Toukyo - Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Sunday branded the murder of a Japanese hostage by Islamic State militants as "outrageous and unforgivable" and demanded the immediate release of a second captive, amid a tide of global revulsion.

Toukyo - Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Sunday the "credibility" of a video announcing the execution of a Japanese hostage by the Islamic State militant group was "high".

Reports are emerging that one of the Japanese hostages being held by the Islamic State has been beheaded in a video released by the militant group.

Toukyo - Japan on Saturday vowed to "never give up" its struggle to save two Japanese hostages held captive by Islamic State militants after the deadline to pay their ransom passed in agonising silence.

Tokyo - A special study is taking place aboard the International Space Station. Astronauts are studying a roundworm to find out what the effects of being in zero gravity have on muscles.

Toukyo - The deadline set by Islamist militants threatening to kill two Japanese men unless they were given $200 million passed Friday, after one captive's mother made a desperate plea to save her son's life.

Toukyo - The clock was ticking on Thursday towards a deadline imposed by Islamist militants threatening to kill two Japanese nationals unless Tokyo pays a $200 million ransom.

Toukyo - Militants from the Islamic State group released a video Tuesday purporting to show two Japanese men they were holding. A masked jihadist demanded a $200 million ransom for their release.Here are brief profiles of the men.

Toukyo - Avalanches in and around Japanese ski resorts killed four people including two Argentine men over the weekend, police and media reported on Monday.

Toukyo - Japan on Saturday marked the 20th anniversary of the Kobe earthquake that killed more than 6,400 people with renewed calls for the quake-prone nation to stay vigilant against the next "Big One.

Sony announced Thursday that it will close all 15 remaining Sony stores in Canada, which will leave 90 people without a job.

Toukyo - Japan approved its largest-ever defence budget for the next fiscal year on Wednesday, as hawkish Prime Minister Shinzo Abe looks to strengthen surveillance of territorial waters in the face of a continuing spat with China.

Toukyo - A Japanese woman got more than a mouthful when she claimed to have discovered fragments later identified as "dental material" in a McDonald's hamburger, marking the fast-food chain's latest food quality embarrassment.

Toukyo - Japanese whaling ships set sail for the Antarctic on Thursday on the look out for whales, but only to count them and take skin samples, after a UN court ordered an end to the annual hunt.

On Wednesday, McDonald's Japan Senior Vice President Hidehito Hishinuma held a press conference to apologize to customers over foreign objects, including a human tooth, being found in the company's food items.

Lionel Messi, Barcelona and Argentina soccer superstar, took some time off from the grueling rigor of the Spanish La Liga to pull off an unbelievable stunt on a Japanese TV game show aired recently.

Toukyo - Japan's conservative Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Monday he would release a fresh statement on World War II this year, but would stand by previous apologies for wartime misdeeds.

Toukyo - Japan is proposing jointly building Australia's new submarines, instead of exporting a new fleet, a report said Monday, after concerns in Canberra over the effect on the domestic ship-building industry.

Japan’s record-low birth rate in 2014 and steadily shrinking population has aggravated concerns for the world’s third-largest economy.

Minutes before disappearing off the radar screen, one of the two pilots flying AirAsia Flight QZ8501 requested that they raise its altitude but was told they could not. The plane disappeared off the radar screen within five minutes of making the request.