JAPAN

In what almost looked like a playground dare, Japanese MP Yasuhiro Sonoda drank a glass of water taken from a radioactive puddle in the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power, in front of a group of reporters.

Prime Minister George Papandreou's call for a referendum on the latest Greek bailout plan has blown a potentially fatal hole in the Eurozone's strategy to overcome its sovereign debt crisis.

Japan's costly attempt to weaken the yen underscores its determination to do its best to ease the pain felt by the export-reliant economy without embarking on a potentially thorny sustained yen-selling spree to turn the market's tide.

Stock index futures tumbled on Tuesday as the deal to rescue Greece and prevent a wider sovereign debt crisis faced a new hurdle and as Asian economic data reignited fears of a slowdown in global growth.

Stock index futures tumbled on Tuesday as the deal to rescue Greece and prevent a wider sovereign debt crisis faced a new hurdle and as Asian economic data reignited fears of a slowdown in global growth.

Futures pointed to a lower open on Wall Street on Tuesday, adding to losses in the previous session, with the shock announcement of a Greek referendum on its bailout dragging down markets worldwide.

Asian shares and commodities fell Tuesday, after a shock announcement that Greece will hold a referendum on a new EU bailout deal for the debt-ridden country threw efforts to resolve the euro zone's debt crisis into fresh doubt.

Renewed worries about the slow progress in resolving the euro zone's debt crisis dampened investor appetite for risk, sending Asian shares and commodities lower Tuesday while keeping pressure on the euro.

The United States announced to stop financial contribution to United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation after the UN body voted to admit Palestine as its full member, which the Obama administration termed as regrettable and premature.

According to Japanese media, there are currently 126 prisoners languishing on death row.

The world's population reaches seven billion and urbanization increases.

At year-end, Brazil’s GDP is expected to hit $2.44 trillion, just a hair above the $2.43 trillion figure for the UK.

The Japanese intervention took the forex market by storm late Sunday, sending the Japanese yen over 5 percent lower against the U.S. dollar in a little over one hour.

Gold prices fell 1.4 percent Monday as the bankruptcy of a broker-dealer heavily invested in European sovereign debt drove investors to the safety of the dollar.

The yen just reached a post-war record against the U.S dollar – thereby placing great pressures on Japanese exports.

Stocks fell more than 1 percent on Monday as enthusiasm over the agreement to tackle the Eurozone debt crisis waned and a spike in the U.S. dollar hurt commodity-related shares.

Investors were so concerned that euro zone leaders would not reach agreement on solving the debt crisis in October that they cut equity holdings to the second lowest level in 12 months, Reuters polls showed on Monday.

The economy gained momentum for a third straight month in August, growing 0.3 percent from September and putting to rest fears of a recession, but not showing enough strength to trigger interest rate hikes

Stocks fell at the open on Monday as a spike in the U.S. dollar weighed on commodity prices and dried up bids on other risky assets.

The seven-billionth human is expected to be born on Monday, but an expert who helps do the counting says that event comes as the Earth undergoes a demographic shift toward slower population growth.

Stocks fell at the open on Monday as a spike in the U.S. dollar weighed on commodity prices and dried up bids on other risky assets.