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By Tim Kelly TOKYO (Reuters) - Few foreign activist investors have made much headway in forcing change in Japan, where a conservative corporate culture favours long-standing ties with banks, business partners and workers rather than shareholders seeking value. Struggling electronics giant Sony Corp , though, with more foreign and fewer bank shareholders, may prove something of an exception. That's the hope, at least, of Californian billionaire Daniel Loeb, whose Third Point hedge fund has built up a more than 6 percent stake in Sony, making it the group's biggest stockholder. ...

By Johan Sennero and Johan Ahlander STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - Hundreds of youths have set fire to cars and attacked police and rescue services in poor immigrant suburbs in three nights of rioting in Stockholm, Sweden's worst disorder in years. On Tuesday night, a police station in the Jakobsberg area in the northwest of the city was attacked, two schools were damaged and an arts and crafts centre was set ablaze, despite a call for calm from Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt. ...

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - A court will continue hearing into complaints of emissions from the country's largest copper smelter, shut since March 30, on a daily basis from Thursday, a judge said. "We will continue hearing on a day-to-day basis," Justice Swatanter Kumar of the National Green Tribunal, a fast-track environmental court, said on Wednesday. The Sterlite Industries plant has been shut since nearly eight weeks after residents complained of emissions that led to breathing problems. The case was transferred to Delhi from a southern India branch of the court on April 29. ...

REUTERS - Malaga will be free to compete in the Europa League next season after UEFA announced on Wednesday that the European ban imposed on the Spanish club had been lifted. The Costa del Sol club, who reached the quarter-finals of this season's Champions League, had been given a one-year ban by UEFA due to financial irregularities but had appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). UEFA's decision came after a meeting of the Club Financial Control Body (CFCB) in Nyon to discuss sanctions handed out to eight clubs because of overdue payments. ...

Reuters Market Eye - The Sensex falls 0.05 percent, while the broader NSE index is down 0.1 percent. Larsen and Toubro Ltd falls 5 percent after reporting a worse-than-expected 6.9 percent drop in quarterly profit to 17.88 billion rupees. Zee Entertainment Ltd is also down 1.1 percent after its January-March profit rose 12.5 percent to 1.80 billion rupees. Lenders such as HDFC Bank Ltd fall on caution ahead of Wednesday's release of minutes of the Federal Reserve's last meeting and Chairman Ben Bernanke's testimony in Congress the same day. HDFC Bank Ltd is down 0. ...

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Indian Oil Corp (IOC) and Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd (BPCL) are looking to buy up to 41,000 tonnes of gasoline, after a long absence, to plug a supply gap caused by a plant outage and maintenance that coincides with summer demand, traders said. IOC is seeking 7,000 to 8,000 tonnes of gasoline for June 12 to 14 arrival at Kochi and similar volumes for June 14 to 16 arrival at Kandla through a tender which closes on May 28, with offers to stay valid until May 29. BPCL is seeking 25,000 tonnes of 91-octane gasoline for delivery into Kochi over the first-half of June. ...

MUMBAI (Reuters) - Larsen & Toubro Ltd expects sales to rise 15-17 percent for the fiscal year to March 2014, Executive Chairman A.M. Naik said on Wednesday. Larsen, India's biggest engineering company, expects order inflows to be up about 20 percent this fiscal year, Naik said at a news conference. The company reported a worse-than-expected 6.9 percent fall in quarterly profit. (Reporting by Swati Pandey; Editing by Prateek Chatterjee)

BERLIN (Reuters) - Bayern Munich defender Holger Badstuber faces up to 10 months on the sidelines but should play again after undergoing surgery on a serious knee injury for the second time in six months, the Champions League finalists said on Wednesday. The Germany international tore the cruciate ligament in his right knee last week as he was rehabilitating from an identical injury he suffered in early December. The latest setback means the 24-year-old faces a race against time to be fit for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil with Germany well on course to qualify. ...

By Nick Macfie ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - China and Pakistan should make cooperation on power generation a priority, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said, as Islamabad seeks to end an energy crisis that triggers power cuts of up to 20 hours a day, bringing the economy to a near standstill. Li arrived in the Pakistan capital under extra-tight security on Wednesday on the second leg of his first official trip since taking office in March after a visit to Pakistan's and China's arch rival, India. Li's plane was escorted by six air force fighter jets as it entered Pakistan air space. ...

LONDON (Reuters) - Spaniard Sergio Garcia has apologised after a "fried chicken" jibe aimed at world number one Tiger Woods during a European Tour awards dinner on Tuesday. Garcia, who has a frosty relationship with Woods, was on stage with his Ryder Cup team mates when he was asked in jest whether he would be inviting Woods for dinner during next month's U.S. Open in Merion. "We will have him round every night. We will serve fried chicken." Garcia was heard to say. ...

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Larsen and Toubro Ltd (L&T) posted a worse-than-expected 6.9 percent fall in quarterly profit as interest costs jumped for India's biggest engineering and construction company. Net profit fell to 17.88 billion rupees for its fiscal fourth quarter ending March, from 19.2 billion rupees it reported a year earlier, said the company, whose interests span shipbuilding to railways to real estate. Analysts expected the company to report a net profit of 18.56 billion rupees, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. ...

REUTERS - Real estate developer Puravankara Projects has set a price band of 80 rupees to 85 rupees for its up to 1.84 billion rupees share sale, it said in a statement late on Tuesday. The company aims to sell 21.57 million shares to qualified institutional investors on Thursday. Axis Capital, JP Morgan and Kotak Mahindra Capital Co are the book-running lead managers to the issue. Shares of Puravankara, valued by the market at about $371 million, ended at 95.65 rupees on Tuesday. ...

By Rachelle Younglai and Caren Bohan WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. Senate panel on Tuesday approved legislation to give millions of illegal immigrants a path to citizenship, setting up a spirited debate next month in the full Senate over the biggest changes in immigration policy in a generation. President Barack Obama, who has made enactment of an immigration bill one of his top priorities for this year, praised the Senate Judiciary Committee's action, saying the bill was consistent with the goals he has expressed. ...

Washington, May 22 (IANS) Scientists have engineered nanoparticles derived from grapefruit lipids that could be used to deliver anti-cancer and other drugs to tumour cells, says a study.

New Delhi, May 22 (IANS) The Congress Wednesday hit out at the BJP for its comments on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and said it was "not concerned" with what the opposition party was saying.

Beijing, May 22 (IANS) With the absence of Chinese star Liu Xiang, American David Oliver topped the men's 110-metre hurdles at the 2013 IAAF World Challenge Beijing here, while China's Li Jinzhe continued his good form and grabbed a second win in the men's long jump.

Islamabad, May 22 (IANS) Chinese Premier Li Keqiang arrived here Wednesday for an official visit to Pakistan, aiming to deepen friendship between the two neighbouring countries.

Bangkok, May 22 (IANS) Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will pay an official visit to Thailand from May 30 to 31, the Thai foreign ministry announced here Wednesday.

Los Angeles, May 22 (IANS) Model-turned actress Lily Cole will be honoured with a doctorate by a Scottish University for outstanding contribution to humanitarian and environmental causes.

Band members Antony Costa, Duncan James, Lee Ryan and Simon Webbe had split in 2005, but reunited in 2011, and are now facing issues.

Rio de Janeiro, May 22 (IANS) Brazilian striker Neymar has agreed in principle to join Barcelona, July 1.

Washington, May 22 (IANS) A bipartisan group of 23 lawmakers have asked the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to begin tracking hate crimes against Sikhs, the way it does for other communities.

Hyderabad, May 22 (IANS) Local body elections in Andhra Pradesh are likely to be held within a month, state Panchayati Raj Minister K. Jana Reddy said Wednesday.

New York, May 22 (IANS) Pop star Rihanna and actress Cara Delevingne spent a fun night together getting some tattoos done and drinking champagne in a hotel room here.

New Delhi, May 22 (IANS) Thanks to actress Karishma Tanna's towering look, she was banned from wearing high heels while shooting for upcoming movie "Grand Masti" as she looked taller than her co-star Vivek Oberoi.

Los Angeles, May 22 (IANS) Actress Jennifer Aniston reportedly cried after reading about her former husband Brad Pitt's current partner Angelina Jolie's double mastectomy.