By Andrew Downie SAO PAULO | Wed Nov 14, 2012 6:07am EST SAO PAULO (Reuters) - Brazilians like to say theirs is the country of soccer and it has certainly given the world strong candidates for the greatest player, the greatest team and even the greatest stadium. In the nation that will host the next World Cup, however, fewer people go to see prof...

BARCELONA | Wed Nov 14, 2012 5:14am EST BARCELONA (Reuters) - Companies will double or triple spending on cybersecurity in the coming years as attacks grow more sophisticated and frequent, creating a billion dollar business opportunity for U.S. carrier AT&T Inc, it said on Wednesday. Attacks on AT&T networks have doubled in the past four months a...

By Joyce Lee SEOUL | Wed Nov 14, 2012 5:09am EST SEOUL (Reuters) - A feud at South Korea's giant Samsung Group over the family fortune has spilled from the courts into an ancestral rite to commemorate the group's deceased founder, a traditional Korean ceremony where family attendance is mandatory. Descendants of Samsung founder Lee Byung-chull, i...

By Zorianna Kit LOS ANGELES | Wed Nov 14, 2012 5:02am EST LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Bradley Cooper may be best known for his role in the hugely successful comedy franchise "The Hangover," but the American actor is gaining positive reviews for his role as a bipolar former teacher in "Silver Linings Playbook." In the film, which will be released on F...

FANLING, Hong Kong | Wed Nov 14, 2012 3:27am EST FANLING, Hong Kong (Reuters) - Rory McIlroy could be forgiven for taking his foot off the gas at this week's Hong Kong Open after securing the money list titles on both sides of the Atlantic with a third-place finish in Singapore on Sunday. However, the British world number one insists the adrenaline that ...

By Peter Rutherford SINGAPORE | Wed Nov 14, 2012 3:07am EST SINGAPORE (Reuters) - China lies at the heart of global expansion plans for many of the world's biggest sports organizations. But whether it's the search for a new superstar or selling caps to 1.3 billion people, most find cracking the Chinese market a whole new ball game. Among the heav...

By Steve Keating AUSTIN, Texas | Wed Nov 14, 2012 3:04am EST AUSTIN, Texas (Reuters) - The eyes of the motor racing world will be riveted on Texas this weekend as Formula One makes its return to the United States but it is unclear if Americans will be watching, even with a driver's championship on the line. The stage has been set for a Sunday of ...

Wed Nov 14, 2012 2:52am EST (Reuters) - A blockbuster baseball trade sending high-salaried players Jose Reyes and pitchers Josh Johnson and Mark Buehrle from the Miami Marlins to the Toronto Blue Jays was close to completion, numerous local media outlets reported on Tuesday. Final details of the trade were not yet available as neither team was offering official c...

By Ian Ransom MELBOURNE | Wed Nov 14, 2012 2:46am EST MELBOURNE (Reuters) - Ian Poulter converted his sparkling Ryder Cup form into his second World Golf Championship victory in Shenzhen earlier this month and will hope to maintain his strong finish to the year by defending his Australian Masters title. Poulter will battle former major winner Gra...

By Jahmal Cornerbis LOS ANGELES | Wed Nov 14, 2012 2:39am EST LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - San Antonio's Danny Green drained a three-pointer with nine seconds remaining and the Spurs' defense then denied Kobe Bryant the ball as the Western Conference-leading Spurs produced a dramatic 84-82 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday. Bryant, who ro...

By Jahmal Cornerbis LOS ANGELES | Wed Nov 14, 2012 2:39am EST LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - San Antonio's Danny Green drained a three-pointer with nine seconds remaining and the Spurs' defense then denied Kobe Bryant the ball as the Western Conference-leading Spurs produced a dramatic 84-82 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday. Bryant, who ro...

TOKYO | Wed Nov 14, 2012 2:27am EST TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's Sony Corp said on Wednesday it will raise 150 billion yen ($1.9 billion) through a sale of convertible bonds, a third of which will be used for investment in Olympus Corp. Sony will issue the five-year bonds convertible into own shares also to finance the acquisition of U.S. firm Gaikai Inc, t...

Tue Nov 13, 2012 9:48pm EST (Reuters) - The controversial decision by the Los Angeles Lakers to appoint Mike D'Antoni as new head coach over 11-time NBA championship winner and fan favorite Phil Jackson ultimately hinged on playing style, the team said on Tuesday. Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak told reporters that no agreement was reached with Jackson about...

By Larry Fine NEW YORK | Tue Nov 13, 2012 9:03pm EST NEW YORK (Reuters) - Bob Melvin of the Oakland Athletics and Davey Johnson of the Washington Nationals were named managers of the year on Tuesday in voting by the Baseball Writers' Association of America. Melvin, who led Oakland to an unlikely American League West title, and Johnson, who steere...

By Kate Kelland LONDON | Tue Nov 13, 2012 7:16pm EST LONDON (Reuters) - Researchers have used DNA sequencing for the first time to identify, analyze and put a halt to an infectious disease outbreak in a hospital. The success of the technique, which used fast genome sequencing technology to control...

TOKYO | Tue Nov 13, 2012 6:58pm EST TOKYO (Reuters) - Intel Corp and Qualcomm Inc are in talks to jointly invest 16 billion yen to 24 billion yen ($200 million to $300 million) in struggling Japanese liquid crystal display maker Sharp Corp, Jiji news agency reported on Wednesday, citing unnamed sources. Other media reports, also based on anonymous source...

SAN FRANCISCO | Tue Nov 13, 2012 6:45pm EST SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Activist investor Carl Icahn increased his stake in video game publisher Take-Two Interactive Software Inc to 12.9 percent from 11.69 percent, according to a regulatory filing on Tuesday. This is the fourth time since November 5 that Icahn has scooped up stock in Take-Two, known for it...

By Nadia Damouni and Noel Randewich NEW YORK/SAN FRANCISCO | Tue Nov 13, 2012 6:23pm EST NEW YORK/SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Advanced Micro Devices has hired JPMorgan Chase & Co to explore options, which could include a sale, as the chipmaker struggles to find a role in an industry increasingly focused on mobile and away from traditional PCs, ...

Tue Nov 13, 2012 6:10pm EST (Reuters) - Cisco Systems Inc reported first quarter results that beat estimates but expects flat earnings and slower revenue growth for the current quarter. "We are modeling Europe to get worse before it gets better," Chief Executive John Chambers said on Tuesday, echoing his comments from the company's fourth-quarter earnings call in...

By Yasmine Saleh and John Irish CAIRO/PARIS | Tue Nov 13, 2012 6:06pm EST CAIRO/PARIS (Reuters) - France became the first European power to recognize Syria's new opposition coalition as the sole representative of its people and said on Tuesday it would look into arming rebels against President Bashar al-Assad once they form a government. Twenty m...

By Laura L. Myers TACOMA, Washington | Tue Nov 13, 2012 5:41pm EST TACOMA, Washington (Reuters) - A decorated U.S. soldier accused of killing 16 Afghan villagers carried out his rampage in a methodical manner and should face a court martial and, ultimately, the death penalty, a military prosecutor said on Tuesday. Army Prosecutor Major Rob Stelle...

Tue Nov 13, 2012 5:37pm EST (Reuters) - Stunned though he was that Phil Jackson has not returned as Los Angeles Lakers head coach, All-Star guard Kobe Bryant said on Tuesday he was excited about the prospect of playing under new appointee Mike D'Antoni. The Lakers shocked the basketball world on Monday when they named former Phoenix Suns and New York Knicks coach...

By Gerry Shih SAN FRANCISCO | Tue Nov 13, 2012 5:33pm EST SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Zynga Inc announced on Tuesday sweeping changes across its upper ranks, including the departure of chief financial officer, David Wehner, as the troubled game publisher sought to revive its business and quell months of management turmoil. The dominant publisher of...

CAIRNS, Australia | Tue Nov 13, 2012 5:30pm EST CAIRNS, Australia (Reuters) - A rare full solar eclipse plunged north Queensland into darkness for two minutes early on Wednesday, delighting the thousands of people who had gathered on the Australian state's beaches. In Cairns, the main city in north Queensland and a gateway to the Great Barrier Reef, clou...

By Euan Rocha WATERLOO, Ontario | Tue Nov 13, 2012 5:20pm EST WATERLOO, Ontario (Reuters) - Research In Motion is confident its new BlackBerry 10 devices will be 100 percent ready for the January 30 launch and available in stores "not too long after" that, Chief Operating Officer Kristian Tear said on Tuesday. "We're working hard right now to mak...

By Rodrigo Campos NEW YORK | Tue Nov 13, 2012 5:20pm EST NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks sold off late in the session on Tuesday, led by a slide in Microsoft shares, though retailers were a notable bright spot after Home Depot raised its outlook. Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O) was the most actively traded on Nasdaq, weighing on the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composi...

By Kevin Drawbaugh and David Lawder WASHINGTON | Tue Nov 13, 2012 4:12pm EST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Both sides in the "fiscal cliff" debate stood their ground on Tuesday as they gathered in Washington for the first time since the elections, with a fundamental tax dispute preventing a broader compromise on deficit reduction. The White House made c...

Tue Nov 13, 2012 3:52pm EST (Reuters) - The head of global sales at Intel Corp's McAfee Security division is leaving to take a job with another firm, McAfee said on Tuesday. The executive, Joe Sexton, is one of only a handful of top managers who had remained with the world's No. 2 maker of anti-virus software following its February 2011 sale to Intel for $7.7 bil...

NEW YORK | Tue Nov 13, 2012 2:48pm EST NEW YORK (Reuters) - Verizon Wireless said on Tuesday that it plans to sell HTC Corp's latest smartphone, the Droid DNA, as its flagship phone for the holiday season. The device may help HTC in its battle against arch-rivals Samsung Electronics and Apple Inc, to which it has heavily lost ground in recent years.While...

By Jonathan Weber SAN FRANCISCO | Tue Nov 13, 2012 2:14pm EST SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Nokia introduced a mapping application for the iPhone and other platforms on Tuesday and rebranded its geo-location services under the Here.com umbrella as it sought to exploit a bright spot in its product mix. Nokia also said it was partnering with Mozilla, m...

WASHINGTON | Tue Nov 13, 2012 1:25pm EST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama has faith in General John Allen to continue commanding U.S. forces in Afghanistan while under investigation for alleged inappropriate communication with a woman at the center of the scandal involving former CIA Director Davi...

Tue Nov 13, 2012 1:21pm EST (Reuters) - The head of global sales at Intel Corp's McAfee Security division is leaving the company to take a job with another firm, McAfee said on Tuesday. The executive, Joe Sexton, is one of only a handful of top managers who had remained with the world's No. 2 maker of anti-virus software following its February 2011 sale to Intel ...

By Yasmine Saleh CAIRO | Tue Nov 13, 2012 1:18pm EST CAIRO (Reuters) - The leader of Syria's new opposition coalition urged European states on Tuesday to recognize it as the legitimate government, enabling it to buy the weapons it needs to overthrow President Bashar al-Assad. Britain and France appeared to set further conditions, notably that it ...

By Peter Lauria Tue Nov 13, 2012 1:01pm EST (Reuters) - Former Walt Disney Co Chief Executive Michael Eisner has struck a distribution deal with Universal Pictures, a likely prelude to the media mogul raising money to fund film development. Terms of the multi-year deal call for Universal, owned by cable giant Comcast Corp, to market and distribute movies ...

MILAN | Tue Nov 13, 2012 12:35pm EST MILAN (Reuters) - Apple Inc has stopped selling a customer protection plan that raised concerns with Italy's antitrust authority, a company spokesman said on Tuesday. Italy's competition watchdog had threatened the U.S. giant with a fine and even temporary closure of its Italian operations if the company did not make ...

By Sami Aboudi MANAMA | Tue Nov 13, 2012 12:04pm EST MANAMA (Reuters) - Bahrain's King Hamad opened one of the largest theatres in the Middle East this week as part of a drive to smooth over months of unrest that have rocked the Gulf Arab state. But the creation of an elegant cubic glass structure with a golden-colored roof by the seaside may do ...

PARIS | Tue Nov 13, 2012 11:53am EST PARIS (Reuters) - Cycling's governing body is considering opening a hotline for riders wishing to discuss doping-related issues, International Cycling Union (UCI) president Pat McQuaid has said. The UCI stripped Lance Armstrong of his seven Tour de France titles last month after the United States Anti-Doping Agency (U...

By Kevin Drawbaugh and Kim Dixon WASHINGTON | Tue Nov 13, 2012 11:17am EST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - As major U.S. businesses dive into the Washington tax policy debate now that the presidential election is over, some are finding themselves in an awkward position after betting heavily on Mitt Romney. The Republican, who lost in last week's vote, was...

By Gerry Shih SAN FRANCISCO | Tue Nov 13, 2012 10:42am EST SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Two years ago, employees from the start-up Square Inc descended on farmers markets in San Francisco to hand out a new type of credit-card reader that let small, independent merchants accept plastic via their smartphones or tablets. But this month, when Starbucks ...

Tue Nov 13, 2012 10:18am EST (Reuters) - A preliminary hearing for Army Staff Sergeant Robert Bales, accused of killing 16 Afghan villagers in a massacre this year, was to enter its final stage on Tuesday with lawyers' closing statements. Army prosecutors and defense attorneys were expected to wrap up their arguments in the case against Bales, 39, a father of two...