Crew of USS Ronald Reagan exposed to radiation: report

US aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan near Japan
© AFP/US Navy Visudal News Service/File

AFP

WASHINGTON (AFP) - The crew of the aircraft carrier Ronald Reagan, on a humanitarian mission to Japan, received a month’s worth of radiation in about an hour, The New York Times reported.

Citing unnamed government officials, the newspaper said the ship passed through a radioactive cloud from damaged nuclear reactors in Japan when it approached the country on its humanitarian mission.

Japan has been battling to control two overheating reactors at the ageing Fukushima plant after the cooling systems were knocked out by Friday's 8.9-magnitude quake and the resulting tsunami that swallowed up whole towns.


A new explosion at the plant hit the country Monday as experts raced to avert a catastrophic meltdown in the wake of the quake and tsunami.

US helicopters flying missions about 60 miles (96 kilometers) north of the damaged reactors became coated with radioactive dust that had to be washed off, the report said.

There was no indication that any of the military personnel had experienced ill effects from the exposure, the paper said.

But the episodes showed that the prevailing winds were picking up radioactive material from crippled reactors in northeastern Japan, The Times noted.



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US warships headed for Libya arrive in Greece

The USS Ponce warship
© AFP/File

AFP

ATHENS (AFP) - Two US warships carrying marines and equipment to help evacuate people fleeing Libya arrived on Friday at a US naval base on the Greek island of Crete, a spokesman at the base told AFP.

The USS Kearsage and the USS Ponce set anchor at Souda Bay, Paul Farley said.

As part of international efforts to help evacuate people fleeing Libya, US President Barack Obama directed the use of military aircraft to help Egyptians who have fled to the Tunisian border return home, Farley said in a statement.

The Kearsage and Ponce had crossed the Suez Canal and reached the Mediterranean Sea on Wednesday. The Kearsage amphibious ready group includes 800 marines, a fleet of helicopters and medical facilities.


Their arrival came amid reports that forces loyal to Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi have regained control of Zawiyah, near Tripoli, from rebel hands.

About 400 Marines from Camp Lejeune in North Carolina arrived Thursday at the base amid a "repositioning" of forces in the region, said Farley.

The naval base supplies US and NATO forces in the region following an agreement with the US in 1990, a Greek defence ministry official said.

According to Athens, three Greek navy vessels have since last week also been patrolling the Mediterranean Sea between Crete and Libya to protect Greek ships participating in the evacuation of foreign nationals from Libya.

Western powers are arguing over imposing a proposed no-fly zone over Libya to support rebels fighting Kadhafi's regime. Some opposition figures in Libya have begun calling for air strikes.

But Kadhafi warned in a speech on Wednesday that "thousands" would die if the West intervened to support the uprising against him.

An American aircraft carrier, the USS Enterprise -- which has fighter jets that could enforce a possible no-fly zone -- could also be called upon for the Libya crisis.

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C-4 seized in Colorado in Navy SEAL smuggling case

Ken Ritter
Associated Press

LAS VEGAS - Federal agents seized five pounds of C-4 military explosives from the Colorado home of a man accused with a Navy SEAL and a Las Vegas associate of smuggling machine guns from Iraq into the U.S. for sale and shipment to Mexico, authorities said Thursday.

Grenades and night-vision goggles also were found in the Durango, Colo., home of 34-year-old Richard Paul, according to federal prosecutors and federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives agents in Las Vegas and Colorado.

Paul and Andrew Kaufman, 36, of Las Vegas, were arrested Wednesday and appeared Thursday before federal magistrate judges in Durango and Las Vegas on conspiracy charges. Each was ordered held in federal custody pending an evidentiary hearing.

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