Tokyo - Japan markets opened higher Tuesday after Wall Street surged overnight.

The Nikkei 225 Stock Average gained 233 points, or 2.59 per cent, to end morning trading at 9,238.59.

The broader Topix index of all first-section issues was also up 23.04 points, or 2.48 per cent, at 950.41.

Washington - Bad enough that people were being kicked out of their homes in the mortgage crisis.

But when Democratic activists got wind of a plan by Republicans in Michigan to keep foreclosure victims from voting, they went to court.

The dispute was settled Monday out of court, a peaceful end to another skirmish over voter registration and rights that was typical of the scores expected to arise leading up to the November 4 general elections.

Washington - Democratic Party presidential nominee Barack Obama has decided to drop campaigning for two days later this week for a previously unplanned visit to his ailing grandmother in Hawaii, campaign officials announced late Monday.

Obama, who lead rallies Monday in Florida, will continue his scheduled events through Thursday afternoon, when he will fly to Hawaii to visit Madelyn Dunham, 85.

Grasse, France (dpa) - Perfume's first city of Grasse in southern France has reopened the doors of its fragrance museum, four years after they were shuttered for renovations.

The International Perfume Museum is bigger and better than ever after extensive renovations and enlargement. It now has double the floor space and a beautiful new glass gallery with a view of the Esterel mountains.

Of the museum's 50,000 items, 3,500 are now on display. The overhaul cost the city and surrounding province 14 million euros (18.81 million dollars).