UNITED STATES

U.S. stock futures were flat to higher on Monday as investors looked to new data later in the holiday-shortened week for clues over the direction of the recession-hit economy.

Oil rose toward $70 a barrel on Monday after Nigeria's main militant group said it attacked a Royal Dutch Shell oil platform, outweighing a fairly bearish report from the International Energy Agency .

Oil rose above $69 a barrel on Monday after Nigeria's main militant group said it attacked a Royal Dutch Shell oil platform, outweighing a fairly bearish report from the International Energy Agency .

Dow Jones futures dipped 0.1 percent, S&P 500 futures were down 0.01 percent while Nasdaq futures traded 0.02 percent higher on Monday morning at 4:45 a.m. EDT, pointing to a flat opening for Wall Street's main equity indexes.

Oil rose above $69 a barrel on Monday after Nigeria's main militant group said it attacked an oil platform belonging to Royal Dutch Shell despite an amnesty offer from President Umaru Yar'Adua.

The dollar recovered a little ground on Monday after falling late last week on a renewed call by China for a super-sovereign reserve currency, and stocks traded just below the top of recent ranges.

Oil fell below $69 a barrel on Monday as the easing of tensions in energy-rich Nigeria prompted some investors to take profit.

Iran accused the United States of trying to destabilize it and sparked a new row with Britain on Sunday, underscoring the hardline leadership's efforts to blame post-election unrest on foreign powers rather than popular anger.

Both Michael Jackson's family and his personal physician were at pains to explain on Sunday what caused the troubled pop star's sudden death weeks before his long-awaited comeback.

Bernard Madoff, who became a symbol of greed in the financial crisis for masterminding Wall Street's biggest investment fraud, faces the rest of his life in prison in one of the stiffest punishments for white-collar crime when he is sentenced on Monday.

For investors, June's job data could determine in this short July 4th holiday week if the stock market's recent rally is reignited or sputters out like a wet firecracker.

U.S. President Barack Obama has written a private letter to Michael Jackson's family, David Axelrod said on Sunday, a top White House adviser.

The King of Pop, Michael Jackson, has reportedly left 200 unpublished songs worth $100 million for his three children.

Los Angeles police on Saturday again questioned Michael Jackson's doctor, while the family of the pop music icon ordered its own private autopsy two days after his death shocked fans around the world.

The Rev. Jesse Jackson said Saturday that the family wants a second independent autopsy of Jackson's body because of unanswered questions about how he died.

Several newspapers in Argentina and the U.S. are showcasing a video of an Argentinean woman believed to be South Carolina's Governor Mark Sanford mistress.

Michael Jackson's body will undergo a second autopsy in Los Angeles on Saturday after his family requested it to determine a cause for his death, the Rev. Jesse Jackson told the Associated Press today.

The potential buyer of General Motors Corp's Hummer division will begin formal talks with Chinese regulators on Monday in an effort to win approval for its acquisition, The Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday.

Too many regulators will only increase costs and reduce credit opportunities for consumers, JPMorgan Chase & Co Chief Executive Jamie Dimon warned in a column he wrote in Saturday's Wall Street Journal.

NATO and Russia on Saturday re-launched formal cooperation on security threats, an alliance official said after their first high-level talks since falling out over the Georgia war last year.

The body of Michael Jackson has been released to his family for burial, a Los Angeles County coroner's spokesman said on Saturday, after an autopsy failed to immediately determine what killed the troubled pop star.