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Amongst the aftermath of a magnitude 8.9 earthquake which struck on Friday, followed by a tsunami, Naoto Kan, the prime minister of Japan, claimed that the country is experiencing its largest difficulties since the end of World War II in 1945. "The current situation of the earthquake, tsunami and the nuclear plants is in a way the most severe crisis in the past 65 years since World War II," Kan said. Speaking on television, he stated that "[w]hether we Japanese can overcome this crisis depends on each of us. I strongly believe that we can ge

Israel announced Sunday that it plans to build several hundred new housing facilities in the occupied West Bank, days after several Israelis were killed in an attack on Friday. According to officials, a meeting on Saturday of a government committee resulted in the decision to build up to 500 new housing units, all within existing settlements. The new buildings are to be constructed in areas that Israel expects to retain control of in the event of any potential peace accord with Palestine. A Palestinian spokesperson said that Israel's decisio

An international research team at Dundee University in Scotland has established a gene called Filaggrin is linked to peanut allergies. Calling the research a "potential breakthrough", the team says it is the first firm evidence of a genetic element to the potentially fatal condition. The team — including scientists from the Netherlands, the UK, Ireland, and Canada — had previously identified Filaggrin as linked to eczema and asthma. The gene is involved in ensuring the skin is an effective barrier to irritants and Dundee University fellow Dr.

An Al Jazeera cameraman working in Libya was killed in an alleged ambush on Saturday as he was returning with his team to the rebel-held city of Benghazi. Al Jazeera, in an official statement, called the act a "cowardly crime" and "part of the Libyan regime's malicious campaign targeting Al Jazeera and its staff". Ali Hassan al-Jaber, along with two colleagues, was returning from a reporting assignment on an opposition protest in a nearby town, when unidentified gunmen opened fire on the car in which the group was traveling. Al Jaber was

A spokesperson for the US state department, Philip Crowley, resigned today after making comments describing the treatment of Bradley Manning, who is accused of leaking information to Wikileaks, as "stupid." Crowley made the comments last week at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. After being asked a question about concerns Manning was being tortured while in prison, Crowley replied that he thought that how the Defense Department was treating Manning was "ridiculous and counterproductive and stupid." He also said that he still believed

The tsunami caused by Japan's magnitude 8.9 quake on Friday destroyed the commercial fishing harbor of Crescent City, California, a coastal town still recovering from a devastating tsunami in 1964. Although most of the fishing boats were removed in advance, the 198 docking slips that the harbor had provided for boats, enabling the livelihoods of the fishing crews, were lost. Harbormaster Richard Young said that the harbor is destroyed. "We're facing not only physical but financial disaster," he said during a briefing. "Our business activ

According to analysts, the major earthquake and subsequent tsunami that hit on Friday is likely to have major economic impacts within Japan, though the global economy is unlikely to be significantly affected. Rolling blackouts are planned to start on Monday in addition to continuing through this summer and may have to take place next winter as well. According to an economist, Michala Marcussen, at Société Générale, a country's power supply "is a critical factor" to its economy. Marcussen said that if Japan's electrical infrastructure was sever

Bernardo Hees, the CEO of American fast food chain Burger King. was caught insulting British women during a speech to students in Chicago. Hees was talking to the university students about his time at the University of Warwick in England. He compared the United States to Britain by saying "[h]ere the food is good and you are known for your good-looking women." He then spoke about the UK by saying that "[t]he food is terrible and the women are not very attractive." A spokesman for Burger King released a statement after Hees' comments were repo

Libyan government troops have captured the seaport of Brega as they continue to move east through the country. Over the past several days, government troops have captured several previously rebel-held areas, including the town of Ra's Lanuf on Saturday. In Sunday's events, government forces reportedly used air strikes and shelling against rebel forces, who retreated in the direction of Benghazi, with government forces in pursuit. A Libyan military source said on state television that "Brega has been cleansed of armed gangs." A rebel involved

Liberal Democrat British MP John Hemming revealed in Parliament yesterday that Fred Goodwin, former chief executive of the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) Group, applied for and was granted a superinjunction to prevent the media revealing he was a banker. After the bank bailouts in 2008, Goodwin became a hate figure after it was revealed that he was going to receive a £700,000 a year pension while the RBS Group announced a £24.1bn loss. John Hemming's revealing of the superinjunction in Parliament is protected by Parliamentary privilege. The reve

The U.S. Treasury Department reported the government posted a monthly budget deficit of US$222.5 billion in February, the largest monthly deficit ever recorded. The February deficit, announced on Thursday, outstripped the February revenue gain of $110 billion. The report comes at a time when the White House and both national political parties are under extreme pressure to reduce the deficit as well as the total U.S. debt. There is no agreement on how to reduce spending and increase government revenue, and both Democratic and Republican me

A court in England yesterday cleared a serving police officer of rape. However, Police Constable (PC) Nicholas Stone was told by the trial judge he faces jail for having sex with the woman — for which he has been found guilty of misconduct in a public office. Stone was being tried for events from 1999 to 2001, when he worked for Devon and Cornwall Police. He met the woman involved following an arrest of a relative of hers. The prosecution had alleged he had sex with her on duty, and that this represented misconduct. He faced three misconduct