PRESS DIGEST-Financial Times, Wall St Journal Asia editions

SINGAPORE, Feb 4 (Reuters) - The Financial Times and the Wall Street Journal carried the following stories in their Asia print/Web site editions on Monday. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.

FINANCIAL TIMES (www.ft.com)

--Google is preparing to take a strong public stance against Microsoft's (MSFT.O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) unsolicited takeover offer for Yahoo (YHOO.O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), arguing that it could open the way for the software group to extend its monopoly to the internet

--The leveraged loan market begins the week in "disarray", following the collapse of efforts to syndicate the debt used to finance the $17.1 billion buy-out of Harrah's Entertainment HET.N, bankers say. --Orix (8591.T: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), Japan's largest financial services company, hopes to capitalise on the fall in valuations triggerred by the U.S. subprime mortgage problems to invest in the American market.

-- Heavily indebted European and U.S. companies face growing financial difficulties because they cannot refinance their borrowings owing to the continuing closure of the credit markets.

--One of the world's largest fund managers has increased the pressure on Generali (GASI.MI: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) by pouring scorn on planned potential acquisitions and backing calls for governance changes at the Italian insurance group.

--Vale (VALE5.SA: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), the world's second-largest mining group, has fired Merrill Lynch (MER.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) as its lead adviser after the investment bank decided not to help finance a potential $90 billion takeover bid for Xstrata (XTA.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), the Anglo-Swiss miner.

WALL STREET JOURNAL (www.wsj.com)

-- Google Inc. Chief Executive Eric Schmidt called Yahoo Inc. CEO Jerry Yang to offer his company's help in any effort to thwart Microsoft Corp.'s unsolicited $44.6 billion bid for Yahoo, say people familiar with the matter.