A top US nuclear envoy headed today to North Korea in a surprise trip ahead of the expected resumption of international talks on halting the communist nation’s nuclear weapons programme, US and Japanese officials said.

Japan’s agricultural minister attempted to hang himself amid a scandal over his use of official funds, media reports said today.

Japanese police today rescued a hostage 24 hours after she was taken captive by her ex-mobster husband in a shooting spree that killed one policeman and left three other people wounded, news reports said.

A Japanese hospital has opened the country's only anonymous drop box for unwanted children.

Japan tried to calm an international furore today over forcing Asian women to work in military brothels during the Second World War, saying the government stood by an earlier landmark apology.

The Japanese parliament today voted down a no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s government submitted by four opposition parties over staged public hearings and other policies.

Disarmament talks on North Korea’s nuclear programme will resume on December 18 in Beijing, China announced today, ending the North’s 13-month-old boycott in protest over US financial sanctions.

Japan’s cabinet adopted a list of embargoed luxury items to North Korea today and approved a ban on materials related to weapons of mass destruction as part of sanctions against Pyongyang after its nuclear test.

Japan will impose a total ban on North Korean imports and prohibit its ships from entering Japanese ports over the North’s declared nuclear weapons test, a news report said today.

A jittery world lashed out at North Korea today with fresh threats of harsh sanctions, a day after its nuclear test.

Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe agreed with US President George Bush to take “decisive action” against North Korea at the UN Security Council over its nuclear weapons test.

US government officials said a wide range of agencies were looking into claims by North Korea that it had performed its first-ever nuclear test today.

Nationalist Shinzo Abe, a proponent of a tight alliance with the US and a more assertive military, won election as Japan’s new prime minister today, scoring comfortable majorities in both houses.

Japan has dispatched ships and planes to monitor North Korea amid regional jitters about a possible long-range missile launch.