A fossil from Iraq has deepened the mystery surrounding the fate of ichthyosaurs, dolphin-like reptiles that swam the oceans millions of years ago. More »Fossil deepens ichthyosaurs mystery
By Doris Frankel (Reuters) - A surge in option market bets on Sony Corp just before a large hedge fund investor announced a big stake and called for a major restructuring of the company has raised concerns that some traders may have had advance word of the news. U.S.-listed shares of Sony Corp jumped 9.9 percent to close at $20.76 after Daniel Loeb's Third Point hedge fund said on Tuesday it accumulated more than 6 percent of Sony's shares - a stake worth $1.1 billion - making it the largest shareholder in Japan's biggest electronics company. ... More »Big Sony options action before Loeb stake raises eyebrows
Women live longer than men partly because their immune systems age more slowly, a study has suggested. More »Female immune system 'ages slower'
Different genes drive weight gain in men and women, a study has shown. More »Weight gain genes difference found
By Julie Steenhuysen CHICAGO (Reuters) - Angelina Jolie's decision to have a double mastectomy to prevent breast cancer may have stunned fans of the Oscar-winning actress, but doctors say her choice is shared by many other women with a high genetic risk for breast cancer. Jolie, who described her surgery and three-month recovery at length in an opinion piece in the New York Times on Tuesday, says she hopes her experience will encourage other women with a family risk of breast cancer to get tested. ... More »Jolie surgery sets good example by careful weighing of risks - doctors
By Svea Herbst-Bayliss (Reuters) - Billionaire investor Daniel Loeb likely faces an uphill battle to convince Sony Corp to embrace his proposal to spin off its entertainment arm, but he likely already holds a winning hand in his bet on the Japanese electronics giant. Loeb, who has made big profits on his bets on Greek bonds, mortgages, website operator Yahoo Inc and a fall in the Japanese yen, on Tuesday disclosed that he holds a bit more than 6 percent of Sony and said a spinoff of the company's entertainment arm "could result in as much as 60 percent upside to Sony's share price. ... More »Analysis - For investor Loeb, Sony a likely winner even if spinoff fails
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Google Inc has signed licensing deals with Universal Music Group and Sony Music Entertainment to launch a subscription music service that would compete with fast-growing start-up Spotify, according to a report on Tuesday in technology blog The Verge. Google, the world's No. 1 search engine, could unveil the streaming music service at its annual developer conference, which kicks off on Wednesday, according to the report, which cited anonymous sources. ... More »Google inks music service deals with Sony, Universal - report
Researchers trying to explain declining elk numbers in the Yellowstone National Park (YNP) placed part of the blame Wednesday on a previously unlinked phenomenon -- a predatory trout invasion. More »Trout invasion behind Yellowstone elk decline: study
Mexico's Popocatepetl volcano has blown steam for days, prompting authorities to prepare for possible evacuations, but residents are used to their towering neighbor's rumblings and keep fearlessly heading to work. More »Mexican volcano rumbles, but residents shrug it off
By Brenda Goh and Ritsuko Ando LONDON/HELSINKI (Reuters) - Nokia unveiled a lighter, metal model in its Lumia smartphone range, as it tries to catch the eye of buyers to close the huge market lead of rivals Samsung and Apple Inc in the lucrative handset market. The Lumia 925 is the latest in Nokia's range using Microsoft's Windows Phone software and will be sold for 469 euros ($610) before taxes and subsidies through carriers such as Vodafone and China Mobile. ... More »Nokia unveils new metal-body Lumia smartphone
By Gerry Shih SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Square Inc, a closely watched payment-processing company, made a significant push into the hardware business on Tuesday, unveiling a new credit-card reader that it claimed could be the centrepiece of the next-generation checkout counter. At a press event in a sunlit San Francisco cafe, Chief Executive Jack Dorsey introduced the "Square Stand," a white, moulded-plastic iPad holder that lets businesses accept credit cards with a mounted iPad and an integrated card reader. ... More »Square expands its hardware push with new cash register
By Jessica Dye NEW YORK (Reuters) - A seventh defendant pleaded not guilty on Tuesday to charges he participated in a global ATM heist that stole $45 million (29.5 million pounds) from two Middle East banks. Elvis Rodriguez, 24, was accused of being a member of a "casher" crew that withdrew hundreds of thousands of dollars in New York as part of the heist. Six other members of the New York crew pleaded not guilty last week. An eighth person, Alberto Lajud-Pena, 23, described by prosecutors as the leader of the crew, was murdered in the Dominican Republic on April 27, police there said. U.S. ... More »Seventh New York defendant pleads not guilty in cyber heist
Scientists said Tuesday they have found a way to extract gold from ore using a seemingly unlikely pantry item -- cornstarch. More »Cornstarch proves to be worth its weight in gold
By Alexei Oreskovic SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Google Inc Chief Executive Larry Page provided the first public details of the voice ailment that sidelined him from speaking engagements last summer, saying that he has limited movement in his left and right vocal cords. The 40-year-old co-founder of the world's No. ... More »Google CEO says vocal cords affected by "very rare" condition
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Dell Inc will report on Thursday fiscal first-quarter earnings below expectations, the Wall Street Journal cited a person briefed on the company's results as saying. The world's No. 3 PC maker planned to report earnings excluding "some expenses" of 20 cents a share, lagging an average estimate for 35 cents, the Journal cited the unidentified person as saying. (Reporting by Edwin Chan; Editing by Gerald E. McCormick) More »Dell's Q1 earnings to come in below expectations -WSJ
After seeing carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere surpass a historic threshold last week, the world should brace for the new peak level to soon become the global annual average, the World Meteorological Organization warned Tuesday. More »Historic carbon peak soon to become global average: WMO
It will be a "disaster" if difficult talks on reform of the EU's under-pressure fishing regime fail to deliver an agreement, Ireland warned Tuesday, calling on all sides to compromise. More »Failure of EU fisheries talks would be 'disaster': Ireland
Mobile phone giant BlackBerry has announced plans to make its instant messaging service available to those with iPhones or Androids. More »BlackBerry unveils messaging plans
By Euan Rocha ORLANDO, Florida (Reuters) - BlackBerry announced plans on Tuesday to offer its popular instant messaging system on rival devices and introduced a new mid-tier smartphone targeted at countries where its faded brand remains strong. Tapping into its still robust popularity outside North America, BlackBerry said the new Q5 smartphone would be available starting in July in selected markets in Europe, Latin America, Asia, the Middle East and Africa. The Q5 includes the tiny qwerty keyboard that still sets BlackBerry apart from most rivals. ... More »BlackBerry opens up messaging, unveils mid-tier smartphone
SEATTLE (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp's forthcoming update to its personal computer operating system will be called Windows 8.1 and will be available later this year free to existing Windows 8 customers, the marketing chief for the Windows unit said on Tuesday. The world's largest software company has been touting the update, previously code-named 'Blue,' as a series of improvements to the Windows 8 software, launched in October, which has not been as popular as it had hoped. ... More »Microsoft unveils free Windows 8.1 update
By Ethan Bilby BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Commission plans to send a formal warning to China that it is ready to levy sanctions against telecoms equipment makers Huawei and ZTE Corp over illegal subsidies, people close to the matter said. EU trade chief Karel De Gucht is set to win support from the bloc's executive on Wednesday to send the warning letter and show China's new president, Xi Jinping, that Brussels is serious about countering what it says is state support. ... More »Exclusive - EU to warn China it may levy duties against Huawei - sources
CAIRO (Reuters) - Egyptian group Orascom Telecom Holding's management has recommended shareholders reject an offer by a subsidiary of Russian billionaire Mikhail Fridman's Altimo to buy the company for $0.70 (46 pence) a share. A Cyprus-based subsidiary of Altimo made the offer in late March. Orascom has mobile businesses in Canada, Algeria and other emerging markets such as Bangladesh. A statement by Orascom said that an independent financial adviser had put a fair value on Orascom's shares of $0.86 per share. "Hence we see that the offer price is below the fair value of the share by 18. ... More »Egypt's Orascom Telecom says it rejects Altimo's buyout offer
Scientists at NASA are right now working on the first practical field test toward proving the possibility of warp drive. More »Warp Speed, Scotty? Star Trek's FTL Drive May Actually Work
By Alexei Oreskovic SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Yahoo Inc plans to ramp up advertising and marketing efforts as it seeks to break its reliance on an "aging demographic" and become more relevant among young adults, the company's finance chief said on Tuesday. The struggling Web portal's brand will be more visible on outdoor billboards and at sporting events, among other places, as it seeks to woo 18-to-34-year-olds and get the word out about new products, CFO Ken Goldman said at the J.P. Morgan Global Technology, Media and Telecom conference in Boston on Tuesday. ... More »Yahoo to ramp up marketing to woo younger users, says CFO
By Kylie MacLellan LONDON (Reuters) - The collapse of the bid by private equity firm CVC Capital Partners to take Betfair private highlights how it has become increasingly difficult to pull off such deals. CVC said on Tuesday that it had ended its 1 billion pound ($1.5 billion) attempt to buy the online gambling company after the two failed to agree on price and strategy. Public-to-private deals, where a company listed on a stock market is bought out by a private buyer, helped to drive the boom in private equity dealmaking in 2006 and 2007. ... More »Failed bid for Betfair highlights public-to-private pitfalls