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• MOSCOW (AP) -- Russian state-owned news agencies say Russian radar systems have detected two "ballistic objects" fired from the central Mediterranean toward the eastern part of the sea.
• RIA Novosti and ITAR-Tass on Tuesday quoted a Defense Ministry employee saying that the early warning radar station in southern Russia detected the launches at 0616 GMT (2:16 a.m. EDT)
• The Defense Ministry would not confirm the report but said it would issue a statement soon. In Washington, a Pentagon press officer could not confirm the report.
• The United States, which has war ships in the Mediterranean, is considering strikes against Syria for an Aug. 21 alleged chemical weapons attack in a Damascus suburb.
• There were no reports of missile strikes.
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• HELSINKI (AP) -- Microsoft Corp. is buying Nokia Corp.'s line-up of smartphones and a portfolio of patents and services in an attempt to mount a more formidable challenge to Apple Inc. and Google Inc. as more technological tasks get done on mobile devices instead of personal computers.
• The 5.44 billion euros ($7.2 billion) deal announced late Monday marks a major step in Microsoft's push to transform itself from a software maker focused on making operating systems and applications for desktop and laptop computers into a more versatile and nimble company that delivers services on any kind of Internet-connected gadget.
• Microsoft, which is based in Redmond, Wash., is being forced to evolve because people are increasingly pursuing their digital lives on smartphones and tablet computers, causing the demand for PCs to shrivel. The shift is weakening Microsoft, which has dominated the PC software market for the past 30 years, and empowering Apple, the maker of the trend-setting iPhone and iPad, and Google, which gives away the world's most popular mobile operating system, Android.
• Nokia, based in Espoo, Finland, and Microsoft have been trying to make inroads

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