PORT LOUIS (Reuters) - Mauritius has for the second time this year cut its 2013 arrival forecast after tourist numbers grew marginally in the first half and earnings fell, the statistics office said on Thursday.

Amid a festering debt crisis and stagnant economic growth, Europeans have cut down on the number of long-haul holidays taken to sun-drenched destinations like Mauritius.

Wary of its reliance on Europe, Mauritius and regional rivals like the Seychelles islands in the Indian Ocean are increasingly looking to new markets in Asia to drive growth in tourism, but this has so far failed to reverse the tide.

Mauritius, best known for its azure waters, white beaches and luxury spas, said it expects 980,000 tourists this year from its previous forecast of a 2.5 percent rise to 990,000.

The Port Louis government had initially expected tourist numbers to hit the one million mark this year, but revised this downwards in June. Last year, tourist arrivals rose just 0.1 percent to 965,441.

Tourism accounts for about 8 percent of gross domestic product for Mauritius' $10 billion economy.

Statistics Mauritius said tourist arrivals to the palm-fringed Indian Ocean island rose only slightly by 1 percent to 471,664 in the first six months of 2013.

Tourism revenue for the first half was estimated at 22.05 billion rupees, a 6.3 percent decline compared to the same period in last year, the central bank said.

Tourism revenue for the whole year is forecast to be flat at 44.60 billion rupees compared to 44.37 billion a year ago.

Statistics Mauritius said the average room occupancy rate for all hotels during the first half of 2013 was 60 percent, compared to 62 percent in the same period last year.

Earlier this month, Mauritius leading hotel group New Mauritius Hotels posted a sharp decline of 30 percent in pretax profit.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) -- The World Food Prize Foundation on Wednesday took the bold step of awarding this year's prize to three pioneers of plant biotechnology whose work brought the world genetically modified crops.

The private nonprofit foundation, which is in part funded by biotechnology companies, refused to shy away from the controversy surrounding genetically modified crops that organic food advocates say are harmful to people and the environment.

"If we were to be deterred by a controversy, that would diminish our prize," said the foundation's president, Kenneth Quinn, a retired U.S. diplomat.

This year's award goes to Marc Van Montagu, founder and chairman of the Institute of Plant Biotechnology Outreach at Ghent University in Belgium; Mary-Dell Chilton, founder and researcher at Syngenta Biotechnology; and Robert Fraley, chief technology officer at Monsanto.

Van Montagu and Chilton independently developed the technology in the 1980s to stably transfer foreign genes into plants, a discovery that set up a race to develop tools to genetically engineer plants. It allowed other scientists to incorporate genetic traits in plants to better withstand drought, extreme heat and to fight off pests and disease. Fraley was the first to successfully transfer immunity to specific bacteria into a plant.

Fraley genetically engineered the first herbicide-resistant soybean in 1996.

The foundation lists Monsanto and Syngenta Foundation among its annual donors, along with other agribusiness corporations such as DuPont Pioneer, Archer Daniels Midland Co. and Cargill.

The award drew immediate condemnation from opponents of corporate farming.

"We could not ask for a better poster child for what's wrong with the prize than the recipients of this year's World Food Prize," said Frank Cordaro, who organized an Occupy World Food Prize protest last year. "It's all part of the very same system of the corporate elite. The problem is not with the recipients, the problem is with the system that gives the 1 percent all the power and corporate agriculture is built on that system."

Genetically enhanced crops are grown on more than 420 million acres in nearly 30 countries by over 17 million farmers worldwide, the foundation said. More than 90 percent are small, resource-poor farmers in developing countries.

Many U.S. farmers credited genetic modifications in corn with saving last year's crop from all but total devastation as half of the nation endured the worst drought in 60 years. Modern corn plants are more stable and can withstand a wider variety of climate conditions because of genetically improved leaves, roots and reproductive capability.

Fraley said biotechnology will enable the farming industry to meet the needs of a growing global population.

"We know we need from a demand perspective to double food production around the world in the next 30 years," he said.

Some organic farmers warn that widespread planting of genetically modified crops could contaminate organic and traditional crops, destroying their value. Others are concerned about the uncharted long-term impact for those who eat products such as milk and beef from animals raised on genetically modified plants.

"GMO crops have led to the loss of food security worldwide and for small farmers, they have led to the development of factory farms and have destroyed biodiversity in food we do produce and consume," said David Goodner, a community organizer for Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement, an environmental and human rights activist group that opposes corporate farming. "The World Food Prize by selecting these people to honor shows that it cares more about corporate profits than it cares about truly feeding the world with healthy food."

Van Montagu said the food prize award should raise understanding of the safety of genetically modified crops.

"We just have to explain to society the science fact and that is not the slightest risk has been identified. These crops are as safe, if not safer, than food that comes from traditional agriculture," he said. "If somebody denies that we bluntly can say they are misinformed."

The World Food Prize was created in 1986 by Norman Borlaug, winner of the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to fight hunger. Borlaug was honored in 1970 for work that boosted agricultural production in what has become known as the "Green Revolution."

Recipients will receive the prize, which includes $250,000, at a ceremony in October at the Iowa Capitol in Des Moines attended by hundreds of scholars and agribusiness leaders from around the world.

The 42-year-old entertainer, whose real name is Earl Simmons, was a passenger in a truck that was stopped late Tuesday for an illegal U-turn, according to police in the City of Greer.

Officers arrested Simmons after realizing that he had an outstanding warrant for driving under suspension, authorities said. Police also found marijuana in the truck, and Simmons and the driver, 39-year-old Anitra Shalawn Rhodes of Greenville, were charged with simple possession.

Lt. Jimmy Holcombe said Wednesday that Simmons had been released from jail. Court records listed no attorney for Simmons, and there was no answer at a phone number listed for him.

Domenick Nati, a spokesman for the rapper, said in a statement emailed to The Associated Press that Simmons had been traveling with his assistants and had no drugs on him when police searched the truck.

Nati said Simmons was released Wednesday morning and was back at his home in South Carolina.

This is Simmons' second arrest in as many months. In July, he was arrested by Greenville County authorities on the driving under suspension charge, as well as driving under the influence. Last year, he was charged in Spartanburg County with suspicion of driving without a license.

In 2011, Simmons was arrested in a Phoenix suburb after a trooper clocked him driving at 102 mph. At the time, Simmons had been recently released from prison on probation revocation for failing to submit to drug testing and driving without a license.

The rapper's string of hits starting in the late 1990s included "Party Up (Up in Here)" and "Get at Me Dog."

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Kinnard can be reached at http://twitter.com/MegKinnardAP

"While I reserve the right to pursue an offer in the future, I believe it is in the company's best interests to focus on the business at hand," Riggio said in a statement filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. "Right now our priority should be to serve the more than 10 million customers who own NOOK devices, to concentrate on building our Retail business, and to accelerate the sale of NOOK products in our stores, and in the marketplace."

(Reporting by Jessica Wohl in Chicago; Editing by Gerald E. McCormick)

North Korea and Cuba share similar anti-U.S. ideologies, and Havana hosted a senior North Korean military delegation less than a month ago, but the countries aren't seen as major weapons business partners. Cuba said Panama seized obsolete weaponry that Havana had sent to be repaired.

North Korea has a long history of aggressively buying, marketing and selling arms around the world, especially in developing countries in the Middle East, Africa and Southeast Asia.

Much of that business was in sales of short- and medium-range missiles, but the market for full missile systems is thought to have dried up in recent years.

That's partly because of international pressure and sanctions banning weapons exports that followed North Korea's three nuclear tests since 2006 and a string of long-range rocket launches. Sales may have also suffered because of the poor-quality, Soviet-type weaponry that Pyongyang has traditionally produced.

Since the 1990s, analysts say, Pyongyang has been favoring exports of conventional weapons and the equipment and components that are used in missile production assembly lines. North Korea cannot export heavy arms or material related to nuclear weapons or missiles under U.N. Security Council sanctions.

Here is a look at some high-profile North Korean arms seizures and inspections that provide an idea of who's in the market for Pyongyang's goods. It is based on U.N. reports and a 2011 study by arms control expert Joshua Pollack, who has compiled public reports on seizures and inspection:

MIDDLE EAST

Late last year, U.N. diplomats reported that 445 North Korean-made graphite cylinders, capable of being used to produce ballistic missiles, were seized in May from a Chinese freighter ship at the South Korean port of Busan on their way to Syria.

In December 2009, Thailand intercepted a charter jet from Pyongyang carrying 35 tons of conventional weapons, including surface-to-air missiles. Thai authorities reported that they were headed for Iran, a major North Korean missile and weapons client.

In October 2007, propellant blocks that could be used to power Scud missiles were seized from a ship heading to Syria, according to a report by a 2012 U.N. expert panel.

AFRICA

Pyongyang has tried also to sell shorter-range missiles and Soviet-vintage rockets and guns to customers in Africa. There have been reports in recent years of seizures of shipments heading to Eritrea, Republic of Congo and Burundi.

In November 2009, tank parts and equipment bound for the Republic of Congo were reportedly found in South Africa.

In three separate incidents in 1999 and 2000, missile parts and components were found to be on their way to Libya.

In 1996, artillery rockets and Scud missile components were reportedly found in Switzerland and bound for Egypt.

MYANMAR

Washington says one of the contracts between Myanmar's former ruling junta and North Korea was for Pyongyang to help Myanmar build medium-range, liquid-fueled ballistic missiles.

In June 2009, Japan's Daily Yomiuri newspaper reported three arrests over an alleged attempt, on instructions from North Korea, to illegally export to Myanmar a magnetic measuring device believed necessary for long-range ballistic missiles.

CUBA

On Tuesday, Panamanian President Ricardo Martinelli said the 14,000-ton Chong Chon Gang, which had left Cuba for North Korea, was carrying missiles and other arms hidden beneath a cargo of sugar. He revealed a picture of a green tube that an expert said appears to be a horizontal antenna for radar used to guide missiles fired by an air-defense system.

Cuba's Foreign Ministry said 240 metric tons of "obsolete defensive weapons" had been shipped out to be repaired and returned to the island. It said the cargo included two Volga and Pechora anti-aircraft missile systems, nine missiles "in parts and spares," two Mig-21Bis and 15 engines for those airplanes.

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Follow Foster Klug on Twitter at twitter.com/apklug.

The unanimous vote affirmed RNC Chairman Reince Priebus's threat against the networks if they went ahead with programs about Clinton, a possible Democratic presidential contender. Priebus said CNN has "an obvious bias."

"That's a network that won't be hosting a single Republican primary debate," Priebus declared, receiving a standing ovation from Republican activists from across the country gathered for the committee's summer meeting in Boston.

In a statement, CNN said a division of the company planned to air a documentary about Clinton in 2014.

"The project is in the very early stages of development, months from completion," the CNN statement read. "We encouraged all interested parties to wait until the program premieres before judgments are made about it. Unfortunately, the RNC was not willing to do that."

Meanwhile, the Fox TV Studios has decided not to help produce NBC's "Hillary" miniseries, said Leslie Oren, the company's spokeswoman. Fox's participation attracted attention because it is owned by News Corp. and is a sister company to the Fox News Channel, where the project has come under attack from commentators.

The studio's decision adds to the already considerable doubt within NBC that the miniseries will ever get made.

Later Friday, a statement from NBC appeared to hedge on the miniseries' future. A script is being written, but the project has not been ordered to production, said Bob Greenblatt, NBC Entertainment chairman.

"It is 'in development,' the first stage of any television series or movie, many of which never go to production," Greenblatt said. "Speculation, demands, and declarations pertaining to something that isn't created or produced yet seem premature."

In July, when Greenblatt announced the project and Diane Lane's casting as Clinton, the only uncertainty seemed to be when it might air and who would play former President Bill Clinton.

The NBC entertainment division's decision to go ahead with the project was made without consultation with NBC's news division. Some NBC News people, including political director Chuck Todd and Washington reporter Andrea Mitchell, have attacked the idea as something that would make life difficult for the news division.

Even before the Clinton dispute, Republican leaders favored plans to have fewer presidential debates with more friendly moderators. They believe their 2012 presidential candidates spent too much time beating up on each other in last year's monthslong primary season, contributing to Mitt Romney's loss.

"Our party should not be involved in setting up a system that encourages the slicing and dicing of candidates over a long period of time with moderators that are not in the business of being at all concerned about the future of our party," Priebus told reporters.

Democratic National Committee spokesman Michael Czin criticized Friday's vote.

"Instead of modifying their policies to actually present smart solutions for middle class families, the only thing the GOP can unite behind is a plan to continue to limit the audiences and voters to whom they will communicate," he said.

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AP Television Writers David Bauder in New York and Lynn Elber in Los Angeles contributed to this report.

AMERICAN LEAGUE

EASTERN DIVISION

W L PCT GB

1. Boston 73 52 .584 -

2. Tampa Bay 69 52 .570 2

3. Baltimore 66 56 .541 5 1/2

4. NY Yankees 63 59 .516 8 1/2

5. Toronto 57 66 .463 15

CENTRAL DIVISION

W L PCT GB

1. Detroit 72 51 .585 -

2. Cleveland 66 57 .537 6

3. Kansas City 64 58 .525 7 1/2

4. Minnesota 54 67 .446 17

5. Chicago White Sox 48 74 .393 23 1/2

WESTERN DIVISION

W L PCT GB

1. Texas 71 52 .577 -

2. Oakland 69 53 .566 1 1/2

3. Seattle 56 66 .459 14 1/2

4. LA Angels 55 67 .451 15 1/2

5. Houston 40 82 .328 30 1/2

NATIONAL LEAGUE

EASTERN DIVISION

W L PCT GB

1. Atlanta 75 48 .610 -

2. Washington 60 62 .492 14 1/2

3. NY Mets 56 65 .463 18

4. Philadelphia 53 69 .434 21 1/2

5. Miami 46 75 .380 28

CENTRAL DIVISION

W L PCT GB

1. Pittsburgh 72 50 .590 -

2. St. Louis 70 52 .574 2

3. Cincinnati 69 54 .561 3 1/2

4. Milwaukee 54 69 .439 18 1/2

5. Chicago Cubs 53 69 .434 19

WESTERN DIVISION

W L PCT GB

1. LA Dodgers 72 50 .590 -

2. Arizona 63 58 .521 8 1/2

3. Colorado 58 66 .468 15

4. San Francisco 55 67 .451 17

5. San Diego 55 68 .447 17 1/2

SUNDAY, AUGUST 18 FIXTURES (GMT)

Kansas City at Detroit (1708)

San Francisco at Miami (1710)

Washington at Atlanta (1735)

Colorado at Baltimore (1735)

LA Dodgers at Philadelphia (1735)

Arizona at Pittsburgh (1735)

Toronto at Tampa Bay (1740)

Cincinnati at Milwaukee (1810)

Chicago White Sox at Minnesota (1810)

St. Louis at Chicago Cubs (1820)

Seattle at Texas (1905)

Houston at LA Angels (1935)

Cleveland at Oakland (2005)

NY Mets at San Diego (2010)

MONDAY, AUGUST 19 FIXTURES (GMT)

NY Yankees at Boston (0005)

The Kolkata Patent Office said earlier this month that it had dismissed certain patent applications filed by Roche, because the company had failed to submit the applications for Herceptin correctly.

"Roche has come to the conclusion not to pursue Indian Patent No. 205534 (the secondary patent) and the related divisional applications," a Roche spokesman said in an emailed statement. "This decision takes into account the strength of the particular rights and the IP (intellectual property) environment in India in general."

Western pharmaceutical companies are keen to tap into India's $13 billion drug market, but there are concerns about the level of protection for intellectual property in the country, where generic medicines account for more than 90 percent of drug sales.

Herceptin, a treatment for a particularly aggressive form of breast cancer, is Roche's third-biggest seller and notched up global revenues of 3.08 billion Swiss francs ($3.30 billion) in the first half of the year.

India's government has considered issuing a compulsory license on Herceptin, which would allow local drugmakers to sell far cheaper, generic copies. The government has so far held off from a decision.

In 2012, India issued the first ever compulsory license to domestic drugmaker Natco Pharma on a kidney and liver cancer drug, Nexavar, patented by Germany's Bayer.

Roche's decision not to pursue a patent for Herceptin could pave the way for generic drugmakers to produce cheaper copies, known as biosimilars, because they are not identical replicas of the original drug.

However, Roche said there are no approved versions in India of a biosimilar version of Herceptin, also known as Trastuzumab.

Roche said it would continue to enforce other patents covering its drugs in India.

($1 = 0.9346 Swiss francs)

(Reporting by Caroline Copley; editing by Tom Pfeiffer)

(Reuters) - IBM, the world's biggest technology services company, said on Thursday it has agreed to buy Trusteer, a company that helps businesses fight computer viruses and fraud.

A person familiar with the matter said IBM was paying close to $1 billion for Trusteer, making it the company's second-largest acquisition of a security company after its 2006 purchase of Internet Security Systems for about $1.3 billion.

Officials with International Business Machines Corp declined to comment on terms of the agreement to buy Trusteer, which has offices in Boston and Tel Aviv, Israel.

IBM said it planned to open a cyber security software lab at Trusteer's offices in Tel Aviv, which will employ more than 200 researchers and developers. The lab will be in addition to other research and development facilities in Israel.

Trusteer competes with long-established security providers such as Symantec Corp, Intel Corp's McAfee division and EMC Corp's RSA security unit. Privately held competitors include FireEye, which has filed to go public, and Bromium.

(Reporting by Jim Finkle in Boston and Nicola Leske New York; Editing by Toni Reinhold)

DENVER (Reuters) - Denver Broncos all-pro linebacker Von Miller, who is appealing his suspension for violating the NFL's drug policy, was arrested on Sunday at a Colorado gun shop for failing to appear in court for traffic violations, police said on Wednesday.

Miller, 24, was arrested after the Colorado Bureau of Investigation notified police that he was in the store and had an outstanding warrant, according to documents released by the Arapahoe County Sheriff's Office.

Undersheriff David Walcher said Miller was taken into custody by deputies on Sunday, booked and released after paying a $1,000 bond. Walcher said he did not know what triggered the law enforcement notification.

Susan Medina, spokeswoman for the Colorado Bureau of Investigation, said the agency cannot comment on specific cases, but under Colorado law anyone attempting to purchase a gun must undergo a background check, which could reveal any outstanding warrants.

The 6-foot 3-inches (1.91-metre), 250-pound (113-kg) Miller, who was the second overall pick in the 2011 NFL draft, was cited in October in suburban Denver for driving without a license, careless driving and failure to provide proof of insurance.

He skipped his December court date, and a warrant was then issued.

The Broncos posted a brief statement on the team's website, saying they were aware of the arrest of the third-year pro out of Texas A&M University, who has twice been selected a Pro Bowl outside linebacker.

"It was reported to the league earlier this week and is being handled through the legal system," the statement said.

The news of his arrest came a day before Miller was scheduled to appear before NFL officials to appeal a four-game suspension the league handed down to him for violating its substance abuse policy.

Miller's arrest is the latest off-field embarrassment for the Broncos, who were eliminated in last season's play-offs by the eventual Super Bowl champion Baltimore Ravens.

Two of the team's front office executives were suspended without pay by the team in July after they were arrested in separate incidents on driving under the influence charges.

(Editing By Sharon Bernstein and Mohammad Zargham)