JAPAN

On Tuesday Microsoft said that it put the final touches on its latest mobile operating-system, dubbed Mango, setting the stage for Fujitsu on the other side of the world to announce it would be first to use it.

It is understandable that foreign investors have been losing confidence with the U.S.?s ability to deal with its debt issue

Investors punished Juniper Networks (JNPR.N) by selling its shares after the networking equipment maker joined Cisco Systems Inc (CSCO.O) in warning that this year's results will miss Wall Street projections.

Just as Microsoft announced that it was done coding its new Windows Mobile Platform -- dubbed Mango -- Fujitsu of Japan rolled out the first prototype using the anticipated software.

China is building two aircraft carriers as part of a military modernization program that is causing concern among other Asian countries, sources said on Wednesday.

Republicans and Democrats rushed to rework rival deficit reduction plans on Wednesday, but with the fate of both proposals heavily in doubt top lawmakers pursued a behind-the-scenes compromise to avert a crippling U.S. default.

Norwegian killer Anders Behring Breivik has caused potential embarrassment for Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin by describing him as worthy of respect and one of the two men he would most like to meet.

A Republican proposal to cut the U.S. deficit faced delay and stiff opposition on Wednesday, raising the risk of a debt default and a ratings downgrade as the clock ticks toward a deadline less than a week away.

Japanese authorities know there is not much they can do to turn a broad weak-dollar tide so will judge any intervention a success if it keeps speculative action from driving up the yen too far and too fast.

A Republican plan to cut the U.S. deficit faced delay and stiff opposition on Wednesday, raising the risk of default and a ratings downgrade as the clock ticks toward a deadline less than a week away.

New orders for long-lasting U.S. manufactured goods fell in June and a gauge of business spending plans slipped, supporting views that the economy will not emerge quickly from its current soft patch.

After releasing a ground-up version of its OS for mobiles called Windows Phone 7 in 2010, Microsoft is attempting a second time to capture the turf lost to iPhone and Android devices.

The top pre-market NASDAQ Stock Market gainers are: Questcor Pharmaceuticals, CalAmp, Trius Therapeutics, RF Micro Devices, Amazon.com, and Affymax. The top pre-market NASDAQ Stock Market losers are: Illumina, P.F. Chang's China Bistro, CIENA, JDS Uniphase, Level 3 Communications, and Virgin Media.

The Internet Umbrella acts as a video monitor displaying images from the Internet as the user walks along. The handle of the umbrella fitted with a projector transmits images to the underside of the umbrella so the user can watch it alive while walking in rain.

Time Travel has been an idea reigning human imagination for very long, beginning as early as 700 BCE when Indian epic tale Mahabharata mentioned it in its fictional narrative. In the early 18th century Samuel Madden mentioned time travel in his work "Memoirs of the Twentieth Century."

Gold prices hit a record high at more than $1,623 an ounce and Asian stock markets were largely flat, as news out of Washington indicated politicians were making little progress in ending the deadlock over lifting the U.S. debt ceiling.

Asian stocks and the U.S. dollar fell on Wednesday while gold hit a record high at more than $1,623 an ounce, as a drip feed of news out of Washington indicated politicians were making little progress on a plan to lift the U.S. debt ceiling.

Japanese policymakers are becoming alarmed at persistent yen rises and considering solo currency intervention as an increasingly viable option for the near term, sources with knowledge of the matter said on Tuesday.

It's not too late to find investor-friendly exchange-traded funds specializing in safe-haven currencies and precious metals, experts say, though the August 2 deadline for raising the U.S. debt ceiling is days away. For more intrepid individuals, there are even some tech ETFs that seem to be holding their own.

Assuming President Barack Obama and Congressional Republicans can not resolve the debt deal dispute in eight days, the unfathomable will happen -- a default by the U.S. Government. But that begs the question: what will the U.S. Federal Reserve do, if the U.S. Government defaults?

The confessed killer of 76 people in Friday's bomb and gun attacks in Norway described Japan as a model country in a document he distributed on the Internet, praising it for shying away from multiculturalism, Kyodo news agency reported.