JAPAN

The bond market focused Thursday on weak economic data while equity investors responded to news that an unexpectedly high number of people sought first-time jobless benefits, leaving both types of securities higher.

Two former Olympic gold medalists hope to overcome some recent disappointment in the London Games.

Game between Chelsea and Barcelona sets a brand new Twitter record for hits per second.

The discovery this week of the fourth U.S. case of mad cow disease was one of two things for food safety experts: a validation of a decade-long focused surveillance regime or a lucky break that highlights the need to revisit previously scrapped efforts for more comprehensive surveillance.

South Korean automaker Hyundai Motor reported Thursday a profit of 2.45 trillion won ($2.2 billion) in the first quarter, which is up 31 percent compared to the same period a year ago.

Asian shares gained on Thursday, retaining positive momentum as the Federal Reserve reassured markets that it will keep its highly accommodating stance to support growth, and optimism grew over strong corporate earnings after Apple Inc's robust results.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke rattled financial markets Wednesday afternoon, as the top U.S. central banker hemmed and hawed his way through a tough round of questioning from a cadre of economic reporters.

East Asia is rife with new military activity as maritime disputes highlight persistent tensions between neighbors.

CISPA sponsors are realizing the bill is a major threat to Internet privacy akin to SOPA, apparently in response to a groundswell of opposition from across the world.

Mad cow disease has emerged once again in the United States, for the first time in six years. The Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy infection was confirmed on Tuesday. Health concerns were allayed by the USDA, but economic concerns are taking their place.

U.S. authorities reported the country's first case of mad cow disease in six years on Tuesday, swiftly assuring consumers and global importers that there was no danger of meat from the California dairy cow entering the food chain.

Planetary Resources, an asteroid mining company backed by filmmaker James Cameron and other well-know investors, was officially announced on Tuesday, with plans to launch exploratory spacecraft over the next two years to hunt for raw materials, ranging from water to precious metals from Near-Earth Asteroids (NEAs) a few years after that.

Huawei Technologies Co Ltd , the world's No.6 mobile phone maker, said on Wednesday that it expects to ship more than 100 million mobile phones this year including 60 million smartphones as it aims to increase its global market share.

The doubling of the International Monetary Fund's firepower, an increase in Europe's bailout fund and liquidity injections should be enough to contain Europe's sovereign debt crisis, the head of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development said on Wednesday.

Asian stock markets advanced Wednesday as signs of an improvement in the US housing market and better-than-expected quarterly earnings from corporate majors buoyed sentiment.

A Japan earthquake struck a southeastern section of Honshu island Tuesday afternoon, rocking the region with a reported 5.5-magnitude shock.

Over the past three decades, South Korea has catapulted itself from Third World-caliber poverty to becoming a technologically superior economic powerhouse.

Mexican President Felipe Calderon on Tuesday gave an impassioned defense of free trade as Mexico waits for the United States and others to decide whether it will be allowed to join talks on a trade pact in the Asia-Pacific region.

China is still friendly with North Korea, despite the latter being roundly condemned by the international community. History plays a role, but Beijing is getting something out of it too - just how much, though, remains to be seen.

The unnamed source said the North had almost completed preparations for the nuclear test, which if it went ahead would draw strong international condemnation and further isolate the impoverished state from its sole major ally, China.

Nissan Motor Co <7201.T> is proving that being late to the party in China doesn't have to be a handicap, and is poised to widen its lead among Japanese automakers in the world's biggest car market with speedy and aggressive expansion plans.