Alonso cleared after precautionary checks

ABU DHABI (Reuters) - Ferrari's Fernando Alonso had precautionary checks in hospital after hurting his back on a heavy jolt over the kerbs at the Abu Dhabi Formula One Grand Prix on Sunday.

A team spokesman said he had been given the all-clear.

"I still have all my teeth after the impact," the Spaniard, who finished fifth in the race, told reporters after the incident which occurred when he ran wide to avoid a collision with Jean-Eric Vergne's Toro Rosso.

"My back is obviously in pain a little bit because it was a big hit."

The double world champion, second in the standings in a season already won by Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel for the fourth year in a row, said the impact had triggered an alarm on the chassis.

However, he played down any concerns about his fitness for the next race in Austin, Texas,

Ferrari are battling Mercedes for second place in the constructors' standings with two races to go.

(Reporting by Alan Baldwin, editing by Ed Osmond)

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Ranbaxy slumps after posting loss for July-Sept quarter

MUMBAI (Reuters) - Shares in Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd fell over 5 percent in early trade after the drugmaker posted losses for a second straight quarter on Tuesday, hurt by foreign exchange charges and a one-time write-off related to one of its plants under an import ban by the U.S. health regulator. The stock recovered later.

Net loss in July-September was 4.5 billion rupees compared with a profit of 7.5 billion rupees a year earlier, it said on Tuesday.

At 10:19 a.m., Ranbaxy was trading 1.26 percent lower at 380.60 rupees.

(Reporting by Abhishek Vishnoi; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)

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Colombia's FARC frees ex-U.S. marine after four months in jungle

BOGOTA (Reuters) - Colombia's FARC guerrillas have freed a former U.S. marine who was kidnapped in June while he trekked through the jungle in a known guerrilla area, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the U.S. government said on Sunday.

Kevin Scott Sutay, a veteran of the war in Afghanistan, had been backpacking through several Central and South American countries before he was captured by the FARC. He had ignored police warnings against hiking through a "red zone" for rebel activity in the southeastern province of Guaviare.

"We are pleased about the liberation today of U.S. citizen Kevin Scott Sutay who was in the hands of the FARC," said a statement from U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, in which he expressed profound gratitude to the Colombian government and President Juan Manuel Santos for their efforts.

Sutay was handed over in Guaviare to a delegation of the governments of Colombia, Cuba and Norway and members of the International Committee of the Red Cross before being delivered to U.S. embassy officials at the airport in the capital Bogota.

An ICRC doctor had deemed Sutay to be in good health and fit to travel, said ICRC spokeswoman Patricia Rey. An official of the U.S. embassy in Bogota said it was working to send Sutay home but could not confirm when he would leave.

Sutay's release may help peace negotiations the FARC has been engaged in with the government for the past year in Cuba. Progress in the talks has been slow with just partial agreement on one of the five points on the agenda.

The FARC had shown willingness to release Sutay in July but hardened its stance, accusing him of being a mercenary, soon after President Juan Manuel Santos refused to allow a high profile left-wing politician to oversee the liberation.

U.S. civil rights campaigner, the Reverend Jesse Jackson, then became involved in September, meeting with the FARC's negotiators in Cuba and asking them to release Sutay. However Santos refused FARC's demand that Jackson be allowed to head a delegation to oversee the release.

It was not immediately clear what had prompted the FARC to release Sutay on Sunday.

The FARC and their smaller counterpart, the ELN, have been fighting the government in a bloody five-decade conflict that has killed more than 200,000. Both are listed as terrorist organizations by the United States and European Union.

The FARC is believed to have around 8,000 fighters according to government data and the ELN around 3,000. Their numbers were roughly halved by a decade-long military offensive with the support of the U.S. government.

(Reporting by Nelson Bocanegra, Luis Jaime Acosta and Peter Murphy; Writing by Peter Murphy; Editing by Christopher Wilson and David Brunnstrom)

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Called Lalu after his May accident, says Modi

Patna, Oct 27 (IANS) BJP prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi Sunday stressed the need to ensure good relations in public life, recalling that he even telephoned his vocal critic, RJD chief Lalu Prasad, to inquire about his health a day after he was injured in an accident in May.

Speaking at his 'hunkar' rally here, he said that he is not like Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who did not care for courtesy in public life.

"I was well aware that Lalu used to abuse me and levelled baseless allegations against me. But I called him to wish him a speedy recovery," Modi said to applause from supporters and party workers.

The Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief is one of the most vocal critics of the Gujarat strongman for his role in the 2002 communal riots.

"I did not disclose it to media but Lalu did, as he was surprised by my call to him," Modi said.

Lalu Prasad was injured in the head and face when his vehicle's windshield suddenly shattered as he was going to Raghopur from here to meet victims of a fire incident. He was discharged from hospital after receiving stitches and bandages.

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Asian shares try to find footing after tumble

By Dominic Lau

TOKYO (Reuters) - Asian shares tried to steady on Thursday following a tumble sparked by concerns about China's economic outlook, and the dollar languished near a two-year low against the Swiss franc.

On Wednesday, Chinese money-market rates rose to three-month highs after the central bank failed to inject cash for a second day as regulators showed signs of concern that loose liquidity might be fuelling another round of risky credit growth.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was flat after shedding 0.9 percent on Wednesday to end a four-day winning streak.

Tokyo's Nikkei futures fell 0.8 percent as the yen gained ground on the dollar, indicating a softer open on Thursday after the previous session's 2 percent decline.

Investors will get further clues to the health of the world's second-largest economy with a preliminary survey on Chinese manufacturing activity data due at 0145 GMT.

"The initial reaction to the rise in China's money market rates has translated into lower U.S. Treasury yields and weaker equity markets," analysts at BNP Paribas wrote in a note.

"The pullback in risk sentiment should remain temporary as the delay to the Fed's QE tapering plans until the first quarter of 2014 makes long carry positions attractive. This implies that commodity and emerging market currencies should regain the ground lost over the past 24 hours."

Before the concerns over China checked the market bullishness, global equity markets had been rallying after the resolution of the U.S. budget impasse and on expectations the Federal Reserve would extend its cheap money stimulus into 2014.

After hitting a run of record highs, the U.S. Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 0.5 percent on Wednesday as shares of heavy-equipment maker Caterpillar and semiconductor companies tumbled after reporting earnings.

U.S. S&P E-mini futures were flat in early Asian trade on Thursday.

The dollar was at 0.8923 franc, just above a two-year low of 0.8908 hit on Wednesday. It was holding at 97.39 yen, near a two-week low touched in the previous session.

U.S. Treasury yields fell to three-months lows on more bets that the Fed will maintain its stimulus efforts into next year.

U.S. crude prices rose 0.2 percent to about $97 a barrel after falling to a 3-1/2 month low of $96.16 on Wednesday.

(Editing by John Mair)

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