21.   The companies held lower-level talks earlier this year, the newspaper said.

22.   The company hired to line up sponsors for the brochure has since had its contract terminated, said the newspaper.

23.   The Fair Trade Commission will press Shiseido to discontinue its practice of refusing to sell products to discount stores, the Yomiuri newspaper said.

24.   The decision clears the way for GasAndes to start construction on the Chilean side of the Andes mountains from tomorrow, the newspaper said.

25.   The electronics giant will form a joint venture with a state-run company in China to make television sets, the Nihon Keizai newspaper said.

26.   The Ministry of Finance is considering eliminating some of the regulations that separate brokerages and trust banks, the Nihon Keizai newspaper said.

27.   The loan was intended to calm investors and allow Hyogo to meet its obligations, the newspaper said.

28.   The stimulus package will also allow companies to issue commercial paper with a maturity of less than two weeks, the Nihon Keizai newspaper said in its evening edition.

29.   Wataru Kubo, secretary general of the Social Democratic Party of Japan, may be asked to become deputy prime minister, the Mainichi newspaper said today.

30.   With the economy steadily recovering, the central bank is being freed from pressure to keep interest rates at their record-low levels, the newspaper said.