JAPAN

Students from a Japanese middle school who lost their basketball when it was swept away in the 2011 tsunami are miraculously playing with the ball again after it was returned since washing up on an Alaskan shoreline back in March.

Asian markets fell Thursday as weak retail sales data by the U.S. Commerce Department and Spanish debt downgrade by Moody's weighed down on investor sentiment.

Japan has evidence that China shipped missile launch vehicles to North Korea last year, in a possible breach of U.N. sanctions on Pyongyang, Japanese media reported Wednesday.

Japan's industrial production declined in April from the previous month, according to the revised data released by the Trade Ministry Thursday.

Japan's Nikkei 225 Stock Average fell Thursday amid report of cut in Spain's credit rating and disappointing data from the U.S.

Openet, one of Ireland?s flourishing software developers, said it raised an additional $21 million from investors in Japan, Europe and the U.S., bringing the cumulative total raised in 13 years to $55 million.

Something strange is going to take place next week at the G-20 summit: Europe, long accustomed to sending aid through the International Monetary Fund to developing nations, will pass a collection plate to many of those same countries. But to get such help, which could be as much as $105 billion from four major emerging economies, European nations will have to surrender some control of the IMF.

Asian markets rose Wednesday but gains were weighed down as investors were worried about the debt crisis lingering over the euro zone.

Japan's Nikkei 225 Stock Average rose Wednesday but maintained a cautious tone as investors have concerns of the persisting debt crisis looming over the euro zone.

The U.S. singled out China on Monday in its effort to push the international community to place additional economic pressure on Iran.

Though rents went down, grocery bills shrank and companies trimmed their workforce after the devastating 2011 earthquake and tsunami, Tokyo edged past Angolan capital Luanda to become the world?s most expensive city for expatriates in Mercer?s 2012 survey.

Indian retail sector, which is one of the fastest growing in the world, is under immense pressure to allow the Foreign Direct Investment. With multi-national retail giants like Wal-Mart and CarreFour and foreign investors lobbying the government to throw open the retail sector, the government has made several futile attempts in the past two years to allow FDI in retail.

Americans don't think often about Guam, a strategically important U.S. territory in the Mariana Islands where the military rules the economy. But without the federal government and its money, the island will experience an economic crisis.

Asian stocks fell Tuesday as optimism on the 100 billion euro ($125 billion) aid for Spanish banks faded, and markets failed to uphold the gains made Monday.

Japan's Nikkei 225 Stock Average fell Tuesday as the early investor excitement on the bailout for Spanish banks subsided to revive concerns about the debt crisis looming over the euro zone.

Asian markets reversed the previous day's hefty gains on Tuesday as a European bailout for Spain's debt-stricken banks failed to convince investors that the spread of the debt crisis in Europe will be halted.

Political and economic decisions over the next week have serious consequences for the country's future.

Asian markets rose Monday as investors were encouraged by the announcement of the Spanish bank aid deal and a report of less worrisome data from China over the weekend.

Japan's Nikkei 225 Stock Average rose Monday as euro zone finance ministers Saturday agreed to provide Spain with aid while May exports in China grew above expectations.

China's easy money and Spain's hard choice to accept a bailout of its cash-strapped financials sector appear to have market participants feeling pretty chipper in the early going on Monday.

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