The previously undisclosed hiring of welders from the US and South-east Asia underscores the way Tokyo Electric outsourced its riskiest work.

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao defended six-party talks proposed by Beijing as the way to defuse volatile divisions on the Korean peninsula.

Japan will pump radioactive water into the sea from a crippled nuclear plant until Sunday, a day later than previously planned.

Japan’s prime minister made his first visit to the country’s tsunami-devastated region on Saturday and entered a nuclear exclusion zone.

Japanese military helicopters dumped water on an overheating nuclear plant on Thursday while the United States expressed growing alarm.

Workers were ordered to withdraw briefly from a stricken Japanese nuclear power plant on Wednesday after radiation levels surged.

Japan faced a potential catastrophe on Tuesday after a nuclear power plant exploded and sent low levels of radiation floating towards Tokyo.

Leaders agreed to establish a free trade area in the world’s fastest growing region with China warning that economic recovery was not certain.

The world cannot afford to allow nature’s riches to disappear, the United Nations said on Monday.

Advice to university Vice-chancellors: A successful tenure at an institution amounts to being at the right book launches, presiding and pontificating.