Sony said Thursday it was considering having all its employees in Japan take two-week summer vacations to save energy, amid power shortages in the aftermath of the March 11 disasters.

By shutting down offices, air conditioners, elevators, and other facilities, the electronics giant believes it could save up to 25 percent of the power it normally consumes during the peak summer months, said a Sony spokesman.

Adviser to the Chairman of Bank Audi Freddie Baz has assured that the regional turmoil will not have a strong impact on the Lebanese banking sector, since it has one of “the best democratic systems in the region.”

“We can say that Lebanon is still in better shape than many countries in the region,” Baz said during an interview with The Daily Star newspaper published Thursday.

Tokyo stocks closed higher Wednesday on a weaker yen, after shares dipped in and out of positive territory amid caution over the unfolding impact of the March 11 disasters, dealers said.

The Nikkei 225 index added 85.92 points, or 0.90 percent, to 9,641.18. The Topix added 6.08 points, or 0.73 percent, to 844.59.

The U.S. embassy in Lebanon invited local secondary teachers on Wednesday to apply for a scholarship to develop expertise in their subject areas, enhance their teaching skills and increase their knowledge of the United States.

The International Leaders in Education Program (ILEP) consists of a semester-long (January-June 2012) academic program at a U.S. university followed by an eight-week internship at a secondary school, said a press release issued by the embassy.

A Morgan Stanley fund sold seven European hotels, including the Carlton in Cannes, to Lebanese businessman Toufic Aboukhater for about 450 million euros ($643 million), a source said.

Aboukhater closed the purchase deal with Morgan Stanley Real Estate Fund on Monday, the source said.

The greenest car you've likely never heard of will soon be hitting Honda showrooms across the United States as the Japanese automaker expands sales of its compressed natural gas powered Civic.

Honda has been quietly winning green car awards for more than a decade as it cautiously introduced the Civic GX first to government and business fleet owners and then retail customers in a handful of test markets.

German car maker Daimler will team up with industrial giant Bosch in a joint venture to produce electric motors to be used in Mercedes and Smart cars next year, both companies said on Tuesday.

The two firms have signed a letter of intent and joint production should start in 2012 at sites in Hildesheim in central Germany and Stuttgart in the south-west.

French ministers said Monday it was up to Renault to decide if its chief executive stays on after an industrial espionage scandal but that the car-maker's "dysfunctional" management style had to change.

Their comments came as the partly state-owned firm was about to hold an extraordinary board meeting later Monday to examine an audit committee's report on the scandal that centered on wrongful accusations of spying.

Unrest in the Middle East and North Africa is putting the brakes on economic growth in the region that had been expected to accelerate this year, the World Bank said Sunday.

Justin Lin, the World Bank's chief economist, said that research by the development lender's economists showed that economic output in the Middle East and North Africa, was paying a heavy price for the recent wave of anti-regime upheaval.

Caretaker Minister of Economy and Trade Mohammed Safadi stressed that the rebuilding of the Nahr al-Bared Palestinian refugee camp was “essential.”

After talks with PLO representative in Lebanon Abdullah Abdullah at his office in Tripoli, Safadi hoped that the new government would take responsibility in this regard.