JAPAN

Salesforce.com Inc. (NYSE: CRM) held its Cloudforce user event in New York City on Wednesday. The company formally launched its Social Marketing Cloud service and the AppExchange Mobile Site at the event.

The new head of the European Central Bank signaled Thursday it was ready to take stronger action to fight Europe's debt crisis if political leaders agree next week on much tighter budget controls in the 17-nation euro zone.

Stock index futures pointed to a weaker open on Wall Street on Thursday, with futures for the S&P 500 down 0.5 percent, Dow Jones futures down 0.4 percent and Nasdaq 100 futures down 0.2 percent at 4:37 a.m. ET.

Maruti Suzuki, India's top car maker, said sales in November fell 18.5 percent, as the troubled carmaker recovered, partially, from a 53 percent fall in October.

Asian shares rallied to two-week highs Thursday, building on strong global gains after the world's six major central banks moved to tame a liquidity crunch for European banks by providing cheaper dollar funding.

The former chief executive of disgraced Olympus Corp, Michael Woodford, launched a campaign on Thursday to oust the board of directors, reclaim his old job and bring in his own team to save the Japanese firm from a big accounting scandal.

The former chief executive of Japan's disgraced Olympus Corp, Michael Woodford, launched a campaign on Thursday to oust the board of directors, reclaim his old job and install his own team to save the firm from a big accounting scandal.

A Japanese research group identified the yeast strain Pseudozyma, common worldwide, that excretes an enzyme that eats away at biodegradable plastics.

The world's major central banks acted jointly on Wednesday to provide cheaper dollar funding to European banks facing a credit crunch as the euro zone's debt crisis drove EU ministers to urge more IMF help to avert financial disaster.

After 33 days at sea, two Kiribati men were rescued by U.S. coast guard on a remote Pacific atoll in the Marshall Islands.

Gold shot higher Wednesday after the world's top central banks launched a coordinated plan to provide liquidity to struggling Eurozone banks and China did likewise for its banks.

Central bank action on Wednesday to ease severe funding strains for the world's private sector banks may help cushion a brewing global credit crunch but it only buys some wiggle room for governments trying to resolve the euro debt crisis and keep banks lending.

The United Nations has announced that Mexican mariachi music, Chinese shadow puppetry and poetic dueling competitions in Cyprus are among several cultural traditions that are both crucial to a living culture and are at risk of dying out, prompting moves to protect and encourage their practice. UNESCO has placed 19 new items on the Intangible Heritage List.

Despite warnings of travel chaos, the Nov. 30 public sector strike in the UK has caused no significant delays at Britain's main airports.

Oil jumped above the psychologically-significant $100 level on Wednesday after a coordinated move by central banks to address pressures in global money markets.

Precious metals prices jumped Wednesday, with palladium surging nearly five percent, after the world's top central banks announced a coordinated rescue of the Eurozone's rapidly deteriorating finances.

Enbridge Inc's proposed C$5.5 billion ($5.3 billion) pipeline to British Columbia poses a raft of environmental risks, according to a new report that signals the project will become the next battleground over the future of Canada's oil sands.

Australia's foreign minister on Wednesday backed the formation of a security pact with India and the United States, a tie-up that could fuel China's worries of being fenced in by wary neighbors.

The Nikkei share average ended lower on Wednesday, reversing two days of gains on profit-taking as investors remained cautious over new developments in the Eurozone debt crisis and looked to data later in the week.

The Eurozone seems all set to enter a period of deep recession, with the credibility of governments' ability to keep the region in balance under serious doubt. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has already issued a warning that Eurozone and U.S. leaders must act urgently to stop their debt crises from spiralling out of control.

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