JAKARTA, Indonesia (CNN) - Another strong earthquake rocked Indonesia early Thursday as the Southeast Asian nation was reeling from an earlier jolt that killed more than 200 people.

The 6.8 magnitude quake Thursday hit southern Sumatra at 8:52 a.m. local time (9:52 p.m. Wednesday ET), the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said. Wednesday's earlier quake was 7.3 magnitude. At least 236 people are dead and more than 500 are injured, the Indonesian Social Ministry's Crisis Center said Thursday. It said it had little information on the missing and feared the death toll would climb into the thousands.

The second quake was on a smaller scale than the first, said meterology official Fauzi, who uses only one name. There were no damage reports yet.

Indonesian Health Minister Siti Fadillah Supari said she expected "the casualties and the damage of Wednesday's earthquake to be bigger than the 2006 Yogyarta earthquake, given the intensity and the spread of the damage." The 6.3 magnitude Yogyarta quake in central Java in May 2006, killed more than 5,000 people, triggered fears of an eruption of a nearby volcano and caused significant damage to a 9th century Prambanan temple.

Rustam Pakaya, the head of the Ministry of Health's crisis center, told CNN that hundreds had been injured in Wednesday's quake and that thousands may be trapped by collapsed buildings and houses.

WASHINGTON (CNN) - President Barack Obama concluded a meeting with top officials regarding U.S. policy toward Afghanistan, but any changes to the military strategy is weeks away, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said Wednesday.

Obama is under increasing pressure to decide whether the United States will commit more troops and resources to the
conflict in Afghanistan. Despite calls from some lawmakers to heed the suggestion from the top commander in Afghanistan to send more troops, the president has said his team will analyze the situation before making a decision.

"When it come to decisions as important as keeping this country safe and putting our troops into harm's way, the president has made it clear that he will rigorously assess our progress," Gibbs said.

On Wednesday, Obama and his team engaged in a "candid assessment" of the progress and obstacles in the war in Afghanistan, Gibbs said.

The meeting was the second of five planned conversations with his national security team, including military commanders, diplomats and civilian leaders. The next meeting with will be on October 7.

The controversy on what the president should do next comes as the top U.S. commander in the region, Gen. Stanley McChrystal, said the situation in Afghanistan is not getting better. Compared to just two years ago, the number of American troops killed by roadside bombs is up 400 percent.

McChrystal is expected to send his request any day for more resources to combat the insurgency in Afghanistan, according to a senior U.S. defense official familiar with the situation.

^–CNN's Ed Hornick contributed to this report.

WASHINGTON (CNN) - Freshman Congressman Alan Grayson refused to back down Wednesday from controversial remarks he made on the House floor the night before saying the Republican health care plan calls for sick people to "die quickly."

In fact, Grayson - a Democrat who represents a central Florida swing district that includes Orlando - made another floor speech in which he apologized to the dead and their families for not acting sooner on health care reform, and then defended both speeches on CNN's "The Situation Room."

"What I mean is they have got no plan," Grayson told Wolf Blitzer. "It's been 24 hours since I said that. Where is the Republican plan? We're all waiting to see something that will take care of the pre-existing conditions, to take care of the 40 million Americans who have no coverage at all."

"That's what I meant when I said that the Republican plan is don't get sick. And if you do get sick, die quickly."

Republicans pounced on Grayson's late-night speech and demanded an apology. "That is about the most mean-spirited partisan statement that I've ever heard made on this floor, and I, for one, don't appreciate it," Tennessee Republican Rep. Jimmy Duncan told Politico.

On Wednesday, Grayson apologized, but it wasn't the apology the Republicans wanted. Citing a Harvard University study released earlier this month that said 44,000 Americans die each year because they have no health insurance, Grayson called on Democrats and Republicans "to do our jobs for the sake of those dying people and their families."

"I apologize to the dead and their families that we haven't voted sooner to end this holocaust in America," he said.

That prompted National Republican Congressional Committee spokesman Ken Spain to issue a stinging rebuke saying that Grayson is "doubling down on his despicable remarks and he is dragging his party with him."

"This is an individual who has established a pathological pattern of unstable behavior," Spain said. "He is derailing the national debate on health care reform and embarrassing his constituents as a result."

But in a spirited discussion on CNN that included Democratic strategist James Carville and Republican strategist Alex Castellanos, Grayson stood his ground. He flatly rejected the suggestion that his remarks were the political equivalent of South Carolina Republican Rep. Joe Wilson's shout of, "You lie," at the president during his nationally televised speech on health care. "I didn't insult the president in front of 40 million people," he said. " ... When you don't have a plan, what that means is your plan is don't get sick. So what I said is true. What Joe Wilson said, on the other hand, is false."

Castellanos insisted that Republicans agreed with the Democrats on pre-existing conditions and would "stand with him 100 percent" if the president added such Republican-backed proposals as tort reform and allowing citizens to shop across state lines for insurance - a strategy Democrats say will drive insurance companies into the states with the most lax regulations.

"The congressman is at least giving the chance for the Republicans to look responsible. It's not fair to say that the Republicans have no plan. They actually do," said Castellanos, whose campaigns include George W. Bush in 2004, Mitt Romney in 2008 and Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and the late Sen. Jesse Helms of North Carolina in the 1990s.

Carville, who was Bill Clinton's lead strategist during his successful run for the presidency in 1992 and worked Hillary Clinton's campaign last year, congratulated Grayson for having "the courage to go up and say what he said."

But Carville backed away from Grayson when the congressman said that Republicans he believes are obstructing health care reform are "foot-dragging, knuckle-dragging Neanderthals.
"
"I would call (them) regressive as opposed to Neanderthal," Carville said.

Grayson also rejected comparisons between his comments and those of some Republicans, including former Alaska governor and GOP vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin, that the Democratic reform plan called for "death panels" to decide who would get life-saving treatments. "I said to myself, 'I wish Sarah Palin read the bill.' That's not what this bill says. That's a scare tactic," he said. "What I said is the god's honest truth."

Grayson said he decided to deliver his after-hours speech Tuesday after the Harvard study was released and he realized "we cannot go on any longer in this country where people cannot afford health care, where they coverage they got is good until they need it."

Calling for universal health care, he slammed "whoever it is that's causing the Republicans to fight tooth-and-nail against anything, absolutely anything, to have every vote come down to being 257 to 175 in the House, over and over and over again."

"Those are the people who are really disserving Americans," he said.

– CNN's Alexander Mooney contributed to this report.

By Matt Smith
CNN

DALLAS, Texas (CNN) - Texas Gov. Rick Perry on Wednesday shook up the ranks of a state commission that is probing whether a man executed in 2004 belonged on Death Row, forcing the commission to delay a scheduled hearing on the case.

Perry's replacement of the chairman of the Texas Forensic Science Commission and his refusal to reappoint two other members came two days before it had been scheduled to hear from arson investigation expert Craig Beyler, the author of the latest of three reports critical of the testimony that helped prosecutors convict Cameron Todd Willingham of murder in 1992. The governor's office told CNN the moves were a routine replacement of members whose terms had expired.

Perry, who says he remains convinced of Willingham's guilt, replaced commission Chairman Sam Bassett with John Bradley, the district attorney of Williamson County, near Austin. Another member, Aliece Watts, was replaced with San Antonio forensic pathologist Norma Farley. Perry also did not reappoint Alan Levy, a prosecutor in Fort Worth's Tarrant County.

As a result of the shakeup, the Forensic Science Commission put off Friday's scheduled session with Beyler, who was to answer questions about his conclusions in a public forum. The commission "will need time to regroup and reorganize," its staff coordinator, Leigh Tomlin, told CNN.

And Bassett said he had asked to be reappointed to the commission, but, "Obviously, Governor Perry had other plans." He would not say whether he thought his replacement was politically motivated, but added, "I'm worried the good work of the commission will get tabled."

Willingham was accused of setting a fire in his home in Corsicana that killed his three daughters. He insisted on his innocence until the end, and opponents of the death penalty say his case and the subsequent reviews may force Texas to admit it executed an innocent man. The Beyler report concludes that findings at the heart of Willingham's conviction - that the fire that killed his daughters was set deliberately - "could not be sustained" by either modern science or the standards of the time. Two previous reports by other experts also concluded that the fatal blaze was not arson, but Beyler's is the first commissioned by the state.

In Ardmore, Oklahoma, where his family lives, Willingham's stepmother said she was "shocked and disappointed" by the postponement of Friday's hearing. "What good is it going to be having a commission if they don't have the freedom to investigate and find out what really happened?" she asked.

But Corsicana police Sgt. Jimmie Hensley, the lead investigator in the Willingham case, dismissed the reports as "Monday-morning quarterbacking."

"I'm firmly a believer that justice was served," Hensley said.

– CNN's Ed Lavandera contributed to this report.

(CNN) - Beijing prepared for massive celebrations on Thursday for the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China.

The capital was to witness a grand National Day military and mass parade as well as evening gala, according to state-run Xinhua news agency.

About 200,000 soldiers and civilians - from veterans and athletes to space heroes and young people - gathered on Tiananmen Square Thursday morning for the parade aimed at showcasing achievements of the last 60 years, Xinhua reported.

Participants included a 1,300 member military band and a fly-past by China's first batch of female fighter pilots, Xinhua added. Chinese President Hu Jintao was among the leaders expected to observe the parade from the Tiananmen rostrum.

Rain-dispersal rockets fired into the area in surrounding provinces and regions to induce rain before it reaches the capital, in the largest weather-intervention effort since the opening ceremony of the Olympics last year, Xinhua reported.

From John Couwels
CNN

NASSAU, Bahamas (CNN) - John Travolta testified Wednesday that would-be extortionists threatened to go the media with stories implying "the death of my son was intentional and I was culpable somehow."

Travolta testified for the second time in a case against paramedic Tarino Lightbourne and former Bahamian Sen. Pleasant Bridgewater. The defendants are on trial on charges they plotted to extort $25 million from Travolta after 16-year-old Jett Travolta died from a seizure in the Bahamas.

Travolta and his wife, actress Kelly Preston, entered the downtown Nassau courthouse Wednesday morning surrounded by security personnel. The actor took the stand appearing nervous, and he he took a long, deep breath before beginning his testimony.

Travolta told the court a long-time employee of his became upset after learning someone was demand money of the actor in the wake of his son's death. The employee learned through the family attorney, said Travolta, that it was "in regards to a paper I signed in the Bahamas."

In earlier testimony, one of Travolta's lawyers, Allyson Maynard-Gibson, said Bridgewater approached her in the days after Jett's death on January 2, 2009, saying she had a legal client who had a document Travolta might want. Bridgewater gave her copies of the papers, which included ambulance dispatch reports and a paper signed by Travolta releasing the ambulance company from legal liability, Maynard-Gibson testified.

The paramedic expected Travolta would pay millions to prevent publication of the documents because "he would not want his name tarnished in media," said Maynard-Gibson. Bridgewater told Travolta's lawyer that her client believed the documents could suggest that Travolta was negligent by wanting to take his unresponsive son to his private jet for a flight to a Florida hospital, instead of going directly to a local hospital, she said.

In testimony last week, Travolta said Jett was found unresponsive by a nanny at the home on the island of Grand Bahamas, where the family was spending their New Year's holiday.

Travolta said he initially told the ambulance driver to rush them to an airport where his private jet was parked. Travolta, who is a pilot, said he wanted to fly his son to a West Palm Beach, Florida, hospital instead of driving him to one in Freeport.

The paramedic, however, asked Travolta to sign a statement releasing the ambulance company from liability. "I received a liability of release document. I signed it. I did not read it. Time was of the essence," Travolta testified last week. Travolta said that while he and his wife were riding in the ambulance with their son, they decided to divert to the hospital. At the hospital, Travolta was told his son "wasn't alive," he said.

On Wednesday, Travolta testified that he learned of a demand for $25 million or "stories connected to that document would be sold to the press."

"The stories would imply the death of my son was intentional and I was culpable somehow," said Travolta.

An attorney representing Bridgewater and Lightbourne asked Travolta if the defendants ever contacted or threatened him directly. Travolta said they did not, that he heard specifics about the situation through his attorneys.

From Laura Batchelor
CNN

(CNN) - A new policy at Tufts University prohibits students in dorms from having sex while their roommate is in the room, according to the university's 2009-2010 student handbook.

The Massachusetts university's formal rule also bars so-called "sexiling" - exiling a roommate from the room so the other roommate can engage in sexual activity.

The new policy "is really about consideration and respect for others and the need for students to be mindful of their roommates' need for privacy, study and sleep," university spokeswoman Kim Thurler told CNN. She said while she did not have an exact number of complaints from students about their roommates' behavior, "over the last few years the Office of Residential Life and Learning received approximately a dozen expressions of concern about this issue."

Callie Morton, a freshman at Tufts, told CNN affiliate WHDH-TV, "If someone is going to go and have sex while their roommate is in the room, I mean I think that's kind of gross. I think it's kind of funny that they would have to make a rule about it."

Thurler explained that if a problem is identified and brought to the attention of residence officials, the university will help the affected student have a conversation with his/her roommate to address the situation. "In some cases, we might intervene on behalf of the student," Thurler said, "and speak with their roommate directly and explain what is expected of them while they live in the residence halls."

Thurler wouldn't comment on possible disciplinary action by the university if a student breaks the rules.

From: Peter Bergen
CNN National Security Analyst

(CNN) - The would-be assassin of Saudi Arabia's Prince Mohammed bin Nayef, head of Saudi Arabia's counterterrorism efforts, hid his bomb in his underwear, apparently believing that cultural taboos would prevent a search in that part of his body, according to a Saudi government official close to the investigation.

The prince, head of Saudi Arabia's counterterrorism efforts, was slightly injured when the bomb exploded in the August attack.

Several news reports this week have said that the assailant hid the bomb inside his rectum, but according to the Saudi official, the government assessment discounted those reports, based on various factors. Among them: when the bomb went off there was flash of light, suggesting that the bomb was not hidden inside the assassin's body. Also, doctors consulted by the government judged that the toxicity of the plastic explosives would make them hard to hold for many hours inside the rectum, and the environment in this area of the body would make detonation "difficult," according to the Saudi official close to the investigation.

The would-be assassin - a Saudi member of al Qaeda who had fled to Yemen, identified as Abdullah Hassan al Asiri - posed as a member of the terror group willing to surrender personally to Prince Nayef.

Prince Nayef is responsible for overseeing the kingdom's terrorist rehabilitation program, and some two dozen important members of al Qaeda previously have surrendered to him in person, according to the Saudi government official.

During the month of Ramadan, traditionally a time of repentance in the Muslim world, al Asiri gained an audience with the prince at his private residence in Jeddah, presenting himself as someone who could also persuade other militants to surrender.

Under the cover of pretending that he was reaching out to other militants to surrender, al Asiri briefly called other members of al Qaeda to tell them that he was standing by Prince Nayef. After finishing the call, the bomb blew up, killing al Asiri but only slightly injuring the prince, who was a few feet away from his would-be assassin.

The Saudi government official characterized the prince's narrow escape as a "miracle."

NEW YORK (CNN) - GM is shutting down its Saturn unit, but a spokesman said the company anticipates no impact on plants or job losses.

The news followed an announcement that talks with Penske Automotive Group to acquire the once popular and award-winning manufacturer had fallen through.

GM spokesman Greg Martin said there would be "no anticipated impact on plants or related losses," but would not comment further.

By Terry Frieden
CNN Justice Producer

WASHINGTON (CNN) - As President Barack Obama huddles with key military advisers to talk about a strategy in Afghanistan, top officials charged with protecting the homeland Wednesday pointedly stressed the danger from terrorists in the Afghan/Pakistan border area.

In Senate testimony, the officials bluntly declared that despite recent arrests, they remain deeply worried about al Qaeda's intentions and plotting. "My greatest concern still is the ability of al Qaeda to use western Pakistan and Afghanistan as sanctuary," FBI Director Robert Mueller told the Senate Homeland Security Committee. "If you look at the most serious case we have had recently, the Zazi case, it was the training in Pakistan that gave them the capability of undertaking the attack," Mueller said.

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said she, too, was focused on the threat emanating from there. "Homeland security begins in many instances abroad, and particularly what happens in Pakistan and Afghanistan is a source for many of the threat streams that ultimately we are spending resources on, and there is an impact here in the homeland," Napolitano told the panel.

The director of the National Counterterrorism Center agreed that recent successes against al Qaeda had put more pressure on the organization, but had not deterred al Qaeda's intent on attacking U.S. and Western interests. "We assess that this [al Qaeda] core is actively engaged in operational plotting and continues recruiting, training and transporting operatives," Center Director Mike Leiter said.

Mueller said all of the officials are concerned al Qaeda has made "a concerted effort" to recruit in Western countries, allowing them "to fly under the radar" through operatives free to travel more easily.