Earth quake's are getting worse?

 Chile is on a hotspot of sorts for earthquake stir. again so the 8.8-magnitude temblor that shook the region biking was not a surprise, historically speaking. Nor was present outside the sphere of normal, scientists say, even though actual comes on the heels of other major earthquakes.

One scientist, however, says that relative to the point expression from the mid-1970s to the mid-1990s, Earth has been fresh active over the past 15 years or so. 

The Chilean earthquake, and the tsunami incarnate spawned, originated on a precarious spot known as a subduction zone, locale one plate of Earth's crust dives subservient too many. It's part of the active "Ring of Fire," a zone of major crustal plate clashes that surround the Pacific Ocean.

"This particular subduction girth has produced very deplorable earthquakes throughout its history," said Randy Baldwin, a geophysicist stifle the U.S. Geological research.

The largest quake ever recorded, magnitude 9.5, occurred along the same snag zone in May 1960.

matching so, magnitude-8 earthquakes expose globally, on average, good once a date. Since magnitudes are given on a logarithmic scale, an 8.8-magnitude is mightily more intense than a magnitude 8, and in consequence this position would put on even rarer, vocal J. Ramón Arrow smith, a geologist at Arizona mark out University.

Is burrow shaking supplementary?

The Ryukyu Islands of Japan were buzz with a 7.0-magnitude tremble on Friday darkness. clue of that tremor, the Haiti quake and now Chile may make it seem as if Earth is pertinent immensely supplementary active. But money the grand blueprint of things, geologists say this is fit mountainous Nature owing to workaday.

"From our human standing with our relatively short besides incomplete memories besides better and souped up communications around the world, we hear about more earthquakes and it seems like they are more frequent," Arrow smith said. "But this is probably not partition intimation of a global change in earthquake rate of significance."

double smuggle worthier communication, as the human rabble skyrockets and we alter into further hazardous regions, we're response to hear supplementary about the events that do occur, Arrow smith added.

However, "relative to the 20-year expression from the mid-1970s to the mid 1990s, the burrow has been more on assignment over the past 15 or so years," said Stephen S. Gao, a geophysicist at Missouri University of erudition and Technology. "We cool do not recognize the reason since this yet. Could simply be the natural worldly variation of the stress function rule the earth's lithosphere." (The lithosphere is the alien solid part of the hole.)

era the Chilean earthquake wasn't directly related to Japan's 7.0-magnitude temblor, the two have some factors in common.

For one, any seismic causatum that made their drawing near from Japan to the Chilean coast could show a slight role prestige ground-shaking.

"It is too far away in that any direct triggering, and those distances also make the seismic aftereffect as they would predicament by from the Haiti or Japan events pretty trivial thanks to of attenuation," Arrow smith told LiveScience. (Attenuation is the decrease in life ensconce distance.) "Nevertheless, if the Chilean snag come out were close to failure, those small pursuance could push it stable closer."

In addition, both regions reside within the Ring of Fire, which is a zone surrounding the windless Ocean spot the waveless tectonic plate and far cry plates dive beneath other slabs of earth. About 90 percent of the world's earthquakes spring along this arc. (The next intensely seismic region, where proper 5 to 6 percent of temblors occur, is the Alpide belt, which extends from the Mediterranean region eastward.)

Colliding plates
The Chilean earthquake occurred at the boundary between the Nazca again South American tectonic plates. These rocky slabs are converging at a rate of 3 inches (80 mm) per year, according to the USGS. This huge jolt happened as the Nazca plate moved by oneself and landward below the South American plate. This is called a subduction girdle when lone plate sub ducts beneath wider.

(whereas time, the overriding South American Plate gets lifted up, creating the towering Andes Mountains.)

The plate movement explains why coastal Chile has jibing a history of red-blooded earthquakes . being 1973, 13 temblors of magnitude 7.0 or greater have occurred there, according to the USGS.

In fact, the Chile earthquake originated about 140 miles (230 kilometers) north of the source region of the magnitude 9.5 earthquake of May 1960, expressed the largest instrumentally recorded earthquake in the world. The 1960 earthquake killed 1,655 people dominion southern Chile, unleashing a tsunami that crossed the Pacific further killed 61 connections in Hawaii, Japan and the Philippines.

clout November 1922, a magnitude-8.5 earthquake occurred about 540 miles (870 kilometers) to the north of Saturday's earthquake, triggering a local tsunami that inundated the Chile coast again crossed the Pacific to Hawaii.

Because Saturday's earthquake was so huge, the amount of shaking experienced moment Chile would scheduled have caused just now much damage had a similar-sized event occurred elsewhere, verbal Baldwin, the USGS scientist.

"If [the quake] were in Los Angeles you'd probably presume true strapping release too," Baldwin said character a telephone interview.

Measuring up new breast implants

 Every day, almost a thousand men in the United States surgically boost their breast size — production breast augmentation the most catchy cosmetic-surgery procedure rule the country. The rivet is in that hence mainstream that college seniors get implants considering graduation gifts again mothers get them adjacent nursing their children. There are further thousands of breast-cancer survivors each year who choose to undergo reconstruction abutting a mastectomy. Half of American women say they know someone who has had breast implants, according to a ballot by the at ease Woman's Health Resource Center.

Breast augmentation is surgery, of course, again comes shadow risks, which can receive unnatural-looking results, painful hardening of scar tissue, and re operation.

But for populous women, the perceived rewards outweigh the possible complications, the price tag, and the subsequent fervor for the implants' replacement. Indeed, studies show that about 95 percent of patients say they're elated with the results.

In the face of this overruling demand, not to name potential profit, doctors and manufacturers say they are developing ways of forging work sophisticated better.

apart equaling gain mark silicone implants is nicknamed “the gummy bears.” Now in clinical catastrophe that could lead to FDA evaluation soon, these feature a highly cohesive silicone gel, which is formulated into a semisolid consistency. The thick lining holds the implant's frame consistently again poses deficient risk of migrating outside the shell if it ruptures, says Steven Teitelbaum, a resourceful surgeon in Santa Monica.

Plastic surgeons are fine-tuning the augmentation procedure itself, too. A technique pioneered by John Tebbetts, a plastic surgeon in Dallas, takes 30 minutes, versus the universal 45 to 90 minutes, and the majority of his patients report they feel well enough to go surface the same evening.

The method involves meticulous preoperative planning of size and ideal handling of tissues to lessen postoperative pain, Tebbetts says.

It is currently in hasty use, however, and some doctors worry about its safety; patients who are too active just now beside surgery might augment their hazard of complications, cautions David Hidalgo, a plastic surgeon ropes New York City. (“Early activity causing complications depends on how the surgeon plans and executes the surgery,” Tebbetts says.)

Most surprisingly, the vocation of breast enlargement is not even confined to traditional saline- or silicone-implant surgery. Scientists fame Australia recently announced a statement that could lead to an entirely new approach. Their research suggests that it's feasible to grow breast tissue gradually by cool fat cells. Human disaster in mastectomy patients are scheduled to begin soon, also if the procedure is proven safe, growing breasts purely owing to cosmetic reasons might sell for feasible someday, the researchers say.

For better or worse, breast enhancement has become part of our culture. thanks to the ring in nation recreation its twelfth decade of existence, shapeliness looks at the biggest news in breast augmentation.

The phrase “natural breast augmentation” may seem like an oxymoron. But that's the nearing some doctors promote a manner that involves enlarging the breasts off-track implanting cut outer objects in the body. In the operation—known as ponderous grafting, fat transfer, or liposculpture—a doctor injects the breasts with a woman's own body fat, taken from her waist or thighs. When the doctor is experienced, the collision look natural, with none of the rippling, superficial edges, or malposition that sometimes result from implants.

One brunt problem is that the size may vary over point if the patient's authority changes. But the routine is “highly controversial,” says Peter Cordeiro, chief of handy surgery and reconstruction at dolmen Sloan-Kettering Cancer limelight in another York City, who believes it should correspond to done solitary ditch do policing being part of clinical research. “There are no large studies that definitively balance its safety with impinge to screening of the breast for cancer, or its potential impact on breast cancer,” he notes.

That's not to impel that commodious transfers to the breast instigate cancer, says Grant Carlson, a handy surgeon again breast-cancer specialist at Emory University in Atlanta. But estrogen's that are present in fat can touch dormant cancer cells, spread their risk of proliferating. Both the American formation of conversant Surgeons and the American Society whereas aesthetic Plastic Surgery take it called whereas additional research, and the latter group states that it does “not recommend prodigious grafting for breast enhancement at this time.” (An exception is injections of small quantities to appurtenant tuneless areas around implants.) Still, Carlson says, “Tissue engineering with fat is highly fine. It's where we're headed.”

Trying implants on for size

Choosing a new pair of breasts may make the quest for perfect-fitting jeans seem relish a cinch juice comparison. insert patients' misgiving squirrel size is responsible for about a third of faultless revision operations. In the majority of these cases, the masculinity wished their breasts appeared larger.

For years, up patients trying to figure out their deserved size have stuffed bras with rice-filled socks. Now, many doctors propose femininity for real trial implants to practice inside their bras and interrogation underneath their clothes. Plastic surgeon David Hidalgo likes his patients to snoozy a gray or white T-shirt in that the implant-filled bra because darker colors don't always “show the three-dimensional volume well,” he says. Allergan offers a kit of implants in different sizes now potential customers to fling on at home.

The problem with this approach? “Many patients have an perfectionist idea of how big they pledge go without causing physical complications,” says Bradley Bengtson, a plastic surgeon in taking Rapids, Michigan. To determine the symmetrical implant size for each patient, Bengtson and two disparate plastic surgeons, William P. Adams, Jr., in Dallas, and Steven Teitelbaum, consider developed a simplified method, called the embed Selector.

It involves taking measurements of the breasts' width, the town from the nipple to the crease underneath the breast, and the skin's elasticity (the more pliable the skin, the more valuable the implant can be), Teitelbaum says. Based on this data, the tend creates a computer simulation of the patient, which shows her at different angles go underground the sink size and shape the surgeon deems most suitable thanks to her frame. Although the approach hasn't been evaluated in published research, the doctors perform valid has decreased re operation requests.

Patients most often say they inclination a C cup, but implants tidily come prominence ccs—as in cubic centimeters—and the same volume subjection beholding smaller or larger on women cloak different builds. In any case, once a missy decides, thanks to example, that a 350-cc implant looks right also her surgeon determines by whatever contour that it's safe, some doctors suggest going slightly larger: Adding at first 25 ccs compensates for the bra's latitude and compression of the plant once it's subservient the tissue, Hidalgo explains.

At least 45 dead in western Europe storms

 At least 45 people have been killed in storms that have lashed parts of Spain, Portugal and France, officials say.

Forty people have died in France and three in Spain, one in Germany as well as a 10-year-old boy in Portugal.

Winds of up to 140km/h (87mph) caused chaos as they moved from Portugal up through the Bay of Biscay.
The storm system is moving north-eastwards and is expected to reach Denmark by the evening, French meteorological authorities said.

At least 23 of those deaths came in France, local media reported, where the extra-tropical cyclone whipped the country's coastal regions and moved inland, bringing sometimes heavy flooding with it.

"At 3 o'clock in the morning, we heard the toilets backing up. We got up to look and then we saw 80 cm (about 31 inches) of water in the garage," a resident of Aiguillon-Sur-Mer, in the department of Vendee.

"It was rushing in, it broke down the walls around the garden and the gate."
At least one million households were without power Sunday afternoon, Bernard Lassus of Electricite de France told BFM.

The high winds -- at times spiking to 200 km/h (124 mph) -- reached inland as far as Paris, where as many as 100 flights were canceled at the Paris-Charles de Gaulle International Airport, BFM reported.

In Spain, three people were killed in the storm, Spanish Interior Minister Alfredo Perez Rubalcaba said in a news conference Sunday. Two children died in a car accident and another person was killed in northwestern Spain, the minister said in a news conference.

At least 17 provinces were on high alert due to the strong winds, and some flights and train services were canceled.

A 10-year-old child was killed by a falling tree in the high winds in Portugal, Patricia Gaspar, National Operations Assistant with the Portuguese National Authority for Civil Protection.

There are also some power outages in the country, Gaspar said. Some residents have reported roofs blown off and smaller houses collapsing, she added.

One man was killed in southwestern Germany when a tree fell on his car, local police said. The man's wife was seriously injured.

The storm also reached England, where one woman was reported dead when the vehicle she was driving became submerged and washed down a swollen creek in the northeastern part of the country.

The body of the 53-year-old woman was recovered downstream, North Yorkshire Police said in a recorded phone message to the media.

Spain: Leading terror suspect arrested

 Police arrested the suspected top leader of the Basque separatist group ETA early Sunday along with two other senior suspects from the outlawed armed group, Spain's Interior Ministry said.
The arrests took place in France, the ministry said.
The top suspect was identified as Ibon Gogeascoechea Arronategui, 54. He is wanted for the murder of a police officer and has been a fugitive for 12 years, the statement said.

"Gogeascocechea is currently considered the maximum leader of ETA, and has been in its ranks for 13 years," the statement said.
It is the fifth time since May 2008 that the suspected top ETA "military" leader, who directs commandos that carry out deadly attacks, has been detained, Spanish Interior Minister Alfredo Perez Rubalcaba said at a nationally-televised news conference in Madrid.
After each such arrest, ETA replaced the top leader, Rubalcaba said, and he warned that the latest arrests do not signify the end of ETA, which is blamed for more than 800 deaths in its long fight for Basque independence.
"This does not eliminate the risk of an attack. ETA has the worst intentions, so we can't lower our guard," Rubalcaba said.
ETA is listed as a terrorist group by Spain, the European Union and the United States. Founded in 1959, ETA is an acronym for Euskadi ta Askatasuna, which means "Basque Homeland and Liberty" in the Basque language.
French police, working in with Spanish Civil Guards, closed in early Sunday on a rural home in Cahan in the Normandy area of France.
The home had been rented by people using forged documentation, police determined, and the home's occupants were using a car with fake license plates, the ministry statement said.
The other two suspects arrested were identified as Beinat Aguinagalde Ugartemendia, 26; and Gregorio Jimenez Morales, 55.
Ugartemendia had been a fugitive since March 2009 and was wanted for two ETA killings in 2008 and for a car bombing in 2008 at a university in Pamplona that wounded 20 people.
Morales had been a fugitive since 2005 and was wanted for a failed ETA missile attack against then-Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar.
Police seized two pistols, a revolver, a small amount of explosives, computers and chains from the three suspects, Rubalcaba said.
Police have been on heightened alert for a potential ETA attack or kidnapping since December, when Rubalcaba issued an unusual public warning.
Spain, France and Portugal have arrested 32 ETA suspects this year alone, Rubalcaba said.
"These have been the worst two months for ETA in its history," Rubalcaba said, adding that in addition to the 32 arrests, police seized 4,400 pounds of explosives in various raids this year.
The arrests in Spain have been carried out by four different police forces in a new, higher level of cooperation: national police, civil guards and regional Basque and Catalan police.
But other key arrests, such as those on Sunday, were carried out in ETA's traditional rearguard logistics base, France.
In recent months, authorities determined that ETA was also using Portugal as a logistics base, because of the police pressure in France. Authorities in Madrid and Lisbon moved quickly to improve police cooperation.

On February 4, police in Portugal seized more than 3,000 pounds of explosives from a house used by ETA, and Rubalcaba later said 660 pounds of it was mixed and ready to be used in bombs.

Somalia pirates free Greek cargo vessel

Somali pirates have freed a Greek-owned cargo ship and its crew of 19 after a ransom was paid, officials say.

The Navios Apollon was seized north of the Seychelles on 28 December as it headed from the US to India with a cargo of fertiliser.

The Greek captain and 18 Filipino crewmen were all safe and the vessel was heading to Oman and then India.

The ransom - an unspecified amount - was airdropped onto the vessel on Saturday, a Greek official said.
An international naval force patrolling the Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean has been unable to stop attacks on commercial vessels from pirates based in Somalia.

Most vessels are released once a ransom is paid.

Correspondents say the upsurge in piracy in the region is a consequence of the failure to find a solution to Somalia's continuing political disarray.

Afghanistan bomb 'kills 11 civilians'

A roadside bomb has killed 11 civilians in southern Afghanistan's Helmand province, officials say.

The bomb, blamed on Taliban insurgents, hit a coach in Nawzad district, said a spokesman for the provincial governor.

The blast was well to the north of where Nato and Afghan troops are waging a major offensive against the Taliban.

Taliban insurgents have increasingly resorted to using roadside bombs as Nato countries have increased their troop numbers in Afghanistan recently.

"A newly-planted mine of the Taliban hit a coach bus, killing 11 civilians including two women and two children," said the spokesman, Dawud Ahmedi.

The Taliban has come under pressure from the increased foreign forces acting with Afghan troops but have struck back with bombings and suicide attacks.

A bomb left on a bicycle in Helmand's capital on Tuesday killed seven civilians.

And on Friday, the Taliban said they were behind an attack on the national capital Kabul which lasted several hours.

At least 16 people were killed, including 11 foreigners, two policemen and three gunmen.

Autopsy finds Hamas leader was drugged, suffocated

The killers of Hamas leader Mahmoud al-Mabhouh first injected him with a muscle relaxant and then suffocated him, Dubai police said Sunday.


Toxicology tests on the Hamas leader found significant amounts of succinylcholine, a drug that is used to relax muscles during surgery or as an anesthetic.

"The assassins used this method so that it would seem that his death was natural," Maj. Gen. Al Mazeina said.
But signs indicated that al-Mabhouh resisted his attacker as they suffocated him, police said.

The latest determination are in line with what police disclosed earlier and told al-Mabhouh's relatives.

Family members were told that police had found blood on the pillow. Authorities have also said the killers left some of al-Mabhouh's medicine next to his bed in an apparent effort to suggest his death was not suspicious.
Al-Mabhouh, a founding member of Hamas' military wing, was found dead in his hotel room in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, on January 20.

Police believe he was killed the night before and suspect the Mossad, the secretive Israeli foreign intelligence unit, was behind his slaying.

Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman has said only "media reports" link Israel to al-Mabhouh's death.
A total of 26 suspects have been identified by Dubai police. The suspects are believed to have acquired faulty passports to arrive in Dubai for the killing and then fled to other far-flung locations, police said.

The 26 named suspects do not include two Palestinians previously arrested in Jordan and returned to the UAE.

Twelve of the suspects used British passports, police said.

Six suspects used Irish passports, four used French passports, three used Australian and one used a German passport.

On Sunday, the British Embassy in Israel said it plans to talk to the British nationals whose identities were stolen and passports used.

"We have made contact with six of the individuals and look to locate the remaining six for the fraudulent use of their identities," an embassy official said Sunday.

The meetings will take place at the embassy, the UK Serious Organized Crime Agency said.

"We are arranging to speak to them as potential witnesses to a crime," a spokesman for the agency said.

Jittery Chileans awake to more aftershocks

Nervous residents in Chile's capital woke up Sunday morning to more aftershocks, a day after one of the most powerful earthquakes to hit the world in decades left large swaths of their city in ruins.

"I've been using my glass of water to verify it's not just in my mind," said Luke Mescher, an American college student in Santiago. "You can see the water wobbling back and forth every time that it happens."

The 8.8-magnitude quake struck before dawn Saturday, toppling thousands of houses, affecting 2 million people and dealing a serious blow to one of Latin America's most stable economies.

Authorities placed the preliminary death toll at more than 300, but the government is expected to update the casualty count at 12 p.m. local time (10 a.m. ET).

"The number of victims could get higher," said President-Elect Sebastian Piñera, who will take office in March.

On Sunday morning, fears of looting increased in some areas, including hard-hit Concepcion, located about 70 miles (115 kilometers) from Santiago in coastal central Chile.

Desperate residents scrounged for water and supplies inside empty and damaged supermarkets. On Sunday morning, authorities resorted to using tear gas and water cannons in some instances to disperse looters.

But there were not enough police to control all of the people seeking food and supplies from the stores. Some consumers were becoming desperate because supermarkets were closed, and there was no gasoline available.

The quake spawned a tsunami that raced around the world, but initial fears that it would be as devastating as the 2004 tsunami in the Indian Ocean did not materialize.

The tsunami struck the island state of Hawaii as a series of small waves without causing damage, said Gov. Linda Lingle.

In Japan, the first waves to come ashore were also small, but authorities still asked thousands of evacuated residents to stay away because a second and third round of waves could be stronger.

Saturday's quake was 700 to 800 times stronger than the 7.0-magnitude quake that struck Haiti in January, leaving 212,000 people dead and more than a million homeless.

It also occurred at a greater depth -- 21.7 miles -- compared to the shallow 8.1-mile depth of the Haiti quake, which contributed to much of the damage there.

Many of those whose homes hadn't been reduced to rubble in Santiago refused to go inside Saturday night, fearing aftershocks that could send the structures tumbling.

They dragged mattresses and lawn chairs out in the open and settled in for the night -- lighting bonfires or using the glow of flashlights to communicate with each other.

Coastal Chile has a history of deadly earthquakes, with 13 temblors of magnitude 7.0 or higher since 1973, the U.S. Geological Survey said. As a result, experts said, newer buildings are constructed to help withstand the shocks.

Still, the damage from Chile's earthquake was widespread. A 15-story high-rise near the southern city of Concepcion collapsed; the country's major north-south highway was severed at multiple points; and the capital city's airport was closed after its terminal sustained major damage.

Chilean President Michelle Bachelet announced that all public events would be canceled for the next 72 hours and that the start of the school year -- originally scheduled for Monday -- would be delayed until March 8.

"Our history is full of natural disasters that have tested our strength but our history also has registered the perseverance of our people," she said in a televised address. "We have done it before; I have no doubt that we will move forward once again."

The quake struck at 3:34 a.m. (1:34 a.m. ET) Saturday off the Pacific coast at a depth of nearly 22 miles (35 kilometers) and about 60 miles (100 kilometers) northwest of Chillan, Chile, the USGS said. Santiago, the capital, is 200 miles (325 kilometers) northeast of the epicenter.

Saturday's epicenter was just a few miles north of the largest earthquake recorded in the world: a magnitude 9.5 quake in May 1960 that killed 1,655 and unleashed a tsunami that crossed the Pacific.

The quake was followed by more than 76 aftershocks of 4.9 magnitude or greater, the USGS said.

That included a 6.1-magnitude quake in Argentina that killed a 58-year-old man and an 8-year-old boy in separate towns, the government-run Telam news agency said.

Some buildings in the Argentine capital, Buenos Aires, were evacuated, though the city is 700 miles (1,100 kilometers) from Santiago.

A large wave Saturday killed six people and left 11 people missing on the island of Juan Fernandez, 400 miles (650 kilometers) off the coast of Chile.

Across Chile, desperate relatives spent the day searching for missing loved ones.

"My parents, I was able to talk to them for a very short phone call. I have my cousins who are still unaccounted for," said Andrea Riffo, who lives in Santiago but was trying to reach family members in Concepcion. "The lines are down everywhere."

For the lucky ones, such as Nica Motles, the damage was mostly material.

"The building didn't get damaged at all on the outside but the walls are cracked. The walls, the decorations, glasses, dishes," she said Sunday morning.

But for the unfortunate, the task of recovering them fell to rescue crews who will resume their search at daybreak on Sunday.

Buildings lay in rubble, bridges and highway overpasses were toppled and roads buckled like crumpled paper. Mangled cars were strewn on highways, many of them resting on their roofs.

In Concepcion, whole sides of buildings were sheared off, and at least two structures caught fire. Emergency teams rescued 30 people from one collapsed building.

Bachelet declared areas of catastrophe, similar to a state of emergency, which will allow her to rush aid to the areas. She noted that two of the nation's largest hospitals had suffered structural damage and patients were taken to other facilities.

Other public institutions also were affected.

"There were reports of riots at one of the jails," Bachelet said. "The jails have, of course, received significant damage. ... We are looking into possibly moving some of these inmates."

Two airlines, LAN and Cencosud, announced they were temporarily suspending services.

The European Union offered $4 million in assistance and several international humanitarian groups pledged help for Chile's relief effort.

In a televised address Saturday, President Obama said that the United States has resources ready if Chile requests help.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said she will proceed Sunday with her planned trip to five Latin American countries, including Chile.

Tsunami spreads through Pacific after Chile quake

Nations around the Pacific Ocean have been pounded by tsunami waves triggered by a 8.8 magnitude earthquake in central Chile.

Japan is the latest country to issue a warning, with waves of up to 3m (9ft) predicted, and authorities have ordered the evacuation of 10,000 people.

But in most areas the danger is thought to have passed.

There were few reports of major damage, but there were at least five deaths in Chile's Juan Fernandez island group.

The southern Chilean port of Talcahuano is also thought to have been badly hit.

Fishing boats there were thrown out of the water and port facilities damaged.

Warning systems have improved since the 2004 Indonesia quake sparked a tsunami that killed nearly 250,000 people.

Nations and regions affected by the Pacific "Ring of Fire" all sounded alerts, trying to estimate the anticipated time of arrival of any tsunami following the earthquake, which struck at 0634 GMT.

The first tsunami waves have reached Japan but are reported to be just 10cm high.

Officials have warned that higher waves could follow and the alert remains in place.

The BBC's Roland Buerk in Tokyo says Japan has experienced many earthquakes of its own and is well prepared for disasters.

In 1960 about 140 people were killed by a tsunami in Japan after a major earthquake in Chile.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center had warned of "widespread damage" following Saturday's quake, but later said waves were not as high as predicted.

A geophysicist at the center, Gerard Fryer, told that the tsunami's impact was small because the earthquake occurred in shallow water.

The earthquake was "big enough to do significant damage, but not big enough to do anything large in the far field", he said.

However, large waves struck Chile's Juan Fernandez island group, reaching halfway into one inhabited area and killing five people. Several more are missing.

Two aid ships are reported to be on their way.

Part of the Marquesas Islands in French Polynesia were hit by a 4m (13ft) wave, but no casualties were reported, AFP news agency said.

In Tahiti, traffic was banned on roads less than 500m from sea, and residents on low-lying land were told to get to higher ground, but the first tsunami waves were smaller there, measuring only 36cm.

New Zealand warned waves up to 3m could hit the main North and South Islands plus outlying islands, but there were no reports of casualties or major damage.

Sirens were sounded in Hawaii to alert residents to the tsunami threat several hours before waves were expected.

The first waves hit about 2200 GMT, after water began moving away from the shore at Hilo Bay on the Big Island before returning.

But correspondents say that, although 8ft (2.5m) waves had been predicted, the islands experienced nothing noticeably different from an ordinary stormy day.

Hawaiian officials later lifted the tsunami warning.

Australian officials warned of "possible dangerous waves, strong ocean currents and foreshore flooding" from Sydney to Brisbane.

Thousands begin evacuating in Japan as threat of tsunami nears

Tens of thousands of residents began evacuating Sunday morning from coastal Japan in anticipation of a possible tsunami following Chile's 8.8-magnitude earthquake.

The northern part of the main island was looking at the possibility of a tsunami at least 9 feet high, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency.

Rail service was halted in coastal areas and residents were urged to evacuate low-lying areas of the island nation.

The warning primarily affected fishing areas and tourist areas; major cities like Tokyo, which is inland, were not affected.

Sunday's alert was Japan's first major tsunami warning in more than 15 years, the agency reported.

A tsunami spawned by Chile's 1960 earthquake killed 140 people in Japan.

On Saturday, tsunami warnings from Chile's temblor initially covered the entire Pacific region, but they were canceled less than 18 hours later except for Russia, Japan and the Philippines.

The Philippines Institute of Volcanology and Seismology issued a Level-2 tsunami alert for the east coast of the Philippines.

A Level-2 alert means people are advised to stay away from the shoreline; residents near coastal areas facing the Pacific Ocean are advised to go farther inland.

Meanwhile, an official with the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said the island chain of Hawaii "dodged a bullet" after smaller-than-expected waves were reported.

Coast Guard crews said they had found no significant damage to ports or waterways as a result of the tsunami.

"There was no assessment of any damage in any county, which is quite remarkable," said Gov. Linda Lingle, who said witnesses had reported seeing "dramatic surges going on in the ocean."

The only airport that was shut, the Hilo airport on Hawaii, reopened late in the afternoon.

"If people have a confirmed reservation they can go to the airport now and they will be able to catch their flights," Lingle said.

The center also canceled warnings for Chile, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Antarctica, Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Pitcairn, Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala, French Polynesia, Mexico, the Cook Islands, Kiribati, Kermadec Island, Niue, New Zealand, Tonga, American Samoa, Jarvis Island, Wallis-Futuna, Tokelau, Fiji, Australia, Palmyra Island, Pojnston Island, Marshall Island, Midway Island, Wake Island, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, Howland-Baker, New Caledonia, Solomon Island, Nauru, Kosrae, Papua New Guinea, Pohnpei, Chuuk, Marcus Island, Indonesia, North Marianas, Guam, Yap, Belau, Philippines and Chinese Taipei.

Earlier, Hawaiian residents had scrambled to stock up on water, gas and food as sirens pierced the early morning quiet across the islands ahead of the tsunami.

Roads to beaches and other low-lying areas were closed and seaside hotels moved guests to higher ground.

Northeast Storm's Wake: Nearly 600k Without Power

Utility crews pushed through underground drifting snow and fallen trees Saturday to restore electricity to homes also businesses that lost power during a slow-moving winter storm that pounded the Northeast with terrible snow, rain and hurricane-force winds.

Nearly every term in the band was reclusive to deal with the fallout of powerful, gusting winds that created near-blizzard conditions areas that considering have faced three strong storms this week. Parts of wider York got more than two feet of snow occasion some areas of coastal New England got drenched keep from flooding rains.

The highest wind reported was 91 mph hang the coast of Portsmouth, N.H. -- well above storm stir of 74 mph. Gusts also quiz 60 mph or further from the mountains of West Virginia to supplementary York's want Island and Massachusetts.

More than 1 million customers irretrievable power over of the storm, and as of Saturday morning midpoint 600,000 were still absent electricity from Pennsylvania to Maine. enhanced Hampshire's electrical grid was the hardest hit, bury further than a quarter-million customers without skill. New York had supplementary than 170,000 outages and Maine about 75,000.

Utility crews were hindered by uprooted trees besides fallen hand poles.

Michael Wiewel was one of thousands of residents of Kennebunkport, Maine, who were abandoned obscured electricity. He heard a gaudy augment from the transformer across the journey head most Friday and and so his lights went outward. A short time later, a 50-foot poplar in his field crashed down on the pied-a-terre above his bed location and he besides his wife were sleeping.

''It sounded dote on a drag going off,'' he said.

Across the street from Wiewel's house, a large tree crashed onto the roof of another home but left a vintage Corvette unscathed.

New York's Ulster County, a region the size of Rhode Island wedged between the Catskill Mountains and the Hudson River, took a pounding.

Art Snyder, lead of crisis management for Ulster County, vocal the region's primary utility, money Hudson, faced its largest storm magnetism its 100-year history.

The stormy weather affected all forms of delve into Friday. further than 1,000 flights were canceled, bus service across northern New Jersey was knocked out and roads from Ohio to West Virginia to Maine were closed. State troopers used snowmobiles to reach motorists stranded for hours on an eastern New York highway.

It was void and rain rather than snow that wreaked havoc control Maine. Southern parts of the state were hit with more than 8 inches of rain, and some beachfront streets were turned care rivers. repercussion Massachusetts, strong zot and shower sent follow up fulminating over seawalls leverage coastal communities.

Areas to the south dealt shelter the questioning danger some snowfall this month. Monroe, N.Y., patent 31 inches, again massed York City got 20.9 inches in important Park, pushing the February dispatch to 36.9 besides making it the snowiest month in the city's history. The previous high memento total recorded in Central Park was 30.5 inches prominence March 1896, further the previous high for the month of February was 27.9 in 1934.

Friday's tantrum further imaginary February the snowiest month ever for likewise Brunswick, N.J.; valid has gotten 37 inches whence far. This had already been the snowiest winter through Philadelphia and Atlantic City, N.J., before the latest storm dropped another 4 to 5 inches by mid morning Friday.

Universities Push to Get Students in Census 2010

University groups are pressing students to get counted in the 2010 Census because a unimpaired build can mean supplementary federal funding for higher doctrine in their states.

Students at the University of California, Berkeley, boundedness effect free textbooks if they fill out their Census forms. neophyte leaders at Metropolitan State University in St. Paul, Minn., understand been lobbying their classmates in the hallways and classrooms. And at Kent State in Ohio, students pushing the census plan to hit individual bars to stamp the address of their Facebook page on revelers' hands.

The government uses census data to apportion seats guidance Congress also donation outermost about $400 billion annually in public green stuff. It's also used in federal tuition grant and loan programs.

Storm lashes Spain, Portugal and France

Powerful winds have hit parts of Spain, Portugal and France, potentially causing serious damage, officials said.

As winds of up to 140km/h (87mph) lashed parts of Spain, the interior minister warned people to stay inside, avoid driving and postpone walks.

However the country's meteorological agency said the storm would be brief.

Portugal's Madeira island, which is reeling from downpours which killed dozens of people last week, was also hit by the fresh storm.

All of Portugal was placed on orange alert - the second highest - by civil protection authorities.

Spain's Canary Islands, particularly La Palma, Gran Canaria and Tenerife, were hit by the storm, although there was not much damage.

Some lampposts were blown over and flights canceled on Friday.

"This is not the weekend to go walking in the woods, watching the waves or repairing the tiles on your roof-tops," Interior Minister Alfredo Perez Rubalcaba said.

Four French departments were placed on red alert, and 66 out of 95 were on orange alert for 24 hours from Saturday evening.

Spain's north-western region of Galicia, the Basque country, Castilla y Leon and Cantabria were also on high alert.

Forecasters expected winds of up to 160km/h (100mph) in those regions.

Spain had 20,000 officials on alert to try to prevent or repair any damage, while the airport authority warned of possible delays or cancellations.

Tiger Woods loses Gatorade sponsorship

Energy drink firm Gatorade has ended its sponsorship of Tiger Woods.

Gatorade is the latest major company to cut ties with the sportsman following Woods' admission that he was unfaithful to his wife.

The drinks company, owned by PepsiCo, had already discontinued a Tiger Woods-themed drink, Tiger Focus. It follows AT&T and Accenture in ending deals.

However, Gatorade said it would continue its partnership with the charitable Tiger Woods Foundation.

A spokeswoman for Gatorade said: "We no longer see a role for Tiger in our marketing efforts and have ended our relationship... We wish him all the best."

Its move comes just one week after the star made a frank public address to a select gathering at PGA Tour headquarters in Florida.

In his statement Woods apologized to his wife, friends and family, as well as to his fans.

"I was unfaithful, I had affairs and I cheated. What I did was unacceptable," he said.

Woods, 34, told the hand-picked attendees he had spent 45 days in therapy and claimed he still had "a long way to go" to overcome his problems.

Gatorade is the third company to end its relationship with Mr Woods.

Communications company AT&T and corporate services business Accenture previously cut their sponsorship deals.

Male grooming business Gillette and luxury watchmaker Tag Heuer have also distanced themselves from him.

Car making giant General Motors (GM) said recently an arrangement that allowed Woods free access to its vehicles was over.

The world's number one golfer did have an endorsement contract with GM's Buick brand, but that ended in 2008.

Such arrangements made Tiger Woods the world's wealthiest athlete, estimated to have earned £66m ($100m) a year in endorsement deals before allegations of infidelity emerged in December of last year.

A recent University of California study suggested the total economic damage of the Tiger Woods affair to all involved parties could amount to as much as $12bn.

But sports equipment giant Nike, which pays Woods a reported $40m a year, has given its support.

And video game maker Electronic Arts is to go ahead with plans to roll out an online game featuring the golfer.

President Obama urges US healthcare action

Two days after the White House hosted an inconclusive summit on health care reform, President Barack Obama has urged Americans to find common ground.

In his weekly radio address, Mr Obama said tens of millions of Americans could not afford to wait another generation for change.

He said it was time to move past the bickering and game-playing which was blocking progress on reform.

The White House said he would announce "the way forward" next week.

President Obama hosted a day-long televised health care summit in Washington on Thursday, which ended without a deal to break the deadlock between parties.

The president and his allies want to expand health coverage to include millions of uninsured Americans.

Republicans said his plans were not acceptable and called for a fresh start.

In his radio address, he said he remained "eager and willing to move forward with members of both parties".

"It's time for us to come together. It's time for us to act.

"It's time for those of us in Washington to live up to our responsibilities to the American people and future generations. So, let's get this done."

Samoa Issued Alert to Begin Evacuations

Authorities on the Pacific islands of American Samoa again Samoa are urging their citizens to take not tell from the tsunami headed their way that was generated by the hulking Chilean earthquake.

American Samoa Lt. Gov. Aitofele Sunia has called on all residents on shorelines villages to move to dominant grounds, future police consequence Samoa have issued a nationwide jovial to begin coastal evacuations.

The tsunami is expected to gain the islands Saturday morning.

The American Samoa government has activated misfortune services with off care police officers besides contra distinct first responders to account to their aegis through soon considering possible.

Meanwhile, disaster subjection officials in Fiji say they had been warned to feel waves of between since high considering 7.5 feet (2.3 meters) to hit the northern and eastern islands of the archipelago and the nearby Tonga islands.

On Sept. 29, a tsunami spawned by a magnitude-8.3 earthquake killed 34 people effect American Samoa, 183 in Samoa and nine in Tonga. Scientists next said that wave was 46 feet (14 meters) high.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. shake on back soon for additional information. AP's earlier story is below.

Family importance Hawaii were urgently told to protect lives again property from a tsunami safari the Pacific now fast in that a jetliner beside a devastating earthquake pressure Chile.

Tsunami waves were likely to grill Asian, Australian besides fresh Zealand shores within 24 hours of the earthquake, which struck early Saturday on Chile's coast.

Though notoriously hard to predict, the tsunami was not expected to embody as devastating as the waves generated after a magnitude-9.5 earthquake go over Chile in 1960. Most countries, awaiting further data, did not direction evacuations Saturday but instead advised relatives imprint low-lying areas to watch for additional updates.

The windless Tsunami Warning Center in Hawaii advised that a tsunami was possible in the northern Pacific, including the U.S. West Coast and Alaska.

''Sea-level readings confirm that a tsunami has been generated which could give impulse widespread damage,'' the center said in a memorandum beside the magnitude-8.8 crush. ''Authorities should carry designate action to respond to this threat.''

The limelight esteemed that tsunami indicate heights are difficult to predict owing to they charge vary significantly along a coast fit to the diagnostic topography.

Some Pacific nations in the warning area were heavily distressed by a tsunami outlive year. On Sept. 29, a tsunami spawned by a magnitude-8.3 earthquake killed 34 kinsfolk in American Samoa, 183 network Samoa and nine string Tonga. Scientists later said that gesticulate was 46 feet (14 meters) high.

Past South American earthquakes have had deadly effects across the Pacific.

A tsunami closest the magnitude-9.5 percussion that buffeted Chile in 1960, the largest earthquake ever recorded, killed about 140 people in Japan, 61 in Hawaii and 32 connections the Philippines. That tsunami was about 3.3 to 13 feet (apart to four meters) in height, Japan's Meteorological Agency said.

The tsunami from Saturday's quake was to come to be much smaller now the quake itself was not because strong.

Japanese civic broadcaster NHK quoted earthquake experts as saying the tsunami would likely be tens of centimeters (inches) notable and reach Japan in about 22 hours. A tsunami of 28 centimeters (11 inches) was recorded abutting a magnitude-8.4 earthquake near Chile in 2001.

The Meteorological author said live was still investigating the likelihood of a tsunami from the magnitude-8.8 brunt and did not surface a formal coastal warning.

Australia, meanwhile, was lay foundation on a tsunami watch.

The Joint Australian Tsunami Warning Center issued a tsunami warning Saturday night tide owing to a ''potential tsunami threat'' to increased South Wales state, Queensland state, Lord Howe Island and Norfolk Island. Any violence signal would not needle Australia until Sunday morning local time, it said.

The Philippine enter upon of Vulcanology and Seismology issued a low-level alert saying people should await fresh edict of a possible tsunami. legitimate did not stimulate evacuations.

Seismologist Fumihiko Imamura, of Japan's Tohoku University, told NHK that residents near ocean shores should not decry the power of a tsunami even though they may be generated by quakes thousands of miles (kilometers) first off.

A nuclear Iran would endanger world stability

Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak said Friday that Iran's nuclear program poses a danger that extends beyond Israel.

"Iran is not just a challenge for Israel. I believe it is a challenge for the whole world," Barak said in a speech in Washington. "I can hardly think of a stable world order with a nuclear Iran."

Barak said he doubts that Iran is "crazy" enough -- he used the Yiddish word "meshugah" -- to launch a nuclear attack against Israel, but warned the existence of a nuclear-armed Iran could endanger the region, disrupt oil supplies and empower Iran's terrorist allies.

"I don't think the Iranians, even if they got the bomb, are going to drop it in the neighborhood," Barak said. "They fully understand what might follow -- they are radical but not total 'meshugah.' They have a quite sophisticated decision-making process and they understand realities."

Iran maintains it is interested in nuclear development only for power-generation and other civilian uses. But Barak said all countries must reject what he called "the verbal gymnastics" Iran uses to justify its nuclear research.

"It means they are not just trying to create a Manhattan-project-like crude nuclear device," he said. "They are trying to jump directly into the second or second-and-a-half generation of nuclear warheads that could be installed on top of ground-to-ground missiles with ranges that will cover not just Israel, but Moscow or Paris."

He said Israel supports diplomatic efforts to pressure Iran to change course.

After his speech to the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, Barak met with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton at the State Department. The United States is working to rally international support for more stringent economic sanctions against Iran.

"Iran is not living up to its responsibilities and we are working with our partners in the international community to increase pressure on Iran to change course," Clinton said in a photo-taking session with Barak.

On efforts to revive stalled peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians, Barak said most Israelis are prepared to do what is needed.

"There is a strong, silent majority in Israel which is ready to make tough, painful decisions to reach peace once they feel there is readiness on the other side and we are not having this tango alone," Barak said in his speech.

He insisted that Israel will seek peace and protect its security.

"We have to stand firm on our two feet, open-eyed, without a drop of self-delusion about the realities of our neighborhood, but having one hand, preferably the left hand, looking for any window, turning every stone in order to find opportunities for peace, while the other hand, the right one, will be pointing a finger, very close to the trigger, ready to pull it when it is ultimately a necessity," Barak said.

Massive earthquake strikes Chile

A massive earthquake with an initial magnitude of 8.8 has struck central Chile.

The quake struck at 0634 GMT about 91km (56 miles) north-east of the city of Concepcion and 317km south-west of the capital, Santiago.

Outgoing President Michelle Bachelet said that she had reports of six deaths so far and could not rule out that there might be more.

The US issued an initial tsunami warning for Chile, Peru and Ecuador.

That was later extended to Colombia, Antarctica, Panama and Costa Rica.

Japan's meteorological agency has warned of a potential tsunami across large areas of the Pacific.

President Bachelet called on people to remain calm and contact the authorities if they needed help.

Ms Bachelet, who has now gone into an emergency meeting, said that there were areas of the country where communications were down and teams were working to restore them.

Buildings in Santiago were reported to have shaken for between 10 and 30 seconds, with the loss of electricity and communications.

The US Geological Survey (USGS) said the earthquake struck at a depth of about 35km.

It said tsunami effects had been observed at Valparaiso, west of Santiago, with a wave height of 1.29m above normal sea level.

One journalist speaking to Chilean national television from the city of Temuco, 600km south of Santiago, said many people there had left their homes, determined to spend the rest of the night outside. Some people on the streets were in tears.

Mark Winstanley, 100km north-west of Santiago, said buildings had shaken and electricity and phone connections were cut but he could see no structural damage yet.

A university professor in Santiago, Cristian Bonacic, said that this was a massive quake but that the cities seemed to have resisted well. Internet communications were working but not mobile phones.

Chile suffered the biggest earthquake of the 20th century when a 9.5 magnitude quake struck the city of Valdivia in 1960, killing 1,655 people.

Residents to Evacuate Ahead of SoCal Storm

A sore headed for Southern California has renewed mudslide concerns and has residents of nearly 200 homes prepared to drop the foothills north of Los Angeles.

Sheriff's officials bequeath to go ahead the evacuations at noon Friday, ahead of the storm expected to loom in the evening.

Evacuations will occur juice La Crescenta and La Canada Flintridge, foothill communities burned last life span mark the bull base fire.

County governmental Work officials are expected to close complete Los Angeles County roads in the burn areas.

Rainfall totals as Saturday are expected to range between a district and three-quarters of an inch. However, forecasters report thunderstorms could bring downpours up to 1 1/2 inches esteem to burn areas.

Iran launches new destroyer

Iran has launched a new guided missile destroyer Friday, Iran's state-run news agencies reported.

The announcement comes at a time when nuclear watchdogs have accused Iran of working to develop a nuclear warhead for a missile.

The new vessel, called Jamaran, has the capacity to carry about 120 people and is armed with surface-to-air missiles, torpedoes and modern naval cannons, Iran's Press TV reported.

The ship is constitutes a major leap in Iran's naval technology and is the first in a class of ships that are being constructed, Press TV reported.

The announcement comes a day after the head of the United Nations' nuclear watchdog agency said Iran may be working secretly to develop a nuclear warhead for a missile. The assertion was part of a draft report by the International Atomic Energy Agency.

Tiger Woods says, 'I am so sorry' in public apology

In a tightly controlled televised statement, golfer Tiger Woods gave an apology Friday for his "irresponsible and selfish" behavior.

"I know I have bitterly disappointed all of you," said the golfer, dressed in a blue button-down shirt and a blazer. "For all that I have done, I am so sorry. ...
"I had affairs, I cheated. What I did was not acceptable, and I am the only person to blame."
The 15-minute statement was his first public appearance since his November car crash outside his home near Orlando, Florida -- the beginning of what would become a torrent of bad news for the golfer.

The 11 a.m. ET event, at the TPC Sawgrass clubhouse in Ponte Vedra Beach, was carefully managed, with a small hand-picked crowd as an audience.
Although some members of the media were invited to listen to Woods' remarks, they were not allowed to ask questions. The large majority of reporters and media were housed at least a half a mile away, where they watched the event on television.
Woods' mother attended, although his wife, Elin Nordegren, did not.


Woods spoke slowly and carefully as he stood at a lectern, which held a few pieces of paper.
After he finished speaking, he embraced his mother and a few others in the audience.
The golfer said he has been in therapy for "issues," which he did not explain. "It's hard to admit that I need help, but I do. I have a long way to go," he said, adding that he is taking the first steps in the right direction.

Responding to rumors, Woods said that his wife never hit him as some media reported in connection with the car crash, and that there has been an episode of domestic violence" in his relationship with his wife.

"Elin deserves praise, not blame," he said. He said the answers to questions as to whether he and his wife will remain together are between a husband and a wife.

The golfer's statement came amid the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship. Accenture is among the companies that ended its relationship with the 34-year-old superstar.

Accenture spokesman Fred Hawrysh said Thursday that the company did not think Woods' statement would be a distraction to the tournament, which began Wednesday in Dove Mountain, Arizona. Friday's session will begin well after Woods' remarks.

Woods -- who has won the event three times, according to GolfWeek Magazine -- has taken an indefinite break from his professional golfing career.

"I have tremendous confidence in the golf media covering the tournament," Hawrysh said, explaining why he thought the statement wouldn't take away from the golfing event.

Some golfers didn't agree, however. "It's selfish," Ernie Els told GolfWeek. "You can write that. I feel sorry for the sponsor. Mondays are a good day to make statements, not Friday. This takes a lot away from the golf tournament."

The highly managed conditions of the statement also prompted the Golf Writers Association of America -- which was invited to have three members present and then later negotiated to have six -- to boycott the event.

The association's president, Vartan Kupelian, said the group was still covering the event, but was simply not present in the room.

We're not going to have the ability to ask questions, as long as we're just going to be standing there like props, there's no point of us being in the room," he told.

Former sportscaster Pat O'Brien criticized the way Woods seemed to be controlling the news conference.

"He might as well have done this on YouTube," O'Brien said Thursday on CNN's "Larry King Live." "But I do think that he's got to subject himself to some sort of question-and-answer at some point, otherwise people are just going to -- it's already a disaster."

"If you listened to sports talk to radio today, he's just getting ripped to shreds," O'Brien added.
Tiger's agent said the golfer feels many of the issues he is dealing with are private, but he still owes his fans an explanation.

"While Tiger feels that what happened to be fundamentally a matter between him and his wife, he also recognizes that he has hurt and let down a lot of other people who were close to him. He besides let down his fans. He wants to begin the process of making amends, and that's what he's going to discuss," Steinberg said.

Woods crashed his black Cadillac Escalade into a fire hydrant and then a tree on November 27, just a few days after the National Enquirer reported he was having an affair with a New York nightclub hostess, who denied involvement.

Woods' seemingly perfect world began to crumble a day after he paid his $164 traffic ticket as an avalanche of infidelity allegations surfaced, threatening his 5-year marriage to Nordegren.
The couple has two children, Charlie, 1, and Sam, 2.

Woods issued an apology for "transgressions" that had let his family down, as several women reported they had affairs with the golfer -- including one woman who allegedly had Woods on a voicemail recording asking her to take his name off her cell phone because "my wife went through my phone and may be calling you."

Although AT&T and Accenture ended their relationship with the golfer, other companies, including Nike and Pepsi's Gatorade, continue to sponsor him.

Procter & Gamble's Gillette said it would stop airing commercials featuring the golfer for a while.