The latest estimates of the death toll from Friday’s 9.0-magnitude quake is now 10,000. More than 180,000 people have fled from Koriyama, Fukushima, amid fears of a nuclear meltdown, and up to 160 people may have already been exposed to radiation. Power shortages have caused some train lines in Tokyo to suspend services. As financial […]
The death toll in Friday’s earthquake, now estimated to have measured 9.0 on the Richter scale, has now reached 687. Fuji TV is reporting that the number of dead and missing is 2800. There are now conflicting reports of a meltdown at the Fukushima Daiichi (No. 1) nuclear power plant. Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano […]
The death toll has reached 202 people, and more than 1000 people are still missing, after an 8.8-magnitude earthquake hit Japan Friday, the largest earthquake in Japanese history, and triggered a 13-foot tsunami. (American media are reporting an 8.9-magnitude earthquake, while Japanese media are reporting M8.8.) Four trains wiped out in the tsunami in Miyaki […]
Over a phone call, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton offered her support to Grameen Bank founder Dr. Md. Yunus. State Department spokesperson Phillip J. Crowley said that “Secretary Clinton spoke yesterday with Dr Muhammad Yunus and expressed support for the independence of the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh.” It’s not just that Mrs. Clinton offered […]
An 8.9 magnitude earthquake hit the the northeastern coast of Japan earlier today and triggered a 10 meter tsunami that has killed hundreds of people with the death toll expected to rise. Tsunami warnings are in place for several countries including Indonesia, the Philippines and the U.S. west coast. More details on southeast Asian countries […]
A magnitude-8.8 earthquake hit off the coast of Japan near Miyagi prefecture at 2:46 p.m. local time today (a little over an hour ago), followed by a 7.4-magnitude aftershock about 30 minutes later. The earthquake triggered a 13-foot tsunami that wiped out cars along Miyagi’s coast. Much of Japan’s northeast coast has been affected. Live […]
This week the White House announced that Gary Locke, current Secretary at the U.S. Department of Commerce would success outgoing U.S. Ambassador to China Jon Huntsman, who is stepping down to possibly run for president. Mr. Locke is one of the two first ever Chinese-Americans to serve in the Cabinet, and is well known and […]
Democratic Party of Japan lawmaker Ryuichi Doi admitted Wednesday to signing a declaration that Japan should give up claims to the Liancourt Rocks during a visit to South Korea in February. The Liancourt Rocks are a group of two islets and 35 rocks in the Sea of Japan about halfway between Japan and Korea. They […]
In a statement released this morning, on the terrible occasion of at least 34 dead, 45 and more wounded at a funeral for the wife of a leading anti-Taliban leader, Kala Khan, in Peshawar, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani “reiterated the government’s resolve to root out the cancer of terrorism from every nook and corner […]
Japanese Foreign Minister Seiji Maehara stepped down Sunday in the midst of a political funds scandal. Maehara received a 250,000-yen ($3000) donation from a South Korean woman whom he had known since childhood. The woman said she was unaware that the donation was illegal, and Maehara claimed to have been unaware of receiving the donation. […]
U.S. Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., noted last week that Japan “has become a destination country, a haven, for international child abduction.” This has prompted Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to urge Japan to join the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction. This issue was in the news a lot in late […]
Amongst all the political upheaval in the Middle East and North Africa, with people rising against dictatorial regimes in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Yemen and elsewhere, this week China embarked on its annual legislative session. The legislative session of the National People’s Congress, which officially enacts legislation, will rubber-stamp the government’s 12th Five-Year-Plan (2011-2015), which was […]
One of the top stories in Japan this week is the arrest of a 19-year-old boy who admitted to cheating on a college entrance exam. The Japanese media are focusing on how the boy was able to cheat in the first place, and calling for schools to update anticheating measures. However, I think it will […]
I don’t know what’s worse: that the New York Times printed a quote from an estimable and important Bangladeshi that was off the mark; or whether, it’s worse that the quote in question was offered by the chairman of Bangladesh Human Rights Commission. Let’s start with the former issue. The quote in question was delivered […]
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s budget plan for the forthcoming fiscal year is more noteworthy for what it does not contain – realistic assumptions and a commitment to press ahead with critical items on the economic reform agenda.
