Natural Disaster
Report: Fukushima Nuclear Disaster Was Man-Made
A scathing Japanese parliamentary report investigating the circumstances of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear-plant disaster blamed the dangerous incident on collusion between government agencies and Japan’s leading energy company
Must-Reads from Around the World, July 4, 2012
Required reading today: the rise of freak weather, Chinese protests pay off and leading Malaysian opposition politician Anwar Ibrahim speaks his mind.
$100 Billion
Indian Ocean Earthquake: Asia Heeds Lessons of the Past as Tsunami Watch Is Lifted
The most dangerous thing that can happen in the eerie vacuum between an earthquake and a tsunami is nothing. Once a tsunami warning is issued, the size of the wave and the number of minutes before it arrives comes into focus …
$780,000
Japan’s Cooperation Pays Off with Exemption from U.S. Sanctions
Tokyo’s close ties with the U.S. paid off this week when Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced Japan will be one of 11 nations exempt from sanctions on countries that buy oil from Iran. Aimed at pressuring Tehran to stop …
Must-Reads from Around the World: March 20, 2012
More Syria Leaks – Al Jazeera reveals details from confidential Syrian intelligence and security documents handed over by one of the government’s most trusted officials who recently fled to Turkey. The trove shows President …
Diplomacy and Disaster: U.S. Ambassador to Japan Looks Back on 3/11
After a 9.0 earthquake and tsunami struck Japan’s northeast coast on March 11, 2011, offers of aid poured in from around the world. In a few months, Japan went from being one of the international community’s largest aid donors to …
A Year After Evacuating, Residents Long to Return to Homes Near Fukushima Plant
Chitose Nakano pulls two tall cans of Asahi Dry and a 7-Eleven roll cake out of a plastic shopping bag, and sets them on the white cloth. A cacophony of shutters clicks as the 36-year-old, fully clad in a white protective suit …
Japan: A Year After the Tsunami, A Coastal Town Comes Together
Driving into Minamisanriku, it’s hard not to feel a little discouraged. A cold drizzle falls over what used to be a thriving, picturesque fishing village but is now a barren swatch of gray cement foundations. The twisted hulks of …
Must-Reads from Around the World: March 5th, 2012
President Putin — Unsurprisingly, Vladimir Putin won a third term as Russia’s president Sunday. In an op-ed following the election, Russian language opposition newspaper Kommersant urges those disappointed by the re-elction of …
Fukushima Report: Japan Urged Calm While It Mulled Tokyo Evacuation
Systemic inattentiveness. Distrust and meddling. Confusion and friction. These turns of phrase would be bad news on anyone’s job review. But when the job that’s under review is how a government handled the worst nuclear …