IBT Staff Reporter

The first major update for hand-held Nintendo 3DS system will be available in North America by June 6 evening, which can enable users to access internet browser and the ninetendo eshop by installing free update via internet.

A handful of retailers beat analysts' sales expectations for May, winning with strong selections of goods or drawing in shoppers looking for deals as high gasoline prices and a sluggish economy tempered demand.

As the saffron-robed Swami Ramdev, India's famous yoga guru, has pledged a hunger strike starting Saturday to protest against corruption, the government is trying to convince him otherwise.

Micro-blogging site Twitter has announced the launch of its photo-sharing service which will allow users to attach a photograph to a tweet directly, an act bound to alienate third-party developers.

Greece has agreed to 6.4 billion euros in new steps to cut its 2011 budget deficit and aims to wrap up bailout talks with international inspectors by Friday, a senior government official told Reuters on Thursday.

Bank of Japan board member Seiji Nakamura said solid global growth will help Japan's recovery accelerate later this year but warned that the country cannot afford policy paralysis when the wounds of the devastating earthquake in March have yet to heal.

A 17-year old student in Anhui Province in China sold one of his kidneys for 20,000 yuan only to buy an iPad 2, the ShanghaiDaily.com reported today.

Albania has asked China to invest in several projects and sought to strengthen its relations with Beijing.

Europe should consider strengthening central control of economic policy if efforts to deal with its debt crisis do not deliver results, European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet said on Thursday.

To create a united front, Syrian opposition parties on Wednesday decided to set up a committee to prepare the country for evolution from dictatorship to democracy.

Apple has put restrictions over online giveaways of their products and has enforced its Guidelines for Third Party Promotions on companies using iPhones and iPads as gifts, tagging it “free”.

Greece and a team of EU/IMF/ECB inspectors aims to conclude talks on a medium-term fiscal plan by Friday when Prime Minister George Papandreou is set to discuss its main points with Eurogroup chairman Jean-Claude Juncker, a senior government official told Reuters.

Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence denied the allegations against them that its operatives were behind the abduction and killing of the journalist Syed Saleem Shahzad.

French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde has proposed visiting China in early June and will meet leading officials from the People's Bank of China, China's foreign ministry said on Thursday, a visit during which she would discuss her candidacy to head the International Monetary Fund.

Fourth Seed Andy Murray is confident of defeating world number one Rafael Nadal in the French Open semifinals despite suffering an ankle injury in the third round.

Legendary basketball player Shaquille O'Neal announced his retirement on Twitter

U.S. warehouse club operator Costco Wholesale Corp beat market expectations with a 13 percent rise in May same-store sales, helped by higher gasoline prices.

Private equity firm Gores Group is in talks to buy more than half of bankrupt bookseller Borders Group Inc's remaining stores, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday, citing people familiar with the matter.

China rejected the allegations of hacking Google-email accounts of US officials, military personal and journalist.

World stocks extended losses on Thursday and the dollar hovered near a one-month lows against major currencies after a run of dismal economic data pointed to a faltering recovery in the United States.

Stock index futures pointed to a slightly higher open on Wall Street on Thursday following the previous session's sharp losses, with futures for the S&P 500 up 0.05 percent, Dow Jones futures up 0.09 percent and Nasdaq 100 futures up 0.13 percent at 3:45 a.m. EDT.

North Korea's National Defense Commission has reportedly forbidden all women aged 10 to 60 from traveling on trains and roads to the NK/China border.

Jordanian Ashraf Hamdan began investing in Dubai's real estate market in 2006, with a few modest rental investment forays before turning his sights on flashier projects as a wave of luxury developments hit the market.

The International Air Transport Association said on Thursday the global economy was recovering more slowly than expected, but was inching upward based on air traffic data, a key barometer of growth.

Citigroup Inc shut down a $400 million hedge fund that used the bank's money and mathematical models to bet on stocks, in the wake of new regulations aimed at stopping proprietary trading, Bloomberg reported, citing a person familiar with the matter.

French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde will visit China in early June and will meet leading officials from the People's Bank of China to discuss her candidacy to head the International Monetary Fund, China's foreign ministry said on Thursday.

Hewlett-Packard Co sees the WebOS software it acquired from Palm running devices besides its own and is open to licensing the operating system, Chief Executive Leo Apotheker said.

According to Wikipedia, Engrish refers to unusual forms of English language usage originating in some East Asian countries.

The high unemployment rate means the Fed's ultra-easy money policies remain the right course of action, top Federal Reserve officials said on Wednesday.