Category Archives: International

Another aftershock jolts Japan, more warnings of 7.0 or greater

Initial reports say a 5.5 quake hit Nagano Prefecture.

Also, the Japanese Meteorological Agency warned that more aftershocks of 7.0 or greater could hit Japan.  Keiji Doi, earthquake prediction division chief, said the chance of aftershocks of 7.0 could continue for at least a year.

So far, more than 400 aftershocks of magnitude 5.0 or larger have occurred since the catastrophic March 11 quake.

 

Terrorists bombed Minsk subway, Moscow on alert, graphic video

At least 11 people are dead, and as many as 103 wounded, after an explosion in a Minsk subway, in the country of Belarus.  The explosion caused Russian police in Moscow to search their subways.

Witnesses say there is a large crater where the ‘bomb’ went off.  Belarus police say it is an act of terrorism, they found the remains of a bomb that ahd been stuffed with scraps of metal.  One analyst says this is the first time for such an act of terrorism in Belarus.

Russia suffered a terrorist attack at one of its airports in January.  Russia has been asking Western leaders to help them in their fight against terrorism since the 1990s.

Cell video

Graphic video

Toyota expects more production problems

“Output reduction in Japan and overseas will most likely continue until September.”-Kohei Takahasi, JPMorgan Chase & Co. in Tokyo

Toyota expects to lose 35,000 vehicles from the North American shut down, and that’s spread over five days.  The problem is that, because of continued nuclear power issues, it looks like parts supply is not going to improve anytime soon.

Almost 70 percent of the Toyota vehicles sold in the U.S., are put together in North America, but, about 85 percent of the parts and materials come from Japan.

The North American car market is important for Toyota, making up about 60% of their profits.

On April 8, Citigroup downgraded Toyota stock to ‘sell’.  Citigroup said the downgrade was because Toyota has not addressed the problems created by the lack of electrical power in Japan.  It’s clear the lack of power in Japan will go on for longer than expected.

 

More trouble for Japan Air Lines

Before the March 11 disasters, JAL had come out of bankruptcy.  Now the huge drop in people coming to Japan (some sources say at least 75% drop) is threatening to do JAL in.

Last week JAL announced they will ask employees to take time off without pay.  Now JAL says it needs to cut costs by 10 billion yen.

JAL President Masaru Onishi, said international flight passengers is only 25% of what they need to make money.

They will extend the employee time off without pay plan, as well as halt payments for employee ‘expenses’ and ‘allowances’.

Egyptians want U.S. backed military leaders out

Egyptians want the Military leaders out of government.  The military took over after weeks of protest forced long time President Hosni Mubarak to leave.

It just so happened that Egyptian military leaders were in Washington D.C. at the time the protests started.  They helped convince Mubarak to leave, and quickly took over.

Many protesters say that the military rulers are refusing to prosecute Mubarak, and his supporters.  They also think the military is still working with the former government.  Strangely the military says these new protesters are those pro-Mubarak thugs that attacked the anti-Mubarak demonstrators back in February.

So far, in this latest protest, two people have been killed, and 11 wounded by the military and police.

NATO shoots down Rebel MiG 23 over Libya

NATO admits they shot down a Libyan rebel MiG 23.  This is causing more problems between rebels and NATO.  NATO has bombed rebel ground troops several times now.

NATO says the downing of the rebel aircraft shows that they are enforcing the UN “no-fly zone”.  NATO says the no-fly zone applies to any Libyan aircraft.

The reason for NATO suddenly attacking a rebel aircraft, could be that the Libyan government has complained that rebel helicopters are being allowed to fly, despite the UN resolution stating that ALL military aircraft would be shot down by the coalition.

African Union says Libyan government accepts ceasfire, African Union asks NATO to honor ceasfire

“We have completed our mission with the brother leader, and the brother leader’s delegation has accepted the road map as presented by us.”-South African President Jacob Zuma

African Union officials say Moammar Gadhafi accepted their “road map” for a cease-fire with rebels, and will meet with rebel leaders on Monday, April 11.

South African President Zuma also asked NATO to stop their airstrikes, to honor the ceasefire.  Details will not be released until after the Libyan government, and Libyan rebels meet.

Most member countries of the African Union opposed UNSCR 1973, and are upset that Western leaders did not consult with them about attacking one of their African Union members (Libya).