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NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stocks hit session highs in a volatile session on Thursday with the Dow industrials posting a second straight swing of more than 160 points as investors digest the Federal Reserve's evolving policy stance. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 20.81 points or 0.14 percent, to 15,327.98, the S&P 500 lost 1.98 points or 0.12 percent, to 1,653.37 and the Nasdaq Composite added 0.03 points or 0 percent, to 3,463.33. (Reporting by Rodrigo Campos; Editing by Nick Zieminski)

By Jeff Mason and Steve Holland WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama outlined plans on Thursday to limit the use of U.S. drone strikes against extremists abroad and took steps aimed at breaking a deadlock on closing the Guantanamo Bay military prison. In a major foreign policy speech after two weeks of fending off domestic scandals, Obama limited the scope of what his predecessor, George W. Bush, had called a global war on terror after the September 11, 2001, attacks. "Our nation is still threatened by terrorists," Obama said at Washington's National Defense University. ...

CANNES (Reuters) - The Cannes film festival was hit by a second jewellery heist on Thursday after a diamond necklace worth 2 million euros disappeared during a star-studded party, according to upmarket jeweller De Grisogono. Fawaz Gruosi, the founder of the Swiss firm, said the necklace was part of the company's 20th anniversary collection paraded by 20 models at the glitzy event at the Hotel Du Cap-Eden-Roc in Antibes outside Cannes on Tuesday night. Sharon Stone and Paris Hilton were among the guests. ...

By Angela Moon NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stocks mostly edged lower on Thursday but were sharply off their session lows as a rally in Hewlett-Packard's shares offset worries about weak Chinese manufacturing data and the prospects of the Federal Reserve reducing its monetary stimulus. Hewlett-Packard jumped nearly 15 percent and helped the Dow stay in positive territory, a day after the world's largest PC maker raised its outlook. For most of the morning, the market had been pulled lower by worries that the Fed's stimulus may be scaled back sooner than hoped and after weak factory data in China. ...

By Lauren Tara LaCapra SALT LAKE City (Reuters) - After dozens of meetings with executives and regulators, 100,000 hours of employee training and an immeasurable amount of public grief, Goldman Sachs Group Inc CEO Lloyd Blankfein claimed success in putting his bank and his legacy back on track. At Goldman's annual meeting on Thursday, Blankfein unveiled details of a three-year review and overhaul of the bank's practices in dealing with clients, following high-profile missteps that tarnished its reputation in the aftermath of the financial crisis. ...

By Tom Miles and Stephanie Nebehay GENEVA (Reuters) - The World Health Organization (WHO) warned countries with possible cases of the SARS-like novel coronavirus on Thursday that they must share information and not allow commercial labs to profit from the virus, which has killed 22 people worldwide. Saudi Arabia, where the first case occurred, has said the development of diagnostic tests for the disease has been delayed by a foreign laboratory's patent rights on the SARS-like virus. ...

By Arshad Mohammed JERUSALEM (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry held separate talks with Israeli and Palestinian officials on Thursday and acknowledged there was considerable scepticism that the two sides would resume peace negotiations. There were no signs of any breakthrough as Kerry visited Israel for the fourth time in his four months in office to try to revive a peace process that has been moribund for more than two years. ...

By Guy Faulconbridge and Michael Holden LONDON (Reuters) - British police arrested two more people on Thursday in a hunt for accomplices of two British men of Nigerian descent accused of hacking a soldier to death on a London street in revenge for wars in Muslim countries. The two suspected killers, now under guard in hospitals, had been known to security services before Wednesday's daylight attack, security sources said. Another man and a woman, both aged 29, were detained on suspicion of conspiracy to murder. ...

MIAMI (Reuters) - The 2013 Atlantic hurricane season could be "extremely active" and spawn 13 to 20 tropical storms, seven to 11 of which are expected to become hurricanes, the U.S. government's top climate agency predicted on Thursday. Three to six of the hurricanes could become major at Category 3 or above, with winds of more than 110 miles per hour (177 km per hour), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said in its annual forecast. ...

DALLAS (Reuters) - A solar airplane that developers hope to eventually pilot around the globe landed safely on Thursday in Texas, completing the second and longest leg of an attempt to fly across the United States powered only by the sun. The spindly experimental aircraft, dubbed Solar Impulse, touched down at Dallas/Forth Worth International Airport shortly after 1 a.m. local time, logging 18 hours and 21 minutes in the air to cover 823 nautical miles (1,541 km) from Arizona. The flight set a new absolute world distance record in solar aviation, organizers said. ...

OSLO (Reuters) - Defying the stereotype of the tight-lipped Scandinavian, popular Norwegian crime writer Hans Olav Lahlum set the world record for the longest interview on Thursday after spending more than 30 non-stop hours chatting in an online broadcast. Lahlum, who rarely paused for more than a few seconds, discussed topics ranging from U.S. presidents to his fictional characters during the online show hosted by VG Nett, the online arm of Norwegian tabloid VG. The new record awaits approval from Guinness World Records. ...

REUTERS - A group of U.S. retailers including Macy's Inc and Target Corp sued Visa Inc and MasterCard Inc on Thursday, breaking off from a proposed $7.2 billion settlement reached last year over fees to process credit card transactions. The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court in Manhattan on behalf of many retailers that opted out of receiving proposed damages from the settlement. That settlement, pending in federal court in Brooklyn, would end litigation on behalf of merchants that accused Visa and MasterCard of inflating so-called interchange, or swipe, fees. ...

LONDON (Reuters) - A magnitude 7.4 earthquake struck in the sea 177 (285 km) miles southwest of Tonga's capital Nuku'alofa, the U.S. Geological Survey reported on Thursday. It said the quake was recorded at a depth of 106 miles and had struck at 1719 GMT. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center on its website said that no "destructive Pacific-wide tsunami" was expected. (Editing by Michael Roddy)

Dubai, May 24 (IANS/WAM) Dubai Customs has foiled a bid to smuggle 259 pieces of ivory that arrived from Africa at its Jebel Ali Customs Centre.

Los Angeles, May 24 (IANS) Actress Amanda Seyfried feels she looked better with bigger breasts, but she says she had to lose a bit of overall weight for her Hollywood journey.

Los Angeles, May 24 (IANS) Hollywood actress Jennifer Aniston is ready to perform a striptease act in her forthcoming film "We're The Millers".

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

Thiruvananthapuram, May 23 (IANS) Kerala Thursday welcomed the central cabinet's decision to approve classical language status for Malayalam, subject to the outcome of a case in the Madras High Court, even as the government and opposition sough to take credit for the measure.

New Delhi, May 23 (IANS) The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs Thursday approved a proposal for the implementation of National AIDS Control Support Project (NACSP) under the National AIDS Control Programme (NACP) at an outlay of Rs.2,550 crore, an official statement said.

Islamabad, May 23 (IANS) Chinese Premier Li Keqiang on Thursday urged China and Pakistan to nurture even closer ties, and enhance comprehensive strategic cooperation while addressing Pakistan's parliament.

Kolkata, May 23 (IANS) In the wake of the shutting down of the scam-tainted Saradha Group media house, the West Bengal government Thursday announced it would acquire two of the closed TV channels. The Left questioned the decision on moral and legal grounds and sought its reversal.

Kolkata, May 23 (IANS) A bookie, who had produced a Bengali film, and nine of his associates were arrested in Kolkata, police said Thursday, adding that they were investigating if the culprits had links with the ongoing IPL spot fixing controversy.

Jammu, May 23 (IANS) Jammu and Kashmir Police Thursday arrested a police constable involved in drug smuggling from mountainous Rajouri district, an officer said.

Alappuzha (Kerala), May 23 (IANS) The Alappuzha District Congress Committee Thursday passed a resolution condemning the frequent outbursts of Hindu group leaders against top party leaders in Kerala.

New Delhi, May 23 (IANS) The Delhi High Court has issued notice to central and state government on a PIL seking quashing of contract given to a private company to manufacture high security registration plates (HSRP) on grounds they are defective.

Dharamsala, May 23 (IANS) A day after the detention of a Tibetan, suspected to be a Chinese spy, from McLeodganj, the Tibetan government-in-exile Thursday said it was part of a "Chinese espionage and terror plot against Tibetan community in exile".