Evening Edition is an Open Thread
With 58 Top Stories.
1 Rebels appeal for aid as Kadhafi troops advance
by Danny Kemp, AFP
14 mins ago
| 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. |
AFP
2 Libyan rebels fight back, West divided
by Danny Kemp, AFP
Fri Mar 11, 12:58 pm ET
| NEAR RAS LANUF, Libya (AFP) – Rebels battling Moamer Kadhafi urgently appealed on Friday for arms and medical aid, while the European Union insisted the Libyan strongman step down “without delay” and said it was examining “all necessary options” to protect the people.
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 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. |
3 Massive Saudi show of force silences dissent
by Omar Hasan, AFP
Fri Mar 11, 11:39 am ET
| RIYADH (AFP) – Saudi Arabia launched a massive security operation Friday in a menacing show of force to deter protesters from a planned “Day of Rage” to press for democratic reform in the conservative kingdom.
Illegal demonstrations were supposed to start after Muslim Friday prayers at noon but as the mosques emptied there were no signs of rallies, with security forces manning checkpoints in key locations across several cities.
In the strategic Olaya commercial centre of the capital Riyadh, where protesters were urged to congregate, hundreds of security personnel surrounded the mosque and inspected motorists’ identification documents. |
4 Hundreds dead in Japanese quake-tsunami disaster
by Miwa Suzuki, AFP
1 hr 9 mins ago
| TOKYO (AFP) – The strongest quake ever recorded in Japan Friday unleashed a monster tsunami that claimed hundreds of lives, and a minister warned there could be a discharge of radiation from a nuclear plant.
The towering wall of water generated by the 8.9-magnitude earthquake — the seventh biggest in history — pulverised the northeastern city of Sendai, where police reportedly said that 200-300 bodies had been found on the coast. Kyodo News said the final death toll was likely to pass 1,000.
The 10-metre (33-foot) wave of black water sent shipping containers, cars and debris crashing through the streets of Sendai and across open farmland, while a tidal wave of debris-littered mud destroyed everything in its path. |
5 Re-insurers take another hit from quake in Japan
by William Ickes, AFP
2 hrs 51 mins ago
| FRANKFURT (AFP) – Stocks in European re-insurance companies plunged Friday as the massive earthquake in Japan slammed the sector less than three weeks after it was rocked by the deadly quake in New Zealand.
Re-insurance companies, which back up insurers and are among those hit early by catastrophes, stressed it was too soon to estimate the final cost, but “it will be an expensive event,” said Christian Muschick at the private German bank Silvia Quandt.
The cost in human life has already reached 90, public broadcaster NHK said, after the massive 8.9-magnitude earthquake, the biggest ever recorded in Japan, was followed by huge aftershocks and tsunamis along the nation’s Pacific coast. |
6 Record quake unleashes tsunami on Japan
by Miwa Suzuki, AFP
Fri Mar 11, 8:37 am ET
| TOKYO (AFP) – The strongest earthquake ever to hit Japan Friday unleashed a terrifying 10-metre tsunami that washed away homes and tossed ships inland, with a nuclear plant among multiple sites set ablaze.
At least 116 people were listed as dead or missing after the 8.9-magnitude quake, which US and Japanese seismologists said was the fifth strongest tremor worldwide since 1900 and the seventh strongest in history.
“It was the biggest earthquake I have ever felt. I thought I would die,” said Sayaka Umezawa, a 22-year-old college student who was visiting the port of Hakodate, which was hit by a powerful two-metre wave. |
7 Massive quake unleashes tsunami on Japan
by Miwa Suzuki, AFP
Fri Mar 11, 5:01 am ET
| TOKYO (AFP) – One of the strongest earthquakes ever recorded hit Japan Friday, unleashing a 10-metre high tsunami that tossed ships inland and sparked fears that destructive waves could hit across the Pacific Ocean.
The devastating 8.9-magnitude quake left many people injured in coastal areas of the main Honshu island and Tokyo, police said, while TV footage showed widespread flooding in the area. Nineteen people were reported dead.
A monster 10-metre (33 feet) wall of water was reported in Sendai city in northeastern Miyagi prefecture, media said after a four-metre wave hit the coast earlier. The government said the quake had caused “tremendous damage”. |
8 Eurozone leaders agree on euro coordination
by Bryan McManus, AFP
22 mins ago
| BRUSSELS (AFP) – Eurozone leaders made modest progress Friday on bolstering the single currency’s defences by agreeing on greater coordination of economic policy to remedy a persistent debt crisis.
“We have an agreement on the pact for the euro,” said European Union President Herman Van Rompuy, who was tasked with piloting through proposals put to a summit to bolster the eurozone’s defences against a persistent and damaging debt crisis.
His Twitter site was later amended to say it was “an agreement in principle” with “other elements of the package” still being discussed. |
9 Eurozone leaders tackle debt, pressure grows on Portugal
by Bryan McManus, AFP
Fri Mar 11, 12:22 pm ET
| BRUSSELS (AFP) – Eurozone leaders began talks Friday on stepping up policy coordination to tame a debt crisis threatening to claim new victims as struggling Portugal took tough new measures to stabilise its finances.
The meeting comes against a troubled background as an escalating Libyan crisis roils the markets, making life even more difficult for the weaker eurozone states struggling to put their finances in order.
The problem was starkly highlighted when Portugal, widely tipped to be the next eurozone member to need a bailout after Greece and Ireland, adopted more austerity measures to ensure its public deficit meets EU norms by 2012. |
10 Apple’s iPad 2 hits stores
by Chris Lefkow, AFP
Fri Mar 11, 9:44 am ET
| WASHINGTON (AFP) – Apple’s new iPad went on sale on Friday as the gadget-maker seeks to stay a step ahead of its rivals in the booming market for sleek touchscreen tablet computers.
Apple began taking online orders overnight for the iPad 2, which chief executive Steve Jobs unveiled last week, and the device is to go on sale at the company’s 236 US stores starting at 5:00 pm (2200 GMT).
The iPad 2, which is one-third thinner, nearly 15 percent lighter and faster than the model released in April, will be available in two dozen other countries later this month. |
11 Windies defeat Ireland in W. Cup match
by Abhaya Srivastava, AFP
Fri Mar 11, 9:36 am ET
| MOHALI, India (AFP) – A Kieron Pollard-inspired West Indies stifled a brave fightback by Ireland on Friday to win by 44 runs and put one foot in the World Cup quarter-finals.
Pollard hammered 94 off just 55 balls and shared an 88-run stand with Devon Smith, who hit a maiden ODI ton, as West Indies posted 275 before bowling out the Irish for 231 in 49 overs at the Punjab Cricket Association Stadium.
Pollard also took a blinder of a catch to send back dangerman Kevin O’Brien for just five off seamer Darren Sammy, who had impressive figures of 3-31 off his 10 overs. |
Reuters
12 Obama says Gaddafi squeezed, Libyan rebels want more
By Michael Georgy and Caren Bohan, Reuters
52 mins ago
| TRIPOLI/WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama said Friday the international community was “tightening the noose” on Muammar Gaddafi, but Libyan rebels said their three-week-old insurrection could fail without a no-fly zone.
European Union leaders meeting in Brussels Friday said they would consider all options to force leader Gaddafi to step down but stopped short of endorsing air strikes, a no-fly zone or other military-backed means.
Obama, accused by critics of reacting too slowly, said he believed international sanctions, an arms embargo and other measures already in place were having an impact. |
13 Tripoli protest stamped out before it starts: report
By Maria Golovnina and Michael Georgy, Reuters
Fri Mar 11, 10:05 am ET
| TRIPOLI (Reuters) – Libyan security forces used tear gas and fired in the air on Friday to disperse worshippers near a mosque in the capital before they could protest against Muammar Gaddafi, a Libyan man said, citing two witnesses.
It was impossible to verify reports about what was happening in the Tajoura district of Tripoli because foreign journalists were prevented from reporting from the area and local anti-Gaddafi activists were not answering phone calls.
There have been violent clashes after Friday prayers in previous weeks in Tajoura, making it the focus of opposition to Gaddafi’s four-decade rule in a city which is otherwise tightly controlled by his supporters. |
14 Protests bubble up in Gulf, police out in force
By Ulf Laessing and Cynthia Johnston, Reuters
Fri Mar 11, 8:49 am ET
| RIYADH (Reuters) – Small protests rattled Saudi Arabia and Kuwait on Friday, Bahrain warned that a planned rally threatened its security and Yemen witnessed huge demonstrations in continued unrest that has roiled the Arab world.
Friday rallies have proved decisive in popular uprisings that have overthrown the rulers of Tunisia and Egypt and are now having an impact on the oil-rich Gulf region — long thought to be immune to mass civil disturbances.
Police turned out in large numbers on the streets of the Saudi capital, hoping to deter a day of protests announced on Internet social media sites by a loose coalition of activists seeking political reform in the conservative kingdom. |
15 Rajaratnam tapes to get lots of play at trial
By Grant McCool, Reuters
1 hr 48 mins ago
| NEW YORK (Reuters) – Regardless of whether hedge fund chief Raj Rajaratnam ends up testifying at his criminal trial, jurors are going to hear a lot from him.
Testimony resumes on Monday in the biggest Wall Street insider trading trial in decades, with New York prosecutors expected to play more of the Galleon Group founder’s phone calls tapped by the FBI.
Rajaratnam is accused of making about $45 million in illegal profit between 2003 and March 2009 through stock tips supplied by well-placed friends. Nineteen people have pleaded guilty in the probe, which shocked the hedge fund world because of the government’s widespread use of wiretaps, tactics usually deployed in organized crime cases. |
16 Japan’s quake toll set to exceed 1,000, world offers help
By Edwina Gibbs and Chisa Fujioka, Reuters
53 mins ago
| TOKYO (Reuters) – A devastating tsunami triggered by the biggest earthquake on record in Japan looked set to kill at least 1,000 people along the northeastern coast on Friday after a wall of water swept away everything in its path.
The government warned there could be a small radiation leak from a nuclear reactor whose cooling system was knocked out by the quake. About 3,000 residents in the area some 240 km (150 miles) north of Tokyo had been moved out of harm’s way.
Underscoring grave concerns about the Fukushima plant, the U.S. air force delivered coolant to avert a rise in the temperature of its nuclear rods, but officials said a leak was still possible because pressure would have to be released. |
17 American energy companies brace for tsunami
Reuters
57 mins ago
| NEW YORK (Reuters) – Energy companies with operations along the Pacific coast of North and South America were on alert on Friday for the possibility of a tsunami set off by a massive earthquake off Japan.
By midday, the tsunami passed Hawaii by and Chevron Corp said there was no impact to operations at its 54,000 barrel per day refinery in Honolulu, Hawaii which contained to make products.
Tesoro Corp which owns Hawaii’s other refinery – a 93,500 bpd refinery in Kapolei, said earlier it closed a few retail stations in some low lying areas of Hawaii as a precaution and was monitoring operations at its refineries in Hawaii, Alaska, California and Washington. |
18 Hawaii orders evacuations in Pacific tsunami threat
By Suzanne Roig and Jorene Barut, Reuters
Fri Mar 11, 9:19 am ET
| HONOLULU (Reuters) – Hawaii ordered evacuations of its coastal areas and braced for a possible tidal wave set off by Friday’s earthquake in Japan as a tsunami warning was extended to most of the Pacific basin, including northern California and Oregon.
Some 3,800 miles from Japan, the main airports on at least three of the major Hawaiian islands — Maui, Kauai and the Big Island of Hawaii — were shut down as a precaution, and the U.S. Navy ordered all warships in Pearl Harbor to remain in port to support rescue missions as needed.
Civil defense officials ordered all Hawaiian coastal areas evacuated by 2 a.m. local time, about an hour before the first wave was expected to hit the islands at 8 a.m. EST/1300 GMT. |
19 Japan warns of small radiation leak from quake-hit plant
By Osamu Tsukimori and Kiyoshi Takenaka, Reuters
1 hr 1 min ago
| TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan warned there could be a small radiation leak from a nuclear reactor whose cooling system was knocked out by Friday’s massive earthquake, but thousands of residents in the area had already been moved out of harm’s way.
Underscoring grave concerns about the Fukushima plant some 240 km (150 miles) north of Tokyo, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the U.S. air force had delivered coolant to avert a rise in the temperature of the facility’s nuclear rods.
Pressure building in the reactor was set to be released soon, a move that could result in a radiation leak, officials said. Some 3,000 people who live within a 3 km radius of the plant had been evacuated, Kyodo news agency said. |
20 Japan quake loss fears weigh on insurers
By Simon Jessop and Jonathan Gould, Reuters
2 hrs 52 mins ago
| LONDON/FRANKFURT (Reuters) – A massive Japanese earthquake may have less of an impact on insurers than first feared, analysts said on Friday, although their reassuring estimates failed to prevent a slump in the industry’s shares.
The quake off Japan’s northeastern coast triggered a 10-meter tsunami that swept away ships, houses and farms and put Pacific basin countries on alert.
The total insured loss could be up to $15 billion, equity analysts covering the industry said, enough to force some earnings misses, but not to inflict such serious financial hardship on the sector that it would have to put up its prices. |
21 Scientists say Japan quake shows US nuclear risk
By Scott DiSavino, Reuters
Fri Mar 11, 1:10 pm ET
| NEW YORK (Reuters) – The massive earthquake that forced the closure of four nuclear power plants in Japan has highlighted the grave risk of inadequate back-up generators at U.S. facilities, a leading U.S. scientist group said on Friday.
While the U.S. regulator made clear that the national nuclear fleet is built to withstand the biggest earthquakes in history, scientists said they needed to do more to ensure that future quakes don’t risk the kind of reactor impact that Japan is now grappling with.
“We do not believe the safety standards for U.S. nuclear reactors are enough to protect the public today,” Edwin Lyman, senior scientist, global security programs, at the Union of Concerned Scientists, told Reuters. The group supports nuclear power as a means to combat global warming, but wants tougher safety measures. |
22 Commodities, energy markets grapple with shutdowns
By Randy Fabi and Francis Kan, Reuters
Fri Mar 11, 8:56 am ET
| SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Japan’s earthquake forced port closures and shutdowns of oil refineries and metal plants in the world’s third-biggest economy on Friday, rattling commodity and energy markets as participants weighed up how quickly activity could return to normal.
The magnitude 8.9 earthquake, the biggest to hit Japan in 140 years, struck the northeast coast, triggering a 10-meter tsunami that cleared everything in its path from houses to cars and set farm buildings on fire. At least 59 people have been killed.
“This natural disaster could result in another sharp rise in risk aversion on markets and a continuation of yesterday’s correction on commodity markets,” Commerzbank said in a report. “The demand for oil could be lower, at least temporarily, because of the earthquake.” |
23 Japan quake sparks economy fear, budget plan mooted,
By Osamu Tsukimori and Stanley White, Reuters
Fri Mar 11, 7:14 am ET
| TOKYO (Reuters) – Auto plants, electronics factories and refineries shut across large parts of Japan on Friday after a powerful earthquake rocked the country, triggering a tsunami, buckling roads and knocking out power to millions of homes and businesses.
Leaders of the ruling and opposition parties pushed for an emergency budget to help fund relief efforts after Prime Minister Naoto Kan asked them to “save the country,” Kyodo news agency.
The Bank of Japan, which has been struggling to boost the anemic economy, said it would do its utmost to ensure financial market stability as air force jets roared toward the northeast coast to assess the damage from the biggest quake to hit the country in 140 years. |
24 Special Report: OMG! Dan Loeb said what?
By Matthew Goldstein, Reuters
Fri Mar 11, 11:10 am ET
| NEW YORK (Reuters) – It was the summer of 2006 and hedge fund manager Daniel Loeb was having difficulty containing his very harsh feelings toward Fairfax Financial, the Canadian insurance giant, and its CEO, Prem Watsa.
Loeb’s New York-based fund, Third Point LLC, had placed a big bet that the shares and bonds of Fairfax and its subsidiaries would tumble. He was looking forward to cashing in his hedge fund’s chips, if and when some bad news rocked Fairfax. And he shared that enthusiasm with another hedge fund manager, in a fairly graphic email message that recently surfaced in a five-year-old civil lawsuit filed by Fairfax against Loeb and other prominent hedge fund managers.
“Prem Watsa bend over the hedge funds have something special for you,” Loeb wrote in the June 25, 2006 email to Adam Sender, the founder of Exis Capital, whose hedge fund also was “shorting” Fairfax — that is, looking to profit from a decline in its shares. A little later that day, in an email to a consultant who was doing research for some of the hedge funds wagering on Fairfax’s fall, Loeb wrote: “die, Prem Die!” |
25 Apple’s iPad 2 hits stores Friday in latest test
By Gabriel Madway, Reuters
Fri Mar 11, 7:52 am ET
| SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Apple Inc kicks off sales of its latest iPad on Friday, likely extending its lead in the burgeoning market while offering an important snapshot of consumer demand for tablet computing.
Nearly a year after the original proved a smash hit and inspired a wave of imitators, investors will be watching the turn-out for the U.S. release of the iPad 2, which Chief Executive Steve Jobs unveiled last week.
The release — which as always will be closely scrutinized by fans and investors — may be a litmus test for the overall appetite for tablets. |
26 Portugal unveils new cuts ahead of euro summit
By Jan Strupczewski and Luke Baker, Reuters
Fri Mar 11, 7:12 am ET
| BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Portugal announced new spending cuts on Friday to try to restore confidence in its finances before a euro zone summit expected to boost economic coordination but defer steps to strengthen a rescue fund.
The euro, which suffered its biggest one-day fall against the dollar in a month on Thursday, hovered near a one-week low and the yields on Greek, Portuguese and Spanish bonds remained elevated amid growing doubts that leaders can bridge differences on how to solve the region’s fiscal woes.
The slow pace of European crisis management has heaped pressure on Portugal to seek an EU/IMF bailout, as Greece and Ireland were forced to do last year. But Prime Minister Jose Socrates has resisted saying it would be a national humiliation. |
27 WikiLeaks: As AIG crumbled, China stepped in as broker
By Ben Berkowitz, Reuters
Fri Mar 11, 1:32 am ET
| NEW YORK (Reuters) – U.S. officials believe China’s insurance regulator passed on proprietary information about AIG to its Chinese rivals during the American firm’s collapse in 2008, according to unpublished diplomatic cables.
The U.S. government bailout of American International Group Inc in 2008 sent shock waves around the world, and China seemed especially rattled.
The Chinese Insurance Regulatory Commission (CIRC) forced AIG’s local operations to open their books on a daily basis after the company’s September 2008 rescue, according to a series of U.S. diplomatic cables obtained by WikiLeaks and provided to Reuters by a third party. The regulator then shared the confidential information with local competitors, in part to convince at least one of them to buy the troubled assets. |
28 China inflation tops expectations, paves way for more
By Kevin Yao and Langi Chiang, Reuters
Fri Mar 11, 1:34 am ET
| BEIJING (Reuters) – Chinese inflation topped expectations in February at 4.9 percent and looks set to climb further in coming months, adding to pressure for another dose of monetary tightening.
But data published on Friday also offered tentative signs that the government was making some headway in taming price rises without inflicting undue harm on growth in the world’s second-largest economy.
Consumer inflation steadied in February at the same level as in January, the National Bureau of Statistics said. Although above forecasts for 4.7 percent, the 4.9 percent reading contrasted with dire warnings a few months ago of runaway prices. Core inflation, stripped of volatile food costs, slowed. |
AP
29 Libya: Gadhafi forces show growing confidence
By MAGGIE MICHAEL, Associated Press
11 mins ago
| ZAWIYA, Libya – Moammar Gadhafi’s regime showed growing confidence Friday after retaking a strategic near Tripoli following days of relentless shelling against protesters-turned-rebels as it strengthened its hold on the capital and surrounding areas.
Government forces also captured a key oil town in the east and fought to dislodge rebels who took refuge among towering storage containers of crude oil and gas in nearby facilities.
Zawiya’s main square, which had been a key center of resistance to the west of the capital, bore the scars of battle and the streets were lined with tanks as loyalists waving green flags rallied amid a heavy presence of uniformed pro-Gadhafi troops and snipers. There was talk of rebel bodies having been bulldozed away, and the dome and minaret of the nearby mosque were demolished. |
30 US ‘tightening noose’ on Libyan leader, Obama says
By TOM RAUM, Associated Press
Fri Mar 11, 2:28 pm ET
| WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama declared Friday that a no-fly zone over Libya to keep Col. Moammar Gadhafi from attacking rebels in his country remains a possibility as “we are slowly tightening the noose” around the Libyan leader. But Obama stopped short of moving toward military action.
“The bottom line is that I have not taken any options off the table at this point,” Obama told a White House news conference. “I think it is important to understand that we have moved about as swiftly as an international coalition has ever moved to impose sanctions on Gadhafi.”
He cited actions already taken, including getting American citizens and embassy workers out of the country, slapping tough United Nations sanctions on Libya and seizing $30 billion in Gadhafi’s assets. |
31 Libya’s rebel volunteers inexperienced but zealous
By PAUL SCHEMM, Associated Press
Fri Mar 11, 8:13 am ET
| RAS LANOUF, Libya – Ibrahim Salem clutches a half-century-old pistol – a tiny weapon with a single bullet left. If not for his helmet, the young man in jeans would look every bit the English student he was up until just a few weeks ago.
Moammar Gadhafi has ruled Libya since long before the 25-year-old was born, and he hates the dictator enough to risk his life by fighting for the ragtag rebel force battling government troops along a desolate highway on the North African country’s Mediterranean coast.
“I will fight forever. I will die or win, like Omar Mukhtar,” said Salem, invoking the legendary Libyan hero who fought Italian occupiers in the 1930s, was ultimately executed, and has become a symbol for the new revolutionaries. |
32 As protests roil neighbors, Saudis quash rallies
By HASSAN AMMAR and AHMED AL-HAJ, Associated Press
1 hr 6 mins ago
| RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – A massive show of force by Saudi Arabia’s government snuffed out a Facebook-based effort to stage unprecedented pro-democracy protests in the capital on Friday, but political unrest and sectarian tensions roiled neighboring Yemen and Bahrain.
Yemen’s largest demonstrations in a month were met by police gunfire that left at least six protesters injured and seemed certain to fuel more anger against the deeply unpopular U.S.-allied president.
In Bahrain, a conflict deepened between the island kingdom’s Shiite majority and its Sunni Muslim royal family, whose security forces and pro-government mobs attacked demonstrators with tear gas, rocks and swords. U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates visited the tiny country, the home of the U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet, to reassure its rulers of unwavering U.S. support, officials said. |
33 Hundreds killed in tsunami after 8.9 Japan quake
By MALCOLM FOSTER, Associated Press
1 hr 1 min ago
| TOKYO – A ferocious tsunami unleashed by Japan’s biggest recorded earthquake slammed into its eastern coast Friday, killing hundreds of people as it carried away ships, cars and homes, and triggered widespread fires that burned out of control.
Hours later, the waves washed ashore on Hawaii and the U.S. West coast, where evacuations were ordered from California to Washington but little damage was reported. The entire Pacific had been put on alert – including coastal areas of South America, Canada and Alaska – but waves were not as bad as expected.
In northeastern Japan, the area around a nuclear power plant was evacuated after the reactor’s cooling system failed and pressure began building inside. |
34 Calif., Ore. sustained most damage from tsunami
By JEFF BARNARD and JAYMES SONG, Associated Press
17 mins ago
| CRESCENT CITY, Calif. – The warnings traveled quickly across the Pacific in the middle of the night: An 8.9-magnitude earthquake in Japan spawned a deadly tsunami, and it was racing east Friday as fast as a jetliner.
Sirens blared in Hawaii. The West Coast pulled back from the shoreline, fearing the worst. People were warned to stay away from the beaches. Fishermen took their boats out to sea and safety.
The alerts moved faster than the waves, giving millions of people across the Pacific Rim hours to prepare. |
35 Nuke plant trouble after Japan quake; 3K evacuated
By MARI YAMAGUCHI and JEFF DONN, Associated Press
2 hrs 8 mins ago
| TOKYO – Japan’s massive earthquake caused a power outage that disabled a nuclear reactor’s cooling system, triggering evacuation orders for about 3,000 residents as the government declared its first-ever state of emergency at a nuclear plant.
Japan’s nuclear safety agency said pressure inside one of six boiling water reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi plant had risen to 1.5 times the level considered normal. Hours after the evacuation order, the government announced that the plant in northeastern Japan will release slightly radioactive vapor from the unit to lower the pressure in an effort to protect it from a possible meltdown.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said the amount of radioactive element in the vapor would be “very small” and would not affect the environment or human health. “With evacuation in place and the ocean-bound wind, we can ensure the safety,” he said at a televised news conference early Saturday. |
36 Radiation levels surge outside Japan nuke plant
Associated Press
20 mins ago
| TOKYO – Japanese nuclear officials say radiation levels inside a nuclear power plant have surged to 1,000 times their normal levels after the cooling system failed.
The nuclear safety agency said early Saturday that some radiation has also seeped outside the plant, prompting calls for further evacuations of the area. Some 3,000 people have already been urged to leave their homes.
The cooling system for a reactor at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant failed on Friday after a massive earthquake caused a power outage. |
37 Tsunami swamps Hawaii beaches, brushes West Coast
By JAYMES SONG and MARK NIESSE, Associated Press
Fri Mar 11, 12:03 pm ET
| HONOLULU – Tsunami waves swamped Hawaii beaches and brushed the U.S. western coast Friday but didn’t immediately cause major damage after devastating Japan and sparking evacuations throughout the Pacific.
Kauai was the first of the Hawaiian islands struck by the tsunami, which was caused by an earthquake in Japan. Water rushed ashore at least 11 feet high near Kealakekua Bay, on the west side of the Big Island, and reached the lobby of a hotel. Flooding was reported on Maui, and water washed up on roadways on the Big Island.
Scientists and officials warned that the first tsunami waves are not always the strongest and said residents along the coast should watch for strong currents and heed calls for evacuation. |
38 Quake and tsunami a blow to fragile Japan economy
By PAUL WISEMAN and CHRISTOPHER S. RUGABER, AP Economics Writers
5 mins ago
| The earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan on Friday forced multinational companies to close factories, fight fires and move workers, inflicting at least short-term damage on the Japan’s fragile economy.
Assessing the full economic impact was impossible in the hours after the quake. But traffic clogged streets, trains stopped, flights were grounded and phone service was disrupted or cut off. U.S. companies DuPont and Procter & Gamble said communications problems made it hard to gauge the effect on their operations in Japan.
Japanese stocks plunged. The benchmark Nikkei index fell 1.7 percent, and the Japanese market was only open for about 15 minutes after the quake. |
39 Obama: Japan earthquake potentially ‘catastrophic’
By JULIE PACE, Associated Press
37 mins ago
| WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama said he was “heartbroken” by images of devastation in Japan following Friday’s deadly earthquake and tsunami, and pledged U.S. assistance to help the country recover.
“Our hearts go out to our friends in Japan and across the region, and we’re going to stand with them as they recover and rebuild from this tragedy,” Obama said during a White House news conference.
Hundreds were dead or missing in Japan following Friday’s 8.9 magnitude earthquake – the largest in Japan’s history – and the accompanying tsunami. The West Coast and several islands in the Pacific were also under tsunami warnings, through no major damage was reported in the U.S. as the first waves swamped Hawaii’s beaches and grazed the coastline of the mainland. |
40 Wis. gov. says support will grow for new law
By SCOTT BAUER, Associated Press
1 hr 11 mins ago
| MADISON, Wis. – Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker on Friday signed into law the proposal that eliminates most union rights for public employees, saying he had “no doubt” that support for the measure would grow over time.
The governor’s signature on the bill quietly concluded a debate over collective bargaining that provoked three weeks of loud, relentless protests at the Capitol.
In an interview with The Associated Press, Walker said once the public sees government becoming more efficient, support for the changes will increase. |
41 Unions frame bargaining as civil rights issue
By SAM HANANEL, Associated Press
Fri Mar 11, 11:27 am ET
| WASHINGTON – Labor unions at the heart of a burning national disagreement over the cost of public employees want to frame the debate as a civil rights issue, an effort that may draw more sympathy to public workers being blamed for busting state budgets with generous pensions.
As part of that strategy, unions are planning rallies across the country on April 4 – the anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination. Union officials want the observances in dozens of cities to remind Americans that King was supporting striking sanitation workers in Memphis, Tenn., the night he was shot.
By portraying collective bargaining as a human rights issue, union officials hope the rallies can help fuel a backlash against Republicans in Wisconsin and other states trying to curb collective bargaining rights for public employees. |
42 Iowa reps pass bill limiting collective bargaining
By MIKE GLOVER, Associated Press
13 mins ago
| DES MOINES, Iowa – The Iowa House approved a bill Friday limiting public workers’ collective bargaining rights and requiring them to pay more for their health insurance.
But while similar legislation reducing the power of unions has passed in states like Ohio and Wisconsin, it is unlikely to become law in Iowa. Democrats who control the Senate there have said they won’t allow debate on the bill backed by Republican Gov. Terry Branstad.
Republicans who control the House insisted the measure was needed to help address a state budget shortfall estimated at between $500 million and $700 million. |
43 Secret Service tape from Reagan attack is released
By CALVIN WOODWARD, Associated Press
Fri Mar 11, 2:01 pm ET
| WASHINGTON – A Secret Service audiotape 30 years old sheds light on the chaotic aftermath of Ronald Reagan’s shooting when neither the president nor his guardians realized he’d been shot, and an agent’s snap decision to get him to a hospital might have saved his life.
“Let’s hustle,” agent Jerry Parr is heard barking as Reagan’s limousine suddenly changed course, the sight of the president’s blood signaling there was more wrong with him than a bruised rib or two, as everyone thought right after the March 30, 1981, attack. The car, which had been spiriting Reagan back to the security of the White House after the spray of gunfire, sped to George Washington University Hospital instead. Reagan lost about half his blood and came closer to death that day than Americans realized for years later.
The Secret Service released the tape Friday in response to a public-records request from Del Wilber, a Washington Post reporter whose book, “Rawhide Down: The Near Assassination of Ronald Reagan,” comes out next week. |
44 Vt., nuclear plant appears headed for showdown
By DAVE GRAM, Associated Press
3 mins ago
| MONTPELIER, Vt. – A long-awaited showdown between the state government and Vermont’s lone nuclear plant is on, and neither side has given any indication it will back down.
The Vermont Yankee nuclear plant got the word Thursday that the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission had approved its request for a 20-year license extension that would allow it to operate until 2032. There was nothing unique or surprising about the announcement – the NRC has never rejected a license extension.
What is unusual is that the plant is in a state where the governor wants it shut down, where the state Senate has voted 26-4 against the plant continuing to operate past March 2012 and where state law says the Legislature has to give the OK before regulators can give the plant a new state license. |
45 Obama, McConnell, agree – and disagree – on budget
By STEPHEN OHLEMACHER, Associated Press
28 mins ago
| WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama and the Senate’s top Republican both declared on Friday they want to take on the huge entitlement programs driving America’s long-term deficits – but their lines of attack differed sharply and that could lead to a showdown over government borrowing.
Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell warned that GOP senators would not vote to increase the federal debt limit unless Obama agreed to significant long-term budget savings that could include cost curbs for Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, laying down a high-stakes marker just weeks before the limit is reached.
Obama said he also wants to tackle military spending and tax loopholes – issues on which he can expect Republican opposition. |
46 US approved $40 billion in 2009 private arms sales
STEPHEN BRAUN, Associated Press
50 mins ago
| WASHINGTON – The U.S. government approved $40 billion in worldwide private arms sales in 2009, including more than $7 billion to Mideast and North African nations that are struggling with political upheaval, the State Department reported.
From 2008 to 2009, the U.S. authorized increasing sales of military shipments to the now-toppled Egyptian government of Hosni Mubarak and the embattled kingdom of Bahrain. But the U.S. reduced its defense sales approvals in 2009 to Moammar Gadhafi’s Libyan government, which is now under a blanket weapons ban imposed last month by the Obama administration.
The $40 billion figure during the first year of the Obama administration reflects a rise in total approved arms sales over the final year of the Bush administration in 2008, when the State Department licensed $34.2 billion. |
47 Federal cuts could hit US housing agencies
By SAMANTHA GROSS, Associated Press
1 hr 19 mins ago
| NEW YORK – Kevin Gaines and his family got rashes soon after they moved into their new apartment. His son kept getting nosebleeds. The dust made it hard to breathe. When Gaines, a liver transplant recipient, saw yellow mold creeping over the ceiling, he said doctors warned it could cause him to reject his new organ.
After Gaines complained, city inspectors recorded dozens of code violations and city workers even came in to make repairs.
New York City officials warn, however, that budget cuts being pushed by some members of Congress could decimate their housing enforcement efforts, slicing the funds used to pay inspectors, sue landlords and perform emergency repairs. Around the country, the cuts could also shutter community centers, leave rural water outages unchecked, stymie plans for new housing developments and reduce the money available for fixing broken elevators and leaking roofs in the nation’s public housing. |
48 Retired general to review religion at AF Academy
By DAN ELLIOTT, Associated Press
1 hr 50 mins ago
| DENVER – A retired Air Force general who once served as commandant of cadets at the Air Force Academy will assess the religious climate at the school, where allegations and court battles over religious tolerance have periodically flared for seven years.
Patrick K. Gamble, who retired as a four-star general in 2001 and is now president of the University of Alaska, was asked to take an “independent, subjective look at the overall climate at USAFA relating to free exercise of religion,” the Air Force said in a statement Friday.
The Air Force said the review is not an investigation or inspection, and that no detailed report is expected. |
49 Airfares are going up, and not just because of oil
By SCOTT MAYEROWITZ, AP Airlines Writer
2 hrs 4 mins ago
| Airlines have used surging oil prices to justify fare increases of up to $60 per ticket since the start of the year. But the rising cost of fuel isn’t the only reason it’s getting more difficult to find cheap fares.
The improving economy, a shrinking supply of seats and industry consolidation are also to blame.
“This is probably going to be the worst year we have seen in 10 years in terms of finding bargains,” says Tom Parsons of BestFares.com, a website for travel deals. |
50 Attorney: British lawyer pleads guilty to bribery
By MICHAEL GRACZYK, Associated Press
Fri Mar 11, 2:44 pm ET
| HOUSTON – A British lawyer accused of helping a former Halliburton Co. subsidiary illegally bribe Nigerian officials to win more than $6 billion in construction contracts pleaded guilty Friday to federal charges and was ordered to forfeit nearly $150 million.
Jeffrey Tesler, 62, was charged with conspiracy and violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, which among other things prohibits payments to foreign government officials to help obtain business. Tesler faces up to five years in prison on each count and up to $250,000 in fines when sentenced June 22. Nine other counts were dismissed under the plea deal.
U.S. District Judge Keith Ellison released Tesler, a dual citizen of Britain and Israel, on $50,000 bond and ordered him to stay in Houston until his sentencing. |
51 Heating oil use falls as prices, irritation rise
By CLARKE CANFIELD, Associated Press
Fri Mar 11, 1:16 pm ET
| PORTLAND, Maine – No longer are Tom Wright’s heating costs tied to events a world away over which he has no control. Faced with a $10,000 heating bill, he got rid of his oil furnace and brought in a wood pellet stove to heat his home and office.
Oil and gasoline prices are sky-high, and heating oil use is tumbling as people find alternative ways to stay warm – evidence that Americans’ efforts to wean themselves off oil can bear fruit.
“It’s more than just watching the price of oil,” said Wright, a former construction company executive who now heads a nonprofit that works with at-risk children. “It’s watching what’s going on in the world and how much is affected by the need for oil.” |
52 Iraq, Afghanistan veterans struggle to find jobs
By KIMBERLY HEFLING, Associated Press
Fri Mar 11, 12:32 pm ET
| WASHINGTON – More than 1 in 5 young Iraq and Afghanistan veterans was unemployed last year, the Labor Department said Friday.
Concerns that Guard and Reserve troops will be gone for long stretches and that veterans might have mental health issues or lack civilian work skills appear to be factors keeping the unemployment rate for Iraq and Afghanistan veterans at 20.9 percent, a slight drop from the year before, but still well over the 17.3 percent rate for non-veterans of the same age group, 18-24.
“The employers out there, they are military-friendly and veteran-friendly, and they love us and thank us and everything, but when you go apply for a job, it’s almost like they are scared to take a risk for you. I don’t get it. It doesn’t make sense,” said Iraq veteran Christopher Kurz, 28, who just moved back in with his parents in Arizona after spending two years looking for law enforcement work in New York. |
53 Transportation grants pose test for GOP senators
By KEVIN FREKING, Associated Press
Fri Mar 11, 12:17 pm ET
| WASHINGTON – In Salt Lake City, Mayor Ralph Becker envisions a new streetcar system with a mix of shops, restaurants and housing springing up along its two-mile route.
In Fort Worth, Texas, officials are focused on ending one of the nation’s worst bottlenecks for freight trains and building a series of underpasses that would make life easier and safer for residents.
In Portsmouth, N.H., efforts are under way to upgrade a deteriorated bridge now closed to truck traffic. |
54 Public database for safety complaints goes live
JENNIFER C. KERR, Associated Press Writer
Fri Mar 11, 10:04 am ET
| WASHINGTON – Despite a last-minute attempt to derail it, the government launched a public database Friday that allows people to report and search safety complaints on thousands of products – from cribs and toys to power tools and hair dryers.
SaferProducts.gov, overseen by the Consumer Product Safety Commission, went live as scheduled over the objections of manufacturers and a stalled GOP effort on Capitol Hill to withhold money for the project until critics’ concerns were addressed.
The database allows people to file reports of injury or potential harm about household products, baby gear and more. In the coming weeks, as consumers file reports with the agency, people will be able to search for safety complaints about specific items they might have in their homes or want to purchase. |
55 Gates to allies: Don’t rush to Afghan war exits
By ROBERT BURNS, AP National Security Writer
Fri Mar 11, 7:27 am ET
| BRUSSELS – In a blunt warning to U.S. allies eager to pull out of Afghanistan, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Friday that while the U.S. intends to begin withdrawing troops in July, a rush to the exits by European forces would risk squandering battlefield gains achieved at great American expense.
In a closed-door meeting of NATO defense ministers, Gates urged the allies to resist domestic political pressure to depart prematurely, while asserting that the U.S. troop reductions promised by President Barack Obama will be made this summer “based on conditions on the ground,” not politics.
Gates’ remarks amounted to a stark challenge to the allies: Help Washington manage a smart, careful wind-down of the war or risk losing it. |
56 Group: MLK parade bomb suspect was avid neo-Nazi
By NICHOLAS K. GERANIOS and GENE JOHNSON, Associated Press
Fri Mar 11, 5:27 am ET
| SPOKANE, Wash. – When a bomb was found along the route of the Martin Luther King Jr. Day parade in Spokane, some law officers suspected a possible white supremacist link. Now, an organization that tracks hate groups says the man charged this week in the failed attack was an avid contributor to a supremacist Internet forum and a reputed member of a neo-Nazi group.
The Southern Poverty Law Center said Thursday that Kevin Harpham, 36, made more than 1,000 postings on the Vanguard News Network site, many of them under a pseudonym.
Harpham was arrested Wednesday after being charged with one count of attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction and one count of possessing an unregistered explosive in a case that raised worries that racist activities may be on the rise again in the Inland Northwest. Spokane and adjacent northern Idaho for several decades had been home to hate groups, although activities by such groups have dropped dramatically in recent years. |
57 NV considers Internet poker bill, but casinos balk
By MICHELLE RINDELS, Associated Press
Fri Mar 11, 6:31 am ET
| CARSON CITY, Nev. – Some Nevada lawmakers want the state to be the first to regulate the multibillion dollar, quasi-legal Internet poker industry. But with some of the most powerful casinos lining up against the proposal, the bill could be headed the direction of other recent federal and state efforts – a legislative grave.
The bill would ask state gambling regulators to create rules for Internet poker operators and companies that make related equipment. It would also specifically prevent the Nevada Gaming Commission from denying a license to popular existing poker sites – like PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker – just because they have been operating offshore in a legal gray area after a federal law effectively banned online gambling in 2006.
Alan Feldman, spokesman for MGM Resorts International, said the federal law needs to be fixed first. |
58 States consider alcohol tasting at farmers markets
By SHANNON DININNY, Associated Press
Fri Mar 11, 4:26 am ET
| YAKIMA, Wash. – Wade Bennett peddles hard cider and wine at farmers markets in and around Seattle, but his $20 bottles can be a tough sell when consumers can’t sip and swirl the beverages first.
So for the second year in a row, Bennett has thrown his support behind a bill to allow beer and wine tasting at farmers markets in Washington, a state long known for its craft beers and the No. 2 producer of premium wine.
Nationwide, small wineries, craft brewers and distillers have been slowly chipping away at laws restricting sampling and sales as they grab more of the market. Several states now allow limited wine tastings at grocery stores, and a few, such as Oregon and Virginia, allow them at farmers markets. |
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