JAPAN

Over-fishing has made Atlantic bluefin tuna a prized delicacy a century after the fish were scorned in Europe as pet food, according to studies on Sunday that urged better international protection.

Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. shares opened lower on Monday after a power outage at a major plant near Seoul on Friday affected some of its chip production lines, but the stock quickly pared back losses.

Japan's Nikkei average fell 0.87 percent on Monday as exporters such as Canon Inc. lost ground on a tumble on Wall Street and a stronger yen, while bank shares slid again on subprime lending worries and much weaker first-quarter earnings than expected.

Asian stock markets tumbled on Monday with financial shares such as Macquarie Bank hit by global credit jitters, while fresh concerns about the health of the U.S. economy knocked the dollar lower.

Nissan Motor Co. said on Monday it would launch a diesel version of its X-Trail sport utility vehicle in Japan next year, a move that could revive the all-but-dead diesel passenger car segment in the world's third-biggest auto market.

Investment bank JPMorgan's India unit has lost four senior executives, the latest in a series of moves in the country's financial sector, where salaries have soared on the back of a booming stock market.

Global cooperation is the only way to improve food safety, Chinese official media said on Sunday after yet another week of global anxiety about the quality of goods from China.

Private equity firm CVC said on Sunday that Hong Kong financier Francis Leung has joined the company as senior adviser focusing on developing investment opportunities in Greater China.

Dubai-based private equity firm Istithmar raised its offer to acquire Barneys New York Inc. from Jones Apparel Group Inc. to $900 million on Sunday, matching a bid by Japan's Fast Retailing Co. Ltd.

India and China are the new drivers of global economic growth, replacing the United States and other developed countries, according to Rodrigo Rato, managing director of the International Monetary Fund.

Image problems will force out weaker firms and prepare savvy ones for the global marketplace, experts say.

Dell Inc., the world’s second largest personal computer maker, has rolled out its first desktop computer from its new plant at Sriperumbudur near Chennai this week, thereby making India the third country in Asia Pacific, after China and Malaysia, to manufacture its range of desktop computers and notebooks outside of the US.

Toyota Motor Corp.'s quarterly operating profit rose by a better-than-expected 32 percent as brisk overseas sales combined with a softer yen to make up for chronic weakness in domestic demand. Toyota, the world's biggest and most profitable automaker, left its cautious annual forecasts unchanged, as expected.

Japan's Pioneer Corp. said on Thursday it will launch its first full high-definition plasma televisions in October, playing catch-up with larger rivals such as Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. Ltd.

World stocks bounced off this week's 3-1/2 month low on Thursday and credit markets stabilized as upbeat corporate earnings tempered worries about a global credit crunch which had prompted a sell-off of almost a fortnight.

Stocks fell and currency markets churned on worries about worsening credit markets and a move away from risky investments.

Japan's two top steel makers, who have more than half of the raw steel home market, announced strong earnings for the April through June quarter on Monday.

Asian shares slid on Monday after U.S. stocks suffered a second day of heavy losses on worries that companies were facing tighter credit conditions, while uncertainty in global equity markets drove up the yen. Worries that problems in the housing market could spill over into other parts of the U.S. economy -- Asia's main export market -- and that tighter credit would cause takeover activity to slow, saw the S&P 500 index suffer its worst week in nearly five years.

The yen hit a three-month high against the euro in early trade on Monday as the sell-off in global equity and credit markets prompted investors to cut back on risky positions such as carry trades.

Japan's Nikkei average dropped 2.36 percent to its lowest in nearly three months on Friday on a plunge in the U.S. market and a stronger yen, while this Sunday's parliamentary election kept the market in check.

High yielding currencies fell sharply in volatile markets on Friday as a sell-off in credit and stock markets led investors to pare risky carry trades.