Facebook on Tuesday fired back at Yahoo! with a countersuit charging that the floundering Internet pioneer is violating the social network’s patents -- and not the other way around.The move came after Yahoo! filed suit against Facebook in a California court last month accusing the social networking giant of infringing on 10 patents.“From the outset, we said we would defend ourselves vigorously against Yahoo!’s lawsuit, and today we filed our answer as well as counter-claims against Yahoo! for in

China's Premier Wen Jiabao has called for the break-up of a banking "monopoly" on lending that has prevented businesses from borrowing the money they need to expand, state media reported.Wen said the government needed to "break this monopoly" to ease the flow of private capital in the world's second-largest economy, in comments published on the China National Radio website early Wednesday."In rega

A judge ordered a Swedish mother to pay a fine after she was convicted of encouraging her 3-year-old son to drink beer and giving him cigarettes.The district court in Malmo convicted the woman Monday of harassment, narcotic crimes and unlawful procurement of alcohol, and ordered her to pay a $756 fine, The Local reported. The fine was reduced because she spent 20 days in jail after the incident wa

An 80-year-old woman with little flying experience knew her husband had died after he fell unconscious at the controls of a small plane, yet she remained calm as she landed the aircraft at a northeastern Wisconsin airport, her son said Tuesday.In a phone interview with The Associated Press, James Collins said he’s also a pilot and he helped his mother Helen Collins via radio as the Cessna twin-eng

Mitt Romney won Tuesday's Republican presidential primary in Maryland, US media projected, as he hoped for a clean sweep in three contests aiming to consolidate his frontrunner status.CNN, MSNBC and Fox television channels all called the vote for Romney just as the Maryland polls closed. Results from the US capital Washington and Wisconsin were not yet known as Romney bids for his party's nod to t

Once his father's heir apparent, James Murdoch stepped down Tuesday as chairman of British Sky Broadcasting, surrendering one of the biggest jobs in the Murdoch media empire in a bid to distance the broadcaster from a deepening phone hacking scandal.James Murdoch's credibility and competence have come under severe questioning because of the phone hacking crisis and alleged bribery by British newsp

Every once in a while a lottery jackpot becomes so huge that people can't help but band together in the hope of increasing their odds, pooling their money for a wad of tickets and promising to evenly split the spoils. Seems like a good idea until lightning strikes and the group wins.Then the future involves not only luxury, but also lawsuits. Numerous group winners have been sued by people claimin

Apple Inc., already the world’s most valuable company, will see its stock price reach $1,001 within 12 months, lifted by growth in China and the debut of a new television product, according to Topeka Capital Markets. The new target, issued Monday by Topeka’s Brian White, is the highest among the 45 analysts tracked by Bloomberg and represents a 62 percent increase over the current price. The gains will be fueled by demand for the next iPhone, in addition to the expansion into China and the TV ma

DELAND, Florida (AP) ― A small plane crashed into a central Florida shopping center Monday evening, authorities said, and reports indicated at least five people had been injured.Several people at the shopping center called emergency services around 7:20 p.m. to report the crash, sheriffs said. The callers described seeing the plane sputter, then hit the building and burst into flames at the shopping center located not far from Deland’s municipal airport.The sheriff’s office reports a pilot and a

CAIRO (AP) ― The Muslim Brotherhood’s surprise decision to field a presidential candidate is stirring fears that the two biggest powers to emerge from the ouster of Hosni Mubarak ― the Islamists and the military ― are maneuvering to put in place a new rule in Egypt not much different from the old, authoritarian one.If they succeed in divvying up the most important positions in government, the new leadership could be a blow to the hopes for an inclusive democracy that drove last year’s uprising a