Glencore-Xstrata deal meets shareholder opposition

LONDON (Reuters) - Two top 10 shareholders in miner Xstrata said on Tuesday they would vote against a takeover by commodities trader Glencore, threatening the industry's biggest deal to create a powerhouse spanning mining, agriculture and trading.

Santorum aims for a victory in Republican contests

DENVER (Reuters) - Republican candidate Rick Santorum is gunning for a victory in at least one of the three states holding presidential nominating contests on Tuesday in an attempt to slow down front-runner Mitt Romney and revive his fading White House hopes.

Greek leaders face crunch talks as unions strike

ATHENS (Reuters) - Greek party leaders face crunch talks on Tuesday to secure a new international bailout and avoid a chaotic debt default, caught between EU demands that they accept painful reforms now and a national strike against more austerity.

Syrian forces bombard Homs, Lavrov arrives for talks

AMMAN (Reuters) - Syrian forces renewed their bombardment of Homs on Tuesday as Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov arrived in Damascus for talks aimed at pressing President Bashar al-Assad to end a bloody crackdown on a popular revolt and carry out reforms.

Toyota raises annual profit forecast, eyes recovery

TOKYO (Reuters) - Toyota Motor Corp raised its full-year profit forecast by more than a third as it cuts costs, trims spending and expects Japanese government schemes to boost sales, though the guidance was still some way below analysts' expectations.

BP preparing "vigorously" for oil spill lawsuits

LONDON (Reuters) - BP said it was preparing "vigorously" for lawsuits related to its Gulf of Mexico oil spill, which are due to start later this month, as it unveiled a rise in fourth-quarter earnings boosted by higher oil prices and one-off gains.

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.

Greek hopes prop up euro, results hit shares

LONDON (Reuters) - The euro was underpinned by hopes a way would be found to push through a second bailout deal for Greece, though poor results from some top European firms on Tuesday rekindled unease about the region's debt crisis, sending shares lower.

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.