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REUTERS - The board of iGate Corp, an information technology outsourcing services provider, has sacked Chief Executive Officer Phaneesh Murthy following an investigation into a claim of sexual harassment, the company said in a statement. The U.S.-listed company, which has bulk of its employees in India, has appointed Gerhard Watzinger as interim chief executive with immediate effect, the iGate statement said. "The board's decision was made as a result of an investigation by outside legal counsel, engaged by the board, of the facts and circumstances surrounding a relationship Mr. ...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Southeast Asian nation formerly known as Burma received further backing from the White House on Monday in its campaign to be called Myanmar. Successive U.S. governments have refused to acknowledge the name change made in the late 1980s by the country's military rulers. The United States for years deliberately referred to the nation of 60 million people as Burma, so as not to give legitimacy to military governments. But in a nod to political reforms made by President Thein Sein, the White House acknowledged it is now employing the name Myanmar more often than before. ...

By Paul Eckert WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama urged the president of Myanmar on Monday to halt violence against a Muslim minority but praised economic and political reforms in the formerly pariah nation that is emerging as a U.S. ally in China's backyard. During the first visit to the White House in 47 years by a leader of the Southeast Asian nation, Obama called for an end to the killings of Rohingya Muslims in western Myanmar's Rakhine state. Reformist Myanmar President Thein Sein vowed to resolve ethnic conflicts and bring perpetrators to justice. ...

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Pop singer Kelly Rowland and Mexican singer-actress Paulina Rubio have signed onto "The X Factor" judging panel replacing Britney Spears and music mogul L.A. Reid, the Fox television talent competition produced by Simon Cowell said on Monday. Rowland, who rose to fame with R&B group Destiny's Child, and Rubio will be charged with re-igniting the Fox series that failed to stave off falling ratings after giving Spears a reported $15 million salary last year. Rowland, 32, and Rubio, 41, will join Cowell, 53, and pop singer Demi Lovato, 20, on the judging panel. ...

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Gold drifted lower for an eighth session out of nine on Tuesday on outflows from exchange-traded funds and as the dollar firmed, putting more pressure on bullion which has already lost nearly a fifth of its value this year. Silver also dropped, after recovering from Monday's early dive when it hit 2-1/2-year lows. FUNDAMENTALS * Spot gold had fallen 0.4 percent to $1,387.86 an ounce by 0042 GMT. The price rose 2.6 percent on Monday after a seven-session slide -- the metal's longest losing streak since March 2009. * U.S. gold futures gained 0.2 percent to $1,386.60. ...

By Masayuki Kitano SINGAPORE (Reuters) - The dollar nursed losses versus a basket of currencies on Tuesday, having retreated the previous day as traders pared back expectations that U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke would hint at tapering bond buying this week. The market's focus is shifting to Bernanke's testimony to Congress on Wednesday after recent comments by Fed officials fuelled speculation the U.S. central bank may trim its bond purchases sooner than expected. ...

REUTERS - The death toll from a huge tornado that struck Moore, Oklahoma on Monday rose to 51, the state medical examiner's office said. Amy Elliott, chief administrative officer of the Oklahoma medical examiner's office, said 51 were confirmed dead, up from 37 fatalities reported earlier. The powerful tornado, rated the second highest strength level of EF4 and packing winds of up to 200 miles per hour (320 kph), touched down at midafternoon and devastated a wide area of the town. (Reporting By Brendan O'Brien; Writing by Greg McCune; Editing by Bill Trott)

By Anthony Boadle BRASILIA (Reuters) - Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff took a swipe at the naysayers on Monday as she officially inaugurated the last of six stadiums that Brazil will use next month to host a warm-up for the 2014 World Cup soccer tournament. "The pessimists said the stadiums would not be ready in time, but we are showing them today that we can deliver high-quality stadiums," Rousseff said in a speech in Recife before opening the 46,000-seat Arena Pernambuco outside the northeastern Brazilian city. ...

REUTERS - British theater company Ambassador Theatre Group's subsidiary Lyric Theatre LLC has purchased Foxwoods Theatre, currently home to the "Spider-Man" musical, from Live Nation Entertainment Inc , the companies said on Monday. Lyric Theatre paid about $65 million for Foxwoods, according to a person with knowledge of the deal. The Foxwoods Theatre, which opened in 1997 and seats nearly 2,000, is one of Broadway's largest venues. It is the current home of the rock musical "Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark," which a Broadway record for weekly ticket sales of $2. ...

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's Nikkei share average eased from a 5-1/2-year high on Tuesday as Wall Street ended flat and the dollar slipped against the yen on caution before U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's testimony. The Nikkei fell 0.6 percent to 15,269.85, while the broader Topix index dipped 0.2 percent to 1,266.71. (Reporting by Dominic Lau; Editing by Edwina Gibbs)

REUTERS - Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson capped his final season in charge of the English Premier League champions by clinching the League Managers' Association Manager of the Year award for the fourth time on Monday. The 71-year-old Scot's unparallelled success in British soccer ended on Sunday with a remarkable 5-5 draw against West Bromwich Albion. "In a way I am glad it is all over now because it has been hard work," Ferguson told the BBC. "It has been overwhelming. "The club has been fantastic and congratulations to West Brom with the way they handled yesterday (Sunday). ...

By Patrick Temple-West and Poornima Gupta WASHINGTON/SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Using an unusual global tax structure, Apple Inc has kept billions of dollars in profits in Irish subsidiaries to pay little or no taxes to any government, a U.S. Senate report on the company's offshore tax structure said on Monday. ...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama and Chinese President Xi Jinping will hold their first meeting since Xi became president in March when they sit down for a June 7-8 summit in Rancho Mirage, California, the White House announced on Monday. The two leaders are likely to discuss ways to apply pressure on North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons program after a period of bellicose rhetoric and threats from Pyongyang. The United States also has concerns about cyber attacks it says are emanating from China. ...

Los Angeles, May 21 (IANS) Actress Angelina Jolie will reportedly play her late mother, Marcheline Bertrand, in a biopic made by her partner Brad Pitt's production banner Plan B.

Los Angeles, May 21 (IANS) Actress Eva Longoria "misses" spending time with her close friends Victoria and David Beckham now that the couple has moved to London.

Los Angeles, May 21 (IANS) The Saturdays singer Rochelle Humes has become a first-time mother after giving birth to a baby daughter.

Washington, May 21 (IANS) At least 51 people, including seven children at an elementary school, were killed as a massive tornado slammed Oklahoma City in south central US leaving widespread destruction in its wake.

Jerusalem, May 21 (IANS) Israel has cancelled a planned visit by a UNESCO delegation to Jerusalem due to the efforts of Palestinian factions to politicise it.

Moscow, May 21 (IANS/RIA Novosti) Russia is unlikely to overcome its demand for migrant labour in the coming decades, so the country requires an effective system to control migration processes, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said Tuesday.

Damascus, May 21 (IANS) A total of 95 people, including 23 Hezbollah members, have been killed in an intense fighting in Syria's Al-Qussair city since Saturday, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Monday.

Beijing, May 21 (IANS) A total of 812 drug crime suspects have been arrested as part of a joint anti-drug campaign launched by China, Laos, Myanmar and Thailand on the trans-boundary river of Mekong, Xinhua reported.

Los Angeles, May 21 (IANS) Actresses might typically go for treatment if their face wrinkles too much, but Winona Ryder says she is very much proud of the lines on her forehead.

Washington, May 21 (IANS) At least 10 people were killed as a powerful two-mile-wide tornado slammed Oklahoma City in South Central US ripping roofs off buildings, levelling homes, and cutting a wide path of destruction.

Moscow, May 21 (IANS/RIA Novosti) Russia will need three to five years to exit stagnation and build an efficient economy, former finance minister Alexei Kudrin has said.

Washington, May 21 (IANS) A gigantic tornado Monday ripped through a suburb of Oklahoma City in the US , destroying a school, sparking fires and flattening homes across whole neighbourhoods.

London, May 21 (IANS) Actor Daniel Radcliffe, who battled alcohol addiction once, says he often comes across drunk people who are comfortable sharing their problems with him.