Palin: Wis. gov doing the right thing with unions

MADISON, Wis. (AP) -- Sarah Palin defended Wisconsin's governor at a tea party tax day rally Saturday, telling hundreds of supporters that his polarizing union rights law is designed to save public jobs.

Braving snow showers and a frigid wind outside the state Capitol building, the former Alaska governor and GOP vice presidential candidate told tea partyers she's glad to stand with Gov. Scott Walker. Hundreds of labor supporters surrounded the rally, trying to drown Palin out with chants of "Hey-hey, ho-ho, Scott Walker has got to go!" and "Recall Walker!"

Clinton visits Tokyo in show of support for Japan

TOKYO (AP) -- U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Sunday that America would stand by Japan, saying she was confident the country will fully recover from its tsunami and nuclear disasters.

"We are very confident that Japan will recover and will be a very strong economic and global player for years and decades to come," Clinton told Prime Minister Naoto Kan during a brief visit to Tokyo intended as a morale boost to the crucial U.S. ally.

Kan thanked Clinton for U.S. help with the crises triggered by a magnitude-9.0 earthquake on March 11 that unleashed a massive tsunami, wrecking cooling and power systems at a nuclear plant that has been leaking radiation ever since.