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LONDON (Reuters) - U.S. singer Prince has signed a new deal with Kobalt Music Group to market and distribute his future work without giving up control over his rights, the company said on Monday. The singer-songwriter, who is famed for changing his name to an unpronounceable symbol in a wrangle over musical rights, will release his own work as well as a slate of new music by other artists that he produces, Kobalt said. ...

By Belinda Goldsmith CANNES (Reuters) - A tragic love story between two Palestinians living under Israeli occupation received a standing ovation at the Cannes film festival on Monday and broke new ground as the first film fully funded by the Palestinian cinema industry. "Omar" by director Hany Abu-Assad, known for the 2005 award-winning film "Paradise Now", is a political thriller interwoven with a story of trust and betrayal as two lovers are torn apart by Israel's secret police and Palestinian freedom fighters. ...

By Kareem Raheem BAGHDAD (Reuters) - More than 70 people were killed in a series of car bombings and suicide attacks targeting Shi'ite Muslims across Iraq on Monday, police and medics said, extending the worst sectarian violence since U.S. troops withdrew in December 2011. The attacks increased the number killed in sectarian clashes in the past week to more than 200. Tensions between Shi'ites, who now lead Iraq, and minority Sunni Muslims have reached a point where some fear a return to all-out civil conflict. No group claimed responsibility for the bombings. ...

By Sarah McBride SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Two of the nation's biggest online food delivery businesses said they are merging in a deal that they hope will drive more orders, in more cities, through their platforms. GrubHub and Seamless, which allow consumers to easily order online from various restaurants, are part of a group of fast-growing businesses that standardize local services under a national umbrella. Think restaurant reservations, where OpenTable dominates, or car services, where privately held startups such as Uber are making significant inroads. ...

LONDON (Reuters) - British Prime Minister David Cameron on Monday told Google's Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt and other business leaders that he expected their companies to pay their taxes in exchange for benefiting from low tax rates. Cameron's intervention came days after British lawmakers accused Google of using "smoke and mirrors" to avoid paying tax, fuelling a debate over corporate taxation that has angered the public and led to calls for a tougher approach from the government. ...

By Mark Lamport-Stokes LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Within the next 24 hours, professional and amateur golfers will likely know whether or not they will be permitted to use long putters anchored to any part of their body from 2016 onwards. The game's rulemakers are widely expected to announce the controversial proposed ban on the anchoring technique when they hold simultaneous news conferences on Tuesday, at Far Hills in New Jersey and at Virginia Water in Surrey, England. ...

REUTERS - AS Roma and Inter Milan have been fined 50,000 euros after fans chanted racist abuse on the final day of Serie A on Sunday, hours before Fiorentina supporters heckled AC Milan's black striker Mario Balotelli. The three racism incidents have underlined Italy's serious problem with discrimination in soccer, which shows no sign of being eradicated despite renewed efforts from the authorities. Serie A said in a statement on Monday that Roma would also have to close the Curva Sud section of their stadium for one game at the start of next term after the abuse during their clash with ...

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Disney said on Monday it will produce a new "Star Wars" animated series to air on television in the fall 2014, giving fans of the science-fiction franchise fresh stories before the next live-action film hits theaters in 2015. "Star Wars Rebels," based on George Lucas' multibillion dollar film franchise, will be set in the two decades between the events of the third and fourth films, where the Empire becomes a dominant force in the galaxy, Disney said. ...

By Alexei Oreskovic and Jennifer Saba SAN FRANCISCO/NEW YORK (Reuters) - Yahoo Inc will buy blogging service Tumblr for $1.1 billion cash, giving the Internet pioneer a much-needed social media platform to reach a younger generation of users and breathe new life into its ailing brand. The deal, announced on Monday, is a bold bet by Yahoo Chief Executive Marissa Mayer to revitalize the company by co-opting a Web property with strong visitor traffic but little revenue. ...

HELSINKI (Reuters) - A group of ex-Nokia software developers unveiled its first smartphone on Monday, aiming to prove their former employer wrong by making a success of a technology dropped by the Finnish mobile phone maker. Jolla was founded by Nokia's former MeeGo software team that was shut down after the company decided to switch to Microsoft's Windows Phone software in 2011. With just 70 employees and 11 million eurosin venture financing, Jolla joins a handful of boutique operating systems such as Ubuntu which together have less than a one-percent presence in the mobile phone market. ...

TRIPOLI (Reuters) - Libya's oil terminals at Tobruk and Zueitina re-opened over the weekend after protests forced both ports to shut, Libya's deputy oil minister Omar Shakmak said. However, fresh trouble arose at Libya's gas-exporting Mellitah complex, he added, where guards were again attacked overnight after clashes in March forced a halt in flows. This time operations had not been affected, Shakmak said, in the brief assault in which the attackers seized vehicles and weapons from the guards. ...

MAKHACHKALA, Russia (Reuters) - Two car bombs killed at least three people and wounded dozens of others on Monday in Dagestan, a turbulent province in Russia's North Caucasus region where armed groups are waging an Islamist insurgency. Car bombs, suicide bombings and firefights are common in Dagestan, at the centre of an insurgency rooted in two post-Soviet wars against separatist rebels in neighbouring Chechnya. ...

SOCHI, Russia (Reuters) - Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Monday it is crucial for Syrian opposition envoys to engage in peace talks without setting preconditions, apparently referring to demands for President Bashar al-Assad's removal. Lavrov also reiterated that Iran must be invited to the conference that Russia and the United States are trying to organise to seek a resolution to the more than two-year-old conflict that has killed at least 80,000 people. Days after U.N. ...

New Delhi, May 20 (IANS) Miffed over the performance of its eight zonal in charges, including two central ministers, in politically crucial Uttar Pradesh, the Congress appointed a new team Monday.

Jammu, May 20 (IANS) Jammu and Kashmir's ruling coalition partners National Conference (NC) and Congress sparred over relief to earthquake victims in Doda and Kishtwar districts of the Chenab valley, with leaders of both parties making charges and counter charges against each other.

New Delhi, May 20 (IANS) A 17-year-old girl was kidnapped and gang-raped here by three people, including two neighbours, after giving her sedatives, police said Monday.

Lucknow, May 20 (IANS) An FIR was Monday registered here against social networking site Facebook on a complaint that claimed a group on the site exhorts people to slaughter cows, police said.

New Delhi, May 20 (IANS) A cash van guard suffered a bullet injury in an accidental fire from his single barrel gun here Monday evening, police said.

New Delhi, May 20 (IANS) A fast track Delhi court hearing the Dec 16, 2012, gang-rape case Monday dismissed the pleas of two accused seeking permission to undergo lie detector tests and also to subject the victim's male friend to a similar test.

Hyderabad, May 20 (IANS) An all-party meeting here Monday decided that Andhra Pradesh government will seek review/clarification from the Supreme Court on its orders about the Babli project neighbouring Maharashtra is building across the Godavari river.

New Delhi, May 20 (IANS) A day before CAG Vinod Rai demits office, Information and Broadcasting Minister Manish Tewari Monday accused him of "fiction writing" on some figures of alleged corruption, saying that the country's top auditor had done the greatest disservice to the nation by tossing "mystical numbers".

Moscow, May 20 (IANS/RIA Novosti) A retired US diplomat and expert on the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act has been banned from entering Russia.

Baghdad, May 20 (IANS) A series of car bombings and shootings, mainly targeting Shia Muslim areas across Iraq, Monday killed at least 61 people, including Iranian pilgrims, and wounded around 200 others, officials said.

Islamabad, May 20 (IANS) The Taliban's offer for peace talks should be taken seriously as every issue cannot be solved through use of power and bullet, Pakistan's prime minister-designate Nawaz Sharif said Monday.

Rome, May 20 (IANS/AKI) Police in the central Italian city of Perugia Monday arrested a 22-year-old Congolese migrant on suspicion of sexually assaulting his Italian girlfriend after she refused to have sex with him.

Bangalore, May 20 (IANS) Karnataka's apex industry body Bangalore Chamber of Commerce & Industry (BCIC) has drawn an action plan to revive the state's sagging economy with a strategy on kick-starting the manufacturing sector.