Dr. Margaret Chan, the U.N. agency's director-general, said the decision to raise the alert on the 6-point scale indicated that all countries should "immediately" activate pandemic preparedness plans.

CNN: WHO raises pandemic alert to second-highest level

"Japan is in a sweet spot right now, " said Paul Chan, chief investment officer for Asia ex-Japan at U.S. money-management firm Invesco.

WSJ: Investors Grab Japanese Shares

How many short, overweight, non-English-speaking Chinese boyhood friends of Jackie Chan have ever become stars on U.S. television?

CNN: ASIANOW - TIME Asia

Rush Hour, Chan's new action-comedy-thriller, set box office records in the U.S. and is about to do the same across Asia.

CNN: ASIANOW - TIME Asia

Next: Stanley Tong's live-action Mr. Magoo will be released in the U.S. on Christmas Day, and Peter Chan tries a romantic comedy, due out in 1998.

CNN: OT ONLY DID HONG