IBT Staff Reporter

Investors punished shares of companies that build nuclear power plants and supply them with fuel on Monday as the disaster in Japan threw an industry renaissance into doubt.

Privately held toy retailer Toys R Us has canceled a $1.1 billion loan deal that was intended to refinance its debt and reduce borrowing costs, Bloomberg reported on Monday.

Hewlett-Packard Co Chief Executive Leo Apotheker, outlining his vision for the company, promised to boost earnings and dividends sharply in coming years as it pushes aggressively into cloud computing.

Quake-hit Japan faces a recovery and reconstruction bill of at least $180 billion, or 3 percent of its annual economic output, or more than 50 percent higher than the total cost of 1995's earthquake in Kobe.

NRG Energy Inc's $10 billion nuclear plant expansion planned for South Texas may never get off the drawing board as repercussions from the nuclear disaster in Japan spread, analysts said on Monday.

Though it will take weeks or longer to determine how much was actually lost in the Japanese earthquake and tsunami, investors sold insurance shares on Monday in fear of how high the total will go.

French carmaker Renault made a public apology to three executives accused of industrial espionage after the Paris prosecutor said the trio had no case to answer.

Salt is one of the most precious seasonings used daily. It has also been known as one of the best food preservatives for thousands of years, especially for meat. Yet salt has more useful purposes.

Microsoft Corp is not planning any more versions of its unpopular Zune digital media player, but is to continue offering music and video using the same software online, through its Xbox game console and on its Windows phones.

U.S. stocks fell in the aftermath of Japan's devastating earthquake on Monday, but other than specific industries such as nuclear power, the broad impact on equities was expected to be short-lived.

Investors hammered companies that build nuclear reactors and supply them with fuel on Monday as Japan struggled to avert a meltdown at a stricken reactor, on fear that the whole sector could be in for a downturn, in the short and medium term at least.

The United States is confident Japan will be able to handle economic challenges in the wake of the earthquake and tsunami, and does not expect the disaster to stall the world's recovery from economic recession, a White House spokesman said on Monday.

Manchester United will host Marseille at Old Trafford for the second leg of the UEFA Champions League last-16 round tie on Tuesday.

Japan's devastating earthquake and tsunami may accelerate the point at which investors potentially lose confidence in the country's finances, Moody's Investors Service said on Monday.

The singer posted on Twitter that through the sale of bracelets her fans helped her raise a quarter of a million dollars.

Sprint announced its Kyocera Echo phone will officially launch on April 17.

U.S. stocks fell in the aftermath of Japan's devastating earthquake on Monday, but other than specific industries such as nuclear power, the broad impact on equities was expected to be short-lived.

Nasdaq OMX Group Inc is preparing an offer for NYSE Euronext and the bid could come as early as this week, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday, citing people familiar with the matter.

If you thought your odds of winning each game in the NCAA tournament were decent, think again.

Citing the low-cost price models and nimbleness of mobile developers, the Angry Birds creator sees the future of games in mobile devices.

General Electric Co paid Jeffrey Immelt a $4 million cash bonus in 2010, following two years when the chief executive of the largest U.S. conglomerate declined a payout in the face of sliding profits.

The euro zone is likely to increase guarantees for its bailout fund to boost its effective lending capacity, Eurogroup President Jean-Claude Juncker said on Monday, but a deal was likely only next week.

President Barack Obama on Friday defended the military's treatment of a soldier accused of leaking classified State Department cables which have been released by whistleblower site Wikileaks, as a key State Department official resigned on Sunday after criticizing the military.

Euro zone finance ministers signaled on Monday they would flesh out a deal to bolster their bailout fund over the next week, while Fitch Ratings warned the steps were not enough to resolve Europe's debt crisis.

According to a report by TMZ, a sex tape of Usher and his ex-wife Tameka Foster is being shopped around the Internet.

ST. LOUIS, March 14 - A looming cut to the federal financial-crime agency's budget could cripple state and local investigations that depend on transactions monitored via the anti-money laundering Bank Secrecy Act, worried authorities said.

CERN scientists said Monday they staged their first speed-of-light particle collisions of the year at the weekend, resuming their probes into the origins of the cosmos in the centre's Large Hadron Collider .

For the first time, online readership and advertising revenue has surpassed that of print newspapers.

Blink 182 singer Mark Hoppus has pulled some very personal items from his closet to auction off for charity on eBay.