NPR News

Japan's nuclear crisis has dampened enthusiasm in the U.S. for nuclear power as an alternative to greenhouse gas power sources such as coal. Fears are especially acute along the earthquake-prone West Coast. But advocates of nuclear power say those fears are misplaced because newer reactor designs are less vulnerable to a meltdown — even if they're abandoned in an emergency.

For U.S. troops in Afghanistan looking to return home, a little reason for optimism. On Wednesday, the top American commander in Afghanistan General David Petraeus spoke before Congress about draw downs. He said some combat forces could return as part of the initial withdrawal this July.

Red Dawn is the 1984 Cold War film about teenagers in the Midwest fighting off Soviet invaders. In the remake, MGM changed it to an invading Chinese force. The Los Angeles Times reports now the bad guys will be from North Korea.

There can be no more executions in Georgia for now after the Drug Enforcement Administration seized the state's supply of sodium thiopental, one of three drugs used in lethal injection. The government has questions about whether the drug was imported illegally from Britain.

Several other states may also have to answer questions about how they obtained their supplies.

Drug Becomes Rare In U.S.

There's been a lot of secrecy surrounding how states have been getting sodium thiopental since a U.S. company stopped making the sedative in 2009.

Events at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant in Japan have people as far away as California worrying about exposure to radiation. But experts say they shouldn't. Right now, the only people in danger are the ones who actually work at the nuclear plant itself.

That still hasn't stopped people on the U.S. West Coast from stocking up on potassium iodide pills to protect themselves from radiation.