JAPAN - A magnitude 6.3 earthquake has struck off Hokkaido, Japan on Wednesday at a depth of 64km (40 miles). There are no immediate reports of injuries or damage. The quake occurred at approximately 19:51 local time Wednesday, 103km northeast of the island of Honshu, Reuters reports. No tsunami warning has been issued, reports NHK. The quake lasted approximately 30 seconds but didn't cause any damage on land. The quake comes just 24 hours after a 7.9 quake struck offshore Alaska, triggering a tsunami warning along the western seaboard of the US and Canada for a time, and launching a tsunami advisory as far away as Hawaii. There was also a magnitude 6.0 earthquake off the coast of Java in Indonesia on January 23

JAPAN - The horrifying volcanic eruption that sparked a huge avalanche in Japan yesterday was “unexpected” as an expert has admitted to being confounded by the deadly blast, it has emerged. Japan’s Meteorological Agency had set up video surveillance in the area of water that was roughly 2 kilometres away from the site of the blast. Japan is home to 110 active volcanoes in total. A soldier was killed and at least 14 more were injured yesterday when a Japanese ski resort was targeted by Kusatsu-Shirane. The terrifying volcano is situated around 93 miles from Japan’s capital, Tokyo. Scientists have declared that the last eruption from the site last took place about 3,000 years ago.

USA - The 8.2 [revised 7.9] magnitude earthquake that has triggered tsunami warnings off the coast of Alaska has sparked fears it could awaken America's most deadly volcano Mount St Helens, with the 8,363ft mountain's threat level at "very high" as shockwaves rattle the northwest states. The volcano in Washington state left 57 people dead and levelled 250 homes when a 5.1 magnitude earthquake caused it to erupt in 1980. An avalanche of debris crashed down the mountain and reduced its height by 1314ft. The trail of destruction brought down 47 bridges, and wiped out 15 miles of railway and 185 miles of highway.

USA - San Diego has been rocked by an earthquake with a magnitude of 4.1 this morning, just days after another huge quake hit Alaska and triggered warnings of a tsunami hitting California. This morning’s earthquake hit at 2.09 am PST (10.09am GMT) with its epicentre 5 km north east of Trabuco Canyon in California. Tremors were felt in San Diego and the Los Angeles area, affecting up to 10 million people. On social media, people reported being shaken awake by the violent tremors, with one person saying there was huge “jolt”. And one resident of Canyon Lake claimed to hear a “loud roaring sound” before the shaking began.

USA - Alaska has been rocked by another earthquake just days after a massive 7.9 magnitude quake struck off the coast of the US state and triggered a tsunami warning for the entire West Coast. Alaska is located on the Ring of Fire which is a hotspot for earthquake activity. The earthquake measured 4.1 magnitude and was followed by a 3.9 magnitude aftershock one minute later. A further 3.6 aftershock was recorded approximately one hour later at 1.03am GMT. Alaska has seen an increase in seismic activity with more than 50 earthquakes and tremors recorded by the US Geological Survey in the last 24 hours. The tremors range from 2.4 magnitude to up 4.8.

GERMANY - Whatever might come out of the negotiations between Ms Merkel and Martin Schulz, the leader of the Social Democrats, in the weeks ahead, the government they form is doomed to be the weakest and most unstable Germany has had in decades.

GERMANY - The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) confirmed on Tuesday it will take over the leadership of the budget, tourism and legal affairs committees in the German parliament. AfD Parliamentary Secretary Bernd Baumann said in a Facebook post that his party was delighted “to receive these important committees as the strongest parliamentary opposition”. If Angela Merkel’s conservative CDU/CSU bloc manages to form a coalition with the Social Democrats (SPD), the AfD will become the largest opposition party in the Bundestag. The budget committee — often referred to as the “royal committee” by German media — traditionally falls in the hands of the strongest opposition group.

UK - The result of a demerger in 1999, the company became Britain’s second-biggest construction company with high-profile building projects including the Tate Modern, the Royal Opera House — and even the Channel Tunnel. But its operations did not stop there: Through a succession of mergers, Carillion moved into services and management. Rail tracks, hospitals, schools, prisons and military homes all fell within its capacious purview.  Carillion’s reach across the British economy is tentacular.

CHINA - China’s mission to create an army of superhumans is expanding at a worryingly fast pace as the country rapidly invests in its controversial genetics research and development programme, a new study has revealed. It has been revealed that over the last three years at least 86 people have undergone surgery to dramatically alter their genes in the communist state.

CHINA - China's official news agency said in a commentary on Sunday that the shutdown of the US government exposed "chronic flaws" in the US political system. Funding for federal agencies ran out at midnight on Friday in Washington after lawmakers failed to agree on a stopgap funding bill. "The Western democratic system is hailed by the developed world as near perfect and the most superior political system to run a country," it said. "However, what's happening in the United States today will make more people worldwide reflect on the viability and legitimacy of such a chaotic political system," it said.

ISRAEL - In language steeped in Biblical references, US Vice President Mike Pence addressed a special session of Knesset on Monday, on the first day of his visit in Israel and announced that the US Embassy in Jerusalem will open by the end of 2019. In his remarks, Pence said America was committed to forging a "lasting peace between Israel and the Palestinians" and called on the Palestinians – who are boycotting his visit – to return to the negotiating table. Pence also mentioned Iran, vowing to prevent the Islamic Republic from obtaining nuclear arms. "I have a solemn promise from me to all of Israel: the US will never allow Iran to acquire a nuclear weapon," he said.

ALASKA - Tsunami alerts were lifted on Tuesday for the US West Coast and western Canada after a magnitude 7.9 earthquake struck in the Gulf of Alaska, sending the state’s coastal residents inland to seek shelter from possible tidal waves. In Alaska, people packed into high schools and other evacuation centers after the quake hit shortly after midnight local time (0900 GMT). Officials had warned residents as far south as San Francisco to be ready to evacuate coastal areas but by 5:15 am PST (1315 GMT) the US National Weather Service had lifted all tsunami advisories, watches and warnings for California, Oregon Washington and Alaska.

SWITZERLAND - The world financial system is as dangerously stretched today as it was at the peak of the last bubble but this time the authorities are caught in a ‘policy trap’ with few defences left, a veteran central banker has warned. Nine years of emergency money has had a string of perverse effects and lured emerging markets into debt dependency, without addressing the structural causes of the global disorder.

USA - America’s government is set to reopen on Monday afternoon after Democratic senators “blinked" first and agreed to end a three-day shutdown. The country’s opposition party had been demanding an explicit pledge to protect young undocumented migrants but settled for a promise of new legislation instead. The Senate voted 81 to 18 to fund the government until February 8, allowing hundreds of thousands of federal workers to get back to work on Tuesday.  However it is only a stop-gap measure, with Republicans and Democrats having 16 days to find an agreement on spending and immigration before another shutdown takes place.

UK - Workers looking forward to enjoying a long and leisurely retirement after years of toil, may need to think again. New research shows that brain function declines rapidly as soon as people stop work and put their feet up.  A major British study which tracked 3,400 retired civil servants found that short-term memory declines nearly 40 per cent faster once employees become pensioners.  It appears that the lack of regular stimulation takes a heavy toll on cognitive function and speeds up memory loss and dementia, researchers warned. The results, published online in the European Journal of Epidemiology, found verbal memory - which declines naturally with age - deteriorated 38 per cent faster once volunteers had retired.