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JANA Partners, a leading activist hedge fund firm run by Barry Rosenstein, has taken a liking to two of the most beaten-up technology stocks. JANA, which oversees more than $4 billion in U.S. stock holdings, disclosed stakes of 24.6 million Zynga Inc class A shares and 21.9 million Groupon Inc class A shares in regulatory filings on Wednesday.   The positions represent just over 3 percent of the companies' outstanding shares. The Groupon stake was worth $134 million as of the end of March, while the Zynga holding was valued at $86 million, according to the filings. Zynga shares rose 1.6 percent to $3.39 in afternoon trading, after gaining more than 7 percent earlier in the day. Groupon edged up 1.2 percent to $6.97, after achieving a nine-month high of $7.38 earlier on Wednesday. Groupon, the world's largest daily deal company, and Zynga, a leading social game developer, went public in 2011 at lofty valuations, but their share prices have slumped since then amid concern

Google Inc faces another grilling over its tax affairs from a committee of British lawmakers on Thursday who have called the company back after questions were raised about testimony given in an earlier hearing. Corporate tax avoidance has become a major issue in Britain, where there are concerns over rising government debt and accusations from lawmakers that the UK tax authority has adopted a light touch approach to taxing big businesses.   Google's Northern Europe boss, Matt Brittin, was called to testify to the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) in November about Google's low UK tax bill. From 2006 to 2011, Google generated $18 billion in revenues from the UK, according to statutory filings, and paid just $16 million in taxes. Brittin told the PAC Google was not taxed on the profits of its core advertising business in Britain, because all UK sales were conducted from Ireland . Reuters revealed that the Internet search giant had described its London offices on its website

class="mandelbrot_refrag"> Google Inc launched a music service on Wednesday that allows users to listen to unlimited songs for $9.99 a month, challenging smaller companies like Pandora and Spotify in the market for streaming music. With its new service, announced at its annual developers' conference in San Francisco, Google has adopted the streaming music business model ahead of rival Apple Inc, which pioneered online music purchases with iTunes.   Google's "All Access" service lets users customize song selections from 22 genres, ranging from Jazz to Indie music, stream individual playlists, or listen to a curated, radio-like stream that can be tweaked. It will be launched for U.S. users first, before being rolled out to several other countries. Google unveiled a string of improvements to other services, including new mapping features and a voice-activated search, at the conference. The focus was on giving more options to users of mobile devices u

Swedish prosecutors have launched a new attempt to close down the popular file-sharing site The Pirate Bay, asking a court to block internet addresses used to access the site. _0"> The Pirate Bay, one of the world's biggest file-sharing sites, allows individuals to download movies, music and games without paying. The global entertainment industry has repeatedly tried to block its activities. Swedish prosecutors have asked the court to de-register the domain names "piratebay.se" and "thepiratebay.se". Sweden's Internet Infrastructure Foundation registers and administers the country's ".se" internet addresses.   "They have been used as a means to commit crime," prosecutor Fredrik Ingblad said on Wednesday. "There is a significant criminal copyright infringement which causes a great deal of damage to many." The Pirate Bay uses a domain name registered in Sint Maarten, a Dutch territory in the Caribbean. The Inte

A week of worldwide acclaim for Alex Ferguson and his 26 years in charge of Manchester United patently failed to get the message through to Manchester City's trigger-happy owners that stability is the key to sustained footballing success. Instead, goaded by their rivals' city-center parade with the Premier League trophy two days after City were humbled by Wigan Athletic in a massive FA Cup final shock, they sacked manager Roberto Mancini, the man who a year ago to the day was being worshipped as the 'City Messiah'.   In the modern world of soccer short-termism, no manager sacking is ever truly a surprise and Mancini's exit looked a certainty once he spoke out against the club's Abu Dhabi owners following Saturday's Wembley defeat. Few, however, could have been shown the door with such a ringing endorsement. "Roberto's record speaks for itself and he has the respect and gratitude of Sheikh Mansour, myself and the Board for all of his hard work

O.J. Simpson, the ex-football star famously acquitted of murder in 1995, appeared in court on Monday seeking a new trial in a Las Vegas armed robbery case that sent him to prison as witnesses testified to what they said were blunders by his lawyer. Simpson, 65, appeared older, grayer and heavier after five years behind bars as he entered a Las Vegas courtroom in blue jail garb, his hands and feet shackled, for a hearing that could last for a week into claims that his then-attorney mishandled the Nevada case. He was brought to court from a Nevada prison where he is serving up to 33 years for the 2007 incident in which he and five other men stormed into a room at the Palace Station Hotel and Casino and took thousands of dollars in memorabilia from a pair of sports collectors at gunpoint. Defense lawyers argued unsuccessfully that Simpson was only trying to retrieve his own stolen memorabilia and was not aware that an accomplice had brought a gun along. He was found guilty on 12 cha

Manchester City sacked manager Roberto Mancini on Monday following his team's feeble defense of the Premier League title they won exactly one year ago. Manchester United regained the title last month with four games to spare and City were then beaten 1-0 by Wigan Athletic in last Saturday's FA Cup final. City had also failed to progress from the group stage of the Champions League for a second successive season despite boasting one of the most expensively assembled squads in the world. "It is with regret that Manchester City Football Club announces that Roberto Mancini has been relieved of his duties as Manchester City Manager," the club said in a statement. "Despite everyone's best efforts, the club has failed to achieve any of its stated targets this year, with the exception of qualification for next season's UEFA Champions League. "This, combined with an identified need to develop a holistic approach to all aspects of football at the club,