Jackie Chan - A Real Hero

Jackie Chan headlined a charity concert and telethon to raise funds for the survivors of the earthquake and tsunami in Japan.

The Rush Hour star was joined by Andy Lau, actor Donnie Yen and other Asian performers for the three-hour benefit in Hong Kong's Victoria Park on Friday, reported Contactmusic.

The 56-year-old actor and filmmaker opened the show by calling for a moment of silence to honour the thousands who lost their lives in the March 11 tragedy.

Chan then led the performers in a rendition of peace anthem Succumb Not to Sorrow, based on a poem by Kenji Miyazawa.

Soul star Lionel Richie also made an appearance via a video recording, offering a rendition of his hit Say You, Say Me from a stage in Australia, where he is on tour.

"We believe you can survive this and you will get stronger," he said.

Chan made a rare singing performance, belting out the tune Believe in Yourself.

Proceeds from Friday's concert will benefit the Salvation Army.

Japan Tsunami & Earthquake damage costs likely to top $237 billion, says World Bank

     Japan may need five years to rebuild from the catastrophic earthquake and tsunami that has caused up to $237 billion of damage, the World Bank said yesterday. The disaster 11 days ago, which killed more than 8600 people and left more than 13,000 missing, ravaging north-eastern Japan, was likely to shave up to 0.5 percentage points from the country's economic growth this year, the bank indicated.

     The impact would be concentrated in the first half of the year, it said. ''Damage to housing and infrastructure has been unprecedented,'' the World Bank said. ''Growth should pick up though in subsequent quarters as reconstruction efforts, which could last five years, accelerate. The bank cited damage estimates of between $124 billion and $237 billion, and cost to private insurers of between $14.1 billion and $33.2 billion.

     It said the government would spend $12.1 billion on rebuilding in the current national budget and ''much more'' in the next one.

     A short-term drop in consumer demand and manufacturing production would also hurt trade with regional neighbours, the bank said. South Korean electronics companies have seen the price of memory chips from Japan rise 20 per cent because of disrupted production, while Thai car exporters may run out of Japanese parts next month, it said.

     Japan's north east, the epicentre of the disaster, is home to ports, steel mills, oil refineries, nuclear power plants and manufacturers of car and electronics components.

    Many of those facilities have been damaged, while nationwide power shortages have severely crimped car and electronics production. The US billionaire investor Warren Buffett says that a massive natural disaster would not hamper the future of the Japanese economy and could prompt a new bout of stock buying.

     ''I'm not looking at Japan's economic future differently from 10 days ago,'' he told reporters in South Korea. ''Extraordinary events offer [a] buying opportunity.''

   Australian uranium miners have been urged to consider more forward-sales agreements to secure funding for their projects, in the wake of the Japanese nuclear crisis. The call at the Pay dirt conference in Adelaide yesterday follows a devastating week for uranium stocks.

Another Earthquake jerks Japan again, Tsunami alert issued

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Mar 14: Once again earthquake reported from the land of rising Sun - Japan on Monday, Mar 14. Local media reported that on wee morning, the country experienced another bash from nature. This time the quake was 5.8-magnitude, sources informed.

Fresh tsunami alerts also has been issued in the country as the new quake shook Japan. Sources reported that on Monday, the shake was heavily observed from the capital of the country and struck at a depth of 18 kilometers off Ibaraki prefecture. Recent earthquakes in past 7 days.

Residents are advised to vacate the sea level areas and are ordered to higher ground as the sea was reportedly seen retreating off Iwate prefecture in the north-east of Honshu island, a phenomenon that occurs before the massive waves hit.

Meanwhile, a fresh hydrogen explosion has occurred in the third reactor of Fukushima nuclear power plant. 160 people are feared to have been poisoned over the radioactive rays.

More than 18,000 people were shifted from the near regions of the nuclear power plant. The total death toll is estimated crossed 10,000. Though 2,000 deaths have been declared officially.

Japan experienced earthquake of 8.9 magnitude followed by a devastating tsunami on Friday, Mar 11. Now, fresh volcano eruption was also reported. Japan's Kyodo news agency reports that about 2000 bodies have been found on the shores of Miyagi prefecture. Miyagi was one of the the worst effected places during Friday's quake and tsunami.