JAPAN

Olympus Corp head Tsuyoshi Kikukawa resigned on Wednesday after a scandal over hefty advisory fees wiped out half of the 92-year-old firm's market value while his successor stuck with the company's line that it had done nothing wrong.

Air India's board has recommended that the state-run airline buy just 12 Boeing 787 Dreamliners, down from 27 the company ordered in 2005, according to a report.

With both Formula One championships already wrapped up by Sebastian Vettel and his Red Bull team, India takes the starring role on its long-awaited grand prix debut this weekend.

Hurricane Rina is currently a category 2 storm, but it will intensify to category 3 Wednesday as it heads towards Cancun, Mexico. With winds currently breaking 110 miles per hour, Rina's projected path takes it over the Yucatan state, where residents have stocked up on supplies and close resort towns and fishing villages.

Olympus Corp Chairman and President Tsuyoshi Kikukawa stepped down on Wednesday in response to a widening scandal over dubious acquisition deals, as sources said Japan's securities watchdog was looking into the 92-year-old firm's past dealings.

Olympus Corp announced Wednesday that its chairman and president Tsuyoshi Kikukawa had stepped down over media reports of a widening scandal, as sources said Japan's main securities watchdog was looking into the 92-year-old firm's dubious acquisition deals.

European stock index futures fell on Wednesday, after Asian shares traded lower for most part on growing concerns that the outcome from a key meeting of European policymakers to contain the debt crisis may fall short of expectations.

Asian shares declined on Wednesday ahead of a key meeting of European policymakers later in the session, with concerns heightening that the outcome to contain Europe's sovereign debt crisis could fall short of expectations.

Canon Inc. (NYSE: CAJ) reported a 14.2 percent increase in third quarter earnings, due to ongoing cost cutting measures. Because of historically strong yen and lower production activities, the company lowered its full year 2011 outlook.

Asian shares declined Wednesday ahead of a key meeting of European policymakers later in the session, as investors feared the effort to contain Europe's sovereign debt crisis could fall short.

The remains of what is believed to be a 13th century Mongolian ship have been discovered by a team of researchers off the coast of southern Japan.

Nomura Holdings , Japan's largest investment bank, is planning major cost cuts that will like have the biggest impact on its loss-making European operations, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday, citing people familiar with the matter.

Nintendo will release an extension to the Nintendo 3DS called the Circle Pad Pro on February 7, 2012.

The pan-Asian girl band Blush has been around for only 11 months but already has a track record more established groups might envy -- a single that hit number three on the U.S. dance music charts and rapper Snoop Dogg in one of their songs.

In America, people spend thousands of dollars to have straight teeth through orthodontics. In Japan, however, a trend has been underway for a couple of years in which crooked teeth through purposeful dental cosmetic surgery have become the rage. In Japan, the crooked teeth trend is called yaeba, or double tooth.

Asia's PC makers, already grappling with the prospect of subdued year-end holiday season consumer demand, are faced with a likely further slowdown in the lunar new year sales season as Thailand's floods cut the supply of hard disk drives.

Tsunami debris from the earthquake that struck Japan in March is heading straight for the West Coast, though the 20 million pounds of debris will not likely hit the U.S. for two to three years, scientists say.

Delegations from the United States and North Korea met on Monday for two-day talks to discuss a possible disarmament of North Korea's nuclear weapon's program.

Could the Turkey earthquakes (or the 9.0 Japan quake in March of the L'Aquila, Italy quake in 2009) have been predicted in advance?

Think your apartment is small? Check out these tiny rooms and capsules that make a dorm room look like the Taj Mahal.

Former Oasis member Noel Gallagher soared to the top of the British album chart on Sunday with his debut solo release, brushing aside Matt Cardle, last year's X-Factor winner.