TOKYO -- Shares of Japanese companies poised to make major acquisitions have slumped in a stock market anxious over inflation and other risks from the escalating conflict in Iran.

TOKYO -- Japanese companies like Panasonic Holdings are fighting back against a flood of counterfeit products and fraudulent advertisements in other countries, in some cases resorting to novel methods to protect their name and reputation.

JAKARTA/MANILA/BANGKOK -- Southeast Asia faces the risk of sovereign debt downgrades due to the heavier fiscal burden from subsidies to offset soaring fuel prices, where financial assistance intended to tamp down public unrest could instead fuel a vicious cycle of weakening currencies and rising prices.

TOKYO -- Japan's Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group and Nippon Life Insurance have started discussions toward launching a private credit fund for financing corporate acquisitions, Nikkei has learned.

KUALA LUMPUR -- Malaysian construction group Sunway announced Monday that its takeover bid to local rival IJM Corp. had failed, ending what would be one of the biggest corporate merger deals in the country.

SEOUL -- South Korea plans to send some oil tankers through the Red Sea in an effort to secure resources unable to pass the Strait of Hormuz.

TOKYO -- As Japan recorded one of the best quarters in electric vehicle sales from January to March, Toyota Motor pulled far ahead of its Chinese rival BYD thanks to a difference in government purchase subsidies amounting to nearly 1 million yen ($6,270) per car.

TOKYO -- The Japanese government is tightening the screening process for residency status of foreign corporate employees coming to Japan, Nikkei learned on Monday.

JAKARTA -- The Indonesian government on Monday announced jet fuel surcharge increases, responding to domestic airlines' outcry over rising operating costs as the raging war in the Middle East keeps oil prices soaring.