Japanese nuclear plants' operator scrambles to avert meltdowns  —  Japanese authorities said Sunday that efforts to restart the cooling system at one of the nuclear reactors damaged by Friday's earthquake had failed, even as officials struggled to bring several other damaged reactors under control.

Up to 100,000 protest Wisconsin law curbing unions  —  * Wisconsin battle has ignited national struggle  —  Up to 100,000 people protested at the Wisconsin state Capitol on Saturday against a new law curbing the union rights of public workers that is seen as one of the biggest challenges in decades facing U.S. organized labor.

American Professor Kidnapped in Mexican Border City  —  CIUDAD JUAREZ, Mexico — Armed men kidnapped an American university professor while she was visiting her mother in the violent Mexican border city of Ciudad Juarez, the state prosecutor's office said Saturday.

Quake moved Japan coast 8 feet; shifted Earth's axis  —  (CNN) — The powerful earthquake that unleashed a devastating tsunami Friday appears to have moved the main island of Japan by 8 feet (2.4 meters) and shifted the Earth on its axis.  —  “At this point, we know that one GPS station moved …

GOP freshmen uneasy about latest stopgap bill, lawmaker says  —  Freshmen Republicans in the House are increasingly worried that party leaders will back down on spending cuts and might oppose the latest bill to avoid a government shutdown, one lawmaker says.

Lawmakers skipping parade after threat  —  Hopper, Thiesfeldt, talked to Fond du Lac police  —  FOND DU LAC - A parade with more than 50 entries will now be down two participants.  —  Fond du Lac police say the tension in Madison has spawned threats, they and lawmakers are acting on.

Carnage on I-95 After Crash Rips Bus Apart  —  A tour bus barreling south for Manhattan overturned at high speed on a highway in the Bronx early Saturday and was sliced open by a sign stanchion in a shriek of rending metal that hurled riders about like rag dolls.

Bachmann Mangles Revolutionary History In N.H.  —  MANCHESTER, N.H. — Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann's visit to the first-in-the-nation primary state of New Hampshire got off to a rocky start on Saturday morning when she misstated a key fact about the American Revolution in a speech to a group …

Bill Maher To Muslim Rep. Keith Ellison: The Qur'an Is A ‘Hate Filled Holy Book’  —  The emotion shown by Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN) at Rep. Peter King's (R-NY) Muslim radicalization hearings garnered much attention, and we have a feeling Ellison's appearance on Real Time with Bill Maher tonight will get its share of play as well.

Lost city of Atlantis, swamped by tsunami, may be found  —  (Reuters) - A U.S.-led research team may have finally located the lost city of Atlantis, the legendary metropolis believed swamped by a tsunami thousands of years ago in mud flats in southern Spain.

Eye of the Newt  —  The presidential race is barely under way, but already we have had our first Big Thought.  I am speaking, of course, of Newt Gingrich's suggestion that he was driven into serial adultery by hard work and patriotism.  —  “There's no question that at times in my life …