WASHINGTON (Reuters) - With Congress working to flesh out controversial elements of his healthcare reform plan, President Barack Obama will make his case for a public insurance program to the nation's doctors on Monday, seeking to overcome their resistance.

KABUL (Reuters) - A veteran commander of top-secret special operations takes charge of the nearly 90,000 U.S. and NATO troops in Afghanistan Monday, promising to limit the civilian deaths that have cost Western troops Afghan support.

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Rich nations have taken the first step toward winding down measures designed to rescue their economies amid tentative signs of recovery, reassuring investors who had begun to fret about inflation, but will not move to withdraw stimulus plans yet.

AP - Kobe Bryant pulled Phil Jackson close, embracing his coach and looking him straight in the eyes. After all they'd been through, this was their moment, their championship, their time. This was the one to top all the others.

AP - A new American commander is in charge in Afghanistan.

AP - They were chanting 'Bruuuuuce' at Bonnaroo all weekend, as Bruce Springsteen performed a three-hour set with the E Street Band one night and joined Phish on stage another.

Reuters - With Congress working to flesh out controversial elements of his healthcare reform plan, President Barack Obama will make his case for a public insurance program to the nation's doctors on Monday, seeking to overcome their resistance.

Reuters - A veteran commander of top-secret special operations takes charge of the nearly 90,000 U.S. and NATO troops in Afghanistan Monday, promising to limit the civilian deaths that have cost Western troops Afghan support.

Reuters - Rich nations have taken the first step toward winding down measures designed to rescue their economies amid tentative signs of recovery, reassuring investors who had begun to fret about inflation, but will not move to withdraw stimulus plans yet.

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran's Interior Ministry declared as illegal a rally which supporters of defeated moderate presidential candidate Mirhossein Mousavi plan to hold in Tehran later on Monday.

RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) - World powers should isolate Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after he unveiled tough terms for a Middle East peace accord, an aide to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said Monday.

KABUL (Reuters) - A veteran commander of top-secret special operations took charge of the nearly 90,000 U.S. and NATO troops in Afghanistan on Monday, promising to shield Afghans from civilian casualties that have cost Western troops support.

AP - Gen. Stanley McChrystal, a four-star American general with a long history in special operations, took charge of U.S. and NATO troops in Afghanistan on Monday, a change of command the Pentagon hopes will turn the tide in an increasingly violent eight-year war.

AP - Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi's meeting Monday with President Barack Obama offers the Italian leader a chance to rehabilitate his international reputation after a scandal over his link to an 18-year-old model and ahead of a major summit he is hosting next month.

AP - Carlos Bledsoe's transformation from Tennessee youth to an American-born Islamic extremist charged in a bloody rampage outside an Arkansas military recruiting station may signal an ominous new wave of violent homegrown jihadists, counterterror officials say.

AP - When President Barack Obama increased unemployment benefits as part of his economic stimulus, he also made some Americans ineligible for hundreds of dollars a month in food stamps.

AP - The answer to mysterious cat killings that horrified pet owners and disturbed residents of two South Florida communities for months was not far away from where the animals' mutilated bodies were discovered, authorities say.

AP - Kobe Bryant jumped and punched the air. He did it again, seven years of pent up frustration freed in a fit of joy.

Reuters - Iran's Interior Ministry declared as illegal a rally which supporters of defeated moderate presidential candidate Mirhossein Mousavi plan to hold in Tehran later on Monday.

Reuters - World powers should isolate Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after he unveiled tough terms for a Middle East peace accord, an aide to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said Monday.

Reuters - A veteran commander of top-secret special operations took charge of the nearly 90,000 U.S. and NATO troops in Afghanistan on Monday, promising to shield Afghans from civilian casualties that have cost Western troops support.

AFP - A tense Iran was gearing up for more street protests against the disputed re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad after authorities banned a nationwide march by his defeated rival.

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Supporters of defeated Iranian presidential candidate Mirhossein Mousavi called off a planned protest rally in Tehran on Monday after the Interior Ministry declared it would be illegal and treated as sedition.

LONDON (Reuters) - The head of the IMF questioned on Monday any debate about when to roll back stimulus spending, saying the world economy had yet to weather the worst of a recession that claimed a record number of European jobs.

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Pakistan braced for militant reprisals on Monday as the army conducted softening-up operations ahead of an assault on the stronghold of Pakistani Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud, one of al Qaeda's main allies.

AP - Iran's state television says the supreme leader has ordered an investigation into claims of fraud in last week's presidential election.

AP - President Barack Obama, continuing to barnstorm for his health care proposals, will urge doctors gathered in Chicago to support wider insurance coverage and targeted federal spending cuts.

AP - The U.S. and South Korea have pinpointed 11 underground sites in North Korea where it could conduct a third nuclear test, a newspaper reported Monday ahead of a summit between the two allies on the communist regime's growing atomic threat.

Reuters - Supporters of defeated Iranian presidential candidate Mirhossein Mousavi called off a planned protest rally in Tehran on Monday after the Interior Ministry declared it would be illegal and treated as sedition.

Reuters - The head of the IMF questioned on Monday any debate about when to roll back stimulus spending, saying the world economy had yet to weather the worst of a recession that claimed a record number of European jobs.

Reuters - Pakistan braced for militant reprisals on Monday as the army conducted softening-up operations ahead of an assault on the stronghold of Pakistani Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud, one of al Qaeda's main allies.

AFP - A tense Iran was gearing up on Monday for more street protests against the disputed re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad after authorities banned a nationwide march by his defeated rival.

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iranian authorities banned a planned protest rally by supporters of Mirhossein Mousavi in Tehran Monday, but the defeated presidential candidate said he would attend anyway to calm the crowd.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Without more direct aid to U.S. local governments, Washington may make matters worse for cities facing falling tax revenues and increased spending needs, the nation's mayors said at their annual meeting this weekend.

PARIS (Reuters) - An order from Qatar Airways looked set to brighten a glum start to a rain-soaked Paris Air Show on Monday as the Gulf carrier displays its financial muscle in the face of competing airlines bludgeoned by recession.

SANAA (Reuters) - Three women thought to be among people kidnapped in recent days have been found dead in north Yemen, a government and a tribal source said on Monday.

AP - Iran's supreme leader ordered Monday an investigation into allegations of election fraud, marking a stunning turnaround by the country's most powerful figure and offering hope to opposition forces who have waged street clashes to protest the re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

AP - President Barack Obama, continuing to barnstorm for his health care proposals, will urge doctors gathered in Chicago to support wider insurance coverage and targeted federal spending cuts.

AP - The U.S. and South Korea have pinpointed 11 underground sites in North Korea where it could conduct a third nuclear test, a newspaper reported Monday ahead of a summit between the two allies on the communist regime's growing atomic threat.

AP - Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi's meeting Monday with President Barack Obama offers the Italian leader a chance to rehabilitate his international reputation after a scandal over his link to an 18-year-old model and ahead of a major summit he is hosting next month.

AP - British Prime Minister Gordon Brown authorized a long-awaited inquiry into the Iraq war on Monday that aimed to examine mistakes made during and after the 2003 U.S-led invasion.

AP - The Los Angeles Lakers have won their 15th championship, beating the Orlando Magic 99-86 in Game 5 of the NBA finals.

Reuters - Iranian authorities banned a planned protest rally by supporters of Mirhossein Mousavi in Tehran Monday, but the defeated presidential candidate said he would attend anyway to calm the crowd.

AFP - Seven out of nine foreign hostages including a child were found murdered in northern Yemen on Monday, security officials said.

AFP - Iranian opposition supporters staged a defiant rally on Monday against President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's re-election, with his defeated rival set to appear in public for the first time since the vote triggered the worst unrest in a decade.

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Tens of thousands of supporters of Iran's defeated presidential candidate Mirhossein Mousavi gathered in downtown Tehran on Monday, defying an Interior Ministry ban.

RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) - Palestinians voiced dismay on Monday over terms Benjamin Netanyahu set for a peace accord but the Israeli prime minister won U.S. and European praise over his conditional acceptance of Palestinian statehood.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The International Monetary Fund on Monday said a heavy dose of stimulus would ease the U.S. recession this year and lift growth marginally in 2010.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Senior Obama administration officials on Monday said in a newspaper op-ed piece that a landmark financial regulation reform plan to be released this week will target capital requirements, securitization and other problem areas blamed for the global financial crisis.

PARIS (Reuters) - Qatar Airways ordered 24 planes from Airbus as the world's largest air show opened in Paris on Monday, the Gulf carrier flexing its financial muscles as many recession-hit rivals struggle to find funds.

AP - Tens of thousands of supporters of pro-reform leader Mir Hossein Mousavi are streaming through the center of Tehran in a boisterous protest against election results that declared President Mamoud Ahmadinejad the winner.

AP - Tens of thousands of North Koreans rallied in Pyongyang on Monday to condemn the U.N. rebuke of the country's latest nuclear test amid concern the communist regime could conduct another one.

AP - Nine missing foreigners in Yemen have all turned up dead, said a Yemeni official Monday, apparently executed by their kidnappers in the impoverished nation in the Arabian peninsula.

AP - Singing sensation Susan Boyle will rejoin the 'Britain's Got Talent' live tour on Monday, her spokeswoman said.

Reuters - Tens of thousands of supporters of Iran's defeated presidential candidate Mirhossein Mousavi gathered in downtown Tehran on Monday, defying an Interior Ministry ban.

Reuters - Palestinians voiced dismay on Monday over terms Benjamin Netanyahu set for a peace accord but the Israeli prime minister won U.S. and European praise over his conditional acceptance of Palestinian statehood.

Reuters - The International Monetary Fund on Monday said a heavy dose of stimulus would ease the U.S. recession this year and lift growth marginally in 2010.

Reuters - Senior Obama administration officials on Monday said in a newspaper op-ed piece that a landmark financial regulation reform plan to be released this week will target capital requirements, securitization and other problem areas blamed for the global financial crisis.

AFP - Seven out of nine foreign hostages including a child were found murdered in northern Yemen on Monday, a security official said.

AFP - Defeated Iranian presidential candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi appeared in public on Monday for the first time since an election that has divided the nation, joining thousands of supporters who defied a ban to stage a mass rally in Tehran.

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Many tens of thousands of Iranians chanted support for Mirhossein Mousavi in Tehran on Monday after a presidential election they say was stolen from him and handed to the hardline incumbent, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) - Palestinians voiced dismay on Monday over terms Benjamin Netanyahu set for a peace deal but the Israeli leader won guarded approval in Washington and Brussels for at least accepting Palestinian statehood.

LUXEMBOURG (Reuters) - European Union member states are ready to help resettle detainees freed from the U.S. detention center at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba, the EU said on Monday.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Senior Obama administration officials on Monday said in a newspaper op-ed piece that a landmark financial regulation reform plan to be released this week will target capital requirements, securitization and other problem areas blamed for the global financial crisis.

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq has seen a significant fall in the number of foreign fighters arriving to battle U.S. and local forces, and efforts by neighboring Syria are starting to bear fruit, U.S. General Ray Odierno said on Monday.

AP - More than 100,000 opponents of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad defied an Interior Ministry ban Monday and streamed into central Tehran to cheer their pro-reform leader in his first public appearance since elections that he alleges were marred by fraud.

AP - Downtown celebrations after the Los Angeles Lakers' championship win turned ugly as darkness fell, with some throwing rocks and bottles that left five police officers with minor injuries.

Reuters - Many tens of thousands of Iranians chanted support for Mirhossein Mousavi in Tehran on Monday after a presidential election they say was stolen from him and handed to the hardline incumbent, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Reuters - Palestinians voiced dismay on Monday over terms Benjamin Netanyahu set for a peace deal but the Israeli leader won guarded approval in Washington and Brussels for at least accepting Palestinian statehood.

Reuters - European Union member states are ready to help resettle detainees freed from the U.S. detention center at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba, the EU said on Monday.

Reuters - Senior Obama administration officials on Monday said in a newspaper op-ed piece that a landmark financial regulation reform plan to be released this week will target capital requirements, securitization and other problem areas blamed for the global financial crisis.

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran's hardline Islamic Basij militiamen killed at least one person on Monday and wounded more when their building was attacked by demonstrators protesting an election they say was stolen by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

CHICAGO (Reuters) - President Barack Obama, making his case for healthcare reform to America's doctors, said on Monday the U.S. government could suffer the same fate as troubled automaker General Motors and go broke if the healthcare system is not fixed.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The explosion caused by North Korea's nuclear test last month yielded approximately a 'few kilotons', the U.S. Director of National Intelligence said on Monday in a statement.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Obama administration will target critical weaknesses in the troubled U.S. financial system, such as thin bank capital cushions and eroded lending standards, when it proposes an overhaul of financial regulation this week, two senior officials said on Monday.

AP - Gunfire from a compound used by pro-government militia killed one demonstrator Monday after hundreds of thousands of opponents of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad massed in central Tehran to cheer their pro-reform leader in his first public appearance since elections that he alleges were marred by fraud.

AP - President Barack Obama asked skeptical doctors Monday to get behind an overhaul of the nation's health care system, declaring it a 'ticking time bomb' for the budget that could force America to 'go the way of GM.'

AP - Tens of thousands of North Koreans rallied in Pyongyang on Monday to condemn the U.N. rebuke of the country's latest nuclear test amid concern the communist regime could conduct another one.

AP - The top U.S. commander in Iraq said Monday that he remains 'absolutely committed' to pulling back all combat troops from urban areas by the end of the month, as provided for in a U.S.-Iraqi security agreement.

AP - At least three kidnapped foreigners have been killed in a remote Yemeni province, and security officials in the capital on Monday reported another six were also dead. The slayings took place in a region where al-Qaida militants have a strong presence.

AP - British Prime Minister Gordon Brown authorized a long-awaited inquiry into the Iraq war on Monday, but defied requests from bereaved families and campaigners to hold sessions in public.

AP - Los Angeles police say eight officers have suffered minor injuries during downtown disturbances that erupted amid street celebrations of the Lakers' NBA championship victory over the Orlando Magic.

Reuters - Iran's hardline Islamic Basij militiamen killed at least one person on Monday and wounded more when their building was attacked by demonstrators protesting an election they say was stolen by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Reuters - President Barack Obama, making his case for healthcare reform to America's doctors, said on Monday the U.S. government could suffer the same fate as troubled automaker General Motors and go broke if the healthcare system is not fixed.

Reuters - The explosion caused by North Korea's nuclear test last month yielded approximately a 'few kilotons', the U.S. Director of National Intelligence said on Monday in a statement.

Reuters - The Obama administration will target critical weaknesses in the troubled U.S. financial system, such as thin bank capital cushions and eroded lending standards, when it proposes an overhaul of financial regulation this week, two senior officials said on Monday.

AFP - A protestor was reportedly shot dead during clashes in Tehran on Monday as massive crowds of people defied a ban to stage a rally against the disputed re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

CHICAGO (Reuters) - President Barack Obama on Monday warned doctors the U.S. healthcare system was a ticking time bomb and urged them to support his overhaul plan, which includes a public insurance program that many of them view with skepticism.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A federal appeals court on Monday ordered Exxon Mobil Corp to pay $507.5 million in punitive damages stemming from the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill off Alaska, plus 5.9 percent interest running from the 1996 trial judgment, the opinion said.

AP - President Barack Obama bluntly told doctors Monday he is against their highest legislative priority — limiting malpractice awards — and earned a smattering of boos from an audience he was here to court for his health care overhaul plans.

AP - The former top executive of American International Group Inc. plundered an AIG retirement program of billions of dollars because he was angry at being forced out of the company, a lawyer for AIG told jurors Monday at the start of a civil trial.

AP - The white supremacist accused of killing a guard at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum is in no condition to appear in court, a federal judge found Monday. After a brief private conversation with attorneys from both sides, U.S. Magistrate Judge John Facciola said at a hearing that he had determined that it would not be possible for James von Brunn to have an initial appearance in the next week, either at the courthouse or in his hospital room.

AP - At least three kidnapped foreigners have been killed in a remote Yemeni province, and security officials in the capital on Monday reported another six were also dead.

AP - An attorney for an Oklahoma state trooper who pulled over an ambulance with a patient inside says the lawman had every right to make the traffic stop. He also says the trooper is not the 'ogre' he has been made out to be.

AP - It isn't just the thunder thighs that shrink after obesity surgery. Melting fat somehow thins bones, too. Doctors don't yet know how likely patients' bones are to thin enough to break in the years after surgery. But one of the first attempts to tell suggests they might have twice the average person's risk, and be even more likely to break a hand or foot.

AP - Authorities said a man faces a felony charge after allegedly spitting on a police officer's McDonald's breakfast sandwich. Police said a 32-year-old man was working the drive-thru window at the southwest Michigan restaurant when an unidentified officer bit into an Egg McMuffin on June 3 and immediately realized something was wrong.

AP - The coach stood to the side and watched as his team executed its final play of the NBA season to perfection. It's the one that had worked nine previous times. This wasn't his famed triangle offense, this was the celebration circle.

Reuters - A federal appeals court on Monday ordered Exxon Mobil Corp to pay $507.5 million in punitive damages stemming from the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill off Alaska, plus 5.9 percent interest running from the 1996 trial judgment, the opinion said.

CHICAGO (Reuters) - President Barack Obama on Monday warned doctors the U.S. healthcare system was a ticking time bomb and urged them to support his overhaul plan, which includes a public insurance program that many of them view with skepticism.

AP - In a massive outpouring reminiscent of the Islamic Revolution three decades ago, hundreds of thousands of Iranians streamed through the capital Monday, and the fist-waving protesters denounced President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's claim to victory in a disputed election.

AP - Shepherds found the mutilated bodies on Monday of two German nurses and a South Korean teacher who were kidnapped while picnicking in an area of Yemen known as a hideout for al-Qaida.

AP - A British pup had a narrow flush with disaster after his 4-year-old master decided to give him a bath in the toilet. Daniel Blair was quoted as telling Britain's Daily Mirror tabloid that he tried to clean the muddy 1-week-old cocker spaniel because he was muddy, and he flushed him down the drain.

AFP - A protester was reportedly shot dead and several people were wounded during clashes in Tehran on Monday as massive crowds defied a ban to stage a rally against the disputed re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

AFP - The bodies of several foreign hostages have been found in Yemen, officials said Monday, the first time in almost a decade a kidnapping in the country has resulted in deaths.

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iranian demonstrators called for more mass protests on Tuesday, a day after hardline Islamic militiamen killed a man during a march by tens of thousands against a presidential election they say was rigged.

RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) - Palestinians voiced dismay on Monday over terms Benjamin Netanyahu set for a peace deal but the Israeli leader won guarded approval in Washington and Brussels for at least accepting Palestinian statehood.

AP - Italy has agreed to accept three detainees from the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay, President Barack Obama said Monday after an Oval Office meeting with Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi. As he looks to close the prison by early next year, Obama has been banking on foreign countries and some communities in the United States to take in some detainees who cannot go to their own countries for fear of ill-treatment.

AP - How do you count almost 40 million handwritten paper ballots in a matter of hours and declare a winner? That's a key question in Iran's disputed presidential election.

AP - A white supremacist accused of fatally shooting a security guard at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum is in no condition to appear in court, a federal judge ruled Monday. James von Brunn, 88, was shot in the face by guards who returned his fire last week and is still hospitalized. FBI officials have said he is likely to survive.

AP - The body of an 8-year-old boy whose head was pinned in a church elevator was found by a pastor as the child's family was cleaning up after a wedding reception, authorities said.

Reuters - Iranian demonstrators called for more mass protests on Tuesday, a day after hardline Islamic militiamen killed a man during a march by tens of thousands against a presidential election they say was rigged.

Reuters - Palestinians voiced dismay on Monday over terms Benjamin Netanyahu set for a peace deal but the Israeli leader won guarded approval in Washington and Brussels for at least accepting Palestinian statehood.

TOKYO (Reuters) - The youngest son of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il secretly visited ally China around last week as a special envoy of his father and met with Chinese President Hu Jintao, Japan's Asahi newspaper reported on Tuesday.

AP - David Letterman said his joke about Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's daughter was a lousy joke, no matter how you cut it, and he's sorry. But the late-night host insisted that what's got people really riled is the misconception over which Palin daughter the joke was about.

AP - Brett Favre says he is considering coming out of retirement for a second time and the only team he has talked to about a return to the NFL is the Minnesota Vikings. Favre appeared on the new HBO show 'Joe Buck Live' in his first public appearance since retiring from the New York Jets in February.

Reuters - The youngest son of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il secretly visited ally China around last week as a special envoy of his father and met with Chinese President Hu Jintao, Japan's Asahi newspaper reported on Tuesday.

AFP - A protester was reportedly shot dead and several people were wounded during clashes in Tehran as massive crowds defied a ban to stage a rally against the disputed re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

AFP - The bodies of several foreign hostages have been found in Yemen, officials said, the first time in almost a decade a kidnapping in the country has resulted in deaths.

AP - Brett Favre will know in several weeks whether his surgically repaired arm will allow him to come out of retirement again.