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By Angela Moon NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stocks fell on Wednesday with the S&P 500 posting its biggest decline in three weeks, after minutes from the latest U.S. Federal Reserve meeting showed some officials were open to tapering large-scale asset purchases as early as at the June meeting. Trading was volatile - the Dow and the S&P indexes both rose more than 1 percent during the morning, but fell more than 1 percent in the afternoon. ...

LONDON (Reuters) - Nearly half of the money that multinationals and wealthy investors poured into emerging markets in 2011 came via tax havens, resulting in revenue losses for poor countries, anti-poverty campaigners ActionAid said in a report. British Prime Minister David Cameron has said corporate tax avoidance will be discussed next month at the annual summit of the Group of Eight leading industrial economies, which Britain is hosting in Northern Ireland. A number of U.S. multinationals, including Apple , web search leader Google , online retailer Amazon. ...

By Maria Golovnina and Guy Faulconbridge LONDON (Reuters) - A British soldier was hacked to death by two men shouting Islamic slogans in a south London street on Wednesday, in what the government said appeared to be a terrorist attack. A dramatic clip filmed by an onlooker just minutes after the killing showed a man with hands covered in blood, brandishing a bloodied meat cleaver and a knife. "We swear by almighty Allah we will never stop fighting you. ...

By Andy Sullivan, Gabriel Debenedetti and Poornima Gupta WASHINGTON (Reuters) - For years, Apple Inc kept a low profile in Washington as it grew into one of the most valuable companies in the world. Now the iPad maker has taken the lead, perhaps inadvertently, on a top priority for U.S. business: simplifying America's tax code. Chief Executive Tim Cook, who was called before the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations on Tuesday to answer questions about Apple's alleged tax avoidance, used his appearance to plead for an overhaul of corporate taxes. ...

By Carey Gillam and Ian Simpson MOORE, Oklahoma (Reuters) - Tornado survivors thanked God, sturdy closets and luck in explaining how they lived through the colossal twister that devastated an Oklahoma town and killed 24 people, an astonishingly low toll given the extent of destruction. At least one family took refuge in a bathtub and some people shut themselves in underground shelters built into their houses when the powerful storm tore through the Oklahoma City suburb of Moore on Monday. ...

By Ana Nicolaci da Costa LONDON (Reuters) - American short story writer Lydia Davis won the fifth Man Booker International Prize for fiction on Wednesday for a body of work that includes some of the briefest tales ever published. Davis, a professor of creative writing at the University of Albany, is best known for work that Observer critic William Skidelsky once said "redefines the meaning of brevity". ...

By Kim Dixon and Patrick Temple-West WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Three congressional hearings during the past week have allowed lawmakers to vent their anger at the U.S. tax agency for its targeting of conservative groups for extra scrutiny, but the sessions have yielded few answers about who was responsible. The frustration on Capitol Hill seemed to reach a crescendo on Wednesday when Lois Lerner, the Internal Revenue Service official who first acknowledged the targeting - and the day's star witness before a House panel - refused to testify. ...

By Pedro da Costa and Alister Bull WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Federal Reserve's monetary stimulus is helping the U.S. economy recover but the central bank needs to see further signs of traction before taking its foot off the gas pedal, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke said on Wednesday. A decision to scale back the $85 billion in bonds the Fed is buying each month could come at one of the central bank's "next few meetings" if the economy looked set to maintain momentum, Bernanke told Congress. ...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. government formally acknowledged on Wednesday for the first time that it had killed four Americans in counterterrorism operations in Yemen and Pakistan, where the United States has carried out regular drone strikes. Attorney General Eric Holder named the four dead U.S. citizens in a letter to members of Congress a day before President Barack Obama is scheduled to deliver an address on the use of drones. The letter defends the 2011 killing of militant cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, who it concedes was an intended target of a drone strike. ...

NEW YORK (Reuters) - British CNN host Piers Morgan is writing a book about his career, his job as news show anchor and his interviews with Hollywood stars and world leaders, his publisher said on Wednesday. "Shooting Straight: Guns, Gays, God and George Clooney," to be published in October, will be written in a diary format and delve into the controversy surrounding his gun control campaign and love affair with America. "Piers Morgan is honest, forthcoming, and fearless. I fully expect 'Shooting Straight' to enlighten some readers and enrage others. ...

By Erika Solomon HERMEL, Lebanon (Reuters) - On a country road in Lebanon's northeast, traffic is heavy; ambulances screech by, sirens blaring, and cars packed with mourners follow coffins as Hezbollah brings wounded fighters home from Syria, and its dead. ...

By Barbara Liston and Mark Hosenball ORLANDO, Fla./WASHINGTON (Reuters) - An FBI agent shot and killed a man of Chechen origin who turned violent while being questioned on Wednesday about his connection to Tamerlan Tsarnaev, one of two Chechen brothers suspected of carrying out the Boston Marathon bombings. A friend of the dead man identified him to local media as 27-year-old Ibragim Todashev, who had previously lived in Boston and knew Tsarnaev, the older of the two brothers suspected of planting two bombs at the marathon on April 15, killing three people and injuring 264 others. ...

By Dan Williams HERZLIYA, Israel (Reuters) - Israel is poised for a large-scale assault on Syria to prevent advanced weapons reaching jihadi rebels or Hezbollah guerrillas in Lebanon if President Bashar al-Assad is toppled, Israel's air force chief said on Wednesday. But Major-General Amir Eshel, addressing a security conference, said his warplanes could be repelled by Syria's formidable, Russian-supplied anti-aircraft systems - an implicit censure of Moscow echoed by Israel's defence minister. ...

New York, May 23 (IANS/RIA Novosti) Russia has been asked to increase the level of staff it commits to UN peacekeeping missions around the world, Russian Interior Minister Vladimir Kolokoltsev said.

Minsk, May 23 (IANS/RIA Novosti) The Belarusian foreign ministry has dismissed part of the Religious Freedom Report published by the US State Department about the country as "outdated" and failing to take into account the current situation in the country.

Los Angeles, May 23 (IANS) Actor Brad Pitt says he wasted a lot of time using drugs in the past. He admits he damaged his health with it just in the quest of exploring new things.

Los Angeles, May 23 (IANS) Actress Heather Graham says she is in no hurry to walk the aisle because she wants to take her time to make the right choice about her life partner.

Washington, May 23 (IANS/RIA Novosti) An FBI agent shot and killed a 27-year-old alleged friend of slain Boston Marathon bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev in Florida, a day after questioning him as part of the investigation into the April 15 attack, media reports said.

Dubai, May 23 (IANS/WAM) The Third UAE-Korea Economic Partnership Forum begins May 27 in the South Korean capital city of Seoul.

Abu Dhabi, May 23 (IANS/WAM) Leaders of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have met senior officials of the US, the Czech Republic and Kenya and held talks on enhancing ties.

Los Angeles, May 23 (IANS) Actress Tori Spelling put her perfect bikini body on display while celebrating her 40th birthday with her family at a beach location.

London, May 23 (IANS) Two men carrying weapons brutally assaulted and killed a man, said to be a soldier, in Woolwich in southeast London Wednesday afternoon. The two attackers were later shot and injured by police. Prime Minister David Cameron said there were strong indications that it was a "terrorist incident".

Los Angeles, May 23 (IANS) Singer Dannii Minogue says the pressure of fame when she started her singing career in the 1980s, was awful. But she admits she has learnt to tackle it over the years.

London, May 23 (IANS) Pop star Jennifer Lopez will reportedly perform on the semi-final episode of music reality show "Britain's Got Talent", and sing her latest track "Live it up".

New Delhi, May 22 (IANS) Scandal-hit Rajasthan Royals beat Sunrisers Hyderabad by four wickets in the Indian Premier League (IPL) Eliminator here at the Ferozeshah Kotla Wednesday to enter Qualifier 2.

New Delhi, May 22 (IANS) The scoreboard of the Indian Premier League Eliminator between Sunrisers Hyderabad and Rajasthan Royals at the Ferozeshah Kotla here Wednesday.