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By Matt Spetalnick and Warren Strobel WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Twelve years after the "war on terror" began, President Barack Obama wants to pull the United States back from some of the most controversial aspects of its global fight against Islamist militants. In a major policy speech on Thursday, Obama narrowed the scope of the targeted-killing drone campaign against al Qaeda and its allies and took steps toward closing the Guantanamo Bay military prison in Cuba. He acknowledged the past use of "torture" in U.S. ...

MUMBAI (Reuters) - Tata Steel Ltd shares rose as much as 6.65 percent on Friday after its January-March quarterly operating profit beat analyst estimates. Brokerage IDFC estimated Tata Steel posted an adjusted standalone operating profit of 33 billion rupees in the previous quarter, compared to its forecast of 27.6 billion rupees. Tata Steel shares gained even as it posted a bigger-than-expected net loss, following a writedown. Shares at the steel maker were up 2.8 percent as of 10.36 a.m. (Reporting by Abhishek Vishnoi; Editing by Rafael Nam)

By Jonathan Kaminsky OLYMPIA, Washington (Reuters) - Part of a four-lane freeway bridge over a river in a rural area north of Seattle collapsed on Thursday, sending vehicles and people into the frigid water below, authorities said. The collapse on Interstate 5 over the Skagit River happened at about 7 p.m. local time between the towns of Mount Vernon and Burlington, 55 miles (90 km) north of Seattle, Washington State Patrol spokesman Trooper Mark Francis said. "I've got reports of vehicles and people in the water," Francis said. He added that he did not know if anyone was injured. ...

By Ian Chua SYDNEY (Reuters) - Japanese stocks turned negative on Friday and the yen reversed early losses, keeping intact worries that the Nikkei's largest one-day drop in two years may be the start of a bigger rout. In a sign that many are still spooked by Thursday's eye-watering 7.3 percent Nikkei drop, share markets elsewhere in Asia extended their decline to a fresh one-month low. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan shed 0.6 percent, extending Thursday's 2.2 percent fall. Australian shares underperformed the region, falling 1.9 percent. "There's a lot of ...

By Yantoultra Ngui KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - Malaysian billionaire Vincent Tan is exploring an IPO of U.K football team Cardiff City for as early as this year, people with knowledge of the matter told Reuters, in a deal that would follow the team's recent promotion to the Premier League. A listing for the Welsh team would follow Manchester United's debut on the New York Stock Exchange last year, which raised $233.2 million in the largest sports team IPO ever. The process is in its early stages, the people said, with details on the timing, size and listing venue subject to change. ...

MUMBAI (Reuters) - Shares in Wockhardt Ltd plummeted as much as 19.3 percent on Friday to their lowest since August 2012, continuing to reel for the second day, after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration imposed an "import alert" on a plant operated by the generic drugmaker. Wockhardt shares had already slumped by their daily limit of 20 percent on Thursday on the U.S. FDA action. An "import alert", effectively a ban, results in detention without physical examination of drugs from firms that have not met so-called good manufacturing practices, according to the FDA website. ...

Reuters Market Eye - The rupee opened at 55.61 and now at 55.57/58. The stock market may help firm up direction of the USD/INR pair. Dealers will watch for month-end importer demand, particularly from oil companies. The dollar recovered from two-week lows against the yen on Friday as a safety-bid for the Japanese currency ebbed after the Nikkei share average rebounded from the previous day's 7.3-percent plunge and Wall Street regained some stability by the close. (Reporting by Subhadip Sircar)

Reuters Market Eye - Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) extended their record net purchases of Indian stocks to a 26th consecutive sessions on Thursday, despite sharp share falls sparked by worries the Fed would unwind its monetary stimulus earlier than expected. FIIs were net buyers of 3.16 billion rupees of stocks on Thursday, while domestic institutional investors sold 5.4 billion rupees of stocks. That was below FIIs' net purchases of 5.4 billion rupees of stocks on Wednesday, which itself was well below the net buying of 25.8 billion worth of Indian shares on Tuesday. ...

REUTERS - A magnitude 5.7 earthquake struck in Northern California on Thursday, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The epicenter of the quake was located 2 miles (3 km) north-northeast of the town of Canyondam, the USGS said. An initial report said the quake was magnitude 5.9. A 5.7 magnitude quake is considered moderate, but has the potential to cause considerable damage. There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries. (Writing by the Americas Desk)

By Yoshiyuki Osada OSAKA, Japan (Reuters) - Two elderly South Korean women forced to work in Japanese wartime military brothels abruptly cancelled a meeting with Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto after he refused to withdraw remarks asserting the brothel system was "necessary" at the time. Hashimoto sparked a firestorm of criticism at home and abroad when he said last week that the military brothels had been needed, and Japan has been unfairly singled out for wartime practices common among other countries' militaries. ...

By Marice Richter GRAPEVINE, Texas (Reuters) - The Boy Scouts of America voted on Thursday to lift a century-old ban on openly gay scouts in a major victory for gay rights activists, but the decision means a sea of change for an organization that depends heavily on faith-based groups. More than 60 percent of the group's National Council, comprised of some 1,400 delegates, voted in favour of ending the ban, effective January 1, 2014, the group said in a statement. A prohibition on openly gay adult leaders remains in place. ...

REUTERS - Nava Bharat Ventures Ltd is considering restructuring its Odisha unit after regulatory restrictions hurt the operations at the ferro alloy and power generation unit, it said late on Thursday. The company is considering separating the two units to form special purpose vehicles (SPVs) for each, it said in a statement to the stock exchanges. It will then bring in strategic investors with mineral resources and sell shares in the SPVs to them. Identification of investors and evaluation of restructuring options are in progress, it said. ...

By Ronald Grover LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Former News Corp president Peter Chernin and private equity fund Guggenheim Digital Media have placed bids for Hulu, two people with knowledge of the matter told Reuters, triggering a tug-of-war for the online video service. Satellite operator DirecTV and cable operator Time Warner Cable Inc also put in bids, one of the people told Reuters. ...

Quito, May 24 (IANS/EFE) On the eve of his inauguration for another four-year term, Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa said Thursday that he will not run again in 2017.

Paris, May 24 (IANS/EFE) Singer-songwriter Georges Moustaki died Thursday in the French Mediterranean city of Nice, his family said. He was 79.

Sonamarg/Ganderbal, May 24 (IANS) Thanks to the skyrocketing land prices in the countryside, Kashmiri villagers are basking in their newfound financial affluence, caring little for the land of their ancestors that are being sold to buy modern-day luxuries.

Quito, May 24 (IANS/EFE) Ecuador's first satellite avoided a direct collision with the remains of a Russian rocket, but whether the device is still operating remains unclear, the head of the country's EXA space agency told EFE.

Being in the travel trade sucks. You won't BELIEVE the fuss passengers make, just because some tiny mistake has been made which has led to them being taken to, say, the wrong country. Why quibble? Countries are countries.

Washington, May 24 (IANS) History-making Indian-American legal luminary Srikanth 'Sri' Srinivasan's unanimous Senate confirmation as the first South Asian judge on the powerful appeals court for the American capital has been widely hailed.

Moscow, May 24 (IANS/RIA Novosti) The Taliban influence in Afghanistan may grow after international coalition forces pull out, while rising radicalism in Syria could lead to the country's disintegration, Russian military intelligence agency GRU has said.

Washington, May 24 (IANS) Chandigarh-born "trailblazer" Indian-American legal luminary Srikanth 'Sri' Srinivasan has made history with the US Senate unanimously confirming him as the first South Asian judge on the powerful appeals court for the American capital.

Vatican City, May 24 (IANS/AKI) Pope Francis hopes Chinese Catholics would be able to practise their faith freely and without fear, inviting them to stay loyal to the Vatican, whose authority is challenged by China's Communist rulers.

Milan, May 24 (IANS/AKI) Two bullets and written threats were mailed to magistrate Ilda Boccassini, prosecutor in the sex trial of former Italian premier Silvio Berlusconi, Milan's chief public prosecutor said.

Milan, May 24 (IANS/AKI) A parcel containing two kg of hashish reportedly sent from India has been seized in Germany. The substance was found hidden inside beach tennis rackets mailed to an address in Italy, police said.

Washington, May 24 (IANS/RIA Novosti) Researchers in the US have captured rare images of the creation of a massive galaxy about 10 times the size of the Milky Way that was formed when two young galaxies collided 11 billion years ago, a study said.

Rome, May 24 (IANS/AKI) An unemployed 64-year-old labourer in Italy's Sicily island died after setting himself alight, when he failed to repay a 10,000 euro loan and lost his home.