Senator blocks Air Force officer's nomination

WASHINGTON (AP) — A U.S. senator remains steadfast in blocking the nomination of Air Force Lt. Gen. Susan Helms, tapped to serve as vice commander of the U.S. Space Command, over serious concerns with Helms' decision to overturn a jury conviction in a sexual assault case.

Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., who first put a hold on the nomination in April, said she met with Helms and Air Force officials yet still had reservations.

"At a time when the military is facing a crisis of sexual assault, making a decision that sends a message which dissuades reporting of sexual assaults, supplants the finding of a jury, contradicts the advice of counsel and further victimizes a survivor of sexual assault is unacceptable," said McCaskill, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee.

McCaskill's hold effectively prevents the Senate from approving Helms' nomination.

In February 2012, Helms rejected the recommendation of legal counsel and overturned the conviction of an Air Force captain who had been found guilty of aggravated sexual assault of a female lieutenant.

McCaskill explained her objections in a statement in the Congressional Record on Thursday.

"Lt. Gen. Helms has a record of more than thirty years of distinguished military service, in which she became the first American military woman in space, among other significant achievements. Her career is to be celebrated," McCaskill said. "However, I continue to have deep concerns with Lt. Gen. Helms' decision, while a commander and courts-martial convening authority, to overturn the jury verdict of a military court martial in which the jury found an Air Force officer guilty of sexual assault. She made this decision against the advice of her staff judge advocate."

The Helms' situation echoes another Air Force case that has outraged members of Congress and prompted them to move swiftly on legislation that would strip commanders of the authority to overturn convictions.

Lt. Gen. Craig Franklin, commander of the 3rd Air Force at Ramstein Air Base in Germany, overturned a conviction against Lt. Col. James Wilkerson, a former inspector general at Aviano Air Base in Italy. Wilkerson had been found guilty last Nov. 2 of charges of abusive sexual contact, aggravated sexual assault and three instances of conduct unbecoming of an officer and a gentleman. The incident had involved a civilian employee.

Wilkerson was sentenced to a year in prison and dismissal from the service. But after a review of the case Franklin overturned the conviction.

Via Yahoo News!

U.N. aims to establish Sudan peacekeeping force

A U.N. position close to the disputed border region of Abyei, Sudan on April 17, 2011.Draft resolution would establish an interim peacekeeping force for AbyeiIt calls for deployment of 4,200 peacekeepers to the regionAgreement's purpose is to allow for troop withdrawal from Abyei, ambassador says

United Nations (CNN) -- The U.N. Security Council will take up a draft resolution that would establish an interim peacekeeping force for the disputed border region of Abyei, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice told reporters Thursday.

The draft resolution calls for the deployment of 4,200 Ethiopian National Defense Force peacekeepers to the region.

"We are looking forward to discussions with council members in order to swiftly adopt a resolution authorizing this new interim security force for Abyei so that the agreement that both parties have reached, which is obviously urgent and fragile, can be implemented immediately and effectively," Rice told reporters after the Security Council met in closed session.

The purpose of the interim security agreement is to allow for the withdrawal of forces from Abyei, she said. "At this stage that means the forces of the government of Sudan, which are now occupying Abyei, and that that area would become demilitarized and administered in a joint fashion and that would persist pending resolution of the critical underlying issues."

Time for action over Sudan?

The Sudanese government and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement signed an agreement Monday that allows U.N. peacekeepers in Abyei. The two sides agreed in principle on the need for a third party to monitor the ill-defined border between north and south before the scheduled July 9 independence for the south.

Thursday's announcement came a day after U.S. President Barack Obama applauded the signing of the agreement, the latest effort to quell the violence in Sudan that has forced tens of thousands of people from their homes.

"I commend the parties for taking this step forward toward peace, and I urge them now to build on that progress and agree to an immediate cease-fire in Southern Kordofan," the White House said in a statement.

Southern Kordofan is the oil-rich northern border state where fighting has also erupted between government troops and forces loyal to the south.

Rice said she was concerned about the humanitarian situation in Southern Kordofan.

With a cease-fire in Southern Kordofan, alongside the agreement to deploy peacekeepers to Abyei, we can get the peace process back on track.
--Susan Rice

"We are deeply concerned about attacks on and threats to and intimidation of U.N. personnel, obstructions to freedom of movement and access for humanitarian goods, allegations and indeed verified reports of aerial bombardment and other attacks against civilian personnel," she said.

"With a cease-fire in Southern Kordofan, alongside the agreement to deploy peacekeepers to Abyei, we can get the peace process back on track," she said. "But without these actions, the road map for better relations with the government of Sudan cannot be carried forward, which will only deepen Sudan's isolation in the international community."

The people from the Nuba Mountains in Southern Kordofan are northerners but they aligned with the south's rebel movement during Sudan's decades-long civil war. They are viewed as a threat by Khartoum because Southern Kordofan will remain part of the north after independence.

"The treatment of civilians in South Kordofan, including the reported human rights abuses and targeting of people along ethnic lines, is reprehensible," said Valerie Amos, the United Nations undersecretary general for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator.

Between Abyei and Southern Kordofan, about 160,000 people have been displaced from their homes, the United Nations has said.

Southern Sudan voted for independence in a January referendum that was largely peaceful. But with its separation pending, tensions have heightened to what they were like during the civil war days and there has been little cause for celebration over the birth of a nation.

The U.S. State Department issued a warning Wednesday, urging U.S. citizens to avoid travel to the border areas -- including Abyei and Southern Kordofan -- as well as to the Darfur region of Sudan.

CNN

Has Bangladesh's Elite Police Force Gone Too Far? (Time.com)

On March 27, Bangladeshi doctors amputated the leg of Limon Hossain, a 16-year-old student, four days after he was shot during a raid by the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), Bangladesh's elite security force. Almost everyday since, Hossain's name has made headlines in Bangladesh, becoming a symbol of accusations that the governments paramilitary force acts as judge, jury and executioner in its official mission to clean up this south Asian nation of crime and corruption. "RAB is misusing their power," Hossain says. "They are killing people."

On March 23, Hossain says he was taking his family's calf back home from the fields to his village of Jhalakati in southwest Bangladesh. Out of nowhere, he says, members of RAB arrived on motorbikes. One grabbed Hossain's collar and accused him of being a criminal. Another pulled out a gun and put it against Hossain's head. Weeping, the boy fell to the ground, pleading for his life. After dragging him to another spot in the village, a RAB member pulled out a revolver and shot him point blank in his left leg. Days later, doctors had cut it off to save his life. (Read TIME's 2006 cover story on Bangladesh.)

RAB, of course, has a very different story. According to RAB's Commander Mohammad Sohail, the village of Jhalakati is the hub of a powerful syndicate headed by Morshed Jamaddar. Everyone there, says Sohail, is in the pocket of Morshed's gang. He says law enforcement agencies have filed 19 cases against Jamaddar, including rape, murder and abduction, and that the Morshed gang has bought "everyone except RAB" - including some local politicians.

Sohail says RAB, headquartered in Dhaka, had heard information that Jamaddar was in the village on March 27, and dispatched a team to capture him. When RAB approached, gang members shot at them, and RAB returned fire. Hossain, Sohail says, was a Morshed lackey caught in the crossfire. "The other story," he says, "is made up by bad people." RAB filed cases against Hossain for illegal arms possession, obstructing law enforcement agents and attempted murder the same day as the shooting. (Watch a video about the climate refugees in Bangladesh.)

Dressed in all-black uniforms with black bandanas and wraparound sunglasses, RAB cuts an imposing presence on the streets of Bangladesh. The group was founded in 2004 during a time of "huge deterioration of law and order in the country," according to Sohail. Drug lords, extremists and arms traffickers worked with impunity. Brad Adams, the Asia director of Human Rights Watch, says when RAB was created, "rich people implicated in serious crime could buy their way out."

By selecting the best from the military and police and loaning them to RAB in two-year rotations, the force was supposed to be above corruption and put an end to the crime wave. By that measure, even the groups harshest critics - and there are many outside of Bangladesh - admit it has been successful. Since 2004, the force of about 8,500 has captured more than 95,000 criminals and confiscated 10,000 illegal firearms, 5,000 bombs and grenades and 400 kilos of heroin, according to RAB statistics.

The problems with RAB began, says Adams, when its members began taking justice into their own hands. "They started targeting criminals, because they had no faith in the criminal justice system," he says. RAB admits that their team members have killed some 600 criminals in firefights since 2004, though Odhikhar, a Bangladeshi human rights group, says the real number is over 730. Human rights organizations say many of those deaths have been intentional extrajudicial killings, sometimes targeting the wrong individual, and that RAB employs violent methods in questioning their suspects.

In May, Human Rights Watch released a report cataloging some of RAB's alleged torture incidents and killings, including a case in which they say RAB mistakenly murdered a man because he had the same nickname as a criminal. According to the report, no one has ever been punished in connection to any of the 600-plus deaths. Sohail says Human Rights Watch didn't approach RAB for information and relied on family members of those who had been shot for information. The result, he says, is that the report is "a one-sided complaint book of the criminals and their families."

And despite human rights groups' objections, RAB still enjoys wide grassroots support. In a 2009 cable released by Wikileaks, the U.S. ambassador to Bangladesh called RAB the country's "most respected police unit." Interviews in Bangladesh bear this out. In a typical comment, Anthony Sarker, a hotel manager, said "RAB are real heroes to the poor. They are like black pirates." He not only acknowledged that RAB oversteps its mandate; he said it was necessary. "The normal judicial processes dont work, so sometimes its best to control a criminal RAB's way," said Sarker.

This kind of attitude may be changing. Recently, Bangladeshi newspapers have been more openly critical of RAB's alleged extra-judicial killings. Adams says that for the first time, significant segments of public opinion are being critical of RAB's ethics. How the upcoming Hossain court cases play out in public will be a telling barometer of RAB's support.

Recovering at a hospital in Dhaka, Hossain and his family fear the lives that await them back in their village. Hossain's mother has sued six members of RAB, but there has yet to be a hearing on their case. "I don't think there's any hope," says Tofazzal Hossain, Limon's father. He says RAB has powerful allies who have physically threatened his family. "We sued them," he says, "because we didn't want any another boy like Limon to lose his leg. We didn't want any more mothers to cry or fathers to live in agony."

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Has Bangladesh's Elite Police Force Gone Too Far? (Time.com)

On March 27, Bangladeshi doctors amputated the leg of Limon Hossain, a 16-year-old student, four days after he was shot during a raid by the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), Bangladesh's elite security force. Almost everyday since, Hossain's name has made headlines in Bangladesh, becoming a symbol of accusations that the governments paramilitary force acts as judge, jury and executioner in its official mission to clean up this south Asian nation of crime and corruption. "RAB is misusing their power," Hossain says. "They are killing people."

On March 23, Hossain says he was taking his family's calf back home from the fields to his village of Jhalakati in southwest Bangladesh. Out of nowhere, he says, members of RAB arrived on motorbikes. One grabbed Hossain's collar and accused him of being a criminal. Another pulled out a gun and put it against Hossain's head. Weeping, the boy fell to the ground, pleading for his life. After dragging him to another spot in the village, a RAB member pulled out a revolver and shot him point blank in his left leg. Days later, doctors had cut it off to save his life. (Read TIME's 2006 cover story on Bangladesh.)

RAB, of course, has a very different story. According to RAB's Commander Mohammad Sohail, the village of Jhalakati is the hub of a powerful syndicate headed by Morshed Jamaddar. Everyone there, says Sohail, is in the pocket of Morshed's gang. He says law enforcement agencies have filed 19 cases against Jamaddar, including rape, murder and abduction, and that the Morshed gang has bought "everyone except RAB" - including some local politicians.

Sohail says RAB, headquartered in Dhaka, had heard information that Jamaddar was in the village on March 27, and dispatched a team to capture him. When RAB approached, gang members shot at them, and RAB returned fire. Hossain, Sohail says, was a Morshed lackey caught in the crossfire. "The other story," he says, "is made up by bad people." RAB filed cases against Hossain for illegal arms possession, obstructing law enforcement agents and attempted murder the same day as the shooting. (Watch a video about the climate refugees in Bangladesh.)

Dressed in all-black uniforms with black bandanas and wraparound sunglasses, RAB cuts an imposing presence on the streets of Bangladesh. The group was founded in 2004 during a time of "huge deterioration of law and order in the country," according to Sohail. Drug lords, extremists and arms traffickers worked with impunity. Brad Adams, the Asia director of Human Rights Watch, says when RAB was created, "rich people implicated in serious crime could buy their way out."

By selecting the best from the military and police and loaning them to RAB in two-year rotations, the force was supposed to be above corruption and put an end to the crime wave. By that measure, even the groups harshest critics - and there are many outside of Bangladesh - admit it has been successful. Since 2004, the force of about 8,500 has captured more than 95,000 criminals and confiscated 10,000 illegal firearms, 5,000 bombs and grenades and 400 kilos of heroin, according to RAB statistics.

The problems with RAB began, says Adams, when its members began taking justice into their own hands. "They started targeting criminals, because they had no faith in the criminal justice system," he says. RAB admits that their team members have killed some 600 criminals in firefights since 2004, though Odhikhar, a Bangladeshi human rights group, says the real number is over 730. Human rights organizations say many of those deaths have been intentional extrajudicial killings, sometimes targeting the wrong individual, and that RAB employs violent methods in questioning their suspects.

In May, Human Rights Watch released a report cataloging some of RAB's alleged torture incidents and killings, including a case in which they say RAB mistakenly murdered a man because he had the same nickname as a criminal. According to the report, no one has ever been punished in connection to any of the 600-plus deaths. Sohail says Human Rights Watch didn't approach RAB for information and relied on family members of those who had been shot for information. The result, he says, is that the report is "a one-sided complaint book of the criminals and their families."

And despite human rights groups' objections, RAB still enjoys wide grassroots support. In a 2009 cable released by Wikileaks, the U.S. ambassador to Bangladesh called RAB the country's "most respected police unit." Interviews in Bangladesh bear this out. In a typical comment, Anthony Sarker, a hotel manager, said "RAB are real heroes to the poor. They are like black pirates." He not only acknowledged that RAB oversteps its mandate; he said it was necessary. "The normal judicial processes dont work, so sometimes its best to control a criminal RAB's way," said Sarker.

This kind of attitude may be changing. Recently, Bangladeshi newspapers have been more openly critical of RAB's alleged extra-judicial killings. Adams says that for the first time, significant segments of public opinion are being critical of RAB's ethics. How the upcoming Hossain court cases play out in public will be a telling barometer of RAB's support.

Recovering at a hospital in Dhaka, Hossain and his family fear the lives that await them back in their village. Hossain's mother has sued six members of RAB, but there has yet to be a hearing on their case. "I don't think there's any hope," says Tofazzal Hossain, Limon's father. He says RAB has powerful allies who have physically threatened his family. "We sued them," he says, "because we didn't want any another boy like Limon to lose his leg. We didn't want any more mothers to cry or fathers to live in agony."

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Yemeni air force bombs al Qaeda-held city (Reuters)

SANAA/TAIZ (Reuters) – The Yemeni air force bombed an al Qaeda-held southern city on Monday and residents in another city said soldiers had opened fire on a demonstration and run protesters over with bulldozers, killing at least 15.

In the latest sign Saudi Arabia's neighbor was moving toward civil war, six soldiers were killed in what appeared to be an ambush near Zinjibar, a coastal city taken over a few days ago by Islamist and al Qaeda militants.

Residents said jet fighters later strafed militant positions with bombs.

Global powers are worried the country, already on the verge of financial collapse and home to al Qaeda militants, could turn into a failed state that threatens the oil-rich region and Saudi Arabia, the world's biggest oil exporter.

A brief calm was shattered on Sunday when forces loyal to President Ali Abdullah Saleh opened fire on protesters in Taiz, killing at least 15 people and wounding hundreds, hospital sources said, adding the death toll was almost certain to rise.

"Most of the wounded were hit by live bullets, but some were run over by bulldozers," a medical source said from a field hospital.

Fresh protests are planned on Monday in Taiz, where Saleh's troops have burned tents used by demonstrators and parked armored vehicles in a protest area known as "Freedom Square."

Security forces arrested dozens on Monday, trying to head off the rally demanding an end to Saleh's nearly 33 year rule.

"Security forces are chasing youths in alleys after soldiers close down the city's entry points," said pro-reform activist Boshra al-Maqtari.

Opposition leaders have accused Saleh of allowing the city of Zinjibar, on the Gulf of Aden, to fall to al Qaeda and Islamist militants in order to raise alarm in the region that would in turn translate into support for the president.

The six soldiers were killed and dozens wounded as they were traveling to Zinjibar, a security official and others said. The official did not know who was responsible for the attack.

"Civilians found a military car and an armored vehicles. They were destroyed, and the bodies of six soldiers were found on the roadside," Ayman Mohamed Nasser, editor-in-chief of Attariq, Aden's main opposition paper, said by telephone.

Several hundred al Qaeda and Islamist militants took over the city a few days ago and have been battling locals and government soldiers for control.

Zinjibar residents told Reuters power and water had been cut off and many civilians were fleeing to nearby towns.

TROUBLE IN TAIZ

In Taiz, about 150 km (95 miles) to the northwest, police on Sunday night fired live ammunition and tear gas to disperse demonstrators outside a municipal building demanding the release of a fellow protester who was arrested on Saturday.

The clashes took place near Freedom Square where thousands of anti-government protesters have been camping since January to demand Saleh's ouster.

In the capital Sanaa, about 200 km (124 miles) north, several explosions were heard on Sunday night in the district of Hasaba, the scene of week-long fighting between Saleh's forces and a rival tribe in which 115 people were killed, residents said.

There were no immediate details of the explosions, which may have breached a truce between Saleh's forces and the powerful Hashed tribe led by Sadeq al-Ahmar to stop the bloodiest fighting since unrest erupted in January.

BLOOD ON THE STREETS

About 300 people have been killed over the past months in demonstrations demanding an end to Saleh's nearly 33-year reign in Yemen, by protesters inspired by the "Arab Spring" movement which toppled the long-standing rulers of Tunisia and Egypt.

Tribal leader Ahmar condemned what he described as "Saleh's new massacre" of civilians in Taiz.

A breakaway military group called for other army units to join them in the fight to bring down Saleh, piling pressure on him to end his three-decade rule over the destitute country.

Generals and government officials began to abandon Saleh after deadly crackdowns on protesters started in force in March. There have been no major clashes yet between the breakaway military units and troops loyal to Saleh.

Despite demands by global and regional powers that he step down, Saleh has refused to sign a deal, mediated by Gulf states, to start a transition of power aimed at averting civil war that could shake the region that supplies much of the world's oil.

Fears are growing that Yemen-based al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) will exploit such instability, analysts said. The United States and Saudi Arabia, both targets of attacks by AQAP, are worried that growing chaos is emboldening the group.

Yemen, which sits beside a shipping lane through which about 3 million barrels of oil pass daily, is the poorest state on the Arabian Peninsula with about 40 percent of its 23 million people living on less than $2 a day.

(Additional reporting by Mohammed Ghobari in Sanaa, Mohammed Mukhashaf in Aden, Mahmoud Habboush and Nour Merza in Dubai; writing by Jon Herskovitz in Dubai; editing by Philippa Fletcher)

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Mississippi floods force evacuations

Krotz Springs, Louisiana (CNN) -- Residents of towns along the swollen Mississippi River on Sunday packed up their valuables and made last-ditch efforts to place sandbags and makeshift levees outside their homes, trying to protect themselves and their homes from rising waters.

"I have never experienced anything like this in my life," said Brett Ansley, 24, as he was hitching up his trailer home in Krotz Springs, Louisiana, to move it to higher ground. "It's crazy. It's unreal."

These efforts occurred as the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers opened two additional gates Sunday morning on the Morganza spillway, located about 115 miles northwest of New Orleans. This is after opening the first two bays the previous day.

A collective gasp as Louisiana town braces for flood

The plan is to let out water from as many as one-fourth of the spillway's 125 bays to spare the Louisiana cities of Baton Rouge and New Orleans from severe flooding, Corps spokesman Ricky Boyett has said. But it maystill affect nearly 4,000 people who live along the river, as it sends water toward homes and farmland in the Atchafalaya Basin, according to Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal.

"At this time, we are currently monitoring the river, but it is too early to know if additional gates will be opened today," Boyett wrote in an e-mail to CNN.

Some of the spillway's gates will likely be open for weeks, and it'll be at least that long before the river falls safely below flood stage and those who have evacuated can safely return, said Col. Ed Fleming, the Corps' New Orleans district commander.

Stars talk about the flooding and response

Fleming said the decision to open the spillway, along with similar decisions made in recent weeks as the floodwaters moved southward, was done to address a historic excess of water in the Mississippi River and its tributaries. While the spillways will divert water away from Louisiana cities, low-lying central parts of the state will be flooded.

Across the South and lower Midwest, floodwaters have already covered about 3 million acres of farmland, eroding for many farmers what could have been a profitable year for corn, wheat, rice and cotton, officials said.

Authorities in St. Landry Parish issued a mandatory evacuation that affected about 2,000 people -- including about 750 people living in 240 homes in Krotz Springs. Residents in other areas were under a voluntary evacuation, with authorities encouraging but not ordering them to leave.

Don Menard, the parish's president, said Sunday afternoon that water levels in Krotz Springs appear lower than expected -- though he said he thought they'd rise considerably after midnight, and especially if and when more floodgates are opened.

NBA's Grizzlies inspired by fans in flooded Memphis

"It's the fear of the unknown," Menard said, noting estimates that the water could rise 10 to 15 feet in spots. "These are predictions, no one knows for sure what will happen."

CNN iReporter Faisal Abou-Shahla posted a video of flooded homes in St. Francisville, Louisiana, about 30 miles north of Baton Rouge. He said he shot the video on Saturday, after the first gate was opened on the spillway. Abou-Shahla said he lives in Baton Rouge and was visiting his fiancee's parents in St. Francisville.

Some city residents "were waiting until the last second to leave," he said Sunday, while others used whatever they could to try to minimize damage to their homes for when the high waters roll in.

"There were a few seemingly futile attempts to put sandbags up," said Abou-Shahla.

Following the opening of the spillway, the National Weather Service revised its flood forecasts and lowered projected cresting levels in some Louisiana towns. Forecasters also said the river may crest earlier than first thought in some areas.

"The river at Baton Rouge through New Orleans will crest sooner than upstream locations due to Morganza spillway operations," said the latest forecast, issued Saturday. "After crests, stages will remain at the same levels and New Orleans will fluctuate near flood stage while Bonnet Carre and Morganza are operated."

Authorities previously opened gates on the Bonnet Carre spillway, located upstream from Morganza.

Already on Sunday, waters in Vicksburg, Mississippi, had reached record levels of 56.2 feet , the weather service reported. This is well above the 43-foot flood stage, but still short of the forecasted crest of 57.5 feet on Thursday. Levels in Natchez, further south downriver, were two feet higher than the record set in 1937 on Sunday, but just under three feet shy of the 63-foot crest expected Saturday.

The weather service said the river was also cresting Sunday in New Orleans and Reserve, Louisiana, because of the spillway operations. At Reserve, the river was cresting at 28.2 feet, above the historic 1929 flood level of 26 feet. At New Orleans, however, the crest was 17 feet, about four feet below the historic level of 1922.

Spillways explained

Residents were counting on a levee for protection. In addition to the mainline levee along the river, starting near Vicksburg and extending northeast for more than 20 miles, a so-called backwater levee offers shelter.

The backwater levee is designed to keep water from backing into the Yazoo River delta and is designed lower than the mainline levee so that water can flow over it.

Peter Nimrod, the Mississippi Levee Board's chief engineer, said Sunday there was a "remote" chances the levees could be breached, though he expressed confidence they would hold. Even if it stays intact, the expectation is excess water will rush over them for several days.

"There will be a lot of sleepless nights, when this thing starts overtopping," Nimrod said. "It will be a very stressful time for everyone."

CNN's Ed Lavandera, Martin Savidge, Justin Lear, Jacqui Jeras and Ashley Hayes contributed to this report.

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Nuclear task force: No immediate changes needed in U.S.

A federal task force says U.S. reactors don't have significant safety issues. Shown in Virginia's North Anna Power Station.Task force does not recommend immediate changesBut changes are expected when its study is completedWatchdog group does not see that "the picture is quite as rosy"

Washington (CNN) -- A federal task force set up following the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster in Japan says no immediate changes are needed to improve the safety of nuclear reactors in the United States. But it said it expects to recommend changes when it completes its study in 60 days.

"As we stand today, the task force has not identified any issues that we think would undermine our confidence in the continued safety and emergency planning for nuclear plants in this country," task force leader Charles Miller told the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Thursday. "That said, we do expect that we're likely to have findings and recommendations that will further enhance the safety of the nuclear plants in this country."

But an industry watchdog group said the NRC task force is "pulling its punches" by failing to take immediate actions to address shortcomings.

"I think if you're listening carefully, they're telling two different stories," said Ed Lyman of the Union of Concerned Scientists. "On the one hand, they say we don't need to take any immediate action. On the other hand, their inspections have turned up problems with compliance on the measures that are supposed to be in place to deal with severe accidents. It doesn't sound like the picture is quite as rosy."

The NRC set up the internal task force shortly following the March 11 earthquake and tsunami in Japan to provide a quick review of the incident and report on lessons that could be applied domestically. The task force will also brief the NRC in June and July, and its recommendations will set the stage for more in-depth studies.

An NRC official, meanwhile, told the commission that post-Fukushima safety inspections of U.S. nuclear plants found some lapses.

"None of the observations poses a significant safety issue," Martin Virgilio testified. "But there were observations that equipment that was relied on would not start, that it had not been maintained. There were some places where the capability to deal with large fires and explosions ... there were discrepancies in terms of the procedures, the equipment and the training."

The problems have been addressed, he said.

At Thursday's briefing, the task force listed a number of areas it is exploring and gave hints where it believes change may be necessary. Among them:

• Scenarios involving multiple reactors or spent fuel pools: Disaster plans in the U.S. typically envision problems at one reactor or storage facility. But the Fukushima disaster showed the complications of dealing with multiple, simultaneous disasters, the task force said. "If you're dealing with a multi-unit event at the same time, you have considerations with regard to adequate staffing, how to triage, who makes decisions on how to triage and how you go about proceeding with what you need to do first," Miller said.

• Examining lengthy blackouts: The Fukushima event is challenging notions that power blackouts can quickly be resolved. And the NRC needs to look at contingencies where infrastructure damage prevents quick repairs to damaged nuclear sites.

• Severe accident management guidelines: The industry implemented the guidelines, known as SAMGs, as a voluntary initiative in the 1990s. "Consequently, we do not evaluate them as part of the agency's routine reactor oversight process," Miller said. He said the task force noticed during its examination that the guidelines apply to the reactor core and containment buildings but do not cover spent fuel pools.

• Radioactive contamination: Miller said the task force is exploring the industry's ability to have real-time radiation measurements during accidents, both on site and off site.

• Potassium iodide: "If you look at the days following Fukushima, even in the United States, there were various levels of information being given out about the prophylactic used of KI (potassium iodide's formula), not all of which was prudent. And I think we need to take a look at whether further education in that regard is necessary."

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Oklahoma fires force evacuation of hundreds of homes

Oklahoma fires force the evacuation of more than 1,000 homes By the CNN Wire Staff STORY HIGHLIGHTS NEW: It has burned approximately 3,500 acresNEW: A large fire west of Lawton, Oklahoma, is about 65% contained In nearby Texas, a firefighter dies after flames hit his truck (CNN) -- Strong winds whipped up two wildfires in southern Oklahoma on Friday, forcing the evacuation of more than 1,000 homes.

The first fire, a large grass fire, burned west of Lawton, which is about 80 miles southwest of Oklahoma City. It forced people in approximately 900 homes and the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company to evacuate, according to Comanche County officials.

Roughly 50 firefighters were working to battle the blaze, officials said in a statement Friday night, but helicopters could not be brought in because of the strong winds. The fire, which was about 65% contained, has burned some 3,500 acres.

Seven structures, including barns, sheds and outbuildings, have been lost so far, officials said. One home was damaged.

The National Weather Service issued a high wind warning for Lawton on Friday, warning of possible early evening gusts of up to 60 miles per hour. The weather service said strong winds would likely complicate fire-fighting efforts.

Crews were also battling a second blaze in northern Comanche County that was about 65% contained Friday night, officials said. Evacuations were issued for about 130 homes in that area. Four unoccupied structures have been destroyed in the fire, which has scorched about 2,200 acres, officials said.

The American Red Cross opened an evacuation shelter to help house families forced from their homes.

Meanwhile, in northern Texas, a firefighter died when flames hit his truck, said Marq Webb, spokesman for the Texas State Lone Star Incident Management Team. The firefighter was a local firefighter from Eastland County, he said.

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Air Force checking its 737s in wake of Southwest incident

By Larry Shaughnessy, CNN STORY HIGHLIGHTSThe Air Force has two Boeing 737sThey are used for VIP flightsPlanes have been checked to make sure they are in good condition, spokeswoman says Washington (CNN) -- The U.S. Air Force says the military versions of the Boeing 737 that are used for VIP flights have been re-inspected after part of the ceiling of a similar type of Southwest Airlines plane ripped off in flight, allowing passengers to see the sky and forcing the pilots to make an emergency landing.

The Air Force only flies two 737s. They are based at Andrews Air Force Base near Washington and are for use by distinguished passengers like the first lady, the vice president, the secretary of state or congressional leaders, according to Maj. Shelley Lai, a spokeswoman for the 89th Airlift Wing at Andrews.

The Air Force's jets are the 737-700 model, which is much newer than the 737-300 model that was involved in the Southwest Airlines incident. Plus the Air Force's jets have seen far fewer "cycles" than the typical commercial Boeing 737. Those jets have gone through, on average, 35,000 take off and landing cycles. The Air Force's jets each have about 2,000 cycles. Take offs and landings put the most strain on an airplane, which is why number of cycles is a more important gauge of wear and tear on a plane than hours in flight or miles flown.

In spite of the differences between the jet involved in the Southwest case and the Air Force's jets, Lai said the Air Force did check to make sure it's planes are in good condition and it is in touch with Boeing, the FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board to make sure it is in compliance with all inspection and maintenance orders regarding 737s,

No Air Force flights have been delayed or canceled because of the problem with some commercial 737s.

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First Female Air Force Team Completes Mission in Afghanistan

"Maj. Tracy Schmidt, Capt. Leigh Larkin, Maj. Christine Mau and Capt. Jennifer Morton pose for the camera before their mission March 29, 2011, at Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan. Schmidt is a 389gh Expeditionary Fighter Squadron F-15E Strike Eagle pilot, Larkin is a 389th ESF weapons system officer, Mau is a 455th Expeditionary Wing executive officer and F-15 pilot and Morton is a 389th EFS weapon system officer." /

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