(Reuters) - Chipmaker Broadcom Inc said on Thursday it would buy back up to $12 billion of its common stock.

BRASILIA (Reuters) - Competition from Uber Technologies Inc [UBER.UL] reduced the number of rides on cab apps in Brazil by more than half, the country's antitrust regulator said on Thursday, showing the U.S. ride-hailing service's disruptive effect in one of its biggest markets.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The National Transportation Safety Board said on Thursday it had removed Tesla Inc as a party in its investigation of a fatal crash in March in which the semi-autonomous "Autopilot" driving system was in use, after Tesla flouted terms of an agreement with the agency.

(Reuters) - A U.S. judge in Philadelphia has ruled that limousine drivers for Uber Technologies Inc [UBER.UL] are independent contractors and not the company's employees under federal law, the first ruling of its kind on a crucial issue for the ride-hailing company.

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - European Union Justice Commissioner Vera Jourova said she had a "constructive and open discussion" with Facebook Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg about the Cambridge Analytica scandal on Thursday.

(Reuters) - The Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA), a trade group for the U.S. financial industry, released a framework on Thursday aimed at ensuring customers' private data remains safe when they give third parties access to it.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Federal Trade Commission said on Thursday the ride-hailing company Uber Technologies Inc had agreed to expand its proposed settlement with the agency over charges it deceived consumers about its privacy and data security practices.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Tesla Inc said it is withdrawing as a formal party to the National Transportation Safety Board's probe into a fatal March 23 crash in California in which the semi-autonomous "Autopilot" driving system was in use.

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian communications watchdog Roskomnadzor has asked Facebook to explain how it is complying with a Russian law on data localization, the Interfax news agency reported on Thursday.

LONDON (Reuters) - After shaking up the music industry, Spotify is now prompting investors to question the value they get from investment banks underwriting new listings with its low-cost IPO.

LONDON (Reuters) - Cryptocurrency prices jumped on Thursday, led by a surge in bitcoin to two-week highs, with people active in the market citing a squeeze on traders who have bet against prices, given a lack of obvious news to trigger the gains.

(Reuters) - Electric vehicle charging station provider EVgo said on Thursday it would build a dedicated direct current fast charging network for General Motor Co's Maven car sharing and rental unit.

(Reuters) - Uber Technologies Inc[UBER.UL] said on Thursday it unveiled new safety features including an emergency button that will connect U.S. riders directly to 911.

LONDON (Reuters) - Cryptocurrency prices jumped on Thursday, led by a 10 percent surge in bitcoin to two-week highs, though analysts said they were unsure of what had triggered the spike.

DUBLIN/BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The ability of firms such as Facebook to easily transfer Europeans' data to the United States was plunged into legal limbo on Thursday when the Irish High Court asked the EU's top court for a detailed assessment of whether the methods were legal.

BRUSSELS/SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - The European Union's top antitrust regulator, Margrethe Vestager, has made it her mission to stem alleged anti-competitive abuses by big American tech companies, threatening as recently as last month to break up Alphabet Inc's Google.

HONG KONG/MUMBAI (Reuters) - Walmart Inc is likely to reach a deal to buy a majority stake in Indian e-commerce player Flipkart by the end of June in what could be the U.S. retail giant's biggest acquisition of an online business, two people with direct knowledge of the matter said.

(Reuters) - British gambling technology company Playtech said it agreed to buy a 70.6 percent stake in Italian betting and gaming firm Snaitech for 291 million euros ($359.2 million) in cash, in a move to source most of its revenue from regulated markets.

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - European Union privacy watchdogs will look deeper into the harvesting of personal data from social networks for economic or political purposes, following the scandal engulfing Facebook after data from nearly 87 million users was improperly accessed.

GUNSAN, South Korea (Reuters) - Workers at a rural South Korean factory are busy extracting some of the world's most coveted metals, used in the batteries that power electric cars.

PARIS (Reuters) - The municipality of Paris has asked a French court to urgently fine Airbnb and two other small companies for unauthorized short-term letting, said an official with the city's administration.

LONDON (Reuters) - Avast, the world's largest consumer antivirus supplier by customers, said on Thursday it will apply to list its shares on the London Stock Exchange in what could be a blockbuster float expected to value the company at around $4 billion.

HONG KONG/MUMBAI (Reuters) - Walmart Inc is likely to reach a deal to buy a majority stake in Indian e-commerce player Flipkart by the end of June in what could be the U.S. retail giant's biggest acquisition of an online business, two people with direct knowledge of the matter said.

TEL AVIV (Reuters) - Gili Raanan, general partner at Sequoia Capital Israel, has raised $50 million for a new venture capital fund called Cyberstarts.

PARIS (Reuters) - The municipality of Paris has asked a French court to urgently fine Airbnb and two other small companies for unauthorized short-term letting, said an official with the city's administration.

LONDON (Reuters) - Cyber security software firm Avast said on Thursday it will apply to list its shares on the London Stock Exchange in what sources previously told Reuters would be a blockbuster float expected to value the company at around $4 billion.

HONG KONG/SHANGHAI (Reuters) - U.S. co-working space provider WeWork Cos said on Thursday it would buy China-based rival Naked Hub to boost its footprint in the world's second largest economy.

(Reuters) - British gambling technology company Playtech said it agreed to buy a 70.6 percent stake in Italian betting and gaming firm Snaitech for 846 million euros ($1.05 billion), in a move to source most of its revenue from regulated markets.

HONG KONG (Reuters) - U.S. private equity firm Warburg Pincus LLC [WP.UL] is in talks to invest in a fundraising round for China's Ant Financial Services Group [ANTFIN.UL] that is expected to be worth at least $8 billion, people with knowledge of the matter said.

HONG KONG/SHANGHAI (Reuters) - U.S. co-working firm WeWork Cos is planning to buy China-based rival Naked Hub, three sources familiar with the deal told Reuters, a move which would boost the New York firm's footprint in the world's second largest economy.