TOKYO (AFP) - Tokyo shares plummeted more than six percent Monday as investors reacted to the biggest earthquake in Japan's history, a devastating tsunami and an unfolding nuclear emergency.Shares tumbled below as the key index fell below the 10,000 point mark. The day's plunge in the Nikkei-225 was the biggest since October 2008.The Nikkei index closed down 6.18 percent, or 633.94 points, at 9,62

(Bloomberg) -- Japanese insurers and global reinsurance companies that backstop their policies may face claims of as much as 2.8 trillion yen ($34 billion) tied to last week’s earthquake, AIR Worldwide said.The top-of-range preliminary estimate, which AIR disclosed yesterday in a statement, doesn’t include damage caused by the tsunami that followed the March 11 temblor. AIR is working to quantify

SEOUL, (AFP) - US and South Korean troops will consider scaling down a planned joint sea drill after a US aircraft carrier joined rescue and recovery efforts in Japan, officials said Monday.The aircraft carrier Ronald Reagan and its strike group arrived Sunday off Japan's northeast coast devastated by the earthquake and tsunami that is feared to have killed more than 10,000.This image provided by

The South Korean currency lost ground against the U.S. dollar on growing jitters over the impact of Japan's devastating earthquake and tsunami, but the local stock market remained almost unscathed, analysts said.The local currency traded at 1,131.40 won to the dollar, down 7.2 won from Friday's close, as of 2:15 p.m. as investors sought safe assets in the aftermath of the 9.0-magnitude temblor and

STOCKHOLM, (AFP) - India over the last five years was the world's biggest importer of weapons, said a report published Monday, which also showed big arms suppliers had scrambled during the period to sell to Libya."India is the world's largest arms importer," the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) said in a statement upon releasing the report."India receives nine percent of th

TOKYO (AP) _ A ferocious tsunami spawned by one of the largest earthquakes ever recorded slammed Japan's eastern coast Friday, sweeping away boats, cars, homes and people, as widespread fires burned out of control. Tsunami warnings blanketed the entire Pacific, as far away as South America, Canada, Alaska and the entire U.S. West Coast.Authorities said at least 40 people were killed and 39 missing

TOKYO (AFP) - The death toll from the massive 8.9-magnitude earthquake that hit Japan on Friday, causing huge tsunamis along its Pacific coast, has reached 19, press reports said.The dead included a 67-year-old man crushed by a wall and an elderly woman killed by a fallen roof, both in the wider Tokyo area, press reports said.Three were crushed to death when their houses collapsed in Ibaraki prefe

South Korea's top court on Thursday found Lone Star Korea's chief guilty of manipulating the stock price of a former credit card firm, in a ruling that overturned a lower court ruling that acquitted its head in a controversial 2003 deal.Yoo Hoi-won, also known as Paul Yoo, who led Lone Star's South Korean operations, was indicted on charges of driving down the share price of Korea Exchange Bank (K

DHARAMSHALA, India (AFP) - The Dalai Lama announced Thursday he would step down as political head of Tibet's exiled government, but continue to push the Tibetan cause in his key role as its spiritual figurehead.In a speech on the anniversary of a failed uprising in 1959 against Chinese rule, the Dalai Lama said he would seek an amendment allowing him to resign his political office when the exiled

An ancient South Korean medical book, listed on UNESCO's Memory of the World Register, will be published in English for global distribution, the health ministry said Thursday.An English version of "Donguibogam" is slated to be released in 2013, the 400th anniversary of the book's publication, according to the Ministry of Health and Welfare. Donguibogam, compiled and edited by Joseon Dynasty (1392-

Diplomatic documents and the contact information for South Korean political heavyweights have been leaked to a Chinese woman suspected of having an affair with a Korean consulate officer in China, sources familiar with the issue said Tuesday.The latest revelation comes after the 41-year-old consular officer in Shanghai last month resigned while the Ministry of Justice was widening its probe into a

Tel Aviv (dpa) - She will soon celebrate her 100th birthday, but Luba Fishman has found a new career - as a poster woman for an international cosmetics company.The Latvian-born, Israel-domiciled great-grandmother was chosen as a new face for Dove Cosmetics' "real beauty" campaign, with the slogan "Does true beauty have an age limit?"The company says the campaign is designed to avoid "beauty stereo

Actor Hyun Bin (Yonhap News)　Actor Hyun Bin joined the Marines on Monday for his military service in South Korea.  “I have received great attention and love in the year 2010 and now I have been ordered by my country (to serve in the military). I will return the love you have given me in two years and I will spend those two years well,” Hyun said in the farewell message to his fans gathered in fron

WASHINGTON, (AFP) - A NASA scientist's claim that he found tiny fossils of alien life in the remnants of a meteorite has stirred both excitement and skepticism, and is being closely reviewed by 100 experts.Richard Hoover's paper, along with pictures of the microscopic earthworm-like creatures, were published late Friday in the peer-reviewed Journal of Cosmology, which is available free online.Hoov

A late rookie actress, who committed suicide in March 2009 after accusing her talent agency chief of abusing her, claimed in her posthumous letters disclosed by broadcaster SBS on Sunday that she was forced to entertain and provide sex services to 31 people about one hundred times.SBS disclosed letters supposedly written by the late actress Jang Ja-yeon claiming the sexual services she had to offe

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) _ Nuns in hot pants, nuns in full habits and even nuns with bushy mustaches _ the motley band of costumed revelers gathered to celebrate the first day of Carnival, joining one of the growing number of roving street bands that take over Rio de Janeiro during the five-day party.A dancer performs during the parade of Aguia de Ouro samba school in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Sunday, March 6

Natalia Gantimurova is crowned Miss Russia 2011. The 2011 Miss Russia beauty pageant was held in March 5, 2011 in Moscow, Russia. (Photos by Xinhua-Yonhap News) Crowned Natalia Gantimurova poses for photos during the final of Miss Russia pageant in Moscow, Russia, March 5, 2011.Natalia Gantimurova, winner of Miss Russia 2011, is crowned during the final of Miss Russia pageant in Moscow, Russia, Ma

WEST HOLLYWOOD, California (AP) _ Fresh from a stumble at the Grammys and muffing the national anthem at the Super Bowl, singer Christina Aguilera was arrested early Tuesday near the Sunset Strip on suspicion of being drunk in public but will not be prosecuted, authorities said.Aguilera, 30, was ``extremely intoxicated'' when a car driven by her boyfriend was stopped, Los Angeles County sheriff's

Mothers may be more likely to pass down Alzheimer’s disease to their children than fathers, a finding that may help identify patients earlier, researchers from the University of Kansas School of Medicine said. Healthy older adults with no cognitive problems whose mothers had Alzheimer’s disease had more brain shrinkage than those who had a father or no parent with the disease, according to researc

List of the 83rd Annual Academy Award winners announced Sunday:1. Best Picture: ``The King's Speech.''  Colin Firth as King George VI of England in The King's Speech. (The King's Speech official website)2. Actor: Colin Firth, ``The King's Speech.''  Colin Firth accepts the Oscar for best performance by an actor in a leading role for "The King's Speech" at the 83rd Academy Awards.(AP-Yonhap News)3.