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By Kevin Lim and Pedja Stanisic SINGAPORE (Reuters) - The parents of an American engineer found dead in Singapore last year said on Wednesday they will not take part in the rest of a coroner's inquiry into his death, which they say was linked to a project involving the transfer of sensitive technology to China. In a statement, Rick and Mary Todd said they had lost confidence in the system investigating the death of their 31-year-old son, Shane, who was found hanging from a door in his Singapore apartment last June. ...

ROME (Reuters) - Pope Francis on Wednesday urged Catholics in China to remain loyal to the Vatican, whose authority is challenged by China's Communist rulers. China's Catholics number between 8 and 12 million and are divided between the state-sanctioned Catholic Patriotic Association, which has installed bishops without Vatican approval, and an "underground" wing loyal to the Vatican that rejects state control. Francis's predecessor, Pope Benedict XVI, made May 24 a day dedicated to prayer for China's Catholics. Francis said at his weekly audience in St. ...

By Ian Simpson and Alice Mannette MOORE, Oklahoma (Reuters) - Rescue workers with sniffer dogs and searchlights picked through the wreckage of a massive tornado to ensure no survivors remained buried in the rubble of primary schools, houses and buildings in an Oklahoma City suburb. The massive tornado on Monday afternoon flattened entire blocks of the town, killed at least 24 people and injured about 240 in Moore, Oklahoma. ...

By Tom Perry and Yousri Mohamed CAIRO/ISMAILIA (Reuters) - Seven members of the Egyptian security forces kidnapped by Islamist militants in Sinai last week were freed on Wednesday and President Mohamed Mursi announced a new crackdown on lawlessness in the desert peninsula. Their abduction underlined the threat posed by jihadists who became active in a security vacuum that opened up in the isolated Sinai after the 2011 uprising that toppled autocrat Hosni Mubarak. The state has struggled to restore order there since. ...

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - European leaders meet on Wednesday to discuss tax policy and specifically their concerns over how a number of high-profile international companies have managed to pay next to no tax on their vast sales revenue generated in Europe. Following is a summary of several recent cases and links to the Reuters stories on each one. APPLE INC. An investigation by the U.S. Senate showed this week that the maker of iPads and iPhones had paid just 2 percent tax on income of $74 billion over the past three years, largely by exploiting an unusual loophole in Ireland's tax code. ...

MOSCOW (Reuters) - A member of the band Pussy Riot who was jailed over a protest against President Vladimir Putin in a Russian cathedral said on Wednesday she was starting a hunger strike after she was barred from a parole hearing. Maria Alyokhina also told her lawyers to quit the proceedings. ...

By Kate Kelland, Health and Science Correspondent LONDON (Reuters) - For a pathogen with such a short history, the mysterious new virus killing people in the Middle East and Europe has already had an amazing array of names. It first surfaced last year as "human betacoronavirus 2c EMC", but the suffixes "2c England-Qatar, "2C Jordan-N3", "England 1" have also appeared and many scientists have resorted to "novel coronavirus" - new crown-shaped virus - instead. ...

By Carmel Crimmins and Conor Humphries DUBLIN (Reuters) - Ireland called on Wednesday for an international clampdown on multinationals shifting profits around the world to avoid tax, after criticism that Irish loopholes helped technology giant Apple to shrink its tax bill. A U.S. Senate investigation into the tax affairs of the maker of iPhones, iPads and Mac computers has shone an uncomfortable spotlight on Ireland's tax regime and forced the government to defend itself against accusations of being Europe's onshore tax haven. ...

By Mariya Gordeyeva, Raushan Nurshayeva and Vladimir Soldatkin ASTANA/MOSCOW (Reuters) - Kazakhstan will decide by early July whether to exercise an option to buy the ConocoPhillips 8.4 percent stake in the Kashagan oil field, which has attracted interest from companies in China and India. "(The state commission's) decision will be made by July 2," Kazakh Oil & Gas Minister Sauat Mynbayev said on Wednesday. Kashagan, the world's biggest oilfield discovery in more than 40 years, holds an estimated 30 billion barrels of oil in place, of which 8 billion to 12 billion are potentially recoverable. ...

COLOMBO (Reuters) - Sri Lanka left-arm fast bowler Chanaka Welegedara has been ruled out of the Champions Trophy starting in England and Wales next month with an ankle injury. Welegedara will be replaced by all-rounder Dilhara Lokuhettige who has been recalled to the national team after five years. The 32-year-old Lokuhettige, a hard-hitting, fast-bowling all-rounder, last played for Sri Lanka in a Twenty20 international against Canada in 2008 but he has been a consistent performer in domestic cricket. ...

By Andrew Osborn LONDON (Reuters) - Google Inc's tax affairs came under renewed scrutiny in Britain on Wednesday when the leader of the opposition Labour party accused the Internet company of wrongly going to "extraordinary lengths" to avoid paying tax. In comments designed to politically outflank Prime Minister David Cameron ahead of next month's G8 summit on what has become a high-profile issue, Ed Miliband, the Labour leader, said he was disappointed that Google paid so little tax. "I can't be the only person here who feels disappointed that such a great company as Google ... ...

NEW DELHI/MUMBAI (Reuters) - Larsen and Toubro Ltd, India's largest engineering and construction group, will look overseas to offset a weak economy and project bottlenecks at home that led to a bigger-than-expected profit drop. Shares in L&T closed down nearly 6 percent after the Mumbai-based company's profit fell 6.9 percent for the fiscal fourth-quarter ending March, as its margins narrowed and existing infrastructure projects struggled to get off the ground. ...

By Subhadip Sircar MUMBAI (Reuters) - The rupee fell for a fourth successive session on Wednesday to mark its longest losing streak in over three months, hurt by dollar demand from oil refiners and a late fall in equities. The rupee's fall comes despite strong foreign flows into stocks and debt markets this year, as concerns about the current account deficit have revived after data earlier this month showed a spike in the April trade deficit. Global dollar strength has also hit the rupee. ...

New Delhi, May 22 (IANS) Comedian Bharti Singh used TV show "Comedy Circus Ke Ajoobe" as a platform to confess her love for veteran actor Dharmendra.

Chandigarh, May 22 (IANS) The ruling Shiromani Akali Dal-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) combine swept the zila parishad and panchayat samiti elections in Punjab, the state election commission announced Wednesday.

New Delhi, May 22 (IANS) The Delhi government Wednesday sternly told electricity distribution companies that it will not tolerate load shedding in the capital as power is available in surplus.

Hyderabad, May 22 (IANS) The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Wednesday urged Andhra Pradesh Governor E.S.L. Narasimhan to sack six allegedly tainted state ministers.

Mumbai, May 22 (IANS) Actress Shruti Haasan, daughter of veteran actor-filmmaker Kamal Haasan, says her father has been very inspiring for her. She marvels at her father's dedication and says he has the same enthusiasm that a newcomer has for his work.

Patna, May 22 (IANS) A day after a 22-year-old woman was gang-raped and her friend was beaten up by three men in Bihar, two of the accused were arrested Wednesday, police said.

New Delhi, May 22 (IANS) The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) Wednesday blamed Sahara Adventure Sports Limited for the failure of the arbitration and said the body "cannot be held responsible" for the breakdown of the process.

New Delhi, May 22 (IANS) India needs to take sector-specific action and develop a mechanism to track the achievements in each area to achieve the goal of reducing its greenhouse gas emissions, says a study conducted by WWF-India.

Mumbai, May 22 (IANS) Actress Preity Zinta, who is gearing up for the release of her debut production venture "Ishkq in Paris", finds production work difficult. She says it's more like crisis-management and is a thankless job.

Patna, May 22 (IANS) Taking cognizance of prolonged harassment faced by a journalist and his family by their landlord for not paying an exorbitant rent here, Bihar's rights panel Wednesday sought a report from the city police chief on the issue.

Sukma (Chhattisgarh), May 22 (IANS) The Maoists early Wednesday attacked two police camps in Chhattisgarh but there were no reports of casualty in the firing, police said.

New Delhi, May 22 (IANS) As the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) got down to celebrating its fourth anniversary, the BJP Wednesday trained its guns on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and said he was leader neither of his party nor the country.

Chennai, May 22 (IANS) Tamil Nadu's Crime Branch-Crime Investigation Department (CBCID) Wednesday said a lookout notice has been issued to all airports for Kitty alias Uttam alleged to be a bookie with links in spot fixing in the Indian Premier League (IPL).