(Reuters) - Twitter Inc (TWTR.N) on Thursday reported its first quarterly net profit and topped Wall Street targets as video ad sales rose, but the number of people using the social network fell short of expectations as Twitter shut down fake accounts. Twitter’s previous inability to turn a pr...

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - The market bubble of virtual currencies is already deflating but central banks should still pay attention as the innovation may be here to stay even if early market leaders die out, European Central Bank board member Yves Mersch said on Thursday. “Virtual currencies are n...

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Cheaper Chinese military drones are chipping away at U.S. and Israeli domination of the industry, fuelling a new race as companies predict a rise in demand especially in regions such as Asia. Chinese cut-rate versions of American armed drones like the MQ-9 Reaper have begun sho...

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian communications watchdog Roskomnadzor said on Thursday it would carry out an audit into Facebook’s compliance with Russian legislation in the second half of the year. Alexander Zharov, head of Roskomnadzor, met Facebook executives in Moscow on Thursday to discuss the ...

SHANGHAI (Reuters) - China’s biggest e-commerce company Alibaba Group Holding Ltd will invest $486 million for a stake in a domestic big- data firm focused on hotels and retail, as part of a push to deepen its offline presence. The firm will buy a 38 percent stake in Shiji Retail Information T...

SEOUL (Reuters) - Samsung Electronics’ (005930.KS) ailing chairman, Lee Kun-hee, was named by South Korean police on Thursday as a suspect in an 8.2 billion won ($7.5 million) tax evasion case that involved the use of bank accounts held by employees. A series of scandals have dogged the family...

(Reuters) - Walmart Inc is asking vendors to supply it with more merchandise priced at $10 and up, as part of a major push to finally turn a profit at its online business, according to four people with knowledge of the matter. The new focus at the world’s largest retailer is on dry grocery pro...

(Reuters) - Amazon.com Inc said on Thursday it would start delivering Whole Foods groceries via its fast-shipping Prime Now service in select U.S. cities, and plans to expand it across the country this year. The online retailing behemoth will add Whole Foods to its one-hour and two-hour delivery ser...

GANGNEUNG, South Korea (Reuters) - Traditional paper cranes and some of the latest technology are on offer as Japan seeks to promote itself as the host of the next Olympic Games in 2020, with organizers hoping to inherit the enthusiasm and fervor of Pyeongchang 2018 hosts. Tokyo will host the summer...

SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korean police said Samsung Electronics (005930.KS) Chairman Lee Kun-hee was suspected of evading tax for 8.2 billion won ($7.5 million), and of using bank accounts held by employees that held 400 billion won, Yonhap News Agency said on Thursday. Police have been investigating...

SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korean police named Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Kun-hee as a suspect over allegations that he used bank accounts held in someone else’s name that held some 400 billion won ($368 million), Yonhap News Agency said on Thursday. Lee was suspected of tax evasion, Yonhap...

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Just a few years ago, Uber Technologies Inc saw itself as the little brother to Alphabet Inc, but that cozy bond quickly dissolved into a turf war and ultimately a high-stakes legal battle, a jury heard on Wednesday. Former Uber Chief Executive Travis Kalanick described how...

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Tesla Inc (TSLA.O) said on Wednesday it was sticking with Chief Executive Elon Musk’s revised production targets for its Model 3 electric sedan, but posted its worst-ever quarterly loss, and warned that spending would increase slightly this year. Shares of the Palo Al...

(Reuters) - Zynga Inc, creator of the once popular online game “FarmVille”, reported fourth-quarter bookings above analysts’ estimate, driven by the success of its mobile games such as “Words With Friends 2” and “CSR Racing 2”. The company reported bookings ...

(Reuters) - Tesla Inc (TSLA.O) said on Wednesday it was sticking with Chief Executive Elon Musk’s revised production targets for its Model 3, the electric sedan on which the company’s future rests, despite posting its worst-ever quarterly loss. Net loss widened to $675.4 million, or $4.0...

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Amazon.com Inc (AMZN.O) on Wednesday was on the verge of ending the day with a stock market value higher than Microsoft Corp’s (MSFT.O) for the first time, as the online shopping behemoth weathered the recent turmoil on Wall Street. Amazon’s stock was down 1.14 ...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Justice Department announced one of its largest-ever takedowns of a global cyber crime ring on Wednesday, saying it had indicted 36 people accused of trafficking in stolen identities and causing more than $530 million in losses to consumers. The cyber crime network, o...

MONTREAL (Reuters) - At least two Canadian forestry companies are reviewing offers by cryptocurrency miners who want to lease excess mill space in Quebec, a province where electricity prices are among the lowest in North America. Resolute Forest Products (RFP.N) and Fortress Global Enterprises (FGE....

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Justice Department on Wednesday announced indictments of 36 people in a global internet identity theft scheme that caused more than $530 million in losses to consumers, businesses and financial institutions. International law enforcement authorities arrested 13 defend...

BERLIN (Reuters) - The two political parties seeking to form Germany’s next government want big companies to pay more tax, according to a coalition agreement whose text singled out U.S. tech giants by name. “We support fair taxation of large companies, in particular Internet concerns lik...

(Reuters) - Alphabet Inc’s Google is developing a subscription-based game streaming service that could work either on its Chromecast or a Google-made console, which is still being developed, the Information website reported on Wednesday. The service, codenamed Yeti, would put Google at the for...

RAMAT GAN, Israel (Reuters) - Israel’s diamond exchange is turning to digital currencies to inject new life into a marketplace long ruled by cash and backroom handshakes, but it must first persuade traditionally conservative players that the technology can work. One of the world’s larges...

PAPA, Hungary (Reuters) - Plant manager Gabor Kiraly remembers the meeting a couple of years ago when he and his Austrian bosses learnt how severe the worker shortage in Hungary was about to become - it was, he said, a “shocking realization”. The unemployment rate in the western Hungaria...

DHAKA (Reuters) - Bangladesh’s central bank will file a lawsuit against a Philippines bank for its role in one of the world’s biggest cyber-heists two years ago, a deputy governor said on Wednesday. Unidentified hackers stole $81 million from Bangladesh Bank’s account at the New Yo...

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Former Uber Chief Executive Officer Travis Kalanick is expected to testify at trial for a second day on Wednesday, responding to rival Waymo’s allegations that Uber expressly hired a star Waymo engineer to gain self-driving car technology trade secrets. The normally c...

(Reuters) - Goldman Sachs (GS.N) is in talks to offer financing to shoppers buying Apple (AAPL.O) products including iPhones, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday. Buyers of a $1,000 iPhone X could take out a loan from Goldman instead of charging it to credit cards that often carry high int...

ZURICH (Reuters) - Data on around 800,000 Swisscom customers leaked when security at an external sales partner was breached, prompting the Swiss group to tighten access to its files, it said on Wednesday. The breach late last year affected “non-sensitive” data such as customers’ na...

BEIJING/SHANGHAI (Reuters) - A Chinese content regulator has rapped major tech companies, including Alibaba Holding Ltd, Tencent Holdings Ltd and Baidu Inc, for not doing enough to root out “harmful information” published on their platforms. The anti-pornography office of China’s p...

GANGNEUNG, South Korea (Reuters) - Esports have descended on the Olympics, bringing professional gamers to South Korea’s first winter Games, but some athletes warming up for real action on nearby slopes are not impressed. Intel Corp, an Olympics sponsor, wrapped up its esports tournament a few...

BEIJING/SHANGHAI (Reuters) - Chinese ride-hailing giant Didi Chuxing is setting up an electric car sharing service with 12 automakers, including BYD Co Ltd, local partners of Ford Motor Co and the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi alliance. Didi, which bought out Uber’s China business in 2016, said in...