U.S., Canadian forces performing military exercises to test defenses in Arctic

A U.S. MH-60R Seahawk helicopter prepares to land aboard the USS Harry S. Truman during combat and training operations above the Arctic Circle. U.S. and Canadian forces will perform training exercises in the Arctic until Thursday, defense officials said.

 File Photo by U.S. Navy/Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Joseph A.D. Phillips


March 16 (UPI) -- U.S. and Canadian military forces are conducting military exercises in the Arctic region on Wednesday, officials said, which have added significance with Russia's ongoing war in Ukraine.

The Pentagon acknowledged the drills earlier this week, which are regularly held by the military forces of the United States and Canada. The exercises began on Monday.

Officials said the joint drills are designed to test responses to aircraft and cruise missiles in the expansive and lightly defended northern region.

The recurring operation, which includes the North American Aerospace Defense Command, is called Noble Defender and officials say it demonstrates the countries' defensive capabilities in northern approaches.

"While the majority of the operation's flights will be conducted over sparsely populated arctic areas at high altitudes where the public is not likely to see or hear aircraft in Canada, there will be an increase in military presence and flying activity at Whitehorse, Yellowknife and 5 Wing Goose Bay for the duration of the operation," NORAD said in a statement.

"This iteration of Noble Defender will incorporate several assets from both Canada and the United States," Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said in a statement.

"During this exercise, NORAD fighters will conduct intercepts of U.S. Strategic Command bombers, representing threat platforms throughout the Arctic, from Alaska to Greenland."

NORAD commander Gen. Glen D. VanHerck said in a tweet that the exercise has "served the international community well for decades" and emphasizes the value of the Arctic as a "cooperative region where countries consistently work together to solve shared challenges."

As temperatures in the Arctic region have warmed, Russia has increased its military presence. Two years ago, Moscow sent long-range bombers to cross the North Pole and grazed Canadian airspace before turning back.

"[It is] not inconceivable that our sovereignty may be challenged" from the Arctic region by Russia," Canadian defense chief Gen. Wayne Eyre said, according to The Guardian.

The military exercises, which were scheduled before Russia's invasion of Ukraine, are scheduled to run through Thursday, NORAD said.

Yves Engler - Canadian Author and Activist

World's oldest blue-eyed black lemurs celebrate birthday

March 16 (UPI) -- The world's oldest blue-eyed black lemurs, Stewart and Bardot, are celebrating their birthdays, the Philadelphia Zoo announced.

Stewart turned 32 this past week, making him the oldest male blue-eyed black lemur, and Bardot turned 30, making her the oldest female blue-eyed black lemur.



"Blue-eyed black lemurs and spider monkeys are the only two primates other than humans that have true blue eyes. We're so thankful to have such an incredible animal care team and vet staff to keep this couple healthy and happy in their golden years," the Philadelphia Zoo said on Twitter.

Blue-eyed black lemurs are sexually dimorphic, which gives males and females different colors. Stewart has black fur while Bardot has tan fur.

The species is critically endangered and are considered to be one of the most threatened primates on the planet.

Texas National Guard troops posted at wealthy ranches as part of border mission

By James Barragán, The Texas Tribune

Members of the Texas National Guard were stationed outside King Ranch in January. Photo by Eddie Gaspar/The Texas Tribune

March 16 (UPI) -- Earlier this year, about 30 Texas National Guard members were ordered to stand watch outside some of the wealthiest private ranches in South Texas, more than an hour's drive away from the Mexico border, as part of Gov. Greg Abbott's highly touted mission to curb illegal immigration.

Placed at spots along U.S. Route 77 running north to Corpus Christi -- including the sprawling and renowned King Ranch and the GOP-connected Armstrong Ranch -- the troops were ostensibly meant to deter migrants and smugglers who might cross through private ranches to avoid detection at the U.S. Border Patrol checkpoint near the city of Sarita.

But service members with firsthand knowledge of the mission told The Texas Tribune that troops rarely saw migrants from their posts nearly 80 miles away from the border and were unable to give chase because they were not authorized to enter the private ranches if they saw migrants cutting through.

In practice, service members said, they stood around for hours, staring at each other and the highway, outside the private ranches -- some of which had their own private security.

"We really don't understand why we are there," a service member told the Tribune. "We're essentially mall security for ranches that already have paid security details to protect them."

The Texas Tribune is not identifying the service members because they were not authorized to speak to the media and feared retaliation.

Those troops said their time was wasted standing guard outside ranches with wealthy or politically connected owners when they could have been more useful at other posts closer to the border where they could be more effective to the mission, which is known as Operation Lone Star.

Representatives for the King and Armstrong ranches said they did not request the presence of the National Guard outside their ranches and that the troops were on the public right of way and not on their private property.

The service members are no longer stationed outside of the private ranches, service members said. They were removed in February, shortly after The Texas Tribune began asking questions about the deployment. Col. Rita Holton, a spokeswoman for the Texas Military Department, said the agency could not comment on the deployment because of operational security concerns.

The dispatching of troops to wealthy private ranches raises more questions about the use of National Guard troops, who have widely decried the mission as aimless, political and oversized, as the cost of the effort has ballooned to $2 billion a year. State leaders transferred nearly half a billion dollars to the Texas Military Department last month from three other state agencies to cover the mounting costs of keeping thousands of Texas National Guard troops on the southern border.

State Sen. Juan "Chuy" Hinojosa, D-McAllen, who represents a border district and sits on a committee overseeing border security efforts, said the reports of National Guard service members stationed at private ranches in the state's interior were "disturbing."

"I have no objections to them being on the border," he said. "But I certainly have concerns with military presence at private ranches. It would be a waste of time and of resources. There's better use of the National Guard on the border, not in the interior."

Even if the service members saw migrants crossing through ranches, they are unable to do anything because they do not have authority to go on the land and arrest them, said Hinojosa, who compared their deployment to scarecrows.

Abbott's office declined to comment and referred questions to the Texas Department of Public Safety and the Texas Military Department.

'Not much to do'

Abbott kicked off Operation Lone Star last March and ramped up its scale in September, leading to involuntary deployments with only a few days notice for part-time troops who have civilian jobs, lives and families. He eventually deployed 10,000 troops to the mission, many of whom have said they were not given a clear task or adequate training, equipment or lodging. A leaked survey of members of one of the six Operation Lone Star units found widespread skepticism and frustration with the mission.

On Monday, Abbott replaced the Texas Military Department's top leader after months of criticism.

In January, the Texas Military Department sent troops to stand guard outside the famed King Ranch, the largest ranch in the United States, which covers more ground than the state of Rhode Island.

It also sent troops to the Armstrong Ranch, the property of a longtime Republican family that has hosted GOP leaders like Karl Rove, former Gov. Rick Perry and former Vice President Dick Cheney. In an infamous 2006 incident, Cheney accidentally shot his friend in the face during a hunting expedition at the Armstrong Ranch. The injuries were nonfatal.

Troops were also sent to stand guard outside the ranch where Kenedy County Judge Charles Burns lives. Burns is a Democrat.

"These ranchers have enough money to do private security or have private security guard these gates," said the second service member who spoke to the Tribune. "The optics are just kind of crazy."

Jay Kleberg, a member of the family that owns the King Ranch who is running for land commissioner as a Democrat, said in a written statement that Operation Lone Star is a "colossal waste of taxpayer dollars" and a "serious threat to the health and safety of our Texas National Guard."

He said he did not have information on where the service members were stationed, but it was "beyond time to end Operation Lone Star."

"If it were up to me, these Texans would be home with their families and back at their jobs, not wasting their time on our border," Kleberg said.

The deployment along U.S. 77 consisted of multiple stations, each staffed with two service members and a Humvee. At any given time, 10 National Guard service members were posted along the highway leading to the Sarita checkpoint. With three shifts throughout the day, 30 service members were required daily to set up the points along private properties near the highway.

"Honestly, there's not much to do, if anything at all," said the second service member. "It's pretty boring just standing there for eight hours."

At the end of their shifts, service members then had to drive back to their living quarters in Harlingen, about 60 miles away.

State officials said the Texas Department of Public Safety and the Texas Military Department deployed personnel to the area at the request of the Kenedy County sheriff's office, a local property rights association and local landowners who were seeing migrants and smugglers cross their properties to circumvent the Sarita checkpoint.

"The migrants and traffickers were driving through ranch gates on several properties to the north and south of the Sarita checkpoint to avoid apprehension, and this was leading to costly damages and dangerous vehicle pursuits along the heavily traveled Highway 77," Ericka Miller, a spokeswoman for DPS, said in an email in response to questions. "In early January 2022, DPS and TMD began posting personnel at several rotating locations in the area in order to address these concerns."

While the state troopers and National Guard troops were there, Miller said, vehicle pursuits and reports of damaged properties dropped. But Miller could not provide any official statistics on the number of apprehensions or arrests from DPS before or after service members were deployed.

The Texas Tribune filed a public records request for those statistics, but DPS said it had no responsive documents. The Tribune also filed a request with the Texas Military Department.

State Rep. James White, R-Hillister, who leads one of the House committees that oversees the deployment, said data is needed to measure the mission's success.

"They have to have the data," White said. "Why do we have them here versus here? And with that data we can extrapolate success or needs improvement."

White, who supports the deployment, said leaders needed to listen to the troops on the ground about their concerns and explain to them the impact their deployment is having. He said the border mission is needed to combat human and drug trafficking through the Texas border.

Burns, the Kenedy County judge, said he had not requested the deployment of troops to stand guard outside his ranch but that he supported their presence there.

"If that's where they felt they need to be, I'm in agreement," Burns said. "Put them where they can do the best job."

Last year, Kenedy County received more than $700,000 from the state at Burns' request as part of Operation Lone Star's grant program for counties affected by the increase in migration through Texas.

The second service member said troops rarely saw migrants or smugglers. In 45 days, the troops had not seen "anywhere near the amount of activity as other strategic locations" along the border and were limited in their ability to apprehend migrants or smugglers.

The service member said troops were not allowed to enter the private ranches where they were standing guard. If they saw migrants or smugglers cutting through, the service member said, troops had to alert Border Patrol, which would then be tasked with chasing and apprehending the trespassers.

"It's strictly observe and report. If a [migrant] was coming toward us, we'd get on our radio and call Border Patrol," the service member said. "We can't act on any suspicious activity or any activity at all."

The first service member said they had seen "very little [migrant] presence" since the troops were deployed to the ranches, and the Border Patrol "has been the one to inform us of the presence and handled all apprehensions."

State Rep. Alex Dominguez, D-Brownsville, a vocal critic of Operation Lone Star, questioned the efficacy of the deployment of Guard members to the ranches.

"It is unfathomable to me why these service members would be stationed there other than for the optics of seeing a military vehicle manned by service members," he said in a statement. "If any immigrant would be moving northbound through the general area of the Armstrong or King ranches, they likely would avoid major arteries and travel through the brush. To my knowledge, the service members do not access the brush area."

'We needed it'

Among local officials, the deployment of troops along U.S. 77 was greeted with support.

"Since they've been there, the number of bailouts and the number of intrusions into private property and going through gates and fences has decreased," Burns said. "I think their presence has been very beneficial to the county."

Similarly, Kenedy County Sheriff Ramon Salinas said the presence of National Guard troops has helped deter migrants and smugglers and relieved the burden on his small agency.

"We needed it," he said. "They've come through for us, and I appreciate everything the governor has done."

Neither Salinas nor Burns could provide official evidence or data to show how the presence of the troops had deterred migrants and smugglers in the area, but Salinas said that anecdotally, ranch owners were happy that their fences were no longer being knocked down by smugglers who would cut through their properties to evade law enforcement.

"It's really made a big difference," he said. "Traffic has gone down."

But even with the troops stationed along the highway, Salinas said, ranches were still seeing groups of migrants walking through their properties to avoid the Sarita checkpoint.

"As soon as they get close to the checkpoint, they bail out and go through the ranches," he said.

That led one of the service members to question just how much impact their presence had on the deterrence of migrants in the area.

"If you can get in between us and still have the same effect, [then] they're [just] walking further," the second service member said. "They're just adapting to us being there, but there's no real data supporting us stopping this from happening."

Jessica Bolter, an associate policy analyst of U.S. immigration policy at the Washington-based Migration Policy Institute, said the continued presence of migrants and smugglers speaks to the limitations of an "enforcement-only approach."

"Simply increasing enforcement doesn't solve the challenges of unauthorized migration, particularly because there's never going to be complete 100% enforcement across the border," Bolter said. "Migrants and smugglers are always going to find new ways to cross through these areas as long as push-and-pull factors driving migration continue to exist."

While state officials may be serving local constituents by trying to prevent damage to their properties and trespassing, Bolter said posting personnel outside private properties so far inland is unlikely to reduce overall unauthorized immigration at the border.

In order to effectively curb migration, Bolter said, officials would have to address the reasons migrants leave their home countries, try to work with other countries that other migrants pass through and create an effective asylum system at the border.

"These are all things that the state government doesn't have the ability to do, which is why its response is always going to be somewhat limited," she said. "Even if it starts working as a deterrent in one area of the border, it's likely migrants will just shift to crossing in another area."

Uriel García and Eddie Gaspar contributed to this report.

This article originally appeared in The Texas Tribune. Read the original here.

The Texas Tribune is a member-supported, nonpartisan newsroom informing and engaging Texans on state politics and policy. Learn more at texastribune.org.

Advanced prostate cancers rates rose as use of PSA tests fell

By HealthDay News


Ever since routine prostate-specific antigen (PSA) screening tests have no longer been recommended, there has been a troubling rise in advanced prostate cancer cases in the United States, new research has found.

The tests measure the amount of PSA in the blood, and elevated levels can signal the presence of prostate cancer.

Routine PSA screening began in the United States nearly three decades ago, leading to a drop in both advanced prostate cancer cases and prostate cancer deaths. However, routine PSA screenings also increased the risk of overdiagnosis and overtreatment of low-risk prostate cancer.

This prompted the United States Preventive Services Task Force to recommend in 2008 against routine PSA screening for men over 75, and follow that with a 2012 recommendation against such screening for all men. That recommendation was amended again in 2018, to say that men aged 55-69 should discuss PSA screening with their doctors if they desired.

To assess the impact of reduced screening, University of Southern California researchers analyzed data on more than 836,000 U.S. men 45 and older who were diagnosed with invasive prostate cancer from 2004 to 2018.

Of those cases, advanced cancer was reported in more than 26,600 men ages 45 to 74 and in more than 20,500 men 75 and older.

Among men ages 45 to 74, the incidence rate of advanced prostate cancer remained stable from 2004 to 2010, but then increased 41% from 2010 to 2018.

For men 75 and older, the incidence rate decreased from 2004 to 2011, but then increased 43% from 2011 to 2018. In both age groups, the increases were across all races.

The findings were published Monday in the journal JAMA Network Open.

"This study is the first to document a continued rise in metastatic [advanced] prostate cancer using the most up-to-date population dataset," said co-lead study author Dr. Mihir Desai, a professor of clinical urology at USC's Keck School of Medicine.

"The discovery has important ramifications for men because prostate cancer, when caught early, typically through a screening, is very treatable and often curable," Desai added in a university news release.

"This data is very important as it indicates the need to constantly reassess the impact of policy decisions," co-lead study author Dr. Giovanni Cacciamani, an assistant professor of research urology and radiology at Keck. "Otherwise, we may see a continued rise in metastatic prostate cancer."

The reasons for halting routine PSA screenings may now be outdated, the researchers noted.

Co-author Dr. Inderbir Gill, chair of the urology department and executive director of the USC Institute of Urology, pointed out that urologic centers are finding new ways to improve patient outcomes.

"More refined strategies, including biomarkers and magnetic resonance imaging [MRIs], have already increased detection of clinically significant cancers, while active surveillance is increasingly used for low-risk and favorable intermediate-risk disease, thus mitigating the risks of overtreatment," Gill said in the release.

More information

There's more on prostate cancer screening at the U.S. National Cancer Institute.

Copyright © 2021 HealthDay. All rights reserved.

Study: Kids who spend more time on screens exhibit mental, behavior problems

As children spend more time using screen-based devices, such as tablets, phones and computers, their risk for behavioral problems and mental health disorders increases, according to a new study. Photo by Andi Graf/Pixabay

March 16 (UPI) -- Children who spend more time on using handheld devices and computers or watching television are more likely to exhibit behavior problems such as aggression, difficulties with attention, anxiety and depression, an analysis published Wednesday by JAMA Psychiatry found.

In the review of data from 87 studies with nearly 160,000 participants age 12 years and younger, more screen time during the day was associated with an up to 20% higher risk for behavior problems, the data showed.

The behavior problems exhibited by children with increased screen time included aggression and "inattention," the researchers said.

Children who spent more time using devices with screens, including phones, tablets, computers and televisions also were more likely to display symptoms of anxiety and depression, according to the researchers.

RELATED Study links kids' screen time during pandemic with rise in mental, behavioral issues

"When children under 12 are on screens for too many hours in a day, it may be associated with some behavioral problems, such as aggression or sadness," study co-author Sheri Madigan told UPI in an email.

However, the issue is not merely the "duration of screen viewing time" but also "how children engage with screens," said Madigan, Canada research chair in determinants of child development at the University of Calgary.

In 2020, the American Academy of Pediatrics relaxed its screen time guidelines to focus more on the quality of screen time as opposed to the duration.

RELATED Teen screen time doubled during pandemic, making mental health worse

The new guidelines encouraged parents, caregivers and educators to engage with children on their consumption of screen-based media and promote "meaningful" use, Madigan and her colleagues said.

Positive or meaningful uses of screen devices include those that involve education, keeping up with news and current events or connecting with friends and family, the researchers said.

Even "watching a movie with their siblings or gaming with friends online" can be "meaningful," in moderation, Madigan said.

RELATED Screen time rises, physical activity dives for U.S. kids, teens during pandemic

"When children use screens as a means of connecting with others, the association between screen time and children's behavioral problems has been found to be weaker," she said.

Still, recent studies have found that increased screen time, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic, has led to a rise in mental health disorders and behavioral problems among young people in the United States.

Increases in screen time have also been linked with declines in physical activity in earlier research.

"When children are watching screens for long durations, it is believed that this leaves less time to engage in other activities that we know are important for healthy development, including physical activity, sleep and off-line activities such as reading and homework," Madigan said.

Increased screen time can also adversely impact "positive social interactions with others," she said.

For this analysis, Madigan and her colleagues analyzed data from 87 studies conducted in multiple countries, including the United States.

All of the included studies were published before the COVID-19 pandemic began, according to the researchers.

"Many pandemic-related studies have reported that children's recreational screen time has doubled during the pandemic," Madigan said. "So, we may actually see associations get stronger as the pandemic continues."

Corgi falls overboard from yacht in Florida, swims 7 miles to shore



March 16 (UPI) -- A 1-year-old corgi who fell overboard from a yacht on the Indian River in Florida swam 7 miles to shore and turned up in a resident's yard.

Jon Atwood said he brought his dog, Jessica, with him when he went to help his mother and stepfather take their 65-foot yacht from Florida to North Carolina for the hurricane season via the Intracoastal Waterway.

Atwood said the vessel was passing under the State Road 520 bridge over the Indian River in Brevard County when he noticed Jessica was no longer standing at his feet

"When we couldn't locate her, we immediately put two small boats in the water and started canvassing the water to try and find her," Atwood told WKMG-TV.

The family couldn't locate Jessica anywhere in the nearby waters.

"Prior to Sunday she had never been in the water, so we had no idea if she would even knew how to swim," Atwood told the Space Coast Daily.

Atwood continued the search for more than 24 hours before posts about Jessica's disappearance on social media led to his being contacted by a resident in Rockledge.

Jessica had apparently swam 7 miles to the Rockledge shore and ended up in the homeowner's back yard.

Atwood said the homeowner who found Jessica refused a $500 reward.

"I just want to say thank you. Thank you for caring. Thank you for being kind and thank you for being compassionate," Atwood said.

CH4 responsible for more than 80% of recent atmospheric methane growth

Tropical terrestrial methane, or CH4, emissions are responsible for more than 80% of observed changes in the global atmospheric methane growth rate from 2010 to 2019, according to a study released Wednesday. Photo by Sun Gehui/Chinese Academy of Sciences Headquarters

March 16 (UPI) -- Tropical terrestrial methane emissions were the driving factor of changes in methane growth over the past decade, according to a study released Wednesday.

More than 80% of observed changes in the global atmospheric methane growth rate from 2010 to 2019 were the result of tropical terrestrial methane emissions, or CH4, according to the study published in Nature Communications.

One of the study's authors, Yi Liu, professor at the Institute of Atmospheric Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said CH4 was the primary non-carbon dioxide greenhouse gas.

"On the 20-year scale, the warming effect of CH4 is 84 times that of CO2," Yi said in a statement.

RELATEDClimate change could cause spike in hospitalizations for low salt, study says

The study found that methane concentration has more than doubled since the pre-industrial era, contributing 20% of current human-induced global warming with CH4 emissions as the main contributor representing about 60% of the global totals.

Researchers also discovered seasonal correlations between sea surface temperature over tropical oceans and regional variations in methane emissions in tropical regions in South America and Africa.

"Sea surface temperature variations could be used to help forecast variations in global atmospheric CH4," said another of the study's authors, Liang Feng of the University of Edinburgh.

A Global Methane Assessment by the U.N. Environment Program and the Climate and Clean Air Coalition study last May found that human-caused methane emissions can be reduced by up to 45% this decade, keeping the global temperature within the bounds of the Paris Agreement on climate change.

Last November, U.S. President Joe Biden said that reducing methan emissions is "one of the most important things we can do in this decisive decade" as he pledged the United States will hit its goal of net-zero emissions by 2050.

14th century sarcophagus unearthed at site of Paris' Notre Dame cathedral

Archaeologists unearthed ancient tombs and a 14th century sarcophagus while excavating underneath Paris' Notre Dame cathedral ahead of its reconstruction. Photo courtesy Roselyne Bachelot/Twitter

March 16 (UPI) -- Archaeologists discovered ancient tombs and a sarcophagus likely dating back to the 14th century at the site of the Notre Dame cathedral in Paris.

The excavation was ordered by the Regional Archaeology Service ahead of plans to reconstruct the cathedral following the 2019 fire that collapsed the roof and spire of the national landmark. Workers unearthed burial sites "of remarkable scientific quality" and a "completely preserved" human-shaped sarcophagus made of lead.

"The first analysis of the furniture contained in the embankment level above it could lead to dating this burial to the latest in the 14th century. Given the characteristics and location of the sarcophagus, the hypothesis of a burial of a high dignitary seems likely," France's Culture Ministry said in a statement Monday.



Along with the tombs, the excavation unearthed a pit just below the cathedral's current floor containing elements of sculptures identified as belonging to the original 13th-century rood screen which separated the altar area from the nave.

The Culture Ministry noted that French architect Eugene Viollet-le-Duc had previously found fragments belonging to the rood screen in the 19th century.

"Congratulations to [the National Institute for Preventive Archaeological Research] for the exemplary excavation site carried out at #noredameparis," Culture Minister Roselyne Bachelot wrote on Twitter. "It allowed important discoveries which will significantly enrich our knowledge of the cathedral."

NASA releases brilliant image of star from James Webb Space Telescope

NASA released the first image the James Webb Space Telescope has taken so far on Wednesday, March 16, 2022, using sharper focus, a brilliant blazing orange photo of a star in the constellation Ursa Major known as 2MASS J17554042+6551277. Photo courtesy of NASA


ORLANDO, Fla., March 16 (UPI) -- NASA on Wednesday released the first image from the James Webb Space Telescope after sharpening its focus, as the agency plans to start peering at the earliest galaxies in the universe.

The image shows a brilliant, blazing orange star know as 2MASS J17554042+6551277.

NASA officials said the telescope is working better than its minimum requirements, raising hopes for spectacular new astronomy discoveries.

"I'm happy to say that the optical performance of the telescope is absolutely phenomenal," Lee Feinberg, Webb optical telescope element manager, said at a press conference.

RELATEDJames Webb Telescope adjustments bring stars more into focus

"It is really working extremely well. We said that we would know the telescope is working properly when we have an image of a star that looks like a star, and now we have that and you're seeing that image," Feinberg said.

The new image of the star also reveals multiple galaxies in the background, Jane Rigby, Webb operations project scientist, said. NASA hasn't identified those galaxies yet, she said.

"Now, we took this image to characterize the sharpness, but you can't help but see those thousands of galaxies behind it; they're truly gorgeous," Rigby said. "There's no way that Webb can look for 2,000 seconds at any point in the sky and not so incredibly deeply. So this is going to be the future from now on. We're seeing back in time ... light as it looks billions of years ago without even really breaking a sweat."

RELATEDNASA releases first images from James Webb Space Telescope

She said the new image of the star is as sharp and crisp as the Hubble Space Telescope could achieve, while future images will be even sharper.

As a result, NASA officials are breathing a huge sigh of relief, Thomas Zurbuchen, NASA's associate administrator for science said.

"The sleepless nights I've had and the worries I've had -- they're all behind us now," Zurbuchen said, adding that additional challenges are ahead, but the majority of tasks to make Webb operational are achieved.

RELATED James Webb Space Telescope reaches final orbital destination

Previously, the agency released early images from the telescope as it was aligned. More alignment and focus is still scheduled for the observatory, which is in a unique orbit 1 million miles from Earth.

Earlier images showed 18 copies of a different star, one copy for each of the mirror's 18 segments. As scientists and engineers aligned those segments, NASA released another image showing a single, focused photo of the star that was fuzzier than the new image released Wednesday.



Webb was built over 20 years by an international partnership with the European and Canadian space agencies.

It launched Dec. 25 from Europe's Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana.

NASA plans to release the first science images -- with even better focus -- this summer after it prepares and commissions all instruments on the observatory.

"Webb will explore every phase of cosmic history -- from within our solar system to the most distant observable galaxies in the early universe and everything in between," NASA said in a news release Tuesday. "Webb will reveal new and unexpected discoveries and help humanity understand the origins of the universe and our place in it."

Webb is more powerful than the Hubble Space Telescope, partly because it gathers infrared light, whereas Hubble uses visible light spectrums. The two telescopes may at times work in tandem to observe space objects and phenomena.

Quake hits Japan off Fukushima coast, leaving at least four dead and reviving painful memories

A powerful magnitude 7.4 earthquake has jolted Japan's north-east coast off Fukushima late on Wednesday, leaving at least four dead and nearly 100 injured, reviving memories of an earthquake and powerful tsunami that crippled the same region just over a decade earlier.

Key points:

The earthquake struck 57 kilometres off the coast of Honshu island, at a depth of 60km

Japan's Fire and Disaster Management Agency confirmed two deaths and injuries to 94 people

According to Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, there have been no abnormalities at nuclear power plants

Just before midnight, the quake hit off the coast of Fukushima prefecture at a depth of 56 kilometres, the Japan Meteorological Agency said.

Afterwards, there were some reports of fire, the government said.

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said four people had died and the government would be on high alert for the possibility of further strong tremors over the next two to three days.

The quake severed transport links to the north-east, with Shinkansen bullet train service indefinitely suspended and at least one major highway to the region closed for safety checks.

The quake was felt in the capital, Tokyo, some 275km away, where the shaking of buildings was long and pronounced.

Hundreds of thousands of homes in the capital were plunged into darkness for an hour or more, although power was fully restored by the early hours of Thursday morning.



Early on Thursday, the Japan Meteorological Agency lifted its low-risk advisory for a tsunami along the coasts of Fukushima and Miyagi prefectures.

Some areas reported a rise in the sea level but no serious damage was immediately reported.

The agency upgraded the quake's strength to magnitude-7.4 from its initial magnitude-7.3 and the recalibrated its depth from 60km below the sea to 56km.Furniture and electrical appliances are scattered at an apartment in Fukushima, Japan, after the magnitude-7.3 quake. (AP: Kyodo News)

This quake comes just a week after the 11th anniversary of the devastating earthquake and tsunami that hit the same area in March 2011.

The 2011 disaster triggered a meltdown at the Daiichi nuclear plant in Fukushima, an incident Japan is still coming to grips with.

Mr Kishida told reporters there had been no abnormalities at the nation's nuclear power plants, although authorities had earlier said a fire alarm had been triggered at a turbine building at the crippled plant.

Separately, a Shinkansen bullet train derailed, with some 100 people on board, although there were no reports of injuries.

Utility Tokyo Electric Power Company said that initially around 2 million households lost power on Wednesday, including 700,000 in the capital.

Tohoku Electric Power said around 36,400 homes were still without power as of 9:00am local time on Thursday, although the firm said it expected most will have supply restored later in the day.

People walk along the streets in Toyko during a blackout after the earthquake plunged millions of homes into darkness for an hour or more. (AP: Kyodo News)

Strong quakes in Japan can disrupt manufacturing, particularly of sensitive electronic components such as semiconductors that are made using precision machinery.

The 2011 quake halted production for three months at a factory owned by Renesas Electronics Corp, which makes nearly a third of all micro controller chips used in cars.

A fire at the facility last year exacerbated a chip shortage that has forced auto companies to curb output.

Renesas said it was checking the condition of three of its plants — Naka, Yonezawa and Takasaki — and would afterwards provide a statement on whether production had been affected.

Meanwhile, Toyota Motor Corp said it had cancelled the day shift at two factories in north-east Japan after workers evacuated the plants during their evening shift on Wednesday.

The automaker said it would decide on the evening shift later.

In an attempt to cover the area affected by the Shinkansen outage, All Nippon Airways said it had added extra flights to the northern city of Sendai.

There were no forecasts of when regular rail service might be restored.

Japan's benchmark Nikkei stock average jumped, with no impact seen from the quake.

There have been reports of damage to buildings in Fukushima prefecture from the large earthquake that struck the region on Wednesday night.(AP: Kyodo News)