VIENNA/DUBAI (Reuters) - The U.N. nuclear watchdog chief held extensive and useful talks in Iran on Monday and expects them to have a positive impact on a six-power meeting with Tehran later this week, Iranian media said, but there was no sign of a breakthrough deal. International Atomic Energy Agency chief Yukiya Amano paid a rare visit to Tehran after voicing hope for Iranian agreement to cooperate with an IAEA investigation into suspected atomic bomb research - a possible gesture from Tehran to try to get international sanctions relaxed and deflect threats of war. ...

SANAA (Reuters) - A suicide bomber with explosives strapped under his uniform killed more than 90 people at a military parade rehearsal in the Yemeni capital Sanaa on Monday, an attack which will alarm Washington as its involvement in the front-line state deepens. Yemeni President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, facing a growing campaign by an al Qaeda affiliate in the country, said security forces would become 'tougher and more determined in pursuing terrorist elements'. ...

ALBIREH, Lebanon (Reuters) - Hundreds of Islamist gunmen fired in the air on Monday as they laid to rest a Sunni Muslim cleric whose killing ignited street battles that brought the bloodshed of Syria's uprising across the border into Lebanon. Sheikh Ahmed Abdul Wahid, an opponent of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, was shot dead a day earlier at a Lebanese army checkpoint in a part of Lebanon where Sunni sympathy is with Syria's rebels. ...

The Supreme Court has refused to take up a Boston University student's constitutional challenge to a $675,000 penalty for illegally downloading 30 songs and sharing them on the Internet.

The chairman of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission said Monday he is resigning amid accusations by fellow commissioners that he acted like a bully.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks rose on Monday after their worst weekly decline for the year with signs investors were quickly exiting newly floated shares of Facebook following its broken IPO and redeploying capital elsewhere in the market. Facebook Inc's shares fell below their $38 issue price as support from underwriters of the initial public offering dissipated after its Friday debut. The stock dropped over $5 to hit a session low of $33.00 in early trading, last trading down 11.8 percent at $33.71. That contrasted with a sizeable rally in shares of Apple, which rose 2.8 percent to $545.14. ...

U.S. stocks are rising, shaking off their worst weekly performance since November, as investors latched on to a relatively optimistic report from economists.

(Reuters) - Facebook shares sank on Monday in the first day of trading without the full support of the company's underwriters, leaving some investors down 25 percent from where they were Friday afternoon. Facebook's debut was beset by problems, so much so that Nasdaq said on Monday it was changing its IPO procedures. That may comfort companies considering a listing but does little for Facebook, whose lead underwriter Morgan Stanley had to step in and defend the $38 offering price on the open market. Without that same level of defense, its shares fell $4.50 to $33. ...

Jury selection began Monday at the insider trading trial of a former Goldman Sachs board member after prosecutors told a judge they expect to call a current Goldman board member as one of their first witnesses.

Campbell Soup Co. is still struggling to heat up its lukewarm soup sales, with net income slipping by 5 percent in the latest quarter even as the company spent more on marketing.

President Barack Obama and NATO leaders expressed confidence in Afghanistan's ability to take the lead for its own security next year, as nations with a stake in the deeply unpopular war huddled Monday for talks aimed at paving the way for its end.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - JPMorgan Chase & Co has suspended repurchases of its stock while it tries to get out of money-losing derivatives trades that have cost it at least $2 billion, Chief Executive Jamie Dimon said on Monday. He said the bank would maintain its dividend. It is the first time Dimon has said the bank will change how it manages its capital in the wake of what he has called "egregious mistakes" in the derivatives trades. ...

Three climbers died and two others were missing while descending from the summit of Mount Everest — a toll that raised concerns about overcrowding in the "death zone" at the top of the world's tallest peak.

CAIRO (Reuters) - The Arab League called on Tehran on Monday to halt what it described as a media campaign against Bahrain over a proposal for political and military union between Gulf Arab states. Saudi Arabia has been pushing the idea of closer Gulf integration to contain Shi'ite Muslim unrest in Bahrain and counter the influence of regional Shi'ite power Iran. Riyadh's initial goal appears to be a merger with Bahrain, where majority Shi'ites have been staging pro-democracy demonstrations targeting the Sunni Muslim ruling family for over a year. ...

SHANGHAI/NEW YORK (Reuters) - Chinese Internet entrepreneur Jack Ma's Alibaba Group is buying back up to half of Yahoo Inc's 40 percent stake for $7.1 billion in a deal that moves the Chinese e-commerce leader closer to a public listing. Under the agreement, Yahoo will sell one-half its stake in Alibaba for at least $6.3 billion in cash and up to $800 million in new Alibaba preferred stock. ...

A suicide bomber blew himself up at a military parade rehearsal Monday in Yemen's capital, killing 96 soldiers in one of the deadliest attacks in the city in years, officials said.

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin unveiled a government dominated by loyalists on Monday, tightening his grip on the economy and national security after protests, and limiting Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev's ability to pursue market reforms. Putin, 59, opted for continuity by retaining his ally Igor Shuvalov as first deputy prime minister in charge of economic policy, while Igor Sechin will remain his energy chief in a role outside the government. ...

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Best Buy Co Inc , the world's largest consumer electronics chain, said it has selected headhunter Spencer Stuart Inc to conduct the search for a new chief executive. Brian Dunn resigned as CEO last month. Following his departure, the company said an internal probe found that Dunn had an improper relationship with a female employee. Best Buy is in the midst of what it expects to be a six- to nine-month search for a successor to Dunn. Board member G. Mike Mikan is acting as interim CEO. The company said it will consider internal and external candidates for the job. ...

Emergency crews inspected schools, churches and other buildings Monday for damage as aftershocks rattled northern Italy a day after a magnitude-6.0 earthquake killed seven people and toppled centuries-old buildings.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Barely a day went by at the insider-trading trial of multimillionaire hedge-fund founder Raj Rajaratnam a year ago without mention of Rajat Gupta, a boldface name in business and charity circles. On Monday in the same federal court in New York, it will be Gupta's turn to go on trial. The former Goldman Sachs Group Inc and Procter & Gamble board member is accused of leaking stock secrets to Rajaratnam, his erstwhile friend and business associate who was convicted and is now in prison. ...

Sri Lanka's former army chief, who was imprisoned after losing an election to President Mahinda Rajapaksa, was released from prison Monday to thousands of cheering supporters.

(Reuters) - Lowe's Cos Inc , the world's No. 2 home improvement chain, cut its fiscal-year earnings outlook and said demand slowed toward the end of the traditionally strong first quarter, sending its shares down nearly 10 percent. Lowe's forecast came just days after larger rival Home Depot Inc missed Wall Street's quarterly sales estimates as demand weakened in April following a jump in home improvement projects earlier in the year because of a warm winter. ...

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

BERLIN (Reuters) - Europe's fiscal pact must not be renegotiated or softened but could be complemented by growth-enhancing measures, European Central Bank Executive Board member Joerg Asmussen said on Monday. Asmussen also stressed that the ECB's non-standard measures - introduced to fight the debt crisis - were of a temporary nature and could be withdrawn any time if inflation risks emerged. There is a growing push in the euro zone, led by newly elected French President Francois Hollande, to do more to stimulate growth and not just focus on reducing deficits. ...

Lucio Adan Nelson dozed on a riverboat ferrying him home from a visit with his mother when helicopters appeared overhead and started shooting. He and about a dozen other passengers traveling in the middle of the night jumped into the water for cover.

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union's antitrust chief on Monday ratcheted up the pressure on Google, giving it a matter of weeks to settle an investigation into allegations of anti-competitive behavior and avoid formal charges and a possible fine. Even if the world's most popular search engine offers concessions to resolve the issue, it will still be under the EU spotlight following fresh complaints over its Android mobile software, the top operating system for Internet-enabled smartphones. ...

The only man convicted in the 1988 Lockerbie bombing has been buried with little fanfare near the Libyan capital with just under 100 family members and passers-by in attendance.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Nasdaq OMX Group Inc said on Monday it is changing its initial public offering trading procedures following glitches in Facebook Inc's market debut at the end of last week that prevented some traders from knowing for hours whether their orders for shares had been completed. The exchange operator said in a note to traders that modifications to its IPO and halt cross application would prevent the problems that occurred on Friday from recurring. (Reporting By John McCrank; Editing by Gerald E. McCormick)

Mourners fired guns in the air as thousands poured into the streets Monday in northern Lebanon for the funeral of a Sunni Muslim cleric, whose killing sparked intense clashes in Beirut and raised fears the crisis in Syria was spilling across the border.

LONDON (Reuters) - British bank Barclays is selling its near-20 percent stake in U.S. asset manager BlackRock, worth $6.1 billion, as tougher global regulations have cut the attraction of such holdings. Barclays has held the stake for almost three years, a legacy of BlackRock's $13.5 billion purchase of Barclays Global Investors, but Basel III regulations mean banks have to hold more capital against minority stakes in asset managers and other firms, making it less profitable. ...

MADRID (Reuters) - Spain said on Monday it would meet its deficit targets this year despite a new slippage in its regions' accounts and a further contraction of the economy in the second quarter. Economy Minister Luis de Guindos said economic activity would likely slump by another 0.3 percent between April and June, further fuelling doubts about the country's ability to get a grip on in its finances and nurse an ailing banking sector back to health. ...

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. ...

With his carefully tended hair, tight trousers and perfect harmonies, Robin Gibb, along with his brothers Maurice and Barry, defined the disco era. As part of the Bee Gees — short for the Brothers Gibb — they created dance floor classics like "Stayin Alive," ''Jive Talkin'," and "Night Fever" that can still get crowds onto a dance floor.

BERLIN (Reuters) - Chancellor Angela Merkel will discuss with the leaders of German political parties on Thursday the prospects for a European fiscal pact she wants parliament to approve before its summer recess despite opposition foot-dragging. Government spokesman Georg Streiter said Merkel, Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble and other senior officials would meet the national and parliamentary leaders of the main parties on Thursday from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. (1300-1500 GMT). The subject would be "the fiscal pact, Europe and everything linked to that", Streiter told a news conference. ...

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq is buying unmanned drones from the United States to help protect its southern oil platforms as the OPEC nation ramps up production after the withdrawal of the last American troops, U.S. and Iraqi officials said on Monday. Protecting the vital infrastructure around its oil reserves, the world's fourth largest, is crucial as Iraq rebuilds an industry battered by years of war and sanctions against former dictator Saddam Hussein. "Iraq's navy has purchased U.S. ...

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. ...

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. ...

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - The chief executives of Apple Inc and Samsung Electronics Co Ltd come face to face on Monday in court-directed mediation in the United States over a dispute in which the iPhone maker claims the Korean firm has "slavishly" copied some of its products. Apple's Tim Cook and Samsung's Choi Gee-sung have been instructed by a federal judge to appear for mediation in San Francisco to help resolve the bitter patent litigation between the two firms. The U.S. ...