JAPAN

Sony Corp. has suspended production at more Japanese plants after a massive earthquake on March 11 has made it difficult for the plants to get raw materials and components.

Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) said that radioactive Materials were detected from the seawater around the discharge canal (south) of Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station.

Gold prices rose for a fifth straight day on Tuesday, driven by safe haven demand amid continued uncertainty in the Middle East and the nuclear crisis in Japan.

Professor Yuko Aoyama from Clark University Geography Department says the collective spirit in Japan is very high at the moment, in an interview to IBTimes on Japan's earthquake and the resultant tsunami and their impact on the world's third largest economy.

TMZ is reporting that actor Charlie Sheen is planning to take his one-man show tour to Haiti.

Japanese authorities are struggling to ascertain data and information on the number and status of foreigners who were in Japan when the earthquake and tsunami struck ten days ago.

The financial impact to Japan from last week’s earthquake-tsunami could be as high as $235-billion, according to a report issued on Monday by the World Bank.

Some Japanese are outraged by the alarmist tone and sensationalistic reporting of the earthquake-tsunami tragedy by foreign media. Some media sources have just plain printed factual errors.

Tokyo Electric Power Company is reporting that as of 7 a.m. Eastern time power is available in the four damaged reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, which will help to stabilize the reactor cores and the spent fuel pools.

In one of the few happy stories to come from the earthquake tragedy in Japan, an 80-year-old woman and her 16-year-old grandson have been rescued from the rubble of their home in the coastal city of Ishinomaki in Miyagi Prefecture, the epicenter of the tragedy, according to Kyodo news agency.

The Fukushima reactor buildings are square, not circular, and had to absorb the force of the tsunami wave straight on.

The companies whose shares are moving in pre-market trade on Monday are: Tiffany & Co, Hartford Financial, Coach, Joy Global, EMC Corp, General Electric, Nvidia, Sprint Nextel, American Tower and CF Industries Holdings.

Though the human tragedy caused by the Japan disaster is incalculable, its economic impact may be less harsh than previously thought. An analyst said on Monday there will be some near-term impact but it will not be sufficient to dent the region’s strong growth prospects this year.

While 285,000 students left the country for education in 2010 alone, there was also a 25 per cent year-on-year increase in the numbers returning home.

Even as Japan reported significant progress in preventing a melt-down in its Fukushima nuclear plant, the National Police Agency said on Monday more than 18,000 people have been confirmed dead in the twin-catastrophe that hit the country on March 11.

Japanese have been focused on the rescue operations after the 9.0-magnitude quake and ensuing 10-meter high tsunami that struck Japan. Official tolls of dead and missing are rising steadily -- to 8,450 and 12,931 respectively on Monday.

Solar greenhouses, which have played a vital role in China's agricultural scene for years, may solve issues such as global energy crisis and climate change, according to a new report.

Japanese nuclear officials reported that temperatures have been lowered at the troubled reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant as emergency workers continue to try to stabilize the facility to prevent the release of dangerous radioactive materials

Japan's chief cabinet secretary Yukio Edano said abnormal amounts of radiation were found in spinach and milk in Fukushima and Ibaraki prefectures.

Summary of conditions at Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, as described by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA):

The Delaware mother whose daughter was reported missing in the quake-damaged region of Japan has made contact with her after a week of worry and anxiety.