Facebook stepped up its patent dispute with Yahoo by filing its own lawsuit against the struggling Internet icon, the Associated Press reported Wednesday.

Facebook's lawsuit Tuesday came just weeks after Yahoo Inc. claimed that Facebook violated 10 patents covering advertising, privacy controls and social networking. Facebook denied Yahoo's allegations and accused Yahoo of violating 10 of its patents covering photo tagging, advertising, online recommendations and more.

Three years after a quake devastated L'Aquila, the Italian town launched a bid to become a hi-tech European city -- to the skepticism of thousands of people still living in temporary housing.

Large parts of the center remain boarded up even as local architects work with the council on a "Smart City" project to rebuild using cutting-edge techniques that has the backing of Prime Minister Mario Monti's government.

The cabinet approved on Tuesday the reduction of the telecommunications ministry’s broadband service fees and internet and commercial lines.

During a meeting it held at the Grand Serail under Premier Najib Miqati, the government gave the green light to make the internet services free between midnight and 7 a.m., Information Minister Walid al-Daouq said in his press briefing.

Google Inc. is building a data center in Taiwan — its third in Asia after Hong Kong and Singapore — to meet the rapidly growing online demand across the region, the company said Tuesday.

The three data centers — with investment totaling $700 million — will provide users with faster, more reliable access to various Google products, the Internet search giant said as its Taiwan facility broke ground in the western county of Changhua.

The European Commission opened on Tuesday two antitrust investigations against Google's Motorola Mobility following complaints from Apple and Microsoft in a patent war between the technology giants, the Agence France Presse said Tuesday.

The EU competition watchdog said it would check whether Motorola had abused a dominant market position on patents by seeking court injunctions against Apple and Microsoft from selling their iPhone, iPad, Xbox and Windows products.

A trio of console videogame stars joined the online social play revolution with a free-to-play title that lets folks at Facebook virtually live out celebrity fantasies, the Agence France Presse said Tuesday.

CelebrityMe was available at the world's leading social network on Monday as the first offering from Seismic Games, a startup launched by veterans of Activision, Vivendi Universal and Pandemic Studios.

First Lady Michelle Obama said Tuesday that Google is opening doors to the White House on the Internet by letting users pay virtual visits to all the public rooms.

The US president's home at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue is part of a Google Art Project that lets online visitors step into museums, galleries and other famous spaces and look around as though they were there.

Rights activists say a Palestinian university lecturer has been detained on accusations that her Facebook page insulted President Mahmoud Abbas.

Hadeel Hneiti of the al-Haq rights group said Monday that Palestinian security forces arrested Ismat Abdul-Khaleq after they found writing on her Facebook page accusing Abbas of being a traitor and demanding he resign.

Dutch electronics and medical equipment giant Philips said Monday it had completed the spin-off of its television division to Hong Kong-based LCD screen and computer maker TPV Technology, the Agence France Presse said Monday.

Philips retains a 30-percent stake while TPV Technology holds 70 percent in the joint venture called TP Vision, which will design, manufacture and sell Philips brand televisions throughout most of the world.

Arabnet digital summit was wrapped up on Saturday following five days of excessive talks, panels and workshops at Habtoor Hotel in Beirut.

During Forum Day 2, a panel was organized to discuss building a digital hub in Lebanon. The panel, moderated by Cleartag CEO Tarek Dajani, included Dr.Saad Andary, Vice Governor of the Central Bank of Lebanon, Salam Yamout, National ICT Strategy Coordinator at the Presidency of Council of Ministers, Fares Abi Nassif, Advisor to the Minister of Telecom, Diana Menhem, UNDP economic officer at IDAL and Tarek Sadi, managing director at Endeavor Lebanon.