DAVOS, Switzerland (AFP) ― Struggling Internet giant Yahoo will see more users accessing its services by mobile in 2014 than classic desktops, CEO Marissa Mayer said on Wednesday at the Davos World Economic Forum.“2014 will be the year of the crossover,” Mayer said while sitting on a panel regarding the world digital context.“By the end of this year we will have more mobile users than we have PC traffic. You have to be prepared for that,” she said.In December Yahoo was the most popular online ve

Morgan Stanley lowers 2014 price forecast 12% to $1,160 an ounce

HAVANA (AFP) ― For the first time in half a century, Cubans are being allowed to rent homes and commercial properties under a decision announced by the government Wednesday.The measure allows “Cuban individuals residing in Cuba” to use “real estate leasing services offered by authorized real estate entities,” according to the resolution in the Communist-run nation’s Official Gazette.It also stipulates that Cubans cannot rent properties for use as “international schools, news agencies and NGOs.”N

NEW YORK (AFP) ― Verizon said Tuesday it was buying Intel Media, a unit of the chipmaking giant for delivering movies and more to televisions via the Internet cloud, for an undisclosed price.The U.S. telecom giant said the acquisition “will accelerate the availability of next-generation video services,” delivered to devices including mobile phones and tablets.The deal includes intellectual property rights and other assets for Intel’s OnCue Cloud TV platform. Verizon will also offer to keep the 3

LAS VEGAS (AP) ― Las Vegas is getting one more novelty. Starting this week, patrons will be able to use the online currency Bitcoin to pay for rooms, food and drinks at two downtown casinos.The D casino and the city’s oldest casino, the Golden Gate, will accept Bitcoins at hotel front desks beginning Wednesday. The cybercurrency will also be accepted at the D’s gift shop and two restaurants. U.S. dollars will remain the only currency accepted on the gambling floor. Derek Stevens, the co-owner of

TOKYO (AFP) ― The Bank of Japan on Wednesday said its monetary easing blitz was winning the war on deflation as it held off announcing any fresh measures to stimulate the economy.The unanimous decision after a two-day policy meeting was widely expected with analysts predicting the BOJ would launch an expansion of its asset-buying plan later this year to counter the effects of an April sales tax hike.While the increase is seen as crucial to chopping Japan’s eye-watering national debt ― proportion

NEW YORK (AP) ― Philanthropists Bill and Melinda Gates pitched an optimistic future for the world’s poor and sick in their annual letter Tuesday, arguing passionately against three myths they say hurt efforts to bring people out of poverty, save lives and improve living conditions. In their sixth yearly letter, which in the past has focused exclusively on the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s annual activities, the cochairmen of the world’s largest charitable foundation seek to dispel notions th

China’s second straight annual drop in its working-age population is robbing President Xi Jinping of an engine of three decades of growth, underscoring the need to close the gap between his achievements and ambitions. Xi and Premier Li Keqiang, who in November unveiled the broadest policy shifts since the 1990s, are facing a labor force decline that the United Nations estimates will total almost 30 million in the decade through 2025. China’s working-age population, or people age 16 to 59, fell b

About 215 million people worldwide are expected to be unemployed by 2018.

BANGKOK (AFP) ― Violinist Vanessa Mae has officially qualified to ski for Thailand at the Winter Olympics and will lead the sun-soaked kingdom’s biggest-ever team to Sochi’s snowy slopes, an official said Tuesday.The 35-year-old former child prodigy, whose father is Thai, is one of two competitors who will represent the Southeast Asian nation in Russia next month ― both on skis.“We just received official notification that two Thais qualified including Mae,” a member of the Olympic Committee of T

PARIS (AFP) ― The board of struggling French carmaker PSA Peugeot Citroen has in principle approved capital boosts by the French state and its Chinese partner Dongfeng, two sources close to the matter told AFP Sunday.They will inject a total 3 billion euros ($4 billion) into the company under terms yet to be defined, one of the sources said after a meeting by the board.Europe’s second-largest carmaker has been looking to shore up its finances and secure a stronger beachhead in China, the world’s