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MUMBAI (Reuters) - Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd slumped as much as 6.97 percent on Thursday after majority shareholder Daiichi Sankyo Co said it believes former shareholders of the Indian company hid information regarding U.S. regulatory probes. "Daiichi Sankyo believes that certain former shareholders of Ranbaxy concealed and misrepresented critical information concerning the U.S. DOJ and FDA investigations," the Japanese company said in a statement on its website late on Wednesday, referring to the U.S. Department of Justice and the Food and Drug Administration. ...

By Lee Chyen Yee and Umesh Desai HONG KONG (Reuters) - Lenovo Group Ltd's bold acquisitions in its flagship PC business, a foray into mobile gadgets, and a relatively light debt load are setting it apart from PC rivals as industry shipments take their steepest fall in decades. Lenovo, a sliver away from unseating Hewlett-Packard Co as the world's top PC maker by shipments, posted on Thursday an estimate-beating 90 percent rise in quarterly profit, its fastest in seven quarters. ...

By Simon Evans MIAMI (Reuters) - LeBron James scored the game-winning points in the dying embers of overtime as the Miami Heat held off a determined Indiana Pacers 103-102 in a thrilling Eastern Conference Finals opener on Wednesday. If broadcasters were concerned that another easy series win for Miami would further damage ratings for the playoffs, they got the perfect antidote with the Pacers pushing Miami all the way and raising the prospect of a tight best-of-seven set. ...

By Kevin Lim SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Singapore on Thursday reported a surprise expansion in its economy in the first quarter, helped by a surge in financial services as trading in stocks and foreign exchange soared. The Southeast Asian city-state, whose economy is heavily dependent on trade, manufacturing and financial services, said gross domestic product expanded 1.8 percent in January-March on a quarter-on-quarter, seasonally adjusted and annualised rate, much better than the advance estimate of a 1.4 percent contraction. ...

By Andrea Shalal-Esa WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Public backlash against deadly overseas drone strikes may undermine promising uses of such technology for anything from disaster response to mail delivery, a top U.S. industry group said as it launched a lobbying effort to "demystify" unmanned planes. The Aerospace Industries Association wants to prevent misperceptions and regulatory roadblocks from cutting into a market it says could be worth $89 billion over the next decade, according to a report the trade group will release on Thursday. ...

By Gopal Sharma KATHMANDU (Reuters) - An 80-year-old Japanese mountain climber who has had four heart surgeries reached the top of Mount Everest on Thursday becoming the oldest person to conquer the world's highest mountain. Yuichiro Miura, who took the standard southeast ridge route pioneered by Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay 60 years ago, reached the top of the 8,848 metre (29,028 feet) mountain at roughly 9:00 a.m. local time (0300 GMT). He was accompanied by three other Japanese, including his son, and six Nepali sherpas. ...

By Linda Sieg and Ruairidh Villar SAGAMIHARA, Japan (Reuters) - When Masayoshi Matsumoto joined the Japanese army in 1943 and was sent to occupied China as a medic, he thought he was taking part in a righteous war to free Asia from the yoke of Western imperialism. Seven decades later, the 91-year-old retired Christian pastor says it's his mission to speak out about the injustice of the war and the sufferings of women, mostly Asian and many Korean, forced to work in Japanese wartime military brothels. "I feel like a war criminal. ...

By Masayuki Kitano and Hideyuki Sano SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Japanese government bonds plunged on Thursday, taking yields to their highest in a year and leading a selloff in bonds globally after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's remarks sparked worries of a reduction in U.S. monetary stimulus. Bernanke's comments, suggesting the Fed's massive bond purchases could be scaled back in the next few policy meetings if the economy improves further, triggered a reaction across a swathe of markets, lifting the dollar to a three-year high versus a basket of currencies and the U.S. ...

By Jeff Mason WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama will seek to draw attention away from a series of domestic scandals with a speech on Thursday that defends the U.S. use of drones abroad and lays out a vision for closing the military prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. ...

By Aileen Wang and Koh Gui Qing BEIJING (Reuters) - China's factory activity shrank for the first time in seven months in May as new orders fell, a preliminary survey of purchasing managers showed, adding to concerns that a recovery in the world's second-largest economy is sputtering. The flash HSBC Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) for May fell to 49.6, slipping under the 50-point level demarcating expansion from contraction for the first since October. The final HSBC PMI stood at 50.4 in April. A sub-index measuring overall new orders dropped to 49. ...

Reuters Market Eye - The rupee is at a new six-month low on global dollar strength after Bernanke testimony, says a dealer. The rupee is at 55.77/78 after falling to 55.86, last closed at 55.46/47. The USD/INR pair has a resistance at 55.89, a break of which may open the way for 56. Dealers say a large private refiner seen selling dollar in early session. Most emerging Asian currencies on Thursday fell as a weak China manufacturing survey increased concerns over the world's No. ...

By Karolos Grohmann BERLIN (Reuters) - The all-German Champions League final on Saturday pits traditional powerhouses Bayern Munich against modernists Borussia Dortmund at London's Wembley Stadium (1845 GMT) with more at stake than Europe's premier club trophy. Bayern, four-times European champions, are Germany's richest and most successful club, while rejuvenated Borussia Dortmund won the trophy in 1997 but came to the brink of financial ruin in 2005. ...

By Brian Homewood LONDON (Reuters) - Champions League finalists Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich are bitter rivals, yet in tactical terms they offer variations on the same theme. Both press their opponents high up the pitch, can move the ball from defence to attack with bewildering speed and play with a 4-2-3-1 formation featuring wide players on each flank and a lone striker. Dortmund, however, are more lightweight and lean towards a more counter-attacking style. ...

Chennai, May 23 (IANS) Tamil actress Thulasi Nair, who was busy with her class 10 examinations, has returned to the sets of her upcoming Tamil action-drama "Yaan".

Mexico City, May 23 (IANS/EFE) Chili peppers and sauces will take centre stage at a festival being held this week in Mexico City, where the spicy plant, one of the pillars of Mexican cuisine, will be honoured, organizers said.

Beijing, May 23 (IANS/EFE) Thirteen people were arrested after taking part in a protest demanding transparency in the investigation of the mysterious death of a 22-year-old woman near a Beijing market, Chinese police said Wednesday.

Kolkata, May 23 (IANS) Two people have been arrested and fake Indian currency notes (FICN) with a face value of nearly Rs.4 lakh seized from them, police here said Thursday.

Islamabad, May 23 (IANS) Twelve people, including eight police personnel, were killed and over 20 injured Thursday in a powerful bombing in Pakistan's Quetta city.

Washington, May 23 (IANS/EFE) Immigration reform that plans to legalize some 11 million undocumented immigrants in the US passed its first test as the Senate Judiciary Committee voted 13-5 to approve a bipartisan bill to overhaul the system.

Ashgabat (Turkmenistan), May 23 (IANS/RIA Novosti) China will import gas from the world's second largest gas reserve in the Central Asian republic of Turkmenistan.

Brussels, May 23 (IANS/EFE) The heads of state and government of the European Union held a summit Wednesday in an effort to make more progress in fighting tax evasion and tax fraud.

London, May 23 (IANS) American author Lydia Davis was declared the winner of the fifth Man Booker International Prize at an award ceremony held at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.

Washington, May 23 (IANS) Deceased Boston Marathon bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev participated in a 2011 gruesome triple murder outside Boston along with a Chechen killed during a confrontation with law enforcement officers,

Washington, May 23 (IANS) Ahead of an expected Senate vote on the nomination of Chandigarh-born Indian-American legal luminary Srikanth 'Sri' Srinivasan to a top US court, 21 lawmakers have penned their support for him.

Dhaka, May 23 (IANS) Nature lovers in Bangladesh can tune in to 89.6 FM for their daily dose of green awakening, courtesy a 45-minute programme which aims at bridging the gap between environmentalists and laymen by keeping them abreast of burning topics related to the sector.

Rome, May 23 (IANS/AKI) Italy has the lowest graduation rates in Europe with just one-fifth of people aged 30-34 holding a university degree, according to a study.