EARTHQUAKE

In an extremely rare public gesture, the emperor of Japan, Akihito, appeared on live television to express his concerns about the nuclear crisis confronting his country in the wake of last week's cataclysmic earthquake and tsunami.

There are divergent views about the impact of the Japanese triple tragedy on the global economy. While some say the impact will be limited mainly to bottlenecks in the global manufacturing supply chain, others have said the Japanese disaster will have longer-term effects a wider cross section of global economy.

The Japanese government may have failed to show due diligence in acting on an International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) warning on security shortcomings in the Fukushima nuclear plant, according to reports.

Boeing, one of the largest aircraft manufacturers in the world, announced on Wednesday that it would support the quake relief works in Japan.

The 11 March earthquake and tsunami in Japan, and the continuing nuclear crisis that they triggered, will have significant repercussions in global energy markets, according to international energy price reporting agency Argus.

Bahrain on the boil as forces muzzle anti-government protests after the mobilization of military and security forces and imposition of state of emergency.

Celebs like 50 cent, Gilbert Gottfried, and now the 'Family Guy' scriptwriter Alec Sulkin have sparked off a row with insensitive tweets on the Japan earthquake and tsunami.

The following is the known status as of Wednesday afternoon of each of the six reactors at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant and the four reactors at the Fukushima No. 2 plant, both in Fukushima Prefecture, which were crippled by Friday's magnitude 9.0 earthquake and the ensuing tsunami, according to Kyodo News Agency.

As Japan continues to reel under the after effects of the powerful earthquake that struck the country's Pacific Coast on Friday afternoon, the world still stands aghast at the devastation caused by the quake and the consequent tsunami. As the rescue, rehabilitation and rebuilding efforts start, the country is under severe threat of a nuclear disaster as the plants continue to report explosions and fires.

The container of the No.3 reactor of the troubled Fukushima No.1 nuclear power plant might have been damaged and leaked radioactive steam, the Xinhua reported.

The aftermath of Japan's disastrous earthquake and tsunami could temporarily ease the rise in rare earth prices, but overall demand is likely to continue to outstrip supply for the next few years, an industry executive said.

Japan's soldiers have been assigned the grim task of searching for victims and survivors of Friday's 9.0 earthquake and subsequent tsunami.

The nuclear crisis in earthquake-ravaged Japan has hit a new peak of worry – engineers are concerned that two more reactors at the Fukushima Dai-ichi complex may have become unstable.

The damage to California from last week’s tsunami is expected to exceed $50 million.

After being fired from Aflac, Gilbert Gottfried tweeted an apology.

One of the most famous Japanese people on earth, Yoko Ono, said Japan will recover from the current earthquake-tsunami tragedy.

The Japanese earthquake shook the Earth so violently that it likely moved it from its axis and shortened the day.

Japanese and Japanese-Americans across the U.S. are mobilizing to send help to their homeland after the unspeakable damage wreaked by one of the worst earthquakes and tsunamis in history.

The Gold Price dropped 3% to four-week lows vs. a rising US Dollar on Tuesday morning, as world stock-market and commodity prices sank on worsening radiation leaks from north-east Japan's earthquake-hit nuclear plants.

Tsunami-related damage in Hawaii is estimated to be in the tens of millions of dollars, but may climb higher, according to a spokeswoman of the state’s governor Neil Abercrombie.

The Japanese metropolis of Tokyo, already reeling from reports of higher-than-average radiation levels, was hit by massive tremor. There are also reports of people fleeing Tokyo.