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Apple, Samsung CEOs set for court talks

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - The chief executives of Apple Inc and Samsung Electronics Co Ltd are used to running the show at their global tech empires, but they will be in for a different experience when they arrive at a San Francisco federal courthouse on Monday. Apple's Tim Cook and Samsung's Choi Gee-sung, whose companies are embroiled in bitter patent litigation, have been instructed by a federal judge to appear for court-supervised mediation. A joint court filing in April said that "as directed by the Court, Apple and Samsung are both willing to participate" in the discussions. ...

Europe faces difficult search for growth

On paper at least, European leaders agree: They need stronger growth measures to help their economies expand out of their 2½-year-old government debt crisis. Figuring out exactly what those new steps might be will be the hard part.

Two more men charged as NATO protests get underway

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Two more men have been arrested in Chicago for threatening behavior before a NATO summit, bringing to five the number of people charged with terrorism-related activities or possessing explosive devices in the days leading up to the meeting of the military alliance. Chicago resident Sebastian Senakiewicz, 24, was accused of falsely making a terrorist threat, and Mark Neiweem, 28, also of Chicago, was charged with attempted possession of explosives or incendiary devices. At a hearing on Sunday, Senakiewicz's bail was set at $750,000 and Neiweem's at $500,000. ...

NATO seeks unity on Afghan war despite French exit plan

CHICAGO (Reuters) - NATO leaders charting a path out of Afghanistan sought on Sunday to dispel fears of a rush for the exits in the unpopular war even as France's new president vowed to stick by his pledge to withdraw French troops by year's end. President Barack Obama, who once called the Afghan conflict a "war of necessity" but is now looking for an orderly way out, hosted the NATO summit in his home town, Chicago, a day after major industrialized nations tackled a European debt crisis that threatens the global economy. ...

Afghan President Karzai Thanks US for 'Your Taxpayers' Money'

CHICAGO — Afghan President Hamid Karzai thanked the United States today for shouldering much of the cost for the decade-old war in Afghanistan, as the NATO alliance readies to hand over primary responsibility to Afghan security forces. “I’m bringing to you and to the people...

Lockerbie bomber Megrahi dies in Libya leaving unanswered questions

TRIPOLI (Reuters) - Abdel Basset al-Megrahi, the Libyan convicted of the 1988 bombing of a PanAm flight over Lockerbie, died of cancer on Sunday aged 60, leaving many questions on the attack and its aftermath unanswered. Megrahi, who said he was not responsible for bringing the jumbo jet down on the Scottish town and killing 270 people, was found guilty in 2001 but was freed in 2009 and returned to Libya because he had terminal cancer and was not expected to live long. ...

Lockerbie bomber Megrahi dies in Libya leaving unanswered questions

TRIPOLI (Reuters) - Abdel Basset al-Megrahi, the Libyan convicted of the 1988 bombing of a PanAm flight over Lockerbie, died of cancer on Sunday aged 60, leaving many questions on the attack and its aftermath unanswered. Megrahi, who said he was not responsible for bringing the jumbo jet down on the Scottish town and killing 270 people, was found guilty in 2001 but was freed in 2009 and returned to Libya because he had terminal cancer and was not expected to live long. ...

Insight: Indonesia tycoon Bakrie gears up for presidential bid

TANGERANG, Indonesia (Reuters) - There are many ways to describe Indonesia's Aburizal Bakrie: multi-millionaire businessman, global mining tycoon, heavyweight contender for the presidency in 2014. One description that does not spring to mind is man of the common people. So when Bakrie strode into a railway station in south Jakarta last week and slapped the equivalent of one U.S. dollar down on the counter for a ticket, it was a moment of political theatre. It also signaled an early step in the march to presidential elections in mid-2014 in the world's most populous Muslim-majority nation. ...

Insight: Indonesia tycoon Bakrie gears up for presidential bid

TANGERANG, Indonesia (Reuters) - There are many ways to describe Indonesia's Aburizal Bakrie: multi-millionaire businessman, global mining tycoon, heavyweight contender for the presidency in 2014. One description that does not spring to mind is man of the common people. So when Bakrie strode into a railway station in south Jakarta last week and slapped the equivalent of one U.S. dollar down on the counter for a ticket, it was a moment of political theatre. It also signaled an early step in the march to presidential elections in mid-2014 in the world's most populous Muslim-majority nation. ...

Anti-NATO protesters begin big march on Chicago summit

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Protesters marched through the steamy streets of Chicago on Sunday, carrying an anti-war message for world leaders at a NATO summit and led by a group of Iraq War veterans who planned to give back their military medals. Police estimated the crowd at 2,500 to 3,000 people in what was the largest rally so far in the week leading up to the NATO summit. Riot police watched closely as the demonstrators - some in festive costumes, others in all black with bandanas over their faces - staged by far the biggest gathering in a week of protests leading up the summit. ...

Anti-NATO protesters begin big march on Chicago summit

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Protesters marched through the steamy streets of Chicago on Sunday, carrying an anti-war message for world leaders at a NATO summit and led by a group of Iraq War veterans who planned to give back their military medals. Police estimated the crowd at 2,500 to 3,000 people in what was the largest rally so far in the week leading up to the NATO summit. Riot police watched closely as the demonstrators - some in festive costumes, others in all black with bandanas over their faces - staged by far the biggest gathering in a week of protests leading up the summit. ...

Anti-NATO protesters begin big march on Chicago summit

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Protesters marched through the steamy streets of Chicago on Sunday, carrying an anti-war message for world leaders at a NATO summit and led by a group of Iraq War veterans who planned to give back their military medals. Police estimated the crowd at 2,500 to 3,000 people in what was the largest rally so far in the week leading up to the NATO summit. Riot police watched closely as the demonstrators - some in festive costumes, others in all black with bandanas over their faces - staged by far the biggest gathering in a week of protests leading up the summit. ...

Serb rightist wins presidency, backs EU path

BELGRADE (Reuters) - Opposition leader Tomislav Nikolic, a former ultranationalist last in power when Serbia was bombed by NATO in 1999, declared victory in a presidential run-off on Sunday and pledged to keep the Balkan country moving towards the European Union. Based on an unofficial projection, Nikolic narrowly beat liberal incumbent Boris Tadic, who quickly conceded defeat after eight years as president. ...

Serb rightist wins presidency, backs EU path

BELGRADE (Reuters) - Opposition leader Tomislav Nikolic, a former ultranationalist last in power when Serbia was bombed by NATO in 1999, declared victory in a presidential run-off on Sunday and pledged to keep the Balkan country moving towards the European Union. Based on an unofficial projection, Nikolic narrowly beat liberal incumbent Boris Tadic, who quickly conceded defeat after eight years as president. ...

Obama: NATO shifting to help peace in Afghanistan

The NATO alliance that has fought for a decade in Afghanistan is helping that nation shift toward stability and peace, but there will be "hard days ahead," President Barack Obama said Sunday as alliance leaders insisted the fighting coalition will remain effective despite France's plans to yank combat troops out early.

Putin to dominate new Russian government

WASHINGTON/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 privatization drive to wean Russia's $1.7 billion economy off its dependence on oil. ...

'Avengers' sinks 'Battleship" to remain No. 1

"The Avengers" continues to muscle out everything else Hollywood throws at it, easily sinking naval rival "Battleship" and other new releases.

Alleged perpetrator of mass beheadings in Mexico arrested

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexican soldiers have arrested an alleged perpetrator of the massacre of 49 people whose corpses were decapitated, dismembered and dumped on a highway last week. Daniel Elizondo, alias "The Madman," a leader of the Zetas drug cartel, was detained in the northern state of Nuevo Leon, a spokesman for the army said Sunday. Elizondo headed the Zetas trafficking operations in Cadereyta, an industrial town on the outskirts of Monterrey, close to where the bodies were dumped, the official said. ...

Alleged perpetrator of mass beheadings in Mexico arrested

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexican soldiers have arrested an alleged perpetrator of the massacre of 49 people whose corpses were decapitated, dismembered and dumped on a highway last week. Daniel Elizondo, alias "The Madman," a leader of the Zetas drug cartel, was detained in the northern state of Nuevo Leon, a spokesman for the army said Sunday. Elizondo headed the Zetas trafficking operations in Cadereyta, an industrial town on the outskirts of Monterrey, close to where the bodies were dumped, the official said. ...

Le Pen to lose to leftist in French assembly vote: poll

PARIS (Reuters) - French far-right leader Marine Le Pen looks set to lose to far-left leader Jean-Luc Melenchon in parliamentary elections next month, dealing a blow to the National Front's hopes for a strong national score, an opinion poll published on Sunday showed. The rivals are running head-to-head in Le Pen's political backyard, the northern working-class town of Henin-Beaumont, in national elections where she hopes momentum gained in the presidential vote will deliver the party its first parliamentary seat. ...

Palestinian rivals set timetable for unity deal

Palestinian rivals Hamas and Fatah agreed on Sunday on a new timetable for a power-sharing deal that envisions elections in about six months, officials from both sides said.

Lone bomber, not mafia, sought for Italy school attack

BRINDISI (Reuters) - A bomb attack which killed a teenage girl and wounded 10 others in southern Italy was probably carried out by a lone individual, a senior official said on Sunday, playing down initial suspicions of mafia involvement. Saturday's attack on the Francesca Morvillo Falcone school, a vocational training institute named after the wife of a famed anti-mafia judge in the town of Brindisi, horrified Italy and sparked speculation it was the work of organized crime gangs. ...

Profiles of Egypt's main presidential candidates

Profiles of Egypt's main presidential candidates:

Explosion near U.N. ceasefire monitor chief's convoy: Reuters witness

DOUMA, Syria (Reuters) - A roadside bomb exploded on Sunday about 150 meters (yards) from a United Nations convoy carrying the head of a Syria ceasefire monitoring mission and a senior U.N. official in the town of Douma, a Reuters witness said. Major General Robert Mood's car was stopped at an army checkpoint when the bomb detonated in an nearby alleyway and the convoy left, the Reuters journalist said, adding that there were no reports of casualties. United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations Hervé Ladsous, who is visiting Syria, was also part of the convoy. ...

Explosion near U.N. ceasefire monitor chief's convoy: Reuters witness

DOUMA, Syria (Reuters) - A roadside bomb exploded on Sunday about 150 meters (yards) from a United Nations convoy carrying the head of a Syria ceasefire monitoring mission and a senior U.N. official in the town of Douma, a Reuters witness said. Major General Robert Mood's car was stopped at an army checkpoint when the bomb detonated in an nearby alleyway and the convoy left, the Reuters journalist said, adding that there were no reports of casualties. United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations Hervé Ladsous, who is visiting Syria, was also part of the convoy. ...

Syrian army shelling, gunfire kills 34 in Hama: group

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syrian army shelling and gunfire killed 34 people, including children, on Sunday in the town of Souran in the central province of Hama, the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. "The army shelled the town and then stormed it," the head of the group Rami Abdelrahman told Reuters, citing residents. Hama has been a focal point of Syria's 14-month uprising against President Bashar al-Assad. Activist video footage posted on the internet showed dead men wrapped in rugs with mourners crying around them. ...

In tornado-weary Joplin, graduates eager to move on despite Obama visit

JOPLIN, Mo (Reuters) - Having the president of the United States speak at commencement would normally be the most memorable day in the life of a high school senior. But not in Joplin, Missouri, where President Barack Obama's commencement address on Monday will come one year after the deadliest tornado in the United States in six decades killed 161 people. "I'm pretty sure we will remember the tornado more than Obama's speech," said graduating senior Ethan Ritschel. ...

In tornado-weary Joplin, graduates eager to move on despite Obama visit

JOPLIN, Mo (Reuters) - Having the president of the United States speak at commencement would normally be the most memorable day in the life of a high school senior. But not in Joplin, Missouri, where President Barack Obama's commencement address on Monday will come one year after the deadliest tornado in the United States in six decades killed 161 people. "I'm pretty sure we will remember the tornado more than Obama's speech," said graduating senior Ethan Ritschel. ...

In tornado-weary Joplin, graduates eager to move on despite Obama visit

JOPLIN, Mo (Reuters) - Having the president of the United States speak at commencement would normally be the most memorable day in the life of a high school senior. But not in Joplin, Missouri, where President Barack Obama's commencement address on Monday will come one year after the deadliest tornado in the United States in six decades killed 161 people. "I'm pretty sure we will remember the tornado more than Obama's speech," said graduating senior Ethan Ritschel. ...

Megrahi death does not end quest for Lockerbie justice: White House

CHICAGO (Reuters) - The White House said on Sunday that the death of convicted Lockerbie bomber Abdel Bassett al-Megrahi would not end the quest for justice for the families of the 270 people killed when a Pan Am airliner was blown up over Scotland in 1988. Megrahi, 60, who was convicted in 2001 but maintained his innocence, died of cancer at his home in Tripoli, his brother told Reuters. "Megrahi's death concludes an unfortunate chapter following his release from prison in 2009 on medical grounds - a move we strongly opposed," said White House national security council spokesman Tommy Vietor. ...

U.N. nuclear chief hopeful on Iran deal before Baghdad meet

VIENNA (Reuters) - The U.N. nuclear supervisor flew to Tehran on Sunday voicing optimism he could reach a deal to investigate suspected atom bomb research - a possible breakthrough that Iran may hope could help ease Western sanctions pressure and deflect threats of war. "I really think this is the right time to reach agreement. Nothing is certain but I stay positive," Yukiya Amano, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said at Vienna airport, adding "good progress" had already been made. ...

U.N. nuclear chief hopeful on Iran deal before Baghdad meet

VIENNA (Reuters) - The U.N. nuclear supervisor flew to Tehran on Sunday voicing optimism he could reach a deal to investigate suspected atom bomb research - a possible breakthrough that Iran may hope could help ease Western sanctions pressure and deflect threats of war. "I really think this is the right time to reach agreement. Nothing is certain but I stay positive," Yukiya Amano, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said at Vienna airport, adding "good progress" had already been made. ...

Bomb explodes during UN visit in Syria

A roadside bomb exploded in a restive suburb of the Syrian capital as senior U.N. officials toured the area on Sunday, the latest incident in which the unarmed observer mission has nearly been caught up in the country's bloodshed.

U.S. trainer shot in Yemen, army advances on militants

SANAA/ADEN (Reuters) - Unidentified assailants shot and seriously wounded a U.S. military instructor in Yemen on Sunday, while the army closed in on a town controlled by al Qaeda-linked fighters in heavy fighting that killed at least 27 people, local officials said. Four Americans - who were in the impoverished Arab state training its coastguard - were in the car that was attacked, a Yemeni coastguard officer said. "They were leaving their hotel in a Land Cruiser when militants in another car pulled up alongside and opened fire with rifles. ...

Former Yemen president hospitalized

The party of Yemen's former president says the 69-year old Ali Abdullah Saleh has been admitted to a hospital for regular checkups and minor procedures.

Russia says West still considering military action on Iran

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia's deputy foreign minister said on Sunday that military action against Iran over its nuclear program was being considered in some Western countries. Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov was speaking to reporters on a plane on his way back from the G8 summit in Camp David, where the G8 leaders signaled their readiness to tap into emergency oil stockpiles quickly this summer if tougher new sanctions on Iran threatened to strain supplies. ...

Pakistan blocks Twitter over contentious tweets

Pakistan blocked the social networking website Twitter for much of Sunday because it refused to remove tweets considered offensive to Islam, said one of the country's top telecommunications officials.

Pakistan blocks Twitter over contentious tweets

Pakistan blocked the social networking website Twitter for much of Sunday because it refused to remove tweets considered offensive to Islam, said one of the country's top telecommunications officials.

Fed by dry brush, wildfires persist in Southwest

PHOENIX (Reuters) - An Arizona wildfire whipped up by winds and dry conditions threatened to trigger more evacuations on Sunday, just as firefighters were nearly done battling the biggest of four blazes in the state. Fires in Arizona, New Mexico and Colorado have forced the evacuation of several small towns and torched more than 65 square miles (168 square km) of forest, brush and grass in the U.S. Southwest. ...

Fed by dry brush, wildfires persist in Southwest

PHOENIX (Reuters) - An Arizona wildfire whipped up by winds and dry conditions threatened to trigger more evacuations on Sunday, just as firefighters were nearly done battling the biggest of four blazes in the state. Fires in Arizona, New Mexico and Colorado have forced the evacuation of several small towns and torched more than 65 square miles (168 square km) of forest, brush and grass in the U.S. Southwest. ...