EARTHQUAKE

Japanese Finance Minister Yoshihiko Noda emerged on Thursday as a leading candidate to replace the increasingly unpopular Prime Minister Naoto Kan, possibly this month.

Government officials from nearly 30 nuclear powered countries called for safety tests on Tuesday, after the disaster at Fukushima plant sparked concern over safety standards.

The sun unleashed an unusual solar flare on early Tuesday, a small radiation storm and a spectacular coronal mass ejection (CME) from a sunspot complex on the solar surface. The flare peaked at 1:41 a.m. ET, according to NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO).

On Monday night, the Palo Alto City Council approved Stanford University’s massive hospital expansion project in a 8-0 vote.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel will be honored on Tuesday at the White House with America's highest civilian award.

An unusual signal has been detected by the seismic monitoring station at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute's research facility on Barro Colorado Island.

With the PlayStation Store reactivated and back online after falling victim to a series of well-coordinated cyber assaults, Sony finally introduced its Welcome Back program on Friday to placate the thousands of angry clients.

With towering volcanoes at its center, rolling vineyards across the plains, and stunning beaches along the coast, New Zealand's North Island is unlike anywhere else on earth. Here's a list of 10 destinations you won't want to miss.

Squabbling continued in Japan's ruling party after Prime Minister Naoto Kan refused to step down, angering rivals who had voted down a no-confidence motion in return for a promise he would quit.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has said Japanese government and the Tokyo Electric Power Company had underestimated the risks a tsunami can cause to the nuclear installations in the country. The latest IAEA report validates WikiLeaks revelations that IAEA had warned Japanese authorities about the risk of a strong earthquake.

Japan has underestimated the tsunami hazards for its nuclear power and needs to keep an eye on public and worker’s health, a U.N nuclear safety team in Japan said in a summary of its report on the nuclear crisis, Reuters reported.

Unpopular Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan may face votes for a no-confidence motion against him from dozens of Japanese ruling party rebels, media said on Wednesday.

The number of people killed or left homeless in last year’s earthquake in Haiti was much lower than claimed by the country’s leaders, according to a draft report commissioned by the US government.

Metropolitan Opera star, Anna Nebtrebko, dropped out of the Met's Japan tour after concerns for her health and safety.

Amid growing pressure to step down from his post, Japan prime minister Naoto Kan said on Tuesday he wants to continue with his post to resolve the nuclear crisis triggered by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami.

The pressure on the unpopular Japanese prime minister Naoto Kan increased as the ruling party powerbroker Ichiro Ozawa hinted he will back a no-confidence motion against Kan, if he refuses to quit.

Germany will phase out all nuclear plants in the country by 2022, the coalition government announced on Monday.

The crippled Fukushima Daiichi power plant in northeastern Japan hit by another blow as the system to cool the nuclear reactor and fuel pool has stopped at its No. 5 unit.

After the March 11 disaster crisis, the Japanese people seem to have lost their confidence on Prime Minister Naoto Kan. While 70 percent of Japanese voters want a replacement for Kan, nearly half of them think he should continue as the PM.

Authorities are expected to release an updated list of missing persons in the tornado-hit Joplin area in Missouri.

The United States will help Japan as it copes with the massive earthquake, tsunami and nuclear crisis, and tries to rebuild its state, President Barack Obama said on Thursday, soothing a rift between the two allies over the atomic disaster.