Pepadhanging Jagad

* More than 7,600 dead, nearly 11,750 missing (Adds IAEA, GM)

Reuters - Japan made some progress on Sunday in its race to avert disaster at a nuclear power plant leaking radiation after an earthquake and tsunami that are estimated to have killed more than 15,000 people in one prefecture alone.

AP - Hours after U.S. and British ships pounded Libya with precision missiles, American officials are eager to confirm that the damage was extensive enough to allow air patrols to protect civilians being targeted by embattled strongman Moammar Gadhafi.

TOKYO, March 20 (Reuters) - Japan made some progress in its race to avert disaster at a tsunami-damaged power plant, though minor radiation leaks underlined perils from the world's worst nuclear...

AP - President Barack Obama is slipping from economic pitchman to grand tourist, immersing himself in the sights and sounds of boisterous Rio de Janeiro even as he juggles the demands of U.S. military action in faraway Libya.

AP - Radiation was detected on fava beans imported from Japan to Taiwan, an official there said Sunday in what appears to be the first case of contamination in Japanese imports.

* More than feared 15,000 dead in just one prefecture (Adds markets, economy)

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - UN-sanctioned aerial and naval attacks on Libyan air defense and ground forces at the weekend are likely to see oil prices vault higher this week, overcoming demand-side jitters...

AP - Japan prepared another risky venting of radioactive gas to relieve a new spike in pressure in one of its troubled nuclear reactors Sunday, a setback in efforts to bring the crippled, leaking plant under control just after some signs of improvement.

LONDON, March 20 (Reuters) - Making UK banks restructure their operations by splitting their retail and investment arms could cost the nation's big five lenders up to 15 billion pounds($24 billion) a...