EARTHQUAKE

Following Thursday's financial earthquake at JPMorgan Chase & Co., fingers are pointing to Bruno Michel Iksil, who recently boasted that he could walk on water -- suggesting the French trader's ego is as outsized as the nemesis in Melville's novel from which his nickname the White Whale originates. Whether or not Iksil's reputation will go from fearsome whale to Jonah after he's blamed for the storm and tossed overboard is not yet known.

Japan?s current account surplus fell 8.6 percent in March compared to a year earlier, thanks largely to higher energy costs, the country?s Finance Ministry revealed Thursday. A stronger-than-desired yen is also weighing on export growth and it makes Japanese goods less competitive.

Consumer electronics and entertainment giant Sony Corp reported Thursday a record net loss for the fiscal year ended March but pinned hopes on a restructuring strategy to return to profit this year.

Toyota Motor Corporation (NYSE: TM) reported a 30 percent drop in income for its fiscal year ended March 31, but the company is nevertheless making headway down the road to recovery from last year's earthquake in Japan and floods in Thailand as income for January-March 2012 increased by a factor of five.

Japanese automaker Toyota Motor Corp said Wednesday that its net profit for the three months ending March 31 surged five times compared to a year earlier as the car market picked up in the US.

Japanese technology conglomerate Toshiba Corp said Tuesday that its net profit for the three months ending March 31 declined 63 percent from a year earlier on a strong yen and weak global sales of digital products.

An earthquake of magnitude 5.5 hit the small town of Mourmouri, Iran at 2:39 p.m. local time on Thursday.

Movies have repeatedly displayed attacks on the city of Los Angeles. This time it's getting a bit of a prehistoric twist. Warner Bros. has purchased a sci-fi action pitch about dinosaurs attacking modern day Los Angeles.

Washington will host Japan's Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda for three days of bilateral discussions over trade policy and the North Korean and Iranian nuclear threats, in hopes of strengthening the US-Japan alliance.

Chen Guangcheng is the latest -- but almost certainly won't be the last -- Chinese dissident to stir up international uproar over civil-rights violations in China. But seeing the many-branched tree of civil and human-rights activists from which he descended offers an overview of the current state of China's political dissent.

A Japan earthquake struck a southeastern section of Honshu island Tuesday afternoon, rocking the region with a reported 5.5-magnitude shock.

A soccer ball found washed up on the shores of Alaska's Middleton Island will be returned to its rightful owner: a Japanese teenager named Misaki Murakami, who lost all of his worldly possessions during last year's tsunami.

An earthquake hit California's Orange County on Monday. The 3.9-magnitude quake was centered a mile west of San Juan Capistrano.

Residents across Nevada and California heard a sonic boom Sunday morning that rattled homes. Some reported sights of a fireball streaking across the daytime sky.

The 2,080-foot Tokyo Sky Tree, branded as the world’s tallest freestanding tower, rises just 640 feet shy of the world-record-holder for tallest building, Dubai’s Burj Khalifa. The Sky Tree will open to tourists on May 22.

Japan reported Thursday a record trade deficit for fiscal year 2011 as exports tumbled on account of falling global demand and a nuclear energy crisis that resulted in the rise of oil and gas imports.

The Tokyo Skytree Tower--the world's tallest freestanding broadcast structure -- opened its doors to members of the media on Tuesday, boasting sweeping views of the city's skyline.

Shintaro Ishihara may not be a household name in the United States. But in East Asia, he is often at the center of international controversy because of nationalistic-themed statements that regularly infuriate China and South Korea -- and on Monday, he did it again.

Emergency architect Shigeru Ban has designed a cardboard cathedral to replace the iconic ChristChurch Cathedral in New Zealand's quake-ravaged city.

A 6.7-magnitude earthquake struck Chile on Monday night, causing minor damage and one death in the strong quake that hit port city Valparaiso.

Deepa Mehta's critically acclaimed and controversial film Fire, the first of her Elements Trilogy which opened in 1996 to widespread protests, opened the closet for gay issues in the country, said actress Shabana Azmi.