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Facebook talks up need for virtual reality, big tech bets

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Virtual reality, artificial intelligence and drones will enable Facebook Inc ( FB.O ) to create a more lifelike and useful social network, the company said in its clearest explanation so far for technology projects that have puzzled some investors and analysts.

Facebook talks up need for virtual reality, big tech bets

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Virtual reality, artificial intelligence and drones will enable Facebook Inc ( FB.O ) to create a more lifelike and useful social network, the company said in its clearest explanation so far for technology projects that have puzzled some investors and analysts. Facebook executives made the case on Thursday, at its annual developer conference in San Francisco, that initiatives such as its $2 billion purchase of virtual reality headset maker Oculus last year, and the hiring of aerospace experts make sense for the 1.4-billion member social network.

Co-pilot suspected of deliberately crashing Germanwings jet

PARIS/SEYNE-LES-ALPES (Reuters) - A young German co-pilot barricaded himself alone in the cockpit of Germanwings flight 9525 and apparently set it on course to crash into an Alpine mountain, killing all 150 people on board including himself, French prosecutors said on Thursday. They offered no motive for why Andreas Lubitz, 27, would take the controls of the Airbus A320, lock the captain out of the cockpit and deliberately set it veering down from cruising altitude at 3,000 feet per minute

SH Kelkar files prospectus for IPO, seen at around $100 mln

MUMBAI (Reuters) - Fragrance maker S.H. Kelkar and Company, partly owned by Blackstone Group, has filed a draft prospectus with the regulator for an initial public offering that a banker directly involved in the process said would fetch around $100 million

New pandemic insurance to prevent crises through early payouts

LONDON (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - In the wake of the Ebola crisis, a quiet revolution is taking place that is set to transform the way governments and aid agencies respond to major disease outbreaks. Analysts are developing insurance schemes that could turn the humanitarian system on its head, by paying out money as soon as a disease breaks out to stop it becoming an international crisis, rather than trying to raise funds after the event. The World Bank, the African Union, a consortium of aid agencies and experts in the private sector are starting to do the sums and figure out what such schemes could look like

Iraq special forces advance in Tikrit, U.S. coalition joins fight

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraqi special forces advanced on central Tikrit on Thursday as U.S.-led coalition planes joined the largest offensive yet against Islamic State militants holding out in Saddam Hussein's home city. Coalition jets launched their first air strikes against Islamic State targets in Tikrit on Wednesday, coming off the sidelines to aid Iraqi forces against the Sunni Islamist militants. Underlying the complex web of loyalties behind the conflict, a senior U.S

U.S. DEA agents had sex parties funded by drug cartels - watchdog

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agents in an unnamed country had alleged "sex parties" with prostitutes funded by local drug cartels over several years, according to a report published on Thursday by the Justice Department's internal watchdog. The 10 agents - an assistant regional director and nine special agents - had the alleged parties "at government-leased headquarters," and three of the special agents "were provided money, expensive gifts, and weapons from drug cartel members," according to the report

Oil up after Saudi air strikes in Yemen; dollar limits gains

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil prices rallied for a second straight day on Thursday after Saudi Arabia and its Gulf Arab allies began air strikes in Yemen, sparking fears of a bigger Middle East battle that could disrupt world crude supplies. The military operation against Houthi rebels, who have driven the president from Yemen's capital Sanaa, has not yet affected oil facilities of major Gulf producers. But fears the conflict could spread has stoked concerns about the security of Middle East shipments, even as analysts and commentators doubt the probability of an all-out war amid continued signs of crude oversupply.

U.S.-led coalition, Iraqis pound Islamic State in Tikrit

BAGHDAD/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S.-led coalition aircraft launched strikes against Islamic State targets in Tikrit on Wednesday, officials said, coming off the sidelines to support Iraqi forces battling alongside Iran-backed Shi'ite militia as they resumed their stalled offensive. The decision to give air support to the Tikrit campaign represents the biggest collaboration so far by the U.S.-led coalition, Iraqi forces and Iranian-backed paramilitaries and opens a new chapter in the war. It also appeared to represent at least a tacit acknowledgement by Baghdad that such airpower was necessary to wrest control of the hometown of former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein from Islamic State fighters, after its attempts to go it alone stalled.

Wall St. drops as biotechs, semis stumble

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S.