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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. ...

LONDON (Reuters) - The Tate Britain museum bought 19th century English painter John Constable's masterpiece "Salisbury Cathedral from the Meadows" for 23.1 million pounds, making it one of the most expensive British paintings ever sold. The painting, dated 1831, of the towering cathedral in the middle distance under an overcast sky shot through with a rainbow had been at risk of being sold abroad and its sale sets a record for Constable, the Tate said on Thursday. Its price is still dwarfed by Constable's contemporary rival J.M.W. Turner, whose "Modern Rome - Campo Vaccino" sold for $44. ...

By Poornima Gupta and Padraic Halpin SAN FRANCISCO/DUBLIN (Reuters) - Apple has operated almost tax-free in Ireland since 1980, welcomed by a government keen to bring jobs to what was then one of Europe's poorest country, former company executives and Irish officials have said. Chief Executive Tim Cook faced criticism from a Senate subcommittee in Washington on Tuesday over the iPad and iPhone maker's tax practices, which had been shrouded from full view behind secretive tax-exempt Irish-based corporate entities. ...

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Seven Iraqi soldiers were killed in clashes with gunmen on Thursday, police and hospital sources said, as fears mount that Iraq might slide back into bloody sectarian strife. Ten years after the U.S.-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein, Sunni, Shi'ite and ethnic Kurdish factions have yet to find a stable power-sharing deal and security is deteriorating. More than 300 people have been killed in violence over the past week. More than 700 died in April, according to the United Nations, the highest monthly toll in almost five years. ...

PRISTINA (Reuters) - A close wartime ally of Kosovo's prime minister was among five people arrested by European Union police on Thursday on suspicion of war crimes during a 1998-99 insurgency against Serbian forces. The EU police and justice mission in Kosovo, EULEX, did not release the names of those arrested, but a lawyer for Sami Lushtaku, mayor of the town of Skenderaj, said his client was among them and would appear in court on Friday. ...

REUTERS - Real estate company Puravankara Projects Ltd's share offering to raise up to $36 million was subscribed 1.5 times on Thursday, boosting the near-term outlook for equity sales by its rivals to reduce their debt. Puravankara had launched a sale of up to 23.7 million shares to institutional investors on Thursday in the price range of between 80 rupees and 85 rupees each. It received bids for 35.4 million shares, the Bombay Stock Exchange data showed. ...

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (Reuters) - The Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility on Thursday for a bomb that killed 11 security personnel and two civilians in the southwestern city of Quetta. Sixteen people were wounded in the attack in the capital of Baluchistan province, and the death toll could rise, police said. The bomb was planted in a three-wheeled auto-rickshaw and blew up as a truck carrying the security men passed by. "We proudly claim responsibility for Thursday's blast in Quetta and the target was local police. ...

REUTERS - Elite panel umpire Asad Rauf was withdrawn from next month's Champions Trophy on Thursday following media reports he was under investigation by Mumbai Police. "In the wake of reports that the Mumbai Police are conducting an investigation into Asad Rauf's activities, we feel that it is in Asad's best interests as well as those of the sport and the event itself, that he is withdrawn from participating in the ICC Champions Trophy," International Cricket Council Chief Executive David Richardson said in a statement. "At this stage, the ICC has no further comment to make. ...

By Eric Kelsey LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - All Michael Bluth wanted to do was to keep his family together, and with the best intentions in mind he found himself awkwardly trying to kiss a vertigo-stricken character played by Liza Minnelli. With that moment of dizzy romance, the fourth season of cult television comedy "Arrested Development" begins its comeback on Internet video streaming service Netflix on Sunday, some seven years after getting the axe on broadcast television. ...

MILAN (Reuters) - The prosecutor in former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi's sex trial has received a series of anonymous letters of threats, including one with two bullets, Milan's chief prosecutor said on Thursday. The letters against Ilda Boccassini have become more frequent since she requested a six-year jail sentence and a lifetime ban on holding public office for Berlusconi, Edmondo Bruti Liberati said. ...

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.

Bhopal, May 23 (IANS) Haryana and Jharkhand women entered the semi-finals of the Hockey India Sub-Junior Men and Women National Championship (Final) being played here at the SAI Centre Thursday.

Washington, May 23 (IANS) A new study by US researchers shows that children living with married parents are less likely to be obese.

Los Angeles, May 23 (IANS) Hollywood actor Jesse Eisenberg, who plays a magician in forthcoming film "Now You See My", says he imbibed the confidence to perform from his talented mother.

Pune, May 23 (IANS) Pune FC central defender Anas Edathodika Thursday signed a two-year extension at the football club.

Dubai, May 23 (IANS) The International Cricket Council (ICC) Thursday withdrew Pakistani umpire Asad Rauf from next month's Champions Trophy in England and Wales after his name cropped up in the Indian Premier League (IPL) spot-fixing scandal.

New Delhi, May 23 (IANS) The Delhi High Court was Thursday informed by the central government that it has initiated departmental inquiry against seven policemen, including the staff of the PCR van, deployed in the area where Dec 16 gang-rape took place.

Dubai, May 23 (IANS) A company in Saudi Arabia's eastern province has said it will hire 5,000 Indian workers affected by that country's new labour policy.