The Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. debuted Saturday as the world's biggest bank, surpassing U.S.-based Citigroup in assets through the merger of Japan's second- and fourth-largest financial institutions.
Mitsubishi Tokyo Financial Group Inc. won a protracted takeover battle against rival suitor Sumitomo Mitsui to buy No. 4 UFJ Hold

Healthcare systems have failed to come to grips with the global obesity epidemic and its serious health consequences, leading experts said on Friday.
More than a billion people, 10 percent of whom are children, worldwide are obese or overweight. It is the sixth most important risk factor in the overall burden of disease.
But there ar

Apple Computer Inc. (Nasdaq:AAPL - news), responding to consumer complaints that the screen on its sleek, recently introduced iPod cracks too easily, said on Wednesday it will replace any defective units.
Also on Wednesday, Merrill Lynch analyst Richard Farmer lowered its rating on Apple shares to "neutral" from "buy," saying that

Google Inc.'s boycott of News.com appears to have ended quietly, less than three months after company executives told the technology news site that they would stop speaking with its reporters for a year.
Google CEO Eric Schmidt granted an in

Hooray for the red, yellow and orange! Those are the colors featured on the newly redesigned $10 bill, the third currency denomination to add splashes of color to the traditional green of U.S. currency.
Some 800 million of the new bills will be put into circulation starting early next year in the government's latest effort to stay

CHARLESTON, W.Va. - West Virginia University is the latest higher education institution in the state to offer an orally administered    HIV test to students that requires no blood tests or needles.
The test is administered with a cotton pad or swab that is placed between a patient's cheek and gum for five minut

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - The $100 laptop computers that Massachusetts Institute of Technology researchers want to get into the hands of the world's children would be durable, flexible and self-reliant.
The machines' AC adapter would double as a carrying strap, and a hand crank would power them when there's no electricity. They'd be foldable i

BANGKOK, Sept. 26 (Xinhuanet) -- China rallied back from two sets down to beat South Korea 3-2, setting up a final clash against Japan in the Asian Men's Volleyball Championship in Suphan Buri, Thailand on Monday.

LOS ANGELES - When someone dials Leah Balecha's mobile phone, it doesn't ring. It jams with the sounds of 50 Cent, OutKast, Gwen Stefani and Kelly Clarkson.
Like a growing number of mobile phone users, the 30-year-old videographer and student has taken to customizing her handset, sometimes paying more than $3 for just a snippet of

"The Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction" serves as a fun way to blow off steam at the end of a bad day. Based on Marvel's comic book hero, this action game lets you play as Dr. Bruce Banner's alter ego -- a mean, green fighting machine who must take on a never-ending assortment of baddies with brute force.
As taught in the game's mand

China said Sunday it is imposing new regulations to control content on its news Web sites and will allow the posting of only "healthy and civilized" news.
The move is part of China's ongoing efforts to police the country's 100-million Internet population. Only the United States, with 135 million users, has more.
The new rules ta

A travel insurance policy can be a saving grace when something unexpected crops up.
"We try to advise everyone to take travel insurance," said Cheryl Hudak, vice president of the American Society of Travel Agents and owner of Travel Dimensions in Boardman, Ohio.
"Because it's based on the unexpected, it's like carrying house insu

The language police in Shanghai, China's largest city, plan to ban those and other Chinese Internet slang terms from classrooms, official documents, and publications produced in the city, newspapers reported Friday.
"On the Web, Internet slang is convenient and satisfying, but the mainstream media have a responsibility to guide proper a

China's intensely competitive air-conditioner market is expected to wave goodbye to even more brands next year, industry insiders say.
"There will be around 25 brands, with a certain sales scale, left in the domestic air-conditioner market in 2006," said Cai Ying, an official from the Information Resource Development Department of the State

In the lead up to the 56th Chinese National Day, all the security personnel in Beijing, ranging from armed police to guards at shopping malls, have beefed up efforts to ensure people enjoy a safe and terror-free vacation.
During the festival season that runs from October 1 to 7, people in the capital may notice certain changes.
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