JAPAN

Asian shares gave back earlier gains Thursday after data showed China's factory activity shrank for a fifth successive month, underscoring concerns about a growth slowdown in the world's second largest economy.

Asian shares inched up Thursday but remained in ranges as investors waited for manufacturing data from China and the euro zone due during this session for more clues about the state of their economies.

President Barack Obama must nominate a new President of the World Bank soon, ahead of its June annual meeting in Washington. Two Third World candidates have been mentioned but another American is the likely winner.

China's skein of trade surpluses and Treasury-buying has run its course and the country will need to begin selling some of its vast holdings of U.S. debt, says Frederick Sheehan, ex-head of asset allocation at John Hancock Financial Services.

U.S. trade officials imposed surprisingly low tariffs on Chinese solar panels Tuesday, choosing to tread lightly and avoiding an all-out trade war when addressing local solar companies' complaints of unfair trade practices.

The move means that banks in Japan and 10 EU nations have been given a six-month break from being cut off from the US financial system while they work to reduce their dependence on Iranian oil.

Pyongyang officials said such rhetoric may be akin to a declaration of war.

Chevron officials announced Wednesday the company's most recent oil spill off the coast of Brazil is not linked to a previous oil leak in November.

The world's largest television and online retailer QVC Inc. is starting a joint venture with China's national radio broadcaster to enter the world's most populous growing consumer and media market.

Asia shares continued to fall amid lingering worries about China growth. In Japan, shares declined for the first time in six sessions.

The U.S. and America would jointly deploy Aegis-equipped destroyers and land-based Patriot Advanced Capability-3 interceptor missiles in Japan's southern islands ahead of North Korea's planned rocket launch in April, NHK television reported Japanese defense officials as saying.

The National Cherry Blossom Festival, the greatest springtime celebration in the U.S., kick started in Washington, DC, Tuesday, celebrating the hundredth anniversary of the gift of cherry trees from Japan, and the enduring friendship between the two nations.

Tiffany & Co said its business was back on track in the first quarter after a holiday scare, and the high-end jeweler forecast higher sales and profit for 2012, sending shares up nearly 7 percent.

Japan's Olympus Corp will unveil new endoscopes on Wednesday, its first major product launch since an accounting fraud erupted last year and threatened the 92-year-old firm's survival.

Japan's Olympus Corp will unveil new endoscopes on Wednesday, its first major product launch since an accounting fraud erupted last year and threatened the 92-year-old firm's survival.

Japan's Olympus Corp will unveil new endoscopes on Wednesday, its first major product launch since an accounting fraud erupted last year and threatened the 92-year-old firm's survival.

European markets lost ground as the lack of positive catalysts prompted a pause in the recent string of gains, while Asian stocks were mostly higher.

Hundreds of participants dressed in bridal outfits gathered and drank champagne during the annual Brides of March event in San Francisco Sunday.

A majority of Japanese favor phasing out of nuclear power plants, a poll published in the Japanese newspaper Tokyo Shimbun showed Sunday.

French oil giant Total's deal to buy a bigger stake in its $34 billion Ichthys liquefied natural gas project in Australia from partner Inpex Corp <1605.T> may be delayed and will only close before the year-end, its chief executive said.

The potential growth rate in Japan is low due to a shrinking population as well as slow capital accumulation and without acceleration in productivity growth a shrinking labor force will cause GDP to contract, although GDP per capita is likely to continue to rise according to Capital Economics.