Tokyo - Asian markets plummeted to new lows Monday, with Japan's key Nikkei index leading the plunge, as investors across the region stepped up panic-selling on concerns that tumbling share values would drag economies into recession.

Stocks in Tokyo nosedived, as the benchmark Nikkei 225 tumbled 486.18 points, or 6.36 per cent, to close at 7,162.9, the lowest level in 26 years. The market crisis has shaved off half the value off the Nikkei this year.

The broader Topix index of all first-section issues also lost 59.65 points, or 7.4 per cent, to 746.46.

The Bank of Japan injected 600 billion yen (6.37 billion dollars) into the money markets Monday to ease a credit crunch as stocks prices plunged.

Bangkok ­ One thing is for sure: the next US president will come to the White House with some first-hand experiences in Asia.

Republican John McCain, 72, a decorated war hero, was shot down on a bombing mission in 1967 over North Vietnam, captured and tortured in the notorious "Hanoi Hilton," where he was kept as a prisoner of war until 1973.

Democrat Barack Obama, 47, spent part of his peripatetic youth in Indonesia, where he attended a public Muslim school - not a Madrassah as some of his critics have alleged - in Jakarta between 1969-71.

Beijing, Oct 25 : The Asia-Europe Summit has concluded here with a call to the Asian and European nations to safeguard international financial stability and promote world economic growth.

The two-day Summit of the 45 members Group, made a fervent appeal for a joint global action to respond to the financial crisis.

Beijing, Oct 25 : Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh said that development has to be inclusive, at his maiden speech at the 7th Asia Europe Meeting (ASEM), in Beijing on Saturday.

Describing sustainable development as one of the biggest challenges of present times, Dr. Singh said a lot of cooperative work is needed to transform it from a mere buzz word to an operational strategy for development.

He said, Asia is home to the largest concentration of the world''s poor and poverty eradication at this scale requires a collaborative global effort to promote development and in particular to create job opportunities.

Beijing - Asian and European Union leaders on Saturday committed their 43 nations to agreeing new goals on climate change by the end of next year.

The 16 Asian and 27 EU leaders issued a joint statement saying they planned to finalize a post-Kyoto Protocol deal on climate change goals to 2012 at talks in Copenhagen scheduled for December 2009.

New targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions would build on the December 2007 climate change conference in Bali, Indonesia, they said, calling on developed nations to show "strong leadership".

Beijing  - Asian and European Union leaders on Saturday called for the international community to act quickly and decisively at a conference on responses to the global financial crisis next month in Washington.

"We have all understood that it would not be possible simply to meet and have a conversation," French President Nicolas Sarkozy said of the planned summit on the crisis on November 15.