SAN FRANCISCO (AFP) ―A federal judge has cleared the way for Apple’s ailing leader Steve Jobs to be deposed in a class-action lawsuit charging the iPod maker turned iTunes into a digital music monopoly.U.S. Magistrate Judge Howard Lloyd ruled on Monday that attorneys for the plaintiffs may question Jobs for a total of two hours, but only about an iPod update making RealNetworks digital music inope

SYDNEY (AFP) ― “I want to see glitter and sequins and feathers,” shouts American actress Lily Tomlin as she pumps up revelers ahead of Sydney’s famous and irreverent Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras.“I want to see you basking in your own glory!” she yells as the gay pride parade, an annual event which has enjoyed a growing international profile in recent years, kicks off under rainy skies.Comedian Tomlin was a celebrity guest at this month’s Mardi Gras and one of thousands of foreigners joining what h

Travel has become a booming business in China as economic growth has lifted incomesSHANGHAI (AFP) ― A crescendo of voices builds on a typically bustling day in the Shanghai headquarters of Ctrip.com as staff put together hundreds of tourist trips. It is the sound of China’s travel boom.Call after call comes in to Asia’s largest travel call center from mainly Chinese consumers, but also international travelers booking flights, hotels and tour packages for anywhere from Hong Kong to Havana.“You’re

Sony Corp., Japan’s largest exporter of consumer electronics, halted factories that make televisions and cameras, citing difficulties procuring components and materials following the March 11 earthquake. The company suspended operations at 5 plants in central and southern Japan, including in the Aichi and Oita prefectures, starting Tuesday until the end of this month, the Tokyo-based electronics m

Japan’s earthquake and nuclear crisis have put pressure on the already fragile global economy, squeezed supplies of goods from computer chips to auto parts and raised fears of higher interest rates.The disaster frightened financial markets in Tokyo and on Wall Street on Tuesday. Japan’s Nikkei average lost 10 percent, and the Dow Jones industrials fell so quickly after the opening bell that the st