Evening Edition

Searchers found 2,000 bodies just in the northeastern region of Miyagi, while millions were left without water, electricity, fuel or enough food. Hundreds of thousands more were homeless after the tsunami drowned whole towns.

Panic selling saw stocks close more than six percent lower on the Tokyo bourse on fears for the world’s third-biggest economy, as power shortages prompted rolling blackouts and factory shutdowns in quake-hit areas.

Nuclear plant operator TEPCO dived almost 24 percent on fears of a meltdown at one of its reactors while producers such as Sony and Toyota tumbled as power shortages prompted blackouts and factories remained closed, hurting production.

The Bank of Japan said it would pump in a record 15 trillion yen ($184 billion) to help stabilise the short term-money market, making good on its pledge Sunday that it would unleash “massive” funds following the quake.

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 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 suffer a blast.

Rebel fighters in Ajdabiya said four shells had crashed west of the town while a former officer who defected from Kadhafi’s air force said there had been air strikes.

Ex-colonel Jamal Mansur also said rebels had regained a foothold in Brega, 80 kilometres (50 miles) to the west, which the Libyan army said it captured on Sunday.

But following the fall of Brega, the commander of the vastly outgunned rebels, Kadhafi’s former interior minister, vowed to defend the next town in the path of Kadhafi’s forces, Ajdabiya.

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

Thousands of mainly Shiite protesters occupied Manama’s business district, turning the regional banking hub into a ghost town as they pressed their calls for democratic change from the Sunni Muslim monarchy.

The Saudi government said it had responded to a call for help from its neighbour as Saudi-led forces from the Gulf countries’ joint Peninsula Shield Force crossed the causeway separating the two countries.

As pro-Ouattara fighters continued the push south of their traditional frontline, his stronghold Abobo in the capital Abidjan counted losses after a crackdown by strongman Laurent Gbagbo on Saturday left around 10 dead.

A member of Gbagbo’s militia told AFP by phone that the New Forces (FN) fighters “took the town of Doke” and were headed towards Blolequin “well equipped (with) rocket launchers and machine guns.”

Renault boss Carlos Ghosn and operations chief Patrick Pelata “apologise and express deep regret, personally and in Renault’s name,” to the three employees who were “wrongly accused”, the company said in a statement.

Renault officials quickly sacked the three in January, saying publicly they had proof they had been selling secrets on the electric technology which is expected to change the car industry.

All four qualifiers in Group A are now decided, with co-hosts Sri Lanka, Australia and New Zealand joining Pakistan in the last eight.

In the tougher Group B, no team has yet reached the next stage but Bangladesh moved into the top four on Monday, pushing England into fifth spot. India, South Africa and West Indies currently occupy the other places.

In a letter read out to the exiled parliament, the 75-year-old Nobel peace laureate argued that the Tibetan movement was now mature enough for a directly-elected political leader.

“If we have to remain in exile for several more decades, a time will inevitably come when I will no longer be able to provide leadership,” he said in the letter read by the speaker.

With money and time to spare, the new breed of Western visitor is hitting the road in India, China and elsewhere, armed with an adventurous spirit, an inexhaustible thirst for knowledge and a keen eye for a decent mattress.

“This is a major growing sector for us,” said Karan Anand, an executive at New Delhi-based tour company Cox and King’s.

The report also highlighted how the world’s major arms supplying countries had in recent years competed for trade in Libya, and in other Arab countries gripped by the recent wave of pro-democracy uprisings.

“India is the world’s largest arms importer,” the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) said as it released its latest report on trends in the international arms trade.

Co-founder Jack Dorsey fired off the first tweet on March 21, 2006. It read “just setting up my twttr.” It was Dorsey who proposed the idea for Twitter while working with Biz Stone and Evan Williams at podcasting company Odeo.

Since then, Twitter has been embraced as a forum for sharing anything from a favorite lunch spot to violations of civil rights and calls for revolution.

Roads and rail, power and ports have been crippled across much of Japan’s northeast and estimates of the cost of the multiple disasters have leapt to as much as $170 billion. Analysts said the economy could even tip back into recession.

Japanese stocks closed down more than 7.5 percent, wiping $287 billion off market capitalization in the biggest fall since the height of the global financial crisis in 2008.

Markets swooned at the shock of an 8.9 magnitude earthquake and a tsunami that may have killed more than 10,000 and has left millions of people without power, water or homes. The Nikkei average closed 6.18 percent lower on Monday.

At the same time, engineers were battling to prevent a nuclear meltdown at the Fukushima Daiichi complex owned by Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO), where three reactors threatened to overheat in the worst atomic power accident since Chernobyl in 1986.

A hydrogen explosion rocked the plant on Monday, sending a huge cloud of smoke over the area while engineers flooded the three reactors in the complex with sea water in a desperate attempt to prevent what was shaping up as the worst nuclear emergency since the Chernobyl disaster 25 years ago.

Nuclear fuel rods at one of the reactors may have become became fully exposed raising the risk they could melt down and cause a radioactive leak, Japanese news agency Jiji said.

As bodies washed up on the coast, injured survivors, children and elderly crammed into makeshift shelters, often without medicine. By Monday, 550,000 people had been evacuated after the earthquake and tsunami that killed at least 10,000.

The humanitarian crisis was unfolding on multiple fronts — from a sudden rise in newly orphaned children to shortages of water, food, fuel and electricity to overflowing toilets in overwhelmed shelters and erratic care of traumatized survivors.

Nuclear power has been poised for a revival as Europe strives to cut climate-warming carbon emissions and gas imports, but public mistrust still runs high, with the Chernobyl accident in 1986 still strong in many Europeans’ minds.

Public confidence in the industry looked set to fall as Japan scrambled on Monday to avert a meltdown at a stricken nuclear plant, days after an earthquake and tsunami.

The Stoxx 600 European Insurance Share Index was down 2 percent at 1610 GMT (12:10 p.m. EDT), underperforming the wider market, and extending a 1.7 percent drop on Friday. The U.S. S&P insurance index was down almost 1.6 percent at midday, also underperforming the wider market, which was down 1.2 percent.

Aflac Inc, the largest foreign insurer in Japan, said it was fully operational there, but its shares still slumped 4.1 percent at midday on Monday. Shares of American International Group Inc, the largest property insurer in Japan, also fell.

S&P cut its rating of Japan to ‘AA-” in January and Moody’s changed its outlook on its Aa2 sovereign rating to negative last month, warning that a downgrade was likely if the government failed to bring its ballooning public debt under control.

Japan is already saddled with debts twice the size of its $5 trillion economy and one initial estimate has put the economic cost of the still unfolding disaster at between 14-15 trillion yen ($171-183 billion).

The TOPIX tumbled 7.5 percent on record trading volume as investors bailed out of big blue-chip companies seen taking a hit from the need for rolling electricity blackouts on top of the disruptions to supply chains following the massive quake.

With Monday’s selloff, the market capitalization of shares on the Tokyo stock exchange’s first section fell by roughly $286 billion — greater than the size of Finland’s economy.

Like most of Japan’s northeast, Otsuchi was rattled by Friday’s massive earthquake and then flattened by the ensuing tsunami. Officials fear more than half the town’s population of about 19,000 is buried under the rubble.

“Otsuchi reminds me of Osaka and Tokyo after World War Two,” Tadateru Konoe, president of Japan’s Red Cross, told Reuters, as rescue workers swarmed over rubble, twisted metal and debris, some of it ablaze.

Japan, the world’s third largest consumer of commodities, is battling to avert a nuclear catastrophe in its worst crisis since World War Two after Friday’s earthquake, which is feared to have killed more than 10,000 people.

The northeast coast ports of Hachinohe, Sendai, Ishinomaki and Onahama were so severely damaged that they were not expected to return to operation for months. But power outages and fires resulting from the earthquake present an immediate risk.

The Bank of Japan said its action was a pre-emptive step after markets swooned at the shock of Friday’s 8.9 magnitude earthquake and a tsunami that may have killed more than 10,000 and has left millions without power, water or homes.

The central bank said it was still sticking to its view that the world’s third largest economy would resume its moderate recovery, though it warned about a likely drop in economic output and vowed to do whatever necessary to limit the economic fallout.

At worst, forecasts from some economists suggest the world’s third largest economy is in danger of slipping back into recession.

The hit to growth from Japan’s worst crisis since World War 2 is likely to exceed that of the 1995 Kobe earthquake, when industrial output fell but overall output remained strong, analysts said — a downgrade from their first estimates after Japan was hit on Friday by its largest earthquake on record.

President Barack Obama has urged expansion of nuclear power to help meet the country’s energy demands, lower its dependence on imported fossil fuels and reduce its climate-warming greenhouse gas emissions.

But as engineers in Japan tried on Sunday to avert a meltdown at three nuclear reactors following Friday’s massive earthquake, some U.S. policy makers were reevaluating their take on nuclear energy even as the industry itself offered assurances about the safety of new and existing plants.

Gaddafi’s government, at first reeling from widespread popular uprisings last month, is now confident of success. “We are certain of our victory, whatever the price,” state TV said.

Government troops took Brega on Sunday, but the rebels said they had moved back into the important eastern oil terminal town during the night and surrounded Gaddafi’s forces.

France, which along with Britain has led calls for an enforced ban on military flights across the North African oil-producing state, said it hoped the Arab League decision to ask the council to impose a no-fly zone would persuade reluctant members to support it.

“Now that there is this Arab League statement, we do hope that it’s a game changer for the other members of the council,” French U.N. Ambassador Gerard Araud said before the closed-door council meeting.

Analysts saw the troop movement into Bahrain, home to the U.S. Navy’s Fifth Fleet, as a mark of concern in Saudi Arabia that concessions by the country’s monarchy could inspire the conservative Sunni kingdom’s own Shi’ite minority.

About 1,000 Saudi soldiers entered Bahrain to protect government facilities, a Saudi official source said, a day after mainly Shi’ite protesters overran police and blocked roads.

But the Democratic Party and organized labor, which opposed the bill, show signs of being energized by the setback, which up-ends more than 50 years of collective bargaining by nurses, highway workers, nurses and other Wisconsin public employees.

Mark Pocan, a Democratic member of the Assembly who opposed the Walker bill, told protesters this week: “They may have won the battle, but I guarantee you they’ve lost the war.”

Water levels were restored after the first decrease, but the rods remained partially exposed late Monday night, increasing the risk of the spread of radiation and the potential for an eventual meltdown.

The cascading troubles in the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant compounded the immense challenges faced by the Tokyo government, already struggling to send relief to hundreds of thousands of people along the country’s quake- and tsunami-ravaged coast where at least 10,000 people are believed to have died.

Millions of people faced a fourth night without water, food or heating in near-freezing temperatures along the northeast coast devastated by Friday’s disasters. Meanwhile, a third reactor at a nuclear power plant lost its cooling capacity and its fuel rods were fully exposed, raising fears of a meltdown. The stock market plunged over the likelihood of huge losses by Japanese industries including big names such as Toyota and Honda.

On the coastline of Miyagi prefecture, which took the full force of the tsunami, a Japanese police official said 1,000 bodies were found scattered across the coastline. Kyodo, the Japanese news agency, reported that 2,000 bodies washed up on two shorelines in Miyagi.

Meanwhile, the Navy reported that several U.S. ships involved in the relief effort had to be moved away from the Fukushima Dai-Ichi nuclear power plant after officials found out that the ships and the 17 helicopter crew members had been exposed to low-levels of radiation. There have been two hydrogen explosions in three days at the plant, a third crisis that developed after the facility’s cooling systems failed following Friday’s earthquake and tsunami.

But U.S. officials said Monday the design of the Japanese reactors and the distance across the Pacific Ocean mean there is little probability of harmful levels of radiation reaching the United States, including Hawaii or U.S. territories.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 stock average slid 6.2 percent in its first day of trading since the 8.9-magnitude quake centered on northeastern Japan struck Friday, triggering enormous waves that swamped towns and killed thousands.

Escalating concerns about the financial and economic fallout – plus the risk of meltdown at damaged nuclear power reactors – triggered a plunge that hit all sectors of the stock market. The broader Topix index lost 7.5 percent.

The latest on Friday took one life about 20 miles to the south at the mouth of the Klamath River, where a young man was on the beach with friends taking pictures. The waves also roared into the boat basin here, ripping up docks, sinking 11 boats and damaging 47, causing untold millions of dollars in damage, authorities said.

“Crescent City is what I call a tsunami magnet,” said Lori Dengler, professor of geology and chair of the Geology and Oceanography departments at Humboldt State University.

Libya’s upheaval has turned into a two-front conflict along the country’s Mediterranean coast, where the majority of the population lives. Gadhafi appears to have somewhat of an upper hand. But his forces don’t seem strong enough to overwhelm the rebels – setting the stage for a grinding conflict as the West debated Monday whether to intervene, mulling the imposition of a no-fly zone that the rebels have been pleading for.

Ajdabiya and Brega are key crossroads for rebel supply lines, a main weakness. To get ammunition, reinforcements and arms to the front, they must drive along open desert highways, exposed to airstrikes. Gadhafi warplanes struck at least three targets Monday morning in Ajdabiya, missing a weapons storage site but hitting rebel fighters at a checkpoint in an attempt to stop supplies, rebels said.

The accelerated push came as U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and other top diplomats from the Group of Eight prominent world economies were gathering in Paris for a previously planned foreign ministers meeting.

France, which has angered some allies by offering diplomatic recognition to Libya’s opposition, said it is urgent to act against “barbarity” by Gadhafi’s forces.

The meeting later Monday would be the Obama administration’s first high-level contact with foes of Libyan strongman Moammar Gadhafi, who is pushing back a rebellion inspired by the “Arab spring” of political unrest.

Sarkozy has taken the lead in recognizing an interim council as Libya’s legitimate government. The U.S. has yet to decide on such recognition but has severed ties with the Libyan embassy in Washington and boosted its outreach to the opposition while maintaining caution on a no-fly zone the rebels want.

Huddling in a sand-swept Tunisian transit camp near the border with Libya, laborers said they were often cheated by their Libyan bosses even before they were stripped of their remaining cash on their way out of the country.

Those at Shousha Camp are among hundreds of thousands of foreign workers believed to have left Libya since the start of the uprising against Libyan ruler Moammar Gadhafi a month ago.

The Bahrain conflict is sectarian as much as pro-democracy, as the strategic Gulf island nation’s majority Shiite Muslims see an opportunity to rid themselves of two centuries of rule by a Sunni monarchy.

But Gulf Sunni leaders worry that might give Shiite Iran a stepping stone to its arch-rival Saudi Arabia, connected to Bahrain by a wide causeway.

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.

People requested information 544,360 times last year under the U.S. Freedom of Information Act from the 35 largest agencies, up nearly 41,000 more than the previous year, according to an analysis by The Associated Press of new federal data. But the government responded to nearly 12,400 fewer requests.

The administration refused to release any sought-after materials in more than 1-in-3 information requests, including cases when it couldn’t find records, a person refused to pay for copies or the request was determined to be improper under the law. It refused more often to quickly consider information requests about subjects described as urgent or especially newsworthy. And nearly half the agencies that AP examined took longer – weeks more, in some cases – to give out records last year than during the previous year.

The unveiling of the NCAA tournament bracket on Sunday included an unprecedented 11 teams from a single conference – the Big East – and the usual number of snubs and disappointments despite the increase from 65 to 68 teams.

“It’s mind-boggling,” said coach Tad Boyle of Colorado, widely recognized as the most aggrieved of the teams left out. “Don’t have any control over it so we won’t whine and cry about it.”

About 40 percent of depressed fathers in a survey said they’d spanked kids that age, versus just 13 percent of fathers who weren’t depressed. Most dads also had had recent contact with their child’s doctor – a missed opportunity to get help, authors of the study said.

The American Academy of Pediatrics and many child development experts warn against spanking children of any age. Other studies have shown that kids who are spanked are at risk of being physically abused and becoming aggressive themselves.

Those retired folk aren’t going anywhere. But after March 23, when repairs begin on the bridge that carries Fulton County Road 17 across Spoon River just east of their house, very few people will visit this small village.

Ellisville’s 96 residents will be cut off from paved routes east along CR-17 and north and south on County Road 2, which intersects it a mile east of the river.

They plead with her, but budget cuts have trimmed services so much – more than $1 billion in the current state budget – that she is not sure where to send them.

The desperation on the other end of the line hits painfully close to home for Murphy. Her 19-year-old son, Christopher, suffers from a range of mental problems, including one that’s linked to a short-tempered, hostile attitude. Although he has coverage through Medicaid, he can’t get the services he needs. His mother says he has no psychiatrist, no case manager and no medication.

He also issued his most detailed outline yet for changes to the No Child Left Behind law.

Obama said the law, enacted in 2002 under George W. Bush, got some things right but that it also got some things wrong.

There is no timetable for getting trainers back to “water work,” and it may not happen at all, said Chuck Tompkins, curator of zoological operations for the SeaWorld parks. But the first new whale show in five years, which debuts in April, is being planned to incorporate the interaction and play in the water that had become a staple of the iconic Shamu shows at SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment attractions in Orlando, San Diego and San Antonio.

And SeaWorld is spending tens of millions of dollars on new safety equipment, including rising pool floors that can quickly lift people and whales from the water, underwater vehicles to distract the animals in emergencies and portable oxygen bottles for trainers. The exhibitions have continued since Dawn Brancheau’s death on Feb. 24, 2010, with whales responding to commands, jumping in unison and splashing the giggling families in the front rows. However, the trainers remain on the pool deck, occasionally stroking the sleek black-and-white orcas that flop onto the platform.

Agriculture committees in the Iowa House and Senate have approved a bill that would prohibit such recordings and punish people who take agriculture jobs only to gain access to animals to record their treatment. Proposed penalties include fines of up to $7,500 and up to five years in prison. Votes by the full House and Senate have not yet been set.

Doug Farquhar, program director for environmental health at the National Conference of State Legislatures, said Iowa would be the first state to approve such restrictions but Florida is considering similar legislation. The Iowa measure was introduced after a number of group released videos showing cows being shocked, pigs beaten and chicks ground up alive.