Microsoft Corp said its quarterly profit beat analysts' view, propelled by mounting demand for its cloud products. Quarterly net income, on an adjusted basis, amounted to $6.3 billion, up from $5.8 billion in the same period last year.

California becomes the pioneer state with new LED standards in place. The new regulation replaces the old traditional directional bulbs with the more expensive but energy-efficient LED ones. While more expensive, California Energy Commission promises huge benefits in terms of a bulb's longevity and, more importantly, electric bills.

The economy of Japan struggled last month according to a wave of data released by the Bank of Japan. The industrial production was down 1.4% over the prior month.

Reddit has initiated testing the official Android app on Thursday after releasing the beta version on December. Volunteers taking part in the previous test also remain as the first opportunists to test the official version. The official version is expected to override the hiccups existed in the third party application. The CEO of Reddit has hinted for going through massive modernization processes throughout 2016.

Fitness trainer and guru overcharge numerous die hard fitness fans for using the app. Fans become furious over high prices and horrendous cancellation process.

The Safari fault which has affected a range of Apple devices has been fixed. The fault was related to Apple's Safari Suggestions feature. Simply disabling this feature will stop Safari crashing says iOS developers.

Apple announced a recall of wall plug adapters warning the risk of electric shock. The recall applied to those adaptors used in Australia, New Zealand, Continental Europe, Korea, Argentina and Brazil.

South Korean steelmaker POSCO announced a consolidated net profit, excluding minority interests, of 181 billion won for 2015, down from 626 billion won in the previous year.

South American nation Venezuela is suffering from gasoline smuggling to neighboring nations. Gasoline is heavily subsidized in Venezuela. The cheaper gasoline smuggling has become a major revenue source in the crisis-hit Venezuelan economy. Venezuela's President has deployed soldiers in large number to keep constant vigil on its borders. Venezuela is losing foreign exchange revenue in US dollars because of smuggling of gasoline.

Global investors are withdrawing from Russian stock markets as volatility is high in equities and currency Ruble. The continuous drop in oil price is impacting the Russian economy much as it's the main revenue source for the country. The gap between onshore and offshore traded equities is narrowing down as foreign investors are selling off.

South African largest iron ore producer Kumba cuts as many as 3900 miners after prices plunged. Kumba decided to restructure the Sishen mines to become a low cost pit configuration and as a result, about 2,633 employees of Kumba and 1,300 contractors will be affected.

Philippine's fourth quarter gross domestic product increased by 6.3% driven mainly by higher private consumption, government expenditure as well as an increase in economic activity.

The Republican Debate is going to be held in Iowa State on Thursday. The fast food workers under the banner of ‘$15 per hour minimum wage movement’ have called strike on the very day apparently due to gain media attraction. The strike has been called demanding immediate implementation of the said minimum wage rate across the country and union rights. However, the demands have already been supported by many Democratic candidates and furnished in their election manifesto.

The British Pound strengthened against major global currencies after a report on UK's GDP growth. The report said that UK's economy speeded up during the fourth quarter of 2015. The rise in consumer demand helped the economy expansion. The British Pound recovered from the two-week low of 1.4338 against the US dollar to at $1.4314.

Anglo American's copper production and from retained operations rose 23 percent for the fourth quarter of 2015. The overall copper equivalent basis production for 2015 rose five percent when compared with 2014. Majority of metals including copper, coal, nickel and iron ore tumbled during the second half of 2015. The copper inventory of Anglo American was at 197,631 tons as on 2015.

The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) concluded the study based on 27 factors that bring both positive and negative impact towards global innovation. The study involved 56 countries, whereas China stood at the 44th rank, Thailand the 53rd, followed by India. ITIF also noted that supporting global innovation is crucial for countries' economic growth.

China's tech startup may find 2016 as a tough year as venture capital will face a slowdown this year. Analyst predicted venture capital in China will decline this year, and government try hard to boost the development.

A number of Air Force drones crashed in major accidents, even involving the Reaper, the Air Force newest and most advanced drone. Pentagon is keeping quiet on the cause behind the drone crashes.

Researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles developed a non-invasive electric patch to treat the symptoms of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). The electric patch uses trigeminal nerve stimulation (TNS) technique to stimulate the nucleus tractus solitaries to produce pain killer compounds in the brain.

The app has been widely used in Spain and just launched in Paris and London. The services focus on blue collar workers and small business who often need a more simple and time-saving recruitment process. The app works similarly to dating app Tinder, where one party can swipe to decide whether the profile on screen fit what they are looking for.

Air France and KLM are planning to reinstate direct flights to Iran, now that the international sanctions regarding the country's nuclear ambitions are lifted. Iran also planned to request direct flight to the U.S, for the first time since the two countries broke their diplomatic relationship 36 years ago. Air France and KLM are expected to start flying to Iran within the next three months.

South Korea is famous for its skin care and cosmetic products that use unusual traditional ingredients, including snail slime. This ingredient is said to be very helpful in the skin collagen formation as well as to be used as moisturizer. More and more Korean beauty products enter the U.S. as the demand is also increasing.

Childhood obesity has increased drastically worldwide and WHO seeks political involvement in handling the issue. About 48% of obese and overweight children aged 5 and below reportedly belong to Asia and Africa.

Argentinean farmers are reportedly facing the worst kind of locust plague ever in the last 60 years. The plague if not contained could lead to severe crop infestation, resulting in starvation and famine.

The summit will provide a platform for foreign investors, African companies, and regulators to meet, discuss relevant issues, and form relationships. East Africa has a strong potential to develop Islamic Finance because of the high demand for its services and products.

Wendy's, the famous fast-food chain is the latest victim of credit card data breach. The company's banking sources detected unusual patterns on customer credit cards right after they were used at a Wendy's outlet, and informed the company right-away. It immediately hired a cybersecurity firm to investigate the fraudulent activities that seem to have been tracked to Midwest and, lately, the East Coast. The investigation is currently ongoing and Wendy's did not provide any clear information on the findings.

Malaysia has trimmed its growth forecast mainly due to plunging oil prices. A miscalculated assumption has messed up the 2016 budget, which has the government groping for damage-control measures. One of the key outcomes were increasing the household spending of the country, which can give the sluggish economy a much-needed boost.

Under a supposed repatriation program, Germany is bringing back its gold reserves from the vaults of Paris and New York. Germany had stored all its bullion overseas fearing a Soviet Union attack during the Cold War. Till date, the Deutsche Bundesbank has managed to get around 366 tons to Frankfurt, which is almost half of the total reserve of 674 tons that it plans to repatriate by 2020.

Boeing has announced reducing production during 2016. The news has caused US Aerospace Share prices to go down by 9% on Wednesday, which has regained a little on Thursday. The production cut is not due to tattering financial condition of the aircraft manufacturer, but it is related to a transforming strategy. Still the manufacturer holds orders for delivery of around 6,000 aircraft, which represents a different tale.

Aedes mosquitoes are the bearer of Zika virus which is available across the US. WHO warns the US for a probable Zika virus induced epidemic. Brazil has appeared as the most Zika affected country. The US and other governments have issued a travel alert for the pregnant women forbidding to visit the Zika prone region. The travel alert has offbeat the organizers of the Rio de Janeiro olympic scheduled to be held in August.