The International Atomic Energy Agency on Monday started a fresh probe into Japan's Fukushima nuclear plant, where leaks and powercuts have dented public confidence in clean-up efforts.
A Japanese official mistakenly announced the launch of a North Korean missile instead of sending an alert about a strong earthquake that hit western Japan on Saturday morning.
Australia is to fire the opening salvoes in a legal battle before the United Nations' highest court in June aimed at stopping Japan's whaling research programme in Antarctica.
The use of the death penalty is broadly diminishing around the world although a handful of countries that had not used capital punishment for several years resumed executions in 2012.
Japan has deployed Patriot missiles in its capital as it readies to defend the 30 million people who live in greater Tokyo from any North Korean attack.
Toyota has agreed to a $16 million deal with a southern Californian county over charges the Japanese auto giant hid safety issues linked to unintended acceleration of cars.
One of the systems keeping spent atomic fuel cool at the Fukushima nuclear plant temporarily failed on Friday, the second outage in a matter of weeks, underlining the precarious fix at the plant.
Scientists in Japan said Friday they had found a way to "read" people's dreams, using MRI scanners to unlock some of the secrets of the unconscious mind.
A Japanese woman who lived with her brother's mummified body for years tried to dispose of his corpse with household rubbish when she finally realised he was dead.
The booming popularity of play on smartphones or tablet computers in a realm once dominated by videogame consoles was a hot theme at the major Game Developers Conference that ended here Friday.