TOKYO (AP) _ Japan's huge earthquake brought super-modern Tokyo to a standstill as it paralyzed trains that normally run like clockwork, crippled mobile phones, stranded hordes of commuters and trapped scores of people in elevators.   The magnitude-8.9 quake that struck off the coast Friday afternoon and triggered a deadly tsunami in the northeast also violently shook buildings in the capital,

   WASHINGTON (AP) _ President Barack Obama said he was ``heartbroken'' by images of devastation in Japan following Friday's deadly earthquake and tsunami, and pledged U.S. assistance to help the country recover.   ``Our hearts go out to our friends in Japan and across the region, and we're going to stand with them as they recover and rebuild from this tragedy,'' Obama said during a White House ne

  TOKYO (AFP) - Japan scrambled Saturday to prevent nuclear accidents at two atomic plants where reactor cooling systems failed after a massive earthquake, as it evacuated tens of thousands of residents.   Radiation 1,000 times above normal was detected in the control room of one plant, although authorities said levels outside the facility's gates were only eight times above normal, spelling "no i

   TOKYO (AP) _ Tens of thousands of stranded people roamed the streets of Tokyo or holed up in offices and train stations as the capital's usual bustling traffic came to a standstill Friday after the biggest earthquake in modern Japanese history struck.   The magnitude-8.9 temblor off Japan's northeastern coast shook buildings in the capital, left millions of homes across Japan without electricit

   HONOLULU (AP) _ Tsunami waves spawned by a massive earthquake in Japan have hit Hawaii.   The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center says Kauai was the first island hit early Friday by the tsunami, which was quickly sweeping through the Hawaiian Island chain. Officials predicted Hawaii would experience waves up to 6 feet (2 meters).   Residents in coastal areas of Hawaii were evacuated to refuge areas

 TOKYO (AP) _ Japan ordered thousands of residents near a nuclear power plant to evacuate on Friday following a massive earthquake that caused a problem in the plant's cooling system.   Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said the Fukushima No. 1 power plant was not leaking radiation. The plant is in Onahama city, about 170 miles (270 kilometers) northeast of Tokyo.   Japan's nuclear safety agency

   The massive earthquake that hit Japan's northeastern region has caused telephone traffic to surge between South Korea and its neighbor that effectively made placing calls impossible, the country's largest telephone operator said Friday.   KT Corp. said that from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. cellular and landline phone traffic shot up 91 times and 41 times, respectively, compared to normal traffic.    Calls

 A powerful earthquake that struck off Japan's northeastern coast on Friday caused all flights bound for Japan to be canceled, the government said.   The flight disruption came hours after a magnitude 8.8 earthquake hit Japan's Pacific coast, unleashing a tsunami that washed away cars and houses along the coastal areas.   The Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs said that flight operat

  DAEJEON (Yonhap) -- South Korea is relatively safe from major earthquakes, although there is a need to pay close attention to developments taking place in countries such as Japan, local geological experts said Friday.   Lee Hee-il, head of the geological research division at the state-run Korea Institute of Geoscience & Mineral Resources (KIGAM), said the country is relatively insulated from the

     TAIPEI (AFP) - Taiwanese authorities said Friday that minor tsunamis set off by a massive quake in Japan reached the island's coastline without causing any damage.   Waves around 10 centimetres (four inches) high hit Taiwan's east and northeast coasts in the evening, the central weather bureau said.   The bureau later lifted the tsunami warning, saying it did not expect more and bigger waves.

     WASHINGTON (AFP) - US President Barack Obama on Friday offered his "condolences" to the people of Japan and said his country stood ready to help them after a massive earthquake and tsunami.   "(First Lady) Michelle (Obama) and I send our deepest condolences to the people of Japan, particularly those who have lost loved ones in the earthquake and tsunamis," he said in a statement.   "The Unite

     TOKYO (AFP) - Japanese shares plunged 1.72 percent on Friday, falling sharply in the closing minutes of trade after the country was hit by a massive earthquake and tsunami.   The Nikkei index of the Tokyo Stock Exchange fell 179.95 points to 10,254.43. The Topix index of all first section shares tumbled 1.7 percent, or15.33 points, to 915.51.   The market was already weighed down before the e

 South Korea is ready to dispatch a team of rescue workers to Japan to help the neighboring country cope with the aftermath of a powerful earthquake and tsunami, an official said Friday, amid fears of massive casualties from the disaster.   The 8.9-magnitude quake struck off northeastern Japan at 2:46 p.m. (local time), leading Japan's meteorological agency to issue a tsunami warning for the entir

   Taiwan's central weather bureau on Friday warned people living on its east and northeast coasts to be on guard for tsunamis set off by a major quake off Japan.  The Philippines also warned people living on its entire east coast to be on alert for the possibility of tsunamis after a major quake off Japan, the government's seismology agency   Russia's emergency ministry issued a tsunami warning F

Senior presidential officials expressed regret Friday over Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Kun-hee's thinly veiled criticism against a proposal to introduce a profit-sharing system between conglomerates and their subcontractors here as part of efforts to balance their growth.   It is unusual for top Cheong Wa Dae officials to take direct aim at a powerful head of South Korea's family-owned conglo

　It has been found that a single bite from the world’s most poisonous spider can give men a four-hour erection, British paper the Metro reported on Tuesday.　The Medical College of Georgia in the U.S. found that the Brazilian wandering spider’s toxin can be an effective treatment on impotence in rats. The research team is further looking into whether the wandering spider’s poison can treat erectile

TOKYO (AFP) - Japan's embattled Prime Minister Naoto Kan on Friday admitted to receiving donations from a man believed to be a foreign national, the same violation which claimed the foreign minister his job."I thought he was a Japanese national as he had a Japanese name," Kan told a parliamentary committee after a newspaper report said that Kan's fund-management body had taken donations from a Sou

   WASHINGTON (Yonhap) -- The chief U.S. intelligence official Thursday did not rule out chances of North Korea provoking South Korea further after the North's attacks on a South Korean border island and a warship last year.   Speaking at a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing, James Clapper, national intelligence director, said, "It is also our assessment at this time that there is a low proba

  WASHINGTON (Yonhap) -- North Korea may have already developed nuclear warheads that are small enough to be mounted on missiles and aircraft, a senior U.S. intelligence official said Thursday.   "The North may now have several plutonium-based nuclear warheads that it can deliver by ballistic missiles and aircraft as well as by conventional means," Lt. Gen. Ronald Burgess, director of the Defense

   A groundbreaking ceremony was held in Gyeongju on Friday for a furnace dust recycling plant that can help South Korea cut back on zinc imports and costs of burying harmful electric arc furnace dusts (EAFD).   The plant, which is being built by Britain's ZincOx Resources PLC in Gyeongju, 370 kilometers southeast of Seoul, will cost around US$250 million, with two recycling facilities to go onlin