(Reuters) – Microsoft and Google’s Motorola Mobility unit squared off on Tuesday at a trial with strategic implications for the smartphone patent wars and which could reveal financial information the two companies usually keep under wraps. The proceeding in a Seattle federal court will determine how much of a royalty Microsoft Corp should pay Google Inc for a license to some of Motorola’s patents. Google bought Motorola for $12.5 billion, partly for its library of communications patents. If U.S. …
Russia trade, human rights bill advances in U.S. Congress
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A bill that would upgrade U.S. trade relations with Russia while also punishing Russian officials for human rights violations cleared a legislative hurdle on Tuesday on its way to expected approval in the House of Representatives later this week. The House Rules Committee approved a plan to combine legislation to establish “permanent normal trade relations” (PNTR) with Russia with a separate human rights measure strongly opposed by Moscow. …
Mexican Senate approves labor law shake-up
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – Mexico’s Senate on Tuesday approved a wide-reaching but watered down labor reform bill in the biggest shake-up of the country’s job market in more than four decades. The bill’s approval comes after a protracted tussle between outgoing President Felipe Calderon’s National Action Party and pro-union hardliners within the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) of president-elect Enrique Pena Nieto. The PRI has traditionally relied on union support. …
Geithner warns against delaying solution to fiscal crisis
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner on Tuesday warned against extending all the U.S. tax breaks to give Washington additional time to broker a deficit reduction deal, saying it would create more uncertainty in the markets. The Obama administration and Congress have seven weeks to deal with the so-called "fiscal cliff," a scenario in which hundreds of billions of dollars in tax hikes and spending cuts start to take effect next year, driving the economy into recession. … Clouds part, solar eclipse darkens north Australia
From boats bobbing on the Great Barrier Reef, to hot air balloons hovering over the rainforest, and the hilltops and beaches in between, tens of thousands of scientists, tourists and amateur astronomers watched as the sun, moon and Earth aligned and plunged northern Australia into darkness during a total solar eclipse Wednesday. Anti-austerity strikes sweep southern Europe
MADRID/LISBON (Reuters) – Spanish and Portuguese workers will stage the first coordinated general strike across the Iberian Peninsula on Wednesday, shutting transport, grounding flights and closing schools to protest against spending cuts and tax hikes. Unions in Greece and Italy also planned work stoppages and demonstrations on a “European Day of Action and Solidarity” against austerity policies, which labor leaders blame for prolonging and worsening the continent’s economic crisis. …
UK biobank to shed light on smoking health mystery
LONDON (Reuters) – British researchers are to tap into the world’s biggest and most detailed biomedical database to try and work out why smoking harms the lungs of some people more than others. The Medical Research Council said on Wednesday the study would be the largest ever into the genetics of lung disease. It is an early example of how the UK Biobank, which holds information on 500,000 middle-aged Britons, is being put to work to better understand common diseases. …
Rare Total Solar Eclipse Darkens Skies Over Australia, South Pacific
The moon blocked out the sun in a total solar eclipse today, briefly turning dawn back into night over parts of northern Australia and the southern Pacific Ocean. Vice President Biden tells Yanukovich of concern over Ukraine election
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. Vice President Joe Biden voiced concerns about Ukraine's electoral process when speaking with the country's president, Viktor Yanukovi ch, on Tuesday, the White House said. Yanukovich, who is facing an impeachment threat after Ukraine's disputed October 28 election, had sent a congratulatory message after Biden and President Barack Obama won re-election last week, according to the White House. Biden then spoke with Yanukovich on Tuesday. … 
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