Fukushima N Plant

Japan's trade deficit surged to a record 7.6 trillion yen ($74.9 billion) in the first half of the year as exports failed to keep pace with surging imports, the Finance Ministry reported Thursday.

Japan's nuclear regulators raised the severity level of the crisis at a stricken nuclear plant on Tuesday to rank it at par with the 1986 Chernobyl disaster, citing the amount of radiation released in the accident.The regulators said the rating was being raised from 5 to 7 -- the highest level on an international scale overseen by the International...

Japan's trade deficit surged to a record 7.6 trillion yen ($74.9 billion) in the first half of the year as exports failed to keep pace with surging imports, the Finance Ministry reported Thursday.

Japan's nuclear regulators raised the severity level of the crisis at a stricken nuclear plant on Tuesday to rank it at par with the 1986 Chernobyl disaster, citing the amount of radiation released in the accident.The regulators said the rating was being raised from 5 to 7 -- the highest level on an international scale overseen by the International...