Japan faced a potential catastrophe on Tuesday after a quake-crippled nuclear power plant exploded and sent low levels of radiation floating toward Tokyo, prompting some people to flee the capital and others to stock up on essential supplies. The crisis appeared to escalate late in the day when the operators of the facility said one of two blasts had blown a hole in the building housing a reactor,... 

Devastation: The earthquake that struck off the coast of Japan on Friday was a once-in-a-millennium event, scientists say. The earthquake that struck Japan on Friday was so powerful that it actually moved the whole planet by 25cm, experts say. According to Italy’s National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology the 9.0 magnitude ‘quake was so powerful it shifted the axis around which the... 

“Let the fear of danger be a spur to prevent it; he that fears not, gives advantage to the danger.” Francis Quarles (1592-1644) A grim top-secret report prepared by Moscow’s Institute of Physics of the Earth for Prime Minister Putin on the catastrophic 9.0 magnitude Sendai Megaquake and Tsunami that hit Japan on March 11th is now warning that the “balance of our planet” has been altered... 

Officials in protective gear near the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, in Koriyama, March 13, 2011. An American nuclear expert says radiation from Japan could spread across the Pacific and reach the United States if a complete meltdown occurs at a Japanese nuclear facility damaged as a result of last week’s earthquake and subsequent tsunami. Nuclear expert Joseph Cirincione of the Ploughshares Fund... 

Wonder of the ancient world or fantasy? The story of the fabled Atlantis has captivated humanity for centuries. It has remained a tantalising mystery for thousands of years, but now a U.S. led research team believes it has found the legendary lost city of Atlantis. They claim to have pinpointed the exact location of the metropolis under mud flats in southern Spain. The team of archaeologists and geologists... 

An official scans a woman for signs of radiation in Nihonmatsu City. Nuclear experts have warned the next few days will be crucial in determining exactly how bad the fallout from the Fukushima power plant disaster could be. They say advanced Japanese engineering at the 40-year-old facility will avoid a Chernobyl-style disaster, but any radiation leak could still have disastrous consequences. During... 

Medics help injured anti-government protesters in a mosque’s yard following clashes with police in Sanaa, Yemen, on Saturday. Yemeni police stormed a camp set up by thousands of protesters demanding the end of President Ali Abdullah Saleh’s 32-year rule, killing one person and wounding hundreds early on Saturday, witnesses and medical sources said. Witnesses told Reuters hundreds of security... 

The $40billion figure during the first year of the Obama administration is an increase from the last year of the Bush government in 2008, when the State Department licensed $34.2billion. The U.S. government approved $40billion in private arms sales to countries including Libya and Egypt in 2009 – before they both dissolved into unrest this year – the State Department reported. From 2008... 

U.S. President Barack Obama said on Friday that the United States rushed coolant to a Japanese nuclear power plant as a precaution after a 8.9-magnitude earthquake hit the U.S. ally. Obama told reporters at the White House that when he spoke to Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan on Friday morning, he ” specifically asked him about the nuclear plants and their potential vulnerability as a consequence... 

100,000 Reported at Sanaa University Alone. Another day-of-rage in Yemen has given way to another record turnout amongst protesters nationwide, as around 100,000 were reported at Sanaa University, the site of daily protests and daily violent crackdowns in the capital city. But the protests of course were not confined to Sanaa, and massive rallies in cities like Taiz, Aden, and indeed elsewhere across... 

U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates. Western officials continue to emphasize an “all options on the table” military attitude toward the Gaddhafi regime in Libya, though it seems there is still enough resistance to the immediate attack called for by some top officials to keep it from actually happening. Still, the moves continue to be in that direction, as Secretary of Defense Robert Gates noted... 

Catastrophe: The true scale of the devastation that the tsunami unleashed is clear in this picture of the port city of Minamisanriku town where 10,000 people are unaccounted for. Half of the population of a Japanese coastal town are still unaccounted for as the death toll from the massive earthquake and tsunami looks set to rise. Government officials revealed the fate of 9,500 people in the north eastern... 

In photo taken on March 12, 2011, people wait to be rescued from building rooftops in the city of Kesennuma, Miyagi Prefecture, where houses have been swept away by tsunami following a catastrophic earthquake in Japan the previous day. Damage caused by Friday’s catastrophic earthquake in Japan expanded Saturday, with the combined number of people who have died or are unaccounted for is feared... 

A file photo of the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant. An explosion and feared meltdown at a Japanese nuclear plant Saturday exposed the scale of the disaster facing the country after a massive quake and tsunami left more than 1,000 dead. Japan’s Prime Minister Naoto Kan said the 8.9-magnitude quake and the terrifying tsunami which followed were an “unprecedented national disaster” and... 

Police apparently used stun grenades and batons to disperse protesters. Police in Saudi Arabia have opened fire to disperse protesters in the eastern city of Qatif, a day before planned countrywide anti-government protests. Witnesses said police also beat demonstrators with batons injuring at least three people. The protesters, from the Shia minority, were demanding the release of prisoners they say...