Astronauts face radiation threat on long Mars trip

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Astronauts traveling to and from Mars would be bombarded with as much cosmic radiation as they'd get from a full-body CT scan about once a week for a year, researchers reported Thursday.

That dose is enough to raise their cancer risk by about 3 percent, but experts caution that there are many uncertainties about the space environment's effects on the body.

As plans for deep space exploration ramp up, radiation is a big concern — from high-energy galactic cosmic rays spewed by distant supernova explosions to sporadic bursts of charged particles hurled by the sun. Earth's magnetic field helps to deflect much of that harmful radiation.

NASA aims to send a crew to orbit the red planet by the mid-2030s. Private outfits like Inspiration Mars — backed by NASA engineer-turned-space tourist Dennis Tito — are seeking volunteers for a Mars flight.

There have been previous efforts to gauge the radiation risk for future Mars travelers, but the best estimate is coming from NASA's Curiosity mission. Tucked inside the rover when it launched in 2011 was a radiation sensor that took readings during the 8 1/2-month cruise to Mars.

From those figures, scientists calculated a spacefarer's radiation exposure for a quicker six-month voyage in a similarly shielded spacecraft. Roundtrip: about 662 millisieverts. That's a sizable chunk of an astronaut's career cap of 1,000 millisieverts which many international space agencies use to limit the accumulated radiation dosage in space. NASA's threshold varies slightly depending on age and gender.

The dose is similar to getting a full-body CT scan every five or six days, said lead researcher Cary Zeitlin of the Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, Colo.

The estimate is just for zipping there and back; it doesn't include time spent on the Martian surface, which would add to an astronaut's exposure. How much more would depend on length of stay and available shelter.

"You'd like the radiation exposure to be lower, but it is what it is," said Dr. Norm Thagard, the first American to fly on the Russian space station Mir, who had no role in the research. "Given the importance of such a mission, the mission should be done."

The analysis appears in Friday's issue of the journal Science. The amount of radiation likely won't change unless there's a rocket engine that can speed up the interplanetary ride, researchers said.

"You want to get there as quickly as possible" to reduce radiation exposure, said Don Hassler, scientist in charge of the radiation instrument aboard Curiosity.

The radiation dose on a Mars trip would be higher than what crew members cocooned inside the International Space Station typically face — about 200 millisieverts per year. By contrast, people on Earth are typically exposed to about 3 millisieverts a year.

Curiosity flew to Mars during a period of low to moderate solar activity. A manned mission that launches during a solar flare or storm would encounter more radiation. Researchers said astronauts may want to take cover in a safe room aboard the spacecraft when the sun is active, but thicker walls may not keep out energetic cosmic rays and may increase launch costs.

Radiation health experts said there are still many unknowns about deep space travel.

"I think any cancer-related risk estimate at this point would be no more than a rough guesstimate," David Brenner, an expert on radiation-induced cancer at Columbia University, said in an email.

Thagard, the former NASA astronaut, said he was exposed to 120 millisieverts during his 115 days in low-Earth orbit aboard Mir. Despite the potential health risks, Thagard said there likely won't be a shortage of astronauts willing to hop on a Mars flight.

Since landing near the Martian equator last summer, Curiosity has continued to track radiation as it rolls across the dusty surface toward its eventual mountain destination. The rover has turned up the best evidence yet of an ancient watery Mars. A separate study published in Science detailed the existence of more than 500 rounded pebbles near its crater landing site — the result of being shaped by long-ago flowing water.

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Gbagbo loyalists 'no longer a threat' in Ivory Coast (AFP)

UNITED NATIONS (AFP) – Elements loyal to former Ivory Coast strongman Laurent Gbagbo are no longer a threat to peace and order in the West African nation, the UN mission chief said on Monday.

"By and large, the ex pro-Gbagbo elements and their supporters are not likely to mount substantial challenges to law and order -- a painful chapter of history in Cote d'Ivoire has been closed," said Choi Young-Jin, who heads the UN mission known as UNOCI.

Choi told the Security Council that the meltdown of Gbagbo supporters "augurs well for the achievement of reconciliation in the country."

The diplomat said that despite the fading of Gbagbo forces, there remains "a need for a rapid restoration of law and order" as a precondition of reconciliation and economic recovery.

He added that in the western part "we see a certain deficit of security" but that "most experts are of the view that there is a positive (economic) recovery in the country."

Choi said the United Nations would work with Ivory Coast on organizing legislative elections set for later this year.

Separately, the Ivory Coast ambassador to the UN, Youssoufou Bamba, indicated that the country "is progressively returning to normal."

Of the estimated 200,000 people displaced by the conflict before the installation of elected President Alassane Ouattara, 60,000 have returned home, while 140,000 are still refugees, many in camps along the Liberian border, according to Bamba.

An estimated 3,000 people died during the standoff after Gbagbo refused to cede power after elections in November won by Ouattara, who was finally inaugurated May 21.

Gbagbo was captured in an underground bunker in Abidjan on April 11 by forces loyal to Ouattara, backed by France and the UN.

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Israel backs away from threat to flotilla reporters (Reuters)

JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israel backtracked on Monday on a threat to bar foreign journalists from entering the country for 10 years if they board a new international aid flotilla that plans to challenge the Israeli naval blockade of the Gaza Strip.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, an official statement said, instructed authorities to exempt foreign reporters from "the usual policy applied to infiltrators and those who enter illegally."

In an email to foreign news organisations on Sunday, the Government Press Office (GPO) said journalists' participation in the flotilla would be "an intentional violation" of Israeli law that could result in a 10-year entry ban to Israel and confiscation of their equipment.

The Foreign Press Association in Jerusalem had described the GPO's warning as a "chilling message" that raised questions about Israel's commitment to freedom of the press. Several Israeli legislators also condemned the GPO's move.

Israel says it will prevent the convoy from reaching Gaza, a territory run by Hamas Islamists, and proposes the ships planning to set sail from European ports this week dock in Israel or Egypt and transfer cargo overland to the enclave.

In Athens, a group of 400 pro-Palestinian activists called on the Greek government to let them depart in "The Freedom Flotilla II." Cyprus, used as a launch pad for earlier voyages, has banned them from sailing from its ports.

A year ago, nine Turkish activists, including one with dual U.S.-Turkish nationality, were killed by Israeli soldiers who raided a Gaza-bound aid flotilla and were confronted by passengers wielding clubs and knives.

OVERRULING

Israeli officials said the GPO warning referred to the likelihood that reporters, along with activists, would be expelled if the ships docked in Israel and that deportation stamps in their passports would disqualify them for up to 10 years from visiting the country.

Netanyahu, the officials said, overruled what they described as a staff-level decision, and lifted the deportation threat for journalists whose credentials are recognized by Israel.

In its announcement, the Prime Minister's Office said Israeli and foreign reporters would be invited aboard Israeli navy ships sent to intercept the flotilla, to ensure "transparency and accurate coverage."

Israel says its blockade is aimed at stopping weaponry from reaching Hamas, which is shunned by the West because of its refusal to recognize the Jewish state, renounce violence and accept existing peace deals.

Palestinians say the edict is illegal and is helping to strangle Gaza's underdeveloped economy.

Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak urged governments on Monday not to assist the flotilla and said he had ordered the army to stop the vessels. The United States has supported the naval blockade and warned activists last week the voyage would be irresponsible and dangerous.

"If there is any friction or violence it will be the organizers and participants of the flotilla who bare the responsibility," Barak said in public remarks.

The activists -- who include European MPs, a former CIA analyst and a 75-year Holocaust survivor, professors and authors -- rejected the warnings and said they would not give up.

"If they physically stop us -- we know and they know -- we will come again and again until this siege is lifted completely and permanently," said Dror Feiler, one of the activists.

(Additional reporting by Renee Maltezou in Athens; editing by Mark Heinrich)

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Zimbabwe military calls PM a 'security threat' (AP)

HARARE, Zimbabwe – A Zimbabwean general has described the country's prime minister as a "security threat" and accused him of taking instructions from Westerners that endanger national security, in an interview published Thursday by a state-run newspaper.

Brig. Gen. Douglas Nyikayaramba told the Herald Newspaper that the military will do anything to keep longtime President Robert Mugabe in power.

"We will die for him to make sure he remains in power," the Herald quoted him as saying. The Herald is a mouthpiece for Mugabe and his ZANU-PF party.

Nyikayaramba, a member of the Joint Operational Command of generals and police chiefs, said the military and Mugabe's Zanu-PF party are "inseparable."

Mugabe joined a troubled coalition in 2009 with Morgan Tsvangirai, the former opposition leader. Tsvangirai on Sunday accused the military of bias and meddling in politics.

In the past, Nyikayaramba has acted as unofficial spokesman for the usually secretive Joint Operational Command that is often seen as the real power behind Mugabe, 87.

Top military officials have repeatedly said they would not serve under Tsvangirai if he became president because he did not take part in guerrilla war that ended white rule at independence in 1980.

Military commanders have refused to salute Tsvangirai on state occasions.

Nyikayaramba, a former guerrilla in the seven-year bush war, said the military now viewed Tsvangirai as a security threat for his ties with Western nations demanding Mugabe's ouster.

"Tsvangirai does not pose a political threat in any way but is a major security threat ... taking instructions from foreigners who seek to effect illegal regime change in Zimbabwe," he said.

Tsvangirai and several independent rights groups blame the army and the police loyal to Mugabe for political violence and human rights violations in a decade of political and economic turmoil that led to Zimbabwe's economic meltdown.

Nyikayaramba also accused Tsvangirai of seeking to overturn Zimbabwe's successes in becoming independent.

"Daydreamers who want to reverse the gains of our liberation struggle ... can go to hell, they will never rule this country," he said.

Nyikayaramba said the military will ensure Mugabe remains in office.

"We cannot keep quiet," Nyikayaramba said. "As the security forces we will not sit back and watch things going wrong. President Mugabe will only leave office when he sees it fit or dies."

Mugabe, who has ruled since independence, has called for elections this year to end the coalition but has been put under pressure from regional leaders to complete electoral and constitutional reforms first.

Regional leaders have rebuked Mugabe's party for unleashing violence and intimidation against opponents and delaying reforms. At a summit earlier this month, the leaders endorsed those criticisms by the chief Zimbabwe mediator, President Jacob Zuma of South Africa. Mugabe later insisted that those criticisms had not been endorsed, but only noted.

Tsvangirai responded on Sunday by saying the Mugabe lied about the summit's outcome. Hardliners in Mugabe's party this week called for Tsvangirai's arrest for insulting the president, an offense under sweeping security laws.

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Report: Pollution threat to China's kids

A boy waits to receive treatment for lead poisoning at a hospital in Huaining, Anhui province on January 8, 2011Lead testing is limited and arbitrary in at least four Chinese provinces, report saysThe 75-page report is based on interviews in Henan, Hunan, Shaanxi and Yunnan provincesThe Chinese government announced tougher regulations and penalties this monthDoctors say children are most susceptible to lead poisoning

Beijing (CNN) -- Hundreds of thousands of children in China are being condemned to permanent mental and physical disabilities because of high exposure to lead caused by industrial pollution, according to a report by the watchdog group Human Rights Watch.

"Children with dangerously high levels of lead in their blood are being refused treatment and returned home to contaminated houses in polluted villages," said Joe Amon, the group's health and human rights director.

The 75-page report is based on interviews in Henan, Hunan, Shaanxi and Yunnan provinces, and research in the cities of Beijing and Shanghai between late 2009 and early 2010, according to the group.

Human Rights Watch says testing for lead is limited and arbitrary in these provinces, while parents are unable to access "effective" medical treatment for their children with high levels of lead in their blood.

Doctors say children are most susceptible to lead poisoning because it interferes with the development of the nervous system and can cause learning and behavior disorders.

In severe cases, it can be fatal.

Earlier this month, the Chinese government announced tougher regulations and penalties for related industries.

"We have recently put forward a notice on strengthening the management of lead battery and renewable lead industries where there are strict management and punitive policy measures," said Li Ganjie, vice minister of environmental protection.

"For those enterprises with serious environmental problems, they will be closed down for rectification," he said, adding that local officials will "shoulder the responsibility and be held accountable" for any accidents.

However, the report says these promises fall short of addressing the health consequences of lead poisoning and fulfilling the right to health for children exposed to lead.

The group challenged authorities to address the immediate and long-term health care needs of people in contaminated villages, as well as see that polluted areas are cleaned up.

"It's not enough to penalize factory owners and officials after a village is severely contaminated," Amon said. "The government needs to provide treatment and to make sure that children aren't immediately re-exposed to toxic levels of lead."

CNN's Helena Hong contributed to this report.

CNN

IAEA criticizes Japan's Tepco for underestimating tsunami threat (The Christian Science Monitor)

Tokyo – Japan’s nuclear power industry is under pressure to improve safety after international inspectors criticized the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant operators.

In a preliminary report issued Wednesday, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said Tokyo Electric Power (Tepco) had underestimated the tsunami hazard, despite warnings that a huge wave could breach the plant’s 5.7-meter protective wall.

The waves that crashed into the nuclear power complex following the March 11 magnitude-9.0 earthquake were more than 50 feet tall.

RELATED: Japan earthquake: 5 ways the international community is helping

The 18-member team, led by Britain’s chief nuclear safety official Mike Weightman, backed Tepco’s claims that the damage had been inflicted by the tsunami, not the earthquake that preceded it as some reports had suggested earlier.

“In terms of the cause it is clear – the direct cause was a tsunami, associated with an earthquake, of tremendous size,” Mr. Weightman told reporters in Tokyo.

Japan’s nuclear power industry, reeling from the Fukushima accident and a loss of public and government enthusiasm for new nuclear plants, will find it difficult to ignore the IAEA’s findings. Inspectors called for the nuclear industry to take a more active role in prevention of such disasters going forward: “Nuclear plant designers and operators should appropriately evaluate and provide protection against the risks of all natural hazards.”

Unless operators can convince regulators and host communities that their facilities are safe, the country’s 54 reactors could be subject to temporary closure while safety improvements are made, severely crimping power to the country.

RELATED Japan's 9.0 earthquake

With only 19 reactors currently in operation in the country, experts speculate that, in a worst-case scenario, all reactors could be offline by the middle of 2012. That would deprive Japan of 30 percent of its electricity generation and result in forced power cuts over the long term.

'Constructive suggestions'Crucially, the inspectors called for Japan’s regulatory body to be independent of the government. The current regulator is attached to a ministry that promotes the nuclear power industry.

''[The government] needs to make sure that not only are they independent in structure, but also independent in the resources, the expertise that they have available to them,a€

Goshi Hosono, the director of the government's nuclear crisis task force, told reporters: ''The IAEA is aware that [Japanese] regulatory authorities, including the nuclear safety agency and the Nuclear Safety Commission of Japan, were not necessarily in the best shape and the current government also has such a view. So I think reorganization is inevitable.”

Tempered criticism The IAEA report produced few new revelations, and its criticism of tsunami defenses was tempered by praise for the emergency efforts to cool the three Fukushima reactors that suffered meltdowns in the hours after the disaster.

It said: “The response on the site by dedicated, determined and expert staff, under extremely arduous conditions has been exemplary and resulted in the best approach to securing safety given the exceptional circumstances.”

Weightman said the team, which will present its findings to the IAEA in Vienna later this month, had been granted access to nuclear sites and received the full cooperation of Tepco and nuclear safety officials.

The inspectors described the evacuation and attempts to protect the public as “impressive and extremely well organized,” adding that a “suitable and timely follow-up program on public and worker exposures, and health monitoring would be beneficial.”

But Shaun Burnie, nuclear adviser to Greenpeace Germany, dismissed the IAEA report as a whitewash.

“It is clear that Tepco knew about the melting of unit 1 within the first 16 hours of the earthquake at the time, but did not release that information for two months,” he told the Monitor. “This had consequences for emergency services and evacuations, yet the IAEA ignored this.

“This, and so much more, was ignored and covered up by the IAEA. We had no confidence in the IAEA fact-finding mission before, and this confirms our position.”

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Democrats Join Threat to Hold Up Debt Ceiling Vote Without Spending Cuts

Reuters

In this June 12, 2010 photo, Sen. Mark Pryor speaks at a media conference at a command center near Caddo Gap, Ark.

President Obama is starting to feel pressure from his own party to tie spending cuts to a vote to raise the debt limit, even as the administration expresses confidence that Congress will ultimately raise the cap. 

The latest moderate Democrat to draw a line in the sand is Sen. Mark Pryor, D-Ark., who told members of a local political group Wednesday that he'll need to see a commitment to cut spending and overhaul the tax code in order to vote to raise the $14.3 trillion cap. The government is expected to reach that ceiling by mid-May. 

"What I've told anyone who will listen to me in Washington, including my leadership, is that I'm not going to vote for that unless there is a real and meaningful commitment to debt reduction," Pryor told the Political Animals Club at its monthly meeting at the governor's mansion. 

Pryor said he believed the upcoming vote on the debt limit would prove whether lawmakers in Washington have the political will to begin addressing government spending. Meanwhile, three Democrats and three Republicans in the Senate are trying to strike an agreement by early May that would call for spending cuts, as well as changes in the tax code, over the next decade. 

Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner suggested in interviews last weekend that bipartisan congressional leaders have assured the White House they would vote to raise the limit absent a deficit-reduction agreement. Geithner described such an agreement as necessary, but argued that it should not be tied to the debt vote as the possibility of not raising the cap is too fraught with financial risk. 

Republicans, though, continue to demand some semblance of a commitment to cut spending as a condition for their support. And a handful of Democrats have started to tiptoe over to their side. 

After Obama outlined a deficit-reduction plan a week ago, Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., said he needs to make sure the government is not paying for a "blank check" with borrowed money. 

"So let me also continue to be clear about my position on the debt ceiling," he said in a statement. "I strongly believe we must adopt a long-term, responsible and realistic fiscal plan that reflects our values and defines priorities, or I will vote against raising the debt ceiling." 

Reps. Mike Ross, D-Ark., and Dan Boren, D-Okla., leaders of the fiscally conservative Blue Dog Coalition in the House, also suggested in an interview with Fox News two months ago that members of their group would balk at the vote unless they see "significant cuts." 

"We can't default on our loans," Ross said at the time. "There's going to be a compromise, though." 

Administration officials and Democratic congressional leaders have warned of catastrophic consequences if Congress fails to raise the ceiling. The Treasury Department could avoid hitting the ceiling for several weeks beyond the projected mid-May deadline by employing some last-resort measures, but officials warn that eventually benefits payments would stop and the country would default. 

A number of Democrats in the rank-and-file have echoed those concerns. Dozens of House members have signed on to a letter from Rep. Peter Welch, D-Vt., calling for a "clean extension of the debt ceiling." 

"The debt ceiling vote is about one thing -- affirming that America pays its bills," they wrote, noting that the vote would not automatically authorize new spending, but rather allow the country to pay off existing obligations. 

Pryor, though, said the debt ceiling vote would have to coincide with a plan that includes spending cuts, major tax code changes and efforts to grow the nation's economy. He said every program will have to experience some cuts. 

"Everybody's going to have a cut, no matter how worthy your program is or how much wise you'll be with the money or the great things you'll do. Get ready, because everything's going to get cut," Pryor said. 

Pryor also faulted both parties for their approach to tax policy. 

"Democrats think that if we can just raise enough taxes on millionaires, we can solve our problems. Republicans think if we never raise another tax for any reason under any circumstance ever again, we'll solve all our problems," Pryor said. "The truth is, the math doesn't add up for either of those positions. What we need is real tax reform. There's a ton of inequity in our tax code." 

Pryor said he believed the debt commission appointed by Obama has provided a guide for lawmakers as they address the issue. That commission issued its recommendations, which included a mix of spending cuts and tax increases, but fell short of the votes needed to forward the recommendations on to Congress. 

Under the commission's recommendations, about $4 trillion would be slashed from the budget over the coming decade -- three-fourths of it through spending cuts and the other fourth from higher taxes. Pryor said he believed the so-called gang of six senators working on a bipartisan compromise is looking at those recommendations as a guide. 

"My sense is they'll take the debt commission's recommendations and they'll overlay that on top of the federal budget," Pryor said. 

Pryor, however, said he's not on board with every recommendation from the commission. For example, he said he wouldn't support the commission's recommendation to eliminate the mortgage interest deduction on federal income tax. 

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Pa. sees threat to drinking water from natural gas drilling waste

s regulation of gas drilling and came the same day that an industry group said it now believes drilling wastewater is partly at fault for rising levels of bromide being found in Pittsburgh-area rivers.

Gas drilling that uses millions of gallons of chemical-laden water has rapidly grown in the past three years in Pennsylvania.

STORY: Pa. permit process is lax, AP saysSTORY: States scramble to prevent pollution from gas drillingIn other major gas-drilling states, drilling wastewater is kept out of rivers largely by injecting it deep underground into disposal wells. But in Pennsylvania, some wastewater is treated by sewer plants, largely in western Pennsylvania, and discharged into rivers.

Those wastewater plants, however, are ill-equipped to remove all the pollutants, and Pennsylvania still allows hundreds of millions of gallons of the partially treated wastewater to be discharged into rivers, from which communities draw drinking water.

The state Department of Environmental Protection cited elevated levels of bromide in rivers in western Pennsylvania in its announcement.

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House passes one-week budget amid Obama veto threat

Our colleague David Jackson has more in The Oval.

"We had a frank discussion," Reid said. "I'm disappointed...but I'm pleased we are still working" toward a deal.

Boehner said Republicans will still press for the largest spending cut that they can get. He characterized the discussions as "polite" and "to the point."

"We can get to an agreement but we are not there yet," Boehner said.

The measure passed by the House today would fully fund the Pentagon through Sept. 30, when fiscal year 2011 ends, but pay for operations in the rest of the government for one week while Congress and the White House try to reach a budget deal. The bill also included $12 billion in additional spending cuts.

Obama has said he would only sign another short-term budget bill while a deal is being worked out if it came to him "clean" -- meaning without any GOP-sought policy changes or additional spending cuts. One hangup in the budget negotiations is the insistence by House Republicans on issues such as blocking funding for overseas family planning clinics that provide abortions.

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NASA now says satellite debris no threat to space station

NASA has given the all-clear to the three crewmembers of the International Space Station after tracking data indicated a small piece of Chinese space junk poses no threat to them.

This morning around 7, flight controllers notified commander Dmitry Kondratyev and flight engineers Cady Coleman and Paolo Nespoli that they needed to prepare to evacuate to their Soyuz TMA-20 capsule if the debris continued on its course, which would bring it to within 2.7 miles of the station. The closest approach was predicted for 4:21 p.m. ET. The all-clear was given at 2:41 p.m. ET.

The debris came from a defunct Chinese weather satellite deliberately destroyed in 2007 during an anti-satellite weapons test.

It's the second junk scare in several days. Friday, flight controllers moved the space station out of the way of another piece of satellite debris. More than 500,000 pieces of orbiting trash are tracked from Earth.

Today's nervousness came as NASA astronaut Ron Garan and Russian cosmonauts Andrey Borisenko and Alexander Samokutyaev continued their journey to the space station. They lifted off before dawn today in Kazakhstan and will dock Wednesday at 7:18 p.m. ET.

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