EARTHQUAKE

New Zealand's Christchurch was rocked by a series of earthquakes on Monday even as vivid memories of a devastating earthquake in February that killed about 180 people had hardly faded.

Family Radio president Harold Camping, who famously predicted that about 200 million people will Rapture on May 21 and the world will be destroyed five months later, on Thursday night suffered a stroke which has affected his ability to speak.

Toyota Motor Corp said on Friday it expects operating profit this business year to fall 35 percent to 300 billion yen ($3.7 billion) after Japan's biggest earthquake on record severely disrupted car production and slashed sales and a strengthening yen cut into overseas earnings.

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

Growth slowed in some U.S. regions during May as costlier food and energy as well as supply disruptions stemming from a major earthquake in Japan in March took a toll, the Federal Reserve said on Wednesday.

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.

U.S. employment probably lost steam in May as high energy prices and the effects of Japan's earthquake bogged down the economy.

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.

Japan's economy showed more signs of recovery from the deadly March earthquake and tsunami with last month's industrial output inching up and manufacturers planning to crank up production further in May and June, bringing it near pre-disaster levels.

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.