Society's Child
Boston -- Health officials said Sunday that one sample of Massachusetts rainwater has registered very low concentrations of radiation, most likely from the Japanese nuclear power plant damaged earlier this month by an earthquake and tsunami.
John Auerbach, the Massachusetts commissioner of public health, said that radioiodine-131 found in the sample - one of more than 100 that have been taken around the country - has a short life of only eight days. He said the drinking water supply in the state was unaffected and officials do not expect any health concerns.
Nevada and other Western states also have reported minuscule amounts of radiation, but scientists say those presented no health risks.
The fresh protests took place in the cities of Berlin, Hamburg, Munich and Cologne following the nuclear crisis in Japan triggered by the earthquake and tsunami, a Press TV correspondent in Berlin reported.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel was quick to react to the catastrophe in Japan, announcing a three-month moratorium on extending the lifespan of Germany's nuclear power plants.
Still, demonstrators took to the streets in Germany in large numbers. Placards read slogans like "Fukushima is a warning." A minute's silence was also held to honor Japan's quake and tsunami victims.
"Today similar protests have been held in Munich, Cologne, Hamburg and Berlin. We expected tens of thousands, but the turnout has been higher than our expectations," Thorben Becker, a nuclear expert, told Press TV.
This is the second time the USDA has been sued over its approval of Roundup Ready alfalfa, which is genetically engineered (GE) to tolerate glyphosate, a popular herbicide commonly sold under the Monsanto brand name Roundup. The latest lawsuit, filed by groups like the Center for Food Safety (CFS) and the National Family Farm Coalition, opens a new chapter in the five-year battle over the GE alfalfa seed developed by Monsanto and Forage Genetics.
Industry watchdogs and farmers say that Roundup Ready alfalfa will increase reliance on already overused herbicides like Roundup, encourage the spread of herbicide-resistant "superweeds" and contaminate organic and conventional alfalfa with Monsanto transgenes through cross-pollination.

Philip Caminiti, left, the pastor of Aleitheia Bible Church in Black Earth, Wis., and his brother, John Caminiti, 45, have been charged with a dozen counts of child abuse for allegedly using wooden rods to punish children.
The pastor and seven members of a small church in central Wisconsin have been charged with using wooden rods to spank infants as young as 2 months old for "being emotional, grumpy or crying," the Dane County Sheriff's office said.
The Aleitheia Bible Church, in the town of Black Earth, was started in 2006 with a donation in the range of $500,000-$600,000 from Bob and Lori Wick of nearby Mazomanie, according to a news release from the sheriff's office.
Lori Wick is the author of almost three dozen historical Christian novels with more than five million books in print, according to her Amazon profile. Reached by AOL News today by telephone at their home, Bob Wick said they "have no comment" on the case.
The apology came after employees fled the complex's Unit 2 reactor when a reading showed radiation levels had reached 10 million times higher than normal in the reactor's cooling system. Officials said they were so high that the worker taking the measurements had withdrawn before taking a second reading.
On Sunday night, though, plant operators said that while the water was contaminated with radiation, the extremely high reading was a mistake.
David Kelly inquest plea made to David Cameron
A group of doctors campaigning for a full inquest for Dr David Kelly have appealed to Prime Minister David Cameron to intervene on their behalf.
The doctors have questioned Lord Hutton's 2004 verdict of suicide on the government weapons inspector.
Many of the companies on Saturday avoided Tokyo Bay, which is home to two major ports of Tokyo and Yokohama,The New York Times reported.
Chinese officials had detected radioactive contamination in their cargo ship having sailed at least 80 miles farther from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant that was damaged by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami.
Although some cargo ships enter ports south of Tokyo, many others have totally cancelled any shipment to Japanese ports until further notice.

A bike rider reports 'swirls of greasy sea water is washing up' along this stretch of Oregon beach this morning in Newport.
Japan crisis spawns new concerns about fish safety along West coast
As Japan's nuclear reactors continue leaking radiation into the atmosphere and, in turn, have obliterated centuries-old fishing ports in the Tsunami-hit city Kamaishi, this news has prompted growing fears here in Newport and other coastal fishing towns that radiation could find its way here. For example, a hard wind blowing post-Tsunami wind came sliding down over the Newport beach Saturday morning greeting a lone bike rider on usually packed beaches that are now filled socked in waste from Japan. The woman biker said she's fears rabid dogs that are roaming the low sand dunes called "denes" where toxic water and dead sea life collect along sandy tracks. And, this against a backdrop of zero Spring Break tourists being seen on what's traditionally the busiest Saturday of the early spring season.

Billionaire Curt Johnson, right, listens to defense attorney Michael Hart discuss bond recommendations, as he is charged with repeated child sexual assault March 24, 2011 in Racine, Wisconsin.
Racine, Wisconsin - A billionaire executive whose family has run SC Johnson for five generations was charged Thursday with having sexual contact with a now 15-year-old girl over the course of several years.
Samuel Curtis Johnson III, who goes by Curt, faces a count of repeated sexual assault of a child. The charge carries a maximum penalty of 40 years in prison and a $100,000 fine.
Johnson, 55, is the former chairman of Sturtevant-based Diversey Inc., a cleaning-products company that was spun off from SC Johnson in the late 1990s. Privately held SC Johnson makes household products including Pledge, Glade, Windex and Ziploc.

Fukushima Daiichi's reactors 1 to 4 are shown in this image taken 30km (18 miles) offshore from the stricken nuclear plant
Radioactivity levels in one part of the stricken Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant are 10m times higher than normal, Japanese officials have said, amid warnings that the operation to avert disaster at the facility could last for months..
Tests on the surface of a pool of water that has formed in the No 2 reactor revealed radioactivity of 1,000 millisieverts (mSv) per hour - four times the level deemed safe by the government. The worker carrying out the test reportedly fled before taking a second reading.
Hidehiko Nishiyama, a spokesman for Japan's nuclear and industrial safety agency (Nisa), said: "This is quite a high figure." The water was "likely to be coming from the reactor", he said.