The Note’s Must-Reads for Tuesday, March 15th, 2011

Compiled by ABC News Digital News Associates and Desk Assistants, CLAUDIA MORALES, JAYCE HENDERSON and JORDAN MANOR

The Note's Must-Reads are a round-up of today's political headlines and stories from ABC News and the top U.S. newspapers. Posted Monday through Friday right here at www.abcnews.com

JAPAN/TSUNAMI:
ABC News’ David Muir, Jessica Hopper, and Dean Schabner: “Japan Earthquake: Third Reactor at Fukushima Nuclear Plant Explodes” A new explosion at a Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant reactor in Japan early Tuesday may have left the reactor leaking water, according to the company that runs the plant.  A senior U.S. official said the blast — the third in three days at the plant since a powerful earthquake struck Japan on Friday — may be more dangerous than the others.  While the two previous explosions — at Fukushima Daiichi reactors No. 1 and 3 — were hydrogen blasts caused by a buildup of steam in the reactor units, the new blast at reactor No. 2 has officials unsure of the cause.  LINK

ABC News’ Olivia Katrandjain: “Japan Quake Magnitude upped to 9.0 as Officials Do Grim Accounting of Quake, Tsunami” Japan is taking a grim accounting of the catastrophe and the figures are daunting — from the number of people without electricity to the number of body bags needed.  Now, there's a new figure — 9.0, the new order of magnitude of the massive earthquake, upgraded by U.S. and Japanese scientists from their earlier estimate of 8.9 magnitude.  Four days after the quake and tsunami struck, thousands of Japanese along the coast are struggling without food, water and power as the temperatures hovered above freezing.  LINK

LA Times’ Ralph Vartabedian, Laura King, and Thomas H. Maugh II: “Third explosion rocks Japanese nuclear plant” Japan's nuclear crisis reached new heights as a third explosion rocked the crippled Fukushima power plant and officials acknowledged that the radioactive fuel inside one of the damaged reactors was in jeopardy of melting down.  The reactor, about 150 miles north of Tokyo, "is not necessarily in a stable condition," Japan's chief Cabinet secretary, Yukio Edano, said at a news conference Tuesday. Prime Minister Naoto Kan called the situation "worrisome." The explosion followed an acknowledgement from Tokyo Electric Power Co., which owns the plant, that, due to human error, the fuel rods inside the plant's No. 2 reactor had been at least partially exposed to air for more than two hours, allowing them to heat up and causing a buildup of explosive hydrogen gas. Outside experts said it was a grave development that heightened the risk of an uncontrolled release of radiation into the environment.  LINK

NY Daily News’ Meena Hartenstein: “Glenn Beck: Japan earthquake could be ‘message’ from God to follow Ten Commandments” Glenn Beck says Japan's earthquake might be a "message" from God.  "We can't see the connections here," he said on his show Monday. "I'm not saying God is causing earthquakes – well I'm not not saying that either!" "What God does is God's business," Beck continued. "But I'll tell you this…there's a message being sent. And that is, 'Hey you know that stuff we're doing? Not really working out real well. Maybe we should stop doing some of it.' I'm just saying."LINK

The Hill’s Ben German: “Japan reactor crisis: Obama, Republicans still back nukes” The Obama administration and senior Republicans offered a fresh show of support for nuclear power Monday even as the crisis involving Japanese reactors deepened.  The frenzied effort to contain overheating reactors at Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi power station — one of several plants facing problems after Friday’s massive earthquake and tsunami — has injected further uncertainty into the nuclear industry’s push to build what would be the first new U.S. reactors in decades.  LINK

LA Times’ Ken Bensinger: “Japan quake likely to affect businesses globally” With the scale of the disaster in Japan still being measured, concerns are growing that last week's earthquake and tsunami could lead to a long-term disruption in the world's supply of automobiles, consumer electronics and machine tools.  Japan is the world's third-largest economy and a huge exporter of cars, electronic components and industrial equipment as well as steel, textiles and processed foods. In turn, it's a voracious consumer of petroleum, imported agricultural products and luxury consumer goods.  LINK

BUDGET/ECONOMY:
The Washington Post’s Jon Cohen: “Poll: Budget impasse cements public’s disapproval of Washington” The early battles in Washington this year have cemented the public’s disapproval of the political system and the country’s leadership, with confidence in congressional Republicans sagging and majorities disapproving of how President Obama is handling top domestic issues, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll. LINK

The Wall Street Journal’s Laura Meckler: “Taking the Budget Debate to School” President Barack Obama called on Congress Monday to overhaul the No Child Left Behind education law, the third time this month he has focused on education in a bid to gain advantage in the federal budget battle. LINK

The Washington Time’s Stephen Dinan: “Cutting budget tougher as fiscal year’s funds dwindle” When the House voted last month to cancel a military jet engine project, it didn’t just halt the spending, it said the program should get zero money this fiscal year. The only problem — it’s five months into the fiscal year, and the Defense Department says the project already has spent $140 million. LINK

Politico’s Carrie Budoff Brown: “President Obama staying in background on deficits” When President Barack Obama opened the first meeting of his fiscal commission last April, he promised to be “standing with them” as they produced recommendations for curbing the nation’s escalating debt. LINK

FOREIGN AFFAIRS:
LA Times’ Ken Dilanian: “Petraeus to face Congress as Afghanistan war doubts grow” When Gen. David H. Petraeus appears before Congress on Tuesday to tout progress in Afghanistan, he will face a series of pessimistic assessments about the state of the war, including the intelligence community's conclusion that tactical gains achieved by a U.S. troop surge have failed to fundamentally weaken the Taliban.  A year after the launch of a revamped counterinsurgency strategy, several major obstacles persist: The government of President Hamid Karzai is viewed as corrupt and ineffective, the Taliban exhibits a fierce will to fight, and the enemy enjoys safe havens in the tribal areas of Pakistan that drone strikes can disrupt but not eliminate, according to public U.S. intelligence assessments.  LINK

ABC News’ Kirit Radia: “U.S. names Chris Stevens Liaison to Libyan Opposition” The Obama administration’s new liaison with the Libyan opposition will be diplomat Chris Stevens, who had been the number two official at the U.S. Embassy in Tripoli until it was suspended when fighting began last month, according to two U.S. officials.  Stevens attended Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's meeting in Paris tonight with representatives of the Libyan opposition, as did the U.S. Ambassador to Libya Gene Cretz, who has also had contacts with the opposition. LINK

NY Daily News’ Lukas Alpert: “Secretary of State Hillary Clinton meets with Libyan rebel leaders; Britain, France push no-fly zone” France and Britain stepped up calls Monday for a no-fly zone over Libya as troops loyal to strongman Moammar Khadafy continued to batter rebel forces.  The push for increased international action came as Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton arrived in Paris to meet with diplomats from the Group of Eight countries and Libyan opposition figures.  LINK

 GOP:
The Hill’s Erik Wasson: “Tea Party opponents complicate GOP vote on new stopgap bill” Conservatives in the House and Senate announced their opposition Monday to the latest GOP short-term spending measure, complicating an expected House vote on Tuesday. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), a Tea Party favorite, and Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), chairman of the 176-member-strong House Republican Study Committee (RSC), both said they would oppose the Republican bill to keep the government operating for three weeks.  Rubio and Jordan had both voted in favor of an earlier stopgap spending measure, and their opposition will give cover for more Republicans to buck their leaders on the new legislation, which is intended to buy time for further negotiations on a measure to fund the government longer. LINK

GUN CONTROL:
The New York Times’ Jackie Calmes: “N.R.A. Declines to Meet with Obama on Gun Policy” More than two months after the Tucson shootings, the administration is calling together both the gun lobby and gun safety groups to find common ground. But President Obama has no plans to take the lead in proposing further gun control legislation, aides say, and the nation’s major gun rights group is snubbing the invitation. LINK

ABC VIDEOS:
“Second Nuclear Explosion in Japan” LINK

“Wall of Water Slams Japanese Town” LINK

“Moment of Impact: Surreal New images” LINK

“Obama: ‘We Will Stand With The People of Japan” LINK

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