Woes Could Linger for Japan's Jobless

Woes Could Linger for Japan's Jobless  Japan—Long lines have formed at the town hall of this coastal community as residents look for government aid and access to working phones while relief workers queue up for their orders. This week, a new line formed: people looking for jobs.When an earthquake and tsunami rocked this region of Japan this month, it not only killed more than 11,000 and left more than 16,200 missing; it also left potentially hundreds of thousands of people jobless or unable to reach those workplaces that have even reopened. Toshio Ota, 56 years old, has driven taxis for 28 years. His taxi company's office was...

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Obama Authorizes Covert Operations in Libya, as U.S. Considers Aiding Rebels, Sources Say

Obama Authorizes Covert Operations in Libya, as U.S. Considers Aiding Rebels, Sources SayPresident Obama has signed a secret presidential finding authorizing covert operations in Libya, a U.S. official told Fox News, although the administration says it still hasn't decided whether to arm rebel forces there.The presidential findings establish a framework of legal authorities for covert action. They can authorize specific actions, such as arming the rebels, or establish authorities under which future actions might be taken after permissions are given to undertake them.In other words, covert actions won't start until the president signs...

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Obama Defends Military Mission in Libya, Says U.S. Acted to 'Prevent a Massacre

Obama Defends Military Mission in Libya, Says U.S. Acted to 'Prevent a Massacre President Obama, defending his decision to send U.S. forces to Libya while outlining in unprecedented detail his foreign policy philosophy, said Monday that the United States acted to "prevent a massacre" and that to do otherwise would have been "a betrayal of who we are." The president, in a nationally televised address, stressed that he would not commit the U.S. military to toppling Libyan leader Muammar al-Qaddafi's regime, warning that such a goal of regime change would fracture the coalition and require ground forces. He described that mission, rather,...

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Israel Deploys Rocket Defense System Against Gaza

Israel Deploys Rocket Defense System Against GazaIsrael deployed a cutting-edge rocket defense system on Sunday, rolling out the latest tool in its arsenal to stop a recent spike in attacks from the neighboring Gaza Strip. Israel hopes the homegrown Iron Dome system will provide increased security to its citizens, but officials warned that it can't do the job alone. The system went into operation shortly after an Israeli aircraft struck a group of militants in Gaza, killing two. Israeli said they were about to fire a rocket.The Iron Dome system has raised hopes that Israel has finally found a solution to the years of rocket fire from...

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Magnitude-6.5 Quake Off Japan; Small Tsunami Alert

Magnitude-6.5 Quake Off Japan; Small Tsunami AlertA magnitude-6.5 earthquake shook eastern Japan off the quake-ravaged coast on Monday morning, the U.S. Geological Survey reported, prompting Japan to issue a tsunami alert. There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries, but the Japan Meteorological Agency announced that a tsunami of up to 1.6 feet (a half meter) may wash into Miyagi Prefecture.The alert was prompted by a quake that the U.S. Geological Survey measured at 7:23 a.m. Monday Japan time (2223 GMT Sunday) near the east coast of Honshu.The USGS said the quake was 3.7 miles deep.A magnitude-9 quake off Japan's northeast coast on March 11 triggered a tsunami that barreled onshore, triggering a humanitarian disaster that is thought to have killed about 18,000 peop...

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NATO to assume command of Libya air operations

NATO to assume command of Libya air operations NATO will assume command of all aerial operations — including ground attacks — in Libya from the U.S.-led force that has been conducting air strikes against Moammar Gadhafi's forces, officials said Sunday. The North Atlantic Council — the alliance's top body — approved a plan to expand the previously agreed mission to enforce the U.N. arms embargo and no-fly zone by agreeing to protect civilians from attack."NATO Allies have decided to take on the whole military operation in Libya under the U.N. Security Council resolution," Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said...

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Cherry blossoms a poignant reminder of Japan's fragility

Cherry blossoms a poignant reminder of Japan's fragility 'Humans, like the flowers, are transient,' says one quake survivor' TOKYO — The cherry trees will soon blossom in Japan. For the Japanese, it will be a particularly poignant sight. Even in normal times, the flowers are a cause for rejoicing tinged with sadness, because they fall at the moment of their greatest beauty. They are the embodiment of a notion that is central to Japanese culture — "hakanasa," a hard-to-translate word that conveys the fragility, or evanescence, of life. For Japan, this sense of transience is also...

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A burial in the rain for Japan tsunami victims

A burial in the rain for Japan tsunami victimsKESENNUMA, Japan - Ten flimsy wooden coffins were laid on two sturdy rails at a hastily prepared cemetery of mostly mud as Keseunnuma began burying its dead from the tsunami that ripped apart the Japanese coastal city. Desperate municipalities such as Kesennuma have been digging mass graves, unthinkable in a nation where the deceased are almost always cremated and their ashes placed in stone family tombs near Buddhist temples. Local regulations often prohibit burial of bodies. The number of dead in Kesennuma was 551 as of Saturday, far too many for local crematoriums that can typically manage...

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Death toll tops 10,000 but nuke crisis hampers search

                   Death toll tops 10,000 but nuke crisis hampers search  The official death toll from the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami topped 10,000 on Friday, while around 240,000 people continue to seek shelter in some 1,900 evacuation centers. According to the National Police Agency, more than 27,000 people had been confirmed dead or missing as of noon Friday, comprising 10,035 deaths and 17,443 unaccounted for. The full extent of loss of life is still unclear, as search efforts in Fukushima Prefecture have been hampered by the crisis...

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Major record labels join for Japan relief album

The world's four leading record labels have lent hit tracks to an album released on Friday to raise funds for the Japanese Red Cross Society following this month's earthquake and tsunami. What started off as an initiative by Universal Music, the world's biggest record company, has turned into an industry-wide collaboration. The result is the 38-track "Songs for Japan." Universal said it was handling the servicing of the digital album, while Sony Music would produce a physical version provisionally set to hit stores on April 4. Featured on the album, available on the iTunes Store for $9.99, are artists including John Lennon ("Imagine"),...

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Engineers toil to pump out Japan plant

07:30 JST March 27: Japanese engineers struggled on Sunday to pump radioactive water from a crippled nuclear power station after radiation levels soared in seawater near the plant more than two weeks after it was battered by a huge earthquake and a tsunami. Tests on Friday showed iodine 131 levels in seawater 30 km (19 miles) from the coastal nuclear complex had spiked 1,250 times higher than normal but it was not considered a threat to marine life or food safety, the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency said. "Ocean currents will disperse radiation particles and so it will be very diluted by the time it gets consumed by fish and seaweed,"...

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Suspect in Shooting Death of Georgia Cop Releases 4 of 8 Hostages

Suspect in Shooting Death of Georgia Cop Releases 4 of 8 HostagesMarch 25, 2011 ATHENS, Ga. -- The man suspected in the shooting death of a Georgia police officer released four of the eight hostages who authorities said he was holding at an Athens apartment Friday evening, and negotiators were working toward a peaceful surrender.Athens Police Capt. Clarence Holeman said 33-year-old Jamie Hood released the hostages around 9 p.m. Friday night. The police captain said Hood knew the hostages, who police said were not harmed, but added that the relationship is uncertain."l like to think it's getting closer if we have hostages being released,"...

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Conditions at Japan Nuke Plant Take Turn for the Worse, Sparking New Fears of Meltdown

Conditions at Japan Nuke Plant Take Turn for the Worse, Sparking New Fears of MeltdownMarch 25, 2011Despite some signs of hope in the past week at Japan's troubled Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant, conditions have taken an increasingly alarming turn, with a possible breach at one of the reactors and highly radioactive water found leaking from that and two other reactors.A nuclear crisis that not long ago was described as serious but stable has now raised concerns of a greater meltdown, with the danger underscored Friday with two plant employees hospitalized after wading into water 10,000 times more radioactive than normal.The Tokyo Electric...

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Dark Fluid: Dark Matter And Dark Energy May Be Two Faces Of Same Coin

Dark Fluid: Dark Matter And Dark Energy May Be Two Faces Of Same CoinFeb. 1, 2008Astronomers at the University of St Andrews believe they can "simplify the dark side of the universe" by shedding new light on two of its mysterious constituents.                            Dr HongSheng Zhao, of the University's School of Physics and Astronomy, has shown that the puzzling dark matter and its counterpart dark energy may be more closely linked than was previously thought.Only 4% of the universe is made of known material - the other 96% is traditionally labelled into two sectors,...

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