Batman adversary Harley Quinn tops 2015 Halloween costume search

By Angela Moon and Melissa Fares NEW YORK (Reuters) – America's most popular Halloween costume this year could be Batman adversary Harley Quinn from the DC Comics series, according to Google. Quinn's stock is rising thanks in part to keen anticipation of the 2016 film “Suicide Squad,” which will star Australian actor Margot Robbie as Quinn along with Jared Leto and Will Smith. “Harley Quinn” was the most-searched term in relation to Halloween costumes across the United States, according to Google's Frightgeist, a tool that tracks top queries on the search engine

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SXSW restores talks on gaming harassment once canceled over threats

By Jon Herskovitz AUSTIN, Texas (Reuters) – The South by Southwest tech meeting said on Friday it made a mistake when it canceled sessions on video gaming culture, including one on harassment, after facing criticism of dodging its duty by dropping talks on an issue engulfing gaming culture. The organizers of South by Southwest (SXSW) Interactive, a major annual meeting of the tech industry held in Austin, Texas, said they have now added a day-long summit on the topic and expanded the reach and participation of its originally planned sessions. “By canceling two sessions we sent an unintended message that SXSW not only tolerates online harassment but condones it, and for that we are truly sorry,” Hugh Forrest, the SXSW Interactive director, said in a blog post.

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Nokia beats estimates and returns cash, Alcatel deal on track

By Jussi Rosendahl and Leila Abboud HELSINKI/PARIS (Reuters) – Finnish network equipment maker Nokia reported stronger-than-expected quarterly profits as growth in China offset weaker demand in other key markets, and said it would return money to shareholders after acquiring Alcatel-Lucent . The tie-up will vault the new company into a stronger position to compete with Sweden's Ericsson and low-cost Chinese player Huawei [HWT.UL], in a market for telecom network gear where little growth and tough competition are pressing down prices

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