Internet gap hinders small firms in poor countries, study shows

By Tom Miles GENEVA (Reuters) – A study of small and medium-sized businesses around the world has found that one of the main reasons they underperform – especially in poorer countries – is that they make too little use of the Internet. Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Brazil are three times less productive than big firms there while those in India are 10 times less productive

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Twitter sentiment on pope sours over meeting with gay marriage opponent

By Angela Moon NEW YORK (Reuters) – Sentiment toward Pope Francis turned sour on social media over his meeting with a Kentucky county clerk who refuses to issue same-sex marriage licenses, data compiled by Thomson Reuters showed. The ratio of positive versus negative tweets on the pope had been about 2.6 to 1 on average during and shortly after his Sept

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Top U.S. spy says skeptical about U.S.-China cyber agreement

By Andrea Shalal WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The top U.S. intelligence official said he was skeptical that a new U.S.-China cyber agreement would slow a growing torrent of cyber attacks on U.S. computer networks, adding that his approach will be to “trust but verify.” Director of National Intelligence James Clapper told the Senate Armed Services Committee on Tuesday that the agreement did not include specific penalties for violations but that the U.S

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India’s Modi set to woo tech companies in Silicon Valley

By Yasmeen Abutaleb SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has documented his push to bring U.S. investments and jobs back to India on his Facebook and Twitter pages since landing in the United States this week, posting photos with the likes of former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and group shots with Fortune 500 CEOs.

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Amazon announces TV pilot lineup for fall season

(Reuters) – Amazon.com Inc will launch six TV show pilots for its video streaming service in the United States, the UK, Germany and Austria for the 2015 fall pilot season. The company said on Wednesday it would ask viewers for feedback and turn the most popular pilots into full series. The pilots include “Z”, about Zelda Fitzgerald and her relationship with husband F

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U.S. and China in urgent talks on cybersecurity deal: NY Times

(Reuters) – The United States and China have been engaged in urgent negotiations in recent weeks on a cybersecurity deal and may announce an agreement when President Chinese President Xi Jinping arrives in Washington on a state visit on Thursday, the New York Times said on Saturday.

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Obama warns China on cyber spying ahead of Xi visit

By Roberta Rampton and Lisa Lambert WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama on Wednesday called for an international framework to prevent the Internet from being “weaponized” as a tool of national aggression, while holding out the prospect of a forceful U.S. response to China over hacking attacks

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Twitter.com currently unavailable for some users

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Twitter.com was unavailable on Monday for some users across the United States but the mobile app and Tweetdeck, another Twitter website that allows users to view multiple browsers at once, appeared to be working normally. Twitter users and others said they received a message that read “something is technically wrong” when trying to open the Twitter website on their personal computers

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Florida private investigator charged for trying to hack charity

By Nate Raymond NEW YORK (Reuters) – A Florida private investigator is facing criminal charges over his alleged effort to infiltrate a charity's computer network while researching whether nonprofits are financing Islamic militants, U.S. prosecutors said on Monday.

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