JAPAN

Japanese chipmaker Elpida Memory Inc will start tie-up talks next month with Taiwanese rival Nanya Technology Corp, with a view to a possible merger, the Nikkei business daily said on Thursday.

The Japanese earthquake and tsunami in March 2011 caused a drastic drop in vehicle production and a near-6 percent rise in vehicle pricing for a key Honda model. That's according to analysis from ALG, a leading automotive residual values and analytical data products source.

Shares of troubled search engine and media developer Yahoo surged nearly 6 percent late Wednesday after a report the company may unload its stake in China’s Alibaba Group for about $17 billion.

North Korea will shift to collective rule from a strongman dictatorship after last week's death of Kim Jong-il, although his untested young son will be at the head of the ruling coterie, a source with close ties to Pyongyang and Beijing said.

Batman star Christian Bale should feel embarrassed for trying to visit a prominent Chinese human rights activist detained in his home in eastern Shandong Province while he promoted his latest film, a government spokesman said Wednesday.

A trio of astronauts blasted off aboard a Russian Soyuz rocket on Wednesday on a mission to bring the International Space Station back up to full manpower after an August cargo launch accident disrupted flights.

The winter solstice begins (for most) Dec. 22, 2011. Many in the Northern Hemisphere regard it as the start of winter and shorter days, but what time does it begin, what does it mean for the different hemispheres, and how did the tradition get started? Find out everything you need to know about Winter Solstice 2011 and how to prepare for it here.

Tokio Marine said it will buy U.S. insurer Delphi Financial Group for $2.7 billion and is eyeing other acquisition targets, as Japan's No.2 property-casualty insurer looks to expand outside its mature home market and diversify geographic risks.

China became the world's top patent filer in 2011, surpassing the United States and Japan as it steps up innovation to improve its intellectual property rights track record, a Thomson Reuters research report showed on Wednesday.

North Korea will shift to collective rule from a strongman dictatorship after last week's death of Kim Jong-il, although his untested young son Kim Jong-un will be at the head of the ruling coterie.

China became the world's top patent filer in 2011, surpassing the United States and Japan as it steps up innovation to improve its intellectual property rights track record, a Thomson Reuters research report showed Wednesday.

Japan's central bank offered a bleaker view of the economy and the government warned of worsening business sentiment as exports slumped, adding to evidence of the pain Europe's debt crisis is inflicting on global growth and Japan's recovery prospects.

Japanese prosecutors raided offices of Olympus Corp and the home of a former executive Wednesday in a probe into a $1.7 billion accounting scandal that has threatened the survival of the once-proud camera and medical equipment maker.

North Korea's new young leader will have to share power with an uncle and the military after the death of his father Kim Jong-il as the isolated country shifts to collective rule from strongman dictatorship, a source with close ties to Pyongyang and Beijing told Reuters.

Japanese prosecutors raided offices of Olympus Corp and the home of a former executive on Wednesday in a probe into a $1.7 billion accounting scandal that has threatened the survival of the once-proud camera and medical equipment maker.

The Chinese box office is on track to break the U.S. equivalent of $2 billion by the end of the year, according to a recent report from the country's State Administration of Radio, Film and Television.

This year, the winter solstice will occur on Thursday, Dec. 22 and will mark the shortest day and the longest night of the year for those in the Northern Hemisphere.

The Bank of Japan kept monetary settings unchanged on Wednesday but offered a bleaker view on the economy than last month on mounting evidence of the pain Europe's debt crisis is inflicting on global growth and Japan's recovery prospects.

The Bank of Japan kept monetary settings unchanged on Wednesday but cut its assessment of the economy on mounting evidence of the pain Europe's debt crisis is inflicting on global growth and Japan's recovery prospects.

Asian stocks and the euro rose on Wednesday after upbeat U.S. and German data and strong demand for Spanish debt tempered risk-aversion, with investors' focus turning to a European Central Bank tender as a gauge for euro zone funding strains.

Asian stocks and the euro rose on Wednesday after upbeat U.S. and German data and strong demand for Spanish debt tempered risk-aversion, with investors' focus turning to a European Central Bank tender as a gauge for euro zone funding strains.