EARTHQUAKE

Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan will likely resign next week, his economics minister said Tuesday, but who will succeed him as the country confronts a nuclear crisis and a long list of economic difficulties remained up in the air.

Toyota and Ford will work together to develop hybrid trucks and SUVs that will be ready for market by the end of the decade, the two automakers said Monday.

As the forecast model matures, Hurricane Irene now appears headed on a path up Florida's east coast, with a possible direct hit on Georgia and the Carolinas. Florida is far from out of the woods, and if the storm stays on track, the state could suffer significant damage from a couple of days of torrential rains and high winds.

As the forecast model matures, Hurricane Irene now appears headed on a path up Florida's east coast with a possible direct hit on Georgia and the Carolinas. Florida is far from out of the woods, and if the storm stays on track, the state could suffer significant damage from a couple of days of torrential rains and high winds

A hurricane watch has also been issued for the central Bahamas.

Hurricane Irene is gaining strength and heading toward Florida. The storm could hit the U.S. by week's end, possibly as a Category 2 storm or higher, forecasters say. Irene, the first of the 2011 Atlantic season, could become a Category 3 storm by the time it reaches Florida with sustained winds of 111 miles per hour or higher.

More details have leaked on the iPhone 5, including a few reported components of the phone.

Hurricane Irene gained strength Monday morning and is heading toward Florida after pounding Puerto Rico. Heavy rain, flooding and mudslides are possible in the Caribbean before the storm is forecast to track through parts of the Bahamas from late Tuesday night through early Friday morning. Then, the storm is likely to hit Florida, possibly impacting the state with heavy rains and damaging winds for a couple of days.

Irene is a category 1 hurricane.

iPhone users in Japan will receive earthquake warning notification with the next version of Apple’s iOS operating system.

Hurricane Irene is only skirting the northern coast of Hispaniola early Monday but the storm is heading toward the U.S. East Coast, where it could strike Florida on Wednesday night and Thursday. Forecast models show the entire state of Florida is at risk of days of heavy damaging winds and rain through Saturday.

U.S. President Barack Obama said on Sunday he expects to be judged in the 2012 election over his governance of the American economy, which he said was still not growing fast enough.

U.S. Government officials and Congressional lawmakers, along with drug industry and doctors' groups, are scrambling to find remedies for critical shortages in a number of drugs that treat life-threatening illnesses, including bacterial infection and several forms of cancer.

There are no immediate reports of casualties or damage.

Thousands of sunflowers planted at Joenji temple in Fukushima, northern Japan, to help fight the radiation from Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Plant, have blossomed.

Technology giant Hewlett-Packard (NYSE:HPQ) announced a series of developments Thursday, including the potential spin-off of its personal computer business.

HP dumped its webOS Touchpad tablet, the Taliban attacked a British cultural center in Kabul, five were killed at a Belgian music festival, and more in today's Daily Scoop.

A recent research by NASA scientists has revealed and confirmed that planet Earth is not expanding, putting all previous speculations since Darwin’s time to rest.

A strong earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.8 jolted northeastern Japan off Fukushima prefecture on Friday, the Japan Meteorological Agency said, although no damage was reported and a tsunami advisory for the area was lifted after no waves were sighted.

A 6.8-magnitude earthquake struck off Japan's northeastern coast on Friday. This triggered a 50 cm (20 inch) tsunami warning for the coastal areas of Fukushima and Miyagi prefectures, which was lifted about 35 minutes later.

A strong earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.8 jolted northeastern Japan off Fukushima prefecture Friday, the Japan Meteorological Agency said, but no damage was reported and a tsunami advisory was lifted after no waves were sighted.