Justin McCurry

South Korea warns it will retaliate if North attacks

SEOUL: South Korea has said it will strike back with immediate and overwhelming force if North Korea launches an attack on its territory, days after Pyongyang said it had entered a “state of war” with its neighbour. Published 02 Apr, 2013 05:00am

N. Korean video shows US city in flames after attack

IT begins benignly enough, with an image of a sleeping young North Korean man, and a genteel piano version of the US feel-good pop anthem, We Are the World, providing the musical backdrop. Published 07 Feb, 2013 12:01am

Nuclear power reversal?

ALMOST two years after the triple meltdown at Fukushima Daiichi power plant sent shockwaves around the world, Japan’s government is attempting to resell the nuclear dream to a traumatised public. Published 13 Jan, 2013 12:00am

25pc of Japan’s tsunami fund spent on other projects

TOKYO: A quarter of the 11.7tn yen the Japanese government allocated to rebuild the region devastated by last year’s earthquake and tsunami has been spent on projects unrelated to the disaster. Published 01 Nov, 2012 02:52am

Centenarians top 50,000 in Japan

TOKYO: That Saburo Shochi completed a round the world trip using only public transport was impressive enough; that he did so at the age of 106 was even more remarkable. Yet in his native Japan, there is no Published 16 Sep, 2012 02:46am

New geothermal plants

BEFORE last year’s triple disaster in northeast Japan, Tsuchiyu Onsen drew tens of thousands of tourists in search of the recuperative qualities of its piping hot spring water. Published 11 Aug, 2012 12:00am

Anti-nuclear green party launched

TOKYO: Anti-nuclear campaigners in Japan have launched the country’s first green party, more than a year after the triple meltdown at Fukushima Daiichi power plant created a groundswell of opposition to atomic energy Published 01 Aug, 2012 01:15am

Fukushima disaster was ‘man-made’, says report

TOKYO: Last year's accident at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant was a manmade disaster caused by poor regulation and collusion between the government, the operator and the industry's Published 06 Jul, 2012 02:59am

Saving faces in North Korea

SEOUL: While the UN Security Council prepares to discuss its limited options in response to Friday’s failed rocket launch, the repercussions inside North Korea should prove far more illuminating. Published 14 Apr, 2012 11:01pm

For ending Washington gridlock, two presidents may be better than one

WASHINGTON: With Barack Obama and John McCain in the White House, 2009 was a pivotal year in American politics. Democrats and Republicans worked together to pass a jobs bill, close Guantanamo and end the recession. Obama rallied liberals behind a version Published 10 Apr, 2012 12:02am

Inside Fukushima — special report

TOKYO: The remains of the shattered reactors are still some distance away when you first notice the sheer destruction of Japan’s nuclear disaster. The journey into the heart of the world’s worst nuclear crisis since Published 29 Feb, 2012 11:00pm

Japan: reactor readings raise new concern

TOKYO: Concern is growing that the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Japan is no longer stable after temperature readings suggested one of its damaged reactors was reheating. Published 12 Feb, 2012 09:42pm

Doubts over Japan’s N-plant tests

TOKYO: Advisers to Japan’s nuclear safety agency have said power plant stress tests do not prove that a nuclear plant is safe, as the country faces the prospect of a summer without a single nuclear reactor in operation. Published 28 Jan, 2012 09:11pm

Crackdown on Japan`s organised crime

OSAKA: After decades of tacit acceptance, Japan`s 22 yakuza gangs are facing their biggest challenge: not from the police, but from ordinary citizens who are under pressure to shun the mob or be named and shamed Published 06 Jan, 2012 11:00pm

It was a `double tsunami` that hit Japan

TOKYO: The tsunami that devastated the north-east coast of Japan on 11 March was created by at least two wave fronts that merged to form a far more destructive “double tsunami”, scientists in the US have said. Published 08 Dec, 2011 09:19pm

Japan battles falling birthrate

COMPANIES have been urged to give their employees more time off to procreate; shops have offered discounts for ... Published 26 Oct, 2011 08:48pm

The secret to Japanese longevity

TOKYO Eriko Maeda could be forgiven for succumbing to occasional thoughts about her own mortality. But even as she... Published 04 Aug, 2010 12:00am