Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and Mr Putin - who also met on Friday - agreed to boost joint work on energy projects, and reaffirmed the need to sign a post-World War II peace treaty.

BBC: Putin rallies divided world leaders

Another worrying sign: Post-launch, the iPhone appears to have taken off faster than the RAZR.

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Increasingly, fighting became a symbol of struggles with personal demons -- a sign of individualism maturing in post-war Japan, says Natume.

CNN: The War Mangas

The clearest sign of that is the endless squabbling over who should take the top job - what would be the defence minister post in a proper government.

BBC: Who's in charge? Sorting out Libya's rebel armies

Volume has been light in the up-move and yesterday the index rallied late to post a marginal gain, but today is the first sign of some real anxiety across the pond.

FORBES: Greek Brinkmanship Sending Stocks Lower

The results of the recent climate negotiations in Copenhagen and Cancun give no sign that policymakers are going to take real mitigative action anytime soon, so executives need to ask what a post-Holocene climate means for their businesses.

FORBES: Business in a Post-Holocene World