By Leika Kihara TOKYO (Reuters) - Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda said the country's financial institutions have sufficient buffers against losses they may incur from rises in bond yields, as long as the market moves are driven by prospects of an economic recovery. The central bank will also be vigilant to any signs of overheating of asset prices or excessive risk-taking by financial institutions, the BOJ chief said, adding that there were no signs of that now. ...

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Protesters rallied in dozens of cities Saturday as part of a global protest against seed giant Monsanto and the genetically modified food it produces, organizers said.

Saws and sledgehammers joined beer and barbecues — under covered porches — as a fixture of the first Memorial Day weekend at the Jersey shore since Superstorm Sandy roared through.

By Matthew Goldstein (Reuters) - Billionaire hedge fund manager Steven A. Cohen is losing the financial support of Blackstone Group Inc, the largest outside investor in his embattled SAC Capital Advisors, which is yanking much of its client money, according to a letter reviewed by Reuters. A pension consultant, in a May 21 letter to clients, said Blackstone has notified Cohen that it intends to "fully redeem" a significant portion of the roughly $550 million the investment firm has invested with the $15 billion hedge fund. ...

A Comparative Climatology Symposium held at NASA Headquarters on May 7 focused on new approaches to climate research by highlighting the similarities and contrasts between the environments of the rocky worlds Venus, Earth, Mars and Saturn’s smoggy moon Titan. 

Only rarely have people seen what happens when chimpanzees and leopards come into close quarters in the wilds of Africa. On these occasions, chimpanzees have made loud, fearful calls, or played the aggressor: In one case, chimps even surrounded a leopard den and killed a cub.

An American astronaut is about to get seriously crafty in space.

Slow earthquakes don't kill anyone, but they're certainly suspicious characters. Recent great earthquakes, such as massive temblors in Japan and Chile, were foreshadowed by slow quakes shuffling through the regions in the months before the deadly shaking struck.

As Memorial Day weekend sees people in the United States celebrating the opening of beach season, data from a European Environment Agency (EEA) report serves as a warning of how wild weather can affect water safety.

EL CORRAL, Chile (AP) — The Diaguita Indians live in the foothills of the Andes, just downstream from the world's highest gold mine, where for as long as anyone can remember they've drunk straight from the glacier-fed river that irrigates their orchards and vineyards with its clear water.

SHANGHAI (Reuters) - Chinese Premier Li Keqiang criticized the European Union over its plans to investigate alleged anti-competitive behavior by Chinese mobile telecom equipment makers and to impose punitive import duties on solar panels from China, state media reported. The official Xinhua news agency reported late on Friday that Li had told business leaders in Switzerland such measures would "harm others without benefiting oneself". Li is the most senior Chinese official to comment on the troublesome issue so far. ...

By Jennifer Saba (Reuters) - News Corp said on Friday it will write down the value of its Australian and U.S. publishing assets by up to $1.4 billion, as the company prepares to split its business between its newspaper and entertainment operations. The company said the goodwill impairment charge was primarily for its Australia newspapers though it gave no more details. It also said it expected reduced cash flows in the future. The charge will be taken in the quarter ending June 30 and could effectively wipe out News Corp's profit. ...

By Karen Jacobs (Reuters) - US Airways Group and American Airlines , seeking approval for a merger that would create the world's largest airline, are warning lawmakers that a requirement to divest certain airport slots would lead to less service for small and medium-sized cities, sources close to the effort told Reuters. The airlines may be required to shed slots Washington's Reagan National Airport to prevent market domination. There is concern that those slots could go to rivals, such as JetBlue Airways , which would likely use them for flights to major cities. ...

By Ilaina Jonas NEW YORK (Reuters) - General Growth Properties Inc has paired with Brookfield Office Properties Inc to bid for an expensive New York building in what could mark the No. 2 U.S. mall owner's entry into a new segment of the retail real estate market, according to two sources familiar with the deal. Bids for the 27-story office and retail building at 650 Madison Avenue, one of the toniest shopping and office districts in Manhattan, could exceed $1.3 billion, the sources said. Other bidders include Vornado Realty Trust , one of the sources said. ...

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Netflix is hoping this weekend's release of the resurrected TV series "Arrested Development" will draw more subscribers to its Internet video service.

NEW YORK (AP) — Delta's formula for winning over New York travelers is simple: floor-to-ceiling windows, abundant power outlets and a burger joint with a cult-like following.

NEW YORK (AP) — Major stock indexes closed out their first weekly loss in a month in quiet trading Friday.

By Jessica Dye NEW YORK (Reuters) - Visa Inc and MasterCard Inc, opening another front in an eight-year battle over credit card fees paid by retailers, on Friday asked a federal judge to declare that the fees do not violate antitrust law. The lawsuit seeks to give the card companies legal ammunition against some retailers who are trying to opt out a proposed settlement under which they would receive a share of $7.2 billion in cash and fee discounts from the card companies. ...

By Ronald Grover and Greg Roumeliotis LOS ANGELES/NEW YORK (Reuters) - Yahoo Inc has submitted a formal proposal to buy Hulu, joining a growing list of bidders for the video service owned by News Corp and Walt Disney Co, two sources with knowledge of the bid told Reuters on Friday. Yahoo just this week announced a $1.1 billion acquisition of blogging service Tumblr. It now joins rival bidders for Hulu, including Time Warner Cable Inc, DirecTV, former News Corp president Peter Chernin and Guggenheim Digital Media, sources have said. It is unclear how much the Internet company bid. ...

NEW YORK (AP) — Household products giant Procter & Gamble Co. is hoping its former CEO can work his magic once again.

The Art and Science of the Diagram: Communicating the Knowledge of the Heavens, the Earth and the Arcane, Final Part