TORONTO (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index slipped to a one-month low on Friday as a slump in gold miners, which followed a tumbling bullion price, offset strength in several other sectors after a robust U.S. jobs report.

The market's decline, its sixth straight daily drop, sharply contrasted with strong gains seen south of the border.

U.S. employers stepped up hiring in May in a show of economic resilience that analysts said suggests the Federal Reserve could begin to scale back its monetary stimulus later this year.

But fears that the Fed could turn off the monetary tap hit gold prices and diminished the precious metal's appeal as a safe-haven asset.

"The jobs numbers show evidence of a grinding recovery in the United States, which is measurably positive, but not robustly so," said Stephen Wood, chief market strategist, North America, at Russell Investments.

"The data suggests that there is no reason to think that the Fed's going to deviate significantly from their current policy position."

The Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite indexclosed down 36.03 points, or 0.29 percent, at 12,373.30, after earlier slipping to its lowest since May 2. Seven of the 10 main sectors on the index were higher.

The index lost 2.2 percent on the week.

The Canadian market has been pulled down by the natural resources sectors, which have been hit by volatile commodity prices.

"Within equities, we have a pretty large tilt toward U.S. stocks and a pretty large tilt away from Canadian stocks," said Geoff Stein, a portfolio manager with Fidelity Investments who helps manage about $55 billion in assets.

Stein is cautious about Canadian equities due in part to the weakness in the resource groups and the slowdown in the housing industry.

The benchmark Canadian index is in the red for the year, while the U.S. S&P 500has gained 15.2 percent.

Gold stocks gave back 5 percent and dragged the materials group down 3.4 percent.

Goldcorp Incslid 5.1 percent and Barrick Gold Corpdeclined 4.9 percent.

Financials, the index's most heavily weighted sector, gained 0.3 percent. Manulife Financial Corpclimbed 2.1 percent and had the biggest positive influence on the market.

(Editing by G Crosse)

LONDON (Reuters) - British actress Helen Mirren had no trouble transforming herself from monarch to menacing creature for the new "Monsters, Inc." animated movie, but said she's not so frightening in real life.

The 67-year-old veteran of stage and screen made headlines last month when she stormed out of a London theatre dressed as Queen Elizabeth to berate a group of drummers playing noisily outside in an expletive-riddled tirade. She later apologized.

However the actress, who lends her voice to the terrifying winged monster heading the School of Scaring in "Monsters University", said she does try not to seem scary after being intimidated by certain actors when her career started.

She was even wary she might alienate people when she was made a dame in 2003.

"People may look at me and think she is so scary... but it is not what you're trying to be," Mirren told a news conference on Friday ahead of the release of 3D "Monsters University".

The film is the prequel to Pixar and Disney's hit 2001 children's movie "Monsters, Inc." which made over $550 million at the international box office and is still one of the top 100 best earning movies.

The prequel goes back to when the small, green one-eyed monster Mike Wazowski (voiced by Billy Crystal) meets the huge, blue-and-purple monster Sulley (John Goodman) at Monsters University and the mismatched monsters can't stand each other.

Mirren voices Dean Hardscrabble, a dragon-like monster with a centipede body, who throws Wazowski and Sulley out of the School of Scaring, prompting them to join other monster misfits to compete in a Scare Games tournament and become best friends.

"Monsters University" is one of a list of family films being released this summer that includes 20th Century Fox's "Epic" in which singer Beyonce takes a voice part, "Despicable Me 2," "Turbo" with Ryan Reynolds as a racing snail, and "Smurfs 2".

Mirren, whose list of accolades from a career spanning nearly 50 years includes an Oscar for the 2006 film "The Queen", said voicing an animated character was a new challenge for her but she had learned that fear was something to conquer.

She said one of the best pieces of advice she was given came from a former headmistress who told her that the worst thing about fear is fear itself.

"I have lived by this ever since," said Mirren, stressing that she had had to work hard to get to where she is now.

"You have to get on with. My fears are my business and nobody else's and I deal with it. The other thing is to pretend that you are not frightened. Act."

"Monsters University" opens in U.S. theatres on June 21 and in the UK from July 12.

(Reporting by Belinda Goldsmith, editing by Paul Casciato)

Chevron has signed an agreement with YPF to invest up to $1.5 billion in the Vaca Muerta shale megafield, located in Argentina's southern region of Patagonia.

Late last year an Argentinean judge ordered a freeze on up to $19 billion worth of assets held by Chevron in Argentina as part of an environmental lawsuit by Ecuadorean villagers who say the company is responsible for contamination.

That roadblock to the Chevron/Vaca Muerta deal was lifted on Tuesday.

"The high court overturned the freeze," Argentina's Judicial Information Center, ICJ, said in a statement.

Chevron was not immediately available for comment.

The company, which denies the environmental charges and has accused the Ecuadorean courts of fraud, said last month that a final YPF/Chevron agreement should be signed in July, once outstanding trade and tax issues were hammered out.

Chevron's president for Latin American and African operations, Ali Moshiri, said then that Argentina has the world's second-largest reservoir of unconventional oil after the United States.

YPF, which was renationalized last year as Argentina battles to reverse a long decline in natural gas and oil output, aims to drill 132 oil wells at the Vaca Muerta shale formation this year.

(Reporting by Walter Bianchi; Editing by Richard Pullin)

Though he offered some concessions to demonstrators, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan remained largely defiant in the face of the biggest popular challenge to his power in a decade in office, insisting the protests are undemocratic and illegitimate.

Public anger has flared among urban and secular Turks after police violently broke up an anti-development sit-in in the landmark Taksim Square, with protests spreading to dozens of other cities as demonstrators denounced what they see as Erdogan's increasingly authoritarian style.

As the furious protests entered its second day, police fired tear gas and turned on water cannons at angry demonstrators, some of whom threw rocks and bottles on their march toward Taksim. In an area normally abuzz with tourists, stores were shuttered and protesters fled into luxury hotels for shelter. There were hundreds of arrests and injured.

Turkish authorities later removed barricades and allowed thousands of demonstrators into the square in an effort to calm tension. Sounding defiant even as he bowed to protesters and pulled back police, Erdogan promised to stick to the government's redevelopment plans which protesters fear will remove one of the few green spaces in the sprawling city.

He called the protesters a "minority" that was trying to forcefully impose demands and challenged the opposition that he could easily summon a million people for a government rally.

"I am not claiming that a government that has received the majority of the votes has limitless powers ... and can do whatever it wants," Erdogan said in a televised speech. "Just as the majority cannot impose its will on the minority, the minority cannot impose its will on the majority."

Under Erdogan's leadership, Turkey has boosted economic growth and raised its international profile, taking a central role in post-Arab Spring politics in the region. Though widely supported by rural and conservative religious Muslims, he remains a divisive figure in mainly secular circles and is criticized for his often abrasive style.

Hundreds of people were injured in the protests, including four people who permanently lost their eyesight after being hit by gas canisters or plastic bullets, Huseyin Demirdizen of Turkey's Doctors' Association told The Associated Press. He said at least two people injured in the protests are in life-threatening condition.

Interior Minister Muammer Guler said more than 900 people were detained during the protests but some of them were released after questioning. He did not say how many were still in custody. The protest had spread to 48 cities, he added.

The mood at Taksim after Erdogan called off the police was cheerful. Protesters chanted "Tayyip resign!" Turkish celebrities joined the crowds, with thousands milling around the square, waving flags, and cheering and clapping at anti-government speeches. Many drank beer in protest of newly enacted alcohol curbs, singing "cheers Tayyip!"

Private NTV television reported that protesters built barricades at entrances to the square to prevent police from returning.

Sporadic clashes continued between police and a group of protesters who were trying to approach Erdogan's office in Istanbul, which is located at a former Ottoman palace. The Dogan news agency said the protesters had set an abandoned police vehicle on fire.

In Ankara, thousands congregated at a busy shopping street, jovially singing, waving Turkish flags, and frequently breaking into calls for Erdogan to resign. One group jokingly called on police to fire more tear gas at protesters suggesting they had grown addicted and "were going crazy" without it.

"We have had it up to here with him," said protestor Neslihan Yildirim, raising her hand to her chin. "Constant oppression... All the intervention in our lives."

Although scenes at the square brought to mind Cairo's Tahrir Square, the center of an uprising that ended Egyptian President Hosni Mubarek's rule, the protests were not likely bring down Erdogan's government, one analyst said.

The protests were more of a warning, according to Ahmet Cigdem, a professor of sociology and political science at Ankara's Gazi University.

"The people showed that the government's rule is not guaranteed just because they obtained some 50 percent of the votes and just because there is no powerful political opposition in Turkey," Cigdem said.

"These protests have clearly showed what the people reject. They are saying 'Don't force your political, sociological and cultural impositions on our lives. Don't try to shape my thoughts and my beliefs," he said.

In a surprise move last week, the government quickly passed legislation curbing the sale and advertising of alcoholic drinks, alarming secularists. Many felt insulted when he defended the legislation by calling people who drink "alcoholics." He insists the new regulations are aimed at protecting Turkey's youth from the harms of alcohol.

Erdogan is frequently criticized as a meddler in all aspects of life, telling couples, for example, to bear a minimum of three children. He also berated producers of a popular television series on the life of Ottoman Sultan Suleyman the Magnificient for depicting him as a figure who spends his time dwelling on his harem instead of fighting wars.

The government's policy on Syria also remains unpopular, with many believing its open support to rebels fighting Syrian President Bashar Assad's regime has put Turkey's security at risk. On May 11, twin car bombs at a border town the government blamed on Syria killed 52 and sparked anti-government protests.

At dawn on Friday, police violently rousted protesters who had camped out at Taksim to protest the planned removal of trees in the square. Officials are planning to rebuild a former Ottoman army barracks and put in a shopping mall.

"We can hardly believe that a small action caused by a tree or two has led to such an uprising," demonstrator Hande Topaloglu said.

The protest was also seen as a demonstration of the anger building toward Turkish police, who have been accused of using inordinate force to quash demonstrations and of using tear gas excessively.

In another gesture to placate protesters, Erdogan said that police may have used tear gas excessively. The Interior Ministry said police officers who abused their power would be punished.

Erdogan said the government was determined to revamp Taksim and rebuild the old army barracks but said no firm decision was made on building a shopping mall. He also spoke of government plans to tear down a cultural center to build an opera hall, in statements that could cause further controversy.

The protests broke out just days after Istanbul pitched its bid to host the 2020 Olympic games to sports and Olympic officials at a conference in St. Petersburg.

The United States, Britain and Sweden were among countries that asked citizens to stay away from areas where protests were held.

In Syria, Information Minister Omran al-Zoubi said Erdogan's suppression of the peaceful protests in Turkey was "illogical and reveals his detachment from reality."

Echoing words that Erdogan has used against Syrian leader Assad, Al-Zoubi said it is unjustified that Erdogan should defy his people.

_____

Fraser reported from Ankara. Associated Press writers Ezgi Akin and Burhan Ozbilici in Ankara, Karin Laub in Beirut and Jan M. Olsen in Copenhagen, Denmark, contributed to this report.

The votes, which had about the same support last year, reflect sustained concern among a large portion of investors and the general population about the practice, which has unlocked a huge amount of oil and gas resources across North America but led to environmentalist worries about water contamination.

Chevron Chief Executive John Watson told the annual meeting of shareholders that his company's level of disclosure was adequate, as he responded to a request from the fracking proposal's supporter for more quantitative measures of safety.

Fracking involves injecting chemical-laced water and sand to break and prop open shale rock to unleash oil and gas. The industry says it is safe when done properly, and the debate has moved to Chevron's own backyard, California, where it is just heating up.

Chevron said 31 percent of its shareholders supported the fracking proposal, compared with about 30 percent for Exxon. Last year, a proposal for a report on fracking risks had support from 27 percent of Chevron shareholders, while a similar proposal got 30 percent support among Exxon investors.

"Shareholders expect Exxon to lead the industry, but almost across the board Exxon is failing to provide the site specific information that shareholders, regulators, and impacted communities need," said Danielle Fugere, president of As You Sow, an investor advocacy group that filed the Exxon resolution.

Another issue of great concern for environmentalists is Arctic drilling, and rival Royal Dutch Shell Plchas just gone through an accident-prone foray into offshore drilling off Alaska's coast over the past year. Watson said Chevron was still evaluating its opportunities in the Arctic region.

"Most of the concerns are around costs," he said, speaking to reporters after the meeting.

A few dozen shareholders gathered outside Chevron's headquarters in San Ramon, California - just east of San Francisco - with many of them decryling the influence of corporate money in U.S. politics.

In Dallas, before Exxon's meeting started, about half a dozen police guarded its barricaded entrance, but there was only one protester outside who came to voice his support for equal benefits for employees in same-sex marriages.

The New York State Common Retirement fund submitted a proposal asking Exxon to amend its employment policy to explicitly prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

New York pension funds own about 14 million Exxon shares with a value of more than $1 billion. The New York proposal, on Exxon's proxy for the 16th year, received the support of about 20 percent of the company's shareholders.

Exxon said in filings with the SEC that its current policies already prohibit any kind of discrimination.

Separately, support for Exxon's executive pay packages eroded this year.

(Reporting by Braden Reddall in San Ramon and Anna Driver in Dallas; Editing by Marguerita Choy)

Hannah Warren has been unable to breathe, eat, drink or swallow on her own since she was born in South Korea in 2010. Until the operation at a central Illinois hospital, she had spent her entire life in a hospital in Seoul. Doctors there told her parents there was no hope and they expected her to die.

The stem cells came from Hannah's bone marrow, extracted with a special needle inserted into her hip bone. They were seeded in a lab onto a plastic scaffold, where it took less than a week for them to multiply and create a new windpipe.

About the size of a 3-inch tube of penne pasta, it was implanted April 9 in a nine-hour procedure.

Early signs indicate the windpipe is working, Hannah's doctors announced Tuesday, although she is still on a ventilator. They believe she will eventually be able to live at home and lead a normal life.

"We feel like she's reborn," said Hannah's father, Darryl Warren.

"They hope that she can do everything that a normal child can do but it's going to take time. This is a brand new road that all of us are on," he said in a telephone interview. "This is her only chance but she's got a fantastic one and an unbelievable one."

Warren choked up and his wife, Lee Young-mi, was teary-eyed at a hospital news conference Tuesday. Hannah did not attend because she is still recovering from the surgery. She developed an infection after the operation but now is acting like a healthy 2-year-old, her doctors said.

Warren said he hopes the family can bring Hannah home for the first time in a month or so. Hannah turns 3 in August.

"It's going to be amazing for us to finally be together as a family of four," he said. The couple has an older daughter.

Only about one in 50,000 children worldwide are born with the windpipe defect. The stem-cell technique has been used to make other body parts besides windpipes and holds promise for treating other birth defects and childhood diseases, her doctors said.

The operation brought together an Italian surgeon based in Sweden who pioneered the technique, a pediatric surgeon at Children's Hospital of Illinois in Peoria who met Hannah's family while on a business trip to South Korea, and Hannah born to a Newfoundland man and Korean woman who married after he moved to that country to teach English.

Hannah's parents had read about Dr. Paolo Macchiarini's success using stem-cell based tracheas but couldn't afford to pay for the operation at his center, the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm. So Dr. Mark Holterman helped the family arrange to have the procedure at his Peoria hospital, bringing in Macchiarini to lead the operation. Children's Hospital waived the cost, likely hundreds of thousands of dollars, Holterman said.

Part of OSF Saint Francis Medical Center, the Roman Catholic hospital considers the operation part of their mission to provide charity care, but also views it as a way to champion a type of stem-cell therapy that doesn't involve human embryos, the surgeons said. The Catholic church opposes using stem cells derived from human embryos in research or treatment.

Macchiarini has been involved in 14 previous windpipe operations using patients' own stem cells five using man-made scaffolds like Hannah's but in adults; and nine using scaffolds made from cadaver windpipes, including one in a 10-year-old British boy.

He said only one patient died, a 30-year-old man from Abingdon, Md., who had the operation in November 2011 to treat late-stage cancer of the windpipe. He died about four months later of uncertain causes, Macchiarini said.

Similar methods have been used to grow bladders, urethras and last year a girl in Sweden got a lab-made vein using her own stem cells and a cadaver vein.

Scientists hope to eventually use the method to create solid organs, including kidneys and livers, said Dr. Anthony Atala, director of Wake Forest University's Institute for Regenerative Medicine. He said the operation on Hannah Warren "is really showing that the technique is workable."

Hannah had breathing difficulties at birth and Korean doctors soon discovered the missing windpipe. They reconfigured her esophagus so that a breathing tube could go down it from her mouth to her lungs. The esophagus normally runs behind the windpipe and carries food to the stomach.

Korean doctors said she couldn't live long with the tube and told her parents there was nothing more they could do.

Hannah outlived their expectations and has thrived despite the grim prognosis and other abnormalities including an undeveloped voice box that prevented her from speaking. Now that she has a windpipe and can breathe more normally, doctors expect the larynx to grow and function normally. She will work with speech therapists to help her learn to talk.

Holterman said Hannah will likely need a new windpipe in about five years, as she grows.

She breathes with help from a ventilator but no longer has a tube in her mouth that she'd lived with since shortly after birth, Holterman said. She's not yet able to eat normally, but doctors let her have her first taste ever of food a few licks on a lollipop. Her father said she already has discriminating taste and prefers chocolate Korean lollipops to the American kind.

"I asked her, 'Is it good?'" he said, "and she immediately nodded her head."

___

Online:

Regenerative Medicine: http://1.usa.gov/13IWdrx

___

AP Medical Writer Lindsey Tanner can be reached at http://www.twitter.com/LindseyTanner

"I'm not talking about anything ahead of Game 5," the Pittsburgh captain said when asked about a potential Eastern Conference final against the Boston Bruins.

But after the Penguins' 7-3 victory Wednesday night, it's hard to imagine Crosby and his teammates aren't starting to think about facing the Bruins up 3-0 over the New York Rangers.

Jarome Iginla and James Neal each scored twice, Crosby, Chris Kunitz and Pascal Dupuis added goals, and Tomas Vokoun made 30 saves. Down 2-1 after the first period, the Penguins scored twice in a 40-second span early in the second and added four goals in the first 10 minutes in the third.

Milan Michalek, Kyle Turris and Daniel Alfredsson scored for Ottawa. Senators goalie Craig Anderson was benched after Pittsburgh's sixth goal, and Robin Lehner finished the game.

"There was a sense like, 'OK, this might take as many shots as we can muster to break this guy.' And fortunately, we kept on that mindset," Penguins coach Dan Bylsma said. "It was a matter of, 'We are going to have to fire anything and everything we can at this guy to get one by him.'"

Game 5 is Friday night in Pittsburgh.

"I know what we're going to do," Alfredsson said. "We're going to go out and play one hell of a game. That doesn't worry me at all. We never quit and that's not going to stop now. We know the odds are against us in every way, but we never quit and that's going to continue."

Senators coach Paul MacLean didn't take a single question after the game. Instead, he held up the scoresheet and said: "I think everything's right here. It's 7-3. See you in Pittsburgh. We're going to Pittsburgh and we're coming to play. Have a good night."

The Senators, coming off a double-overtime victory Sunday night in Game 3, opened the scoring on Michalek's short-handed goal at 2:29 of the first period. With defenseman Sergei Gonchar in the penalty box, Alfredsson fed the puck up the middle to a streaking Michalek, who broke through the defense and beat Vokoun low on the glove side for Ottawa's second short-handed goal of the series.

It was the Senators' first lead of the series. It wouldn't last.

Neal tied it with 5:04 left in the period, picking up the loose puck in the slot and putting it in the back of the net. Turris put Ottawa back in front off a rebound with 3:45 left in the first.

Pittsburgh tied it early in the second when Kunitz got behind the defense and went in alone to beat Anderson. Less than a minute later, Anderson gave up a rebound on Kris Letang's shot that landed on the tape of Iginla's stick to make it 3-2.

Neal started the third-period flurry with a power-play goal at 1:59. Dupuis added a short-handed goal at 8:07, Crosby followed at 8:39, and Iginla scored on a power play at 9:53.

Alfredsson finished the scoring with a late power-play goal for his 100th career playoff point.

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It's an unenviable position for Miller. On Wednesday,that Miller would be dismissed from his position — a position that Miller assumed only just last November, well after the IRS had stopped its practice of putting Tea Party groups under increased scrutiny. (Miller will be replaced byin June.) Not that he's without blame: Miller was asked last year about the then-unconfirmed allegations by Congress — prior to assuming his current role — and . For his testimony today, committee chairman Rep. Dave Camp of Michigan swore Miller in, to reinforce the need for accurate testimony.

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Camp began the hearing by setting the stakes. The problem, he said, wasn't the IRS' use of terms like "Tea Party" and "Patriot" to filter which groups seeking tax-exempt status should receive additional scrutiny. The problem, instead, is that the IRS is "too large" and "too obstrusive." The tax system, he continued, "is rotten at the core, and it must be ripped out so we can start fresh." The chairman justified that claim by explaining that his goal was to examine five different aspects of the IRS' behavior. The Tea Party scrutiny was foremost, but there were other incidents: a White House official discussing the tax status of a company, harassment of donors to conservative groups, the Huffington Post , and a leak of applications for tax-exempt status .

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Rep. Sander Levin, the ranking Democrat, echoed Camp's concerns — with a caveat. The IRS "completely failed the American people," he agreed, but "if this hearing becomes essentially a bootstrap to continue the campaign of 2012 and to prepare for 2014, we will be making a very serious mistake and not meeting our obligation to the American people." After Levin, Treasury's Inspector General for Tax Adminstration J. Russell George (left, above) quicklyon the scrutiny of Tea Party (and other group) applicants.

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Then it was Miller's turn. He began his brief comments (lamenting he'd only had two days to prepare) with an apology. "Partisanship or even the perception of partisanship has no place at the IRS," he said. But: "I do not believe that partisanship motivated" the filtering. "Foolish mistakes were made by people looking to be more efficient."

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Camp began questioning Miller. He walked through the five incidents outlined in his opening statement. Miller had a few "I don't recalls," and explained that learned about several — the White House official, the Huffington Post and ProPublica leaks — through articles in the news. The last two, he said, were "inadvertent and there have been disciplines." Camp: "But you didn't inform Congress?" Miller: "They were in the press, sir." When Camp pressed him to explain his failure to be forthcoming during his prior testimony, Miller stated flatly, "I always answer questions truthfully, Mr. Camp."

Other committee member than asked questions. Rep. Sam Johnson of Texas pressed Miller on his previous testimony, unsuccessfully. Rep. Kevin Brady, also of Texas, described a resident of his district who, he says, was investigated by the FBI and asked numerous questions after filing for tax-exempt status. Brady then asked, "The broader question here: Is this still America? Is this Administration so drunk with power" that it would harass citizens in this way? Miller's response: I can't talk about a specific case. Brady followed up. Can you assure the committee that none of the IRS' information was shared with other agencies? It would be a violation of the law, Miller replied, and he would be "shocked ... shocked" if it had.

There was a subtext to the hearing today. As , critique of the IRS behavior has been expanded to include attacks on the agency's role in administering Obamacare. (During the House's 37th effort to curtail the Affordable Care Act last night,was used as an argument to support the vote.) One small piece of news won't help sever that link: the person who was in charge of the tax-exempt organizations section of the IRS during the time of the questionable screening, Sarah Hall Ingram, .

The schedule change announced Tuesday means Dell Inc. will release its fiscal first-quarter earnings after the market close this Thursday. The Round Rock, Texas, company had planned to report the results on May 21.

Dell spokesman David Frink declined to say why the company made the switch.

There's high intrigue surrounding Dell's earnings report because the company is trying to sell itself to CEO Michael Dell and other investors for $24.4 billion.

Two of Dell's biggest shareholders, billionaire Carl Icahn and Southeastern Asset Management, have made an alternate proposal in an attempt to block that deal.

Dell's board of directors so far has maintained the proposed sale to Michael Dell and his allies at $13.65 per share represents the safest deal for the company's shareholders because of a steady deterioration in PC sales as more people and businesses buy smartphones and tablets instead of laptop and desktop machines.

The board's reasoning will be bolstered if Dell's first-quarter results paint a bleak picture. The chances of a rosy outlook appear remote. The research firm International Data Corp. estimates Dell's PC sales fell 11 percent during the first three months of this year. That downturn followed an 8 percent drop in Dell's total revenue during its last fiscal year.

Analysts surveyed by FactSet are predicting Dell will post adjusted first-quarter earnings of 35 cents per share on revenue of $13.5 billion.If those figures pan out, it would represent a 19 percent decrease in Dell's adjusted earnings from last year and a 6 percent dip in revenue.

Michael Dell, who founded the company 29 years ago while he was in college, says he can turn things around by focusing on more profitable areas of technology, such as business software and data storage. The changes could depress Dell's results for several years, a factor in Michael Dell's hopes to take the company private after 25 years on the stock market. He says Dell will be able to overhaul its business away from the glare and distractions of the stock market.

Icahn and Southeastern disagree, arguing that existing shareholders should be given an opportunity to reap the gains for a turnaround. Their proposal would give shareholders the option of retaining a stake in Dell as a publicly held company. Icahn and Southeastern believe so strongly in their plan that they are mounting an effort to oust the 12-member board that's backing the company's sale to Michael Dell and replace it with directors who would support their alternate proposal.

Dell's stock shed 9 cents to $13.43 in afternoon trading Tuesday.

Earlier, Alexander Povetkin knocked out previously undefeated challenger Andrzej Wawrzyk in the third round to retain his WBA heavyweight crown, setting up a long-awaited clash with super champion Vladimir Klitschko later this year.

Lebedev, who knocked out previously undefeated Colombian challenger Santander Silgado in his last fight at the same Moscow arena in December, took the initiative from the start.

But 41-year-old Jones was not about to back down. Heavy punishment finally took its toll on the Russian as his right eye was completely shut down by round five.

The men continued their slugfest in the later rounds before the Panamanian stunned Lebedev and the partisan home crowd at Moscow's Crocus City Hall with a right cross as the referee stopped the fight late in the penultimate round.

Jones improved his record to 39 wins, including 31 by knockout, with three defeats and two draws, while Lebedev's record dropped to 25 wins and two loses.

Watched by Klitschko's elder brother and WBC champion Vitaly, Povetkin floored lanky Pole Wawrzyk with a right hook in round two, then sent his opponent to the canvas again in the following round before finishing the job a few seconds later.

The 33-year-old Russian improved his record to 26-0, including 18 by knockout, while Wawrzyk suffered his first defeat in 28 professional fights.

"It was a good workout. I didn't aim for an early knockout, it just happened," Povetkin told Russian television.

Asked if he was now ready to fight Ukrainian Klitschko, who stopped Italian Francesco Pianeta in his last fight in Germany earlier this month, Povetkin said: "Yes, let's do it."

Povetkin's manager Vladimir Khryunov, who last month won the bid to stage the Klitschko fight, added: "It will be held here in Moscow, probably in early October."

Vitaly Klitschko, however, was a bit more cautious.

"The fight is on the cards but the contract has not been signed yet," he told Russian television.

(Reporting by Gennady Fyodorov, editing by Pritha Sarkar)