There's a bit of a budget battle in Washington as President Obama and Congress look to prevent some kind of a government shutdown. Watch CNN.com Live for continuing coverage of the budget crisis.
Today's programming highlights...
10:00 am ET - 9/11 military trials hearing - Attorney General Eric Holder announced Monday that the suspects in the 9/11 attacks on the United States would be tried in military tribunals and not civilian courts. A House judiciary subcommittee will discuss the matter and more.
Families of U.S. service members in Japan who voluntarily left the country after the March 11 quake are entitled to as much $21,225 in living expenses for their first month back in the United States, according to Defense Department documents and officials.
That amount, based on one adult, one teenager and one child under 12 who chose to evacuate to Honolulu, decreases to about $11,000 in months two through six the family spends in a "safe haven," the place the family has chosen to spend their time away from Japan. Military families were given their choice of destinations in the continental United States, according Eileen M. Lainez of the Defense Press Office in Washington, but evacuation to Hawaii and Alaska was considered on a case-by-case basis. Civilian dependents were given their choice of destinations in the 50 states.
The amount varies by location and cost of living and could be considerably less. While the family could get $21,225 the first month for staying in Oahu, Hawaii, and almost $15,675 if it went to Santa Barbara, California, it would be authorized $9,225 for North Dakota or rural areas of North Carolina, for example, according to Defense Department figures.
The Libya conflict is the talk of Capitol Hill, with several hearings on the situation scheduled for today. CNN.com Live will be there for all the gavel-to-gavel coverage.
Today's programming highlights...
9:00 am ET - Gates, Mullen testify on Libya - Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Joint Chiefs Chairman Adm. Mike Mullen testify on the Libya conflict before the House Armed Services Committee. Gates and Mullen will appear before the Senate Armed Services Committee at 2:15 pm ET.
Japanese authorities on Monday called off a tsunami advisory after a 6.5-magnitude earthquake off the country's northeast coast produced little more than ripples.
However, the Japan Meteorological Agency urged coastal residents to remain prepared to evacuate because of a continued threat of aftershocks that could spawn tsunamis.
Authorities issued a tsunami advisory Monday morning for coastal areas of Miyagi Prefecture in northeastern Japan after a quake struck the region at 7:24 a.m. The tsunami advisory was cancelled at 9:05 a.m.
FULL STORYThey say defense wins championships, but beginning Friday night, a handful of NBA stars can champion Japan by breaking down defenses.
For every point they score in select games this weekend, the players will donate a cool grand to Japan's relief efforts. Putting up points shouldn't be a tall order for the Chicago Bulls' Derrick Rose, the Los Angeles Lakers' Pau Gasol, the Portland Trailblazers' LaMarcus Aldridge, the Oklahoma City Thunder's Russell Westbrook or the Atlanta Hawks' Al Horford. Each has been averaging between 16 and 25 points all season.
JaVale McGee of the Washington Wizards and Pau's little brother, Marc Gasol of the Memphis Grizzlies, will also lend their marksmanship to the cause, and 13 other players will donate set amounts.
I caught up with Horford, from my hometown Hawks, after Friday's practice. Let this be a warning, New Jersey Nets: Horford says he's going "to try to be a little more aggressive" in Saturday night's game - and I'm sure you remember he dropped 24 on you when you visited the A-Town in December.
Libya violence - Coalition warplanes dropped bombs on the outskirts of Tripoli early Friday as Libyan forces retaliated with anti-aircraft fire. Hundreds of miles away in Ajdabiya, coalition airstrikes targeted armored vehicles that the British Defense Ministry said were threatening the civilian population there. The military action marked the sixth straight day of bombardments from coalition jets and came a day after NATO agreed to take over enforcement of the "no-fly" zone.
Rebels on the ground continue to fight leader Moammar Gadhafi’s forces, and in Misrata - where more than 100 people have died in the last week and hundreds more have been wounded - reports have emerged that a hospital has been operating on generator power with no anesthesia or painkillers.
Watch CNN.com Live for continuing coverage of the conflict in Libya and the nuclear crisis in Japan.
Today's programming highlights...
8:30 am ET - Libya debate at House of Commons - British Foreign Secretary William Hague will discuss the Libya conflict when he addresses the House of Commons in London.
Some Americans are worried that radiation from the damaged nuclear reactors in Japan could cause harm on the U.S. West Coast, prompting a run on potassium iodide pills. But the scientific consensus is that the fear is unfounded.
Greg Evans, a professor of chemical engineering at the University of Toronto, said there is no danger to people on the west coast of the United States and Canada.
"There's really no need to be worried about any sort of radiation release from Japan reaching across the Pacific to people on the West Coast," Evans told CNN International's Hala Gorani.
A U.S. agency director agrees. Gregory Jaczko, the head of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, said Thursday there is little concern about harmful radiation levels in the United States as a result of the damaged Japanese plant.
The federal government's recommendation that U.S. citizens stay at least 50 miles away from the plant remains "prudent and precautionary," he told reporters at the White House.
Sophisticated recording equipment on the floor of the Pacific Ocean recorded the sound of the earthquake that hit Japan on Friday, as well as two aftershocks.
Spain's Polytechnic University of Catalonia, through its Laboratory of Applied Bioacoustics, made the recordings. The low-frequency sounds had to be accelerated by a factor of 16 to make them audible to humans, the lab's website says.
Listen to the audio from the Laboratory of Applied Bioacoustics:
Watch CNN.com Live for continuing coverage of the crisis in Japan.
Today's programming highlights...
Ongoing coverage - Japan earthquake/tsunami aftermath
9:30 am ET - Energy secretary talks Japan, budget - Energy Secretary Steven Chu testifies before a Congressional committee on budget priorities. He is also expected to take questions on the Japan crisis and possible U.S. ramifications.
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