Two powerful car bombs targeting security posts ripped through Syria's second largest city of Aleppo Friday, killing at least 25 people, state media said, even as tanks surged into battered protest hub Homs.

Pakistan's top court threw out a last-ditch appeal from embattled Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani on Friday, ordering him to appear in court on Monday to face indictment for contempt.

Singapore's five polytechnics and the Institute of Technical Education will increase their tuition fees for Academic Year (AY) 2012, citing rising costs of delivering high-quality education.

Greece was hit by a new barrage of strikes and protests on Friday against draconian budget cuts in defiance of a eurozone ultimatum for even tougher conditions for a debt rescue.

Tennis great Rafael Nadal has attacked a televised French satirical puppet show that implied he and other Spanish sports stars are drug cheats, saying it had crossed the line.

Apple will unveil a new version of its market-ruling iPad table computer in March, according to a report in Dow Jones-owned technology blog All Things D.

British-Australian actress Naomi Watts is to play Britain's Princess Diana in a movie about the late royal's final two years, filmmakers have announced.

A Japanese-developed robot that mimics the movements of its human controller is bringing the Hollywood blockbuster "Avatar" one step closer to reality.