JAPAN

The world's oldest person, a woman who was born in 1894 and gained a measure of fame when she voted for Barack Obama for U.S. president, died on Friday at the age of 115.

Delta Air Lines , the world's largest carrier, is in talks to take a minority stake in Japan Airlines Corp in a bid to expand its reach in Asia, a source familiar with the matter said on Friday.

More than 40,000 Japanese people are aged 100 or over, up 10 percent over last year, a government survey showed on Friday, in the latest reminder of the economic problems facing the world's most rapidly aging country.

Meat eaters might happily chew on the findings of a new study out of Japan hinting that eating meat at least every two days during middle age may help maintain independent daily activities when older.

GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy said on Friday it was in talks with India's state-owned nuclear power body to build at least 6 nuclear reactors.

Timothy Dalton, a former James Bond and a Shakespearean actor to boot, will voice a worthy thespian hedgehog named Mr Pricklepants in Disney/Pixar's Toy Story 3.

Japan's economy grew a revised 0.6 percent in the three months to June, less than preliminary figures had shown but confirming that the economy crawled out of recession after a full year of sharp contraction.

The economic outlook improved in most countries in the 30-nation OECD area and clear signs of recovery can be seen in the major seven economies, an OECD survey said on Friday.

For Barclays and Nomura, the collapse of Lehman Brothers was the opportunity of the lifetime -- a chance to grab a seat at banking's top table as Wall Street's giants fell.

Chinese industrial output and other economic data surprised on the upside in August, suggesting its recovery is on a solid course but not so strong that Beijing will need to hit the policy brakes anytime soon.

Delta Air Lines , the world's biggest carrier, is in talks to invest in struggling Japan Airlines Corp and become its top shareholder, Japanese media said on Friday.

Delta Air Lines , the world's biggest carrier, is in talks to invest in struggling Japan Airlines Corp and become its top shareholder, Japanese media said on Friday.

A weakening dollar and robust Chinese economic data sharpened investor appetite for risk on Friday, sending world stocks to fresh 11-month highs.

Asian shares rose on Friday, buoyed by strong Chinese economic data which also boosted commodity prices and sent the dollar to its lowest in a year against a basket of currencies.

HSBC Bank Plc has increased the size of its planned Samurai bond issuance to 117 billion yen ($1.3 billion), nearly double an initial estimate of Y60 billion yen, documents filed with Japanese financial authorities showed on Friday.

Japan's health ministry is set to buy enough H1N1 flu vaccine for nearly 50 million people from British drug maker GlaxoSmithKline and Swiss maker Novartis, a Japanese newspaper reported on Friday.

Japan's Asahi Breweries said it was not in talks to buy soft-drinks maker Orangina, denying a newspaper report it was competing with domestic rival Suntory Holdings in a $3.8 billion auction.

Asian shares edged up on Friday as strong Chinese economic data supported regional recovery hopes, but Japanese exporters were hurt by a stronger yen as the dollar fell to its lowest in a year against a basket of currencies.

Specialty glass maker Corning Inc said the decline in third-quarter glass output may be smaller than expected due to improving demand, but profit margins have been hurt by an earthquake in Japan.

Japan's Toshiba Corp needs to consider acquisitions so as to develop sales routes and gain share overseas in the growing market for LED lights, the head of its lighting systems operations said on Thursday.

A drive to agree a U.N. climate pact in Copenhagen in December risks failure unless world leaders revive bogged-down negotiations at a U.N. summit in New York on September 22, experts say.