JAPAN

Japan's Nikkei average edged higher on Tuesday and recovered its footing after better-than-expected Chinese economic data and solid demand at a French treasury bill auction reassured investors in the wake of European debt downgrades.

Hosting the majority of the planet's population, it is not a surprise to see Asian countries playing an increasingly prominent role in today's business world.

Asian shares inched higher and the euro stayed above a 17-month trough Tuesday as investors focused on economic data from China to gauge the impact of the eurozone debt crisis on global growth.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc on Sunday named Neil Ashe as the new president and chief executive of its global eCommerce business as the world's largest retailer in a move to bolster its online presence.

Ontario's economy expanded 0.7 percent in the third quarter, reversing a 0.2 percent decline in the second quarter and steering Canada's manufacturing heartland away from another recession.

European shares and the euro gradually recovered on Monday from early losses triggered by the mass downgrade of euro zone sovereign ratings last week, but they still looked vulnerable amid rising fears of a disorderly Greek debt default.

Texas has until Wednesday at 5 p.m. to sign the right-handed starter.

Fish hooks and fishbones dating back 42,000 years found in a cave in East Timor suggest that humans were capable of skilled, deep-sea fishing 30,000 years earlier than previously thought, researchers in Australia and Japan said on Friday.

Euro zone bank shares fell but stocks seen as resilient to an economic slowdown gained on Monday in the wake of Standard and Poor's mass downgrade of euro zone sovereign ratings, while the euro hovered near 17-month lows against the dollar.

Japan's Nikkei average fell to a one-month closing low on Monday after downgrades of nine European countries, including a cut in France's triple-A rating, escalated fears over the region's ability to end its debt crisis.

Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda said on Saturday that France's credit downgrade puts the focus on Japan to get its own fiscal house in order. Europe's debt crisis is not just a disaster on the other shore, Noda said in a televised interview with TV Tokyo.

A Japanese banker who is a key figure in the Olympus Corp. accounting fraud came into public view for the first time since the scandal broke, appearing on Friday at his divorce hearing in a Florida court.

A whopping 44 percent of all mutual-fund shareholders are baby boomers, according to an Investment Company Institute report. As they take withdrawals from their retirement kitties over the next couple of decades, you're looking at a major, potentially market-altering event.

A Japanese banker who is a key figure in the Olympus accounting fraud came into public view for the first time since the scandal broke, appearing on Friday at his divorce hearing in a Florida court.

A rather tiny Yorkshire terrier name Lucy, from New Jersey, is the Guinness record holder for the world's smallest working dog. She weighs just 2.5 pounds and visits hospitals, nursing homes and rehabilitation centers each week, working with children with disabilities and troubled youth.

Private equity firm TPG Capital is willing to invest about $1 billion in Japan's Olympus Corp in a joint deal with Sony Corp or another suitor circling the scandal-hit firm, a person familiar with TPG's thinking said.

Japan's Nikkei share average climbed to a one-week high on Friday, rising above the key threshold of its 25-moving average after smooth European debt auctions prompted buying of exporters, while the market remained on edge ahead of U.S. corporate earnings.

The U.S. economy will slow down in the early months of the year, then accelerate and finish the year having grown nearly 3 percent, according to the country's Chamber of Commerce.

Asian shares rose to a one-month high and the euro clung near its strongest in a week Friday as strong demand in Spanish and Italian debt sales tempered risk aversion ahead of another auction from Rome later in the day.

Samsung Electronics ruled out making a bid for the healthcare business of Japan's troubled Olympus Corp on Friday, though a source close to the South Korean firm said it remained open to some form of non-equity partnership.

In an unexpected pitch, a trio of whale conservationists proposed Thursday the previously unthinkable to protect the world's largest creatures: Put a price tag on whales to save them.