CALIFORNIA

A Microsoft executive assured employees in his division on Friday that the software maker would keep many of Yahoo's staff in their northern California headquarters if its bid to buy the Web portal company is successful.

The Walt Disney Co, the second-largest U.S. media company, said on Monday it will pay $203 million to raise its stake in India's UTV Software Communications Ltd from 14.9 percent to 32.1 percent.

Reports surfaced on Wednesday that chipmaker Advanced Micro Devices may be struggling with its latest notebook platform which may cause a leadership shakeup, or even acquisition.

Research In Motion, maker of the venerable Blackberry may introduce a touch-screen version of its popular handheld in an effort to battle the iPhone from Apple, which is encroaching into the smart phone market at a rapid pace.

Four people including a former Boeing engineer and US Defense Department weapons expert were held on Monday on suspicion of stealing Space Shuttle secrets and spying for China.

Walt Disney reported greater than expected sales and earnings for its latest quarter on Tuesday mainly to its ESPN cable network and its theme park business as it sought to reassure investors the weakening economy was not affecting the media conglomerate.

Voters in 24 states make their choices in an unpredictable U.S. presidential campaign on Tuesday, with Democrats Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton in a close fight and Republican John McCain aiming for a knockout blow against Mitt Romney.

Below is the text of the letter that Microsoft sent to Yahoo!'s Board of Directors as it made an unsolicited offer for portal and search engine Yahoo, Inc. worth $31 per share, or $44.6 billion:

Google, Inc shares fell 7 percent on Thursday after Internet search leader reported profit and sales that came in below Wall Street expectations due in part to lower paid ad clicks, and struggles to monetize social networking ad inventories.

A federal judge ruled to extend the U.S. government's antitrust oversight of Microsoft for two more years, shy of the five-year extension sought by states accusing the company of continuing monopolistic behavior.

NYPD Police Commissioner Ray Kelly says that actress Mary-Kate Olsen will not be questioned by detectives about a possible connection with Heath Ledger's death.

Metro Goldwyn Mayer Studios Inc. (MGM) on Wednesday revealed that it acquired a carriage for its MGM HD Channel on Verizon's FiOS TV service enabling it to transfer feature film hits from the MGM library to Verizon FiOS TV subscriber households in full high definition.

Apple Inc. reported a first-quarter profit that rose 58% from a year ago thanks to strong sales of Mac computers and iPods during the busy holiday shopping season.

After the hype of Macworld has died down, Cupertino, Calif.-based Apple is expected to produce solid numbers Tuesday afternoon, with earnings expected to jump nearly 50 percent for its December quarter.

Guitar Hero video game hit a industry record on Monday, generating $1 billion in sales in North American retail within 26 months, a market research reported.

Shares of Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. rose more than 11 percent on Friday after the chip maker reported quarterly earnings which exceeded expectations.

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Apple computers are encroaching into the PC market space, capturing over 6 percent of the US computer new sales research indicates.

Dell Inc returned to double-digit percentage growth in global PC shipments in the fourth quarter as its new retail sales strategy began to pay off, while rival Hewlett-Packard Co's growth slowed, technology researcher IDC said on Wednesday. Overall, global personal computer sales rose a healthy but less-than-expected 15.5 percent in the fourth quarter, and economic concerns were likely to cut into future demand, IDC said.

After three months of courtship, database software firm Oracle Corp. finally got a 'yes' from BEA Systems, accepting a takeover offer of $8.5 billion. Oracle will pay BEA shareholders $19.375 for each of their shares, up from an offer of $17 in October. BEA had initially rejected Oracle's initial offer, asking for $21 per share.

Intel reported disappointing earnings for its fourth quarter and an outlook for the current quarter that were below Wall Street expectations, dimming the near future view for electronics.