COMPANIES

Facebook is accused of accessing text messages of its users but the company has denied the charge by stating that it does not read the content and that the report is misleading.

Samsung Electronics' mobile chief said it aimed to nearly double its smartphone sales in 2012 from last year, stepping up its battle with arch rival Apple Inc.

HSBC Holdings is expected to report the West's biggest banking profit for last year, fuelled by the East, while its rivals are struggling with faltering European and U.S. growth.

Live Mas is Taco Bell's new catchphrase, and though the chain says it has been implemented to introduce a new approach to eating, it is also a response to a number of scandals that have plagued the chain in the past year.

Taiwan's HTC, the world's No. 5 smartphone maker, launched a new range of smartphone models on Sunday, hoping the fresh designs will help it to recover some of the lost market share.

Taiwan's HTC, the world's No. 5 smartphone maker, launched on Sunday a new range of smartphone models, hoping the fresh designs will help it to recover some of the lost market share.

The start of the liability trial for the BP 2010 Deepwater Horizon explosion that killed 11 workers and fouled the Gulf of Mexico for months, has been delayed for a week allowing more time for embattled BP and fellow defendants to broker a settlement with U.S. prosecutors.

Sony Corp. declared a return to the smartphone business on Sunday, unveiling its first smartphones under the Sony brand, but warned the group's painful transition would not be as fast as rebranding.

Foxconn has started shipping the highly anticipated iPad 3, ahead of Apple's official unveiling of the tablet in March, according to MacRumors who came across a shipping document on a Chinese Website.

The Bundesbank profit turned over to the federal government will be considerably smaller this year than in 2011 due to the risk provisions linked to the euro zone crisis, central bank president Jens Weidmann was quoted telling Der Spiegel.

Afghan authorities said on Sunday they believe one of the country's police intelligence officers may have been involved in the shooting deaths of two U.S. officers inside the nation's interior ministry a day earlier, prompting NATO to recall all its staff from ministries.

The much-awaited Samsung Galaxy Tab 2, 10.1-inch version, was announced Saturday ahead of the Mobile World Congress. The device is an update to its Galaxy Tab flagship and would be running on Ice Cream Sandwich with Samsung's TouchWiz UI skin. The tablet has also got a nice feel to it - it's lightweight and slim. It is a definite competitor to drive away the market share of the much-rumored Apple iPad 3.

Italian judges on Saturday concluded former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's trial on charges of bribing British lawyer David Mills, saying the statute of limitations had run out and a verdict could not be reached. The case surrounding Mills was one of the most prominent of the scandals centered on Berlusconi.

Rupert Murdoch is trying to grab back the huge audience his News Corp lost when it closed the best-selling News of the World over a phone-hacking scandal with a new Sunday edition of his Sun tabloid filled with gossip, girls and celebrities.

Samsung may not be releasing Galaxy S3 at the Mobile Word Congress that will begin in Barcelona Feb 26. However, the Korean electronics giant is expected to launch a lot of less-expensive devices which are targeted at the budget-minded buyers.

The Mobile World Congress (MWC) will kick off in Barcelona Sunday and the fans would finally have the list of the best 2012 wireless devices in hand.

The Japanese government will seek the resignation of the Tokyo Electric Power Co.'s (Tepco's) board of directors at a shareholder meeting in June in return for injecting $13 billion of public funds, the Mainichi newspaper said on Saturday.

Galaxy S2 Skyrocket, Samsung's one of the finest smartphones with its astonishingly powerful 1.5 GHz dual core processor, Super AMOLED Plus Screen with jaw-dropping color and Android 2.3.5 Gingerbread operating system, faced immense pressure from Apple's iPhone 4S.

Debt-ladden Kingfisher Airlines Ltd has received recapitalisation offers worth 8 billion rupees from two Indian investors, the Times of India said on Saturday, citing the carrier's Chairman Vijay Mallya.

The El Paso Corp. announced on Friday it is selling its oil-and-gas exploration-and-production business -- the EP Energy Corp. (EP Energy) -- for about $7.15 billion to a consortium including Apollo Global Management LLC, Access Industries Inc., Riverstone Holdings LLC, and other unnamed firms.

Seven months after the closure of the News of the World, Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. is returning to the Sunday tabloid market in the UK with the launch of the new edition of the Sun Feb. 26.

Boeing Co. appointed a new executive to oversee the production of the carbon-plastic 787 Dreamliner to make sure that the delays are overcome and targets are achieved.

Proview Electronics, the firm trying to stop Apple Inc from using the iPad name in China, has a plausible claim over the unusual methods Apple used to conceal its identity when attempting to acquire Proview's trademarks, according to several legal experts.

Bank of America Corp appears to be going it alone in not selling mortgage loans to Fannie Mae, a move that, while sending an angry signal to the nation's largest mortgage-buyer, could force the bank to charge less attractive mortgage rates.

Goldman Sachs Group has suspended coverage of 18 discount brokers, exchanges and small investment banks because the analyst who follows them has left the firm.

The Apple Inc. stock predictions in 2012 of many analysts are bullish.

BP's 2010 Deepwater Horizon explosion that killed 11 and fouled the Gulf of Mexico for months is finally headed for court. On Monday, a federal judge in New Orleans is scheduled to gavel the case to order.

Proview Technology, the bankrupt electronics maker that uses the iPad name on several of its products such as computer monitors, has reportedly brought its lawsuit against Apple to the U.S. Will this jeopardize the release of the iPad 3?

Brooke Mueller, Charlie Sheen's ex-wife was charged with possession and distribution of cocaine in Colorado following her arrest in Aspen Dec. 30.