A Bangladeshi shopper browses pirated software in a shopping centre in Dhaka on October 30, 2010. A high-powered commission said Wednesday that intellectual property theft was costing the United States ... More »US report urges action on intellectual property theft
By Jim Finkle (Reuters) - Twitter Inc unveiled technology to boost security for its users, following a spate of attacks on accounts of prominent media outlets including the Associated Press, the Financial Times and The Onion. The micro blogging site, which transmits some 400 million messages a day, said on Wednesday that it had begun rolling out an optional "login verification" service to thwart hackers seeking to hijack accounts with stolen passwords. ... More »Twitter beefs up security after hacking spree on media
By Dan Williams HERZLIYA, Israel (Reuters) - Israel is poised for a large-scale assault on Syria to prevent advanced weapons reaching jihadi rebels or Hezbollah guerrillas in Lebanon if President Bashar al-Assad is toppled, Israel's air force chief said on Wednesday. But Major-General Amir Eshel, addressing a security conference, said his warplanes could be repelled by Syria's formidable, Russian-supplied anti-aircraft systems - an implicit censure of Moscow echoed by Israel's defence minister. ... More »General says Israel poised for war on Syria if Assad falls
By Ana Nicolaci da Costa LONDON (Reuters) - American short story writer Lydia Davis won the fifth Man Booker International Prize for fiction on Wednesday for a body of work that includes some of the briefest tales ever published. Davis, a professor of creative writing at the University of Albany, is best known for work that Observer critic William Skidelsky once said "redefines the meaning of brevity". ... More »Short story writer Lydia Davis wins major fiction prize
Native Mayas who survived massacres during Guatemala's 1960-1996 civil war voiced outrage Wednesday at the overturning of the genocide conviction of former dictator Efrain Rios Montt. More »Guatemala's Maya outraged at genocide ruling annulment
By Pedro da Costa and Alister Bull WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Federal Reserve's monetary stimulus is helping the U.S. economy recover but the central bank needs to see further signs of traction before taking its foot off the gas pedal, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke said on Wednesday. A decision to scale back the $85 billion (56 billion pounds) in bonds the Fed is buying each month could come at one of the central bank's "next few meetings" if the economy looked set to maintain momentum, Bernanke told Congress. ... More »Bernanke says more progress needed before stimulus pullback
By Emma Farge and William James GENEVA/LONDON (Reuters) - The UK and French governments will join a global initiative that will require oil and mining firms to comply with new disclosure measures aimed at tackling corruption, Prime Minister David Cameron said on Wednesday. The Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) has stakeholders in the public and private sectors and requires resource companies to disclose payments made to governments. ... More »UK, France to join resource transparency initiative
By David Stanway and Niu Shuping BEIJING (Reuters) - The discovery of dangerous levels of toxic cadmium in rice sold in the southern city of Guangzhou, the latest in a series of food scandals, has piled more pressure on China to clean up its food chain - possibly at the expense of Mao Zedong's cherished goal of self-sufficiency. ... More »In China, food scares put Mao's self-sufficiency goal at risk
By William Schomberg and David Milliken LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's government should spend more now to fund investment and steer its economy back to recovery, the International Monetary Fund said on Wednesday, a call unlikely to be heeded by Chancellor George Osborne. Economic data earlier on Wednesday highlighted the challenge facing Osborne. Retail sales slumped last month while a measure of public borrowing jumped to a record high. ... More »IMF urges UK to spend more to fund investment
(Reuters) - Zach Johnson has finished no better than joint 18th on the 2013 PGA Tour but hopes he can regain top form on his title defence at this week's Crowne Plaza Invitational in Fort Worth, Texas where he is a twice former champion. A medium-length hitter who is renowned for his accuracy, tenacity and a superb short game, the 37-year-old American has always loved playing at Colonial Country Club, an iconic venue where high quality shot-making reaps rich reward. ... More »Johnson banks on Colonial comfort factor
By Jason Lange WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The European Central Bank could expand its policy toolkit if needed to battle deflation risks, a top ECB official said on Wednesday, adding that the central bank was also weighing measures to encourage more lending in the euro zone. Peter Praet, a member of the ECB's executive board, said a deflationary spiral must be avoided in the crisis-stricken currency block and that deleveraging by the region's banks could hurt economic growth and push the inflation rate too low. ... More »ECB can expand its tools to fight crisis - board member
By Arshad Mohammed AMMAN (Reuters) - Western governments are ready to increase support to opponents of President Bashar al-Assad if he rejects a political solution to Syria's civil war, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said on Wednesday. Kerry said recent military gains by Assad's forces were only temporary and that if the Syrian leader believed that the counter-offensives against the rebels would be decisive, "then he is miscalculating". ... More »Kerry warns Syria's Assad against rejecting political solution
A two-year-old boy was badly hurt when he was attacked by the family dog, police said. More »Boy, two, attacked by family dog
Apprentice reject Uzma Yakoob has said it was far more stressful being on the women's team than working with the men. More »Yakoob: Girls tougher than boys
Dead sea lions have been discovered on beaches in northern Peru amid suspicions they were poisoned by fishermen, activists and authorities said. More »Dead sea lions found in Peru, poisoning suspected
Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben Bernanke testifies on May 22, 2013 on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. Bernanke acknowledged the risks of the Fed's low interest-rate policy Wednesday but warned that ... More »Bernanke warns against premature policy tightening
Hewlett-Packard's slump is deepening as the world's largest personal computer maker scrambles to meet the growing demand for more versatile and less expensive mobile devices. More »Hewlett-Packard slump continues
France is to call for the military arm of Hezbollah to be added to an EU terror blacklist due to its backing of the Syrian regime, French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said Wednesday. More »France seeks to brand Hezbollah as 'terrorist' group
Seventy-five percent of the world's tornadoes occur in the United States, yet few people who live in "Tornado Alley" bother with the trouble and expense of a proper shelter from the storms. More »Storm shelters few in 'Tornado Alley'
DUBLIN (Reuters) - Ireland's hopes of convincing workers to agree to a revised public sector pay deal received a boost on Wednesday when a teachers' union who threatened strike action urged members to accept the proposals. Ireland's government agreed draft proposals with trade unions on Tuesday as it seeks to make fresh budget cuts and avert the threat of strikes in a country that has seen no major public sector unrest since its EU-IMF bailout three years ago. ... More »Ireland given pay deal boost as teachers' union comes on side
General Electric CEO Jeff Immelt speaks on September 20, 2012 in San Francisco, California. US industrial conglomerate General Electric expects to spend about $6.7 billion in acquisitions through the rest ... More »GE sees $6.7 bn in acquisitions by year-end
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Soul music legend Aretha Franklin postponed three June concerts, the singer's spokesman said on Wednesday, a week after health issues caused her to cancel two shows in May. Spokesman David Brokaw said the "Queen of Soul" did not give a reason for postponing concerts in Clarkston, Michigan, as well as Ottawa and Montreal, Canada, which were scheduled for late June. "She's going to resume her schedule in July," Brokaw said. Franklin, 71, cancelled concerts in Chicago and Connecticut last week to undergo undisclosed medical treatment between May 20-26, organizers said. ... More »Singer Aretha Franklin postpones three more concerts
By Erika Solomon HERMEL, Lebanon (Reuters) - On a country road in Lebanon's northeast, traffic is heavy; ambulances screech by, sirens blaring, and cars packed with mourners follow coffins as Hezbollah brings wounded fighters home from Syria, and its dead. ... More »With Hezbollah coffins, Syria now exporting conflict
The new Microsoft Xbox One games console will have the ability to update itself and pick the best time to install those updates, Microsoft has confirmed to Pocket-lint. More »Microsoft: Xbox One will seamlessly update
Twitter is adding an extra security measure to users' accounts in an effort to prevent unauthorised log-ins. More »Twitter upgrades log-in security