Indian Wells, California  - Andy Murray began the concluding week of the Indian Wells Masters in sparkling form, reaching the last 16 with a comprehensive 6-3, 6-2 victory Monday over Paul-Henri Mathieu.

The fourth-seeded Scot needed only an hour and a quarter to earn his third win without a defeat against the Frenchman, ranked 33rd. Murray fired six aces and broke five times to roll through.

The result improved Murray to 17-1 on the season, which has included titles at Doha and Rotterdam, where he beat number 1 Rafael Nadal for the trophy.

New York  - US stocks closed slightly lower Monday, ending a four-day rally and erasing earlier gains after the world's governments promised more measures to stabilize their economies.

Major stock indices were led lower in the final two hours of trading after American Express Co reported rising credit-card delinquency rates in February.

The Federal Reserve said that industrial output fell for the fourth straight month in February and was down 11 per cent over the year, the worst annual decline since 1975.

Washington  - US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Monday that Pakistan's political leaders must continue to make compromises to stabilize democratic rule and prevent unrest.

Clinton telephoned over the weekend with Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani and opposition leader Nawaz Sharif to help diffuse a political crisis after mass demonstrations brought Pakistan to the brink of widespread turmoil.

San Francisco - The Seattle Post-Intelligencer newspaper will print its last edition on Tuesday, ending a 146-year run and continuing operations as a web-only publication, the paper said Monday.

The newspaper is currently distributed to more than 117,600 subscribers every morning, making it the nation's largest daily newspaper to shift to an entirely digital news product.

The paper lost 14 million dollars last year and owner Hearst Corporation put the paper up for sale in January, saying that it would stop printing if a buyer couldn't be found.

Washington  - The world's wealthiest nations should pay for China to cut its pollution coming from exports, Chinese officials said Monday amid sensitive talks with the United States on how to reach a new deal to combat global warming.

China - the world's largest polluter together with the United States - has a plan in place to reduce greenhouse gas emissions blamed for global warming even as its economy grows rapidly, said Li Gao, director of China's department of climate change.

Washington - European demands for the closure of the Guantanamo prison should translate into helping the United States shutter the facility by accepting some of the detainees, US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Monday.

President Barack Obama has issued orders to close Guantanamo by January but needs European help because many of the detainees cannot be returned to their native countries out of fear they will be mistreated, Clinton said.