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By Belinda Goldsmith CANNES (Reuters) - Indian movie actors and a new wave of directors are on a mission at the Cannes film festival - to show that their industry, which turns 100 this year, is more than just Bollywood. The largest Indian contingent to date is on the French Riviera at the world's leading cinema showcase to promote their country, which has the world's biggest film industry, making over 1,000 films a year compared to about 600 in Hollywood. ...

By Hamid Shalizi KABUL (Reuters) - Afghan President Hamid Karzai plans to discuss potential arms deals with Indian officials during a trip to New Delhi this week, officials said, at a time when tensions are running high on Afghanistan's disputed border with Pakistan. Kabul's overtures to New Delhi are likely to rile Islamabad where a new government led by two-time prime minister Nawaz Sharif is set to take office soon, promising improved ties with India. ...

PARIS (Reuters) - A capacity crowd chanting his name, the Eiffel Tower in the background: even by his own glamorous standards, David Beckham got a special send-off on Saturday as he headed into retirement with another title in the bag. "Tonight was a nice way to go out, in front of my family and in front of the capacity crowd who were excited because we won the league," the 38-year-old former England captain told reporters after his 10th and probably final Ligue 1 appearance. ...

By Ed Osmond LONDON (Reuters) - England's Stuart Broad took five wickets to leave New Zealand, chasing 239 for victory, in tatters at 29 for six at lunch on the fourth day of the first test at Lord's on Sunday. Broad removed Peter Fulton (1), Hamish Rutherford (9), Ross Taylor (0), Kane Williamson (6) and Brendon McCullum (8) in the space of 32 balls to put England on the brink of victory. New Zealand earlier bowled out the hosts for 213, Tim Southee completing figures of six for 50 to give the touring side genuine hopes of securing only their fifth test win in England. ...

By Mohammed Abbas LONDON (Reuters) - British Prime Minister David Cameron is "losing control of his party", Conservative Party grandee Geoffrey Howe said on Sunday, as a row raged over whether a close aide to Cameron had labelled grassroots activists "mad, swivel-eyed loons". The furore threatens to further alienate Cameron and his inner circle from the core of his party, with whom ties are already almost at breaking point. ...

By Ann Saphir and Jonathan Spicer REUTERS - The beginning of the end of the Federal Reserve's massive bond-buying program might come sooner than many investors think if recent gains in the U.S. labor market do not prove fleeting. Much will depend on how economic data, which has given mixed signals for growth prospects, develops over the next few months. Reports on job growth in particular will go a long way in helping Fed officials determine whether the time is right to trim the pace of their $85 billion in monthly purchases. The marked improvement in the labor market since the U.S. ...

CAIRO (Reuters) - Egyptian police enraged by the kidnapping of seven of their colleagues by Islamist gunmen in the Sinai Peninsula blocked a commercial border crossing with Israel on Sunday, security sources said. Police have been blocking another border post, the Rafah crossing into the Gaza Strip, since Friday to press the government of Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi, who belongs to the Muslim Brotherhood, to help free the seven. ...

By Jane Chung SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea fired a short-range missile from its east coast on Sunday, a day after launching three of these missiles, a South Korean news agency said, ignoring calls for restraint from Western powers. Launches by the North of short-range missiles are not uncommon but, after recent warnings from the communist state of impending nuclear war, such actions have raised concerns about the region's security. ...

REUTERS - Australian Matthew Griffin won the SK Telecom Open at South Korea's Jeju Island by one shot after Sunday's final round was called off due to heavy fog. A 40-foot putt from the back of the green on the 18th guaranteed him the third-round lead on Saturday and it turned out to be the winning shot at the 1 billion Korean won OneAsia event at the Pinx Golf Club. "It's unfortunate to finish like this, but I'll take it," Griffin, who leapt to the top of the OneAsia Order of Merit with the win, said. ...

By Sonya Dowsett MADRID (Reuters) - Many duped savers at Spanish lender Bankia are shunning a state-supervised compensation scheme in favour of expensive lawsuits, prolonging a mis-selling scandal and complicating efforts to restore faith in the banking system. The disputes over mis-selling at Bankia and other nationalised banks have created a major headache for the government as it tries to take the next step in their rescue, imposing large losses on holders of junior debt. ...

By Jeffrey Heller JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held out the prospect on Sunday of further Israeli strikes inside Syria, pledging to act to prevent advanced weapons from reaching Hezbollah and other militant groups. Although Israel has not publicly taken sides in the civil war between Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and rebels trying to topple him, Western and Israeli sources say it has launched air strikes in Syria to destroy weapons it believed were destined for Lebanon's Hezbollah. ...

By William James LONDON (Reuters) - An independent Scotland would have a vastly oversized financial sector that would leave it vulnerable to a Cyprus-style banking crisis, Britain's finance ministry says. Before a referendum due in September 2014 on whether Scotland should split from the United Kingdom, the British government is analysing the impact of independence on Scotland, which has a population of about 5 million. ...

MOSCOW (Reuters) - U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon voiced concern on Sunday over North Korea's launch of short-range missiles, urging Pyonyang to refrain from further launches and return to stalled nuclear talks with world powers. Ban, who spoke to Russian state news agency RIA Novosti during a visit to Moscow, called North Korea's launch of three short-range missiles from its east coast on Saturday a "provocative action". "We are very worried over North Korea's provocative action," he told RIA in comments translated into Russian. ...

Kolkata, May 19 (IANS) Sudipta Sen, Saradha Group chief and alleged mastermind of the chit fund scam, and one of his close aides were Sunday sent to 10 days' police custody by a West Bengal court in a fresh case.

Pune, May 19 (IANS) Delhi Daredevils, who topped the league standings in the last Indian Premier League, finished last this season after losing to Pune Warriors at the Subrata Roy Sahara Stadium here Sunday.

Bhubaneswar, May 19 (IANS) Accusing Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik of systematically covering up the mining scam in Odisha, the Congress party here Sunday demanded a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into it.

New Delhi, May 19 (IANS) A 35-year-old man was crushed to death by a Delhi Transport Corp (DTC) bus here but police said Sunday they were yet to trace the bus or its driver.

Kabul, May 19 (IANS) A C-130 plane with the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) made a hard landing Sunday in Afghanistan, but there were no casualties, a statement said.

Hull (England), May 19 (IANS) Dipika Pallikal and Saurav Ghosal will lead India's challenge at the British Open Squash Championships beginning here Monday. The prestigious tournament is the world's oldest.

Hyderabad, May 19 (IANS) Jailed YSR Congress party leader Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy's wife Y.S. Bharathi Reddy Sunday appealed to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to intervene and stop his victimization and harassment.

London, May 19 (IANS) Tiny gnome statues of Prince William and his pregnant wife Kate, the duchess of Cambridge, will be auctioned online to raise money for children to learn about gardening in schools.

Chandigarh, May 19 (IANS) Violent clashes between workers of Punjab's ruling Shiromani Akali Dal and the opposition Congress were reported from at least two places as the polling for local self-government bodies ended Sunday evening, officials said.

Mumbai, May 19 (IANS) After playing all kind of roles in TV shows, actress Preet Mullani doesn't know what to take up next.

Hanoi, May 19 (IANS) Vietnam Sunday successfully conducted test flights of six indigenously-made unmanned aerial vehicles, a media report said.

Chennai, May 19 (IANS) Four lorries went up in flames inside the Chennai Port Trust area Sunday evening but tghe cause of the fire is not clear yet, officials said. The fire was brought under control by the tenders located in the port, they added.

Jerusalem, May 19 (IANS) The state of Israel has said it would return the lands of a settlement evacuated in 2005 back to its original Palestinian owners, an Israeli daily said Sunday.