Microsoft Corp. chief executive Steve Ballmer on Wednesday ruled out making another takeover bid for Yahoo but said the US software giant remains open to a partnership on Internet search.

SAN FRANCISCO, Oct 16, 2007 (AFP) - Yahoo reported Tuesday that its third quarter profits dipped despite a rise in revenues and a nearly-completed corporate reorganization.

Yahoo's net income for the quarter was 151 million dollars, or 11 cents per share, compared to 159 million dollars in the same period last year. Wall Street analysts had expected Yahoo to post income of 12 cents per share.

Revenue rose to 1.77 billion from 1.58 billion in the same quarter in 2006.

SAN FRANCISCO, Oct 4, 2007 (AFP) - Yahoo announced Thursday it will start thwarting scammers that send bogus eBay or PayPal account e-mails to trick people into revealing passwords and credit card numbers.

Yahoo said it collaborated with eBay, which owns online financial transactions service PayPal, to devise a way to block the fake messages from the US Internet firm's free e-mail accounts.

The scam, referred to as 'phishing' because it relies on hooking victims with deceptive e-mail messages, is perpetual online bane.

SAN FRANCISCO, Oct 3, 2007 (AFP) - Yahoo was tight-lipped Wednesday regarding possible plans to sell France-based Kelkoo, saying only that it is hunting for the 'right leadership' for the shopping price comparison service.

Yahoo told AFP it has made a priority of improving the performance of Kelkoo, which has failed to gain momentum in Europe since the California Internet giant bought in April of 2004 for 450 million euros.

'One of the priorities we have identified is to improve the performance of Kelkoo, our online shopping business,' Yahoo spokesman Brian Mast said.

SAN FRANCISCO, Oct 2, 2007 (AFP) - Yahoo announced Tuesday it has enhanced its Internet search service as it continues its quest to dethrone Google, the market's reigning king.

Yahoo said new 'Search Assist' software intuitively figures out what people are looking for based on words entered in queries and provides suggestions intended to help people pinpoint searches.

Audio, video and pictures available online are displayed on search result pages along with website links, according to the California-based firm.

WASHINGTON, Aug 28, 2007 (AFP) - The Internet giant Yahoo has asked a US court to dismiss a lawsuit accusing it of 'aiding and abetting' torture by giving Chinese authorities information about dissidents that led to their imprisonment.

Yahoo on Monday filed the motion for dismissal, calling the case 'political' and insisting its Chinese subsidiary was compelled by local law to hand over information to authorities, including user registration information and email content.

SAN FRANCISCO, Aug 26, 2007 (AFP) - US Internet titan Yahoo on Monday is introducing an upgraded free e-mail service with enhancements that include letting people send text messages from computers to mobile telephones.

The improved Yahoo! Mail being rolled out around the world in the coming weeks is the most extensive overhaul of the web-based e-mail service since it was launched a decade ago.

SHANGHAI, July 30, 2007 (AFP) - Chinese e-commerce firm Alibaba Group, 40 percent owned by US-based Yahoo!, said Monday it aims to list its core business unit in Hong Kong in what could become the largest Chinese Internet IPO so far.

Hong Kong-based Alibaba spokeswoman Christina Splinder confirmed the plan, saying the company 'has been preparing for the IPO (initial public offering).' She did not provide more details.