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Intel Corp plans to reduce its global workforce of 107,000 by about 5 percent this year as the chipmaker, struggling with falling personal-computer sales, shifts focus to faster-growing areas, a company spokesman said on Friday. The announcement, equivalent to over 5,000 positions, comes a day after Intel posted a fourth-quarter earnings report that did little to dispel concerns about a slowing PC industry. "This is part of aligning our human resources to meet business needs," spokesman Chris Kraeuter said. The job reductions may include retirements, voluntary programs and other options, Kraeuter said, adding that Intel's typical annual attrition worldwide is about 4 percent. He declined to say whether details of the changes had been announced internally. On a conference call with analysts on Thursday after the earnings release, Chief Financial Officer Stacy Smith alluded to a reduction in employment this year and said that Intel would increase investments in area

If early reports are any indication, more U.S. companies may be missing the mark on profits this season than investors have become accustomed to. It is still early in the game. Results are in from just 10 percent of the Standard & Poor's 500 companies so far. But 50 percent have missed analysts' earnings estimates, compared with the long-term average of 63 percent for a full reporting period, according to Thomson Reuters data. What's more, the earnings beat rate, as it is sometimes called, has been even higher in recent years, averaging 67 percent for the last four quarters, the data showed. "For the first 52 on the clock, this is the worst start in terms of beats in about two years," said Nick Raich, chief executive officer of The Earnings Scout, an independent research firm specializing in earnings trends, in Cleveland, Ohio. His research showed that 70 percent of the first 52 S&P 500 companies to report results have beaten earnings expectations

Warner Bros. pushed back the release date of the still untitled film that will bring together superheroes Superman and Batman, delaying it by almost a year to May 2016, the studio said on Friday. _0"> The sequel to last year's hit Superman film "Man of Steel" was revealed at the Comic-Con convention last July by director Zack Snyder, who said the two DC Comics' caped crusaders will face off against each other. Warner Bros., a unit of Time Warner Inc, said in a statement that it needed to move back the date to allow "the filmmakers time to realize fully their vision, given the complex visual nature of the story." The decision was made after the start of production was moved to the second quarter of this year, Warner Bros. said. The superhero-duo was originally slated for July 17, 2015, and Warner Bros. said it would put a still untitled Peter Pan adventure into that slot. "We are happy to take advantage of these coveted summer dates, which

The cast of the 1970s crime caper "American Hustle" grooved its way to the top prize from the Screen Actors Guild on Saturday in a key test of the film's Oscar mettle six weeks ahead of a likely competitive race for Academy Awards. "American Hustle" from director David O. Russell has been hailed for its performances, although it won no individual acting awards on Saturday and only Jennifer Lawrence was nominated for her supporting role. It prevailed over another presumed Oscar front-runner, "12 Years a Slave," which only took home a best supporting actress trophy. Australian Cate Blanchett won best actress for her role as a socialite who suffers a breakdown in Woody Allen's "Blue Jasmine," while best actor went to Matthew McConaughey for his turn as an unlikely AIDS activist in "Dallas Buyers Club." Both actors are the clear front-runners for best acting Oscars after winning Golden Globes last Sunday. Screen Actors Guild (SA

A decade on from the 2003 U.S.-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein and whipped up a tsunami of theft in Baghdad, Iraq's National Museum is preparing to display its treasures of Mesopotamian culture - even if thousands are missing. The looting of the museum under the eyes of U.S. troops has sometimes been compared to the Mongol sack of the Grand Library of Baghdad in 1258. Then-U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld shrugged it off with the comment "stuff happens". But if many Iraqis still see the museum's looting as a symbol of the cavalier recklessness of the invasion, its current state is emblematic of the bloodshed, political discord and bureaucratic dysfunction that have racked Iraq ever since. Museum workers also hope it could one day encapsulate the promise and achievements of an oil-rich country which for millennia sat at the heart of human civilization. "The museum is now displaying some of the stolen antiquities that were recovered and rest

Queen Elizabeth's granddaughter, Zara Phillips, gave birth to a girl on Friday who becomes 16th in line to the British throne, Buckingham Palace said. _0"> It is Phillips' first child with her rugby-player husband Mike Tindall and the Queen's fourth great grandchild. The pair are known in Britain for their sporting success with Phillips, 32, the 15th in line to the throne, winning an equestrian silver medal at the London Olympic Games in 2012 and Tindall, 35, the former captain of the England rugby union team. The palace said in a statement: "Mrs. Michael Tindall today safely delivered a baby girl at Gloucestershire Royal Hospital. Mr. Tindall was present at the birth. The weight of the baby was 7lbs 12oz (3.5 kg). "The Queen, The Duke of Edinburgh, The Princess Royal, Captain Mark Phillips and Mike's parents, Mr. Phillip and Mrs. Linda Tindall, have been informed and are delighted with the news. The baby's name will be confirmed in due cours

Young U.S. consumers want vehicles outfitted with expensive technology that boosts gas mileage and keeps them safe and connected, according to a survey published on Thursday. But the high cost of car ownership remains a stumbling block. These consumers, ages 19 to 36 and known as Generation Y, are also three times more likely than their parents to abandon car ownership if costs escalate, consulting firm Deloitte LLP said in the study. The findings suggested that worries that the millennials, as members of Gen Y are also known, are eschewing vehicles altogether may be overblown. But winning them over means striking a balance between making cars affordable as well as technologically advanced. "Affordability is the mantra for Gen Y consumers who don't already own or lease a vehicle," Craig Giffi, head of Deloitte's U.S. automotive practice, said in a statement. Millennials account for some 80 million people in the United States, rivaling the baby boomer generation.

More than 1,000 rhinos were poached for their horns in South Africa in 2013, a record number and an increase of over 50 percent from the previous year, the country's department of environmental affairs said on Friday. Rhino hunting is driven by soaring demand in newly affluent Asian countries such as Vietnam and China , where the animal's horns are prized as a key ingredient in traditional medicine. Rhino horn has a street value of more than $65,000 a kg in Asia, conservation groups say, making it more valuable than platinum, gold or cocaine. The data is sure to ring conservation alarm bells about a downward population spiral in a country that is home to almost all of Africa and the world's rhinos, and it may bring renewed pressure on the government to do something to halt the slayings. In 2013, 1,004 of the massive animals were illegally killed in South Africa, compared with 668 the previous year and 448 in 2011. Most of the killings are taking place in South Africa

When Bosnia's National Library went up in flames in 1992 in a bombardment during the Bosnian Serb siege of Sarajevo, Mustafa Jahic knew he had to act to save his own institution's priceless collection. As curator of the almost 500-year-old Gazi Husrev Bey Library, Jahic was guardian of a treasure trove of Oriental literature in the heart of Sarajevo, a city under siege during Bosnia's 1992-95 war. The fruit of his and others' efforts will be rewarded next week when a new state-of-the-art library, a stone's throw from the original in the cobbled streets of Sarajevo's historic Bascarsija district, opens its doors. "A unique book that is destroyed can never be restored again," Jahic, 60, told Reuters. "So for me to save a single book became tantamount to saving a human life. It steered me through the war." Some 3 million books perished when the National Library and Sarajevo's Institute for Oriental Studies were razed in a bombardment

With an oink oink here and a cluck cluck there, animals arrived at the Vatican on Friday to get a blessing. _0"> The animals, including pigs, chickens, horses, cats and dogs, were at St. Peter's Square to mark the feast of St. Anthony the Abbot, the third-century holy man who is the Catholic Church's patron of animals. Farmers, ranchers and breeders brought their animals to the square for a blessing by Cardinal Angelo Comastri, the archpriest of St. Peter's Basilica. Comastri also said a Mass inside the church for the humans - the animals waited outside. As well as the spiritual comfort, veterinarians from the Italian animal breeders association AIA offered free check-ups to pets brought to the square. (Reporting By Philip Pullella; Editing by Janet Lawrence)

Austria's constitutional court has overturned a ban on sperm donations for lesbian couples, giving parliament an end-2014 deadline to amend a law that it said wrongly kept such women from fulfilling a wish for children. _0"> The high court found no "especially convincing or grave reasons" to support such a ban, a standard set by the European Court of Human Rights, it said in a summary of the ruling. It dismissed legislators' argument that using donated sperm to impregnate women in same-sex partnerships could foster surrogate motherhood, saying this method of artificial insemination posed no special ethical or moral issues. It also rejected arguments that such bans were needed to protect families, noting same-sex couples did not replace heterosexual marriages so could not jeopardize them. The ruling applied specifically to lesbian couples, so left open whether single women were also covered. It did not address whether gay men should be allowed to have chi

A team of archaeologists said on Friday they believed they might have found part of the remains of ninth-century monarch King Alfred the Great, one of the best-known and most important figures from early English history. Tests have shown that a pelvic bone found in a museum box is likely to have been either that of Alfred - the only English king to have the moniker "Great" - or his son King Edward the Elder. The bone was found among remains dug up at a medieval abbey in Winchester, southwest England, the capital of Alfred's kingdom. The remains were initially discovered in an excavation some 15 years ago but were not tested at the time, and were stored in a box at Winchester Museum until archaeologists came upon them after a failed bid to find Alfred elsewhere. "The bone is likely to be one of them, I wouldn't like to say which one," Kate Tucker, a researcher in human osteology from the University of Winchester told reporters. The discovery comes less

The Ugandan president has said he wants an anti-gay bill shelved for further study but described gays as abnormal and said some lesbians may be victims of "sexual starvation", according to a letter he sent to the speaker of parliament. Uganda's parliament passed a law on December 20 that makes some homosexual acts punishable by life in prison and sent it to President Yoweri Museveni for signing. Under law, he has 30 days to sign a bill or return it to be amended or scrapped. Homosexuality is taboo in many African countries. It is illegal in 37 nations on the continent, and activists say that few Africans are openly gay, fearing imprisonment, violence and loss of their jobs. Referring to the bill in a letter to the speaker written on December 28 but obtained by Reuters and other media on Friday, Museveni said: "This is ... something we had advised to shelve until we had studied it in depth." The bill was first introduced in 2009, and initially proposed a de

Russia has begun building what is likely to be one of its most high-profile Orthodox churches abroad on the banks of the River Seine in Paris, near the Eiffel Tower. The church, to be built in limestone and glass, topped off by traditional Russian golden domes, reflects the resurgence of Russian Orthodoxy - the world's second-largest Christian church - since the fall of Soviet communism in 1991 and the emergence of new leaders keen to extend its presence at home and abroad. The grounds will include a cultural centre and a primary school for 150 pupils. The 100-million-euro project won by French construction group Bouygues finally got off the ground after being sent back to the drawing board several times over the past three years before getting the French authorities' green light last month. Presenting a model of the building on Friday, Russia's ambassador to France Alexander Orlov estimated there were up to 10,000 Russians in or near Paris and tens of thousands mor

Former Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney may be a very wealthy man but when a filmmaker decided to document his two failed White House bids over six years, he was surprised to find how thrifty the former private equity executive was. "I was surprised that somebody that rich would be that cheap," director Greg Whiteley told Reuters, regaling a story of how Romney was shocked at the price of a glass of milk at a hotel. "He was constantly agonizing over how much for a (campaign advertising) spot." Romney, who left the private equity firm Bain Capital he co-founded to enter politics in 2002, has an estimated net worth of between $190 million and $250 million. "He would look at the hotel bill and just go crazy, and say, 'I'll just go buy my own milk at the grocery store at a third of the cost'," the director said with a laugh. The story of Romney's thriftiness is part of Whiteley's new documentary that goes behind the scene

A Methodist pastor in New York is facing a church disciplinary proceeding for officiating at his son's same-sex marriage ceremony in 2012 in violation of church doctrine, church officials said on Friday. The complaint against Rev. Thomas Ogletree comes one month after a Methodist pastor in Pennsylvania was defrocked when a church trial found him guilty of officiating at his son's same-sex wedding. A complaint was filed against Thomas Ogletree after fellow Methodist clergymen saw his son's wedding announcement in the New York Times. Ogletree officiated at the marriage of Thomas Rimbey Ogletree to Nicholas William Haddad at the Yale Club of New York, according to the announcement. "We take no joy in bringing this complaint. We do it in obedience to Christ and the laws of our Church," said the Rev. Randy Paige of Long Island, New York, one of the clergy who filed the complaint. The church trial has been scheduled for March 10. Ogletree, 80, is a retired Yale D

Elsa Schiaparelli, doyenne of 1930s Paris fashion, may be long gone - buried in her favorite hue of shocking pink - but nearly 200 pieces from her closet, along with her fine art and furniture, may enjoy a second life after an auction next week. In the heady, pre-war Paris of the 1930s, Italian-born Schiaparelli exerted her sense of subversive, outlandish whimsy on couture from her design studio on the Place Vendome, creating conversation pieces that flouted convention. Devotees of the trailblazer who dared women to be bold can choose between a silk violet blouse from the "Astrology" collection, a series of Man Ray photographs of the designer, a multi-colored feather boa or a delicately painted bird cage - up for the highest bidder at the January 23 auction in Paris. "She had this incredible side of her that loved to have fun, that was very original, that dared to do anything, that was provocative but always chic," said Schiaparelli's granddaughter, Marisa

The United States on Friday criticized UNESCO, the U.N.'s cultural arm, for postponing an exhibition about Jews and the Holy Land due to complaints from Arab member states. The U.N. Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization, based in Paris, issued a statement saying it would hold off on the exhibition, which was to be called "People, Book, Land -- The 3,500 Year Relationship of the Jewish People to the Holy Land," because of concerns that some aspects "might be perceived by member states as endangering the peace process." The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Samantha Power, urged UNESCO to rethink the decision on the exhibition, which UNESCO was organizing in cooperation with the Simon Wiesenthal Center. "UNESCO's decision is wrong and should be reversed," she said in a statement. "The United States has engaged at senior levels to urge UNESCO to allow this exhibit to proceed as soon as possible." "UNESCO is suppo

The U.S. government will nominate the Alamo, the famed location of a battle for Texas independence, and other colonial missions nearby as U.N. World Heritage sites, the Interior Department said on Friday. The Alamo, located in San Antonio, and four other Spanish colonial missions that line the San Antonio River will try to join 21 other U.S. locations that include Yellowstone National Park and the Statue of Liberty in the listing of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, the cultural arm of the U.N. "The San Antonio Missions represent a vital part of our nation's Latino heritage and the contributions of Latinos to the building of our country," Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell said in a statement. The Alamo, the site of the battle between Republic of Mexico soldiers and Texan rebels in 1836, is one of five missions established in the region by the Spanish in the 1700s to spread Christianity. The other four missions -- San Juan, Sa

Prince Jones says he will never go back to Jamaica, not even to visit. The 25-year-old, who is gay and uses a pseudonym to protect himself and his family, grew up in Kingston and recalls how he was repeatedly harassed over his sexuality before moving to the United States in 2012. The plight of gays in Jamaica has cast an ugly spotlight on the Caribbean island, famous for its beaches, speedy athletes and laid-back culture. When Jamaican Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller visited New York to attend the 68th United Nations General Assembly meeting in September, she was greeted by protesters who chanted: "Shame on you, Portia. Gay rights, human rights." Such protesting is uncommon in Jamaica, where homophobia is a cultural norm. Yet despite the stigma attached to homosexuality, the push for equal rights for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community is gaining momentum. The government says it plans to test the waters by conducting a non-binding "con

Pope Francis will not show leniency towards pedophile priests because truth and justice are more important than protecting the Church, the Vatican's former sex crimes prosecutor said on Saturday. Monsignor Charles Scicluna, the most authoritative Catholic official on the Church's abuse crisis, also told Reuters that the number of clerics defrocked by the Vatican was likely to have fallen to about 100 in 2013 from about 125 in 2012. Scicluna said Francis, despite his merciful nature, would be very tough on pedophile priests after an abuse crisis that the pope on Thursday called "the shame of the Church." "I have met with Francis and he has expressed great determination to continue on the line of his predecessors," said Scicluna, who served in the Vatican for 17 years before he was named an auxiliary bishop in his native Malta in 2012. "His gospel of mercy is very important but it is not cheap mercy. It has to respect the truth and the demands of ju

People worldwide should honor the memory of Rev. Dr Martin Luther King Jr. by making Monday a "no shots fired" day and ringing church bells in support of non-violence, urged the daughter of the slain U.S. civil rights leader. Church services and tributes will be held across the United States to commemorate King's 85th birthday on Monday, a federal holiday. At the same time, there is a push for a new monument and possibly a major movie production from director Oliver Stone. "Dr. King's philosophy of non-violence is more relevant, I believe, than it was 10 years ago," King's daughter, Bernice, told Reuters. In a time of school shootings and increasingly violent movies, television shows and video games, his message of non-violence should continue to resonate, said his daughter, chief executive officer of the Atlanta-based Martin Luther King Center which promotes his philosophy of non-violence. "America has an enormous appetite for violence. I don

French first lady Valerie Trierweiler left hospital in Paris on Saturday, a week after reports emerged that her partner, President Francois Hollande, was having an affair with the actress Julie Gayet, a member of Trierweiler's staff said. Trierweiler left the Pitie Salpetriere hospital just after 1400 GMT (9 a.m. EST) and is resting at the president's residence at La Lanterne, the official said, confirming a report in Paris Match magazine, for which Trierweiler works. Paris Match said Trierweiler was expected to spend a few days at La Lanterne, near the Chateau de Versailles on the outskirts of Paris, citing sources close to Hollande. The president's office declined to comment. Trierweiler was admitted to hospital on January 10 after the gossip magazine Closer published what it said were images of Hollande making a nocturnal visit to Gayet's pied-a-terre apartment in the upmarket eighth arrondissement of Paris. Hollande, who visited Trierweiler in hospital on Thu

Getting too little sleep might be a sign of - or even a contributor to - emotional problems, anxiety and suicidal thoughts among teens, according to a large study from Europe. Based on data about the sleep habits of nearly 12,000 teens across 11 European countries, researchers found that a student with suicidal thoughts could be predicted to sleep about 36 minutes less each night compared to counterparts with no suicidal thoughts. For teens with severe emotional problems, the amount of sleep lost would be about 30 minutes, on average, each night. "This is not a very large effect," study author Laura Mandelli told Reuters Health in an email. Mandelli is assistant professor of psychiatry at the University of Bologna in Italy . And the researchers cannot say whether there is a cause-and-effect relationship between the sleep patterns and mental health problems seen in the study. Lack of sleep among teens has been linked in other research to many negative health effects, inc

Heavy Americans who drink diet beverages rather than those sweetened with sugar appear to eat more, according to a study released on Thursday that raised questions about the role lower-calorie drinks play in helping people lose weight. Researchers at Johns Hopkins University analyzed data from a U.S. survey of 24,000 people over a period of 10 years. People who were overweight or obese generally consumed the same amount of calories a day no matter what they drank, but those who chose diet drinks got more of those calories from food. Outside experts were quick to caution that it is not clear what role, if any, diet drinks such as low- or no-calorie versions of sodas, sports drinks and teas played for people who ate more. In the study, published in the American Journal of Public Health, overweight drinkers of diet beverages in the United States ate 1,965 in food calories a day compared to 1,874 calories among heavy people who drank regular sugar-sweetened beverages. Among obese die

Men who participated in a community fitness program for obese fathers lost weight and increased their activity levels in a new study from Australia . The researchers' main goal was to test the 'Healthy Dads, Healthy Kids' program in a real-world setting to see if it helped reduce obesity among the men participating - with the hope it would improve the eating habits and activity levels of their children too. "Internationally, obesity in men and obesity prevention in children are public health priorities," Philip Morgan, who led the study, told Reuters Health in an email. Morgan is a researcher with the Priority Research Centre in Physical Activity and Nutrition at the University of Newcastle in Callaghan, New South Wales. "Fathers have a unique and important role in the lifestyle behaviors of their children, yet little is known about how best to engage them in lifestyle interventions," Morgan said. Morgan said that Healthy Dads, Healthy Kids is uni

Recollections of strict, unaffectionate parents were more common among young adults with an unhealthy attachment to Internet use, compared to their peers, in a new Greek study. Young adults who recall their parents being tough or demanding without showing affection tend to be sad or to have trouble making friends, and those personality traits raise their risk of Internet addiction, the researchers say. "In short, good parenting, including parental warmth and affection, that is caring and protective parents, has been associated with lower risk for Internet addiction," said lead author Argyroula E. Kalaitzaki of the Technological Education Institute (TEI) of Crete in Heraklion, "whereas bad parenting, including parental control and intrusion, that is authoritarian and neglectful parents, has been associated with higher risk for addiction." Research on Internet addiction is still relatively new, and there are no actual criteria for diagnosing the disorder, though

A temporary shortage in the United States of one of the leading flu medicines used to treat children with the sometimes deadly virus has been resolved, Roche, the maker of Tamiflu, said on Thursday. _0"> Due to high demand and packaging delays, Roche had experienced a shortage of supplies of the liquid version of the medicine, known a Tamiflu Oral Suspension, used to treat children under the age of 13 and adults unable to swallow pills. "We now anticipate having sufficient supply of both the liquid and capsule forms of Tamiflu to meet demand for this flu season," Roche spokeswoman Tara Iannuccillo said in an emailed statement. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has added Tamiflu OS to the list of resolved drug shortages on its website with the notation "no supply issues anticipated." Tamiflu is used to reduce the severity of the flu when taken at the outset of symptoms. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that people

ArQule Inc said an independent committee recommended a late-stage study of the company's cancer drug continue with a lower dose, months after liver cancer patients who received a greater dose showed a higher incidence of a blood disorder. _0"> ArQule shares were up nearly 30 percent after soaring as much as 81 percent in trading after the bell. A lower dose of the company's drug, Tivantinib, reduced the incidence of a low white blood cell count, ArQule said on Thursday citing a recent review of safety data. The drugmaker and its partner Daiichi Sankyo Inc are testing the drug as a treatment for patients with previously treated hepatocellular cancer, the most common type of liver cancer. A Data Monitoring Committee recommended last September that the drug's dosage be reduced from 240 mg twice daily to 120 mg, and that patients be monitored to confirm the safety profile of the lower dose. The drug, however, failed to show statistically significant improvement i

Patients with contagious and highly drug-resistant tuberculosis (TB) are being routinely discharged from hospitals across South Africa, exposing others in their communities to potentially deadly infections, researchers said on Friday. In a study in the medical journal The Lancet, they said the patients, with strains of TB known as extensively-drug resistant (XDR) and totally drug resistant (TDR) TB, have exhausted all available treatment options and are sent home. "These patients can survive for months or even years and are contributing to the community-based spread of XDR-TB," said Keertan Dheda, who led the study at the University of Cape Town's department of medicine. Tuberculosis infects the lungs and can spread through coughing and sneezing. In recent years, drug-resistant strains have spread around the world, batting off standard antibiotics and posing an increasingly urgent public health threat. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that in Eastern Eu