Japanese emperor visits Singapore on Southeast Asian tour

Japan's Emperor Akihito and wife, Empress Michiko met with Singpaore's President S.R. Nathan and Mrs. Nathan during a state welcome Friday.


Japan's Emperor Akihito, left and Empress Michiko, are welcomed by Singapore's President S.R. Nathan and his wife Urmila on June 9, 2006. Reuters photo from Yahoo News.

The Japanese Emperor and Empress are on a tour of Southeast Asia in which they will also visit Malaysia and Thailand. They have visited Singapore twice before in 1970 and 1981.

Japan recently has made overtures towards the formation of a pan-Asian trade forum. Singapore was the first nation that Japan signed an Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) with in 2002.


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Residents flee as Mount Merapi flares up again

About 15,000 people fled as Indonesia's Mount Merapi came to life again emitting bright hot gas and ash clouds down its southern slope Thursday.

The activity on Thursday was the most violent since the volcano began acting up weeks ago.


An Indonesian Air Force photo of Mount Merapi spewing hot ash and gas clouds. AFP photo from Yahoo News.

Merapi's dome has swelled and it is feared that the recent earthquake in Bantul may have weaked the formation making the possibility of an eruption somewhat more likely.

Indonesian officials raised a red alert around the mountain three weeks ago but some residents have been reluctant to leave their farms and livestock.


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Asia Pacific nations practice bird flu response

Nation members of Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) conducted an avian flu response exercise on Tuesday.

Coordinated by Australia, the exercise tested communications, decision-making and response times across the Pacific Ocean.


Health officials vaccinate poultry in Medan, Indonesia. AFP photo from Yahoo News.

Scientists fear that once the bird flu mutates to allow human-to-human transmission, it poses the threat of a massive pandemic similar to the Spanish Flu that struck during World War I.

Most people that have been infected with the H5N1 strain of bird flu were citizens of APEC countries. Indonesia and Vietnam have the highest number of cases so far.


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