>Jury convicts Mexican trafficker of agent’s murder

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A federal jury on Tuesday found a Mexican drug trafficker guilty of second degree murder for killing a U.S. Border Patrol agent by deliberately swerving a truck at him in a dash back to Mexico to escape arrest.

According to the evidence presented at trial Jesus Navarro Montes, 25, struck U.S. Border Patrol agent Luis Aguilar with a Hummer H2 truck on January 19, 2008, in southern California, as he attempted to flee to Mexico.

Earlier that day, Border Patrol agents at the Imperial Sand Dunes close to the Mexico border in southern California spotted a pickup truck they suspected of smuggling narcotics, which was followed by the Hummer.

Aguilar and another agent set out a spike strip across an access road to stop the vehicles. But the Hummer swerved to avoid it, striking Aguilar before speeding south into Mexico. Aguilar died of his injuries at the scene.

Navarro was arrested in Mexico and extradited last year to the United States to stand trial.

After two hours of deliberation, the jury also found Navarro guilty on federal charges of conspiring to distribute marijuana.

“Our Office is gratified by the jury’s verdict in this case and appreciates the service of each juror,” Laura E. Duffy, the U.S. Attorney for the southern district of California, said in a statement.

The prosecution team’s efforts “honored agent Aguilar and the devastating impact this senseless crime has had on his family and colleagues,” she said.

Navarro’s defense had argued during the two-week trial that there was no forensic evidence or eyewitness testimony placing him behind the wheel of the speeding sport utility vehicle that struck and killed Aguilar.

Navarro pleaded guilty last month to a charge dating from a previous drug smuggling attempt in September 2007, in which he was arrested by Border Patrol agents as he drove a pickup truck packed with 979 pounds of marijuana, accompanied by an unidentified woman passenger.

While under arrest in a Border Patrol vehicle, the woman passenger jumped into the driver’s seat and drove them both back to Mexico.

In an unusual legal defense in his murder trial, Navarro claimed that the loss of a large load of marijuana, together with his arrest and escape from federal custody, had caused him to dropped by his Mexican drug smuggling ring. That is why, he argued, other members of the drug ring testified against him.

U.S. District Judge Michael M. Anello scheduled a sentencing hearing for June 27, at 9:00 a.m.

Navarro faces a maximum prison sentence of 40 years on the drugs charges and a maximum sentence of life in prison on the murder charge.

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>Libya: Gaddafi forces keep up assault on rebel cities

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Fighting has been continuing in Libya for key cities after a fifth consecutive night of air strikes.

Overnight several loud explosions were heard in Tripoli

In Misrata, a rebel-held city east of the capital, government tanks have been shelling the area near the hospital.

There have also been reports of fierce fighting between rebels and pro-Gaddafi forces in strategic Ajdabiya. Residents fleeing the town described shelling, gunfire and houses on fire.

In Misrata, Libya’s third-largest city, witnesses had said on Wednesday that tanks had pulled back from their positions under air assault from international forces.

But later residents said the tanks had rolled back into the city and resumed shelling.

An explosion was also reported at a military base in the Tajura region east of Tripoli.

Residents in Tripoli said plumes of black smoke could be seen coming from an area near a military base, although this has not been independently confirmed.

Earlier, the US chief of staff for the mission in Libya insisted there had been no reports of civilian casualties caused by allied action.

Rear Admiral Gerard Hueber’s comments come despite claims to the contrary by Muammar Gaddafi’s government.

Operational control

Earlier, British Air Vice Marshal Greg Bagwell said Col Gaddafi’s air force no longer existed as a fighting force.

AVM Bagwell said the allies could now operate “with near impunity” over the skies of Libya and were now applying unrelenting pressure on the Libyan armed forces.

“We are watching over the innocent people of Libya and ensuring that we protect them from attack,” he said. “We have the Libyan ground forces under constant observation and we attack them whenever they threaten civilians or attack population centres.”

His comments came as Nato members debated who should lead the intervention, with the US keen to hand over operational control to Nato.

Nato members have been holding talks about assuming responsibility for the no-fly zone over Libya, so far without agreement.

Turkey is an integral part of the naval blockade, but has expressed concern about the alliance taking over command of the no-fly zone from the US.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has again urged Col Gaddafi to step down and leave Libya.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has urged all sides in Libya to cease hostilities. “All those who violate international humanitarian and human rights law will be held fully accountable,” his spokesman Martin Nesirky said.

US Defence Secretary Robert Gates is in the Egyptian capital Cairo for talks on both Libya and Egypt’s hoped-for transition to democracy following the fall of Hosni Mubarak.

>AT&T and T-Mobile: Wireless megamerger(Video)

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The No. 2 and No. 4 wireless carriers announce a $39 billion merger deal that would create a company with nearly 130 million subscribers, easily leapfrogging Verizon Wireless for the No. 1 spot.

Wireless CEOs spar onstage at CTIA

Chief executives of AT&T, Verizon Wireless, and Sprint are forced to discuss the elephant in the room: AT&T’s proposed acquisition of T-Mobile USA.

• Audi signs T-Mobile, gets AT&T

(Posted in Signal Strength by Marguerite Reardon)

March 22, 2011 8:17 a.m. PT

What would AT&T, T-Mobile deal mean for Sprint?

Sprint Nextel may find it difficult to compete on its own if the deal between AT&T and T-Mobile is eventually approved by regulators.

(Posted in Signal Strength by Marguerite Reardon)

March 21, 2011 9:56 p.m. PT

AT&T: Buying T-Mobile speeds LTE shift in U.S.

Facing regulatory scrutiny, AT&T argues that buying T-Mobile USA will bring next-gen mobile networks to more Americans at a quicker clip and make the United States more competitive.

• Study: Verizon fastest among 4G networks

(Posted in Deep Tech by Stephen Shankland)

March 21, 2011 7:52 a.m. PDT

AT&T and T-Mobile: Good for whom?

analysis AT&T announces it will acquire T-Mobile for $39 billion. Though the carrier is preaching nothing but upsides for T-Mobile customers, I’m not so sure.

• Video: What consumers think about AT&T and T-Mobile merging

(Posted in Dialed In by Kent German)

March 20, 2011 8:09 p.m. PT

AT&T and T-Mobile–listen before you judge

analysis Consumer advocates have already condemned the AT&T and T-Mobile USA as “unthinkable.” But Larry Downes argues jumping to conclusions doesn’t help anyone, especially consumers.

(Posted in Signal Strength by Larry Downes)

March 20, 2011 6:02 p.m. PT

T-Mobile: Business as usual for now

In the wake of the AT&T acquisition news, T-Mobile assures its customers that nothing will change. At least for the next 12 months.

(Posted in Dialed In by Bonnie Cha)

March 20, 2011 2:54 p.m. PT

AT&T-T-Mobile merger: By the numbers

On the cusp of a historic mobile operator merger between AT&T and T-Mobile, a look at some key stats.

(Posted in Dialed In by Jessica Dolcourt)

March 20, 2011 6:16 p.m. PT

Current AT&T and T-Mobile plans compared

After the AT&T and T-Mobile merger news broke, one of the first concerns many T-Mobile customers had was with pricing plans.

(Posted in Dialed In by Nicole Lee)

March 20, 2011 9:51 p.m. PT

Will AT&T kill T-Mobile’s lovely anti-AT&T ads?

The news that T-Mobile USA is being bought by AT&T might mean the end of the T-Mobile campaign that attacks, um, AT&T.

(Posted in Technically Incorrect by Chris Matyszczyk)

March 20, 2011 1:58 p.m. PT

AT&T to acquire T-Mobile USA for $39 billion

T-Mobile’s 33 million subscribers will give AT&T the dominant position in the mobile market and leave the U.S. with only one GSM carrier.

(Posted in Wireless by Steven Musil)

March 20, 2011 12:03 p.m. PT

>Factbox: Restrictions on Japanese food imports

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The United States became the first nation to block produce from Japan’s radiation zone, saying on Wednesday it will halt milk, vegetable and fruit imports from areas near the tsunami-damaged nuclear plant because of contamination fears.

Here are steps other countries have taken to test or block Japanese food imports:

CHINA

Monitoring food imported from Japan for signs of radiation.

HONG KONG

Authorities in Hong Kong have been checking all fresh food imports from Japan for traces of radioactive iodine and cesium since March 12.

MALAYSIA

Testing all consignments from Japan. Health Ministry is monitoring the situation daily but has no plans to ban so far.

SOUTH KOREA

Testing for signs of radiation in fresh agricultural produce, dried agricultural and processed food from Japan.

Korea Food & Drug Administration (KFDA) said on Wednesday it would not ban Japanese food at this stage.

TAIWAN

Taiwan’s Fisheries Agency has advised local boats not to fish in Japanese waters after radiation was detected in the sea around the Fukushima nuclear plant.

The agency will check all catches on fishing boats returning from Japanese waters and destroy any catches with radioactivity exceeding permitted limits.

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

The United States will block imports of milk and fresh produce from areas of Japan near the crippled nuclear power plant.

All milk and milk products and fresh fruits and vegetables from four Japanese prefectures — Fukushima, Ibaraki, Tochigi and Gunma — will be stopped from entering the United States, the Food and Drug Administration said.

>Battles rage for control of Libya (Video)

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Anti-Gaddafi fighters continue to come under fire, unable to progress further in their fight to reclaim the town of Ajdabiya.

Finding themselves outgunned – and with no communication facilities and little structure to their forces – they have been left to run sporadic raids against troops loyal to Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, before coming under fire and returning to their orginal lines on the road from Benghazi.

Mohamed Hariri, a Libyan former special forces colonel, tells Al Jazeera the young volunteers, lacking experience and training, are brave “to the point of being suicidal”.

“They are really heroes,” he said. “Why else would these young people sacrifice themselves, so this country can have a better life?”

Airstrikes continue

Overnight, anti-aircraft fire erupted over the Libyan capital, Tripoli, after a day of heavy fighting between pro-democracy fighters and Gaddafi’s troops.

Gunner crews began shooting at aerial targets shortly after nightfall in the capital on Tuesday, four nights after an international military coalition launched an operation to enforce a no-fly zone over the country.

“We’ve been hearing big noises. We’ve heard some explosions in the last 10 minutes,” Al Jazeera’s Anita McNaught, reporting from Tripoli, said.

“We haven’t seen any smoke on the horizon. People are firing guns in defiance. We’re in the loyalist heartland here where people are utterly defiant of the international effort to force Gaddafi to surrender, as they would see it.

“The anti-aircraft fire has not been as intense [as Monday night when two naval installations outside the city were hit]. Perhaps they feel in the immediate neighbourhood that most of the significant targets have already been hit.”

The AFP news agency reported that at least two blasts were heard at a distance before the capital’s air defences opened fire.

Several strong detonations followed, said the journalists who were unable to determine the site of the explosions.

They said anti-aircraft fire streaked into the night sky for around 10 minutes, especially in the area near Gaddafi’s residence, not far from the hotel where the international press corps is housed.

In the previous night’s operations, the coalition air campaign suffered its first loss with the crash of a US fighter jet in the rebel-held east.

Both crew ejected safely.

The no-fly zone is intended to protect civilians from attack by forces loyal to Gaddafi in their battles with opposition fighters. The United States announced on Tuesday that it is shifting its focus to widen the no-fly zone across the north African country.

Despite the strikes, Gaddafi has remained defiant. The Libyan leader made a public appearance at his Bab Al-Aziziyah compound in Tripoli that was the target on Sunday of a coalition missile strike, Libyan state television reported.

In televised remarks, Gaddafi said Libya was “ready for battle, be it long or short”.

“We will win this battle,” footage showed him telling supporters at the compound. “The masses were the strongest anti-air defences.”

“This assault … is by a bunch of fascists who will end up in the dustbin of history.”

Fighting rages

The developments came after a day of intense fighting in the three Libyan cities of Misurata, Ajdabiya and Zintan.

Forces loyal to Gaddafi have been shelling Misurata for days, pressing their siege of the embattled western city. Four children were killed in the shelling on Tuesday and at least 40 people were killed on Monday, a resident said.

There was also fierce fighting further east in Ajdabiya. Opposition fighters were seen retreating in the face of an attack by government forces.

Al Jazeera’s Tony Birtley, reporting from an area close to Ajdabiya, said there had been clashes outside the city.

“There’s been heavy fighting and heavy shelling going on … the rebels told me there have been heavy casualties and there are a number of corpses between here and the town [of Ajdabiya] that they have been unable to reach,” he said.

Meanwhile, around 106km south of Tripoli, Libyan pro-democracy fighters forced government troops to withdraw from the outskirts of Zintan, breaking a siege of the town.

A resident of Zintan told the Reuters news agency that at least 10 people were killed in the bombardment by Gaddafi’s forces.

“Gaddafi’s forces bombarded Zintan this morning and killed 10 to 15 people,” Abdulrahman said.

“After the bombardment they retreated from the eastern area of Zintan. But they have not withdrawn from the northern area. There is still a huge number of soldiers there, backed with 50 to 60 tanks and several vehicles.”

>New CDs in Review, 3/22/11

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Jennifer Hudson, “I Remember Me” (Arista)

Jennifer Hudson knows how to live. She turned her loss on “American Idol” into an Oscar and Grammys for her debuts in film and music. She won roles in the hit “Sex in the City” flick, a successful Weight Watchers ad campaign and as Winnie Mandela in a coming biopic. She has a man and a baby.

That ebullience practically springs from Hudson’s pipes and radiates through even the few lackluster moments on her sophomore effort, “I Remember Me.” On a CD recorded (thankfully) with less production frippery than her first album, the powerful vocalist has just enough attitude and theatricality to express the dry humor of R. Kelly’s “Where You At.”

She’s never too cold or too hot as her rich alto saunters through the cocksure “I Got This” and the forlorn “Gone,” with occasional gruff huskiness in her voice. The sole misstep is “Feeling Good,” a Nina Simone classic, in which the bluesy track’s arrangement is somewhat formless for Hudson’s formidable presentation. Still, she sounds dynamic. A.D. Amorosi, Philadelphia Inquirer

Avril Lavigne “Goodbye Lullaby” (RCA)

It’s not easy for a skater/punk/mall rat to mature with grace.

Singer-songwriter Avril Lavigne can attest to that. Since her first rip-snorting CD, she’s played the hard-pop princess, the contemplative Hot Topic goth, and the cool, fawning doe. At each stop, Lavigne used melody and age-appropriate lyrical grappling as her guide.

This time, Lavigne’s reflections get the best of her, mulling as she does her divorce from Sum 41’s Deryck Whibley with a moping, emotional display that seems more like limp affectation than anything else. She can’t make angst work for her, in words or music. What works is when glossy hit-making mixer/songwriter Max Martin teams with Lavigne for the potent likes of the Farfisa-filled “What the Hell” and the catty, bratty “Smile.” Lavigne may not do a whole lot of grinning on those cuts, even when Martin boosts the bass and lifts “Goodbye Lullabye’s” energies. But it’s better to look good than to feel good in pop. Cheer up, A. A.D. Amorosi, Philadelphia Inquirer

>‘Miracle’ transplant gives dad fresh start

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The historic and ground-breaking full-face transplant conducted at Brigham and Women’s Hospital was aimed at giving hope to scores of severely battle-scarred soldiers of the Iraq and Afghan wars — but it also has given a brave little girl a daddy with a face.

A trailblazing team from Brigham and Women’s Hospital successfully completed the nation’s first complete-face transplant on a Texan left deformed by a high-voltage line accident. The only other full-face transplant was performed in Spain last year.

Dallas Wiens, 25, of Fort Worth underwent more than 15 hours of surgery last week by teams of doctors who worked to attach an anonymous donor’s nose, lips and skin, linking the donor’s facial muscles and nerves to his. The surgery was financed by the Department of Defense, which wants to develop ways to help disfigured soldiers.

“It’s a miracle, and he is determined to get well and make something of his life,” said Wiens’ grandfather, Del Peterson, who accompanied him to Boston. “His faith, and his will to live, and his youth kept him going.”

He also credits Wiens’ daughter, Scarlette, now 4, who was not yet 2 years old when he was injured, as a big reason to live after his world went dark.

“She’s the joy of his life,” Peterson said. Three years ago, doctors at the Parkland Hospital emergency room in Dallas told Wiens’ family he probably wouldn’t live.

“His whole face was gone, right down to the bone, and they called us in to say our goodbyes,” Peterson said. Wiens not only refused to die, he insisted on being with his little girl.

“The hospital introduced her to his injuries before she was 2, after they connected her with a child psychologist. The hospital said she wouldn’t recognize him, but Dallas said, ‘No, she’ll recognize my hands,’” Peterson said. Sure enough, he said, “Before she came in the room, he put his hands on his chest, and she said, ‘Those are Daddy’s hands!’ ”

Scarlette, back home in Texas, hasn’t seen her daddy’s new face, which remains swollen as he recovers. It could be months, but yesterday Wiens chatted with her by phone. With her youthful experience, the family isn’t worried this time that Scarlette won’t know her dad.

“I can recognize him through his personality and sense of humor,” Peterson said. “He’s determined to get well and make something of his life. He wants to go to college, and he has a lot of different interests.

“And I imagine that he’ll help other sightless people, too,” Peterson said.

Wiens already has. The Brigham and Women’s program that gave him a new face received a $3.4 million grant from the Department of Defense.

Facial transplant surgery remains in its infancy, with a few high-profile cases in France, Spain and the United States, while other patients wait, such as Charla Nash, the Connecticut woman mauled by a chimpanzee, a potential candidate for surgery at the Brigham.

Col. Janet R. Harris, a registered nurse with the Army Corps of Nurses, said yesterday that battlefield medical care has improved so much that there are as many as 100 American war veterans who might benefit from similar surgery.

“Many wouldn’t have survived before,” Harris said. “Eventually, we hope that this will move out of research and into the standard of care. We want to make sure our wounded warriors get covered . . . and get well.”

>Is Charlie Sheen headed to Fox — or back to ‘Two and a Half Men?’

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Is the Charlie Sheen machine heading back to “Two and a Half Men”?

As Sheen preps for his upcoming comedy tour, which kicks off at the Fox Theatre on April 2, a flurry of gossip fueled the public’s imagination Monday.

Chatter crafted by Hollywood Life magazine suggested that there have been meetings between Sheen and Fox bigwigs about the possibility of launching a new late-night show.

Meanwhile, radaronline.com unleashed a story suggesting that reconciliation talks are under way between Sheen and “Two and a Half Men” creator Chuck Lorre. CBS head honcho Les Moonves has reportedly been working on ways to put his top-rated comedy together again for the fall.

‘Detroit 1-8-7’ finale ratings

“Detroit 1-8-7” made its last stand Sunday night as its first (and maybe only) season came to a close. That’s sad news, and there’s even more discouraging news for fans who were hoping the season finale would help boost the show’s ratings.

The 18th episode of “1-8-7,” which was moved to Sunday from its usual 10 p.m. Tuesday time slot, drew about 4.7 million viewers nationally. Locally, nearly 340,000 viewers tuned in for the finale, according to figures provided by WXYZ-TV (Channel 7).

On Monday, during a freep.com Web chat, “1-8-7” creator Jason Richman popped up to let guests know that he and his producing team are committed to the series — and the city — and will be doing everything possible to ensure that it returns for a second season.

ABC isn’t expected to reveal the fate of “1-8-7” until it announces its 2011-12 schedule in May.

Miss USA due at fund-raiser

Reigning Miss USA Rima Fakih of Dearborn is scheduled to make an appearance at the Fallen and Wounded Soldiers Fund’s sixth annual dinner and auction Saturday.

WDIV-TV (Channel 4)’s Chuck Gaidica will host the event, which will feature keynote speakers Oliver North and Kirk S. Lippold.

The soldiers group is a Livonia-based nonprofit organization that is dedicated to assisting veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars and their families. The event is being produced in coordination with Families United and Operation Care Package Michigan.

Tickets for the event at the Suburban Collection Showplace (formerly Rock Financial Showplace) are $100 per person. For more, call Ann Cornelius at 248-346-5976 or e-mail ann4fwsf@aol.com .

Seger adds second Detroit date

There’s another hometown show for Bob Seger: The Detroit rocker has added a May 17 date at the Palace of Auburn Hills to go with the already-scheduled May 19 show at the arena.

Seats for both shows will go on sale at 10 a.m. Saturday through Ticketmaster and at the Palace box office.

The concerts are part of a spring tour that kicks off Saturday in Toledo. It’s the first tour for Seger and his Silver Bullet Band since 2007, and it comes as the much-loved Michigan star nears the release of his first album in five years.

Zingerman’s chef up for award

Zingerman’s Roadhouse executive chef Alex Young is one of five finalists for the James Beard Foundation’s 2011 Best Chef: Great Lakes award. The Beard competition is considered the most prestigious in the United States for food professionals and others in the food and wine world.

This is the fifth time the Ann Arbor chef has been a finalist in the Beard awards. Nominees in all 55 awards categories are at JBFAwards.com.

Winners for chefs and other industry professionals will be announced in New York on May 9.

Briefly

• WCSX-FM (94.7) morning jock Ken Calvert is looking for a local classic rock outfit that has the goods to open up for Eddie Money at DTE Energy Music Theatre on May 27.

To get started with KC’s Big Break contest, local rockers just need to film (and then upload) a video of a performance. Voting is scheduled to begin in mid-April before the top five finalists rock out during a showdown scheduled for May.

For more, listen to KC on WCSX in the mornings or head to wcsx.com/bigbreak/.

• Eddie Murphy will receive the Comedy Icon Award during the inaugural Comedy Awards, organizers announced Monday. Featuring Tina Fey, Jon Stewart, Jimmy Fallon, Louis C.K., Stephen Colbert, Kristen Wiig and more, the Comedy Awards will air over multiple MTV networks April 10.

>Breaking News: Gaddafi vows ‘no mercy’ in attack on Benghazi

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TRIPOLI: Libyan strongman Muammar Gaddafi said his forces will soon launch an assault on rebel stronghold Benghazi, saying “traitors” would be showed no mercy but those who laid down their arms would be spared.

“The decision has been taken. Prepare yourselves. We will arrive tonight,” Gaddafi said on state television.

“We will chase the traitors from Benghazi,” he told his troops. “Destroy their fortifications. Show them no mercy. The world needs to see Benghazi free.”

Meanwhile, he said “those who surrender and throw down their arms will be saved.”

Sticking to recurring claims throughout the month-old rebellion that al-Qaida is behind it, Gaddafi said “we will hunt down the miscreants and bearded ones that have destroyed out country and we will punish them without mercy.”

“We will also punish the mercenaries who have served them,” he added, without saying to whom he was referring.

Gaddafi said the insurgents “take their strength from lies, and you do not have to spare them.”

Touching on another recurring theme of his public statements about the rebels, he said they needed to be “hunted down in every neighbourhood, every street, every house.”

Gaddafi, who came to power in a bloodless 1969 coup against Libya’s monarchy, said “I freed Benghazi with my rifle, and Benghazi will not betray me. Tomorrow Benghazi will be free.”

He accused the rebels of using people who had fled from prisons, criminals and murderers to do the “traitorous acts.”

This “handful of drug addicts and criminals are in the process of making a racket so that the Americans and the Europeans can come into hour houses, humiliate you and stain your honour.”

>U.S. Sounds Alarm on Radiation(Video)

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TOKYO—Fear about radiation dangers posed by Japan’s nuclear crisis spiked as the U.S. instructed its troops and citizens to stay at least 50 miles away from the crippled reactors—establishing a “no-go” zone far wider than the buffer recommended by the Japanese government itself. And in a vivid sign that Japan’s leadership is trying to move decisively to take control of the deepening crisis, the nation’s military force dispatched two helicopters Thursday morning local time to dump water over the crippled Fukushima Daiichi power complex in hopes of taming its dangerously overheating nuclear facilities. The effort targeted a pool of spent nuclear fuel at reactor No. 3. Defense Minister Toshimi Kitazawa said the water would help cool the spent fuel, lessening the risk of a catastrophic fire, if the water hit its target.

Mr. Kitazawa also said 11 water-cannon trucks were to be deployed at the plant Thursday afternoon in a further effort to cool the overheating waste.

Japan’s nuclear regulator also announced that it was working to connect outside power cables to two of the units at the stricken plant, in hopes of restarting their cooling pumps. They hoped to have the cables available by Thursday afternoon.

Restarting the pumps would mark a major advance in the effort to prevent the nuclear disaster from worsening.

Japan’s widening government involvement came as international skepticism built up. Late Wednesday, the U.S. State Department authorized the voluntary evacuation of dependents of U.S.-government personnel based in northeast Japan. The State Department also added that U.S. citizens in Japan consider departing, and reiterated its caution that citizens defer travel to the country at this time.

Earlier in the day, the top U.S. nuclear regulator, Gregory Jaczko, called radiation levels at one of the plant’s units “extremely high,” adding that, “for a comparable situation in the United States we would recommend an evacuation for a much larger radius than is currently being provided in Japan.”

Previously the U.S. had agreed with Japanese officials that a 12-mile evacuation zone was adequate. The change came after the NRC ran computer-modeling exercises using “the best available information we have” about the damaged reactors along with accumulated knowledge about how systems inside nuclear plants perform under “severe accident conditions,” a spokesman with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission said.

Asked why the U.S. set a broader “no-go” zone than did Japan, government spokesmen Yukio Edano said in a press conference that it was understandable to make a more “conservative decision” when trying to ensure the safety of citizens abroad, in a country where it doesn’t exert direct control. He reiterated that Japan’s government feels it is taking appropriate measures.

Also on Wednesday, the U.K. government advised its citizens in the city of Tokyo, a full 150 miles from the nuclear site, to “consider leaving the area” due to increasing infrastructure problems. The European Union’s energy chief, Guenther Oettinger, also declared the Fukushima Daiichi site “effectively out of control.” A spokeswoman for Mr. Oettinger later said the commissioner’s remarks reflected his own personal views, and weren’t based on privileged information.

Stock markets staged large swings, reflecting the depth of anxiety world-wide. “Every investment decision is made through the prism of what is going on in Japan,” said Phil Orlando, chief equity strategist at Federated Investors. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 2% lower at 11613. Thursday morning, Tokyo shares slid 2.1%.

Late Wednesday, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said it was deploying additional radiation monitors out of “an abundance of caution.” The EPA already monitors the air for radiation via a national network of approximately 140 stationary and mobile devices. The agency said it sent additional monitors to Alaska and plans to send some to Hawaii.

Officials with the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the Energy Department say they don’t expect harmful radiation levels to reach the U.S.

As part of the government effort to take on a larger role in the crisis management, on Wednesday plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co., or Tepco, said 20 government officials had moved into the company’s offices as part of a joint crisis headquarters.

The government’s use of helicopters to dump water on the site was ordered by Economics Minister Banri Kaieda. “The minister considered the situation to be dangerous and judged there was an imminent necessity to issue the order,” said a spokesman for the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency, which is part of Mr. Kaieda’s purview. “After learning that Tepco was not injecting cooling water, he judged it to be very dangerous.”

Two helicopters made two trips each, scooping up tons of seawater in a massive bucket and then trying to dump it into a pool used to store waste-fuel at reactor No. 3. An earlier explosion had blown the roof off of the building, exposing the storage pool and making the helicopter mission possible.

Because of radiation risk, the helicopters had to maintain considerable altitude. A government official said it wasn’t yet clear whether the water hit its target.

The race to build an emergency power supply for the crippled plant, combined with details from the early moments of the crisis, highlight new questions about the design and safety record of the facility, which is Japan’s oldest.

Common to all nuclear plants is this fundamental design problem: Engineers try to make the equipment impervious to one threat, but that may make it vulnerable to another.

In this case, the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear complex’s back-up diesel-powered generators were built below ground level. This bunker-like positioning would protect the generators from an air strike, cyclone or typhoon—but made them more vulnerable to an earthquake-driven tsunami.

When last week’s giant waves struck, they immobilized the generators despite being designed to protect against water. The tsunami also apparently washed away the generators’ fuel tanks, which were above ground.

“The earthquake and tsunami we had last week both exceeded our engineering assumptions by a long shot,” said Tetsuo Ito, head of Kinki University’s Atomic Energy Research Institute, near Osaka. “The nuclear industry around the world probably will have to review how we set those assumptions in designing a nuclear power plant.”

Another area of scrutiny is the proximity of the plant’s six reactors to one another. Damage to one reactor contributed to damage to another, and their proximity hindered a recovery.

This arrangement can be found at other plants, because it can make it easier to move equipment around and helps to keep a smaller work force, said Mr. Ito. But now it looks like a “bad idea,” he said. “We need to strike a better balance of operational efficiency and safety.”

Terry Pickens, director of nuclear regulatory policy at Xcel Energy Inc. of the U.S., said there is no cookie-cutter reactor of the vintage of the Fukushima units because utilities in those days hired their own engineering firms and architects, and customized the plants’ designs. At Xcel’s Monticello plant in Minnesota, diesel generators are kept as far apart as possible so that “a natural phenomenon isn’t likely to take both of them out,” Mr. Pickens said.

The Japanese plant lost power during Friday’s earthquake. The three active reactors shut off automatically as designed, but a lack of electricity left workers unable to operate their cooling systems, leading to overheating. Tepco says the tsunami paralyzed all but one backup generator.

In a weekend briefing, Tepco Managing Director Akio Komori cited the elevation of the backup generators as one potential issue. A Tepco spokesman confirmed the remarks, adding that a full probe will have to wait while workers try to bring the reactors under control.

A spokesman for Japan’s Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency, the nation’s nuclear-power regulator, said Fukushima Daiichi’s emergency-generator design is “fairly prevalent” at other Japanese plants. The spokesman, Shigekatsu Ohmukai, disputed that the elevation of the generators was a problem. The agency, he said, had concluded that the plant could withstand a certain size of tsunami but “obviously the tsunami caused by Friday’s earthquake exceeded our assumptions. That’s the problem.”

Tepco tested the Fukushima Daiichi plant to withstand an earthquake magnitude of 7.9—a level of seismic activity the power company thought wouldn’t be surpassed in the area, according to company documents on its website from 2010. The quake that struck Friday, however, was about 10 times as big as that theoretical maximum.

In the U.S., where there are 23 similar reactors operated by 11 different companies, backup generators typically are housed in bunker-like buildings at ground level. They are designed with watertight fittings that are intended to keep out water from floods or hurricanes.

General Electric Co. designed three of the six reactors for Tepco at the Daiichi complex but it didn’t determine the layout of every piece of equipment, a company spokesman said. Some of that was done by architects and engineers hired by Tepco. He added that the main problem was the larger-then-expected tsunami, not the generator placement.

The Daiichi plant was central to a falsified-records scandal a decade ago that led Tepco to briefly shut down all its plants and led to the departure of a number of senior executives. Nuclear experts say that led to a number of disclosures of previously unreported problems at the plant.