IBT Staff Reporter

Japanese stocks fell 6 percent and long-term government bond yields rose on Monday as investors expected the massive earthquake and tsunami that devastated the country's northeast to take a toll on the economy and require significant government borrowing.

Japanese authorities warned against the yen's rise as the currency rallied broadly early in Asia on Monday following Friday's devastating earthquake and tsunami in Japan.

The Bank of Japan offered to pump a record $85 billion into the banking system on Monday, its first same-day market operation since the Greek debt crisis, to soothe market jitters after a massive earthquake hit northeastern Japan.

Brent crude on Monday fell by as much as 1.2 percent to below $113 on investor pessimism that economic growth will slow in the wake of Japan's earthquake and tsunami, while easing unrest in the Middle East threw the focus back onto ample oil supplies.

The Treasury Department said Sunday it is monitoring financial markets closely in the wake of the devastating earthquake that struck Japan last week but had assurances that transactions systems were working.

Morgan Stanley's Asia CEO, Owen Thomas, is leaving his current role and returning to the United States, three years after taking the Wall Street bank's reins in the region.

A second hydrogen blast has been reported at Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, this time at Reactor No. 3, the government's nuclear safety agency said Monday, according to Kyodo News.

The Bank of Japan injected a record 7 trillion yen ($85 billion) into the money market on Monday, its first same-day market operation since the Greek debt crisis, to soothe market jitters after a massive earthquake hit northeastern Japan.

Anonymous, a hacker group sympathetic to WikiLeaks, plans to release e-mails obtained from Bank of America Corp early Monday morning, according to posts on the group's Twitter feed.

A Renault security manager was put under investigation on suspicion of fraud on Sunday, an official at the Paris prosecutor's office said, as a case of suspected industrial espionage at the carmaker continues to unravel.

Shaken by the prospect of nuclear meltdown after a devastating earthquake and tsunami, Japanese investors will dump overseas assets on Monday and bring their money home to help finance reconstruction.

The devastation in Japan is set to worsen the negative short-term sentiment gripping a vulnerable U.S. stock market, with companies exposed to Japan and the nuclear energy sector likely to take the biggest hits.

Euro zone finance ministers will discuss the details on Monday of how to strengthen Europe's financial safety net, after their leaders decided on Friday the emergency fund should have more firepower and flexibility.

The death toll from Friday's large earthquake and subsequent tsunami is likely to rise beyond 10,000, Miyagi prefecture's police chief said on Sunday, according to Kyodo News.

The world has entered a new economic era that will be more volatile and more dependent on the growth of emerging economies, General Electric Co Chief Executive Jeff Immelt said in a letter to shareholders.

Last week's earthquake in Japan could lead to insured losses of nearly $35 billion, risk modeling company AIR Worldwide said, making it one of the most expensive catastrophes in history -- even without expected additional tsunami losses that are not yet counted.

Ireland expects Europe to cut the interest rate it is charging on some 40 billion euros ($55 billion) worth of loans at a summit at the end of this month and will also seek greater flexibility from Brussels on dealing with its banks.

The board of Zain approved on Sunday an offer worth a total $5 billion including debt by Kingdom <4280.SE> and Bahrain Telecom for the Kuwaiti telco's Saudi assets, sources said.

Earthquake in Japan. Unrest in the oil-producing Arab world. Sovereign-debt strains in Europe. Inflation in China.

Despite going through one of the most severe crisis in its history, Japan is continuing her plan of hosting two football (soccer) International friendlies in March.

The board of Zain approved on Sunday an offer worth a total $5 billion including debt by Kingdom <4280.SE> and Bahrain Telecom for the Kuwaiti telco's Saudi assets, sources said.

British mobile operator Vodafone and its U.S. partner Verizon plan to combine parts of their businesses and share some equipment costs, according to a report in Britain's Sunday Times.

Bank of Japan Governor Masaaki Shirakawa said the central bank will provide huge amounts of liquidity to the banking system on Monday, reinforcing the bank's determination to keep markets stable in the wake of the devastating earthquake that struck northeastern Japan.

An alliance of media groups opposed to News Corp's proposed buyout of satellite broadcaster BSkyB have criticised proposals by the UK government to ease competition concerns about the deal.

Ireland's new government is concerned about what fresh stress tests will reveal about the health of the domestic bank sector at the end of this month, Justice Minister Alan Shatter said on Sunday.

Japanese automakers, electronics firms and oil refiners shut key factories after a massive earthquake and tsunami struck the northeast coast, underscoring the challenge facing the government as it rushes to limit the economic blow.

The earthquake disaster in Japan looks set to dominate a Group of Eight foreign ministers meeting this week in Paris as members discuss ways to coordinate help for the only Asian country in the group.

Can LaserMotive, which is developing a truly 21st-century power beaming technology for a space elevator, dominate the solar system?

Could the ambitious project of developing a laser-powered space elevator, a 'railway line' into space, turn science fiction into reality?