President Barack Obama says his historic visit to Myanmar marks the next step in a new chapter between the two countries. Defending champ Los Angeles advances to MLS Cup final despite Seattle pulling out 2-1 victory
SEATTLE – Robbie Keane stood next to the conference title trophy, politely smiled for the picture and let the confetti rain down.
WHITE HOUSE NOTEBOOK: Obama draws crowd in Yangon
Downtown Yangon came to a near halt Monday during President Barack Obama's historic visit to this once pariah nation. Palestinian civilian death toll mounts as Israel targets militant leaders in residential areas
The Palestinian civilian death toll mounted Monday as Israeli aircraft struck densely populated areas in the Gaza Strip in its campaign to quell militant rocket fire menacing nearly half of Israel’s population.
Asian shares rise on US fiscal hopes
TOKYO (Reuters) – Asian shares rose on Monday, supported by hopes U.S. politicians can overcome an imminent fiscal crunch while the yen fell to a near seven-month low against the dollar on expectations a new government chosen in next month's elec tion could pump large amounts of stimulus cash into the economy. A 0.2 percent gain in U.S. stock futures point to a firm Wall Street open, and financial spreadbetters predict London's FTSE 100 , Paris's CAC-40 and Frankfurt's DAX will open as much as 0.9 percent higher. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0. … Ravens take control of AFC North with 13-10 victory over Steelers
PITTSBURGH, Pa. – It really doesn’t matter to the Baltimore Ravens who starts at quarterback for the Pittsburgh Steelers, the mission remains the same.
Palestinian civilian toll climbs in Gaza
The Palestinian civilian death toll mounted Monday as Israeli aircraft struck densely populated areas in the Gaza Strip in its campaign to quell militant rocket fire menacing nearly half of Israel's population. HSBC in talks to sell $9.3 billion China Ping An stake
HONG KONG (Reuters) – HSBC said it was in talks to sell its $9.3 billion stake in China’s Ping An Insurance , stepping up a programme by Europe’s biggest bank to shed non-core parts of its business to boost profitability. HSBC spent $1.7 billion to build up a 15.6 percent stake in China’s second-largest insurer in 2002 and 2005, but a sale has been widely expected as part of its three-year recovery plan in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis and regulatory reforms. …
Colombia, FARC rebels seek to end long conflict
HAVANA (Reuters) – Colombia and the Marxist FARC rebels will sit down in Havana on Monday for their first peace talks in 10 years in the latest attempt to end Latin America’s longest-running insurgency. The conflict has dragged on for nearly half a century, taken tens of thousands of lives, displaced millions of people and proven intractable in three previous peace processes. But both the Colombian government and the FARC, or Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, have expressed optimism that this time might be different. …
Myanmar frees political prisoners in new amnesty
Myanmar has set free dozens of political prisoners around the country in an amnesty that coincides with the historic visit of President Barack Obama.
Obama to meet with Cambodia's longtime 'strongman'
President Barack Obama arrives in Cambodia on Monday having just won four more years in office, but that is nothing compared to his host, Hun Sen. The 60-year-old Cambodian prime minister has held power since Ronald Reagan was in the White House, and says he's not stepping down until he is 90. 
Traffic came to a halt for about an hour on Yangon's main streets as President Barack Obama's motorcade passed through the city during his historic visit to this once pariah nation. 
(Reuters) – Rupert Murdoch's News Corp is expected to announce this week that it will acquire a 49 stake in the YES Network from the New York Yankees baseball team and its partners, in a deal that would value the sports channel at $3 billion, a person with knowledge of the talks told Reuters. The deal is structured to allow News Corp to eventually acquire control of the channel, which broadcasts Yankees baseball and Brooklyn Nets basketball games to 15 million subscribers, said the person, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the deal has not been announced. … 
President Barack Obama's historic visit to Myanmar on Monday is meant to show America's support for the country's transition to democracy. 
President Barack Obama's historic visit to Myanmar on Monday is meant to show America's support for the country's transition to democracy. 
Three astronauts touched down in the dark, chilly expanses of central Kazakhstan onboard a Soyuz capsule Monday after a 125-day stay at the International Space Station. 
(Reuters) – Citigroup Inc has agreed to pay $360 million to the brokerage estate of Lehman Brothers to resolve a dispute over $1 billion in collateral that the investment bank was forced to post in the days leading up to its ban kruptcy in 2008. According to a settlement reached on Friday with the trustee liquidating Lehman Brothers's U.S. brokerage unit, Citigroup will also relinquish its claim to $75 million that was contingently paid to the estate at the beginning of the liquidation, court documents showed. … 
YANGON (Reuters) – Barack Obama has become the first serving U.S. president to visit Myanmar, arriving on Mon day for a trip that will attempt to strike a balance between praising the government's progress in shaking off military rule and pressing it for further reforms. His plane landed in the former capital Yangon, where he will meet President Thein Sein, a former junta member who has spearheaded reforms since taking office in March 2011, and opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who led the struggle against military rule and, like Obama, is a Nobel Peace Prize laureate. She is now a lawmaker. … 
President Barack Obama is opening his historic trip to Myanmar, becoming the first U.S. leader to visit the once-pariah nation. 
SHANGHAI (Reuters) – China's largest e-commerce company Alibaba Group is planning to buy a stake in Sina Corp's Weibo, the nation's most popular microblogging service, China Business News reported on Monday. Alibaba declined to comment on the report. Sources in Alibaba told the official newspaper, which is owned by the Shanghai municipal government, that investment negotiations between Alibaba and Sina have entered the final phase. Alibaba has valued Sina Weibo at around $3 billion, the sources said. … 
BEIJING (Reuters) R 11; If corruption is allowed to run wild in China then the ruling Communist Party risks major unrest and the collapse of its rule, state media on Monday quoted Communist Party chief Xi Jinping as saying at one of his first major meetings since taking the role. In unusually blunt language, Vice President Xi, who assumes Hu Jintao's job as head of state in March, said that graft was like "worms breeding in decaying matter" — an old Chinese phrase meaning "ruin befalls those who are weak". … 
The population of Uganda's mountain gorillas has grown to 400, up from 302 in 2006, according to a census conducted last year, bringing the total number of mountain gorillas in Africa to 880 and giving hope to conservationists trying to save the critically endangered species. 
GAZA/JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Hostilities between Islamist militants and Israel entered a sixth day on Monday as diplomatic efforts were set to intensify to try to stop rocket fire from the Gaza Strip and Israeli air strikes on Gaza. International pressure for a ceasefire seemed certain to mount after the deadliest single incident in the flare-up on Sunday claimed the lives of at least 11 Palestinian civilians, including four children. United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon was due to arrive in Cairo to add his weight to the truce efforts. … 
BANGKOK (Reuters) – U.S. President Barack Obama denied on Sunday his upcoming trip to Myanmar was an endorsement of the government there, calling it an acknowledgement of the progress made in shaking off decades of military rule and encouragement for it go further. On Monday, Obama will become the first serving U.S. president to visit Myanmar, also called Burma, part of a three-country Asian tour that, as his first post-election trek abroad, will show he is serious about shifting the U.S. strategic focus eastwards. … 
The soldiers began to shoot students at Rangoon University at 6:30 p.m. Hla Shwe watched, cowering in a nearby building, as his friends died. "I heard the shouting," he recalled. "They shot whoever they saw." 
PARIS (Reuters) – The result of a tightly fought two-way contes t to choose the next leader of France's conservatives remained unclear early on Monday, with both sides claiming they had won. Jean-Francois Cope, a disciple of former president Nicolas Sarkozy, announced his victory to reporters around 2230 GMT, only for former prime minister Francois Fillon to say 20 minutes later that he was in the lead. Cope supporters said he was some 1,000 votes ahead, while Fillon said he had a lead of more than 200 votes. … 
MELBOURNE (Reuters) – Australian surfwear company Billabong International Ltd , which had potential buyers withdraw takeover offers last month, said on Monday one of its directors wanted to investigate a possible leve raged buyout of the firm. Billabong shares jumped as much as 17.6 percent to A$0.87 on the news, valuing the firm at A$417 million ($430 million). … 
COPENHAGEN/STOCKHOLM (Reuters) – Troubled Scandinavian airline SAS and its labor unions on Mond ay pushed on with talks aimed at ensuring the group's survival and avoiding bankruptcy after a midnight deadline for a deal passed. The Scandinavian airline, hit by competition from lower-price rivals, last week announced plans to cut some salaries by up to 17 percent, reduce overall headcount to about 9,000 from 15,000 and reduce costs. … 
LONDON (Reuters) – British Prime Minister David Cameron promised on Monday to sla sh legal and regulatory obstacles to economic growth, seeking to ward off criticism that the government is doing too little to help companies and revive an ailing economy. Cameron said he was determined to cut through officialdom and change a risk-averse government culture of consultation, review and audit that hindered enterprise. "When this country was at war in the 1940s, Whitehall underwent a revolution," he said, referring to the British government. "Normal rules were circumvented. … 
LONDON (Reuters) – British Prime Minister David Cameron promised on Monday to slash legal and regulatory obstacles to economic growth, seeking to ward off criticism that the government is doing too little to help companies and revive an ailing economy. Cameron said he was determined to cut through officialdom and change a risk-averse government culture of consultation, review and audit that hindered enterprise. "When this country was at war in the 1940s, Whitehall underwent a revolution," he said, referring to the British government. "Normal rules were circumvented. … 
LONDON (Reuters) – Prime Minister David Cameron was accused of presiding over an election shambles on Friday after voters stayed away from a costly national poll to pick commissioners to boost the oversight of local police forces. Turnout in Thursday's polls to elect the U.S.-style police commissioners for 41 forces across England and Wales looked set to become one of the worst in British electoral history, below the 23 percent low in the 1999 European elections, raising questions over the legitimacy of the successful candidates. … 
LONDON (Reuters) – British electrical retailer Comet will close 41 of its 236 stores by the end of November unless a buyer for the struggling chain can be found, the administrator running the firm said on Saturday. The move would lead to an unspecified number of job losses, administrator Deloitte said. The chain entered administra tion, a form of protection from creditors, earlier this month and has already laid off 330 head office workers from its 6,500 staff. … 
An Israeli missile ripped through a two-story home in a residential area of Gaza City on Sunday, killing at least 11 civilians, including four young children and an 81-year-old woman, in the single deadliest attack of Israel's offensive against Islamic militants. 
NEW YORK (Reuters) – One of Charlie Chaplin's bowler hats and a cane, the staple of Hollywood silent-era comedy, were auctioned for $62,500 (39,340.34 pounds) on Sunday, said auction house Bonhams. Chaplin's hat and cane, which fetched more than the initial estimate of $40,000-60,000, are synonymous with his "Little Tramp" character in films such as "City Lights" and "Modern Times." Bonhams memorabilia specialist Lucy Carr said earlier it is unknown how many of Chaplin's bowlers and canes still exist. … 
LONDON (Reuters) – James Bond actor Daniel Craig surprised British troops in Afghanistan on Sunday by turning up at Camp Bastion in Helmand Province to introduc e the latest 007 movie "Skyfall" as 800 soldiers sat down to watch it. According to the Ministry of Defence, after giving a brief speech ahead of the screening, the 44-year-old actor was given a tour of the camp and met soldiers to see some of the training they underwent before being deployed to forward operating bases. … 
JAFFNA, Sri Lanka (Reuters) – From foreign hotel towers sprouting on Colombo's seafront to the new motor bikes and mobile phones buzzing in war-ravaged Jaffna, at first glance, Sri Lanka seems to be living up to its claim as Asia's latest frontier market. But private businesses are not investing enough, threatening the boom that has swept the island since the end of a long ethnic conflict, while President Mahinda Rajapaksa and his family are tightening their grip on the economy and institutions with what critics see as an unusually personalized system of government. … 
TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan ruling party lawmaker Mieko Na kabayashi isn't just worried that her Democratic Party will lose power in next month's election; she fears a comeback by rival conservative Liberal Democrats will spell a return to the prolonged one-party rule that critics blame for many of the country's past policy ills. Three years after the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) ended more than half a century of nearly non-stop Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) rule, surveys suggest disappointed voters will hand the LDP the most seats in a December 16 poll for parliament's lower house. … 
BEIJING (Reuters) – The number of new hydropower projects in China could surge as the country's pop ulist premier Wen Jiabao retires and a new leadership team races to meet ambitious 2020 energy goals. Dam building slowed considerably under Wen, who personally intervened to block hydropower projects and avoid the potential for protest from local populations. Projects such as the $59 billion Three Gorges Dam have been the focus of criticism over the social and environmental cost China is paying for development. … 
SINGAPORE (Reuters) – The best may be over for Singapore's booming hotel market as tightening corporate budgets and bank job cuts leave more luxury rooms empty, crimping profits at firms such as CDL Hos pitality Trusts . Singapore runs neck-and-neck with Hong Kong for the title of the world's busiest hotel market, with both boasting occupancy rates that exceeded 85 percent for 2011, according to the two cities' tourism boards. That's higher than in global tourist hot spots such as New York and London. … 
ROME (Reuters) – Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti, drafted in unelected to haul Italy from crisis a year ago, said on Sunday that a new government appointed after next year's election would have to keep up his reform agenda to retain the confidence of investors. Monti, who has kept up a carefully neutral stance about his own role in next year's election, told reporters during a visit to Kuwait that he could not say what would happen after the vote, expected on March 10. "I cannot offer guarantees for the future. … 
LON DON (Reuters) – British Prime Minister David Cameron has hired an Australian political strategist to mastermind his party's re-election campaign and draw a line under months of policy reversals that have seen his Conservatives slump in popularity. The party said on Sunday Cameron had appointed Lynton Crosby as an adviser for national polls due in 2015, days after the Conservatives crashed to a bruising defeat in a parliamentary by-election in a bellwether middle England seat. … 
LONDON (Reuters) – Prime Minister David Cameron has hired an Australian political strategist to mastermind his party's re-elec tion campaign and draw a line under months of policy reversals that have seen his Conservatives slump in popularity. The party said on Sunday Cameron had appointed Lynton Crosby as an adviser for national polls due in 2015, days after the Conservatives crashed to a bruising defeat in a parliamentary by-election in a bellwether middle England seat. … 
Gaza's Hamas rulers are aiming high in the conditions they place on stopping rocket fire into Israel in indirect cease-fire talks launched this weekend. Emboldened by Arab support and confident in their arsenal, the Islamists say calm can only come if Israel opens the gates of the tiny, closed-off territory. 
The U.S. and Britain on Sunday warned about the risks of Israel expanding its air assault on the Gaza Strip into a ground war, while vigorously defending the Jewish state's right to protect against rocket attacks. 
After days of incessant rocket fire, the largest city in southern Israel has been turned into a ghost town. Schools are closed, stores are shuttered and normally bustling streets are empty. 
GAZA (Reute rs) – As Israel bombed Palestinian militant targets in the Gaza Strip for a fifth day, Ali Al-Ahmed took to the streets of Gaza city in his pyjamas on Sunday to buy eggs and chocolate for his three children. "Terrifying, that's how it feels," he said. "But they are also terrorized on the other side of the border," he added approvingly. "To be honest, I thought Hamas had forgotten about fighting Israel. I was wrong." That will be music to the ears of the Islamist movement that rules the blockaded sliver of land where 1. … 
The controversial Ukrainian group Femen, whose topless members stage pranks to support gay rights, have taunted a march in Paris by Catholics who oppose France's draft law to legalize gay marriage. 
An Israeli missile flattened a two-story house in a residential neighborhood of Gaza City on Sunday, killing at least 11 civilians, mostly women and children, Palestinian medical officials said, as Israel expanded a military offensive to target homes of wanted militants. 
BERLIN (Reuters) – Anders Behring Breivik, who slaughtered 77 people in Norway last year, has written to a far-right g ang member in Germany charged with helping in a series of racist killings, calling her a hero of national resistance, a German magazine reported. Der Spiegel weekly reproduced on Sunday part of the letter the far-right Breivik sent to Beate Zschaepe, charged this month with involvement in the murders of nine immigrants – including eight from Turkey – and a policewoman between 2000 and 2007. …