Prominent Chinese blogger charged as crackdown deepens

 Chinese police have arrested prominent writer Ran Yunfei for challenging the ruling Communist Party, people close to the blogger said on Monday, the latest in a string of arrests in a deepening crackdown on dissent.

Ran, a writer and literature magazine editor from southwest Sichuan province, who had been detained without charge for more than a month, was formally arrested on the charge of inciting subversion of state power, Wang Yi, a Christian activist in Sichuan and a friend of Ran, told Reuters.

Ran, 46, was detained by police in Chengdu on February 20 as unrest rippling across the Middle East generated online calls for similar "Jasmine Revolution" protests in China.

The charge of inciting subversion was also used to jail Liu Xiaobo, the dissident who won the Nobel Peace Prize, which infuriated Beijing.

"Basically, it's the crime of expressing your opinions," said Wang, formerly a legal scholar. "In this case, too, the prosecutors will probably use essays that Ran has published on the Internet."

Nobel Laureate Liu has been serving an 11-year sentence since 2009 for co-writing the Charter 08 manifesto that called for sweeping political reform and is seen as one of the boldest challenges to Communist Party rule in recent memory.

The Chinese authorities are seeking to stifle any potential challenge to their power ahead of a Party leadership handover in late 2012.

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Obama administration restricts findings on Gulf’s dead dolphins

The Obama administration has issued a gag order on data over the recent spike of dead dolphins, including many stillborn infants, washing up on Mississippi and Alabama shorelines, and scientists say the restriction undermines the scientific process.

An abnormal dolphin mortality this year along the Gulf coast has become part of a federal criminal investigation over last year’s BP oil spill disaster and as a result, has led the US government to clamp down on biologists’ findings, with orders to keep the results confidential.

The dolphin die-off, labeled an “unusual mortality event (UME),” resulted in wildlife biologists being contracted by the National Marine Fisheries Service to record the recent spike in dolphin deaths by collecting tissue samples and specimens for the agency, but late last month were privately ordered to keep their results under wraps.

Reuters has obtained a copy of the agency letter that states, in part: “Because of the seriousness of the legal case, no data or findings may be released, presented or discussed outside the UME investigative team without prior approval.”

One biologist involved with tracking dolphin mortalities for over 20 years and speaking on the condition of anonymity, told Reuters that: “It throws accountability right out the window. We are confused and ... we are angry because they claim they want teamwork, but at the same time they are leaving the marine experts out of the loop completely.”

Read more: http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/305096#ixzz1HwUoUYYJ

'Death Squad': Full horror emerges of how rogue U.S. brigade murdered and mutilated innocent Afghan civilians - and kept their body parts as trophies

• Rolling Stone reveals how U.S. troops murdered Afghan civilians
• Soldiers cut off 15-year-old boy's finger and kept it as trophy
• Video captures U.S. troops cheering as airstrike kills two Afghan civilians
• New pictures show dead Afghan man's head on a stick
• Soldier stabbed the body of a dead Afghan civilian
• Military tried to pull pictures out of circulation to avoid another Abu Ghraib
• Army says photos are 'in striking contrast' to its standards and values
  

The Pentagon tonight apologised after shocking new details emerged of how American soldiers formed a 'death squad' to randomly murder Afghan civilians and mutilate their corpses.

An investigation by Rolling Stone magazine details how senior officers failed to stop troops killing Afghans and keeping their body parts as trophies.

In one horrific episode, the magazine claims troops threw a grenade at an innocent Afghan boy before chopped off his finger and later using it as 'gambling chip' in a game of cards.

The disturbing detail included in the dossier accuses American troops of a new level of depravity and is likely to be a public relations disaster for the military.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1370758/Shocking-video-shows-U-S-troops-cheering-airstrike-blows-Afghan-civilians.html#ixzz1HwSsL4j7

Jordan: Set Independent Inquiry in Attacks on Protesters

 Civil prosecutors should open an independent investigation into serious allegations of excessive use of force by security forces during protests on March 25, 2011, in Amman, Human Rights Watch said today. The investigation should include the security forces' failure to prevent violence by government supporters against protesters demanding reform.

Jordanian security forces have a dismal record of accountability and have shown themselves incapable of conducting a credible investigation into their own actions, Human Rights Watch said. Even when no political protests are involved, such as at a soccer match in December 2010 at which police beat fans, security forces are not held to account.

"If Jordan is serious about following King Abdullah's call for reform, it can start by holding its security services accountable," said Christoph Wilcke, senior Middle East researcher at Human Rights Watch. "Promises of political reform ring hollow while police beat demonstrators or stand by and watch pro-government factions carry out violent attacks."

Human Rights Watch spoke to six witnesses present at the protests on March 25 at Jamal Abd al-Nasir Place, also called Interior (Ministry) Circle, in Amman. Hundreds of government supporters calling themselves nida' al-watan (Patriotic Call) attacked an even larger number of pro-reform protesters gathering under the so-called "24 March Movement." The reform group gathered at the Interior Circle on March 24, intending to remain there to press for reform.

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Bahrain: Investigate Deaths Linked to Crackdown

The Bahraini government should urgently investigate the killing of at least 18 people during violent crackdowns since protests began on February 14, 2011, Human Rights Watch said today. Most were killed by security forces using excessive force, namely crowd-control equipment at extremely close range and live gunfire, Human Rights Watch said. Four government security officers were also killed, according to the Interior Ministry.

The authorities admitted holding four missing persons in the Bahrain Defense Force hospital only after they had succumbed to their injuries. This raises serious concerns regarding the missing persons' treatment and whether authorities are holding other people without notifying their families, Human Rights Watch said.

"Bahraini security forces have frequently shown a reckless disregard for human life during crackdowns on protesters," said Joe Stork, deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. "Firing birdshot pellets at close range is not crowd control - it can be murder."

At least 13 people died when riot police and troops attacked several Shia villages starting March 15, Human Rights Watch said. They include Ahmed Farhan, age 24, and Mohammed Eklas, a 50 year-old Bangladeshi citizen, who died in Sitra on March 15. According to media reports, Eklas was run over by a vehicle while trying to help some women during the crackdown, but Human Rights Watch could not independently verify this account.

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Radiation From Japan Detected In Florida, North And South Carolina

RALEIGH, N.C. -- Utilities in North and South Carolina are adding to the list of states in the U.S. reporting trace amounts of radiation from a nuclear reactor in Japan that was damaged by an earthquake and tsunami.

Progress Energy and Duke Energy in North Carolina and South Carolina Electric and Gas Co. all operate nuclear plants and say they've detected trace amounts of radiation.

Nuclear experts and health officials say there's no public health risk. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says people are exposed to much more radiation on an international airline flight.

Progress Energy says it picked up low levels of iodine-131, a radioactive byproduct of nuclear fission, at its nuclear plant in South Carolina and a Florida plant.

Massachusetts, Nevada and other Western states also have reported minuscule amounts of radiation.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/03/28/radiation-florida-north-south-carolina_n_841443.html

http://www.thebostonchannel.com/video/27344646/detail.html

Level of iodine-131 in seawater off chart

JAPAN TIMES

The level of radioactive iodine detected in seawater near the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant was 1,250 times above the maximum level allowable, the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency said Saturday, suggesting contamination from the reactors is spreading.

Meanwhile, plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co. turned on the lights in the control room of the No. 2 reactor the same day, and was analyzing and trying to remove pools of water containing radioactive materials in the turbine buildings of reactors 1 to 3.

The iodine-131 in the seawater was detected at 8:30 a.m. Friday, about 330 meters south of the plant's drain outlets. Previously, the highest amount recorded was about 100 times above the permitted level.

If a person drank 500 ml of water containing the newly detected level of contamination, it would be the equivalent of 1 millisievert of radiation, or the average dosage one is exposed to annually, the NISA said.

"It is a substantial amount," NISA spokesman Hidehiko Nishiyama told a news conference.

But he also stressed there is "no immediate risk to public health," as the changing tides will dilute the iodine-131, and its half-life, or the amount of time it takes for it to lose half its radioactivity, is only eight days.

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Pregnant women fleeing to Kansai

OSAKA — Kansai area hospitals and the Osaka Prefectural Government say a growing number of pregnant women from the devastated Tohoku region, as well as some in Tokyo worried about the possible effects of radiation from the Fukushima nuclear crisis, are moving to the area to give birth.

In the aftermath of the March 11 quake and tsunami, and amid fears in Tokyo of increased radiation levels in the tap water and air, many residents of eastern Japan have temporarily relocated to the Kansai region, especially pregnant women.

The Osaka Prefectural Government said late last week that 149 women from Tokyo and Chiba, Kanagawa, Fukushima, and Miyagi prefectures had arrived in Osaka hospitals to give birth since the disaster, and forecast that the number could increase. Among them, 58 were from Tokyo, where the discovery last week of high levels of radioactive iodine in the water supply led officials to issue a precautionary warning that infants should not drink tap water or milk formula made with tap water.

The Tokyo Metropolitan Government lifted the warning Thursday after the level of iodine fell, but as of Saturday, parts of Fukushima, Ibaraki and Chiba prefectures were still being advised not to give infants tap water, according to the health ministry.

Radiation readings in both Tokyo and around the Fukushima plant are well below what experts consider dangerous to human health. But the government and media are sending out mixed messages, telling people the levels are not dangerous and yet warning about possible harm to infants.

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Japan state-run TV says Fukushima probably already exceeds Chernobyl and there is no end in sight

NATO Strike Kills Seven Civilians, Afghans Say

A NATO air strike on two vehicles believed to be carrying Taleban fighters in southern Afghanistan accidentally killed seven civilians and wounded five more, an Afghan official said yesterday.

Medicare rise could mean no Social Security COLA

The government is projecting a slight cost-of-living adjustment for Social Security benefits next year, the first increase since 2009. But for most beneficiaries, rising Medicare premiums threaten to wipe out any increase in payments, leaving them without a raise for a third straight year.

About 45 million people — one in seven in the country — receive both Medicare and Social Security. By law, beneficiaries have their Medicare Part B premiums, which cover doctor visits, deducted from their Social Security payments each month.

When Medicare premiums rise more than Social Security payments, millions of people living on fixed incomes don't get raises. On the other hand, most don't get pay cuts, either, because a hold-harmless provision prevents higher Part B premiums from reducing Social Security payments for most people.

David Certner of AARP estimates that as many as three-fourths of beneficiaries will have their entire Social Security increase swallowed by rising Medicare premiums next year.

It's a tough development for retirees who lost much of their savings when the stock market collapsed, who lost value in their homes when the housing market crashed and who can't find work because the job market is weak or they are in poor health.

"You just don't have the words to say how much this impacts a person," said Joyce Trebilcock, a retired legal secretary from Belle, Mo., a small town about 100 miles west of St. Louis.

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500,000 people marched in London yesterday against the Government's cuts

There were two demonstrations in London yesterday. The first, and most enduringly important, was that by half a million people against the cuts that are falling disproportionately on vital public services and those who provide them. 

The other one was a demonstration of just how easy it is for a few hundred people to steal the occasion with sporadic acts of violence. Last night, it the latter one which was taking the headlines as police and protesters clashed in Trafalgar Square.

Earlier half a million people descended on central London for the biggest protest the nation has seen since demonstrations against the Iraq war eight years ago. They streamed into the capital from across the country to vent their anger at government cuts, their only weapons peaceful chanting and waving placards. There were 500,000 people and, with their disperate causes, represented 500,000 different reasons to take a stand.

From students facing rises in fees to parents whose Sure Start services are being slashed, the message was the same: "Stop the cuts." The March for the Alternative was organised by trades unions, but its anti-cuts message chimed with a much wider audience. Hundreds of coaches were chartered and public transport full to bursting as people came from across the country. Diane Richards, 62, a nurse from Aberystwyth, was one. She said: "I was born in the same year as the NHS and I'm doing better than it. Politicians have no concept of the impact of these cuts on small communities, poor communities."

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ATF gunwalking: Who knew, and how high up?

Since our first report in which ATF agents told us they allowed thousands of weapons to cross into Mexico, one crucial question has been: Who knew -- how high up? This week for the first time, President Obama addressed the controversy. It was in an interview Tuesday evening with the Spanish language network Univision.

Watch: Obama on "gunwalking"

"Well first of all I did not authorize it. Eric Holder the Attorney General did not authorize it. He's been very clear that our policy is to catch gun runners and put 'em into jail," Mr. Obama said of the controversial ATF operation called "Fast and Furious."

"You were not even informed about it?" asked Univision reporter Jorge Ramos.

"Absolutely not," said Mr. Obama. "There may be a situation here which a serious mistake was made and if that's the case then we'll find out and well hold somebody accountable."

But who? In an exclusive interview with CBS News, the lead ATF official in Mexico at the time Darren Gil says somebody in the Justice Department did know about the case. Gil says his supervisor at ATF's Washington D.C. headquarters told him point-blank the operation was approved even higher than ATF Director Kenneth Melson.

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U.S. Embassy in Tokyo quietly distributed potassium iodide pills

The U.S. Embassy in Tokyo quietly distributed potassium iodide pills to U.S. citizens this week in what appears to be a word-of-mouth operation.

A handful of Americans waited for the pills Friday at the U.S.-military-operated New Sanno Hotel, in Tokyo’s upscale Hiroo neighborhood. One person in line said he heard about the offer from a contact two friends removed who works at the Tokyo embassy. Another recipient said he found out about the program through a connection in the military and through an email from a private club that counts some of the capital’s most elite expats among its members.

They shared those details with an embassy official, who asked recipients to write how they heard about the distribution on a waiver that acknowledges they received seven free potassium iodide pills from the U.S. State Department.

The embassy said on Tuesday it would provide the tablets, known as KI pills, to its staff and their families in Japan as a precautionary measure against possible radiation exposure in light of the conditions at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

The offer did not, however, extend to private citizens. Instead, the embassy advised them to contact their doctor or employer.

That notice has not been updated since the March 22 release on the embassy website. The U.S. Embassy in Tokyo declined to comment, instead referring questions about the discrepancy to the State Department, which did not immediately reply to requests for comment.

David Spector, an American and longtime Japan resident who often appears on local news programs, decided to pick up the pills after receiving an email from the Tokyo American Club and a member of the U.S. military.

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West Coast Radiation Monitors Not Working Properly

LOS ANGELES (KTLA) -- The EPA has reported that at least eight of 18 air monitors along the West Coast are "undergoing quality review."

According to a statement on their website, the monitors in California, Oregon and Washington were set up after nuclear fears spread across Japan and are listed by the EPA as being in review for reporting an abnormal reading.

Scientists must now evaluate the readings, which indicate that the monitor may not be working properly or merely measured a spike in radiation levels due to environmental change.

Earlier this week trace amounts of radiation were registered on monitors in Southern California but at levels too low to pose a threat.

EPA's samples were captured by three monitors in California, including Riverside, Anaheim and last week in Sacramento. One monitor in Washington registered higher than normal amounts as well.

"The radiation levels detected on the filters from California and Washington monitors are hundreds of thousands to millions of times below levels of concern," the EPA said Tuesday.

The EPA also stressed that Americans have no reason for concern, saying that in a typical day, "Americans receive doses of radiation from natural sources like rocks, bricks and the sun that are about 100,000 times higher than what we have detected coming from Japan."

Last week many people were fooled by an official-looking email that was sent out, claiming radioactive particles could mix in with the recent rainfall.

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Japanese nuclear officials fear crack in reactor core

Nuclear safety officials in Japan fear the core of a reactor at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant may have cracked, causing a leak of high levels of radiation.

Growing uncertainty over the state of the stricken reactor prompted the government to tell people living within a 12-19 mile (20-30km) radius of the plant to consider leaving their homes temporarily.

The government's chief spokesman, Yukio Edano, said 130,000 residents in the area had been encouraged to leave to improve their quality of life, not because their health was at risk.

The nuclear emergency, 150 miles north of Tokyo, has caused severe disruption to business, supply routes and other services in the area.

On Thursday, three workers were exposed to radiation after stepping in contaminated water in the turbine building of the No 3 reactor. They were trying to cool the crippled reactor when the accident occurred.

"The contaminated water had 10,000 times the amount of radiation as would be found in water circulating from a normally operating reactor," said Hidehiko Nishiyama, a spokesman for Japan's nuclear safety agency. "It is possible that there is damage to the reactor."

Two of the men received possible beta ray burns to their legs. All three have been transferred to a special radiation treatment facility.

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Dangerous breach suspected at Japanese nuke plant

AP

A suspected breach in the reactor core at one unit of a stricken Fukushima nuclear plant could mean more serious radioactive contamination,Japanese officials said Friday, revealing what may prove a major setback in the mission to bring the leaking plant under control.

The uncertain situation halted work at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear complex, where dozens had been working feverishly to stop the overheated plant from leaking dangerous radiation, officials said. The plant has leaked some low levels of radiation, but a breach could mean a much larger release of contaminants.

Officials are also grappling with a humanitarian crisis, with much of the frigid northeast still a scene of despair and devastation as Japan struggles to feed and house hundreds of thousands of homeless survivors, clear away debris and bury the dead.

Police said the official death toll jumped past 10,000 on Friday. With the cleanup and recovery operations continuing and more than 17,400 listed as missing, the final number of dead was expected to surpass 18,000.

In the devastated coastal town of Onagawa, Shintaro Kamihara and his small troop from Japan's Maritime Self-Defense Force searched a debris-strewn beach long enough to serve as an impromptu coffin.

The corpse they found lay off to the side of the road beneath a wet, yellow blanket. Just beyond, a station wagon perched precariously on the roof of a hollowed-out, two-story hotel.

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Bahrain's Foreign Police Add to Tensions

WSJ

Joseph Eid/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images

Pakistani nationals took refuge at a Pakistan Club in the Bahrain's capital Manama, March 19, 2011.

The Al Khalifa family, Sunni Muslims who rule over a Shiite-majority population, have long relied on recruits from Sunni-majority countries such as Pakistan, Jordan and Yemen to fill the ranks of their police forces. As antigovernment protests have flared in Bahrain, culminating in a violent crackdown last week, the monarchy has turned again to Pakistan military-linked foundations to find recruits for its security forces.

This month, Bahrani recruiters for the National Guard, a paramilitary body, signed up 1,000 new security personnel during road shows in Pakistan, according to officials with military foundations in Pakistan that organized the recruitment.

A spokeswoman for the Bahraini government declined to comment on its policy of recruiting foreigners to its security forces.

Bahrain's dependency on foreign workers to fill security and other jobs has vexed Bahraini Shiites, who see it as an attempt to tilt the religious balance in the country and exclude them from jobs. Many are angered by the role of Pakistani policemen in suppressing the antigovernment protests.

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FRIDAY OF RAGE: Secret Police Arrest Dozens In Syria, As Protests Start In Yemen And Bahrain

07:19 ET: Secret police in Damascus just arrested dozens of protesters, witnesses tell Reuters.

Earlier: A few big protests to worry about today, which may start after noon prayer..

First in Yemen, where despite rumors that President Saleh would step down within days and promises from Saleh of a peaceful transfer of power, activists vowed to stage a wide-scale protester. Police have reportedly set up checkpoints to stop protesters from reaching the government headquarters in Sanaa.

Second in Syria, where protesters are gathering despite crackdowns that may have killed over one hundred earlier this week. President Assad has promised political reform including the lifting of emergency laws in place since 1963.

Third in Bahrain, where protesters have planned a day of rage despite violent crackdowns and arrests earlier this week. The government recently tore down a large monument at Pearl Square to mark the symbolic end of unrest -- which is clearly a fantasy.

The government has recruited new security forces from Pakistan, according to the WSJ, in addition to foreign assisstance from Saudi Arabia and other GCC countries.

Radiation Spread From Japanese Nuclear Power Plant Continues

VOA NEWS

Authorities in Japan are continuing efforts to control the crisis at a damaged nuclear power plant. The Fukushima-1 complex was damaged after a massive earthquake two weeks ago and is still emitting radiation in the atmosphere

On the outside, steam continued to rise Friday from several reactor buildings at the Fukushima-1 nuclear facility in northeastern Japan. Inside, work continued to try to bring automated cooling systems back on line that would help prevent an even potentially worse spread of radiation from the severely damaged complex.

Japan's government has recommended that people living between 20 and 30 kilometers from the facility leave their homes, but no mandatory evacuation is being issued for that zone. Those within 20 kilometers were previously ordered out of the area due to radiation fears.

Hidehiko Nishiyama, the deputy director of the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency, says it is possible that radioactive matter will continue to travel far away and testing about the extent of the emissions needs to be made.

The continuing emission of radioactive vapor has prompted warnings about drinking tap water as far away as 300 kilometers south of the plant. It has also raised safety concerns internationally about Japanese vegetables, milk and seafood.

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