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TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's Nikkei share average edged up to a fresh 5-1/2-year high on Tuesday, reversing earlier losses, as retail investors scooped up underperforming stocks such as Sharp Corp and Tokyo Electric Power Co Inc The Nikkei rose 0.1 percent to 15,381.02, the highest closing level since December 2007, after being in and out of negative territory in choppy trade. During the day, it rose as high as 15,388.37, its best mark since the same time. Sharp surged 8.7 percent and Tokyo Electric 12.3 percent. The broader Topix gained 0.1 percent to 1,270.39. ...

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Yahoo Inc announced on Monday it would shell out $1.1 billion to buy blogging service Tumblr, in a bid to revitalize its brand and attract a younger generation of users. Yahoo has been criticized for making big acquisitions that have not always reaped lasting returns. Under CEO Marissa Mayer, the Internet search company has snapped up numerous small startups in recent months, hoping to gain an edge in mobile, bring new talent on board and improve existing services. ...

KHOBAR, Saudi Arabia (Reuters) - State-run Saudi Aramco has awarded Larsen & Toubro (L&T) a contract to build facilities including a gas processing plant for its Midyan gas field, state news agency SPA reported. The world's top oil exporter is boosting its output of the natural gas needed to meet rapidly rising domestic power demand and supply raw materials to its strategically important petrochemical industry. ...

Reuters Market Eye - Barclays Capital now expects another 75 bps of rate cuts over the rest of 2013 versus its previous call of 25 bps in easing due to slowing inflation and weakening economic growth. BarCap says in a note it sticks to its call the RBI will cut interest rates by 25 bps in June, but expects 50 bps in additional cuts over the rest of 2013. The investment bank also marginally lowers its current fiscal year GDP forecast to 6 percent from 6.2 percent to reflect recent disappointment in economic activity. ...

By Eric Kelsey LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Ray Manzarek, a founding member and keyboardist of 1960s rock group The Doors, died on Monday at a medical clinic in Germany at age 74 following a battle with cancer, the group's manager Tom Vitorino said. Manzarek, who lived in Northern California's Napa Valley wine country for the past decade, had been seeking treatment in Germany for bile duct cancer, Vitorino said. He died in Rosenheim, Germany, surrounded by his wife and brothers. ...

Reuters Market Eye - The BSE Sensex falls 0.06 percent while the broader Nifty is down 0.2 percent, heading for a second day of decline. Analysts said some consolidation was due for domestic markets after the BSE Sensex rallied about 11 percent since mid-April due to strong foreign inflows. Shares are tracking mild falls in Asian shares ahead of the minutes of the U.S. Federal Reserve's last meeting. Maruti Suzuki India Ltd falls 1.3 percent on profit-booking after hitting its all-time high of 1,774.40 rupees on Monday. Divi's Laboratories Ltd slumps 6. ...

By Masayuki Kitano SINGAPORE (Reuters) - "Will he or won't he?" is the question investors want answered at Wednesday's Congressional testimony by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, as suspense builds on whether the Fed will soon start tapering its bond-buying stimulus scheme - as hinted at by a Fed regional president last week. ...

By Alistair Barr SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Amazon.com Inc has been given a security clearance by the U.S. government that will make it easier for federal agencies to use its cloud computing services. Amazon Web Services, known as AWS, was certified to operate as a cloud service provider for three years under the government's new FedRAMP program. The accreditation covers all AWS data centers in the United States, the company said on Tuesday. "This will cut the cost and time for agencies to deploy our systems," said Teresa Carlson, vice president of Worldwide Public Sector at AWS. ...

By Fiona Lau and Elzio Barreto HONG KONG (Reuters) - Goldman Sachs Group Inc raised $1.1 billion by selling its remaining shares in Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, ending a seven-year old investment and handing the Wall Street firm a return of nearly four times its original stake. Goldman's relationship with ICBC was similar to that of other big global financial institutions that purchased stakes in Chinese banks and insurers. ...

By Alexei Oreskovic SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Yahoo Inc Chief Executive Marissa Mayer's $1.1 billion acquisition of blogging service Tumblr will be a test of her ability to revive the aging Web portal. Luckily for her, her performance may be graded generously. Mayer faces plenty of challenges in her efforts to turn six-year-old Tumblr into a money-spinner, not least among them retaining users while devising new types of non-intrusive online ads outside of Yahoo's traditional area of expertise. And then there is Tumblr's hefty price tag: a sum that equates to a fifth of Yahoo's cash. ...

Reuters Market Eye - The rupee opens higher. The pair is at 54.97/98 versus its last close at 55.10/11. The pair may trade in a 54.80-55.10 band for the session, says a senior dealer with a state-run bank. Selling from exporters to continue keeping the rupee biased towards gains, adds the dealer. Asian currencies trading firmer compared with the dollar. Month-end dollar demand will be watched, with the pair to take direction from stock moves. ...

MUMBAI (Reuters) - Outsourcing company iGate Corp said it had sacked its Chief Executive Phaneesh Murthy for not disclosing a relationship with a subordinate after investigating one of India's best-known IT executives for sexual harassment. Murthy was replaced with immediate effect by interim CEO Gerhard Watzinger, iGate said. Murthy was forced to quit India's second biggest software exporter Infosys Ltd in 2002 following a sexual harassment lawsuit, which was settled out of court. Murthy did not respond to repeated telephone calls by Reuters seeking comment. ...

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. ...

Beijing, May 21 (IANS) The visit of Premier Li Keqiang to India will promote a strategic partnership, but the US should not become jealous since Beijing and New Delhi do not want to be its enemy, a state-run daily said Tuesday.

Chennai, May 21 (IANS) Producer C.V. Kumar, who has already introduced two short filmmakers into the industry with projects like "Pizza" and "Soodhu Kavvum", is set to turn two more shorts into feature films in Tamil soon.

Chennai, May 21 (IANS) Malayalam superstar Mohanlal, who turns 53 Tuesday, will be busy shooting for upcoming Tamil action-drama "Jilla".

San Juan, May 21 (IANS/EFE) Puerto Rican reggaeton star Yomo was unhurt in a shootout that occurred Monday on a busy highway in San Juan in which a woman who was traveling with the singer was wounded multiple times, police said.

Srinagar, May 21 (IANS) A shutdown called by separatists affected life in Srinagar Tuesday, although the authorities did not impose any restrictions in the city.

Tokyo, May 21 (IANS/EFE) The Japanese government Monday revised upward its evaluation of the economy given the weakness of the yen, which is helping to push exports and encouraging companies to increase production.

Mumbai, May 21 (IANS) Filmmaker Abhishek Kapoor, who introduced Sushant Singh Rajput to filmdom with "Kai Po Che!", is all set to roll the cameras with the actor again for his next film, which will be widely shot in Kashmir.

Moscow, May 21 (IANS/EFE) French actor Gerard Depardieu, a Russian citizen since early this year, is soon to open a restaurant in the city where he now resides, authorities said Monday.

New Delhi, May 21 (IANS) Comptroller and Auditor General Vinod Rai, who demits office Wednesday, will be remembered for turning the statutory body into a pugnacious watchdog of good governance and administrative integrity at a time when India is experiencing the need for greater transparency and a rebalancing of power that has tilted over the years towards the executive.

Beijing, May 21 (IANS) The trade imbalance between India and China may keep growing, experts here said with one of them noting that "India needs more Chinese manufactured products".

Buenos Aires, May 21 (IANS/EFE) Gen. Rafael Videla, the emblematic figure of the military junta that ruled Argentina from 1976-83, died of a heart attack resulting from injuries and broken bones he suffered five days earlier when he fell in the shower, judicial sources told the official Telam news agency.

New Delhi, May 21 (IANS) Dresses, gowns, kaftans, pants, skirts and lingerie... for all those mothers-to-be who want to look hip and relaxed and keep their fashion quotient high, there's plenty to choose from. But comfort must be key, warn experts.

New Delhi, May 21 (IANS) The parliamentary board of the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) is meeting here Tuesday to chart out the strategy for the 2014 general elections.