City news headlines by Juliana Schatz.

In Japan officials are encouraging evacuation from a wider area around the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant. The reactors, damaged in the tsunami earlier this month, are showing signs of cracks, or breaches. This could mean that toxic “mox fuel” made of uranium and plutonium could be released. Dr. Man-Sung Yim, an associate professor of nuclear engineering at the University of North Carolina, says the worst hasn’t happened yet. If it did, we would know.

Government forces in Syria opened fire today on crowds of protesters chanting “Freedom.” Syria’s anti-government demonstrations erupted just a week ago and show no sign of letting up. I spoke with Joshua Landis, a Middle East expert at the University of Oklahoma who writes a daily newsletter on Syrian politics. He thinks it’s too soon to say whether the unrest in Syria will mirror what’s been happening in nearby Arab countries.

One hundred years ago today, a fire at a Shirtwaist Factory in Greenwich Village killed 146 workers. A commemoration this morning honored the dead — and the progress of labor unions following the fire.

As the lines between separate religions become blurrier, interfaith ministers are finding more demand for their services.

Local, National and International news headlines by Columbia Radio News.

New York’s census numbers have just come out this week. And this year, new population numbers mean the lines of congressional districts need to be re-drawn. As the rules stand now, the state legislature is responsible for this so-called redistricting. But Democratic State Senator Mike Genarris has been working on legislation to change that. He says we need to form a non-partisan redistricting panel … made up of New Yorkers who aren’t politicians.

We all feel a tinge of dismay, when we pull a rotting tomato out of the refrigerator, or pop open a foul smelling jar that might have held dinner. But for our commentator, Alex Alper, a returned peace corps volunteer, wasting food is more than a nuisance: it’s the cause of a crusade.

When commentator Sandhya Dirks moved to New York, she found out what it meant to become a sibling for the first time.

New statistics show that murders are down across New York City, except in one group: young African American men. Last year the state launched a new gang and gun violence prevention program called SNUG – that’s guns spelled backwards – that uses outreach workers to go directly into gang territory and diffuse violent situations. But SNUG is in danger of losing its funding.