Evening Edition

Evening Edition is an Open Thread

Now with 49 Top Stories.

From Yahoo News Top Stories

1 Blast at Japan nuke plant; 10,000 missing after quake

by Hiroshi Hiyama, AFP

1 hr 19 mins ago

SENDAI, Japan (AFP) – An explosion at a Japanese nuclear plant triggered fears of a meltdown Saturday after a massive earthquake and tsunami left more than 1,000 dead and at least 10,000 unaccounted for.

As workers doused the stricken reactor with sea water to try to avert catastrophe, Japan’s Prime Minister Naoto Kan said the chaos unleashed by Friday’s 8.9 magnitude quake was an “unprecedented national disaster”.

The quake, one of the biggest ever recorded, unleashed a terrifying tsunami that engulfed towns and cities on Japan’s northeastern coast, destroying everything in its path.

AFP

2 Japan growth threatened by quake, say analysts

by David Watkins, AFP

Sat Mar 12, 12:52 pm ET

TOKYO (AFP) – Last week Prime Minister Naoto Kan was in a precarious position as his approval ratings tumbled, his foreign minister resigned and funding bills for a $1.1 trillion budget were at an impasse.

And then disaster struck Japan.

Such issues have been put on the back burner after the government was confronted by the strongest earthquake on record ever to hit Japan and the subsequent tsunamis it unleashed, now set to claim well in excess of 1,300 lives.

3 1,000 feared dead in Japan quake-tsunami disaster

by Miwa Suzuki, AFP

Fri Mar 11, 6:56 pm ET

TOKYO (AFP) – More than 1,000 people were feared dead after a monster tsunami unleashed by a massive quake which wreaked destruction across northeast Japan and triggered an emergency at a nuclear power plant.

Prime Minister Naoto Kan said Saturday 45,000 residents living within 10 kilometres (six miles) of the plant must evacuate amid fears of a slight radiation leak, before stepping onto a helicopter to head for the area.

The atomic emergency came as the country struggled to assess the full extent of the devastation wrought by the massive tsunami triggered by the strongest quake ever recorded in Japan.

4 Retreating Libyan rebels win Arab League boost

by Karim Talbi, AFP

11 mins ago

UQAYLA, Libya (AFP) – Libyan rebels retreated under air strikes and shelling by government forces on Saturday, as Arab states said the regime has lost legitimacy and backed a no-fly zone to ground its warplanes.

After having abandoned an operation to recapture the oil town of Ras Lanuf, the outgunned anti-regime fighters struggled to set up a new defensive line 30 kilometres (about 20 miles) further east along a coastal road towards Brega.

Brega is the last main town before Ajdabiya, gateway to eastern Libya on the roads to the main rebel cities of Benghazi and Tobruk.

5 Rebels appeal for aid as Kadhafi troops advance

by Danny Kemp, AFP

Fri Mar 11, 6:31 pm ET

NEAR RAS LANUF, Libya (AFP) – Rebels battling Moamer Kadhafi appealed for arms and medical aid on Friday, as the European Union insisted he step down and US President Barack Obama said the world was “tightening the noose” on the Libyan leader.

Kadhafi is “a leader shooting at his own people”, EU president Herman Van Rompuy said at the close of an emergency summit of the 27-nation bloc in Brussels to examine the crisis and seek consensus on how to deal with it.

“The Libyan leadership must give up power without delay,” Van Rompuy said.

6 Kadhafi steps up attacks as rebels call for help

by Tahar Majdoub, AFP

Sat Mar 12, 10:25 am ET

UQAYLA, Libya (AFP) – Moamer Kadhafi’s air force struck at Libyan rebels Saturday as their leaders cried for help from the Arab League meeting in key talks on the conflict, including a no-fly zone to help their battered fighters.

Two airstrikes aimed at a rebel checkpoint in Uqayla, east of Ras Lanuf, sent insurgents fleeing back down the coastal road towards the next town of Brega, which an AFP correspondent said had become a ghost town.

Rebels in Uqayla said they had pulled out of Ras Lanuf after fierce fighting since government forces loyal to Kadhafi stormed the town on Thursday.

7 Four Yemeni protesters killed in fresh unrest

by Jamal al-Jaberi, AFP

1 hr 40 mins ago

SANAA (AFP) – Five protesters including a schoolboy were killed in fresh bloodshed in Yemen on Saturday as clashes between police and anti-regime demonstrations raged across the country.

British Foreign Secretary William Hague condemned the “unacceptable” violence against anti-regime protesters and the Foreign Office said all British citizens “should leave Yemen as soon as they can”.

Security forces in the impoverished country, a key US ally in the war against Al-Qaeda, fired bullets and tear gas at demonstrators camping at University Square since February 21, killing one and wounding 300 other, protest organisers said.

8 Yemen police ‘kill 2, use poison gas’ on protests

by Jamal al-Jaberi, AFP

Sat Mar 12, 7:23 am ET

SANAA (AFP) – Yemeni police killed two protesters, including a schoolboy, and used poison gas on protesters as anti-regime demonstrations raged across the country on Saturday, activists and medics said.

Security forces fired live rounds and gas in an attack on demonstrators camping at University Square in Sanaa, killing one protester and wounding many more, protest organisers said.

More than 30 protesters were shot with live rounds, while hundreds more suffered from injuries including loss of consciousness and spasms from breathing gases, medics said.

9 Gbagbo forces go on killing spree in ICoast: rival

AFP

28 mins ago

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.

10 End operations in Afghanistan, Karzai tells NATO

by Yasar Hameed, AFP

2 hrs 39 mins ago

ASADABAD, Afghanistan (AFP) – An emotional Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Saturday told international troops to “stop their operations in our land”, his strongest remarks yet over mistaken killings of civilians.

Karzai’s comments came after a week in which a relative of his was killed in a raid by foreign forces and he rejected an apology by the US commander of troops General David Petraeus for the deaths of nine children in a NATO strike.

“I would like to ask NATO and the US with honour and humbleness and not with arrogance to stop their operations in our land,” Karzai said in Pashto as he visited the dead children’s relatives in Kunar province, eastern Afghanistan.

11 Eurozone agrees to boost defences, coordination

by Bryan McManus, AFP

Sat Mar 12, 12:49 pm ET

BRUSSELS (AFP) – Eurozone leaders agreed Saturday to boost defences against a destabilising debt crisis stalking weaker members by strengthening a debt rescue fund and increasing economic policy coordination.

European Council President Herman van Rompuy said the agreements, to be finalised at a full EU summit March 24-25, “should allow us to finally turn the corner” on a crisis that has tested the whole euro project to breaking point.

Van Rompuy spoke after drawn-out talks, which ended shortly before dawn and saw testy exchanges between new Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny and his colleagues over the terms of Dublin’s debt rescue.

12 Italy stun France in historic Six Nations win

by Barnaby Chesterman, AFP

Sat Mar 12, 12:05 pm ET

ROME (AFP) – Mirco Bergamasco kicked a penalty five minutes from time and then Italy held firm to stun France in a historic 22-21 victory at the Stadio Flaminio here on Saturday.

It was the hosts’ first ever Six Nations win against the French, whose championship hopes are all but in tatters following a second successive defeat.

For Italy this stunning and dogged performance will have banished memories of their 59-13 capitulation to England at Twickenham earlier this season.

13 Wales in Six Nations title contention after derailing Ireland

by Luke Phillips, AFP

1 hr 52 mins ago

CARDIFF, United Kingdom (AFP) – Wales derailed Ireland’s hopes of the Triple Crown with a hard-fought 19-13 Six Nations victory over the visitors at the Millennium Stadium on Saturday.

A controversial Mike Phillips try, 11 points from the boot of James Hook and a long-range penalty from Leigh Halfpenny proved too much for Ireland, for whom Brian O’Driscoll scored a five-pointer and Ronan O’Gara bagged two penalties and a conversion.

The victory means Wales, who have beaten Scotland (24-6) and Italy (24-16) but lost to England (26-19), remain in contention for winning the Six Nations.

14 Apple fans snap up the new iPad

by Sebastian Smith, AFP

Fri Mar 11, 6:58 pm ET

NEW YORK (AFP) – The new iPad went on sale on Friday as Apple fans lined up outside stores around the United States to be the first to snap up the sleek touchscreen tablet computer.

Apple began selling the iPad 2, which was unveiled by chief executive Steve Jobs last week, online overnight and in its 236 US stores starting at 5:00 pm (2200 GMT).

The queues did not appear to be as long as those for the iPhone 4 released in June but thousands of people lined up outside Apple stores in San Francisco, New York, Washington and other cities to get their hands on the device, which is one-third thinner, 15 percent lighter and faster than the previous model.

15 Niger voters pick president in return to civil rule

by Boureima Hama, AFP

Sat Mar 12, 3:36 am ET

NIAMEY (AFP) – The people of Niger voted for a new civilian president Saturday in landmark polls that the outgoing head of the military junta said should serve an example of democracy to the whole of Africa.

Thirteen months after Mamadou Tandja was jettisoned from office over his attempts to amend the constitution, voters were choosing between a former ally of the toppled president and a veteran opposition leader in the runoff poll.

General Salou Djibo, installed as leader of the junta after the February 2010 coup, was among the first to cast his ballot as polls opened at 0700 GMT.

Reuters

16 Japan struggles with nuclear accident and tsunami aftermath

By Chris Meyers and Kim Kyung-hoon, Reuters

1 hr 6 mins ago

FUKUSHIMA, Japan (Reuters) – Japan battled twin disasters on Sunday, trying to contain a radiation leak at a crippled nuclear plant while rescue teams searched desperately for survivors from a massive earthquake and tsunami.

Thousands huddled over heaters in emergency shelters through another freezing night along the northeastern coast, a scene of devastation after the 8.9 magnitude earthquake sent a 10-meter (33-foot) tsunami surging through towns and cities.

Kyodo news agency said the number of dead or unaccounted for as a result of the quake and tsunami was expected to exceed 1,800. It also reported there had been no contact with around 10,000 people in one small town, more than half its population.

17 Japan tsunami grazes Americas but impact light

By Dan Levine and Antonio de la Jara, Reuters

Sat Mar 12, 2:37 pm ET

SAN FRANCISCO/SANTIAGO (Reuters) – Tsunamis triggered by Japan’s devastating earthquake that prompted evacuations on the Pacific coast of North and South America caused flooding as far away as Chile on Saturday, but damage was limited.

The tsunami lost much of its energy as it moved thousands of miles (km) across the Pacific Ocean, although governments took no chances and ordered large-scale evacuations of coastal areas, ports and refineries.

Despite the power of Japan’s biggest-ever quake that killed at least 1,300 people, the tsunami waves were relatively benign as they rolled into the Americas, causing only isolated flooding, and fears of a catastrophe proved unfounded.

18 Odd nature of Japan quake complicates insurance

By Ben Berkowitz, Reuters

2 hrs 16 mins ago

NEW YORK (Reuters) – The unprecedented nature of Friday’s earthquake in Japan, plus the damage from the subsequent tsunami and fires, makes estimating insured losses especially challenging, senior executives at two top catastrophe modeling firms said on Saturday.

There are about $24 billion in insured properties in the three-kilometer (1.8 mile) band closest to the coast in the four most affected prefectures, Jayanta Guin of Air Worldwide, a disaster-modeling firm, said in an interview. In the four prefectures most affected by the quake’s shaking, there is some $300 billion in insured property.

But that does not equate in any way to a similar loss value. Guin said it will be days or even weeks until an accurate estimate can be made of what was lost, how it was lost, and what it will take to fix.

19 Japan radiation leak evokes Three Mile Island

By Gerard Wynn, Reuters

Sat Mar 12, 12:22 pm ET

LONDON (Reuters) – The radiation leak in Japan immediately recalls memories of accidents at the Chernobyl and Three Mile Island power stations, and how it unfolds will be a critical test for international acceptance of nuclear energy.

The Fukushima incident, brought on by the biggest earthquake ever recorded in Japan, took a turn for the worse on Saturday after a blast blew the roof off the facility.

There are direct comparisons with the 1979 disaster at Three Mile Island in the United States — in both cases a cooling fault led to a build up of pressure in the radioactive core and resulted in a relatively small radiation leak.

20 No repeat of Chernobyl disaster for Japan: experts

By Elizabeth Piper, Reuters

Sat Mar 12, 9:47 am ET

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Japan should not expect a repeat of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster after an explosion blew the roof off one of its nuclear power plants that had been shaken in a huge earthquake, experts said on Saturday.

Japan’s Daiichi 1 reactor north of the capital Tokyo began leaking radiation after the 8.9-magnitude earthquake triggered a tsunami, and swiftly prompted fears of a nuclear meltdown.

But experts said pictures of mist above the plant suggested only small amounts of radiation had been expelled as part of measures to ensure its stability, far from the radioactive clouds that Chernobyl spewed out when it exploded in 1986.

21 Desperation, panic grip Japan after quake

By Kim Kyung-Hoon, Reuters

Sat Mar 12, 12:04 pm ET

FUKUSHIMA, Japan (Reuters) – Survivors of Japan’s devastating earthquake and tsunami huddled over heaters in emergency shelters on Saturday as rescue workers searched a mangled coastline of submerged homes, wrecked cars and stranded boats.

Aerial footage showed buildings and trains strewn like children’s toys after powerful walls of seawater swamped areas around the worst-hit city of Sendai, about 130 km (80 miles) from the earthquake’s epicenter.

“Everything is so hard now,” said Kumi Onodera, a 34-year-old dental technician in Sendai, a port of 1 million people known as the “City of Trees” and cradled by dormant volcanoes.

22 World sends disaster relief teams to Japan

By Stephanie Nebehay, Reuters

Sat Mar 12, 9:21 am ET

GENEVA (Reuters) – The international community started to send disaster relief teams on Saturday to help Japan after it suffered a massive earthquake and tsunami, with the United Nations sending a group to help co-ordinate work.

“We are in the process of deploying 9 experts who are among the most experienced we have for dealing with catastrophes. They will help evaluate needs and coordinate assistance with Japanese authorities,” Elisabeth Byrs, spokeswoman of the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), told Reuters.

The team of U.N. disaster relief officials includes several Japanese speakers and an environmental expert, she said.

23 Japan battles crisis at quake-hit nuclear plants

By Osamu Tsukimori and Mayumi Negishi, Reuters

Fri Mar 11, 11:39 pm ET

TOKYO (Reuters) – Japanese authorities battling to contain rising pressure in nuclear reactors damaged by a massive earthquake were forced to release radioactive steam from one plant on Saturday after evacuating tens of thousands of residents from the area.

Tokyo Electric Power Co also said fuel may have been damaged by falling water levels at the Daiichi facility, one of its two nuclear power plants in Fukushima, some 240 km (150 miles) north of Tokyo.

Officials said that so far the level of radiation leakage was small. And Naoto Sekimura, a professor at the University of Tokyo, said a major radioactive disaster was unlikely.

24 Arab states back Libya no-fly zone against Gaddafi

By Michael Georgy and Tom Perry, Reuters

38 mins ago

RAS LANUF, Libya/CAIRO (Reuters) – Arab countries appealed to the United Nations on Saturday to impose a no-fly zone on Libya as government troops backed by warplanes fought to drive rebels from remaining strongholds in western Libya.

Washington, which would play a leading role in enforcing any no-fly zone, called the declaration an “important step”; but it stopped short of commitment to any military action and made no proposal for a swift meeting of the U.N. Security Council.

Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa said the League, meeting in Cairo on Saturday, had decided that “serious crimes and great violations” committed by the government of Muammar Gaddafi against his people had stripped it of legitimacy.

25 Gaddafi pushes rebels east, more fighters ready

By Mohammed Abbas, Reuters

Sat Mar 12, 10:34 am ET

BREGA, Libya (Reuters) – Libyan troops forced rebels to retreat overnight from the outskirts of the oil town of Ras Lanuf, pushing the front line eastwards, and the rebel council’s chief said more volunteers were ready to fight.

The front line now stands between the rebel-held town of Uqaylah and Ras Lanuf, where oil storage tanks were hit during Friday’s fighting. Rebels blamed an air strike but the government denied hitting the oil plant.

Rebels said there were more fighters standing by.

26 Euro zone leaders agree to strengthen bailout fund

By Jan Strupczewski and Julien Toyer, Reuters

Sat Mar 12, 3:17 am ET

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – European leaders agreed on Saturday to strengthen the euro zone bailout fund, make its loans cheaper and lower the interest rate on loans extended to Greece, a move to get on top of the year-long debt crisis.

In a bold series of steps that may help to calm some of the pressure in financial markets, the leaders of the 17 countries that share the European single currency said they would increase the guarantees they pay into the European Financial Stability Facility, allowing its capacity to be increased to the full 440 billion euros, from a current level of around 250 billion euros.

They also agreed to lower the interest rate and lengthen the maturity on loans extended to Greece, reducing the rate by 100 basis points to bring it into line with IMF lending. The term on the 110 billion euros of EU/IMF loans was lengthened to 7.5 years from three, giving Athens more time to repay.

27 Big crowds greet Apple’s iPad 2

By Gabriel Madway and Sinead Carew, Reuters

Fri Mar 11, 10:56 pm ET

SAN FRANCISC0/NEW YORK (Reuters) – Thousands of people thronged Apple stores on both U.S. coasts as the iPad 2 went on sale on Friday, signaling a strong appetite for a device that dominates the fledgling market it created.

Hordes of fans — some of whom had queued up overnight — formed raucous pre-sale lines, and attracted curious onlookers, in the chilly rain in Manhattan, and in San Francisco.

The crowds erupted as a sea of blue-shirted Apple staff threw open the doors at 5 p.m. and gave high-fives to the first iPad shoppers in Manhattan and San Francisco.

AP

28 For battered Japan, a new threat: nuclear meltdown

By ERIC TALMADGE and YURI KAGEYAMA, Associated Press

24 mins ago

IWAKI, Japan – Cooling systems failed at a second nuclear reactor on Japan’s devastated coast Sunday, hours after an explosion at a nearby unit made leaking radiation, or even outright meltdown, the central threat to the country following a catastrophic earthquake and tsunami.

The Japanese government said radiation emanating from the plant appeared to have decreased after Saturday’s blast, which produced a cloud of white smoke that obscured the complex. But the danger was grave enough that officials pumped seawater into the reactor to avoid disaster and moved 170,000 people from the area.

Japan’s nuclear safety agency then reported an emergency at a second reactor unit when its cooling systems malfunctioned.

29 Scenes of devastation at heart of Japan disaster

By JAY ALABASTER, Associated Press

Sat Mar 12, 2:03 pm ET

SENDAI, Japan – She scanned the landscape of debris and destruction, looking at the patch of earth where Japan’s massive tsunami erased her son’s newly built house so thoroughly that she can’t even be certain where it once stood.

Satako Yusawa teared up but pulled herself together quickly. Because for the 69-year-old widow, there was this to be thankful for: Her son and his family were out of town when Friday’s offshore, 8.9-magnitude quake sparked huge surges of water that washed fleets of cars, boats and entire houses across coastal Sendai like detritus perched on lava.

But her son had borrowed a lot of money to build that house, and had moved in only last month.

30 In Japan plant, frantic efforts to avoid meltdown

By MARI YAMAGUCHI and JEFF DONN, Associated Press

4 mins ago

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.

31 Japanese-Americans seek news of quake back home

By JACOB ADELMAN, Associated Press

Sat Mar 12, 9:49 am ET

LOS ANGELES – Nancy Niijima switched on the TV in her room at the Keiro retirement home to see images from her native country of submerged neighborhoods, cars being carried in giant ocean tides, collapsed buildings and cracked roads.

“It’s like science fiction, not like what really happens in Japan,” said Niijima, who is concerned about her sister in the Okinawa island chain, whom she has been unable to reach. The good news is that she has no family near the hardest-hit areas.

In the Los Angeles area and other U.S. regions with large Japanese-American and Japanese expatriate populations, those with ties to the Asian country expressed shock at the damage wrought by the 8.9-magnitude quake and fear for the safety of their loved ones there.

32 Tsunami surge deals blow to struggling Calif. town

By JEFF BARNARD, Associated Press

9 mins ago

CRESCENT CITY, Calif. – Fishermen who had escaped to sea before the tsunami hit this struggling coastal town landed small loads of crab on Saturday, while crews surveyed damage and a family combed the beach for any sign of a man who was swept away a day ago as he photographed the waves.

“This harbor is the lifeblood of our community and the soul of our community,” said Del Norte County Sheriff Dean Wilson as he looked across what was left of the Crescent City boat basin, which 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.

“It’s going to be hard to recover here.”

33 Gadhafi pushes ahead as Arab League calls for help

By HADEEL AL-SHALCHI and PAUL SCHEMM, Associated Press

1 hr 33 mins ago

RAS LANOUF, Libya – The world moved a step closer to a decision on imposing a no-fly zone over Libya but Moammar Gadhafi was swiftly advancing Saturday on the poorly equipped and loosely organized rebels who have seized much of the country.

Gadhafi’s forces pushed the front line miles deeper into rebel territory and violence erupted at the front door of the opposition stronghold in eastern Libya, where an Al-Jazeera cameraman slain in an ambush became the first journalist killed in the nearly monthlong conflict.

In Cairo, the Arab League asked the U.N. Security Council to impose a no-fly zone to protect the rebels, increasing pressure on the U.S. and other Western powers to take action that most have expressed deep reservations about.

34 AP Impact: US training nurtured Arab democrats

By CHARLES J. HANLEY, AP Special Correspondent

56 mins ago

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.

35 AP Interview: Libyan rebels plead for no-fly zone

By RYAN LUCAS, Associated Press

Sat Mar 12, 9:59 am ET

BAYDA, Libya – A rebel leader pleaded Saturday with the international community to approve a no-fly zone over Libya as Moammar Gadhafi’s forces gained strength in the east, securing a key port city and oil refinery.

Mustafa Abdul-Jalil, the head of the opposition’s interim governing council, also expressed disappointment over the failure to act by the United States and other Western countries, which have expressed solidarity with the rebels in their fight to oust Gadhafi but stopped short of approving any military action.

“If there is no no-fly zone imposed on Gadhafi’s regime, and if his ships are not checked then we will have a catastrophe in Libya,” Abdul-Jalil told The Associated Press in an interview in a professors’ lounge at the Omar Mukhtar University in Bayda, where he is also head of the city council.

36 Bachmann flubs Revolutionary War geography in NH

By HOLLY RAMER, Associated Press

1 hr 4 mins ago

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.

37 Lockout leaves NFL in limbo after talks break off

By HOWARD FENDRICH, AP Pro Football Writer

Sat Mar 12, 12:06 pm ET

WASHINGTON – All along, the NFL said it was certain the union would dissolve itself and players would head to court for antitrust lawsuits.

All along, the union insisted the league’s owners were planning to lock out the players.

And that’s exactly what happened.

38 Obama tells GOP: Nice try on health care records

By RICARDO ALONSO-ZALDIVAR, Associated Press

Sat Mar 12, 12:06 pm ET

WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama once promised that negotiations over his health care overhaul would be carried out openly, in front of TV cameras and microphones. Tell that to the White House now.

Republican congressional investigators got the brush-off this past week after pressing for details of meetings between White House officials and interest groups, including drug companies and hospitals that provided critical backing for Obama’s health insurance expansion.

Complying with the records request from the House Energy and Commerce Committee “would constitute a vast and expensive undertaking” and could “implicate longstanding executive branch confidentiality interests,” White House lawyer Robert Bauer wrote the committee. Translation: Nice try.

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

By JIM KUHNHENN, Associated Press

Sat Mar 12, 11:36 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.

40 PROMISES, PROMISES: Obama shies away from protests

By SAM HANANEL, Associated Press

Sat Mar 12, 11:14 am ET

WASHINGTON – Union leaders urged Vice President Joe Biden during a White House meeting last month to go to Wisconsin and rally the faithful in their fight against Gov. Scott Walker’s move to curtail collective bargaining rights for most public employees.

Request rebuffed, they asked for Labor Secretary Hilda Solis. So far, however, the White House has stayed away from any trips to Madison, the state capital, or other states in the throes of union battles. The Obama administration is treading carefully on the contentious political issue that has led to a national debate over the power that public sector unions wield in negotiating wages and benefits.

A few labor leaders have complained openly that President Barack Obama is ignoring a campaign pledge he made to stand with unions; most others say his public comments have been powerful enough.

41 Obama, new spokesman share ‘no drama’ approach

By JULIE PACE, Associated Press

1 hr 38 mins ago

WASHINGTON – Barack Obama’s new spokesman may be just the right guy for the president’s approach to governing: Obama doesn’t like drama and Jay Carney doesn’t seem to invite it.

A month into his tenure as Obama’s press secretary, Carney doesn’t appear to be looking for fight each time he enters the daily press briefing. Unlike his feisty predecessor, Robert Gibbs, Carney hasn’t spent his career in partisan politics – his main experience is as a reporter – and his style is more measured.

“He is not part of the journalistic culture of hyping conflicts,” said Walter Isaacson, the former editor of Time magazine, where Carney worked for two decades. “I think he will be disdainful of those who try to hype conflict unfairly because he spent so much of his career being intellectually honest.”

42 Maryland gay marriage bill dies with no final vote

By TOM LoBIANCO, Associated Press

1 hr 48 mins ago

ANNAPOLIS, Md. – The speaker of Maryland’s House vowed that Democrats would try again next year to pass legislation legalizing gay marriage, but the intense lobbying by faith groups against the measure in recent weeks shows that it won’t be easy, even in a state known for its liberal politics.

A loose coalition of Democratic legislators failed to cobble together enough votes to overcome opposition from Republicans and religious groups, including the Catholic church and many black congregations, to make Maryland the sixth state to legalize gay marriage.

Lawmakers had planned to vote on the bill in the House, but it was withdrawn instead Friday and effectively killed for the year.

43 New opening for ‘Spidey,’ Green Goblin gets stuck

By CRISTIAN SALAZAR, Associated Press

Sat Mar 12, 3:07 am ET

NEW YORK – Broadway’s stunt-heavy, $65 million “Spider-Man” musical has experienced another technical glitch that left its lead villain dangling in midair, and the troubled production will shut down for more than three weeks this spring for an overhaul.

Lead producers Michael Cohl and Jeremiah J. Harris said in a statement Friday that “Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark,” which has been in previews for a record 103 performances, would officially open June 14. The show’s opening, delayed six times, was to have opened last on March 15.

The final preview performance before the shutdown will be April 17. Performances will be canceled from April 19-May 11, with previews resuming on May 12.

44 US Muslims find defending themselves exhausting

By JEFF KAROUB, Associated Press

1 hr 7 mins ago

DEARBORN, Mich. – Finishing law school is a challenge for Dewnya Bakri-Bazzi, but being an American and a Muslim can be downright exhausting.

As she crammed before class this week, Bakri-Bazzi caught up on testimony from a congressional hearing on the radicalization of U.S. Muslims. She contends Rep. Peter King, the New York Republican who called it, is ignoring the positive steps Muslims have taken in fighting terrorism since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

Bakri-Bazzi, president of the Muslim Legal Society at Thomas M. Cooley Law School’s Detroit area campus, says she fears Thursday’s hearing will only spark backlash against innocent members of her community just going about their lives.

45 LA birthplace becomes battleground over history

By JACOB ADELMAN, Associated Press

1 hr 52 mins ago

LOS ANGELES – Inside his trinket shop in the city’s El Pueblo historic district, Mike Mariscal is surrounded by painted masks, woven blankets and Day of the Dead figurines he’s long sold to tourists.

Mariscal fears his own day of reckoning is near as a series of disputes surround the adobe buildings, shops and Mexican-era churches in an increasingly trafficked corner of the city’s revitalizing downtown.

One dustup is over Indian graves unearthed during construction of a Mexican-American cultural center. Another involves a monument to Hispanic war heroes where the original Chinatown once stood.

46 Computer mess jeopardizes court’s political clout

By PAUL ELIAS, Associated Press

Sat Mar 12, 2:41 pm ET

SAN FRANCISCO – Former California Chief Justice Ron George’s crowning achievement was expected to be his crusade to drag the nation’s largest court system into the 21st century: a computer system linking every courthouse in the state’s 58 counties.

As initially envisioned a decade ago, anyone in any courthouse today should be able to get real-time information on just about any case anywhere in the state.

Instead, the state auditor has concluded that court officials have so badly mismanaged the massive information technology project formally launched in 2004 that it has been installed to mixed reviews in just seven counties. And more than what may become a $2 billion computer project is at stake.

47 First VFW post begun by women gets started in NY

By CAROLYN THOMPSON, Associated Press

Sat Mar 12, 1:33 pm ET

WEST SENECA, N.Y. – As one of the few female officers in New York’s Veterans of Foreign Wars organization, Marlene Roll heard the questions all the time: Why don’t more women join the VFW? How can we change that?

As she set out to start the nation’s first female VFW post, it turned out the answers had to do not only with gender, but generation.

“For years, it was really a loss for me as to what the issues were, why women weren’t coming in,” said Roll, a former sergeant in the Army Reserves who served in Desert Shield and Desert Storm before joining the VFW in 1991.

48 Celebrating genius of an undiscovered photographer

By SHARON COHEN, AP National Writer

Sat Mar 12, 11:18 am ET

Fractions of seconds, captured by Vivian Maier a half century ago or more – fleeting moments of life on the streets at a time when men wore fedoras and dragged on Lucky Strikes, when women favored babushkas, when families piled in Studebakers and DeSotos for Sunday drives .

Maier observed it all without judgment. This was her hobby, not her job. But over the decades, it also was her life. She shot tens of thousands of photos. Most were never printed. Many weren’t even developed. And few were seen by anyone but her.

Vivian Maier wanted it that way. She guarded her privacy so zealously that she didn’t even want people to know her full name.

49 Cardinal pushed to release list, document cited

By JAY LINDSAY, Associated Press

Fri Mar 11, 8:02 pm ET

BOSTON – A watchdog group is pushing Cardinal Sean O’Malley to release a promised list of suspected pedophile priests in Boston, highlighting a church document that indicates the list could include up to 40 names that haven’t been made public.

The number appears in the minutes of an Archdiocesan Pastoral Council meeting held exactly a year ago Friday. The document records a discussion about the list, as well as questions by council members and answers by archdiocesan officials, including:

Question: “How many names will be on the list of credibly accused priests?”

Answer: “155 names will appear, of which 40 may be new names.”

2 comments

  1. about the Fukushima Daiichi No. 1 nuclear plant as to what caused the explosion and if there is a meltdown now in progress. There is a major problem in several reactors that they are having problems keeping the cores covered with cool water is not in dispute but whether the core of this reactor, or the one next to it, is experiencing meltdown of their cores is. There are increased atmospheric radiation levels and there have been reports of patients with radiation exposure in hospitals. There seem to be a credibility gap as to which Japanese government agency to believe.

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