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By Guy Faulconbridge and Michael Holden LONDON (Reuters) - Two British men of Nigerian descent accused of hacking a soldier to death on a London street in revenge for wars in Muslim countries were known to security services, a source close to the investigation said Thursday. One man, filmed calmly justifying the killing as he stood by the body holding a knife and meat cleaver in bloodied hands, was named by acquaintances as 28-year-old Londoner Michael Adebolajo - a British-born convert to radical Islam. So frenzied was the attack, some witnesses thought they tried to behead the victim. ...

By Jonathan Cable BRENTWOOD, England (Reuters) - Britain's love affair with quirkily named real ales and their demand for locally produced goods has led to a growing trend in micro-breweries that cater to the more discerning palate. More than 1,000 brewers now operate across the country compared to just over 800 in late 2011, some working out of little more than a large garage but competing for drinkers with giants such as SABMiller and Greene King in a 16.5 billion pound industry. "We offer something different. ...

MUMBAI (Reuters) - The U.S. Food and Drug Administration imposed an "import alert" on a plant operated by generic drugmaker Wockhardt Ltd, sending its shares down 20 percent on Thursday to their lowest level in seven months. An "import alert", effectively a ban, results in detention without physical examination of drugs from firms that have not met so-called good manufacturing practices, according to the FDA website. ...

By Justin Palmer LEEDS, England (Reuters) - New Zealand will go with a four-seamer attack and will not risk spinner Daniel Vettori for the second and final test against England starting at Headingley on Friday, captain Brendon McCullum said. Doug Bracewell, who missed the first two drawn tests of the series against England in New Zealand this year after cutting his foot on glass, and was not selected for the third test, will come into the side. New Zealand lost the first test at Lord's by 170 runs on Sunday after being skittled out for 68 in their second innings. ...

By Mike Collett LONDON (Reuters) - Players or officials found guilty of racist offences in European club matches or internationals will face a minimum ban of 10 matches under tougher disciplinary regulations approved by UEFA's executive committee on Thursday. The executive will also propose to their annual Congress in London on Friday that all their 53 national associations adopt the same sanction, although the English FA announced last week it would be imposing a minimum five-match ban for racist offences. ...

By Alan Baldwin MONACO (Reuters) - Nico Rosberg gave Mercedes a dream start to their Monaco Grand Prix weekend with the fastest time in both practice sessions for the glamour race on Thursday. To further fuel widespread expectations of a fourth successive pole position for the Silver Arrows, team mate and 2008 world champion Lewis Hamilton lapped second fastest in the afternoon. Rosberg, who has been at home on the twisty streets ever since he was a boy growing up in the principality, clocked a best time of one minute 16.195 seconds before lunch and then 1:14.759 in the second session. ...

MANCHESTER, England (Reuters) - Manchester United centre back Rio Ferdinand signed a one-year contract on Thursday to stay with the Premier League champions for a 12th season. The 34-year-old would have been out of contract this summer after helping his club to a 20th league title but will now be part of new manager David Moyes's set-up following the retirement of Alex Ferguson. "I am delighted to have signed a new contract," Ferdinand said in a statement. ...

By Nigel Stephenson LONDON (Reuters) - Some of the biggest names in literature, science and politics will pitch up to a small British town over the next week for a clan gathering of the world's most "promiscuous minds". The 26th Hay Festival of literature, which begins on Thursday in Hay-on-Wye on the English/Welsh border, will play host to writers, scientists, philosophers, economists and readers in the thousands. Among star names this year at what former U.S. ...

By Stephanie Nebehay GENEVA (Reuters) - A United Nations human rights investigator called on Thursday for all states to declare a moratorium to prevent so-called "killer robots" being deployed on the battlefield. Christof Heyns, U.N. special rapporteur on executions, said that unmanned robotic weapons systems with varying degrees of autonomy and deadliness were being tested or used by the United States, Britain and Israel without debate on moraI and legal issues. ...

By Richard Hubbard LONDON (Reuters) - World stocks fell and measures of investor risk aversion surged on Thursday on signs the U.S. central bank may soon start scaling back the support measures that have been driving global assets higher. Unexpected weakness in China's economy further fuelled the sell-off, which sent Japanese shares diving to their biggest one-day fall in two years, while data suggesting the euro zone economy shrank again in the second quarter also hit confidence. "This is a critical period now for the markets. ...

By Michael Holden LONDON (Reuters) - The head of a banned British radical Islamist group who knew one of the men who hacked a soldier to death on London streets said on Thursday British foreign policy was to blame for the attack. Anjem Choudary said Michael Adebolajo - filmed with his hands covered with blood, carrying a meat cleaver and knife after attacking an off-duty soldier in broad daylight - had attended lectures run by al-Muhajiroun, Choudary's organisation, which was banned under anti-terrorism laws in 2010. ...

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Tata Steel Ltd, India's largest steelmaker by market value, swung to a loss in its fourth quarter, hit by weak demand in Europe, its top market and production region. The company is under pressure from investors to cut costs and idle or sell factories, especially its older plants in Britain, to turn around its loss-making European operation. Two thirds of Tata Steel's 27 million-tonne annual capacity is in Europe. ...

By Alex Lawler LONDON (Reuters) - Oil fell to a three-week low near $101 a barrel on Thursday in a broader commodities selloff as a decline in China's factory activity entrenched concern about weak demand and on worries about an early scale-back in U.S. Federal Reserve stimulus. China's factory activity shrank for the first time in seven months in May, a survey showed. The dollar index hit a three-year high on Wednesday, weighing on commodities denominated in the U.S. currency. Brent crude fell $1.40 to $101.20 a barrel by 1349 GMT and had dropped as far as $101.01, the lowest since May 2. ...

Mumbai/Chennai, May 23 (IANS) Widening the probe into the IPL spot fixing scam, Mumbai police have ordered Gurunath Meiyappan, son-in-law of Indian cricket board chief N. Srinivasan, to get in touch with them by Friday evening, an official said in Mumbai.

Kolkata, May 23 (IANS) Grateful at having worked with "interesting filmmakers" since his 2007 debut, actor Ranbir Kapoor Thursday confessed that playing himself in his forthcoming release "Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani" (YJHD) is "harder" than enacting characters in his previous films.

New Delhi, May 23 (IANS) In a bid to promote exports, the government Thursday exempted excise duty on indigenously produced goods sold at duty-free shops (DFS) at international airports.

Kolkata, May 23 (IANS) Having accepted the fact that rumours about his private life are "part and parcel" of the film industry, "Barfi!" star Ranbir Kapoor Thursday maintained that he would stay away from social-networking sites to shield his off-screen life.

New Delhi, May 23 (IANS) Union Sports Minister Jitendra Singh Thursday congratulated Arunima Sinha for climbing the world's highest peak, Mount Everest.

New Delhi, May 23 (IANS) The Delhi unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Thursday demanded that a first information report (FIR) be filed against Chief Minister Shiela Dikshit for allegedly misusing government funds for "political purpose".

Shimla, May 23 (IANS) President Pranab Mukherjee was accorded a ceremonial reception by Governor Urmila Singh and Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh on his arrival here Thursday on a three-day visit.

New Delhi, May 23 (IANS) With a pan-India crackdown on betting rackets, Delhi bookies have suffered a whopping loss of Rs.35,000 crore as most of them have either wind up their business or have gone underground after the spot fixing in the Indian Premier League (IPL).

Bangalore, May 23 (IANS) iGate's American employee Araceli Roiz, 31, who accused the company's former chief executive Phaneesh Murthy of sexual harassment, Thursday claimed that she was pregnant with his child.

Mumbai, May 23 (IANS) Mythological show "Jai Jai Jai Bajrangbali" is entering a new phase, and the central character will now enter teenage. Actor Rishabh Sharma will play the older Bajrangbali.

New Delhi, May 23 (IANS) Largest steel manufacturer of the country (valuewise) Tata Steel posted net loss for fourth quarter ending March 31, 2013, a company statement said Thursday.

New Delhi, May 23 (IANS) Young Indian paddler Manika Batra beat higher-ranked Yui Hamamoto of Japan to enter the girls' singles semifinals at the IITF Polish Junior Open in Wladyslawowo, Poland Thursday.

Chennai, May 23 (IANS) Opposing any disinvestment in integrated mining-cum-power generating Neyveli Lignite Corporation Ltd. (NLC), Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa Thursday suggested to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh that the central government can buy back the shares held by public and go for delisting.