants of “this is what democracy looks like.”

47 SF residents learn to coexist with urban coyotes

By ROBIN HINDERY, Associated Press

16 mins ago

SAN FRANCISCO – Armed with a camera and a sturdy pair of boots, Janet Kessler spends most of her days roaming through lush parklands in pursuit of some of San Francisco’s most unlikely inhabitants – the city’s increasingly visible population of coyotes.

“They are my passion,” said Kessler, a 35-year San Francisco resident who has been observing and photographing coyotes in four city parks. “It’s this contradiction of an urban, settled environment and wild animals, and I find it thrilling.”

Wildlife researchers estimate that about a dozen coyotes live in San Francisco, with the first sighting in decades reported in 2001 in the Presidio, a federal park and residential neighborhood located on the city’s northern tip.

48 Nations close in on Guatemalan massacre suspects

By AMY TAXIN, Associated Press

17 mins ago

LOS ANGELES – Nearly 30 years after an elite Guatemalan military force raped and slaughtered residents of a tiny village, U.S. and Canadian authorities are closing in on some of the alleged perpetrators.

The arrest of four ex-soldiers in a little more than a year has raised hopes among advocates of victims’ relatives that at least one might stand trial for the killings.

Human rights advocates are pinning their hopes on the prosecution of Jorge Sosa Orantes, who was arrested in January in Canada on U.S. charges of lying on his citizenship application about his ties to the Guatemalan military.

49 NYC plans $3B transformation of waterfront

By SAMANTHA GROSS, Associated Press

31 mins ago

NEW YORK – For decades, development in New York was about concrete, skyscrapers and roads – highways that often ringed the city and kept people from the hundreds of miles of waterfront shoreline that help define the city. Now, the city’s first waterfront plan in two decades will spend billions of dollars to reunite New Yorkers with their water.

The $3 billion-plus plan, to be announced by the Bloomberg administration Monday, would add 50 new acres of parks, expand dozens more, overhaul the city’s sewage system to reduce waste pushed into the rivers and dredge waterways to make room for giants ships that are rarely seen on the East Coast.

The blueprint is New York City’s attempt to reverse more than a century of planning that left much of the city’s 520 miles of shoreline inaccessible to residents and instead directed them inland for their recreation and relaxation.

50 Group seeks forest restoration to cleanse planet

By JOHN FLESHER, AP Environmental Writer

Sun Mar 13, 2:14 pm ET

COPEMISH, Mich. – Redwoods and sequoias towering majestically over California’s northern coast. Oaks up to 1,000 years old nestled in a secluded corner of Ireland. The legendary cedars of Lebanon.

They are among the most iconic trees on Earth, remnants of once-vast populations decimated by logging, development, pollution and disease. A nonprofit organization called Archangel Ancient Tree Archive is rushing to collect their genetic material and replant clones in an audacious plan to restore the world’s ancient forests and put them to work cleansing the environment and absorbing carbon dioxide, the greenhouse gas largely responsible for global warming.

“In our infinite wisdom, we’ve destroyed 98 percent of the old growth forests that kept nature in balance for thousands of years,” said David Milarch, the group’s co-founder. “That’s what we intend to put back.”

51 Case of mayor’s money puts NY party in costly spot

By JENNIFER PELTZ, Associated Press

Sun Mar 13, 12:59 pm ET

NEW YORK – New York state’s Independence Party bills itself as blasting a straightforward new path through two-party politics, a route for free thinkers more interested in problem-solving than political intrigue. But now the state’s third-largest party is increasingly embroiled in high-stakes intrigue of its own.

Prosecutors have accused the party in a lawsuit of helping a political consultant obscure his alleged theft of $1.1 million from Mayor Michael Bloomberg – money the billionaire mayor and marquee Independence Party candidate gave the party for poll-watching. The Independence Party hasn’t been criminally charged; it says it did nothing wrong and didn’t know anything about any scheme to divert the money. But a judge has frozen its bank accounts and said this week that its conduct “doesn’t smell right.”

It’s a difficult moment even for a party that has weathered controversy before in its 16-year history. The party’s lawyers have said the financial freeze could cause significant hardship, and political observers say the case could damage the party’s image.

52 On high-profile issues, Obama keeps a low profile

By JIM KUHNHENN, Associated Press

Sun Mar 13, 1:57 am ET

WASHINGTON – Call it an above-the-fray strategy.

On hot issues that Democrats and Republicans have found cause to fret about – from spending reductions to state labor disputes – President Barack Obama is keeping a low profile.

Democrats such as Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia want him more publicly engaged in budget negotiations in Congress; some lawmakers want him to denounce Republican proposed program cuts.

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    • on 03/13/2011 at 23:03
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    • on 03/13/2011 at 23:26

    It’s still light and I feel Spring. Hyacinths and tulips are sprouting through the mulch, crocuses popped out all along the garden borders and the trees are budding. I don’t mind sacrificing the hour sleep for the extra daylight in the evening.

    • on 03/14/2011 at 00:12

    Adding to nation’s disaster woes, Japan’s Shinmoedake volcano erupts anew

    The Japanese Meteorological Agency issued a new warning for the mountain which had recently seemed to settle down.  Ash and rocks were sent two and a half miles into the air with the latest eruption and it is likely air travel in the area around southwestern Japan will be impacted.

    The eruption of the volcano in January was the largest in more than 50 years for the mountain.  The volcano may be best known to James Bond fans.  In the movie “You Only Live Twice” Mount Kirishima was the secret lair of the film’s villain, Ernst Blofeld.

    It is unknown if the latest eruption is related to the magnitude 8.9 earthquake that struck off the coast of northeastern Japan on Friday.

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