By Noel Randewich SAN FRANCISCO | Mon Dec 10, 2012 4:31pm EST SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Intel presented new manufacturing technology that it said keeps it on track to launch a new generation of chips for smartphones and tablets as it rushes to catch up with Qualcomm and other rivals in the fast-growing mobile market. The world's largest chipmaker...

BOSTON | Mon Dec 10, 2012 4:29pm EST BOSTON (Reuters) - Google Inc began selling basic laptop computers to schools at a price of $99, meeting a price point that prominent MIT professor Nicholas Negroponte famously held out in 2005 as key to bringing computing power to the masses. The Internet giant said on Monday that it will be offering the steep educat...

By Sarah McBride SAN FRANCISCO | Mon Dec 10, 2012 4:19pm EST SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - For the first time, individuals and companies that do not themselves make anything - commonly known as "patent trolls" - are bringing the majority of U.S. patent lawsuits, according to a study by a California law professor. The sharp increase in this type of la...

WASHINGTON | Mon Dec 10, 2012 4:18pm EST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Defense Department on Monday notified Congress that it had approved an arms sale valued at $421 million to Japan for upgrades to its Aegis missile defense system built by Lockheed Martin Corp, and related equipment. The Defense Security Cooperation Agency, which oversees foreign arm...

By Kurt Anthony Krug DETROIT | Mon Dec 10, 2012 4:14pm EST DETROIT (Reuters) - It was the death of Walter Harris, a 17-year veteran Detroit firefighter, in an abandoned building four years ago that inspired Tom Putnam and Brenna Sanchez to film their documentary "BURN." "(Harris) was killed in the collapse of an abandoned building while fighting ...

By Charles Abbott WASHINGTON | Mon Dec 10, 2012 4:12pm EST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Congress should slash at least $100 billion in costs from the U.S. farm bill - three or four times more than cuts currently proposed - and resist calls for a hurry-up vote this week, a dozen anti-deficit and environmental groups said on Monday. At a news conference,...

JERUSALEM | Mon Dec 10, 2012 4:06pm EST JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Iran is getting ever closer to being able to build a nuclear bomb and the problem will have to be confronted in 2013, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday. Israeli officials would like the United States to take the lead in a military assault on Iran's nuclear sites, but say...

Mon Dec 10, 2012 3:53pm EST (Reuters) - The National Hockey League (NHL) canceled another two weeks of the regular season on Monday, wiping out all games through December 30 due to a labor dispute with locked-out players that threatens to wipe out the entire campaign. The decision, which comes less than a week after labor talks between the NHL and union represent...

PARIS | Mon Dec 10, 2012 3:40pm EST PARIS (Reuters) - Lance Armstrong has been notified by the UCI that he has been stripped of all the titles he won after July 1998 and the American has three weeks to appeal, a spokesman for cycling's world governing body said on Monday. "Lance Armstrong's lawyer was notified on 6th December that all his results since 1...

REDFORD, Michigan | Mon Dec 10, 2012 3:36pm EST REDFORD, Michigan (Reuters) - President Barack Obama on Monday threw his support behind labor unions opposed to a Republican-led drive for "right-to-work" laws in Michigan, saying efforts to pass such measures were not about economics but about politics. Obama used a visit to an auto plant in the cradle of ...

By Mariam Karouny BEIRUT | Mon Dec 10, 2012 3:31pm EST BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syrian rebels expect greater military help from Gulf Arab states after they announced a new command structure which aims finally to unite President Bashar al-Assad's armed opponents, rebel commanders said on Monday. Rebel fighters have made gains across the country in the l...

By Rob Taylor CANBERRA | Mon Dec 10, 2012 3:16pm EST CANBERRA (Reuters) - Two Australian radio announcers who made a prank call to a British hospital treating Prince William's pregnant wife Kate broke a three-day silence on Monday to speak of their distress at the apparent suicide of the nurse who took their call. The 2DayFM Sydney-based announce...

By Tim McLaughlin BOSTON | Mon Dec 10, 2012 3:10pm EST BOSTON (Reuters) - Goldman Sachs bankers failed to raise red flags about Lernout & Hauspie's accounting irregularities more than a decade ago, costing speech recognition software pioneers at Dragon Systems nearly all of their life's work and about $600 million, a lawyer told a jury on Mon...

By Kate Holton and Alexei Oreskovic LONDON/SAN FRANCISCO | Mon Dec 10, 2012 2:57pm EST LONDON/SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - British TV decoder maker Pace Plc said on Monday that it had made an early-stage proposal to Internet group Google Inc to acquire its set-top TV box maker Motorola Home. "Discussions with Google are currently at a preliminary st...

Mon Dec 10, 2012 2:28pm EST (Reuters) - The American Football Conference's (AFC) North division-leading Baltimore Ravens fired offensive coordinator Cam Cameron following two consecutive defeats, the National Football League team said on Monday. In an unusual move for a 9-4 team poised to clinch their division title, Ravens head coach John Harbaugh said he elevat...

SAN FRANCISCO | Mon Dec 10, 2012 2:17pm EST SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Several Google Inc Web products, including the popular GMail service, appeared to go dark for users on several continents on Monday. Google confirmed that "service disruptions" had affected GMail and Google Drive, its online storage service. The two products are part of Google's Apps s...

By John Mkhize PRETORIA | Mon Dec 10, 2012 1:43pm EST PRETORIA (Reuters) - Nelson Mandela, the 94-year-old former South African president and revered anti-apartheid leader, is to undergo more tests in hospital on Monday after having a good rest on his second night in the facility, the government said. A statement from the office of President Jaco...

By Zorianna Kit LOS ANGELES | Mon Dec 10, 2012 1:18pm EST LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Andy Serkis reprises his role as Gollum in "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey," to be released worldwide this week, but his main role this time was as a second unit director, shooting battle sequences in 3D for director Peter Jackson. The British-born actor, 48, who...

By Madeline O'Leary BRUSSELS | Mon Dec 10, 2012 9:26am EST BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Comic artist Brecht Evens decided to break away from the traditional comic strip images of clear lines and pencil sketches developed in Belgium more than half a century ago. After surviving at first on government subsidies, in 2010 he produced a graphic novel featurin...

LONDON | Mon Dec 10, 2012 9:13am EST LONDON (Reuters) - World number one Rory McIlroy won the 2012 European Golf Writers Trophy on Monday after a spectacular season during which he landed his second major title and topped the money-list on both sides of the Atlantic. The 23-year-old Northern Irishman, who added the U.S. PGA Championship to the U.S. Open ...

By Alistair Lyon and Yasmine Saleh CAIRO | Mon Dec 10, 2012 9:11am EST CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt's Islamist president has given the army temporary power to arrest civilians to help secure a constitutional referendum seen by the Muslim Brotherhood as a triumph for democracy and by its liberal foes as a religious straitjacket. President Mohamed Mursi...

By John Mkhize PRETORIA | Mon Dec 10, 2012 9:10am EST PRETORIA (Reuters) - Nelson Mandela, the 94-year-old former South African president and revered anti-apartheid leader, is to undergo more tests in hospital on Monday after having a good rest on his second night in the facility, the government said. A statement from the office of President Jaco...

BEIRUT | Mon Dec 10, 2012 9:07am EST BEIRUT (Reuters) - War-ravaged Syria's economy will shrink by a fifth in 2012 and all its foreign reserves could be spent by the end of next year, a global finance industry association said on Monday. Since a revolt that has since descended into civil war started in March 2...

By Luiza Ilie and Ioana Patran BUCHAREST | Mon Dec 10, 2012 9:05am EST BUCHAREST (Reuters) - Romanian President Traian Basescu was left little choice on Monday but to reappoint rival Victor Ponta as prime minister after the leftist's party won an election resoundingly. Ponta's Social Liberal Union...

Mon Dec 10, 2012 9:00am EST (Reuters) - McDonald's Corp (MCD.N) reported on Monday a stronger-than-expected 2.4 percent rise in November sales at established restaurants, helped by demand for breakfast in the United States and lower-priced offerings in Europe. Analysts on average had expected a 0.17 percent rise in sales at restaurants open at least 13 months, ac...

Mon Dec 10, 2012 8:58am EST (Reuters) - Diversified manufacturer Ingersoll-Rand Plc (IR.N) said it will spin off its security division and buy back $2 billion of shares, yielding to pressure from activist investor Nelson Peltz. The company, known for its heating and cooling systems, also raised its quarterly dividend to 21 cents per share.Shares of the company, w...

By Rhys Jones LONDON | Mon Dec 10, 2012 8:57am EST LONDON (Reuters) - Richard Branson said he planned to keep control of Virgin Atlantic VA.UL and IAG (ICAG.L) boss Willie Walsh was misguided for saying the brand would be ditched by U.S. suitor Delta Air Lines (DAL.N). "Rumors have been spread in the press that I am planning to give up control of...

VALLETTA | Mon Dec 10, 2012 8:48am EST VALLETTA (Reuters)- - The Maltese government faces a crucial budget vote in parliament on Monday, with one of its MPs saying he will vote with the opposition, potentially bringing forward an election due early next year. The ruling Nationalist Party of Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi has a one-seat majority in the 69-...

By Ben Berkowitz and Denny Thomas NEW YORK/HONG KONG | Mon Dec 10, 2012 8:39am EST NEW YORK/HONG KONG (Reuters) - American International Group Inc (AIG.N) is to sell nearly all of ILFC (ILFC.N), the world's second-largest airplane leasing business, to a Chinese consortium for up to $4.8 billion, giving the fastest growing aviation market easier a...

By Manuela D'Alessandro MILAN | Mon Dec 10, 2012 8:33am EST MILAN (Reuters) - Milan magistrates ordered police on Monday to search for a Moroccan nightclub dancer at the center of a sex trial involving Silvio Berlusconi, now seeking a fifth term as prime minister in an election next year, after she failed to show up in court. The incident, two da...

By Mohammed Abbas LONDON | Mon Dec 10, 2012 8:20am EST LONDON (Reuters) - The European Union will look at ways on Monday to press Israel to ditch a plan to build settlements in a highly sensitive area of the occupied West Bank, but hold off on tough action soon despite international outrage over the decision. Some officials say that options for r...

By Andrew Cawthorne and Diego Ore CARACAS | Mon Dec 10, 2012 8:19am EST CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez flew to Cuba early on Monday for cancer surgery, vowing to return quickly despite admitting the disease could curb his 14-year rule of the South American OPEC nation. "I leave full of hope. We are warriors, full of light an...

PARIS | Mon Dec 10, 2012 8:16am EST PARIS (Reuters) - Economic growth appears to be gathering traction in the United States and Britain, while China and Italy may be about to turn up, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development said on Monday. Signals continue to point to weak growth in Germany, France and the euro zone as a whole, however...

By Leah Schnurr NEW YORK | Mon Dec 10, 2012 9:12am EST NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks were set to open little changed on Monday as investors awaited any sign of progress in talks to avert the United States' so-called fiscal cliff of tax hikes and spending cuts. Developments in Europe weighed after Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti said he would res...

KHARTOUM | Mon Dec 10, 2012 8:14am EST KHARTOUM (Reuters) - Sudan and South Sudan have asked the African Union to help hammer out details of a proposed withdrawal of troops from their disputed border, defense ministers from both countries said on Monday, as stalled talks continued to delay oil exports. Week-long negotiations in Khartoum failed to reach a...

By Jonny Hogg and Ed Stoddard GOMA, Democratic Republic of Congo | Mon Dec 10, 2012 8:08am EST GOMA, Democratic Republic of Congo (Reuters) - When Congo's government army retreated in panic from the eastern city of Goma last month, many observers blamed the poor morale and leadership, ill discipline and corruption that have sapped its fighting ca...

By Christiaan Hetzner FRANKFURT | Mon Dec 10, 2012 8:04am EST FRANKFURT (Reuters) - General Motors Co's (GM.N) Opel unit came a major step nearer to closing its Bochum plant in Germany, telling the roughly 3,000 workers it had not changed its mind about ending vehicle production in 2016. Opel said it had made rigorous efforts to rescue car manufa...

By George Georgiopoulos and Jan Strupczewski ATHENS/BRUSSELS | Mon Dec 10, 2012 7:59am EST ATHENS/BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Greece extended its offer to buy back debt until Tuesday, seeking more bids from bondholders after falling short of a target to retire bonds worth 30 billion euros at a cost of just 10 billion euros. The buyback is designed to pr...

By Aileen Wang and Kevin Yao BEIJING | Mon Dec 10, 2012 6:53am EST BEIJING (Reuters) - China's exports growth slowed sharply to a much lower than expected 2.9 percent in November, a customs report said on Monday, underscoring the global headwinds dragging on an economy showing otherwise solid signs of a pick up in domestic activity. Data at the w...

Mon Dec 10, 2012 6:46am EST (Reuters) - The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the deadline to sign South Korean pitcher Ryu Hyun-jin to a six-year contract worth $36 million on Sunday, and could be set to bolster their rotation further with reports linking them to free agent Zack Greinke. The Dodgers had paid more than $25 million for an exclusive 30-day negotiating perio...