TOKYO, March 15, 2011 (AFP) - Tokyo shares closed down 10.55 percent onTuesday as panicking investors dumped stocks after the government said risingradiation levels at a stricken nuclear plant posed a threat to health.

TOKYO, March 15, 2011 (AFP) - Tokyo shares plunged 11.03 percent as Japan's nuclear crisis escalated on Tuesday, after radiation levels near aquake-stricken nuclear plant surged following explosions and a fire.The Nikkei index lost 1,061.35 points to 8,559.14. 

 SOMA, Japan (AP) _ Japan's nuclear safety agency says a fire in a reactor at a crippled nuclear power plant in tsunami-ravaged northeastern Japan has been extinguished.The fire broke out Tuesday at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant in one of the hardest-hit provinces in last week's massive earthquake and tsunami.Meanwhile, radiation was spewing from the Dai-ichi plant in a dramatic escalation

North Korea told a visiting top Russian diplomat that it does not oppose discussing its uranium enrichment activity in the stalled six-party talks once they resume, a report said Tuesday.North Korea also told Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexei Borodavkin that Pyongyang was ready to rejoin the talks "without any preconditions" and hopes to work under an "action-for-action principle," the offici

 WASHINGTON (AFP) - More Americans are getting their news from the Internet than from print newspapers for the first time as audience figures for cable news programs fall, according to a report released on Monday.The State of the News Media 2011 report by the Pew Project for Excellence in Journalism said that in another first, online advertising revenue topped that of print newspapers last year.Fo

TOKYO (AFP) - Millions of Japanese people were without food, water or power Monday and hundreds of thousands more homeless after a massive quake and tsunami left the economic superpower battling third-world conditions.Aid workers and search teams from across the world joined 100,000 Japanese soldiers in a massive relief push as the rattled country suffered a wave of major aftershocks and fresh tsu

South Korean makers of semiconductors and liquid crystal display (LCD) panels said Monday that they expect the impact from Japan's devastating earthquake and tsunami on their business to be minimal.Company officials and market analysts, however, did not rule out long-term impact from the natural disaster on the LCD and chip industries.Japanese semiconductor and LCD makers are key rivals of South K

Kim Hyun-joong, a member of the popular South Korean boy band SS501, has donated 100 million won (US$88,700) for earthquake relief efforts in Japan, his agency said Monday.Keyeast, Kim's management agency, said the singer/actor sent the money to his Japan-based agency, DA, earlier in the day.To mark the Japanese premier of his South Korean television show, Kim was scheduled to meet with fans in To

South Korean companies have been little affected by the earthquake that hit Japan last week, though the damage will inevitably grow if the normalization of the Japanese economy takes more time than expected, a local trade agency said Monday.Currently, there are 272 South Korean firms with business operations in Japan, but only four of them have production facilities there, according to the Korea T

Nearly nine out of 10 primary and secondary schools in South Korea are not designed to absorb shock from an earthquake, a government report said Monday, in the wake of the worst earthquake to ever hit neighboring Japan.The Ministry of Education, Science and Technology report, obtained by Rep. Park Young-ah of the ruling Grand National Party, said 87 percent of South Korea's elementary, middle and

The South Korean government said Sunday it plans to closely monitor the impact of Japan's record-breaking earthquake on the local economy and take actions to minimize potential negative impact if necessary.Earlier in the day, Finance Minister Yoon Jeung-hyun presided over an emergency economic policy coordination meeting, attended by chiefs from 16 government agencies, in a bid to assess the impac

SHANGHAI (Yonhap) -- A team of South Korean officials arrived in Shanghai on Sunday to investigate an alleged sex-for-influence scandal involving a Chinese woman and several South Korean diplomats. (Courtesy from Seoul Shinmum)South Korean officials said the previous day that the team of officials from the Prime Minister's Office and foreign ministry plans to make the on-site investigation at the

In the wake of Japan's biggest recorded earthquake two days ago, the South Korean government grappled Sunday with searching for missing nationals and supporting relief efforts in the disaster-hit northeastern region, Seoul'sforeign ministry said. Local people are out on a street to inspect the aftermath of a massive tsunami triggered by March 11 earthquake, in Tagajo, near Sendai, northern Japan,

Reports of Japan's devastation by a strong earthquake sent many South Koreans online to deliver messages of goodwill, condolences and offers of aid for a third day on Sunday. An urban area devastated by tsunami is seen in Minami Sanriku, Miyagi, northern Japan Sunday, March 13, 2011 after Friday's catastrophic earthquake and tsunami. (AP-Yonhap)The 8.9-magnitude earthquake, the strongest ever in J

The comeback of former Finance Minister Kang Man-soo as the new chief of a state bank is likely to rekindle debate over creating so-called mega financial firms and swirl the banking sector in a wave of takeovers, market watchers said Sunday.South Korea's financial watchdog last week recommended Kang Man-soo, a close confidant of President Lee Myung-bak, as new chairman of the state-run KDB Financi

Over 80 percent of South Korea's buildings remain vulnerable to earthquakes because they were not constructed following seismic design codes, a report by the state disaster agency said Sunday.The report comes as concerns grow that the country may no longer be free from quakes as an 8.9 magnitude earthquake hit neighboring Japan on Friday, sending a high tsunami that ripped through towns and cities

  LONDON (AP) _ The cigarette packs piled into prominent displays behind store counters and supermarket checkouts in England can't be missed. They occupy prime retail real estate, helping to keep addicts hooked and quitters tempted.In this June 29, 2010 file photo, tobacco products are displayed in a shop in Glasgow, Scotland. Tobacco will no longer be displayed in shops under new legislation bein

(AP)Subway now has more restaurants worldwide than McDonald's.The sandwich chain surpassed the world's largest hamburger chain in terms of number of stores in the U.S. in 2002 and now it has taken the global lead.Subway had 33,749 restaurants worldwide at the end of last year, according to the company. McDonald's Corp. had 32,737, according a regulatory filing.McDonald's, however, remains the indu

Seoul citizens mulling suicide last year increasingly chose to go to  Han River bridges instead of subway stations, traditionally common locations for suicides, after most stations set up screen doors on their platforms to prevent possible accidents and suicide attempts, a police report said Tuesday.Suicide attempts on Han River bridges rose by 30 percent from 83 in 2009 to 108 last year, the Nati

Tiger Woods, former No. 1 golfer in the world, is scheduled to visit South Korea next month for a youth golf camp, his corporate sponsor announced Tuesday.Tiger Woods at the AT&T National golf tournament.(AP)Nike Golf Korea said Woods will come to South Korea on April 14 as part of the company's "Make It Matter" youth clinic series covering Asia. Woods will first go to China in early April, after