IMF chief Christine Lagarde called on Friday on Japan and the United States to set debt reduction targets as their contribution towards lifting the world out of the economic crisis.

The US commander handling Asia on Friday called for greater military relations with China, saying that dialogue between the Pacific powers has not advanced beyond broad strategic issues.

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said society and the population will not remain static and Singaporeans and the leaders have to work together to find a new way to govern Singapore.

United Nations chief Ban Ki-moon urged the UN Security Council on Friday to speak with one voice on Syria, and called on Damascus to listen to the aspirations of its people.

Defending champion Novak Djokovic was forced to dig deep Friday to see off Britain's Andy Murray in a thrilling five-set semi-final at the Australian Open.

Delicate work to restore a Leonardo Da Vinci masterpiece, to be unveiled in March, has turned into a headache for the Louvre, after experts accused the Paris museum of putting the precious oil work at risk.

Actress Demi Moore was convulsing and "burning up" after taking an unidentified drug when emergency services were called earlier this week, according to the 911 call released on Friday.

Symantec is recommending that users of its pcAnywhere software disable the product following the theft of source code from the US computer security firm.

Want to know what's in store for 2012? Who will win the US election? Will the eurozone implode? China's feng shui masters tackle the big issues with their predictions for the Year of the Dragon.

The days of one-way mass production, mass advertising and mass ignorance are over. The Expectation Economy has arrived.