Earthquake detected in North Korea near nuke site

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) ? An earthquake was detected Tuesday in North Korea just north of a site where the country has conducted nuclear tests, providing strong indication that Pyongyang has gone ahead with a highly anticipated third test. There was, however, no confirmation of the test.

The South Korean Defense Ministry, which raised its military alert level after the quake, said it was trying to determine whether it was a test. Nuclear blasts can create tremors but they are distinct from those caused by natural earthquakes.

The U.N. organization monitoring nuclear tests says it has detected an "unusual seismic event" in North Korea.

The U.S. Geological Survey as well as earthquake monitoring stations in South Korea detected an earthquake just north of a site where North Korea conducted its second nuclear test in 2009.

"There is a high possibility that North Korea has conducted a nuclear test," said Chi Heoncheol, an earthquake specialist at the government-funded Korea Institute of Geoscience and Mineral Resources. Chi said a magnitude 3.9 magnitude earthquake and a magnitude 4.5 earthquake were detected in the North's 2006 and 2009 nuclear tests.

South Korean, U.S. and Japanese seismic monitoring agencies put the magnitude of Tuesday's quake at 4.7, 4.9 and 5.2 respectively.

"We think it is possible it came about as a result of a nuclear test by North Korea from looking at past cases," Japanese government spokesman Yoshihide Suga said at a news conference Tuesday, noting that they were still gathering information.

The United States and its allies have been on edge since North Korea said last month it will conduct its third nuclear test to protest toughened sanctions over a December rocket launch that the U.N. called a cover for a banned missile test.

North Korea's politburo vowed to continue firing "powerful long-range rockets," but a statement by state media Tuesday made no mention of a nuclear test.

North Korea's National Defense Commission said Jan. 23 that the United States was its prime target for a nuclear test and long-range rocket launches. North Korea accuses Washington of leading the push to punish Pyongyang for its December rocket launch.

Last October, a spokesman from the commission told state media that the country had built a missile capable of striking the United States, but did not provide further details. A missile featured in an April 2012 military parade appeared to be an intercontinental ballistic missile, but its authenticity has not been verified by foreign experts.

___

Associated Press writers Youkyung Lee in Seoul and Yuri Kageyama in Tokyo contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/earthquake-detected-north-korea-near-nuke-034748716.html

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Fugitive ex-L.A cop charged with killing officer

RIVERSIDE, Calif. (AP) ? The prosecutor who filed murder charges against a fugitive former Los Angeles police officer that could result in the death penalty said he believes the man hasn't finished carrying out his vendetta.

"Just read his manifesto and look at his actions," Riverside County District Attorney Paul Zellerbach said. "He's trying to send a message, and it would be my belief that his message is not completed yet."

On Monday, Zellerbach filed charges against Christopher Dorner for the murder of Riverside police Officer Michael Crain and the attempted murder of three other officers.

The manhunt for Dorner, 33, began last Wednesday when he was named the suspect in the Orange County murders of a former Los Angeles police captain's daughter and her fiance the previous weekend. Hours after police announced they were looking for him, Dorner fired at two LAPD officers then ambushed the Riverside officers.

"By both his words and conduct, he has made very clear to us that every law enforcement officer in Southern California is in danger of being shot and killed," Zellerbach said at a news conference that was guarded by four officers armed with rifles.

Police say Dorner wrote a lengthy manifesto that was posted to Facebook after the double murder. He vowed deadly revenge on those in the LAPD responsible for his firing years earlier, and their families. Police now are providing protection for some 50 families thought to be targets.

The search for Dorner was focused in the mountains near Big Bear Lake about 80 miles east of Los Angeles after his burned-out truck was found there last Thursday. Authorities are searching more than 30 square miles day and night in the ski resort area and checking on roughly 600 cabins.

Police and city officials believe a $1 million reward, raised from public and private sources, will encourage citizens to stay vigilant. More than 700 tips had come in since the reward was announced.

"Now it's like the game show 'Who Wants to be a Millionaire,'" said Anthony Burke, supervisory inspector for the U.S. Marshals regional fugitive taskforce. "Instead of one contestant, we've got 100,000, and there's only one question you have to answer. All they have to answer is where he's at, and we can take it from there."

The wide-ranging search has created unusually heavy traffic backups at California border crossings into Mexico, as agents are more closely inspecting each car. State police in Mexico's Baja California were given photographs of Dorner and warned to consider him armed and extremely dangerous.

Authorities have obtained a no-bail arrest warrant, which allows Dorner to be apprehended anywhere, Zellerbach said.

Dorner was fired from the LAPD five years ago, when a department board determined that he falsely claimed another officer had kicked a suspect. Randal Quan represented him during the proceeding.

Quan's daughter, Monica, and her fiance, Keith Lawrence, were found shot dead Feb. 3 in a car in the parking structure of their Irvine condominium. Last Wednesday, after discovery of the manifesto, Irvine police announced they were searching for Dorner.

Early Thursday in the Riverside County city of Corona, police say Dorner shot at two LAPD officers who had been dispatched to protect a possible target of Dorner's. One officer's head was grazed by a bullet; the other was unharmed.

Minutes later, authorities said Dorner used a rifle to ambush two Riverside officers, killing one and seriously wounding another. The slain officer was identified as Michael Crain, 34. The other officer's identity was not released to protect his family.

___

Abdollah reported from Los Angeles. Associated Press writer Elliot Spagat contributed to this report from San Diego.

Abdollah can be reached at http://www.twitter.com/LATams.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/fugitive-ex-la-cop-charged-murder-officer-211145013.html

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Gates backs lawmakers' oversight of drone program

FILE - In this Dec. 11, 2008 file photo Defense Secretary Robert Gates stands by an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) at Kandahar Air Field in Kandahar, Afghanistan. Gates, a former defense secretary and spy chief, is backing lawmakers? proposal to form a special court to review President Barack Obama?s deadly drone strikes against Americans linked to al-Qaida. Gates said Obama?s use of the unmanned and lethal drones follows tight rules, but he shares lawmakers? wariness over using drones to target al-Qaida operatives and allies from the sky. (AP Photo/Scott Olson, Pool)

FILE - In this Dec. 11, 2008 file photo Defense Secretary Robert Gates stands by an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) at Kandahar Air Field in Kandahar, Afghanistan. Gates, a former defense secretary and spy chief, is backing lawmakers? proposal to form a special court to review President Barack Obama?s deadly drone strikes against Americans linked to al-Qaida. Gates said Obama?s use of the unmanned and lethal drones follows tight rules, but he shares lawmakers? wariness over using drones to target al-Qaida operatives and allies from the sky. (AP Photo/Scott Olson, Pool)

FILE - In this Feb. 7, 2013 file photo, Senate Intelligence Committee Chair Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., right, welcomes CIA Director nominee John Brennan on Capitol Hill in Washington, prior to the start of Brennan's confirmation hearing before the committee. Lawmakers are considering whether Congress can set up a court to decide when drones can kill U.S. citizens overseas, much like the secret courts that now grant permission for surveillance. It's another sign of the U.S. philosophical struggle over remote warfare, raised after CIA head nominee John Brennan's vigorous defense of the drones. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

WASHINGTON (AP) ? Robert Gates, a former defense secretary and spymaster, is backing lawmakers' proposal to form a special court to review President Barack Obama's deadly drone strikes against Americans linked to al-Qaida.

Gates, who led the Pentagon for Presidents George W. Bush and Obama and previously served as the Central Intelligence Agency's director, said Obama's use of the unmanned drones follows tight rules. But he shares lawmakers' wariness over using the unmanned aircraft to target al-Qaida operatives and allies.

"I think that the rules and the practices that the Obama administration has followed are quite stringent and are not being abused. But who is to say about a future president?" Gates said in an interview broadcast Sunday.

The use of remote-controlled drones ? Obama's weapon of choice to strike al-Qaida with lethal missiles in places such as Pakistan and Yemen ? earned headlines last week as lawmakers contemplated just how much leeway an American president should have in going after the nation's enemies, including its own citizens.

"We are in a different kind of war. We're not sending troops. We're not sending manned bombers. We're dealing with the enemy where we find them to keep America safe. We have to strike a new constitutional balance with the challenges we face today," said Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill.

"The policy is really unfolding. Most of this has not been disclosed," the second-ranking Senate Democrat added.

The nomination of John Brennan, Obama's counterterrorism adviser who oversaw many of the drone strikes from his office in the West Wing basement, kick-started the discussion.

During Thursday's hearing, Brennan defended drone strikes only as a "last resort," but he said he had no qualms about going after Anwar al-Awlaki in September 2011. A drone strike in Yemen killed al-Awlaki and Samir Khan, both U.S. citizens. A drone strike two weeks later killed al-Awlaki's 16-year-old son, a Denver native.

Those strikes came after U.S. intelligence concluded that the elder al-Awlaki was senior operational leader of al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula plotting attacks on the U.S., including the failed Christmas Day bombing of an airplane as it landed in Detroit in 2009.

"I think it's very unseemly that a politician gets to decide the death of an American citizen," said Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky. "They should answer about the 16-year-old boy, al-Awlaki's son who was killed not as collateral damage, but in a separate strike."

Many lawmakers suggested uneasiness about the unfettered program.

"It just makes me uncomfortable that the president ? whoever it is ? is the prosecutor, the judge, the jury and the executioner, all rolled into one," said Sen. Angus King, an independent from Maine.

The potential model that some lawmakers are considering for overseeing such drone attacks is a secret court of federal judges that now reviews requests for government surveillance in espionage and terrorism cases. In those proceedings, 11 federal judges review wiretap applications that enable the FBI and other agencies to gather evidence to build cases. Suspects have no lawyers present, as they would in other U.S. courts, and the proceedings are secret.

Some Republicans were wary of such an oversight proposal.

The Republican chairman of the House Intelligence Committee said his members review all drone strikes on a monthly basis, both from the CIA and Pentagon.

"There is plenty of oversight here," said Rep Mike Rogers, R-Mich.

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., said a separate oversight panel would be "an encroachment on the powers of the president of the United States."

"But what we need to do is take the whole program out of the hand of the Central Intelligence Agency and put it into the Department of Defense, where you have adequate oversight," McCain said. "Since when is the intelligence agency supposed to be an air force of drones that goes around killing people? I believe that it's a job for the Department of Defense."

Gates, Paul and King spoke with CNN's "State of the Union." Durbin appeared on NBC's "Meet the Press." Rogers was interviewed on CBS' "Face the Nation." McCain was on "Fox News Sunday."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2013-02-11-US-Drones-Politics/id-7cb5b4630f7745a7b699c5e40b752d0f

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Grammy Awards voters spread the love all around

Marcus Mumford performs a tribute to Levon Helm at the 55th annual Grammy Awards on Sunday, Feb. 10, 2013, in Los Angeles. (Photo by John Shearer/Invision/AP)

Marcus Mumford performs a tribute to Levon Helm at the 55th annual Grammy Awards on Sunday, Feb. 10, 2013, in Los Angeles. (Photo by John Shearer/Invision/AP)

members of fun., from left, Nate Ruess, Andrew Dost and Jack Antonoff accept the award for song of the year for "We Are Young" at the 55th annual Grammy Awards on Sunday, Feb. 10, 2013, in Los Angeles. (Photo by John Shearer/Invision/AP)

Gotye poses backstage with the awards for best pop duo/group performance for "Somebody That I Used to Know" and best alternative music album for "Making Mirrors" at the 55th annual Grammy Awards on Sunday, Feb. 10, 2013, in Los Angeles. (Photo by Matt Sayles/Invision/AP)

Frank Ocean accepts the award for best urban contemporary album at the 55th annual Grammy Awards on Sunday, Feb. 10, 2013, in Los Angeles. (Photo by John Shearer/Invision/AP)

Taylor Swift performs on stage at the 55th annual Grammy Awards on Sunday, Feb. 10, 2013, in Los Angeles. (Photo by John Shearer/Invision/AP)

LOS ANGELES (AP) ? Mumford & Sons wrapped up a completely unpredictable Grammy Awards with perhaps the most surprising win of the night, taking home album of the year.

It was an event that even shocked the London folk-rockers.

"We figured we weren't going to win anything because The Black Keys have been sweeping up all day, rightfully so," Marcus Mumford said.

Dan Auerbach of The Black Keys ended up the night's top winner with four trophies, including producer of the year and three rock category victories with bandmate Patrick Carney. But it was hardly a clean sweep as The Recording Academy's thousands of voters spread the love for the year's top singles.

Fun. took home major awards best new artist, in something of an upset over Frank Ocean, and song of the year for the transcendent anthem "We Are Young," featuring Janelle Monae.

"I didn't think we were going to win this one," lead singer Nate Ruess said after the best new artist win. "Frank Ocean. The Lumineers. Everybody, amazing."

Like Mumford & Sons, Gotye busted up the predictions, taking record of the year for 2012's top-selling single, the haunting "Somebody That I Used To Know," featuring Kimbra, and finished with three awards.

Prince, in hood and sunglasses and carrying a sparkly silver cane, presented him with the record of the year trophy and the Australian paid tribute to The Purple One's influence.

"A little bit lost for words, to receive an award from the man standing behind us with the cane," Gotye said. "Many years listening to this man's music growing up and a big reason I was inspired to make music. Thank you."

Jay-Z and Kanye West had three wins ? sharing one award with Ocean ? along with Skrillex, and a slew of nominees had two wins apiece, including former best new artist winner Esperanza Spalding.

Ocean was shut out in the major categories, but took home two trophies, including best urban contemporary album. Only Chris Brown, with whom Ocean scuffled last month, remained seated as the 25-year-old R&B winner walked to the stage during a standing ovation. Ocean beat Brown, who attended with girlfriend Rihanna, in the category.

Ocean won also won best rap/sung collaboration for "No Church in the Wild" with fellow top nominees Jay-Z and West, and The-Dream. The win came after victories for Jay-Z and West for best rap song and best rap performance for "... in Paris," another "Watch the Throne" track. Ocean also performed his song "Forrest Gump," the love song written about a man that first started the buzz that led to his announcement that his first love was a man.

"We Are Young" helped fun. earn a starring role at these Grammys with nominations in all four major categories. The band turned in a powerful early performance of "Carry On" as a downpour on stage began mid-song and guitarist Jack Antonoff got a kiss from girlfriend "Girls" creator Lena Dunham after winning.

The Black Keys took best rock performance for "Lonely Boy" during the main telecast and earlier in the day won best rock song for "Lonely Boy" and best rock album for "El Camino." He also got an assist ? but no trophy ? on Dr. John's best blues album "Locked Down," which he produced.

Other winners included Rihanna, Beyonce, Mumford & Sons and Taylor Swift, who opened the show as the Mad Hatter. Swift dressed in white top hat, tails, shorts and tall boots during the surreal version of her hummable hit "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together" that included a troop of mime clowns and a guy on a tricycle with a flame-thrower attached.

The singer pretended to talk to the offending boyfriend on the phone: "I'm busy opening the Grammys and we're never getting back together."

Justin Timberlake debuted new tracks "Suit & Tie" with Jay-Z and "Pusher Love" in a performance that was broadcast in retro black and white. Rihanna and the extended Marley family paid tribute to Bob Marley. Sting and Bruno Mars helped each other out on their hits "Locked Out of Heaven" and "Walking on the Moon." Elton John and Ed Sheeran teamed on "The A Team" and Miguel and Wiz Khalifa joined forces teamed up on "Adorn." Alicia Keys played drums during Maroon 5's "Daylight," before Adam Levine's band backed her on "Girl on Fire."

Jack White brought both his male and female bands on stage, tearing through "Love Interruption" and "Freedom at 21" before a standing ovation from the crowd. And Elton John, Mavis Staples, Brown, Mumford & Sons and Brittany Howard of Alabama Shakes paid tribute to the late Levon Helm with a spirited rendition of "The Weight."

Adele won the first award of the night on the main telecast, taking home best pop solo performance for "Set Fire to the Rain (Live)," in one of the night's least-surprising moments ? though the singer was somewhat taken aback.

"I just wanted to be part of the night, because I loved it last year, obviously," she said of winning a record-tying six awards in 2012.

Carrie Underwood won best country solo performance for "Blown Away," Zac Brown Band won best country album for "Uncaged" and Kelly Clarkson turned in the night's most exuberant acceptance speech after winning best pop vocal album for "Stronger." After hugging much of the front row and momentarily getting stuck to Miranda Lambert's dress, Clarkson charged the stage with a giant smile.

"Miguel, I don't know who the hell you are, but we need to sing together," she said. "I mean, good God. That was the sexiest dancing I've ever seen."

Skrillex won best dance recording for "Bangarang," featuring Sirah, best dance/electronica album for "Bangarang" and best remixed recording a year after winning those same awards in his first appearance at the Grammys.

"You know what, I thought I'd get used to it, but I tripped over every word when I was up there," Skrillex said of his acceptance speeches. "I felt like I just wanted a pool of ice water and just couldn't even breathe or think. It was crazy. I think it was even crazier than last year."

Celebrities rolled down the red carpet in the early afternoon under heavy police guard during a continued manhunt for an alleged cop killer. Many stars showed a fair amount of skin ? check out the Twitter pic of Ellen DeGeneres ogling Katy Perry's revealing dress ? despite CBS's mandate that stars dress appropriately with butts, breasts and other sensitive areas covered adequately.

Nevertheless, Jennifer Lopez showed up on stage in a dress slit all the way to her hip.

"As you can see, I read the memo," Lopez joked.

___

AP writers Mesfin Fekadu, Sandy Cohen and Anthony McCartney in Los Angeles contributed to this report.

___

Online:

http://grammy.com

___

Follow AP Music Writer Chris Talbott: http://twitter.com/Chris_Talbott.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2013-02-11-Grammys/id-6c7409e636534649b89142d062d71e67

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Roses Raise Environment Concerns

From water use to carbon emissions, raising and distributing roses has an environmental impact worse than many other crops. David Biello reports

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Millions of roses get handed out on Valentine's Day. But growing roses has an environmental impact worse than many other crops.

Start with climate change: most roses in the U.S. and Europe are imported from warmer climes. All that flying and trucking adds thousands of metric tons of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere.

Then there's all the water needed to, well, water the flowers. And the runoff fouled by copious quantities of pesticides needed to make the roses look perfect.??

There's also the wildlife and workers poisoned by all that fumigation. Add to that habitat destruction where floral plantations displace native forest and wetlands.

Finally, there's the refrigeration needed to keep those blooms fresh. The electricity is often produced by burning fossil fuels, and the refrigerant gases also exacerbate climate change.

A more sustainable and, possibly, more romantic approach is to go with flowers certified by outfits like VeriFlora or, even better, whatever flowers are in season locally. Of course, that's not much help for those of us in wintry climes. Maybe try writing a poem. Let?s see: Roses are red, violets are blue?

?David Biello

[The above text is a transcript of this podcast.]

Source: http://rss.sciam.com/click.phdo?i=2c39b713ba469ee8955cf8971a7ef499

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NASA's MAVEN mission completes assembly, begins environmental testing

Feb. 10, 2013 ? NASA's Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN (MAVEN) spacecraft is assembled and is undergoing environmental testing at Lockheed Martin Space Systems facilities, near Denver, Colo. MAVEN is the next mission to Mars and will be the first mission devoted to understanding the Martian upper atmosphere.

During the environmental testing phase, the orbiter will undergo a variety of rigorous tests that simulate the extreme temperatures, vacuum and vibration the spacecraft will experience during the course of its mission. Currently, the spacecraft is in the company's Reverberant Acoustic Laboratory being prepared to undergo acoustics testing that simulates the maximum sound and vibration levels the spacecraft will experience during launch.

Following the acoustics test, MAVEN will be subjected to a barrage of additional tests, including: separation/deployment shock, vibration, electromagnetic interference/electromagnetic compatibility and magnetics testing. The phase concludes with a thermal vacuum test where the spacecraft and its instruments are exposed to the vacuum and extreme hot and cold temperatures it will face in space.

"The assembly and integration of MAVEN has gone very smoothly and we're excited to test our work over the next six months," said Guy Beutelschies, MAVEN program manager at Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company. "Environmental testing is a crucial set of activities designed to ensure the spacecraft can operate in the extreme conditions of space."

"I'm very pleased with how our team has designed and built the spacecraft and science instruments that will make our measurements," said Bruce Jakosky, MAVEN principal investigator from the University of Colorado at Boulder's Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics. "We've got an exciting science mission planned, and the environmental testing now is what will ensure that we are ready for launch and for the mission."

MAVEN is scheduled to ship from Lockheed Martin's facility to NASA's Kennedy Space Center in early August, where it will undergo final preparations for launch.

MAVEN, scheduled to launch in November 2013, is a robotic exploration mission to understand the role that loss of atmospheric gas to space played in changing the Martian climate through time. It will investigate how much of the Martian atmosphere has been lost over time by measuring the current rate of escape to space and gathering enough information about the relevant processes to extrapolate backward in time.

"This phase of the program is particularly important in that it will provide us with a good assessment of the MAVEN system's capabilities under the simulated extremes of the space environment," said David Mitchell, MAVEN project manager at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. "Of significance, the spacecraft is entering system level test right on schedule, while maintaining robust cost and schedule reserves to deal with the technical or programmatic surprises that could occur during test or in the run to launch. Tracking on plan is critically important to being ready for launch later this year and the science that MAVEN will deliver one year later."

MAVEN's principal investigator is based at the University of Colorado at Boulder's Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics. The university will provide science operations, science instruments and lead Education/Public Outreach. NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center manages the project and provides two of the science instruments for the mission. Lockheed Martin of Littleton, Colo., built the spacecraft and is responsible for mission operations. The University of California at Berkeley Space Sciences Laboratory provides science instruments for the mission. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., provides navigation support, the Deep Space Network and the Electra telecommunications relay hardware and operations.

For more information on MAVEN, visit: http://lasp.colorado.edu/home/maven/

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Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/space_time/astronomy/~3/Tg-de3yM7f0/130210085956.htm

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