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By Paul Eckert WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama urged the president of Myanmar on Monday to take steps to halt violence against Muslims in his country and move ahead with economic and political reforms. Thein Sein became the first head of Myanmar to visit the White House in 47 years, and he and Obama sat down for talks in the Oval Office. Obama said the Myanmar leader had assured him that he intends to move forward on releasing more political prisoners and institutionalizing political reforms that have already taken place. ...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama will meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping on June 7-8 in California, the White House said on Monday. "President Obama and President Xi will hold in depth discussions on a wide range of bilateral, regional and global issues," the White House said in a statement. "They will review progress and challenges in U.S.-China relations over the past four years and discuss ways to enhance cooperation, while constructively managing our differences, in the years ahead," it said. ...

REUTERS - Jose Mourinho will leave Real Madrid at the end of the season having once again produced some golden quotes. Here are some of the Portuguese coach's most memorable utterances over the years as well as what others have said about him. WHILE PORTO COACH: "The only thing that I want to say is that we are the best ones and in normal conditions we are more than the best ones. In normal conditions we will be champions. In abnormal conditions we also will be champions." AFTER BEING APPOINTED AT CHELSEA: "Please don't call me arrogant, but I'm European champion and I think I'm a special one. ...

By Khaled Yacoub Oweis and Dominic Evans AMMAN/BEIRUT (Reuters) - Lebanese Hezbollah guerrillas have fought their biggest battle yet for Syria's beleaguered president, prompting international alarm that the civil war may spread and an urgent call for restraint from the United States. About 30 Hezbollah fighters were killed on Sunday, Syrian activists said, along with 20 Syrian troops and militiamen loyal to President Bashar al-Assad during the fiercest fighting this year in the rebel stronghold of Qusair, near the Lebanon border. ...

By Lindsay Morris TULSA, Oklahoma (Reuters) - A huge tornado flattened an area near Oklahoma City on Monday, leaving a wake of tangled wreckage, as a dangerous storm system threatened as many as 10 states. At least two schools were in the path of the tornado, television reports said, and video showed homes destroyed, cars tossed and at least one building on fire. There were no immediate reports of injuries or deaths from the tornado, which struck near Moore, Oklahoma, in the Oklahoma City metropolitan area, in the midafternoon. ...

By Patrick Temple-West WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Using an unusual global tax structure, Apple Inc has held billions of dollars in profits in Irish subsidiaries to pay little or no taxes to any government, a U.S. Senate report on the company's offshore tax structure concluded on Monday. ...

By Poornima Gupta SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Apple Inc will argue for a comprehensive corporate tax reform that will levy a "reasonable tax" on foreign earnings and is not dependent on a company's revenue when it goes before a Senate panel on Tuesday to explain its offshore tax practices. In prepared testimony released by the company and submitted ahead of Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook's hearing on Tuesday before the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, Apple denied it employed "tax gimmicks" like using Cayman Islands bank accounts or shifting intellectual property abroad. ...

By Angela Moon NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stocks ended little changed on Monday, with indexes hovering near record levels as concerns about a correction cut earlier gains that had been prompted by news about a flurry of acquisitions. The Dow and the S&P 500 briefly hit all-time intraday highs. Early in the session, investors' sentiment was brightened by a slew of deal news, including Yahoo Inc's acquisition of Tumblr. ...

By Barani Krishnan and Clara Denina NEW YORK/LONDON (Reuters) - Gold and silver prices gained nearly 3 percent on Monday after a roller-coaster session that opened with a gut-wrenching dive in silver to its lowest in 2-1/2 years before an abrupt midday turnaround. After trading lower through most of the day, gold suddenly lurched more than $10 an ounce higher around noon U.S. time, with traders citing a wave of pent-up short-covering after seven consecutive days of losses. ...

By Herbert Lash NEW YORK (Reuters) - Global equity markets mostly rose on Monday, driven higher by a flurry of merger and acquisition activity, while a recent tumble in the yen against the dollar halted after Japan's economy minister suggested the currency might have weakened enough. Major American and European stock indices are up double digits - the U.S. benchmark S&P 500 index is almost 17 percent higher so far this year - and investors still see better returns ahead in equities, even as Wall Street closed slightly lower. Deals such as Yahoo's $1. ...

MUMBAI/NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Essar Oil Ltd will sign a $1 billion loan deal with China on Tuesday that sources with knowledge of the matter said would be backed by supply of refined products to top state oil producer PetroChina. Essar Oil could sign a preliminary agreement with China Development Bank (CDB) on Tuesday to borrow that amount during Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang's visit to Mumbai, his first foreign trip, the sources said. ...

By Ann Saphir CHICAGO (Reuters) - The U.S. Federal Reserve could continue full-speed ahead on its bond-buying program through the summer, but end it abruptly in the autumn if by then it is confident that the improvement in the jobs outlook is here to stay, a top Fed official said on Monday. "We've seen good progress in the labor market outlook," Charles Evans, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, told the CFA Society Chicago. ...

By Mike Davidson CANNES (Reuters) - He's played a science-fiction hero, policeman and even Hamlet. But now actor Keanu Reeves is taking on a new role - as director of a contemporary martial arts movie aimed at both Chinese and Western audiences. Reeves has stepped behind the camera to make his directorial debut with "Man of Tai Chi", a trilingual film loosely based on the life of a stuntman, Tiger Chen, whom he befriended while working on the sci-fi "The Matrix" trilogy. ...

London, May 21 (IANS) British Prime Minister David Cameron has called for joint effort to tackle tax evasion and aggressive tax avoidance weeks ahead of the Group 8 Summit.

Los Angeles, May 21 (IANS) Singer Britney Spears is facing criticism for allow­ing her 6-year-old son Jayden to play with a large toy gun.

London, May 21 (IANS) Singer Leona Lewis says she would prefer to adopt a child in future rather than having any of her own.

New Delhi, May 20 (IANS) The Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) Monday said that cell phone towers in the city were not illegal and that radiation from them doesn't affect health adversely.

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.