SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Dell Inc posted a surprisingly steep drop in quarterly earnings on Thursday and said companies around the world are cutting back on technology spending, sending its shares tumbling 10 percent and sparking fears of weakness in the whole tech sector.

KINGSTON (Reuters) - Tropical Storm Gustav hit Jamaica with near hurricane-force winds on Thursday after killing at least 59 people elsewhere in the Caribbean, and was on a path to reach New Orleans and the Gulf of Mexico oil fields as potentially a powerful hurricane.

A British computer expert who hacked into dozens of US military computers has lost his appeal against extradition in the European Court of Human Rights.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A vast region of the Amazon forest in Brazil was home to a complex of ancient towns in which about 50,000 people lived, according to scientists assisted by satellite images of the region.

SAN JOSE, California (AFP) - Lifelike graphics are breaking free of elite computer games and spreading throughout society in what industry insiders proclaim is the dawning of a "visual computing era."

CHICAGO (Reuters) - The brains of flies are wired to avoid the swatter, U.S. researchers said on Thursday.

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Dell Inc posted a surprisingly steep drop in quarterly earnings and said companies around the world are cutting back on technology spending, sending its shares tumbling and sparking fears of weakness in the whole tech sector.

INUVIK, Northwest Territories (Reuters) - Canada, criticized by environmentalists for not adequately protecting polar bears from the effects of climate change, said on Thursday it will take more time study its next step.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Hewlett-Packard Co said on Thursday a German court has found Pelikan Hardcopy to be in violation of laws on unfair competition.

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Dell Inc posted a disappointing drop in quarterly earnings and said spending cutbacks on information technology have spread from the United States to Western Europe and Asia, sending its shares down more than 10 percent.

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Dell Inc reported a surprise 17 percent decline in quarterly profit on Thursday as the company suffered from tighter corporate spending in United States, sending its shares down 8 percent.

BERLIN (AFP) - The Ifa, Europe's top consumer electronics show, is normally all about gadgets that make life more entertaining with the latest flat screen televisions, stereo equipment and the like.

KINGSTON (Reuters) - Tropical Storm Gustav hit Jamaica with near hurricane-force winds and torrential rain on Thursday on a path toward western Cuba that could take it to the Gulf of Mexico oil fields as a strong hurricane next week.