Nissan said on Thursday it is in talks with scandal-hit Mitsubishi Motors over a tie-up that could create one of the world's biggest auto groups, rivalling Toyota and Volkswagen.

Oil prices dipped in Asia on Thursday as investors locked in profits after the previous day's surge to six-month highs that was fueled by a surprise decline in US stockpiles.

A pinch of conservatism and a generous dose of populism spiced with a good handful of U-turns: Donald Trump's economic policy escapes classification as much as it fluctuates with the tides of public opinion.

But the pronouncements so far of the presumptive Republican presidential candidate have already stirred up concerns in Washington and on Wall Street, where people are anxious for more clarity on his thinking.

Reddish-brown sand dunes twist across the desert, their canyon-like ridges accentuated by late afternoon sun as a Saudi Aramco jet approaches the site of a remote gas plant.

The yen clawed back some lost ground Wednesday after it slid on Japanese officials' repeated warnings that they could intervene in currency markets to bring down the surging unit.

Having soared to 18-month highs against the dollar, the yen this week suffered its biggest two-day slide in several months.

Rui Nabeiro not only rose from humble beginnings to become one of Portugal's richest men, he has managed to survive the economic crisis while keeping his coffee business under family control in the small town where he grew up despite overtures from multinationals.

At 85, he remains at the helm of the Delta firm he founded in 1961 in Campo Maior, in the country's depressed east, as a small coffee-grinding business aimed at the Spanish market.

Strong ticket sales from the latest "Star Wars" film and "Zootopia" helped modestly lift Disney's second-quarter profit, according to results released Tuesday.

But revenues from Walt Disney Co.'s closely watched cable television division fell, perturbing investors who have been worried about the prospects for its ESPN network as the traditional cable television model comes under assault.

Crews worked Tuesday to start restoring water and electricity in this Canadian petroleum hub crippled by huge forest fires, as officials said stalled oil production could resume in days.

Oil is the lifeblood of the economy in this part of Alberta province, and the fires raging around Fort McMurray for the past 10 days or so have led to a 40 percent drop in output.

Chinese producer prices declined at their slowest rate in 16 months in April, official data showed Tuesday, a positive sign for the world's second-largest economy.

The producer price index (PPI), which measures prices of goods at the factory gate and is a leading indicator of consumer inflation, fell by 3.4 percent from a year ago, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said in a statement.

Tokyo stocks rose again Tuesday morning as a weaker yen brightened the outlook for exporters' profits while a slide in oil prices lifted airline shares.

The gains came after bargain-hunting investors on Monday pushed the Japanese market into the black after six straight losing sessions.