Athens (Reuters) - "Gentlemen, we are finished," said the patrician President, calling an abrupt halt to two hours of baiting and cat-calling between furious Greek politicians. "I'm starting to get upset myself now. We are finished." The final collapse of talks to forge a new Greek government triggered repeat elections and fears of a chaotic exit from the euro zone. But it is the manner of that collapse, the acrimony and rancor cited by Karolos Papoulias, that bodes ill for efforts after June polls to pull Greece back from the brink. ...

Assurances that world powers want debt-laden Greece to remain in the euro helped support world stock markets Monday after sharp losses over the past week.

LONDON (Reuters) - European shares and the euro steadied near their lows for the year on Monday as investor fears that Greece could leave the euro were partly countered by promises from China and the Group of Eight leaders at the weekend to support growth. The FTSE Eurofirst index of top European shares was around 0.4 percent higher at 974.03 points after losing 5.1 percent last week to reach its lowest level of the year. ...

BEIRUT (Reuters) - At least two people were killed in heavy fighting between rival Sunni Muslim gunmen in Beirut on Monday, medical and security sources said, in the latest violence fuelled by tensions over the uprising against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. The clashes followed the killing of an anti-Assad Sunni cleric and his colleague at an army checkpoint in north Lebanon on Sunday, triggering angry protests in Sunni districts of northern cities and the capital. ...

DUBAI (Reuters) - A court in Bahrain on Monday fined Zainab al-Khawaja, the daughter of a prominent opposition activist, for insulting a government employee and her lawyer said she was still detained pending trial in a different case. Bahrain, a U.S. ally that hosts Washington's Fifth Fleet, has been in turmoil since a democracy protest movement led by its majority Shi'ites erupted last year after revolts in Egypt and Tunisia. Its Sunni Muslim rulers have rejected opposition calls for an elected government and protests and clashes with police continue weekly. ...

VIENNA/DUBAI (Reuters) - The U.N. nuclear watchdog chief began rare talks in Tehran on Monday after voicing hope for a deal to investigate suspected atomic bomb research - a gesture that Iran may count on to get international sanctions relaxed and deflect threats of war. International Atomic Energy Agency Director-General Yukiya Amano met the head of Iran's nuclear energy organization, Fereydoun Abbasi-Davani, hours after his pre-dawn arrival, according to ISNA news agency. ...

VIENNA/DUBAI (Reuters) - The U.N. nuclear watchdog chief began rare talks in Tehran on Monday after voicing hope for a deal to investigate suspected atomic bomb research - a gesture that Iran may count on to get international sanctions relaxed and deflect threats of war. International Atomic Energy Agency Director-General Yukiya Amano met the head of Iran's nuclear energy organization, Fereydoun Abbasi-Davani, hours after his pre-dawn arrival, according to ISNA news agency. ...

KHARKIV, Ukraine (Reuters) - A court in Ukraine on Monday adjourned a trial of jailed former prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko on a new charge of tax evasion until June 25, when the European soccer championship will be under way in the country, for medical reasons. Tymoshenko is being treated for back trouble in a clinic in the city of Kharkiv near the prison where she is serving a seven-year sentence for abuse-of-office in a case which the West has condemned as politically motivated. ...

KHARKIV, Ukraine (Reuters) - A court in Ukraine on Monday adjourned a trial of jailed former prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko on a new charge of tax evasion until June 25, when the European soccer championship will be under way in the country, for medical reasons. Tymoshenko is being treated for back trouble in a clinic in the city of Kharkiv near the prison where she is serving a seven-year sentence for abuse-of-office in a case which the West has condemned as politically motivated. ...

Struggling Internet company Yahoo Inc. has secured a lifeline after agreeing to sell half of its prized stake in Chinese e-commerce group Alibaba for about $7.1 billion, with most of the cash going to shareholders.

Three climbers who were among scores who scaled Mount Everest over the weekend died on their descent and two more are missing, a Nepalese official said Monday.

The top U.S. envoy for North Korea warned Pyongyang on Monday that any nuclear test would be a serious miscalculation that would unify the world in seeking swift, tough punishment.

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin will unveil a government dominated by loyalists on Monday, leaving Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev limited scope to pursue his reform agenda and entrenching the Kremlin's grip over the economy's commanding heights. Medvedev, 46, named premier after Putin returned to the Kremlin on May 7, has pledged to launch pro-growth policies and a privatisation drive to wean Russia's $1.7 billion economy off its dependence on oil. ...

PARIS (Reuters) - Stock index futures pointed to a higher open on Wall Street on Monday, with futures for the S&P 500 up 0.85 percent, Dow Jones futures up 0.49 percent and Nasdaq 100 futures up 0.79 percent at 0842 GMT. European stocks were up 0.5 percent in morning trade on Monday following a dismal week, but gains were capped by lingering worries over the future of Greece into the euro zone. ...

FINALE EMILIA, Italy (Reuters) - Thousands of people in northern Italy slept in tents and cars overnight as more than 100 aftershocks rocked the area hit by a magnitude 6.0 earthquake that killed seven people and inflicted heavy damage to centuries-old cultural sites. "The fear that your house will collapse on your head is great, so it was good to be able to sleep in this tent," said one man who spent the night outdoors, cold but safe, in the town of San Felice Sul Panaro. ...

FINALE EMILIA, Italy (Reuters) - Thousands of people in northern Italy slept in tents and cars overnight as more than 100 aftershocks rocked the area hit by a magnitude 6.0 earthquake that killed seven people and inflicted heavy damage to centuries-old cultural sites. "The fear that your house will collapse on your head is great, so it was good to be able to sleep in this tent," said one man who spent the night outdoors, cold but safe, in the town of San Felice Sul Panaro. ...

From a park near Albuquerque, to the top of Japan's Mount Fuji, to the California coast the effect was dramatic: The moon nearly blotting out the sun creating a blazing "ring of fire" eclipse.

A Chinese conglomerate announced Monday it will buy a major U.S. cinema chain, AMC Entertainment Holdings, for $2.6 billion in China's biggest takeover of an American company to date.

A Chinese conglomerate announced Monday it will buy a major U.S. cinema chain, AMC Entertainment Holdings, for $2.6 billion in China's biggest takeover of an American company to date.

FRANKFURT, Germany (Reuters) - The head of General Motors unit Opel sought to allay workers' fears that the automaker plans to shut one of its four German plants as it pulls production of the Astra, its best-selling model, from the country. Opel Chief Executive Karl-Friedrich Stracke is under pressure from GM to end heavy losses at the U.S. carmaker's German arm by shifting production to countries with lower labor costs. Stracke told workers in Bochum on Monday that no decision has been made on their plant's future beyond 2014. ...

SHANGHAI/BEIJING (Reuters) - One of China's most conspicuously reform-minded leaders has stepped back into the spotlight after the nation's biggest political convulsion in a generation, positioning himself to gain from the fall of populist politician Bo Xilai. Wang Yang, leader of Guangdong province and well known for his deft handling of recent civil unrest there, is the first of three provincial-level party bosses who stand to benefit after a murder scandal snuffed out Bo's career last month. ...

SHANGHAI/BEIJING (Reuters) - One of China's most conspicuously reform-minded leaders has stepped back into the spotlight after the nation's biggest political convulsion in a generation, positioning himself to gain from the fall of populist politician Bo Xilai. Wang Yang, leader of Guangdong province and well known for his deft handling of recent civil unrest there, is the first of three provincial-level party bosses who stand to benefit after a murder scandal snuffed out Bo's career last month. ...