So, Wendy's is all set to depose Burger King as the second biggest burger chain in the land, and to celebrate they've decided to reenter the Japanese market with an over-the-top pr stunt. The kind that includes a $16 foie gras burger. Because when we think "let's dine on decadent duck liver," we always think "fast food." Don't you? more ›

A nuclear power plant located 27 miles from the epicenter of today's earthquake in Mineral, Virginia has been shut down. Reuters reports that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission pulled the plug after the 5.8 magnitude earthquake, but another nuclear plant in Surry, Virginia, 103 miles from Mineral, remains operational. Indian Point, the nuclear power plant located 35 miles from New York City, "is operating normally" following today's earthquake, Entergy spokesman Jim Steets tells us. more ›

Following the tragic earthquake and tsunami in Japan earlier this year, Lady Gaga was quick to come out with a We Pray For Japan bracelet, which she sold to raise money for victims. But now the performer is facing a class action lawsuit that alleges she deliberately raised the cost of shipping and handling in order to turn a profit for herself. more ›

Well. Here's something...different. A Japanese scientist has developed an alternative meat source, made out of soy protein, steak sauce, and human excrement. Yes, that's right: poop. Poop mixed with seasoning and squeezed out, slowly, graphically, through a giant tubular press. Oh, and it's not cheap, either: developer Mitsuyuki Ikeda says "at the moment, our 'artificial meat' is 10-20 times more expensive than normal meat." But it is low-fat! And if you're one day lucky enough to bribe your way into one of the elite, post-apocalyptic underground bunker colonies, you can look forward to violently shivving your bunker-mate for this delicacy. Thank you, Japan! more ›

With all the hooplah over Osama bin Laden we almost forgot there was a Chernobyl-level nuclear crisis going on in Japan. Well, that's still happening, and on top of the inevitable deaths and endless heartbreak, some New Yorkers are really worried about their sushi (ugh). Then again, plenty of Japanese people are worried about their food too, so artist Nils Ferber's conceptual Fukushima Plate, which features a "built-in radioactive meter to visualize your food's level of contamination," could be pretty useful. more ›

Sure, we have to deal with the endless fare hikes and service cuts on the ever-frustrating MTA, but at least trendy Japanese kids love the look! According to Cosmo Japan, which licenses MTA gear like baseball hats and sneakers, Japanese customers have contributed a whopping $111,332 to the MTA's merch sales in the past year. Why on earth do fashionable Japanese street kids want to be seen in map-adorned sneakers? It's simple, really. more ›

Today, Pope Benedict gave his Easter message to the Catholic masses from the Vatican, and urged that the fighting in Libya end, "In the current conflict in Libya, may diplomacy and dialogue replace arms, and may those who suffer as a result of the conflict be given access to humanitarian aid," and held hope for peaceful resolutions in North Africa and the Middle East, "May all citizens, especially young people, work to promote the common good." more ›

Both the Japanese and Japanese food fans around the world have been devastated by the culinary impacts of the deadly earthquake and subsequent Daiichi nuclear plant fallout, with Japan's water, spinach, milk and fish all possibly contaminated with radioactive materials. And now, we can add rice to that list: the Japanese government has banned rice cultivation in contaminated soil. Agriculture Minister Michihiko Kano said, "We had to come up with a policy quickly because we are in planting season." more ›

Since the tragedy in Japan left the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant teetering on the edge of a meltdown, alarms have been raised about radioactive materials spilling in the water. And some NYers are particularly worried about their favorite delicacy: sushi. It's a serious enough concern to Chef Eric Ripert of Le Bernardin that he has bought a radiation detector: “I just want to make sure whatever we use is safe...Nobody knows how the currents will carry the contaminated water," he told the Times. more ›

Workers at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant are rushing to fill a crack with fresh cement to keep highly-radioactive water from leaking into the Pacific ocean. The Tokyo Electric Power Company told reporters that water from the concrete-lined basin was seen leaking into the ocean. CNN reports the leaking water had a measured radiation level of "1,000 millisieverts per hour, which is more than 330 times the dose an average resident of an industrialized country naturally receives in a year." Recently, the water measured 330 meters off the plant showed levels of iodine-131 measuring 4,385 times above average and cesium-137 at 527 times above average, and officials believe the leak in the basin is the cause of the contamination. more ›

The Fukushima 50, the Japanese technicians who chose to stay behind in the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant to try to avert a meltdown after the deadly tsunami hit Japan last month, have reportedly resigned themselves to the fact that many or most of them will likely die in the upcoming weeks and months from radiation poisoning. “My son and his colleagues have discussed it at length and they have committed themselves to die if necessary to save the nation. He told me they have accepted they will all probably die from radiation sickness in the short term or cancer in the long-term,” the mother of a 32-year-old worker told FoxNews. more ›

Trace amounts of radioactive iodine from the Fukushima nuclear plant in Japan have now been detected in the air and rainwater in New York State. But don't start hoarding; the state Department of Health insists that there is absolutely nothing to be concerned about, because the radiation levels are extremely low. Yesterday State Health Commissioner Nirav R. Shah called for calm, issuing this statement from an undisclosed location in Albany (where he presumably has access to an unlimited supply of lead-lined underwear): more ›

Nuclear Boy's stomach is still hurting, and that ache is now starting to affect Japan's food supply. Japan's health ministry announced today that an abnormal amount of radioactive materials iodine-131 and cesium-137 were detected in spinach grown about 70 miles northeast of Tokyo, and in a dairy farm 30 miles from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant. The iodine was also found in some samples of the country's tap water, though it did not exceed accepted safety levels. Ministry official Ryusuke Hagiwara said, "This is the first time ever that an abnormal amount of radioactive material has been detected in food in Japan." more ›

[Update below] On top of everything else, Japan's tourist industry has taken a nose dive since the triple-punch earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear threat rocked the island nation last week. The Japan National Tourism Organization doesn't yet have any statistics about booking cancelations, but the AP reports that Americans are canceling or postponing upcoming trips to Japan. And the flip side of this is that Japanese travelers are canceling their vacations to the U.S. more ›

U.S. and South Korean ships have begun joint military exercises in the Yellow Sea, as tensions between North Korea and South Korean—and the rest of the region rise. North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency said that the exercises were "no more than an attempt to find a pretext for aggression and ignite a war at any cost" and added they "are putting the Korean Peninsula at a state of ultra-emergency." This comes after the Tuesday incident where North Korea fired artillery at South Korea's Yeonpyeong Island. more ›

Batman is clearly trying to throw everyone off. First his signal shows up in suburban Illinois, and now it's been spotted over in Japan. According to Stars and Stripes, the larger-than-life Batman symbol has been on the roof of a U.S. Air Force Base over there since the 1980s. They report there's been no sign of the caped crusader, however, and only F-15s have been spotted, no Batmobiles. Alright, there's got to be a hidden Bat Signal somewhere in the five boroughs—this is the real Gotham City, after all. [via NY Post] more ›

After cows tested positive for foot-and-mouth disease last week in Japan, the country put a halt to exports of Wagyu, the famous cattle breed that's raised according to strict traditions and yields exceptional marbling, delicate texture, and high prices. With no end in sight, chefs are running out of their precious meat. "Everyone that buys from us has called up and said, 'How much do you have left, lock it up for me?' " George Faison, chief operating officer at De-Bragga & Spitler, a meat supplier in the Meatpacking District, tells the Wall Street Journal. "We only have 500 pounds left." Very troubling, Japan! How are Americans supposed to extravagantly blow hundreds of dollars on a steak (or $81 on a burger) now? more ›

Following up its sad, grayscale Superbowl ad, on Tuesday Toyota is expected to announce a recall of 300,000 Prius hybrids with faulty brakes. Japan's Kyodo News broke the news, which has not been confirmed by Toyota. In the U.S. at least 100 drivers have complained that their anti-lock breaks freeze momentarily on bumpy roads, reports the AP, and four accidents are suspected to have been caused by the defect. Last week, the U.S. Government pledged to investigate. If the recall goes through, it will affect drivers of the latest Prius model, who bought their cars after May of last year. Already this year the automaker has recalled over 7 million cars around the world. more ›

The body of a man whom investigators believe may have been a stowaway was found in one of the landing gear compartments of a plane in Tokyo. Last night a mechanic found the man's body while performing maintenance on the Boeing 777-200; the plane had originated in New York as Delta Flight 59. There's little information about the dead man, who has been identified only as a 5'7" male with dark skin, clothed in a long-sleeved plaid shirt and jeans. The area he was found in is inaccessible from the inside of the plane, and does not have any air conditioning or pressurization. more ›

For the past four decades, Richard Foreman has challenged and fascinated audiences with a deeply idiosyncratic aesthetic incorporating traces of vaudeville, Jungian philosophy, slapstick, surrealism and myriad other disparate sources to create what he calls the Ontological-Hysteric theater. His newest “theatrical machine”, called Deep Trance Behavior in Potatoland, is the third in a series of works that heavily emphasize video projection, this time shot on location in Japan. more ›

Padre Figlio: In Italian, the name means father and son, so it’s no surprise that this new Italian steakhouse is run by Mario and Antonio Cerra, the father and son team behind Da Antonio. After ten years, they’ve sold that establishment and are joining forces again to focus on high-end Italian meats, such as rib eye and a porterhouse of Piemontese beef for two. more ›

The U.S. financial markets may have been closed due to the Martin Luther King Jr. Day observance, but stock markets around the world tumbled as worries over the U.S. economy took hold. Johan Stein, who manages about $14 billion at an asset management firm in Stockholm told Bloomberg, "It's the worst I've ever seen. The financial system is in terrible shape, and no one knows where this will end.'' more ›