TOKYO (Reuters) - Japanese restaurant chain Ootoya Holdings ( 2705.T ) announced a partnership with online grocery retailer Oisix Ra Daichi Inc ( 3182.T ) on Friday, aiming to fend off a hostile bid by its rival and largest shareholder, Colowide Co ( 7616.T ).

Ootoya, which operates a casual dining chain popular for its home-style cooking, has been under pressure to show investors that it has a better plan than the one by Colowide,

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 14 (Reuters) - Malaysia’s economy shrank by 17.1% in the second quarter from a year earlier, its worst contraction in over two decades, as strict coronavirus measures at home and abroad slammed consumer spending and exports, the central bank said on Friday.

The downturn was far worse than the 10.0% decline forecast in a Reuters poll, and a sharp fall from the 0.7% expansion in the first quarter.

It was the first time the

(Reuters) - The campaign of Democratic presidential contender Joe Biden has raised $48 million in the 48 hours since he named U.S. Senator Kamala Harris the Democratic vice presidential nominee, a campaign spokesman told Reuters late on Thursday.

Biden, a former vice president himself, on Tuesday picked Harris as his choice for VP, making her the first Black woman on a major-party U.S. presidential ticket.

With social unrest over racial injustice rocking the country for months since the death in custody

SYDNEY/MELBOURNE (Reuters) - Health officials in Australia’s most populous state made “unjustifiable” and “inexcusable” mistakes which allowed cruise ship passengers with COVID-19 to disembark in central Sydney, an inquiry said on Friday.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The dollar dropped on Friday, falling for eight straight weeks, as investors looked to other currencies whose economies are currently outperforming that of the United States in terms of managing the coronavirus pandemic.

The delay in the passage of additional U.S. stimulus for virus relief

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil prices edged lower on Friday on worries that demand would recover more slowly than expected from COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns, while rising supply also overshadowed optimism over falling crude and fuel inventories.

This week, two prominent

LIMA (Reuters) - Peru surpassed half a million coronavirus cases and has the highest fatality rate in Latin America, according to health ministry data on Thursday, as the government struggles to contain a recent surge of infections.

There have been 507,996 confirmed cases and 25,648 related deaths, vice health minister Luis Suarez said at a news conference.

The Andean country has the highest coronavirus death rate in Latin America at 78.6 per 100,000

TOKYO (Reuters) - The Japanese shipping company that owns the bulk carrier that struck a coral reef off of Mauritius and leaked some 1,000 tonnes of oil said the government of Mauritius had requested compensation.

Nagashiki Shipping also said in a statement that the cause of the incident was still not known and would be fully investigated.