Raymond Ronamai

The cabinet has allowed cash-rich state companies to buyback shares and participate in the government's divestment programme, Praful Patel said on Thursday, as New Delhi looks to narrow its widening fiscal deficit.

Facebook has unveiled new ways for businesses to reach its 845 million users directly across all devices, including mobile, as it races toward a multibillion dollar IPO. With new Premium on Facebook ads, marketers can expand their reach on the social network by paying for a video.

Lionel Messi scored a hat-trick, a first-half masterpiece followed by two late goals, to give Argentina a 3-1 win over Switzerland on Wednesday and make a mockery of the suggestion he only plays well for Barcelona.

Finnish gaming firm Rovio expects to boost growth for months to come, with expansion in Asia, to Facebook and with the launch of Angry Birds Spaces, its marketing chief told Reuters in an interview.

France's data protection regulator will launch an official investigation into Google's new privacy policy and said that its preliminary view was that it did not conform with European laws on protecting individuals' privacy.

Angelina Jolie's bare leg led to many post-Oscar jokes, but by Tuesday it had kicked back at critics and become an Internet celebrity in its own right followed by thousands.

Some Chinese Internet users have this week been able to access blocked websites such as YouTube, Facebook and Twitter, relishing the newfound freedom although the reason for the breach in China's Great Firewall of censorship was a mystery.

Apple Inc (AAPL.O) is hosting a media event next Wednesday, where it is expected to unveil a faster, better-equipped version of its popular iPad tablet to thwart increasing competition from deep-pocketed rivals. Experts expect it to have 4g wireless capability.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad could be classified as a war criminal, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said as the United Nations announced more than 7,500 civilians had been killed by his forces since the start of the revolt.

India's economic growth slowed to its weakest annual pace in almost three years in the three months to December, as high interest rates and rising input costs constrained investment and manufacturing. GDP rose 6.1 percent in October to December compared with a year earlier, a lower-than-expected increase, figures from the statistics office showed.

Indian gold futures, which struck a two-month high last week, could extend gains to top 29,000 rupees, a level keenly watched by the market, due to higher crude oil prices and weakness in the dollar versus the euro, analysts said.

For Steven Sinofsky, the stern but creative engineering manager who runs Microsoft Corp's (MSFT.O) flagship Windows division, February 29 is showtime. Sinofsky will preside over the public test release of the Windows 8 operating system, his biggest test.

Congress party leader Sonia Gandhi has travelled abroad for routine medical checks six months after undergoing surgery in the United States, a spokesman for the party said on Tuesday.

Virat Kohli smashed an unbeaten 133 as India chased down a mammoth 321-run target in under 37 overs against Sri Lanka in Hobart on Tuesday to stay alive in the one-day international Tri-series.

Yahoo has demanded licensing fees from Facebook for use of its technology, the companies said on Monday, potentially engulfing social media in the patent battles and lawsuits raging across much of the tech sector.

Yang Long-san, Apple's nemesis in a battle over the iPad trademark in China, once strutted the expo halls with dreams of market dominance. His company, Proview, may now be in ruins and his most valuable asset a disputed trademark, but those dreams remain intact.

It was an ordinary blue felt pen, and not a bullet, that killed Mohamed Nasheed's term as the first democratically elected president of the Maldives.

American NGOs fund the protests that hold India back from building the nuclear reactors it needs to meet fast-growing energy needs, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said in an interview published in Science magazine on Friday.

Cybersecurity experts have uncovered a flaw in a component of the operating system of Google Inc's (GOOG.O) widely used Android smartphone that they say hackers can exploit to gain control of the devices.

President Bashar al-Assad's forces killed 103 people in Syria on Friday in the bombardment of the besieged city of Homs and in attacks on the countryside of Hama and the east and north of the country, the activist group Local Coordination Committees said.

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.

Sri Lanka chased down 280 with four balls to spare to clinch a confidence-boosting three-wicket win over Australia in their one-day match in Hobart on Friday and take top spot in the tri-series tournament.

Hundreds of demonstrators marched towards the palace of Afghan President Hamid Karzai in Kabul on Friday, as a fourth day of protests erupted over the burning of Korans at a NATO base, with riot police and soldiers on high alert. Twelve people were killed on Friday in the bloodiest day yet in protests that have raged across Afghanistan over the desecration of copies of the Muslim holy book.

Gold traders in India, the world's biggest buyer of bullion, were reluctant to enter the market on Friday as the prices remained elevated, though off their 10 week highs.

Citigroup sold its stake in Housing Development Finance Corp (HDFC) for $1.9 billion, as global banks focus on shoring up their balance sheets to meet stricter capital requirements.

President Barack Obama apologized on Thursday for the burning of copies of the Koran on a U.S. base in Afghanistan as the White House sought to quell spiraling furor among Afghans while also staving off Republican criticism at home.

The Asian firm Proview trying to stop Apple Inc from using the iPad name has now launched an attack on the consumer electronics giant's home turf, filing a lawsuit in California that accuses the iPhone-maker of employing deception when it bought the iPad trademark.

Two Western journalists were killed in the besieged Syrian city of Homs on Wednesday when shells hit the house they were staying in, opposition activists and witnesses said.

Lenders to Kingfisher Airlines (KING.NS) have not agreed to extend further loans to the debt-crippled carrier, three banking sources said on Wednesday after reports that State Bank of India (SBI) was close to offering a bailout loan package.