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By Dominic Evans BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syria said its troops destroyed an Israeli vehicle that crossed into its territory from the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights on Tuesday and warned that any attempt to violate its sovereignty would meet "immediate and firm retaliation". Israel said the incident took place on its side of the Golan ceasefire line, that the vehicle was damaged but not destroyed, none of its soldiers were hurt and they returned fire. ...

By Rodrigo Campos NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stocks were little changed in early trading on Tuesday with Home Depot at a record high and buoying the blue-chips while investors eyed congressional testimony from Fed chairman Ben Bernanke on Wednesday. The housing market recovery helped Home Depot report higher quarterly sales and earnings, prompting the world's largest home improvement chain to boost its sales outlook for the year. Its shares rose 2.3 percent to $78.53 after hitting a record of $79.40. ...

By Jan Harvey LONDON (Reuters) - Gold's recent slump could have much further to run, with a breach of its April low at $1,322 potentially setting up bigger losses towards levels not seen since mid-2010, chart analysts say. Since posting its biggest two-day loss in 30 years last month, bullion has struggled to recover, and last week suffered its longest string of daily losses in four years. With April's low again looming, a breach could spark a significant move lower, according to analysts who study past price moves to determine the future direction of trade. ...

By Simon Evans MIAMI (Reuters) - Manchester City and the New York Yankees have formed a new Major League Soccer team to play in New York City from 2015, the organizations said on Tuesday. English Premier League club Manchester City, owned by Sheikh Mansour of Abu Dhabi, will be the majority partner in New York City Football Club with the Yankees, the biggest name in baseball, an "active member of the ownership group". "This is another big day for soccer in America," MLS commissioner Don Garber told Reuters. ...

CAIRO (Reuters) - Syria's opposition and government are preparing to take part in an internationally-sponsored peace conference, the United Nations-Arab League mediator Lakhdar Brahimi said on Tuesday. "The Syrian people are building great hopes on the conference, as the opposition prepares itself to take part and likewise the Syrian regime prepares to take part in this conference," he told reporters at the Arab League. "The United Nations is working to organise the conference in the best way possible." The talks are due to take place in the Swiss city of Geneva in June. U.S. ...

By Carey Gillam and Ian Simpson MOORE, Oklahoma (Reuters) - Emergency workers pulled more than 100 survivors from the rubble of homes, schools and a hospital in an Oklahoma town hit by a powerful tornado, and officials on Tuesday sharply lowered the number of deaths caused by the storm. The 2-mile (3-km) wide tornado tore through Moore outside Oklahoma City on Monday afternoon, trapping victims beneath the rubble. Seven children died at Plaza Towers Elementary School, which took a direct hit, but many more survived unhurt. ...

REUTERS - Tobacco company Philip Morris International Inc said it would buy out its Mexican joint venture partner controlled by billionaire Carlos Slim, for about $700 million. The Marlboro maker said it expects the deal to marginally add to earnings per share in the fourth quarter. Slim's industrial and retail conglomerate Grupo Carso had been selling its stake in local cigarette company Cigatam during the last decade, and at the end of 2007 Slim held just the 20 percent of the company that Philip Morris will now buy. As a director of Philip Morris, Slim holds 17,076 shares in PMI, worth $1. ...

By Greg McCune CHICAGO (Reuters) - Tornadoes could form across a wide area of the southern Plains and into the U.S. southeast again on Tuesday, including metropolitan Dallas-Fort Worth, the most populous urban area in the threatened area, a government meteorologist said. "There could be a few more tornadoes again, particularly in northern and central Texas," said Brynn Kerr, meteorologist at the National Weather Service's Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Oklahoma. ...

By Belinda Goldsmith CANNES (Reuters) - The relationship between the flamboyant pianist Liberace and his young lover dazzled at the Cannes film festival on Tuesday and threw the spotlight on gay rights at the movie industry's largest annual gathering. Director Steven Soderbergh said he struggled five years ago to secure funding for "Behind the Candelabra" because some financiers thought the film would only appeal to a gay audience and, at a cost of $25 million, would be a financial risk. ...

By Patrick Temple-West WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Apple Inc came under fire on Tuesday at a Senate hearing over an investigation that alleged the U.S. high technology icon has kept billions of dollars in profits in Irish subsidiaries and paid little or no taxes to any government. "Apple effectively shifts billions of dollars in profits offshore, profits that under one section of the tax code should nonetheless be subject to U.S. taxes, but through a complex process avoids those taxes," said Senator Carl Levin. ...

By Fredrik Dahl VIENNA (Reuters) - A U.N. nuclear agency report due this week is expected to show Iran further increasing its capacity to produce material that its adversaries fear could eventually be put to developing atomic bombs, Western diplomats said on Tuesday. But they said it is also likely to indicate that growth in Iran's most sensitive nuclear stockpile has been held back because some of it has been used for reactor fuel, potentially providing more time for diplomacy between Iran and major powers. ...

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - A roadside bomb exploded near the seafront in Karachi on Tuesday likely targeting a van full of Chinese port workers, police said, a day before Chinese Premier Li Keqiang arrives in the capital, Islamabad. No one was hurt. Karachi, the nuclear-armed country's key port, is home to 18 million people. It typically sees about a dozen murders a day, a combination of political killings, attacks by the Pakistan Taliban and sectarian militant groups, and street crime. ...

DUBAI (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia executed five Yemenis on Tuesday for robbery and murder, then put their bodies on public display as a further punishment, state news agency SPA said. A sixth man, a Saudi national, was separately executed for murder, the agency said. It was the second time in less than three months that Saudi Arabia executed several convicted criminals at the same time. In February, the United Nations criticised Saudi Arabia after it executed seven Saudis in one go. Both cases were in Jizan Province in southern Saudi Arabia. ...

Hyderabad, May 21 (IANS) Over 125 jewellers from India and abroad will showcase their exclusive diamond and gold jewellery at the sixth edition of the Hyderabad Jewellery Pearl and Gem Fair (HJF) here June 7 to June 9.

New Delhi, May 21 (IANS) Former Ranji player Baburao Yadav, arrested in the Indian Premier League (IPL) spot fixing scandal, was in constant touch with a bookie for two years and had introduced one of the accused Rajasthan Royals players to him, said police here Tuesday.

Bhopal, May 21 (IANS) Defending champions Madhya Pradesh girls defeated Chandigarh 2-1 in their opening match of Pool A of the Hockey India Sub-Junior Men's and Women's National Championship (Final) on Day 1 at the Aish Bagh Hockey Stadium here Tuesday.

New Delhi, May 21 (IANS) Tainted cricketer S. Sreesanth went on a shopping spree with the money he earned from spot-fixing, buying apparel worth Rs.1.95 lakh for himself and a mobile phone costing over Rs.40,000 for his girlfriend, Delhi Police said Tuesday.

Gurgaon, May 21 (IANS) Two women employees of a private school here were arrested for sexually molesting a six-year-old Class 3 student for the last few months, police said Tuesday.

New Delhi, May 21 (IANS) Pune Warriors India, owned by Sahara India Pariwar, pulled out of the already scandal-hit Indian Premier League (IPL) Tuesday and announced that they will not renew their sponsorship of the Indian cricket team after the present contract expires in December 2013.

Kolkata, May 21 (IANS) Supporting West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's decision to withdraw from the UPA last September on the issue of FDI in retail, eminent writer Mahasweta Devi Tuesday exhorted people from all walks of life to protest against the measure.

New Delhi, May 21 (IANS) Chennai won the toss and opted to bat against Mumbai Indians in Qualifier 1 of the Indian Premier League at the Ferozeshah Kotla here Tuesday.

Shimla, May 21 (IANS) The by-election to the Lok Sabha from Himachal Pradesh's Mandi constituency will be held June 23, election officials said here.

Jamshedpur, May 21 (IANS) In a stellar show of indomitable spirit, Arunima Sinha became the first woman in the world to conquer Mt. Everest with prosthetic legs, when she successfully climbed the world's highest peak Tuesday.

New Delhi, May 21 (IANS) An ongoing food festival offering true Mughlai flavours -- spicy aromatic biryanis with vegetables, fish, chicken and mutton accompaniments -- will leave you craving for more.

Bangalore, May 21 (IANS) Top-ranked Siddant Jagdish Banthia led the bunch of seeded players into the quarter-finals of the Karle Infra ATF Under-14 Asian ranking junior tennis tournament here Tuesday that saw all fancied players making smooth progress.

Ghaziabad, May 21 (IANS) Two police constables were arrested in Ghaziabad for harassing a newly-married couple and extorting Rs.8,000 from them, police said Tuesday.