Tokyo / AFP Tokyo was hit by a major blackout on Wednesday that temporarily knocked out power to a total 580,000 homes and some big office and government buildings, while two train lines were also brought to a halt. Officials said the power outage could be traced to a fire at a facility run by utility Tokyo Electric Power. …

  Bloomberg Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co., the world’s second-largest shipbuilder, plans to eliminate 3,000 jobs, or 24 percent of its workforce, this year as part of a restructuring plan to improve its financials. Daewoo is receiving applications for a voluntary retirement program until Oct. 21, the Geoje, South Korea-based company said an e-mailed statement Wednesday. The company had …

  SINGAPORE / AP The wealthy city-state of Singapore — with its flourishing trade, orderly life and almost non-existent crime — is hardly a place one would associate with illegal trade. But a new report by a reputed organization reveals that in fact the country has a poor record of preventing just that. The new Economist Intelligence Unit released a …