LONDON (Reuters) - Glencore and Xstrata agreed an all-share merger worth $90 billion (56 billion pounds) on Tuesday in the industry's largest ever deal, creating a commodities powerhouse spanning mining, agriculture and trading.

TOKYO (Reuters) - Toyota Motor Corp reported a stronger-than-expected quarterly operating profit and raised its annual forecast on cost cuts and Japanese government subsidies, though this is still some way below analysts' expectations.

AMMAN (Reuters) - Heavy bombardment of the Syrian city of Homs resumed on Tuesday after at least 95 civilians were killed on Monday in an offensive to put down a popular revolt against President Bashar al-Assad's rule, activists and residents said.

TOKYO (Reuters) - Greek resistance to the strict conditions attached to a bailout fund on Tuesday sapped recent momentum in markets spurred by hopes the global economy is improving, and the euro fell on renewed fears of a messy debt default.

ATHENS (Reuters) - Greek leaders face crunch talks on Tuesday to agree on unpopular reforms to secure a 130-billion-euro (107 billion pounds) bailout and avert a chaotic debt default which could threaten its future in the euro zone.

LONDON (Reuters) - British retailers suffered their second weakest January since records started in 1995 as shoppers reined in spending after splashing out on December discounts, a British Retail Consortium survey showed on Tuesday.

ATHENS/PARIS (Reuters) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel told Greece Monday to make up its mind fast on accepting the painful terms for a new EU/IMF bailout, but the country's political leaders responded by delaying their decision for yet another day.

(Reuters) - A group of 26 countries vehemently opposed to the EU's aviation emissions trading scheme will meet in Moscow on February 21 to discuss a plan of action, EU and Indian sources told Reuters on Monday.

SOFIA (Reuters) - Europe's bitterly cold weather killed another 33 people on Monday and melting snow caused a dam wall to break and flood an entire village in Bulgaria.

VIENNA (Reuters) - After two days of rare and intensive talks in Tehran, senior U.N. nuclear officials may have felt they were finally making headway towards getting Iran to address suspicions that it is bent on developing the ability to make atom bombs.