Japan's Ravage Coast

The Japanese and U.S. militaries are launching another all-out search for the bodies of earthquake and tsunami victims along Japan's ravaged coast.
About 22,000 Japanese troops, along with 110 from the U.S., will search by land, air and sea on Sunday. They'll skip the evacuation zone around the damaged nuclear complex that is spewing radiation. Troops and police officers have also been searching within the evacuation zone, but it is dangerous, painstaking work.
As many as 25,000 people are feared dead in the March 11 disaster, but only 13,000 deaths have been confirmed. Many bodies have likely been washed out to sea and will never be found.
Defense ministry spokesman Norikazu Muratani says the troops want to do their best to find bodies for the families.

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Filipino Father pays $1,000 for Information to his missing son

Manila (Philippine Daily Inquirer/ANN) - Has anyone seen Nilo “Jun” Olegario Jr?
His father, retired Air Force Col. Nilo L. Olegario Sr., has been looking for him for the past 26 years.
Last month, Olegario received on Jun’s behalf the US$1,000 compensation that a United States court had ordered distributed to rights abuse victims of the Marcos dictatorship.
He is offering the money as a reward to anyone who can give him information about his missing son.
In August 1983, the young Olegario, newly graduated from the Polytechnic University of the Philippines (PUP), had joined the August Twenty-One Movement (Atom), one of the protest groups to have emerged in the wake of the brutal killing of opposition leader Sen. Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr. He was 26 years old at the time.
Two years later, on Dec. 13, 1985, Jun called up his father in Chicago. “He told me ‘Dad, we are going to the hills. We are being arrested,'" recalled Olegario.
That was the last time he would hear Jun’s voice, the father said.
“My son disappeared without a trace. If he’s dead, where is the body?" Olegario said in a recent interview.
“I’m 81 years old, I want justice for my son," he said.
2 factions
Olegario began searching for Jun after the first Edsa People Power uprising in 1986 that brought down the dictator Ferdinand Marcos and installed in power Corazon Aquino, Ninoy’s widow and the mother of the present-day President Aquino.
His inquiries with the Atom group and through his connections in the military have yielded nothing.
He said he had sought out former Sen. Agapito “Butz” Aquino, Ninoy’s brother and a founding member of Atom.
“Butz told me that Atom had split into two factions, the hardliners and the moderates. He said it became difficult to control the group," Olegario said.
He said Butz’s explanation tended to jibe with the statements that Jun had made in the last telephone conversation with his father.
“My son said that the military and Philippine Constabulary soldiers were arresting Atom members and activists, that’s why they had to go into hiding," Olegario said.
Revenge on the son
Olegario, who is a lawyer, believes his son was abducted by agents of Marcos’ Armed Forces chief, Gen. Fabian Ver, in retaliation for an interview that he (the father) had given a US journalist on what he knew about the Aquino assassination.
“I learned from my contacts in the AFP that Ver was out to get me. They could not get me because I was in the US, so they took their revenge on my son," said Olegario, a former deputy commander of the 1st Air Division at the Villamor Air Base.
Disgusted by the corruption and the military’s involvement in the Aquino assassination, Olegario took early retirement in December 1983. In 1984, he migrated with his family to the US for a “better life." But Jun, the third child, opted to return to the Philippines after only a few months in the US, to work in the anti-Marcos movement.
In the US, Olegario linked up with the Movement for a Free Philippines (MFP), the anti-Marcos group led by Raul Manglapus and another ex-colonel, Bonifacio Gillego.
According to Olegario, he gave the MFP some information he had about the Aquino assassination. The MFP contacted journalist Phil Bronstein of the San Francisco Examiner.
Ver plan for Ninoy
In July 1985, Bronstein wrote a story about Ver’s plan to divert the plane that would carry Ninoy Aquino, who had decided to end his US exile and return to Manila, to a military airbase. The plot included the dispatch of two Air Force fighter jets to intercept the China Air Lines plane carrying Ninoy and the takeover by Philippine Air Force officers of the US Air Force radar scopes at Clark Airbase.
The story, which was also published by the alternative press in Manila, strengthened the public’s suspicion that the Marcos regime was behind the assassination of Ninoy as he stepped out of the CAL plane at the Manila International Airport on Aug. 21, 1983.

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The Biggest Rocket on Earth

WASHINGTON – A high-tech entrepreneur unveiled plans Tuesday to launch the world's most powerful rocket since man went to the moon.
Space Exploration Technology has already sent the first private rocket and capsule into Earth's orbit as a commercial venture. It is now planning a rocket that could lift twice as much cargo into orbit as the soon-to-be-retired space shuttle.
The first launch is slotted for 2013 from California with follow-up launches from Cape Canaveral in Florida.
Space X's new rocket called Falcon Heavy is big enough to send cargo or even people out of Earth's orbit to the moon, an asteroid or Mars. Only the long retired Saturn V rocket that sent men to the moon was bigger.
"This is a rocket of truly huge scale," said Space X president Elon Musk, who also founded PayPal and manufactures electric sports cars.
The Falcon Heavy could put 117,000 pounds into the same orbit as the International Space Station. The space shuttle hauls about 54,000 pounds into orbit. The old Saturn V could carry more than 400,000 pounds of cargo.
The old Soviet Union had a giant moon rocket bigger than the Falcon Heavy, but it failed in all four launch attempts. Another Soviet rocket, also bigger than Falcon Heavy and designed to launch its version of the space shuttle, had one successful flight more than 20 years ago.


AP – This undated artist rendering provided by Space Exploration Technologies (Space X), shows Space Exploration

While the new Space X rocket is designed initially for cargo, it satisfies NASA's current safety requirements for carrying humans and after several launches could carry people too, Musk said. He has said that if NASA does buy rides on commercial rockets, he would be able to fly astronauts to the space station in his smaller Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon capsule within three years.
Potential customers for the new larger rocket are NASA, the military, other governments and satellite makers.
Musk said Falcon Heavy will be far cheaper than government or private rockets. Launches are about $100 million each. He said the Air Force pays two older more established aerospace firms about $435 million for each of its launches. Over its 40 year design history, the space shuttle program has cost about $1.5 billion per launch, according to a study by the University of Colorado and an Associated Press analysis of NASA budgets.
Musk, who has a contract to supply the space station with cargo using the smaller Falcon 9, said his pricing is more fixed than traditional aerospace firms. He joked: "We believe in everyday low prices."
To get costs that low, Musk said he needs to launch about four Falcon Heavy rockets a year but plans on launching about 10. He doesn't have a paying customer for his first launch, but is in negotiations with NASA and other customers for flights after his company proves the new rocket flies.
"It would be great if it works, if it's safe," said Henry Lambright, a professor of public policy and space scholar at Syracuse University. "I don't want to come across as skeptical, but I am."
Lambright said companies have often made big claims about private space without doing much. But, he added, Musk has some credibility because of his successful Falcon 9.
If Musk's plans work, it will give President Barack Obama's space policy a needed boost, Lambright said. Obama has been battling some in Congress over his plans to use more private space companies, like Space X, for getting people to orbit with NASA concentrating on missions to send astronauts to new places, such as nearby asteroids.
Several companies are vying to launch private rockets that could replace the shuttle. NASA is now paying Russia to send astronauts to and from the space station on Soyuz spacecraft.
Howard McCurdy, a space policy expert at American University, said of Musk: "If he's not in the lead, he's well positioned for the finish."
McCurdy said NASA's space shuttle was a technological marvel, but had a bad business model and wasn't cost effective. He said Musk, who is using his own money in his privately held firm, has incentive to be more financially savvy.

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Seeding to No. 1 Chicago Bulls

Joakim Noah has a pretty good idea what to expect on Thursday night.
The Chicago Bulls host the Boston Celtics in a game that could have a big impact on the race for the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference, and he anticipates a charged atmosphere at the United Center.
"I think it's going to be a zoo in here on Thursday," he said. "It's very exciting."
These, indeed, are exciting times in Chicago.
With 16 wins in 18 games and the No. 1 seed in reach, the Bulls haven't had it this good since the Michael Jordan championship era.
They were three games ahead of Miami and Boston at 57-20 after hanging on to beat Phoenix on Tuesday. A win over the Celtics would all but eliminate them from the race for the top seed. The Bulls would be four games ahead of Boston four to go in the regular season.
The next tiebreaker if they finished with identical records would be conference play, and at the moment, the Celtics are 35-12 with the Bulls 34-13 against the East.
"It means a lot," veteran forward Luol Deng said. "(The top seed) gives you the homecourt, but also, just having the best record tells a lot about the kind of season you had."
Big things were expected after a major offseason overhaul that came on the heels of back-to-back 41-win seasons and first-round playoff exits.
The Bulls fired coach Vinny Del Negro and replaced him with Tom Thibodeau. They were big spenders in free agency, landing Carlos Boozer and adding depth on their bench after failing to sign LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh.
Even so, most expected them to finish behind Boston, Miami and Orlando. Well, now look at them.
Derrick Rose is challenging for the MVP award. Thibodeau is a strong coach of the year candidate, and the Bulls are leading the East even though Boozer and Noah have missed significant chunks of the season due to injuries.
"You want to go step by step," said Thibodeau, who broke Phil Jackson's club record for wins by a first-year coach. "You focus on each game. You want to put as many things in your favor as possible. Being the highest seed possible is important. You can't say that it's not, but you have to take it step by step."
Beating Boston would be a big one.
Beyond that, though, the Bulls realize they also need to address some issues.
They were beaten on the boards for the third time in five games Tuesday, although they're still outrebounding opponents by a league-high 5.56 per game, and they let a 22-point lead in the second half dwindle to two before pulling out a 97-94 win over the Suns. Noah was a bit out of sync after missing three games with a sprained right ankle, finishing with 12 points and four rebounds.
"A lot of balls have been coming out of my hands," he said. "I have to do a better job of that."
The Bulls need to do a better job finishing off opponents. Besides the late drama with Phoenix, they had some defensive lapses against Toronto in the previous game and struggled to put away the Raptors.
"It's a lot of things we need to tighten up," Deng said. "We all know that. We're not panicking. The last few games, we've got to do a better job, especially in the second half. ... It's stuff that I'm sure we'll sort it out."
This would be a good time, with Boston coming to town.
Is it a statement game?
"No," Thibodeau, the former Celtics assistant, shot back. It is, however, an important one.
"They're a very talented team, they're well-coached," Thibodeau said. "There's not anything that we're doing that they don't know, and there's not anything that they're doing that we don't know. It'll come down to how well we can execute and how well they can execute. They're the defending Eastern Conference champions. Until someone knocks them off, you've got to be ready to compete with them."
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Yemens Death Toll

World anger over bloodshed in Yemen and pressure on President Ali Abdullah Saleh to stand down mounted on Wednesday after at least 24 people were killed in as many hours.
Strong statements from the United States, United Nations, European Union, Britain and Italy came as Saleh's foes cautiously welcomed a proposal by Gulf states to mediate in their demands for the veteran president to step down.
Five people were killed on Tuesday in a firefight in Sanaa between troops of an army division that has sided with anti-regime protesters and tribesmen close to Saleh, security officials said.
The deaths came as dissident General Ali Mohsen al-Ahmar accused forces loyal to Saleh of trying to kill him in an ambush in which an unspecified number of other people lost their lives.
Members of the presidential guard, who had masqueraded as part of a delegation of tribal envoys visiting the headquarters of Ahmar's rebel division, pulled out weapons and opened fire on the general, his office said.
Tuesday's clashes near the Sanaa University base of youth protesters came a day after 19 demonstrators were gunned down in clashes with security forces in the southern city of Taez and in Hudaydah on the Red Sea.
Security forces in Taez, among them rooftop snipers, shot dead 17 people after protesters demanding Saleh's ouster marched on the provincial headquarters in the city.
That prompted the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to condemn the "disproportionate and excessive" use of force in Taez.
"We are very alarmed by reports of disproportionate and excessive use of force, including machine guns, against peaceful protesters by government security forces," said Navi Pillay's spokesman.
In Washington, White House spokesman Jay Carney said in a statement: "The United States strongly condemns the use of violence by Yemeni government forces against demonstrators in Sanaa, Taiz, and Hodeida in the past several days".
"The Yemeni people have a right to demonstrate peacefully, and we remind President Ali Abdullah Saleh of his responsibility to ensure the safety and security of Yemenis who are exercising their universal right to engage in political expression."
"We call upon the Government of Yemen to conduct full investigations into these events and to hold those responsible accountable for their actions," Carney said.
In a further sign of ebbing support for Saleh, the statement called on him to resolve the political impasse with the opposition so that "meaningful" political change could take place in an orderly and peaceful manner.
In London, British Foreign Secretary William Hague said he was appalled by the bloodshed and condemned the "indiscriminate violence" of security forces.
"In early March, President Saleh promised to maintain maximum restraint in the use of the Yemeni security forces in controlling peaceful demonstrations. We strongly urge him to keep that promise," he said.
And Italy urged Sanaa to "cease all forms of violence" against demonstrators and to open the way for "a constructive dialogue as soon as possible with those who are peacefully calling for a new season of reforms".
On the political front, opposition spokesman Mohammed Qahtan said "we have welcomed (a Gulf Cooperation Council invitation) and said we will attend, but to discuss a transfer of power only".
An official source said the government was also in favour of talks, which would be held in the Saudi capital Riyadh at a date to be determined.
But other figures in the opposition remained cautious.
"We welcome any effort that would lead to (Saleh's) immediate departure, but we haven't received anything to discuss yet," said Mohammed al-Sabri, another top opposition official.
The European Union urged Saleh to begin a political transition "without delay", a day after Washington pressed him to negotiate a peaceful handover, warning that Al-Qaeda stood ready to benefit from a power vacuum.
According to medics and witnesses, about 125 people have now been killed in Yemen's crackdown on protesters, who launched nationwide demonstrations in late January to unseat Saleh, in power since 1978.
Washington, which has considered Saleh a key ally in its "war on terror" but expressed fears of Al-Qaeda taking advantage of a prolonged crisis, is now pressing him to negotiate a transition of power.
"We are obviously concerned that in this period of political unrest that Al-Qaeda and other groups will attempt to take advantage of that power vacuum," White House spokesman Jay Carney said on Monday.
But the Pentagon said there were no plans to suspend US military aid to Yemen.
"As far as I know, it has not been," press secretary Geoff Morrell said when asked at a news conference if the US administration was considering withholding military aid due to the unrest and violence.
"Obviously, we are monitoring the situation closely. It's fluid," Morrell said.
Amnesty International warned on Wednesday against any immunity deal for those responsible for the deaths of dozens of anti-regime demonstrators in Yemen, especially the "Black Friday" bloodbath.
"The international community must play a more active role if Yemenis are to get accountability for the bloody killings of recent weeks," the London-based human rights organisation said.
In the Bloody Friday bloodbath of March 18, 52 people were gunned down in what the rights group called "an apparently coordinated sniper attack on a protest camp in Sanaa".

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Journalists Page on Facebook

Facebook has launched a media resource page to help journalists use the social network as a reporting tool and better connect with their audience.
The "Journalists on Facebook" page is intended to be "an ongoing resource for the growing number of reporters using Facebook to find sources, interact with readers, and advance stories," Justin Osofsky, Facebook's director of media partnerships, said in a blog post.
"The page will provide journalists with best practices for integrating the latest Facebook products with their work and connecting with the Facebook audience of more than 500 million people," Osofsky said.
Facebook has been working with journalists since early 2010 to help make their content more social and Osofsky said the average media organization has seen referral traffic from Facebook soar over 300 percent since then.
Facebook also said it was launching a "Facebook Journalism Meetup" program with workshops on how to use Facebook as a reporting tool.
It said the first one will be held on April 27 at Facebook headquarters in Palo Alto, California.
Within hours of going up, the Journalists on Facebook page had received nearly 2,300 "likes."
Among those friending the page were CBS television news anchor Katie Couric, ABC's evening news anchor Diane Sawyer and ABC Sunday talk show host Christiane Amanpour, formerly of CNN.

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Worlds Billionaire

CARLOS SLIM HELU

$74 B

* Age: 71
* Title: Chairman
* Organization: Telmex
* Source: telecom, self-made
* Residence: Mexico City, Mexico
* Country of citizenship: Mexico
* Education: BA/BS, Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico
* Marital Status: Widow
* Children: 6



BILL GATES

$56 B

* Age: 55
* Title: Co-Chair
* Organization: Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
* Source: Microsoft, self-made
* Residence: Medina, WA
* Country of citizenship: United States
* Education: Dropout, Harvard University
* Marital Status: Married
* Children: 3



WARREN BUFFETT

$50 B

* Age: 80
* Title: CEO
* Organization: Berkshire Hathaway
* Source: Berkshire Hathaway, self-made
* Residence: Omaha, NE
* Country of citizenship: United States
* Education: MS, Columbia University; BA/BS, University of Nebraska Lincoln
* Marital Status: Widowed, Remarried
* Children: 3

Samsung GT-e2652w Champ

The New Samsung Champ

The Samsung Champ Duos aka GT-E2652W. What then is new to this Champ model? Well basically, all the specs in the previous model of Champ and in addition, it has dual-SIM capability and WiFi.

Samsung announced this in February this year and it hit local stores just last April 1. Last night I saw it in one of the stores in SM Mall of Asia (MOA). Price is very reasonable for an entry level phone and even more for one with dual-SIM capability and WiFi enabled. It retails for about Php5,800.

GSM Arena says the battery life have improved as against the old Champ that can only last up to 12 hours talk time, the Champ Duos can make it up to 14 hours of talk time.
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Richest Celebrity Couples

Question: Beyonce and Jay-Z: Each of this husband-and-wife team is a music icon in their own right, but who out-earns the other?

Answer: Beyonce does.

According to Forbes, in 2010 Beyonce made $87 million from a combination of touring, endorsements and her clothing line, House of Dereon. Meanwhile, her husband, former Def Jam Recordings CEO and winner of 13 Grammy Awards, Jay-Z, earned $63 million from his newest album, Blueprint III and its subsequent tour, as well as from investments in the 40/40 Club, the New Jersey Nets and the Broadway show "Fela!"

Question: Tom Brady or Gisele Bundchen: Does football or professional modeling bring in the bigger bucks?

Answer: Tom does.

As the world's highest-paid supermodel, Bundchen earns about $25 million per year, which beat out her hubby's $3.5 million football paycheck for the past several years. But in 2010, Brady signed a new four-year deal, complete with a $16 million signing bonus, that will garner him about $36.5 million this season alone. While this is the first time he has surpassed Bundchen in income, she can look forward to being tackled monetarily for years to come as his salary is set to increase throughout the term of the contract. However, the NFL lockout at the end of this year may hit Brady in the wallet because if there are no games, there will be little-to-no pay.

Question: Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt: Passionate about their children and human rights, the acting careers of this supercouple have catapulted them into A-list stars. But who do you think makes more?

Answer: They both are equal.

Believe it or not, according to Forbes in 2010 they each brought home a $20 million paycheck. Talk about equals.

Question: Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart: This dynamic duo of Edward and Bella from the "Twilight" movie saga has also earned the love of teens worldwide. So who has a bigger bite?

Answer: Kristen does.

According to Vanity Fair, even with his smoldering vampire eyes, Pattinson sank just below his love, drawing in $27.5 million to Stewart's $28.5 million. But for those taking sides in the Team Edward-Team Jacob plotline, Team Jacob takes a win overall -- even if he doesn't get Bella's heart -- as Taylor Lautner out-earned Pattinson and Stewart, grossing $33.5 million last year.

Question: Cameron Diaz and Alex Rodriguez (A-Rod): She's the actress with the legs that never stop and he's baseball's stud third baseman for the New York Yankees. Together they make a winning combination of looks and athleticism. When not feeding each other popcorn at the Super Bowl, who outruns the other in the paycheck department?

Answer: Alex does.

A-Rod is just a little outside with $33 million to Cameron's $32 million. Talk about a close call

Air France Atlantic Jet Crash

Salvage workers will soon start pulling up from the ocean floor the bodies of passengers and wreckage found almost two years after an Air France jet plunged into the Atlantic, officials said Monday.
The discovery of the wreckage, described by relatives of the victims as "very encouraging", has raised hopes that the plane's black box flight recorders will be located and that investigators will finally be able to uncover the cause of the mysterious crash that claimed 228 lives in June 2009.
"It's very encouraging for us who have been without news and and now have hope of retrieving the bodies. We can finally bury them," said Nelson Marinho, president of the association of relatives of the victims.
Investigators announced on Sunday that a fourth and final attempt to find the remains of the Airbus A330 that crashed en route from Rio de Janeiro to Paris had been successful.
French Transport Minister Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet said some bodies had been seen in the remains of the cabin, photographed by three Remus autonomous submarines.
"There are still some bodies in the section that has been found," Kosciuscko-Morizet told France Inter radio on Monday, adding that "some identifications" could be possible.
Salvage operations could begin within a month to recover the bodies and the wreckage.
Investigators now hope to find the the twin-engine plane's black box flight data recorders, said the head of France's Bureau of Investigation and Analysis (BEA) Jean-Paul Troadec.

• Enlarge Photo

  The Brazilian Navy recovers part of the tail section from the Air France A330 aircraft …

• Enlarge Photo

  New wreckage found after a search is resumed at site where Air France plane crashed …

"The favourable news is that the debris area is relatively concentrated. And this gives us hope of finding the black boxes," he said, adding that the latest find consisted of "engines and certain elements of the wings".
Previous searches recovered a limited amount of wreckage and about 50 bodies.
The new search was launched on March 25 with the help of the Alucia, an exploration vessel of the US-based Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute, and included a much larger area of a 46-mile (75-kilometre) radius around the last known position of Flight 447.
A source close to the investigation said the wreckage was found "near the (plane's) last known position, in a limited area a few hundred metres (yards) to the west of this position.
"The fact that the debris is concentrated in a relatively small area favours the hypothesis that the plane did not break up in flight. The plane was intact when it hit the sea," the source said.
The official cause remains undetermined, but the crash has been partly blamed on malfunctioning speed sensors used by Airbus, with Air France accused of not responding quickly enough to reports that they might be faulty.
"Studying the breaks, how the pieces are bent, will show whether the plane hit the water flat, on its side, etc. It will perhaps give some indication of the speed of the impact," the source said.
But investigators and Airbus remain cautious, stressing that without the black boxes the riddle of the plane's last moments may never be solved.
"We do hope that this discovery will lead to the retrieval and the reading of the two recorders because these data are essential for the understanding of this accident," said Airbus boss Tom Enders.
Air France and Airbus -- who are being probed for alleged manslaughter in connection with the crash, the deadliest in the carrier's history -- are paying the estimated $12.7 million (nine million euro) cost of the search.

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