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By Ryan Vlastelica NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stock markets worldwide fell sharply on Thursday as surprisingly weak data from China and Europe raised worries about slow growth a day after U.S. Federal Reserve chief Ben Bernanke broached the possibility of reducing stimulus that has buoyed investor confidence. Japanese shares were hit hardest in overnight action, with the Nikkei losing 7.3 percent, its biggest one-day fall in two years. Investors retreated to safe-haven currencies. ...

By Jeff Mason WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama will vow on Thursday to be more open to the public about the U.S. fight against terrorism and may lay out limits for the use of lethal drones abroad while sketching a vision for closing the military prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. In a major foreign policy speech after some two weeks of dealing with domestic scandals, Obama will underline his support for civil liberties in the face of recent criticism that his administration is secretive and bullies opponents. ...

ANKARA (Reuters) - A prominent figure in the Chechen diaspora in Turkey was shot at his Ankara office late on Wednesday, a North Caucasus refugee association said, the latest in a series of killings of Chechens and their sympathisers in the country in recent years. Many refugees and separatists have settled in Turkey from Russia's North Caucasus, which fought two bloody wars with Moscow in the 1990s, including opponents of Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov, an ex-rebel turned Kremlin loyalist, and the brother of Moscow's most-wanted militant leader Doku Umarov. ...

By Andrew Osborn and Costas Pitas LONDON (Reuters) - The gory killing of a British soldier at the hands of two suspected Islamist militants has shone a spotlight on Woolwich, the London district where it happened, stirring racial tensions in one of the most ethnically diverse parts of Britain. Tucked away inside a bend of the River Thames to the southeast of central London, Woolwich has changed as quickly as the British capital itself in the last 20 years as successive waves of immigrants attracted by the area's cheaper housing have made it their home. ...

By Jonny Hogg GOMA, Democratic Republic of Congo (Reuters) - T roubled eastern Congo has the best chance in years to secure a lasting peace but the United Nations stands ready to pacify the region by force if need be, U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said on Thursday. Fighting that erupted on Monday near Goma, eastern Democratic Republic of Congo's largest city, has killed at least 20 people and ended an uneasy six-month calm between the army and fighters from the M23 rebel group. ...

By Alan Baldwin MONACO (Reuters) - Kimi Raikkonen would much rather be left alone but he is happy to admit that sometimes he does not know what he is doing. Social media is never going to be the Finn's thing and the Lotus driver has never hidden his distaste for interviews but he overcame his reluctance and spoke to Reuters at the Monaco Grand Prix - albeit stressing: "That's not the reason why I am here. ...

By Alexandria Sage CANNES (Reuters) - An intimate love story between two young women received rave reviews from critics at the Cannes film festival despite explicit lesbian sex scenes that could limit the film's distribution. "La Vie d'Adele - Chapitre 1 & 2" ("Blue is the Warmest Colour") is a poignant tale of love and sexuality centred on 15-year-old Adele, in a breakout performance by Adele Exarchopoulos, and her lover Emma (Lea Seydoux), set to premiere on Thursday evening. ...

HAMBURG (Reuters) - Global spot copper ore treatment and refining charges (TC/RCs) are rising because of a production stop at Sterlite copper smelter, Europe's biggest copper producer Aurubis said on Thursday. Global spot TC/RCs have risen by $5 a tonne in the past few weeks to $85 a tonne and 8.5 cents a pound, Aurubis said. TC/RCs are fees paid by miners to smelters to refine concentrate into metal and are a key part of the global copper industry's earnings. Spot fees had been around $80 a tonne and 8 cents a pound in March and April. ...

By Siva Sithraputhran and Stuart Grudgings KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - Malaysian police arrested three opposition politicians and activists on Thursday and charged another with sedition, launching a crackdown on dissent three weeks after an election exposed deep divisions in the country and sparked a series of opposition protest rallies. The arrests and the charging of a student activist under the country's Sedition Act signal a hardening stance by the government after the May 5 poll, which it won in unconvincing style that has highlighted electoral system problems. ...

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. ...

Kolkata, May 23 (IANS) Riding on their Nigerian firepower, East Bengal made a hattrick of Kolkata premier division soccer league titles with a 3-2 win over arch-rivals Mohun Bagan here Thursday.

New Delhi, May 23 (IANS) The cabinet Thursday approved classical language status for Malayalam, subject to the outcome of a case in the Madras High Court, an official statement said.

Ghaziabad, May 23 (IANS) Cracking the gruesome killings of seven members of a businessman's family in Ghaziabad two days ago, Uttar Pradesh Police Thursday arrested the family's former driver who confessed to the murders, police said.

New Delhi, May 23 (IANS) The government's decision to allow quadricycles, a category of four-wheelers on Indian roads, is fraught with the danger of further deteriorating road safety and pollution, a global not-for-profit organisation said Thursday.

Mumbai, May 23 (IANS) Wholesalers, retailers and manufacturers across Maharashtra called off their month-long agitation against the local body tax (LBT) imposed by civic agencies following talks with Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan here Thursday.

New Delhi, May 23 (IANS) The Cabinet Thursday approved creation of 20,751 additional posts in the Income Tax department, at a cost of Rs.449.71 crore, to help it collect increased revenue and provide better services to tax payers, an official statement said.

New Delhi, May 23 (IANS) Delhi Police Thursday contacted their counterparts in Mumbai seeking details about the articles seized from the hotel where tainted cricketer S. Sreesanth stayed, said a police official.

Mumbai/Chennai/New Delhi, May 23 (IANS) The mess in the Indian Premier League (IPL) just got bigger as Mumbai police Thursday ordered Gurunath Meiyappan, son-in-law of Indian cricket board chief N. Srinivasan, to get in touch with them by Friday evening, while top Pakistani umpire Asad Rauf, who has been officiating in IPL matches, was removed from next month's ICC Champions Trophy.

New Delhi, May 23 (IANS) Panic gripped people in a multi-storey building here after a letter warning of a bomb inside was recovered Thursday afternoon, police said. However, the threat turned out to be a hoax.

New Delhi, May 23 (IANS) The cabinet Thursday approved a special recruitment drive to fill up the backlog in vacancies reserved under the Scheduled Castes (SCs), Scheduled Tribes (STs) and Other Backward Classes (OBCs) quota, an official statement said.

Niamey, May 23 (IANS) At least 25 people were killed and 30 got injured after two suicide bomb attacks Thursday at a military base and a plant run by French nuclear giant Areva in northern Niger, reported Xinhua.

New Delhi, May 23 (IANS) Ajit Chandila, arrested Rajasthan Royals player, had received Rs.12 lakh for spot fixing in IPL 2012 matches, Delhi Police said Thursday.

Damascus, May 23 (IANS) Syrian President Bashar al-Assad stressed Thursday his resolve to continue fighting "terrorism" in tandem with efforts for a political solution to the country's 26-month-old crisis, reported Xinhua citing state-run SANA news agency.