Magnitude 6.6-quake jolts Japan coast

Fires burned in northeastern Japan Monday evening after a powerful earthquake rattled the region, sending a landslide into Iwaki City, authorities said. A preliminary estimate put the quake's magnitude at 7.1, which was later lowered to 6.6, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. A series of smaller quakes continued to shake the region. Residents in Tokyo also felt the jolts. A tsunami warning issued by Japan's Meteorological Agency was later canceled.

Monday's initial quake was centered about 164 kilometers (101 miles) northeast of Tokyo, or about 50 kilometers (31 miles) southwest of the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant. Workers at the plant were asked to evacuate for a time, but later returned to resume their efforts to cool the troubled nuclear facility. The Tohoku Electric Power Company said 220,000 households and businesses in Fukushima were without power after Monday's quake, which came a month after a deadly magnitude-9 quake and tsunami devastated the island nation.

Japan set to extend nuclear evacuation zone

Japan plans to extend the evacuation zone around its crippled nuclear plant because of high radiation levels, local media reported Monday, with engineers no closer to regaining control of six reactors hit by a giant tsunami one month ago. Concern at Japan's inability contain its nuclear crisis, caused by a March 11 earthquake and tsunami, is mounting with Prime Minister Naoto Kan's ruling party suffering embarrassing losses in local elections Sunday and neighboring China and South Korea voicing criticism. Engineers at the damaged Fukushima Daiichi plant north of Tokyo said Sunday they were no closer to restoring the plant's cooling system which is critical if overheated fuel rods are to be cooled and the six reactors brought under control. They are hoping to stop pumping radioactive water into the ocean Monday, days later than planned.

Four weeks after the worst nuclear crisis since Chernobyl quarter of a century ago, the government was moving to extend a 20 km evacuation zone due to high levels of radiation, the Asahi newspaper reported. The government has so far refused to widen the zone, despite being urged to by the International Atomic Energy Agency and countries like the United States and Australia advising its citizens to stay 80 kms away from the plant.

South Korea schools shut over radioactive rain

Many South Korean schools have cancelled classes as officials scrambled to quell fears that rain contained radioactive material from Japan's stricken nuclear plant. More than 130 primary schools and kindergartens in Gyeonggi province surrounding the capital Seoul cancelled or cut classes today after rain began falling on orders from the provincial education office. An office spokesman called it part of "preemptive measures for the safety of students". The office had told schools on Wednesday to cancel or shorten classes due to "growing anxiety among students and parents over conflicting claims on the safety of radiation exposure". Schools in remote areas, where students have a long walk to class, were particularly encouraged to cancel activities. At schools which stayed open, teachers were advised to suspend outdoor activities.

Complaints from parents mounted on the website of Seoul city's education office, which refused to cancel classes and called for a calm response to the fears. "Please order class cancellation. I'm worried to death about my kid and can't sleep," said one posting. Education authorities in North Chungcheong province south of Gyeonggi postponed football, baseball and other sporting events. Concern grew in the nation closest to Japan after the weather agency said on Monday that radioactive material from the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant may be carried to the peninsula by south-easterly winds. The amount of radioactive material contained in the rainfall is too tiny to pose any health threat, the prime minister's office said today, calling for education offices to refrain from "making parents nervous".

Air Force to cut 22 general officer jobs

The Air Force will lose 22 general officer billets and will have eight of its top scientist positions downgraded as part of wide-ranging cuts by the Pentagon aimed at shrinking the size of the military budget. A 48-page memo written by Defense Secretary Robert Gates provides further detail in his drive to free up $178 billion over the next five years.In the memo, dated March 14 but not yet publicly released, Gates lists an array of cost-cutting measures — from reforming the intelligence budget to slashing 1,000 contractors over two years from the Missile Defense Agency. The Air Force issued a statement declaring its support for “efficiency efforts.”

“This review was part of a comprehensive review of Service, [Office of Secretary of Defense], Defense Agencies, and Combatant Command staffs,” Air Force spokesman Lt. Col. Todd Vician said. “It built upon previous initiatives, and demonstrates commitment to proper stewardship of the mission and resources entrusted to the Air Force. A reduction or elimination doesn’t signify less emphasis on the affected organization’s mission or importance to the Air Force.”

U.S. to stop using strike aircraft as fighting in Libya rages on

The use of U.S. strike aircraft in Libya is set to expire Monday as uncertainty lingers about whether Western allies will arm opposition members trying to oust Libyan ruler Moammar Gadhafi. Over the weekend, fierce destruction permeated the city of Misrata, which has been choked off by pro-Gadhafi forces surrounding the city. "We need a lot of help in Misrata. There's so much death there," said Mustafa Abdul Hamali, a 46-year-old taxi driver who lost half of a leg. "I was driving in my car with my wife, and my car just blew up. I don't know what happened." Khalid Moteridi, a 32-year-old businessman-turned-rebel fighter, said the situation in Libya's third-largest city has turned dire.

"It¹s a tragedy by all means," he said. "No electricity, no food, no water. We¹re trapped from all sides by the Gadhafi forces." A doctor in Misrata told CNN government forces shelled a clinic, leaving one dead and 15 injured on Sunday. Last week, a hospital official said 398 people have been killed since the Libyan conflict began last month. He feared there were more deaths that his hospital didn't know about. Some rebels from Misrata got a bit of a reprieve Sunday, when a Turkish hospital ship picked up more than 300 of the wounded fighters. Their injuries included amputated limbs, broken bones and shrapnel wounds.

6.7-magnitude quake strikes off Indonesia

Indonesia-Apr 4: Hundreds of residents fled an Indonesian port town for higher ground today when an earthquake struck south of Java with a magnitude estimated by US seismologists at 6.7. The epicentre in the Indian Ocean was 24 km miles deep, the US Geological Survey said, after initially estimating it at 10 km underground, and 277 kilometres south of the Javanese coast. Indonesian seismologists put the magnitude at 7.1 and issued a tsunami warning, saying the tremor had the potential to cause a killer wave and asking recipients of its public alert SMS to warn others of the danger. The warning was later cancelled. When the quake struck hundreds of residents in the seaport town of Cilacap fled inland and to higher ground by motorbike, car and on foot, an AFP reporter said. "They were all panicking and shouting ''quake, quake''," the reporter said. Suharjono, the technical head of Indonesia''s Meteorology and Geophysics Agency, who like many Indonesians uses only one name, said shaking from the tremor had been felt in Pangandaran and Cilacap districts in Java. "This quake roused people from their sleep," he said. "We have not received any reports of damage or casualties so far." The US Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre had said that there was no risk of a widespread destructive wave, but there was a "very small possibility of a local tsunami". The earthquake epicentre was 241 km from the remote Australian territory of Christmas Island, and seismologists said the tremor was felt there, but no tsunami warning alert was issued for Australia. "We had reports from there that they felt it," Geoscience Australia seismologist David Jepson told AFP, adding that it was described as a "moderate type quake".

Obama to Push Internet Privacy Bill

It looks like Senate Democrats and Republicans may finally have found something they can agree on -- limiting the data collection abilities of internet marketing firms.

The Obama administration, according to The Wall Street Journal, is expected to announce to Congress today an internet privacy bill that will force some data miners to make major changes. Sen. John McCain (R, Ariz.) was a critical opponent of net neutrality, but he was actually a sponsor of the draft of the privacy bill, along with a fellow Presidential runner-up, Sen. John Kerry (D, Mass.).
The bill looks to expand the powers of the U.S. Federal Trade Commission, giving it the ability to enforce the new provisions. The proposal follows a December U.S. Department of Commerce report [PDF], which complained that Facebook, Google, and a host of smaller firms weren't up front with customers about what information they were collecting and sharing with advertisers.

Dubbed an online "Privacy Bill of Rights", the measure would prevent information from being used for any purpose other than collected, unless you give them permission. In other words, if you fill out a registration form for the website, they will no longer legally be able to sell that information to advertisers, unless they ask you if it's okay.

Five Republicans woo Iowa voters ahead of 2012 race

Five possible Republican White House hopefuls including Newt Gingrich and Tim Pawlenty courted conservative voters on Monday in Iowa, the state that holds a critical early contest on the road to the party's 2012 presidential nomination.

Former House of Representatives Speaker Gingrich, former Minnesota Governor Pawlenty, former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum, former Louisiana Governor Buddy Roemer and former Godfathers Pizza CEO Herman Cain took turns bashing President Barack Obama.

Republicans aim to deny Obama a second term as president.

The Iowa caucuses, an important early prize in the race for the Republican nomination, are scheduled for February 6, 2012. No leading Republican, including the five who appeared at the event in Iowa, has yet formally launched a candidacy.

Meanwhile, a top aide to real estate tycoon Donald Trump visited Iowa on Monday to gauge interest in the idea of a Trump bid for the Republican presidential nomination.

Trump, a billionaire and the celebrity star of NBC's "The Apprentice," has been flirting with a presidential run, speaking to a conference of conservatives in Washington last month. Many Republicans doubt he is serious.

Obama Tells Panel U.S. Recovery Harmed

President Barack Obama told the first meeting of his panel of outside economic advisers that the U.S. must deal with stubbornly high unemployment even as the recovery from the recession is well under way.

“The biggest challenge that we’re seeing right now is that unemployment is way too high,” Obama told the 23-member President’s Council on Jobs and Competitiveness yesterday. The advisory group, led by General Electric Co. chief executive officer Jeffrey Immelt, replaces the President’s Economic Recovery Advisory Board, which was headed by former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker.

In the month since he delivered his State of the Union address, Obama has sought to make the case that investments in education, infrastructure and innovation will help create more jobs. He reiterated that message yesterday, telling members of the panel, “We’re going to have to up our game in this newly competitive world.”

Obama told the group that he wants them to provide “some concrete deliverables” that will help lower the 9 percent unemployment rate.

Today the president is scheduled to meet at the White House with 14 Democratic governors -- including Deval Patrick of Massachusetts, Martin O’Malley of Maryland and Dan Malloy of Connecticut -- to discuss ways Washington can work with states to help spark job creation, according to a White House statement.

Protest and Counter-Protest of King's Muslim

Two groups of protesters met on Tuesday outside King's office, one to protest the hearings and the other to support them.

According to the Wall Street Journal, about 100 people showed up to represent each side. No arrests were made, but police intervened to set up barricades between the two groups after individual confrontations erupted into shouting matches.

King acknowledged the support shown him. "Al-Qaida is recruiting right under our radar screen," he said in an interview. "We are not going to cave to political correctness. There is a real threat to the country from the Muslim community and the only way to get to the bottom of it is to investigate what is happening."

Inna Arolovich of the American Association of Jews from the Former Soviet Union supports King and the hearings. "I believe that radical Islam is threatening each of us, including peaceful Muslims," she said. "It is a very real threat."

Dr. Shaik Ubaid of the Muslim Peace Coalition USA's New York chapter explained their concerns. "We are worried about the way the hearings are being conducted. It will demonize the Muslim community. He should work with the Muslim community who has been working with the FBI and others and get to the root cause of this."

Pax Christi also protested the hearings, as did several individuals, at least one of whose Muslim son Mohammad Salman Hamdani was an EMT who died during the 9/11 terrorist attacks on New York.

"American Muslims also died," Hamdani's mother said. "We sacrificed for this nation, for our nation. We are fighting on the front also. We are contributing members of society. For anybody to accuse the American Muslims of collective guilt is not right. We were attacked by foreign terrorists, criminals without a nation, al-Qaida."

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