Sunday, March 13, 2011
Japanese tsunami war
U.S. Stock Futures Fall on Concern About Quake's Damage to Japan Economy - Bloomberg
U.S. stock-index futures fell, indicating the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index may drop for a third time in four days, as investors struggled to assess what damage the worst Japanese earthquake on record will do to the world’s third-largest economy.
S&P 500 futures expiring in June lost 0.6 percent to 1,292.60 at 6:50 a.m. in Tokyo. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures dropped 76 points, or 0.6 percent, to 11,927. Nasdaq-100 Index futures declined 0.8 percent to 2,284.25.
The Charlie Sheen Co
Martial Law May Be D
Chaotic clashes acro
Chaotic clashes across Bahrain shake tiny kingdom
MANAMA, Bahrain -; Thousands of anti-government demonstrators cut off Bahrain's financial centre and drove back police trying to push them from the capital's central square -- shaking the tiny island kingdom Sunday with the most disruptive protests since calls for more freedom erupted a month ago.Demonstrators also clashed with security forces and government supporters on the campus of the main university in the Gulf country, the home of the U.S.
Navy's Fifth Fleet. The clashes fueled fears that Bahrain's political crisis could be stumbling toward open sectarian conflict between the ruling minority Sunnis and Shiites, who account for 70 per cent of the nation's 525,000 people.
Martial Law May Be Declared In Bahrain
Manama - Mar 13 (BNA) -- A parliamentary bloc has today appealed to His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa to enforce the martial law. The Independent Bloc has called for the Bahrain Defence Force to intervene and protect national security and stability and preserve public and preserve properties. The bloc also urged a ban on all illegitimate acts which may instigate violence and terror, terrorise innocent people, foment sectarian internecine strife, endanger social peace and security in addition to harming the economy and high national interests.
The bloc urged HM the King to enforce the martial law for three months under article 36 –paragraph B and article 123 of Bahrain constitution. It also called upon HM King Hamad to impose a curfew and deploy the BDG units across Bahrain to protect security and stability, ensure the safety of public and private facilities, constitutional state institutions and preserve national economic and social achievements. The bloc stressed the importance of HM King Hamad’s wise intervention at this critical moment after the opposition parties refused all calls to restore calm and defuse tensions and engage in a multi-party national dialogue."Extremist movements are resorting to escalation and sectarian mobilization which led to an unprecedented disruption of security and hostile sectarian polarization at health and educational institutions", the statement, citing orchestrated acts to disrupt the traffic on Bahrain’s main highways.
Japan’s investors
More than 800 injure
Police, protesters c
Police, protesters clash in Bahrain while hundreds rally in Saudi Arabia
Witnesses in Bahrain said that more than 100 people were injured after police fired tear gas at protesters and attacked them with batons as they tried to shut down capital city Manama's financial center on the first day of the country's workweek. Protesters threw gas canisters and stones at police.
In Yemen, police on rooftops fired live bullets and tear gas at protesters, injuring more than 100 people, a day after security forces killed seven demonstrators in protests around the country.
The White House issued a statement strongly condeming the violence in both Yemen and Bahrain. "We urge the governments of these countries to show restraint, and to respect the universal rights of their people,'' the statement said. It called in particular on the government of Bahrain "to pursue a peaceful and meaningful dialogue with the opposition rather than resorting to the use of force.''
In Riyadh, the Saudi capital, hundreds of family members of people who have been jailed without charges rallied in front of the Ministry of Interior calling for their release, said Mohammed Al-Qahtani, founder of the Association of Civil and Political Rights in Saudi Arabia. The protest was peaceful, with no clashes between police and demonstrators, he said.
In Bahrain, witnesses said that protesters had begun the day by blocking a main highway used for access to the financial district in Manama, the capital. Police attempted to clear them away with tear gas and rubber bullets. Clashes later took place between pro-government supporters and protesters took place near the University of Bahrain, witnesses said, and police broke up the fights with tear gas.
By day's end, Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad al-Khalifa announced that he had agreed to discuss electoral reforms that could potentially satisfy at least some of the protesters' demands. He said he would talk with opposition political groups about "a government that represents the will of the people.''
The clash followed one that took place Friday near a royal palace, where protesters were met by pro-government loyalists who were armed with sticks and swords.
Protesters have been in the streets for weeks, calling for democratic reforms and an end to what they say is systematic discrimination against the country's Shia majority by the Sunni royal family. Seven protesters were killed by security forces in the first week of the protests, but until Friday the situation had remained relatively peaceful since the initial deaths.
On Sunday, the Interior Ministry said that a police officer had been stabbed and another suffered a head injury in a clash with a group of protesters. In a statement, the ministry told protesters to return to Pearl Square, which has been the hub of the month-long demonstrations, "for their own safety."
The clash in Yemen involved demonstrators who had been camping on the grounds of Sanaa University, the latest in weeks of demonstrations calling for the Yemeni president to step down. In addition to firing tear gas and live ammunition, police and government supporters wielding clubs and knives also attacked protesters on the ground, Mohammed al-Abahi, a doctor in charge of a makeshift hospital near the university, told the Associated Press.
Among the injured, more than 20 suffered gas inhalation, and one was in critical condition after being struck with a bullet, the doctor said, according to the AP report.
In Saui Arabia, the march in Riyadh by protesters calling for the release of prisoners came after no one turned out in the capital for planned "Day of Rage" demonstrations across the country. Hundreds protested in the country's Eastern province Friday, but a strong police presence in Riyadh discouraged demonstrators from turning out there, witnesses said.
Japan's investors may bring their money home - Business - World business - msnbc.com
NEW YORK — Shaken by the prospect of nuclear meltdown after a devastating earthquake and tsunami, Japanese investors will dump overseas assets on Monday and bring their money home to help finance reconstruction.
Positioning for this could send the dollar plummeting versus the yen on Monday and lead to a sharp slide in Treasuries since U.S. government bonds are a favorite asset of Japanese investors, market analysts said.
Stocks also are likely to come under pressure.
Japanese insurers will probably sell some of their most liquid foreign assets such as U.S. Treasuries so they can respond to the worst disaster since World War Two.
Japan battles nuclear meltdown
Japan was fighting to contain a rapidly escalating nuclear emergency as concerns mounted over a partial meltdown at two reactors at a 40-year-old power plant north of Tokyo.
Naoto Kan, prime minister, said Japan was facing “its worst crisis since the second world war”, following last week’s earthquake and tsunami.
Kan Faces ‘Katrina Moment’ as Earthquake, Nuclear Crisis Test Leadership - Bloomberg
Three days ago, Prime Minister Naoto Kan was fighting for his political life. Now, the success of his government may hinge on how he responds to what he calls Japan’s biggest crisis since the end of World War II.
The March 11 record earthquake in northeastern Japan struck hours after Kan, 64, had begun attempting to defuse a scandal over a political donation he received. He mobilized 100,000 troops and pledged an emergency-spending package to cope with the quake, the ensuing tsunami and a potential meltdown at a nuclear power station.
Bank of Japan to inj
Bank of Japan to inject massive funds into market on Monday - Channel NewsAsia
TOKYO: The Bank of Japan plans to pump "massive" funds into markets on Monday in a bid to help them stabilise following a catastrophic earthquake and devastating tsunami, Dow Jones Newswires said.The Bank of Japan said it would do its "utmost" to provide market liquidity and ensure the stability of financial markets on Friday after the quake struck.
The BoJ also announced that the two-day policy board meeting previously scheduled for Monday and Tuesday would now be cut short and conclude on Monday, seen as a sign it may quickly implement extraordinary measures.
Earth’s day length
Earth's day length shortened by Japan earthquake - CBS News
(Space.com)The massive earthquake that struck northeast Japan Friday (March 11) has shortened the length Earth's day by a fraction and shifted how the planet's mass is distributed.
A new analysis of the 8.9-magnitude earthquake in Japan has found that the intense temblor has accelerated Earth's spin, shortening the length of the 24-hour day by 1.8 microseconds, according to geophysicist Richard Gross at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif.
Japan Facing Major Electricity Supply Problems And Blackouts
IDG News Service — A series of planned electricity blackouts will begin rolling through regions in most of eastern Japan on Monday. The blackouts are intended to manage a dramatic fall in power generation capacity caused by a massive earthquake and tsunami that hit the country on Friday.
The quake, the world's fourth largest ever recorded, caused several nuclear power stations to automatically shut down. A subsequent tsunami further damaged some of the plants and led to problems in at least two reactors.
As a result, Tokyo Electric Power Co. has lost about 27 percent of its electricity generation capacity and will be short of demand by about 10 million kilowatts, it said Sunday.
The blackouts will affect outlying areas of Tokyo and regions surrounding the capital, but will not hit central Tokyo. Each will last 3 hours and they will begin in stages from 6:20am and run until 10pm every day.
The government warned they could go on for several weeks.
The number of dead and missing stands at around 3,000, but that figure is growing by the hours. A police official in Miyagi in northern Japan told public broadcaster NHK on Sunday that he expects the death toll in his region alone to surpass 10,000.
Japan's Meteorological Agency upgraded its assessment of the quake from magnitude 8.8 to 9.0. The quake was actually three very large earthquakes in quick succession, it said Sunday.
The scale of the disaster is huge and its effect on companies and the national economy is difficult to determine.
Several electronics companies have plants in the region and they've been offline since Friday.
Toshiba makes microprocessors and image sensors in the region and its factory has been without power most of the weekend, said Keisuke Ohmori, a spokesman for the Tokyo-based company.
"We don't know when we can resume production," he said.
Sony operates several plants in the region and has yet to release information on when they might restart production.
Several companies have announced plans to temporarily suspend production at some domestic factories. They include Toshiba, Panasonic and Sharp. The factories are either impacted by the earthquake or unable to get components because of disruptions to their supply chain.
"This is the worst crisis in Japan's 65-year postwar history," Prime Minister Naoto Kan said in a televised news conference. "I'm sure that we will be able to overcome the crisis."
Rescue teams from around the world are pouring into Japan and charities have begun raising money for those affected.
Sony and Panasonic each said they would donate ¥300 million (US$3.7 million) to relief efforts. Sony said it would also provide 30,000 radios to those affected.
Martyn Williams covers Japan and general technology breaking news for The IDG News Service. Follow Martyn on Twitter at @martyn_williams. Martyn's e-mail address is martyn_williams@idg.com
Copyright 2010 IDG News Service, International Data Group Inc. All rights reserved.
Japan nuclear health
Japan nuclear health risks low, won't blow abroad | Reuters
(Reuters) - Health risks from Japan's quake-hit nuclear power reactors seem fairly low and winds are likely to carry any contamination out to the Pacific without threatening other nations, experts say.
Tokyo battled to avert a meltdown at three stricken reactors at the Fukushima plant in the worst nuclear accident since the 1986 Chernobyl disaster, triggered by Friday's tsunami. Radiation levels were also up at the Onagawa atomic plant.
"This is not a serious public health issue at the moment," Malcolm Crick, Secretary of the U.N. Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation, told Reuters.
Cooling System Fails
Province staffer rep
Cooling System Fails At Third Nuclear Plant | Kyodo News
URGENT: Cooling system pump stops at Tokai nuclear power plant: fire dep't
TOKYO, March 14, Kyodo
The Fire and Disaster Management Agency said a cooling system pump stopped operating at Tokai No. 2 Power Station, a nuclear power plant, in the village of Tokai, Ibaraki Prefecture.
State Dept. urges Am
Saudis protest outside Interior Ministry
More than 200 Saudis were allowed to protest outside the Interior Ministry on Sunday to demand the release of detainees in the largest demonstration in the capital since the regional outbreak of pro-democracy unrest.
Saudi authorities ban demonstrations and are increasingly determined to prevent the unrest, particularly Shiite protests in neighboring Bahrain, from spreading to the oil-rich Kingdom.
A massive show of force snuffed out a Facebook-based effort to stage unprecedented pro-democracy protests in Riyadh on Friday. But in heavily Shiite eastern Saudi Arabia, hundreds of protesters marched in at least four different locations, calling for the release of political prisoners and demanding reform. Saudi police opened fire to disperse one of the protests, wounding at least one man.
The protesters Sunday demanded information on the fate of mostly Sunni detainees held on security and terrorism-related charges, and their immediate release.
"My brother is 18, he has beein in detention for four years and until now we don't know anything about his fate or even the charges against him," said Ahmed Ali, one of the protesters.
Another said his 70-year-old father suffers from cancer of the colon and has been in detention for 10 years without receiving medical attention or a trial. He spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of retribution.
The protesters asked to meet with the interior minister, Prince Nayef, but their request was turned down and they were not allowed to go inside the building.
Eyewitnesses said cameras were set up above the Interior Ministry building to film the sit-in, which some of the protesters said was to intimidate the protesters and possibly arrest them in the next days.
Activists have set up Facebook groups calling for protests in Riyadh and one group garnered more than 30,000 supporters of its demands for free elections.
Water, power, food s
Big Jack Johnson has
Volcano Erupts in So
Volcano Erupts in Southwestern Japan | Cleveland Leader
Adding to Japan's woes, a volcano in the southwestern portion of the country erupted on Sunday after nearly two weeks of relative silence. The eruption sent ash and rocks up to two and a half miles into the air.
It was not clear if the eruption was a result of the massive 9.0-magnitude earthquake that struck the northern part of the country on Friday.
The 4,689-foot Shinmoedake volcano, located in the Kirishima range, had its first major eruption in 52 years in January. There hadn't been any major activity at the site since March 1.
A volcano warning has been issued at a level of three out of five, and authorities have restricted access to the entire mountain.
Japan races to avert
Japan races to avert multiple nuclear meltdowns - National Business - MiamiHerald.com
The French Embassy urged its citizens Sunday to leave the area around Tokyo - 170 miles (270 kilometers) from Fukushima Dai-ichi - in case the crisis deepened and a "radioactive plume" headed for the area around the capital. The statement acknowledged that the possibility was looking unlikely.
