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London police arrested Rebekah Brooks, Rupert Murdoch’s former British CEO, in the phone hacking and police bribery scandal Sunday, bringing the U.K. investigation into Murdoch’s inner circle for the first time.

Brooks, 43, was arrested at a London police station at noon Sunday. The former editor of Murdoch’s News of the World tabloid is being questioned on suspicion of conspiring to intercept communications _ phone hacking _ and on suspicion of corruption, which relates to bribing police for information.

A statement released on Brooks’ behalf said she “voluntarily attended a London police station to assist with their ongoing investigation.”

Sunday’s arrest comes just days before Brooks, Murdoch and his son James are due to be grilled by a U.K. parliamentary committee investigating the hacking. The arrest throws Brooks’ appearance before Parliament’s Culture, Media and Sport committee into question; she would not have to answer questions that could prejudice a criminal investigation.

Brook’s spokesman, David Wilson, said Sunday’s appointment with police was prearranged on Friday but said she was not aware she was going to be arrested.

“Obviously this complicates matter greatly,” Wilson said. “Her legal team will have to have discussions with the committee to see whether it would still be appropriate for her to attend.”

Brooks, one of Murdoch’s most loyal lieutenants, stepped down Friday as head of his British newspaper arm, News International. She was editor of the now-defunct News of the World between 2000 and 2003 when some of the phone hacking took place, but has always said she did not know that hacking was going on. That claim has been greeted with skepticism by many who worked there.

At an appearance before lawmakers in 2003, Brooks admitted that News International had paid police for information _ an admission of possible illegal activity that went largely unchallenged at the time.

Police have already arrested nine other people connected to Murdoch’s British media empire over allegations that the News of the World hacked into the phone voice mails of hundreds of celebrities, politicians, rival journalists and even murder victims. No one has yet been charged.

The arrest also piles more pressure on Prime Minister David Cameron, a friend and neighbor of Brooks, who has met with her many times and invited her to stay at his official country retreat.

Cameron is already under fire for hiring Andy Coulson, who resigned as News of the World editor after two employees were jailed for corruption in 2007, as his communications chief. Coulson resigned from Downing Street in January after police reopened their hacking investigation. He was arrested last week and questioned before being released on bail.

Brooks’ arrest is another blow for Murdoch, who is struggling to tame a scandal that has already destroyed one of his British newspapers, cost the jobs of two of his senior executives and sunk his dream of taking full control of a lucrative satellite broadcaster, British Sky Broadcasting.

On Sunday, Murdoch took out a second newspaper ad promising that News Corp. will make amends for the phone hacking scandal. The ad in several U.K. Sunday newspapers, titled “Putting right what’s gone wrong,” said News Corp. would assist the British police investigations into phone hacking and police bribery. It vowed there would be “be no place to hide” for wrongdoers.

“It may take some time for us to rebuild trust and confidence, but we are determined to live up to the expectations of our readers, colleagues and partners,” the ad said.

That follows a full-page Murdoch ad in Saturday’s U.K. papers declaring, “We are sorry.”

Last week Murdoch shut down the 168-year-old News of the World after it was accused of eavesdropping on cell phones for years. Sunday was the first day in Britain that the popular, gossipy, muckraking weekly was not on the newsstands.

Murdoch also abandoned his BSkyB takeover bid, and two of his senior executives resigned _ Brooks and Wall Street Journal publisher Les Hinton.

But Murdoch’s critics say that is not enough. Labour Party leader Ed Miliband said Sunday that Murdoch has “too much power” in Britain and his share of British media ownership should be reduced. With the News of the World gone, Murdoch now owns three national British newspapers _ The Sun, The Times and The Sunday Times _ and a 39-percent share of BSkyB.

“I think that we’ve got to look at the situation whereby one person can own more than 20 percent of the newspaper market, the Sky platform and Sky News,” Miliband told The Observer newspaper.

“I think it’s unhealthy because that amount of power in one person’s hands has clearly led to abuses of power within his organization. If you want to minimize the abuses of power then that kind of concentration of power is frankly quite dangerous,” he said.

Deputy prime Minister Nick Clegg agreed there should be greater plurality in the British media.

“A healthy press is a diverse one, where you’ve got lots of different organizations competing, and that’s exactly what we need,” Clegg told the BBC.

Clegg’s Liberal Democrat party has asked Britain’s broadcast regulator to consider whether News Corp. is a “fit and proper” owner of BSkyB _ if not, Murdoch’s current stake in BskyB could be in danger.

Cameron’s Conservative-led government and the London police also are facing increasing questions about their close relationship with Murdoch’s media empire.

Cameron has held 26 meetings with Murdoch executives since he was elected in May 2010 and invited several to his country retreat. Senior police officers also had close ties to Murdoch executives, even hiring as a consultant a former News of the World editor who has since been arrested for alleged hacking.

Home Secretary Theresa May plans to make a statement Monday in the House of Commons outlining her “concerns” about close police ties with News International.

Police are under pressure to explain why their original hacking investigation several years ago failed to find enough evidence to prosecute anyone other than News of the World royal reporter Clive Goodman and private investigator Glenn Mulcaire. Detectives reopened the investigation earlier this year and now say they have the names of 3,700 potential victims.

Records show that senior officers _ including Paul Stephenson, the current chief of London’s Metropolitan Police _ have had numerous meals and meetings with News International executives in the past few years. The force also hired Neil Wallis, a former News of the World executive editor arrested last week in the phone hacking, as a part-time PR consultant for a year until September 2010.

Stephenson also stayed for free earlier this year at a health resort that employed Wallis to do its public relations. The police force said the stay had been arranged through the facility’s managing director, a family friend, as Stephenson recovered from surgery. It said the police chief had not known that Wallis worked there.

Murdoch is eager to stop the crisis from further spreading to the United States, where many of his most lucrative assets _ including the Fox TV network, 20th Century Fox film studio, The Wall Street Journal and the New York Post _ are based.

The FBI has already opened an inquiry into whether 9/11 victims or their families were also hacking targets of News Corp. journalists.

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Frustrated by persistently high water on the Mississippi River, the owners of the Admiral

European stocks and the euro slipped Monday after eurozone finance ministers came up short of a final deal to get Greece its next installment of bailout money that is needed to prevent a default that could cause financial chaos.

Officials say they do expect Greece to get the next euro12 billion installment in July.

But first they are pushing the Greek parliament hard to pass unpopular measures to reduce the deficit and seek more money from selling and developing state property.

Stocks in Germany, the eurozone’s biggest market, fell 1.2 percent while the euro was off 0.5 percent at $1.4210.

Eurozone finance ministers are meeting a second day Monday about the Greek debt crisis. Talks overnight did not produce a final agreement on the new loan money, or on a broader, second bailout expected in cooperation with the International Monetary Fund.

Officials agree Greece is going to need more money to avoid a messy default on government bonds that would disrupt Europe’s banking system and its entire economy. But they are waiting for the Greek government _ unsettled by protests, a Cabinet reshuffle and a vote of confidence slated for Tuesday _ to take the additional measures to cut the deficit.

The EU’s economic and monetary affairs commissioner, Olli Rehn, said he was “certain that Greece will be able to take the decisions needed because the alternative is so much worse.”

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Profits have soared at Toronto

Test results returned Monday found that DNA from former International Monetary Fund leader Dominique Strauss-Kahn matched material on the work clothes of a Manhattan hotel maid who says he attacked her, two people familiar with the investigation told The Associated Press.

The two people would not describe the material found on the shirt, but said DNA matched a sample from Strauss-Kahn, who submitted to testing after his arrest more than a week ago. He denies the charges.

The two people said additional testing was being performed on other items. They were not authorized to speak publicly about the matter and spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity.

During their investigation, authorities cut out a piece of carpet and swabbed sinks and other surfaces in his hotel room. Investigators told the AP they believed the carpet in the hotel room may contain Strauss-Kahn’s semen, spat out after an episode of forced oral sex by the maid.

The forensic evidence is the first to link Strauss-Kahn to the woman _ and it’s also on track with what his lawyers have suggested would be his defense.

Strauss-Kahn’s attorney Benjamin Brafman declined to comment on Monday. At a court hearing last week, he told a judge that forensic evidence developed in the investigation “will not be consistent with a forcible encounter” _ leading to speculation that Strauss-Kahn’s defense would argue that it was consensual.

NYPD spokesman Paul J. Browne and the Manhattan district attorney’s office would not comment.

The one-time French presidential contender has been charged with a criminal sex act, attempted rape and sexual abuse and is free on $1 million bail, under house arrest at a lower Manhattan apartment. He has been accused of attacking the 32-year-old West African immigrant on May 14 in his luxury suite at the Sofitel hotel near Manhattan’s Times Square. His lawyers say he is innocent.

Staff at the Sofitel told authorities that the 62-year-old had made passes at them the day before the alleged attack, including flirting with a clerk and calling another employee to ask her up to his room, according to a third person with direct knowledge of investigators’ interviews with staff.

Strauss-Kahn had flirted with one female staff member who accompanied him to his suite to make sure his accommodations were satisfactory after he checked in on May 13, the person said. Later, he phoned the desk clerk who had checked him in, asking her if she would like to get together with him when she got off duty, the person said. The desk clerk refused, saying she was not allowed to socialize with the VIP guest, the person said.

That person also wasn’t authorized to speak publicly and spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity.

On Monday, lawyers for Strauss-Kahn continued to search for new digs for their client as he awaits trial. His bail agreement hit a snag late last week after tenants at the Upper East Side apartment building chosen for his house arrest refused to allow him, citing unwanted media attention.

Strauss-Kahn is currently being housed at a temporary location under watch by armed guards with Stroz Friedberg, the same company that guarded disgraced financier Bernard Madoff. It was not clear when he would be moved. French and U.S. media have been staking out the building where Strauss-Kahn spent the weekend after he was released from his Rikers Island jail cell.

He resigned last Wednesday from the IMF.

His attorneys have described Strauss-Kahn as a loving father and family man. They say his actions after the alleged attack are not those of a guilty man eager for a quick escape. He left the hotel, had lunch and then phoned later to ask if he’d left anything behind. When he was told by hotel staff they had his cellphone, he told them exactly where he was: at John F. Kennedy International Airport on a flight bound for Paris. Authorities pulled him from the jetliner.

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Almost every resale home purchase is conditional on the buyer being satisfied with the results of a home inspection.

But what does satisfied mean? When can a buyer back away and when are they just using the inspection as a convenient way to find a loophole when they get cold feet?

If the buyer decided not to do an inspection and then just cancelled the deal, they would likely lose their deposit and could probably be sued for breach of contract by the seller if they sold to anyone else for less money.

Inspection conditions are not an automatic option to terminate, as many buyers believe. A lot will depend on the exact wording of the condition language. It will help a buyer if it says that the buyer has to be satisfied with the inspection in their

The great Motivational Seminar has come and gone

The U.S. economy probably grew at a slower pace in the first quarter as a jump in gasoline prices caused consumers to cut back, economists said a report this week will show.

Gross domestic product rose at a 1.9 percent annual pace after increasing at a 3.1 percent rate in the previous three months, according to the median estimate of 66 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News before an April 28 Commerce Department report. Other data may show business investment remained a pillar of the economic rebound, while home prices fell.

Federal Reserve policy makers, when they meet this week, will likely say they’ll complete the second round of stimulus worth $600 billion, as scheduled, through the end of June to help sustain the recovery. While companies like General Electric Co. (GE) and Apple Inc. (AAPL) are among those benefiting from gains in spending on equipment and software, households are feeling the pinch of higher food and fuel prices.

“The economy has hit a bit of a soft patch,” said Ryan Sweet, a senior economist at Moody’s Analytics Inc. in West Chester, Pennsylvania. “If we continue to get these sharp jumps at the pump, that will be a major hit to consumer sentiment. There is a tipping point for consumers.”

The GDP estimate is the first of three for the quarter, with the other releases scheduled for May and June when more information becomes available.

Spending Cools

Household purchases, which account for about 70 percent of the world’s largest economy, rose at a 2.1 percent annual pace following a 4 percent gain in the last three months of 2010, the best performance in four years, according to the survey median.

Higher prices for necessities like food and energy may have hurt spending on less essential items. The cost of a gallon of regular gasoline rose 18 percent in the first three months of the year, according to AAA, the nation’s biggest motoring organization. The price has increased another 6 percent so far this month, reaching $3.85 a gallon on April 21, the highest since September 2008.

Prices for all goods and services rose last quarter at a 2.4 percent annual pace, the biggest gain in more than two years, economists forecast the GDP will also show.

American manufacturers are faring better than consumers as increasing demand from emerging economies like China supplements gains in business spending.

‘Good Shape’

“We’re in really good shape for accelerating industrial earnings growth,” Jeffrey Immelt, chief executive officer of Fairfield, Connecticut-based GE, said on a conference call last week. “All the precursors are in place: good equipment orders, good backlog growth, good service orders, international growing double digits, and we’re investing to build competitive advantage.”

Orders for durable goods increased 2 percent in March after a 0.6 percent decline the prior month, economists forecast Commerce Department figures will show on April 27.

Shares of machinery makers have outpaced the broader market since the beginning of the year. The Standard & Poor’s Supercomposite Machinery Index has climbed 9.8 percent compared with a 6.3 percent increase for the S&P 500 Index. (SPX)

Fed policy makers, in two days of meetings beginning April 26, are likely to affirm they’ll finish a $600 billion Treasury- purchase program on schedule at the end of June, according to economists such as Neal Soss, chief economist at Credit Suisse in New York. Chairman Ben S. Bernanke will hold his first press conference following the central bank’s statement on April 27, giving him an opportunity to discuss his next steps.

Home Prices

Housing continues to struggle as foreclosures mount. Home prices in 20 cities for the 12 months through February fell 3.3 percent, the biggest decline since November 2009, according to the Bloomberg survey. The S&P/Case-Shiller index is due April 26.

Sales of new homes, due tomorrow from the Commerce Department, rose 12 percent to a 280,000 annual pace in March, according to economists surveyed by Bloomberg. February’s 250,000 purchase pace was the lowest in data going back to 1963.

Pending home sales, or contract signings for existing homes, rose 1.7 percent in March after a 2.1 percent increase the prior month, economists forecast the National Association of Realtors will report on April 28.

Gains in employment, along with higher stock values, are outweighing the rise in gas prices and declining home values when it comes to measuring consumer attitudes.

The Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan’s final sentiment index for April, due April 29, is projected to climb to 70 from 67.5 at the end of March, according to economists surveyed. The New York-based Conference Board on April 26 may show its confidence gauge rose to 64.5 from 63.4 last month, the survey showed.

Bloomberg Survey =============================================================== Release Period Prior Median Indicator Date Value Forecast =============================================================== New Home Sales ,000’s 4/25 March 250 280 New Home Sales MOM% 4/25 March -16.9% 12.0% Case Shiller Monthly MO 4/26 Feb. -0.2% -0.4% Case Shiller Monthly YO 4/26 Feb. -3.1% -3.3% Case Shiller Monthly In 4/26 Feb. 140.9 140.2 Consumer Conf Index 4/26 March 63.4 64.5 Durables Orders MOM% 4/27 March -0.6% 2.0% Durables Ex-Trans MOM% 4/27 March -0.3% 1.8% Cap Goods Core MOM% 4/27 March -0.7% 3.4% GDP Annual QOQ% 4/28 4Q A 3.1% 1.9% Personal Consump. QOQ% 4/28 4Q A 4.0% 2.1% GDP Prices QOQ% 4/28 4Q A 0.4% 2.4% Core PCE Prices QOQ% 4/28 4Q A 0.4% 1.3% Initial Claims ,000’s 4/28 16-Apr 403 395 Cont. Claims ,000’s 4/28 9-Apr 3695 3680 BCCI 4/28 18-Apr -43 n/a Pending Homes MOM% 4/28 March 2.1% 1.7% Employ Costs QOQ% 4/29 1Q 0.4% 0.5% Pers Inc MOM% 4/29 March 0.3% 0.4% Pers Spend MOM% 4/29 March 0.7% 0.5% PCE Deflator YOY% 4/29 March 1.6% 1.9% Core PCE Prices MOM% 4/29 March 0.2% 0.1% Core PCE Prices YOY% 4/29 March 0.9% 0.9% U of Mich Conf. Index 4/29 April F 67.5 70.0 ===============================================================

To contact the reporter on this story: Timothy R. Homan in Washington at thoman1@bloomberg.net

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Something new has appeared at the Libyan front: a semblance of order among rebel forces.

Rebels without training _ sometimes even without weapons _ have rushed in and out of fighting in a free-for-all for weeks, repeatedly getting trounced by Moammar Gadhafi’s more heavily armed forces. But on Friday only former military officers and the lightly trained volunteers serving under them are allowed on the front lines. Some are recent arrivals, hoping to rally against forces loyal to the Libyan leader who have pushed rebels back about 100 miles this week.

The better organized fighters, unlike some of their predecessors, can tell the difference between incoming and outgoing fire. They know how to avoid sticking to the roads, a weakness in the untrained forces that Gadhafi’s troops have exploited. And they know how to take orders.

“The problem with the young untrained guys is they’ll weaken us at the front, so we’re trying to use them as a backup force,” said Mohammed Majah, 33, a former sergeant.

“They don’t even know how to use weapons. They have great enthusiasm, but that’s not enough now,” he said.

Majah said the only people at the front now are former soldiers, “experienced guys who have been in reserves, and about 20 percent are young revolutionaries who have been in training and are in organized units.”

The greater organization was a sign that military forces that split from the regime to join the rebellion were finally taking a greater role in the fight after weeks trying to organize. Fighters cheered Friday as one of their top commanders _ Col. Khalifa Hafter, a former senior figure in Gadhafi’s military _ drove by in a convoy toward the front.

It was too early to say if the improvements will tip the fight in the rebels’ favor. They have been struggling to exploit the opportunity opened by international airstrikes hammering Gadhafi’s forces since March 19.

In a sign the strikes may be eroding Gadhafi’s resilience, his government is trying to hold talks with the U.S., Britain and France in hopes of ending the air campaign, said Abdul-Ati al-Obeidi, a former Libyan prime minister who has served as a Gadhafi envoy during the crisis. “We are trying to find a mutual solution,” he told Britain’s Channel 4 News on Friday.

British officials met with Mohammed Ismail, a Libyan government aide who happened to be in London visiting relatives, and told him Gadhafi must quit, two people familiar with the issue said Friday. The two demanded anonymity to discuss details.

The opposition said Friday in Benghazi, its de facto capital, that it will agree to a cease-fire if Gadhafi pulls his military forces out of cities and allows peaceful protests against his regime.

The rebel condition is that “the Gadhafi brigades and forces withdraw from inside and outside Libyan cities to give freedom to the Libyan people to choose,” said Mustafa Abdul-Jalil, head of the opposition’s interim governing council. “The world will see that they will choose freedom.”

He spoke at a press conference with U.N. envoy Abdelilah Al-Khatib. Al-Khatib met Libyan officials in Tripoli on Thursday before holding talks with rebels in hopes of reaching a political solution.

The U.N. resolution that authorized international airstrikes against Libya called for Gadhafi and the rebels to end hostilities. Gadhafi announced a cease-fire immediately but has shown no sign of heeding it.

His forces continue to attack rebels in the east, which is largely controlled by the opposition, and have besieged the only major rebel-held city in the west, Misrata.

Misrata has been shelled by tanks and artillery for days, said a doctor in a city hospital who spoke on condition of anonymity out of fear of reprisals. Many people have been killed, including eight since Thursday, he said. He said Gadhafi brigades control the port and a main street, but rebels control the heart of the city.

At the main front, which has moved back and forth in a fringe between the rebel-held east and Gadhafi-ruled west, the rebels’ losses this week underlined the inferiority of their equipment, training and organization, compared to the regime’s.

There were signs of at least some rebel improvement in all three areas Friday.

The rebels had mortars, weapons they previously seemed to lack, and on Thursday night they drove in a convoy with at least eight rocket launchers _ more artillery than usual. The rebels also appeared to have more communication equipment such as radios and satellite phones. A newly installed diesel generator, allowing pumps at a gas station east of the main fighting, was another improvement.

They also appeared to get some international air support. Rebels east of Ajdabiya chanted “Allah akbar,” or “God is great,” as two planes flew overhead, and later eight to 10 heavy blasts _ more powerful than regular shelling _ were heard in the west, where Gadhafi’s forces were.

Rebels had pleaded in vain for international airstrikes much of the week. U.S. Joint Chiefs Chairman Adm. Mike Mullen said Thursday that most combat missions had been grounded by bad weather.

It was unclear where the front line was on Friday. A day earlier, the opposition moved into Brega, about 50 miles (80 kilometers) east of Ajdabiya, but were again pushed out by Gadhafi’s forces.

Ahmed al-Shiri, a 47-year-old former high-ranking officer from Benghazi, said Gadhafi forces were in Bishr, about 25 miles (40 kilometers) west of Brega.

NATO said it conducted a total of 178 flights, including 74 “strike sorties,” on Thursday, when it formally took control of what had been a U.S.-led military campaign against Gadhafi. The Obama administration, already fighting wars in two Muslim nations, had been eager to give up that responsibility.

The U.S. Defense Department announced it will end command missions in Libya on Saturday, leaving the work for other NATO members. The decision drew incredulous reactions from some in Congress.

The better organized rebel force took a long time to deploy mainly because it was being drawn up from scratch.

“We were setting up and training and establishing units all over Libya,” said Hamid Muftah, 41, a former member of air force now with the rebels. The volunteers got about 25 days of training and have been organized into six- or seven-member groups each led by a defector from the regular military.

“They’re still not that good, but they’ll get experience,” Muftah said.

“We can’t just do what we want now,” said Nasser Zwei, a 40-year-old oil engineer behind the wheel of an oil-company pickup truck, now equipped with an anti-aircraft gun. “We follow directions. It will make a difference.”

Now untrained fighters are turned away at checkpoints. They stay to the rear to hold the line temporarily in case Gadhafi’s forces attempt to flank the trained rebels, said Ali Bin-Amr, a 26-year-old fighter.

Al-Shiri, the former high ranking officer, said the improvements were set up over the past weeks. He blamed “lack of organization” for the rebels’ failure to reach Sirte, the Gadhafi stronghold they were marching on last week when they were turned back by an overwhelming force of artillery and rocket fire.

Now “we get orders from the military council in Benghazi. They’re in control. The army is in control,” he said. The undisciplined fighters “are not leading the way anymore.”

The international effort to stop Gadhafi from attacking his opponents is deeply divided on whether to arm the rebels, but they may soon get their own money to buy weapons. The opposition’s National Transitional Council has reached agreement with Qatar on a plan to sell rebel-held oil to buy weapons and other supplies, according to Ali Tarhouni, who handles finances for the council.

Gadhafi’s greatest losses this week were not military but political. His foreign minister and another member of his inner circle abandoned him Wednesday and Thursday, setting off speculation about other officials who may be next. The defections could sway people who have stuck with Gadhafi despite the uprising that began Feb. 15 and the international airstrikes aimed at keeping the autocrat from attacking his own people.

Libyan state TV aired a phone interview with intelligence chief Bouzeid Dorda to knock down rumors that he also left Gadhafi.

“I am in Libya and will remain here steadfast in the same camp of the revolution despite everything,” Dorda said.

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Soldiers and officials along a stretch of Japan’s northeastern coast warned residents that the area could be hit by another tsunami Monday and ordered them to higher ground. But the Meteorological Agency said there was no risk of another deadly wave.

The warning came as an explosion rocked the nearby Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant. The blast was felt 30 miles (50 kilometers) away by Associated Press journalists in the coastal town of Soma, where residents fled the town for safety after being herded quickly through muddy, debris-strewn streets.

TV footage showed a massive column of smoke belching from the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant’s No. 3 unit, about 125 miles (190 kilometers) north of Tokyo. Japanese officials said they believe it was a hydrogen explosion similar to an earlier one at a different unit in the facility. The problems at the plant stem from failed cooling systems caused by damage from Friday’s earthquake and tsunami.

More than 180,000 people have evacuated the area, and up to 160 may have been exposed to radiation.

Before the power plant blast, sirens around Soma, which was battered by Friday’s tsunami, went off and public address systems ordered residents to safety.

Farther south along the coast, helicopters flew over coastal communities warning residents to head to higher ground. In Sendai, the biggest city in the area, police announced warnings on a public address system.

In Tokyo and elsewhere, authorities began rolling blackouts to conserve power as they tried desperately to stabilize the nuclear reactors at risk of meltdown in the aftermath of the earthquake and tsunami. The disasters sent Tokyo’s stock market plunging as it opened, raising fears of a steep economic toll on top of the already overwhelming human suffering.

The planned blackouts of about three hours each in Tokyo and other cities are meant to help make up for the loss of power from key nuclear plants. Trade Minister Banri Kaieda said Sunday that the power utility expects a 25 percent shortfall payday loans guaranteed no fax.

Some 1.9 million households were without electricity, but many people were without even more basic necessities. At least 1.4 million households had gone without water since the quake struck, and food aid was slow in reaching many areas.

Friday’s quake and tsunami, which swallowed towns and tossed large ships like game-board pieces, caused tens of billions of dollars in losses, according to preliminary estimates. And the first day of stock trading since the disasters opening underlined the challenges Japan’s already fragile economy will have in bouncing back.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 stock average shed 494 points, or 4.8 percent, to 9,760.45 just after the market opened Monday. Japan’s central bank quickly responded by injecting 7 trillion yen (US$85.5 billion) into money markets.

The most urgent crisis remained at a nuclear plant along the ravaged northeastern coast, where operators worked frantically to try to lower temperatures of crippled reactors. Four nuclear plants had at least some damage, but two reactors at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear complex were at the greatest risk of meltdown.

Operators dumped seawater into the two reactors in a last-ditch cooling effort. More than 180,000 people have evacuated the area, and up to 160 may have been exposed to radiation.

Officials have confirmed about 1,800 deaths from the earthquake and tsunami _ including 200 people whose bodies were found Sunday along the coast _ and said more than 1,700 were missing and 1,900 injured.

The death toll seemed certain to get much higher after a report from Miyagi, one of the three hardest hit states. The police chief estimated that more than 10,000 people were killed there, police spokesman Go Sugawara told The Associated Press. Only about 400 people in the state of 2.3 million have been confirmed dead so far.

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