You meet someone, there's chemistry, and then come the introductory questions: What's your name? Come here often? Are you my cousin?

In Iceland, a country with a population of 320,000 where most everyone is distantly related, inadvertently kissing cousins is a real risk.

Twitter has launched a service for people to find music they like and tweet songs from iTunes, Spotify and Rdio.

Twitter said in a blog post that an app will be available for download from Apple's online store Thursday. A Web version is also expected Thursday. Twitter said the service will eventually be available on Android devices as well.

Almost three weeks after China reported finding a new strain of bird flu in humans, experts are still stumped by how people are becoming infected when many appear to have had no recent contact with live fowl and the virus isn't supposed to pass from person to person.

The uncertainty adds to challenges the Chinese government is facing in trying to control the spread of the H7N9 bird flu virus that has already killed 17 people and infected 70 others in the country, mostly along the eastern seaboard.

A Dutch court on Thursday rejected a bid by a meat wholesaler to quash an order recalling 50,000 tonnes of beef potentially contaminated with horsemeat.

"The court rejects the request for a preliminary injunction," on Dutch food authority NVWA's recall of meat handled by Willy Selten, judge Reinier van Zutphen said at the commercial court in The Hague.

Palestinians are turning to their fledgling high-tech sector as they lay the groundwork for a future state, saying the unique hardships of life in the West Bank have fostered a creative spirit conducive to the world of startups.

Dozens of high-tech hopefuls recently competed for the honor of having the best business idea at the West Bank's premier startup conference. Just a few kilometers (miles) away, Palestinian youths clashed with Israeli security forces at a military checkpoint on the outskirts of Jerusalem.

Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev on Thursday painted a dim picture of the world's environmental progress, two decades after he founded the environmental group Green Cross International.

Laying much of the blame on a lack of leadership and vision, he railed against governments for falling short on nuclear disarmament, waste, development and climate change.

Eight-time defending champion Rafael Nadal extended his Monte Carlo Masters winning streak to 44 matches by beating Philipp Kohlschreiber 6-2, 6-4 Thursday, while second-seeded Andy Murray was thrashed 6-1, 6-2 by Stanislas Wawrinka in the third round.

Top-ranked Novak Djokovic put his sore right ankle to the test again as he came back from a set down for the second straight match to beat Juan Monaco of Argentina 4-6, 6-2, 6-2.

The lineup for the Cannes Film Festival includes 19 films and lots of world cinema, including from some of the globe's most difficult locales for artists.

Cannes artistic director Thierry Fremaux said Thursday that the high-profile festival protects talent in countries where freedom of expression is threatened.

French big box retailer Carrefour saw its sales slip in the first quarter due to the poor economy in Europe and currency depreciation in Latin America.

The retailer said Thursday that revenue was 20.8 billion euros ($27.3 billion) in the January-to-March period. That's a 1.3 percent drop when sales from discontinued operations are excluded.

Swiss food and drinks giant Nestle SA notched a gain of 2.3 percent in first-quarter sales and confirmed Thursday it was on track for another year of steady growth, despite economic problems in a number of its key markets in the developed world.

The maker of Nescafe, Haagen Dazs and Jenny reported sales of 21.9 billion Swiss francs ($23.48 billion) during the January to March period, up from 20.8 billion francs the same period a year earlier. As a major buyer of food commodities such as wheat, sugar, milk and coffee, Nestle's results can provide insights into the state of the global economy.