Greek leaders face crunch talks, unions strike

ATHENS (Reuters) - Greek political leaders face crunch talks on Tuesday to hammer out a deal on unpopular reforms that have prompted the country's biggest labor unions to walk off the job.

Romney campaign takes aim at rival Santorum

CENTENNIAL, Colo. (Reuters) - Republican presidential frontrunner Mitt Romney on Monday focused his campaign's firepower on Rick Santorum to head off the former senator's surge in two of three states with nominating contests this week.

Syrian forces attack Homs on eve of Lavrov visit

BEIRUT (Reuters) - A Syrian military assault on Homs killed dozens of people on the eve of a visit to Damascus by Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov aimed at pressing President Bashar al-Assad to end an 11-month uprising by implementing swift reform.

With economy improving, Obama would beat Romney: poll

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama - bolstered by a stronger economic outlook and recent job growth - would win in a match-up against the two leading Republican presidential candidates Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich, a poll on Monday showed.

Insight: Two firms flourish in frenzied MF Global aftermath

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The mad rush to move client money out of MF Global Inc. after its collapse left two firms with the bulk of customer accounts, while other brokerages emerged with only minor gains from the chaos of carving up a multibillion-dollar business.

Greece wrangling tempers market momentum; RBA holds rates

TOKYO (Reuters) - Markets edged down on Tuesday as Greek resistance to the strict conditions attached to a bailout fund sapped recent momentum spurred by hopes the global economy is improving, and the euro eased on renewed fears of a messy debt default.

Analysis: Euro zone strugglers lack innovative knack

LONDON (Reuters) - To get an idea of the economic mountain euro zone strugglers Greece and Portugal have to climb, consider this: per million inhabitants, they each filed fewer than eight applications with the European Patent Office in 2010.

U.S. closes embassy in Syria, vows further pressure

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States closed its embassy in Damascus on Monday and President Barack Obama vowed to ratchet up pressure on Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad to step down, even as world powers remained divided over how to end the crisis.

U.N. nuclear talks in Tehran: frustrated hopes

VIENNA (Reuters) - After two days of rare and intensive talks in Tehran, senior U.N. nuclear officials may have felt they were finally making headway towards getting Iran to address suspicions that it is bent on developing the ability to make atom bombs.

Giants win Super Bowl thriller against Patriots

INDIANAPOLIS (Reuters) - The New York Giants reclaimed the greatest prize in North American sports with a nail-biting 21-17 Super Bowl victory over the New England Patriots on Sunday at Lucas Oil Stadium.