WORLD NEWS

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - For a company that is dramatically upending business strategies and social relationships around the world, Facebook Inc made a surprisingly modest debut on the Nasdaq on Friday as a sky-high valuation and trading glitches capped the stock's rise.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - It was during a quiet afternoon in the sixth week of the insider-trading trial of hedge fund billionaire Raj Rajaratnam that prosecutor Reed Brodsky sprang one of those rare surprises usually seen only in the movie version of a courtroom drama.

MADRID (Reuters) - Spanish banks' bad loans rose in March to their highest in 18 years, underscoring the problems facing the government as it drafts in independent auditors in an attempt to reassure investors it can clean up the sector.

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad shot two protesters in the capital Damascus on Friday and fired in the air to break up thousands of anti-government demonstrators in the commercial hub of Aleppo, activists said.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama pressed Europe on Friday to shift toward a more pro-growth policy and away from austerity to tackle a crisis that threatens to push Greece out of the euro zone and send economic shockwaves worldwide.

BRUSSELS/LONDON (Reuters) - European officials are working on contingency plans in case Greece bombs out of the euro zone, the EU's trade commissioner said on Friday, as European share prices tumbled and Germany warned of continuing financial turmoil.

ATHENS (Reuters) - Greek voters are returning to the establishment parties that negotiated its bailout, a poll showed on Thursday, offering potential salvation for European leaders who say a snap Greek election next month will decide whether it must quit the euro.

Embarrassed by a surprise $2 billion trading loss last week, the chairman and chief executive of JPMorgan Chase & Co faced heightened criticism at the bank's annual meeting on Tuesday. That included 40 percent backing from shareholders for a resolution to strip Dimon of his chairmanship title, up from 34 percent in 2010.

VIENNA (Reuters) - Iran and the U.N. nuclear watchdog are making headway towards a framework deal on how to tackle concerns about its atomic activity, diplomats say, a potential bargaining chip for Tehran in next week's negotiations with world powers.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - White House efforts to soft-pedal the danger from a new "underwear bomb" plot emanating from Yemen may have inadvertently broken the news they needed most to contain.

(Reuters) - The United States ruled that Chinese solar companies had illegally 'dumped' renewable power equipment on the U.S. market at below-market prices, and ordered tariffs on the imports, a source close to the case said on Thursday.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Postal Service will proceed with a plan this summer to shut mail-processing facilities as part of its cost-cutting effort but will spread out the closings to maintain overnight delivery of local mail.

MADRID (Reuters) - Spain's borrowing costs shot up at a bond auction on Thursday, after economic data confirmed the country is back in recession and a report of an outflow of deposits from nationalized Bankia hammered its share price.

NEW YORK/SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Facebook Inc priced its initial public offering at $38 a share, giving the world's No. 1 online social network a $104 billion valuation in the third largest offering in U.S. history.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States will suspend sanctions barring American investment in Myanmar in response to political reforms, but will retain the laws to ensure against backsliding, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Thursday.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - JPMorgan Chase & Co Chief Executive Jamie Dimon will be invited to testify before Congress over the recent trading losses announced by the bank, U.S. Senate Banking Committee Chairman Tim Johnson said in a statement on Thursday.

(Reuters) - Hewlett-Packard Co is considering cutting its workforce by 8 to 10 percent, or a minimum of 25,000 jobs, sources familiar with the matter told Reuters, as newly installed CEO Meg Whitman strives to return the storied Silicon Valley institution to growth.

ATHENS (Reuters) - Greek voters are returning to the establishment parties that negotiated its bailout, a poll showed on Thursday, offering potential salvation for European leaders who say a snap Greek election next month will decide whether it must quit the euro.

(Reuters) - Wal-Mart Stores Inc's profit and sales surpassed expectations on Thursday as more people shopped at its established U.S. stores and spent more, pushing shares up 5 percent despite ongoing internal and government probes into possible bribery.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - New claims for jobless benefits last week held at levels suggesting sluggish growth in hiring and factory activity in the mid-Atlantic region contracted in May, worrisome signs for a still-fragile economic recovery.