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The 8.9 magnitude earthquake that struck Japan on Friday is the most violent in history. It triggered a tsunami up to 10 meters high. The provisional toll is 26 dead. The very strong earthquake of magnitude 8.8 to 8.9 and the tsunami that hit Japan Friday, March 11 caused extensive damage

A very strong earthquake with a magnitude of 8.9, according to sources, took place Friday, March 11 in northeastern Japan, a major triggering a tsunami several yards on the Pacific coast which is currently four dead and ten missing.A tsunami of 10 meters shortly thereafter swept the coasts of the prefecture of Sendai, reported the media, which broadcast pictures of flooded houses and cars under water in coastal cities.

To follow live on the earthquake information, click here.

The provisional results by the media, four hours after the quake, is at least 26 people dead and many wounded, and a dozen missing persons. According to television images of the balance sheet is expected to rise and the Department of Defense has dispatched ships for relief.A tsunami warning was also issued on almost all coasts of the Pacific by the U.S. Centers for tsunamis and an evacuation order was triggered Mariana Islands.

The quake with a magnitude of 8.9 according to the American Institute of Geophysics (USGS) who had previously estimated at 7.9 and 8.8, occurred at 24.4 km depth to 2:46 p.m. (5:46 GMT) and about a hundred miles off the coast of Miyagi Prefecture. "We have been shaken so violently that he had to cling to not fall," testified an official of the municipality of Kurihara, hardest hit in this prefecture. "We could not get away from the building because the tremors did not stop to succeed," she told AFP by telephone.

Nuclear power plants in Miyagi and Fukushima prefectures were automatically adopted, said its operator, the company Tokyo Electric Power (TEPCO), which serves the capital. Prime Minister Naoto Kan was assured that no radioactive leak was found. Networks of fixed and mobile telecommunications were heavily disrupted, noted AFP. In Tokyo, located some 380 km away, the skyscrapers built on special earthquake resistant structures, have pitched very long after the earthquake that lasted for more than two minutes.

Ten fires were reported in the capital, and there were several casualties in the media. In the Tokyo area, a refinery was on fire Iichihara, according to images broadcast on Japanese television.Narita International Airport, located about fifty kilometers east of Tokyo, has suspended the traffic and decided to evacuate the buildings. The rail and road transport were also disrupted in large parts of the archipelago. Shinkansen express trains were stopped across the northeast and the motorways of the Tokyo area closed a few minutes after the earthquake.

According to Jiji Press, the parking lot of the Disney Resort, located on the eastern outskirts of the capital, was under the waters of the nearby ocean. In Tokyo, four million homes were without power, according to media reports. The earthquake could have caused "considerable damage", said the press spokesman of the government.

After a good year 2010, the FRR has decided to shift its investments to adapt to its new commitments to Cades.

Harshly criticized by the Court of Auditors, the Pension Reserve Fund (FRR) has decided to increase its investments in emerging markets in 2010 after a "good" during which he increased the value of its assets.

In late December, the FRR assets amounted to 37.5 billion euros against 35.0 billion euros at end 2009, representing a yield of 2.5 billion euros a year. In percentage terms, the increase was 4.2%, including 3.2% achieved by the simple equity portfolio. "2010 was a good year, we have reached a level never seen before," commented Yves Chevalier, board member at a news conference in Paris.

The emerging referred

Ten years after its creation, the FRR has decided to shift its investment strategy: the portfolio called "hedging"-assets that are not subject to risky strategy – will now represent 61.2% of net assets funds, and said that "performance" (stocks, bonds, commodities, real estate …) 38.8%. The portfolio of "coverage" and will ensure the 14 annual payments of 2.1 billion euros to the Sinking Fund of the social debt (Cades) from that year until 2024.

To generate more profit, the FRR will intensify its diversification by investing "at least a dozen countries in" emerging, whose economies are growing strongly. To do this, it will reduce its investment in the countries of the euro area, which represented 60% of assets in its portfolio "performance" so far.The share of equities in the euro zone should be reduced from 30.3% at December 31, 2010 to 18.4% (stocks) by 2012.

Conversely, the proportion of shares held in emerging economies is expected to increase by 2.4% to 5.1% over the same period, while the FRR will quadruple its investments in bonds of those countries, 1.2 % to 5.9%. These investments will be primarily through acquisitions of shares, said the RIF, which has established a strategic investment committee responsible for reviewing the market trend.

The State Fund has also wished to clarify that he had limited exposure to the debts of so-called "devices" (Greece, Spain, Portugal, Ireland and Italy) in the euro zone, whose public finances are bloodless. In total, the FRR has an exhibition up to 4.33 billion euros.

On criticism of the Court of Auditors, the FRR is estimated that it expressed "disappointment so nuanced after a historic financial crisis and a crisis of public finances sustainable."

The Sages believe that the redesign in 2010 decided RIF may lead to the "failure", the state has awarded him too weak endowments.

Created in 1999 by the Socialist government of Lionel Jospin, the FRR's initial objective was to establish a financial reserve of 150 billion euros to help from 2020 to the financing of pension deficits. This fund public investment should be abundant and regularly invest its assets in financial markets.

American International Group (AIG) has reimbursed $ 6.9 billion (4.9 billion euros) in additional U.S. Treasury.

The latter said he had now recovered 70% of 411 billion dollars paid to the financial sector under the TARP (Troubled Asset Relief Program) established at the height of the crisis.

AIG has used the proceeds from the sale of shares in MetLife, acquired in the sale of its international division to MetLife Alico last year to pay $ 6.6 billion the U.S. Treasury.

The insurer has added $ 300 million, a sum he had set aside to cover expenses related to the sale of Alico.

After this new rebate, the Treasury still holds 11.3 billion in preferred stock in AIG.The U.S. federal government also owns 92% of the shares of the insurer.

At Tuesday's closing price, the sale of those shares would generate a profit of 14.22 billion.

The Treasury has said it expects to recover the taxpayers 'dollar' rescue of AIG, which required 182 billion at a time.

Tarp on funds yet to be recovered, 70% are concentrated in AIG, the financial company Ally Financial and General Motors.

Any capital gain on shares of AIG could offset potential losses on the sale of securities held in the automakers.

International Airlines Group (IAG) announced Monday the purchase of 16 Airbus A330s to replace long-haul fleet operated by the airline Iberia.

The Spanish company, which recently merged with British Airways to create IAG will buy eight A330 aircraft and take options on eight more.

"Iberia, which is part of IAG, has signed an agreement to buy eight A330-300s, becoming a new customer of this family of eco-efficient aircraft from Airbus," we learn Airbus said in a statement.

The devices, which will be delivered between autumn 2012 and spring 2014, as well as stock options, will give IAG more flexibility to decide the size of the long-haul fleet of Iberia and its future capacity, has informed the company.

According to the website of Airbus, the aircraft have an average price of $ 222.5 million (159 million).

"We are very proud qu'IAG has increased its choice on the A330 for its first acquisition" for his part, said John Leahy, Airbus commercial director.

The net new jobs have tripled compared to January. Unemployment is at its lowest since April 2009. Unemployed American consulting jobs.

The hirings were significantly accelerated in the United States in February, where the unemployment rate fell for the third consecutive month to 8.9%, according to the official report on employment on Friday in Washington. The U.S. economy created 192,000 more jobs than it destroys, in seasonally adjusted data, said the Labor Department.The net balance of new hires has tripled from January, the month for which the department has revised its figures upwards of 75%, to 63,000 net job creation.

The February figure is slightly better than analysts were anticipating, awaiting 185,000 net hires, according to their median forecast.

The ministry report states that the unemployment rate continued to decline in February to 8.9% in seasonally adjusted data, while analysts had forecast a slight rise to 9.1%. The unemployment rate fell in January to 9.0% for the first time since April 2009, with a decline of 0.8 points over two months, unequaled since 1958.

The public sector has shed jobs (30,000) for the fourth straight month, the private sector has created 222,000 net jobs in February. It is his greatest contribution to the labor market since April 2010.

Wall Street falls sharply higher Thursday at the opening, driven by lower oil prices and the decline in jobless claims.

A few minutes after the start of trading, the Dow Jones gained 1.05% to 12,194.10 points, the Standard & Poor's 500 index 1.14% to 1323.38 points and the Nasdaq Composite 1.3% to 2783.78 points.

Washington has announced that jobless claims had been established to 388,000 during the week to February 26, the lowest level since the week May 31, 2008.Economists on average had expected 398,000 new registrations.

Oil prices retreated Thursday after the Arab League said it was investigating the peace plan proposed by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez to end the crisis in Libya.

Values on the forehead, large retailers have issued before the opening are sought, such as Big Lots, which is 3.9% and HJ Heinz advance of 0.6%.

The manufacturing activity in the United States recorded a 19th consecutive month of growth in February to reach a new high since May 2004, confirming once again accelerating economic recovery in the country, according to the index of industrial purchasing managers released Tuesday.

This index, calculated by the Institute for Supply Management (ISM), stood at 61.4 in February against 60.8 in January and 58.5 in December.The 75 analysts and economists surveyed by Reuters had forecast an index to 61.0.

The new orders component, which prefigures the evolution of the activity for the coming months, stood at 68.0 against 67.8 the previous month and 62.0 in December.

As employment rose to 64.5 against 61.7 in January.

The index of prices paid, from 82.0 in January, appears below economists' expectations at 83.0.

The ISM index is calculated based on a survey of 350 industrial companies.