Marriott, Alitrip tie-up to let Chinese travellers book online

By Clare Baldwin HONG KONG (Reuters) – U.S.-based hotel chain Marriott International Inc and Alibaba Group’s online travel booking platform announced a tie-up on Monday, joining a flurry of rivals expanding their presence in China to cater to the country’s growing upper-middle class. China’s economy is forecast to slow to roughly 6.5 percent growth in coming years, but companies such as Alibaba Group Holding Ltd and Tencent Holdings Ltd promise direct access to the country’s middle class and what Marriott Asia Pacific head Craig Smith is calling a “land grab” for Chinese travellers.

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Alibaba to pay about $3.7 billion for ‘China’s YouTube’

It is also a vote of confidence in China's economy by Alibaba Chairman Jack Ma, who has said investors should not overreact to his country's slowing growth. Youku Tudou's American Depositary Shares rose 10 percent to $26.80 in premarket trading on Friday, below Alibaba's offer of $27.60 per ADS. Alibaba held 18.3 percent of Youku Tudou as of Oct

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YouTube to support virtual reality video on its app

By Deborah M. Todd SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – YouTube announced two new features Thursday for its Android app that expand the video site's use of virtual reality, giving the new technology its biggest platform yet. The app now supports VR video – a format that gives viewers what the company says are more realistic 360-degree perspectives of films.

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Alibaba lowers second-quarter gross merchandise volume estimates

(Reuters) – Alibaba Group Holding Ltd said on Tuesday it expected second-quarter gross merchandise volume (GMV) to be lower than its initial estimates due to weaker consumer spending in China. Alibaba said it now expects GMV to be lower in mid-single digits on a percentage basis from its earlier estimates.

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EU strikes data-sharing deal with U.S. for security, terrorism cases

The European Union has struck a deal with the United States on protecting personal data shared for law enforcement purposes in criminal and terrorism investigations, the bloc's justice chief said on Tuesday. The so-called “umbrella agreement”, following four years of talks between both sides, would protect personal data exchanged between police and judicial authorities and also between companies and law enforcement authorities. European Justice Commissioner Vera Jourova said the data sharing agreement was a key step to strengthening Europeans' right to privacy.

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End to Brady suspension a game-changer for NFL fantasy football

Tom Brady is back, and for plenty of fantasy football fans his return marks a dramatic shift in strategy. The New England Patriots star quarterback will suit up this Thursday for his team’s season opener, after U.S. District Judge Richard Berman threw out the National Football League’s four-game suspension against him in the now notorious “Deflategate” case

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Alibaba drop leaves stock pennies above IPO price

By Noel Randewich SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Shares of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd fell 3 percent on Friday and were perilously close to breaking below the price set in the largest IPO in history as fears of a China-led global slowdown rattled investors. A potential move below $68 would make China's largest e-commerce firm the second high-profile tech company to fall below its IPO price this week after Twitter Inc on Thursday dropped below its 2013 IPO price.

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California man, 19, charged with ‘revenge porn’ against girls

A 19-year-old California man accused of posing as a modeling agent to dupe and extort underage girls into sending him naked pictures was charged on Friday with more than 150 criminal counts in what prosecutors called a “revenge porn” case. Cesar Mauricio Estrada-Davila is accused of preying on 21 girls between the ages of 12 and 17 between January and April of this year, Los Angeles County Deputy District Attorney Jon Hatami said in a written statement. Hatami said Estrada-Davila befriended his victims on a social networking site, telling them he was a modeling agent who could make them famous and asking for pictures in their underwear.

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Despite protests, slog more likely than radical change in Brazil

By Paulo Prada RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) – Despite protests by hundreds of thousands of Brazilians against President Dilma Rousseff and ongoing calls for her impeachment, little suggests radical change in Brazil anytime soon. With the country hobbled by legislative gridlock, a lack of viable alternatives to the established political parties and an economic reversal so complete that its currency is trading at a 12-year trough, there are no easy or fast fixes

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