GERMANY

The European Union approved an oil embargo against Iran in hopes that new economic pressures will convince the country to abandon its nuclear program.

European shares were flat on Monday morning ahead of a meeting of euro zone financeministers to discuss terms of a Greek debt restructuring deal, with banks rallying on a report about easier capital rules.

Supermodel Heidi Klum and musician Seal may have hit some turbulence in their marriage, but they are not getting divorced just yet, a source told People Magazine.

Kim Dotcom, also known as Kim Schmitz and Kim Tim Jim Investor, spent his 38th birthday on Saturday in a New Zealand jail after 70 police personnel raided his country estate at the request of the U.S. FBI, which alleges Dotcom masterminded a criminal -- and highly profitable -- copyright-infringement operation.

Amazon.com Inc is setting up its first fulfillment center in India as the world's largest Internet retailer tries to break into the world's second most-populous nation.

Plans to launch a European ratings agency to compete with Standard & Poor's, Moody's Investors Service, and Fitch Ratings are at an advanced stage, and a new private institution could start business as soon as the first half of this year, German businessman Roland Berger told an Italian newspaper.

The representatives of Greece's private creditors left Athens unexpectedly on Saturday without a deal on a debt-swap plan that is vital to avert a disorderly default, sources close to the negotiations told Reuters. Negotiations will continue over the phone during the weekend.

Disney Fantasy, the fourth cruise ship of U.S. shipping company Disney Cruise Line, is all geared up first sailing in March, as the ship left its shipyard in Germany on Friday.

European Union ministers meeting on Monday will attempt to reach agreement on a new treaty enforcing stricter budget controls in the Eurozone that could allow the bloc's highest court to fine countries that do not adopt key rules.

Major powers signaled on Friday their willingness to reopen talks about curbing Iran's suspected pursuit of nuclear weapons but said Tehran must show it is serious about any negotiations.

Oil prices fell on Friday, pressured by economic uncertainty ahead of a possible debt deal in Greece, concerns about China's sluggish manufacturing sector, and weak U.S. petroleum demand.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy on Friday warned against military intervention in Iran, fearing that it would not stop the Islamic Republic's nuclear weapons program, but instead bring more chaos to the region.

Time experts were deadlocked on Thursday over whether to scrap "leap seconds" which are occasionally added to clocks to stop them running ahead of the sun.

Kim Schmitz, founder of Megaupload and otherwise known by his alias Kim Dotcom, was arrested by the Department of Justice Thursday for content piracy and losses to copyright owners that amount to $500 million. Schmitz was found by police in his New Zealand mansion's safe room, with what looked like a sawed-off shotgun Detective Inspector Grant Wormald said.

Europe's telecom shares have long been seen as safe houses when the wolf is at the door, but recession, fierce competition and costly network upgrades are huffing and puffing at their capacity to pay generous dividends.

The shutting down and indictment of owners and operators of the video locker service Megaupload, hot on the heels of unprecedented online blackouts against the proposed anti-piracy bills concluded hours before, has come as a shocker to the Internet community.

The U.S. government shut down the Megaupload.com content sharing Web site, charging its founders and several employees with massive copyright infringement, the latest skirmish in a high-profile battle against piracy of movies and music.

Google Inc's quarterly results fell short of Wall Street's heightened expectations for the holiday season as declining search advertising rates contributed to a rare miss, triggering a 9 percent slide in its shares.

The world economy will lose momentum in 2012 but it will keep moving in the right direction, according to Reuters polls of around 600 economists who said crisis-hit Europe would drag on global growth.

Iran's foreign minister warned Arab neighbors on Thursday not to put themselves in a dangerous position by aligning themselves too closely with the United States in the escalating dispute over Tehran's nuclear activity.

EBay Inc gave a conservative quarterly sales forecast despite unveiling better-than-expected results, warning that a weak European economy may take the gloss off rip-roaring growth in online commerce.