The allure of movie stardom is becoming evident to Tom Hardy.

Mourners fired guns in the air as thousands poured into the streets Monday in northern Lebanon for the funeral of a Sunni Muslim cleric, whose killing sparked intense clashes in Beirut and raised fears the crisis in Syria was spilling across the border.

Three climbers who scaled Mount Everest died on their descent and two went missing during a crowded weekend on the Himalayan peak, raising concerns Monday about congested trails and poor conditions near the summit.

Lucio Adan Nelson dozed on a riverboat ferrying him home from a visit with his mother when helicopters appeared overhead and started shooting. He and about a dozen other passengers traveling in the middle of the night jumped into the water for cover.

The Cannes Film Festival has received a dose of theater in the form of French director Alain Resnais' new film.

LONDON (Reuters) - Oil prices edged higher on Monday, climbing back towards $108 per barrel in a reaction to heavy losses last week, but worries about Greece's possible exit from the euro counterbalanced talk of the prospect of an economic stimulus in China. A summit of the G8 at the weekend failed to deliver any signal that Europe would act quickly to address the risk of a chaotic Greek exit from the euro, leaving investors in a state of alert, curbing an upturn in oil prices. "Gains may be short-lived as EU politicians as usual are having a hard time agreeing on anything. ...

Lowe's Cos.' first-quarter profit climbed 14 percent, as warmer weather helped boost sales. But the world's second-biggest home improvement company lowered its full-year earnings forecast on Monday, saying it is still cautious on the housing market and economic conditions.

GREENSBORO, North Carolina (Reuters) - Jurors were set to resume deliberations on Monday in the federal campaign finance case against former U.S. Senator John Edwards, who is accused of using campaign funds to hide his pregnant mistress as he sought the presidency. A jury of eight men and four women in Greensboro, North Carolina, considered the case for about 5 1/2 hours on Friday before breaking for the weekend. They must reach a unanimous verdict to convict Edwards, a two-time presidential candidate and the Democrats' 2004 vice presidential nominee, on any of the six felony counts he faces. ...

GREENSBORO, North Carolina (Reuters) - Jurors were set to resume deliberations on Monday in the federal campaign finance case against former U.S. Senator John Edwards, who is accused of using campaign funds to hide his pregnant mistress as he sought the presidency. A jury of eight men and four women in Greensboro, North Carolina, considered the case for about 5 1/2 hours on Friday before breaking for the weekend. They must reach a unanimous verdict to convict Edwards, a two-time presidential candidate and the Democrats' 2004 vice presidential nominee, on any of the six felony counts he faces. ...

Yemen's defense ministry says the death toll in a suicide bombing at a military parade rehearsal in the capital Sanaa has risen to 60.

MADRID (Reuters) - Spain said on Monday it would meet its deficit targets this year despite a new slippage in its regions' accounts and a further contraction of the economy in the second quarter. Economy Minister Luis de Guindos said economic activity would likely slump by another 0.3 percent between April and June, further fuelling doubts about the country's ability to get a grip on in its finances and nurse an ailing banking sector back to health. ...

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Four police officers were injured and 45 demonstrators arrested after baton-wielding police clashed with anti-war protesters marching on the NATO summit in Chicago on Sunday, police said. A lawyer's group assisting protesters challenged police figures, saying at least 12 protesters were hurt, some with head wounds from police batons, and more than 60 people detained. The confrontation began after a 2 1/2 mile march from a Chicago park to near the site of the summit, where leaders of the NATO alliance are discussing the war in Afghanistan. ...

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Four police officers were injured and 45 demonstrators arrested after baton-wielding police clashed with anti-war protesters marching on the NATO summit in Chicago on Sunday, police said. A lawyer's group assisting protesters challenged police figures, saying at least 12 protesters were hurt, some with head wounds from police batons, and more than 60 people detained. The confrontation began after a 2 1/2 mile march from a Chicago park to near the site of the summit, where leaders of the NATO alliance are discussing the war in Afghanistan. ...

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South African industrial group Barloworld expects Chinese and Russian demand for resources to underpin growth for equipment such as forklifts and trucks, its chief executive told Reuters in an interview. Worries about slowing demand from the world's second-largest economy have hit commodities and led miners to defer spending plans. Yet Clive Thompson, head of the $2.3 billion equipment supply company, said such fears may be overblown. ...

COLOMBO (Reuters) - Sri Lanka's former army chief walked free from jail on Monday with a pardon from President Mahinda Rajapaksa, who appears to have bowed to growing international demands that he release his highest-profile rival. Ex-General Sarath Fonseka kissed his hands and raised them to a group of 2,000 supporters who cheered "Victory to our war hero! Victory to our leader!" and lit firecrackers outside the maximum security prison. Some waved the national flag, emblazoned with a lion and a sword, as he released a white dove symbolizing peace. ...

FINALE EMILIA, Italy (Reuters) - Thousands of people in northern Italy slept in tents and cars overnight as more than 100 aftershocks rocked the area hit by a magnitude 6.0 earthquake that killed seven people and inflicted heavy damage to centuries-old cultural sites. "The fear that your house will collapse on your head is great, so it was good to be able to sleep in this tent," said one man who spent the night outdoors, cold but safe, in the town of San Felice sul Panaro. ...

NEW BRUNSWICK, New Jersey (Reuters) - A former Rutgers University student faces up to 10 years in prison at his sentencing on Monday for hate crimes after spying on his roommate's gay tryst, but many gay advocates are calling for no time behind bars. Tyler Clementi, 18, committed suicide in 2010 after learning that Dharun Ravi used a computer-mounted camera to see him kissing an older man in their dorm room and used social media to encourage others to watch. ...

NEW BRUNSWICK, New Jersey (Reuters) - A former Rutgers University student faces up to 10 years in prison at his sentencing on Monday for hate crimes after spying on his roommate's gay tryst, but many gay advocates are calling for no time behind bars. Tyler Clementi, 18, committed suicide in 2010 after learning that Dharun Ravi used a computer-mounted camera to see him kissing an older man in their dorm room and used social media to encourage others to watch. ...

As President Barack Obama and fellow NATO leaders herald the coming end of the deeply unpopular Afghanistan war, they face the grim reality of two more years of fighting ahead and more of their troops sure to die in combat.

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin unveiled a government dominated by loyalists on Monday, tightening his grip on the economy and limiting Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev's ability to pursue his reform agenda. Igor Shuvalov, a powerful Putin ally, kept his post as first deputy prime minister in overall charge of economic policy and Anton Siluanov, a career bureaucrat, remained finance minister. Putin also consolidated his power over the security structures, with Anatoly Serdyukov staying on as defense minister, and kept faith with long-serving Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. ...

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin unveiled a government dominated by loyalists on Monday, tightening his grip on the economy and limiting Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev's ability to pursue his reform agenda. Igor Shuvalov, a powerful Putin ally, kept his post as first deputy prime minister in overall charge of economic policy and Anton Siluanov, a career bureaucrat, remained finance minister. Putin also consolidated his power over the security structures, with Anatoly Serdyukov staying on as defense minister, and kept faith with long-serving Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. ...

A German official made clear on Monday that Berlin continues to oppose the idea of jointly-issued bonds for the 17-nation eurozone, which France's new president had suggested could be used to create much-needed economic growth and ease the region's financial crisis.

BERLIN (Reuters) - Chancellor Angela Merkel will discuss with the leaders of German political parties on Thursday the prospects for a European fiscal pact she wants parliament to approve before its summer recess despite opposition foot-dragging. Government spokesman Georg Streiter said Merkel, Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble and other senior officials would meet the national and parliamentary leaders of the main parties on Thursday from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. (1300-1500 GMT). The subject would be "the fiscal pact, Europe and everything linked to that", Streiter told a news conference. ...

ROME (Reuters) - Italy is likely to register a strong protest vote against belt-tightening on Monday in local elections that will provide a fresh snapshot of Europe's changing political landscape a year ahead of a national ballot. Taking place against the backdrop of a tense and somber national mood, the second round of voting to choose city majors involves nearly 120 local administrations. Prime Minister Mario Monti - the architect of Italy's tough austerity program - is not standing, but the two main parties in the right-left coalition that support him are. ...

LILLE, France (Reuters) - French prosecutors said on Monday they had opened an inquiry into allegations of group rape by Dominique Strauss-Kahn and three friends, as part of an investigation into his ties to a suspected prostitution ring in the northern city of Lille. The former IMF chief is under formal investigation over whether he was aware he was dealing with prostitutes and pimps when attending sex parties in Lille, Paris and Washington in 2010 and 2011 that were organized by business acquaintances. ...

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq is buying unmanned drones from the United States to help protect its southern oil platforms as the OPEC nation ramps up production after the withdrawal of the last American troops, U.S. and Iraqi officials said on Monday. Protecting the vital infrastructure around its oil reserves, the world's fourth largest, is crucial as Iraq rebuilds an industry battered by years of war and sanctions against former dictator Saddam Hussein. "Iraq's navy has purchased U.S. ...

From a park near Albuquerque, to the top of Japan's Mount Fuji, to the California coast the effect was dramatic: The moon nearly blotting out the sun creating a blazing "ring of fire" eclipse.

VIENNA/DUBAI (Reuters) - The U.N. nuclear watchdog chief began rare talks in Tehran on Monday after voicing hope for a deal to investigate suspected atomic bomb research - a gesture Iran might make to try to get international sanctions relaxed and deflect threats of war. International Atomic Energy Agency Director-General Yukiya Amano met the head of Iran's nuclear energy organization, Fereydoun Abbasi-Davani, hours after his pre-dawn arrival, according to ISNA news agency. ...

Assurances that world powers want debt-laden Greece to remain in the euro helped support world stock markets Monday after sharp losses over the past week.

SHANGHAI/BEIJING (Reuters) - One of China's most conspicuously reform-minded leaders has stepped back into the spotlight after the nation's biggest political convulsion in a generation, positioning himself to gain from the fall of populist politician Bo Xilai. Wang Yang, leader of Guangdong province and well known for his deft handling of recent civil unrest there, is the first of three provincial-level party bosses who stand to benefit after a murder scandal snuffed out Bo's career last month. ...

Thailand's economy posted double-digit growth in the first quarter of 2012, rebounding sharply from the fallout of last year's devastating floods, official data showed Monday.

The head of the U.N. nuclear agency arrived Monday in Tehran on a key mission that could lead to the resumption of probes by the watchdog on whether Iran has secretly worked on an atomic weapon.

Bargain-hunting helped Asian stock markets edge upward Monday, but gains were limited as investors remained unconvinced that the world's major economies nailed a solution to the European debt crisis following a summit in Washington.

ABUJA (Reuters) - Nigeria's telecoms regulator fined the country's four main mobile operators, including MTN and Bharti Airtel, a total of 1.17 billion naira on Sunday for poor-quality service. The telecoms industry is hugely profitable in Nigeria, Africa's second-biggest economy and home to some 160 million people, but users complain that the service is poor, with frequent dropped calls and network interruptions. ...