By Nick Mulvenney SYDNEY | Fri Dec 7, 2012 1:32am EST SYDNEY (Reuters) - Few issues in the world of golf arouse more excitement than the potential of the Chinese market and schoolboy Guan Tianlang is learning fast that every promising talent from the country is going to be subject to intense scrutiny. The 14-year-old showed that he might just hav...

By Steve Keating OAKLAND, California | Fri Dec 7, 2012 1:29am EST OAKLAND, California (Reuters) - The surging Denver Broncos pounded the Oakland Raiders 26-13 on Thursday, stretching their winning streak to eight games as Peyton Manning reached another career passing milestone. Having already clinched the AFC West crown and established their cred...

By Simon Evans MIAMI | Fri Dec 7, 2012 12:51am EST MIAMI (Reuters) - The Miami Heat suffered their worst home defeat of the 'Big Three' era as the defending NBA champions crashed to a 112-92 loss to a New York Knicks team without their star forward Carmelo Anthony. The Knicks have sole leadership of the Eastern Conference with a 14-4 record, ahea...

By Gyles Beckford WELLINGTON | Fri Dec 7, 2012 12:09am EST WELLINGTON (Reuters) - Film maker Peter Jackson wants to scare children with his latest movie - and perhaps even a few grown ups. The first of the Hobbit movie trilogy - "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey" - is about to hit theatres, and Jackson says he's tried to hold true to its roots a...

Fri Dec 7, 2012 12:02am EST (Reuters) - Four top U.S. mobile phone service companies have agreed to set up a service to allow people to send text messages to emergency aid call center 911, the Federal Communication Commission (FCC) said. At present, emergency 911 services can be accessed only through a phone call. The change will particularly help people with hea...

Fri Dec 7, 2012 12:00am EST (Reuters) - The slumping San Diego Chargers said on Thursday that media talk of general manager A.J. Smith and head coach Norv Turner being fired at the end of the season was "pure speculation". According to the San Diego Union-Tribune, club sources have confirmed that both men will go, a report that prompted Chargers president Dean Sp...

By Edwin Chan and Nicola Leske SAN FRANCISCO/NEW YORK | Thu Dec 6, 2012 10:37pm EST SAN FRANCISCO/NEW YORK (Reuters) - Apple Inc plans to move some production of Macintosh computers to the United States from China next year, Chief Executive Tim Cook said in remarks published on Thursday, in what could be a important test of the nascent comeback i...

By Sinead Carew NEW YORK | Thu Dec 6, 2012 10:21pm EST NEW YORK (Reuters) - T-Mobile USA said on Thursday it planned to stop subsidizing smartphones, the first major U.S. carrier to do so, in a move it hopes will cut costs and woo customers frustrated with restrictions on upgrades in longer-term contracts. T-Mobile USA also announced an agreement...

By Noel Randewich SAN JOSE, California | Thu Dec 6, 2012 9:15pm EST SAN JOSE, California (Reuters) - Apple Inc and Samsung Electronics squared off again in court on Thursday, as the iPhone maker tried to convince a U.S. district judge to ban sales of a number of the South Korean company's devices and defended its $1.05 billion jury award. Apple s...

By Yasmine Saleh and Tom Perry CAIRO | Thu Dec 6, 2012 7:45pm EST CAIRO (Reuters) - Demonstrators rejected a call from Egypt's Islamist President Mohamed Mursi for a national dialogue after deadly clashes around his palace, demanding the "downfall of the regime" - the chant that brought down Hosni Mubarak. Mursi said in a televised speech late on...

By Lomi Kriel and Sofia Menchu GUATEMALA CITY | Thu Dec 6, 2012 7:31pm EST GUATEMALA CITY (Reuters) - Software guru John McAfee, fighting deportation to Belize, was rushed to a hospital in Guatemala on Thursday shortly after his asylum request was rejected, but a suspected heart attack turned out to be stress in a fresh twist to the saga. The 67-...

By Peter Rudegeair Thu Dec 6, 2012 7:16pm EST (Reuters) - New Jersey Governor Chris Christie said on Thursday he vetoed a bill that would have created a health insurance exchange for his state under President Barack Obama's signature healthcare program. Christie, whose announcement came on a day when he was visiting the White House to discuss tens of bill...

WASHINGTON | Thu Dec 6, 2012 7:07pm EST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - In a development that could complicate Republican efforts to limit funding for a key provision of President Barack Obama's healthcare law, a top congressional researcher said the issue of restricting subsidies never arose in producing the legislation. Congressional staff involved in the creat...

By David Alexander WASHINGTON | Thu Dec 6, 2012 7:07pm EST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States is shifting warships into position to track and possibly defend against a planned North Korean rocket launch while urging Pyongyang to cancel its second such attempt this year, the head of the U.S. Pacific Command said on Thursday. Admiral Samuel L...

By Nidal al-Mughrabi GAZA | Thu Dec 6, 2012 7:06pm EST GAZA (Reuters) - Hamas's exiled leader will step onto Palestinian land for the first time in 45 years on Friday for a "victory rally" in the Gaza Strip, displaying his newfound confidence after last month's conflict with Israel. The Islamist group's leader, Khaled Meshaal, who has not visited...

By Nate Raymond NEW YORK | Thu Dec 6, 2012 6:37pm EST NEW YORK (Reuters) - A group of investors including state pension funds in North Carolina and Arkansas will be the lead plaintiffs in securities lawsuits arising out of Facebook Inc's $16 billion initial public offering, a U.S. judge ruled on Thursday. The investors, in a proposed class-action...

Thu Dec 6, 2012 6:35pm EST (Reuters) - Flight attendants of Compass Airlines, a feeder service for Delta Air Lines Inc (DAL.N), said they sought arbitration by the National Mediation Board (NMB) that will allow them to strike if management fails to negotiate a new agreement. The flight attendants, represented by the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA (AFA), sai...

NEW YORK | Thu Dec 6, 2012 6:28pm EST NEW YORK (Reuters) - Broadcom Corp said on Thursday it would provide sample chips supporting the latest high-speed wireless services to its top cellphone customers in 2013. This could help the company compete better with bigger rival Qualcomm Inc, which is years ahead of its peers in Long Term Evolution (LTE), the hi...

By John McCrank NEW YORK | Thu Dec 6, 2012 6:26pm EST NEW YORK (Reuters) - Political, fiscal, and regulatory uncertainty in the United States is hampering capital investment in the country and beyond, Tom Kloet, chief executive of TMX Group (X.TO), Canada's biggest exchange operator, said on Thursday. Kloet, a Chicago native who guided TMX throug...

By Noel Randewich SAN JOSE | Thu Dec 6, 2012 6:25pm EST SAN JOSE (Reuters) - Apple Inc and Samsung Electronics squared off again in court on Thursday, as the iPhone maker prepares to convince a U.S. district judge to ban sales of a number of the Korean company's devices and defend a $1.05 billion jury award. Apple scored a sweeping legal victory ...

SAN FRANCISCO | Thu Dec 6, 2012 6:25pm EST SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Netflix Inc said securities regulators plan to take action against the company because of a Facebook post by Chief Executive Reed Hastings that allegedly violated public disclosure rules, even as Hastings dismissed the contention in a public letter to shareholders on Thursday. "We remai...

By Michael Holden LONDON | Thu Dec 6, 2012 6:22pm EST LONDON (Reuters) - Max Clifford, Britain's highest-profile celebrity publicist, was arrested for alleged sex crimes on Thursday by a special police unit set up in the wake of an abuse scandal involving a former BBC TV star, his lawyer said. Clifford, 69, made his name and fortune helping some ...

By Kwasi Kpodo and Richard Valdmanis ACCRA | Thu Dec 6, 2012 6:16pm EST ACCRA (Reuters) - Ghanaians choose on Friday who will run one of Africa's most stable democracies as a surge in oil revenues promises to boost development and economic growth. Ghana has earned a reputation as an oasis of stability and progress in West Africa, a part of the wo...

By Diane Bartz WASHINGTON | Thu Dec 6, 2012 6:04pm EST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Critics of Google, fearing that an antitrust investigation into the search giant by the Federal Trade Commission will not produce a strong conclusion, may be ready to take their grievances next to the Justice Department. At least one Google adversary met with Justice De...

By Ryan Vlastelica NEW YORK | Thu Dec 6, 2012 6:03pm EST NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks closed modestly higher on Thursday, a day ahead of the key monthly jobs report, as a rebound in shares of Apple helped boost technology shares. Traders were reluctant to bet heavily a day before the Friday release of the November employment report. Just 5.62 bill...

By Erika Solomon and David Brunnstrom BEIRUT/DUBLIN | Thu Dec 6, 2012 6:03pm EST BEIRUT/DUBLIN (Reuters) - The two superpowers divided by Syria's civil war met head to head on Thursday, with signs emerging that Russia might curb its support for President Bashar al-Assad and Washington saying events were gathering speed on the ground. U.S. Secreta...

By Jed Horowitz NEW YORK | Thu Dec 6, 2012 5:50pm EST NEW YORK (Reuters) - JPMorgan Chase & Co and BlackRock Inc voiced concerns about Hewlett-Packard Co and Research In Motion Ltd this week, saying business and operational struggles may affect the reliability of two of the biggest technology service providers. "We are concerned about some of...

By Patrick Temple-West WASHINGTON | Thu Dec 6, 2012 5:38pm EST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The top U.S. tax collector warned on Thursday of a delayed start to 2013's tax season if Congress fails to reset the alternative minimum tax (AMT) on high-income taxpayers so that it does not sweep in millions of middle-income people. Without another adjustment ...

SAN FRANCISCO | Thu Dec 6, 2012 5:36pm EST SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Advanced Micro Devices will scale back on purchases from manufacturing partner GlobalFoundries Inc in 2013, helping the struggling microprocessor company conserve cash as the personal computer market continues to decelerate. A distant runner-up to Intel Corp, AMD is trying to raise capi...

LANSING, Michigan | Thu Dec 6, 2012 5:34pm EST LANSING, Michigan (Reuters) - The Michigan House on Thursday voted to approve a "right-to-work" bill that would weaken labor union powers after Democratic representatives left the chambers in protest at the decision earlier to lock the state Capitol doors. The House voted 58 to 52 to approve a bill that woul...

By Kim Dixon and Thomas Ferraro WASHINGTON | Thu Dec 6, 2012 4:57pm EST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Senator Jim DeMint, a leading voice in the modern American conservative movement who has riled fellow Republicans as well as Democrats, surprised both parties on Thursday by declaring he was retiring from the chamber to head a conservative think tank. D...

By Deepa Seetharaman DETROIT | Thu Dec 6, 2012 4:29pm EST DETROIT (Reuters) - Ford Motor Co's (F.N) C-Max and Fusion hybrids fell about 20 percent short of its fuel economy claims, Consumer Reports magazine said after running tests on both models. The influential magazine said the Fusion hybrid delivered 39 miles per gallon both on the highway an...

By Lauren Tara LaCapra and Jennifer Hoyt Cummings Thu Dec 6, 2012 4:22pm EST (Reuters) - Morgan Stanley (MS.N) will shift the way advisers in its wealth management business are paid next year, cutting bonuses tied to the amount of revenue they bring in and rewarding them instead for growing assets and loans. Advisers, who learned of the new plan Thursday ...

By Jessica Wohl CHICAGO | Thu Dec 6, 2012 4:15pm EST CHICAGO (Reuters) - The falloff in visits to U.S. stores the week after Thanksgiving was not as steep this year as last, as retailers appear to be doing a better job of luring shoppers during the holiday season, the founder of shopper counting firm ShopperTrak said. So what exactly is ShopperTr...

By Edith Honan and Hilary Russ NEW YORK | Thu Dec 6, 2012 3:51pm EST NEW YORK (Reuters) - Former U.S. Vice President Al Gore on Thursday sharply criticized President Barack Obama, a fellow Democrat, for failing to make global warming a priority issue, saying action was more urgent than ever after the devastation in the Northeast from Superstorm S...

By Yves Clarisse and Catherine Bremer PARIS | Thu Dec 6, 2012 3:46pm EST PARIS (Reuters) - A politically charged deal between the French government and ArcelorMittal to preserve jobs at an ailing steelworks looked at risk of unraveling on Thursday after the global steel giant ditched a bid to run an EU-funded project there. ArcelorMittal (ISPA.AS...

By Giuseppe Fonte and Barry Moody ROME | Thu Dec 6, 2012 3:08pm EST ROME (Reuters) - Silvio Berlusconi's party withdrew its support for Prime Minister Mario Monti on Thursday, raising the risk of a snap election in Italy, but President Giorgio Napolitano said he would work to avoid a crisis and there was no need for alarm. The centre-right People...

By Christine Murray LONDON | Thu Dec 6, 2012 2:37pm EST LONDON (Reuters) - Coffee chain Starbucks (SBUX.O) said it could pay about 20 million pounds in corporation tax in Britain over the next two years, surrendering to widespread public criticism over allegations of tax avoidance. "We are making a commitment that we will propose to pay a signifi...

By Anthony Deutsch and Thomas Escritt AMSTERDAM | Thu Dec 6, 2012 2:35pm EST AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - Human error was probably to blame for a collision that killed five crew and sank the Baltic Ace car carrier, its Greek manager said on Thursday, and Dutch rescuers said it was unlikely six missing seamen would be found alive. The Dutch Defence Minis...

SAN FRANCISCO | Thu Dec 6, 2012 2:32pm EST SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Facebook Inc is in negotiations with Microsoft Corp about acquiring advertising technology that could allow the social network displays ads on other websites, broadly expanding its advertising business, according to media reports on Thursday. Facebook is in "serious" discussions with Mi...