JAPAN

The number of elderly Japanese people committing acts of shoplifting has surged to an all-time high, a bizarre manifestation of the country’s economic stagnation, breakdown of social standards, and a rapidly aging population.

Lenovo, the world's No. 4 PC brand, will invest $175 million with NEC Corp to form a joint venture to sell personal computers in Japan, it said on Thursday, as it prepares to take on bigger rivals such as Hewlett-Packard and Dell.

The Dow and S&P were little changed on Thursday as disappointing labor market data offset strong results from Caterpillar, but a strong outlook from Qualcomm lifted the Nasdaq.

Rating agency Standard & Poor's cut Japan's long-term sovereign debt rating on Thursday for the first time since 2002, saying the country's government lacked a coherent plan to tackle its mounting debt.

Gold fell back from its third overnight rally in four days in London trade on Thursday, dropping 1.1% against the Dollar. We don't feel that this downward pressure can persist, given ample global liquidity and low long-term real interest rates, says Standard Bank's commodity team in a client note.

Gold priced in yen rallied to session highs on Thursday after yen came under broad pressure following a downgrade to Japan' sovereign ratings. Ratings agency Standard & Poor's cut its rating on Japan's sovereign debt to AA- from AA ...

Ratings agency Standard & Poor’s has downgraded the sovereign credit rating of Japan, the third-biggest economy in the world, to AA- from AA.

Shark populations continue to decline due to unregulated fishing, much of it to meet the high demand for fins. A new analysis finds that the international plan, which was approved by members of UNFAO in 2001, has yet to be fully implemented.

Stock index futures were slightly higher on Thursday, a day after the S&P 500 closed at a 29-month high as several bellwether companies reported strong results.

Stock index futures were little changed on Thursday, a day after the S&P 500 closed at a 29-month high as investors looked ahead to a new round of data and corporate earnings.

The yen fell and investors took a cautious stance on stocks and riskier assets on Thursday after Standard & Poor's cut Japan's credit rating in a forceful reminder of the fragile state of some leading countries' finances.

Features of Sony Next Generation Portable (NGP) a.k.a PSP2 include 5-inch OLED screen, microdual analog sticks, 3G, WiFi, memory card, cameras, touchscreen, touchpad, locations and Game franchises.

A battle between large supermarket operators to tap into Southeast Asia's growing consumer wealth could trigger more acquisitions, with Indonesia, Vietnam and the Philippines seen as the next hot spots.

Sony on Thursday announced the launch of PlayStation Suite to expand PS Platform to smartphones and other devices at the PlayStation Meeting in Tokyo.

The BSE Sensex erased early gains and was trading down 0.4 percent on Thursday, as the near-term outlook for foreign funds' interest was far from promising due to better prospects elsewhere.

Nintendo Co Ltd reported a 46 percent fall in quarterly profit, as sales of its aging DS handheld device tumbled ahead of the launch of a new, 3D-capable model next month.

PlayStation Meet 2011 kick starts in Tokyo, Japan even as the anticipation on the Sony PlayStation Portable 2 or PSP2 runs high.

Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd, India's top drugmaker, said on Thursday its chief financial officer had resigned, the third top official to quit after Japan's Daiichi Sankyo took majority control.

Japan's annual export growth picked up more strongly than expected in December as shipments to China jumped to a record high and auto demand in the United States recovered, reinforcing views that the economy will soon emerge from a lull.

Europe's drive to cut drug prices as well as U.S. healthcare reforms are likely to dampen global pharmaceutical companies' growth outlooks for 2011.

The U.S. dollar slipped on Thursday to 11-week lows, while commodity prices and Asian stocks rose after U.S. Federal Reserve policymakers voted unanimously to maintain a $600 billion bond-buying plan to fuel an economic recovery.