...ertheless warnings of radiation triggered panic. Residents in the capital, who had shown calm and orderliness since the quake hit last Friday, rushed to stock up on food and supplies. Although Japan’s nuclear crisis is getting worse, experts say the situation is nowhere near Chernobyl, the world’s worst nuclear power plant catastrophe that happened in the Ukraine in 1986. Even though a partial meltdown of the nuclear fuel has occurred in the Fukushima reactors, the containment structures are ...

... those realities. And the Bloomberg poll offers comfort for some who would choose avoidance. There’s appetizing fodder for the Republican sound-bites, starting with the 61 percent who say raising tax...erage. There is even more for Democrats to cheer in this poll. The public, while not high on Obama’s vision for the economy, thinks it’s a lot better than the one put forth by Republicans. In the sh...

...ry earthquake, flood or other natural disaster when economists put pen to paper, or input into model, to calculate the effect. First comes the hit to output, or gross domestic product. Some of Japan’s productive capacity was destroyed. Power disruptions forced other companies, including the country’s auto manufacturers and chipmakers, to halt production, creating a ripple effect through the entire supply chain, in Japan and abroad. Small businesses destroyed by the earthquake may not be able to...

TOKYO (AFP) - Japan's Emperor Akihito said Wednesday he was praying for the safety of the people in the wake of last week's devastating earthquake and tsunami, in a rare public address on live television. “The number of people killed is increasing day by day and we do not know how many people have fallen victim,” Akihito said in the brief speech. "I pray for the safety of as many people as poss...

South Korea's financial watchdog decided Wednesday to delay its deliberation on the approval of Hana Financial Group Inc.'s takeover of Korea Exchange Bank (KEB) following a recent court conviction o... and is awaiting the FSC's final permission to consolidate the bank unit as its affiliate. The FSC's decision not to deal with the approval issue deals a blow to Hana Financial's plan to acquire KEB,...