World stocks put in modest to strong gains on Wednesday with emerging markets leading the field as investors showed tentative confidence that the global economy will begin to improve. Wall Street looked set for a positive and the dollar was slightly firmer against a basket of major currencies. Fitch Ratings reminded investors, meanwhile, of the

European shares were up by midday on Wednesday, led by the banking sector as Deutsche Bank rose on hopes it will issue a strong outlook on Thursday and commodities tracked crude and metal prices higher. By 1139 GMT the pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares was up 0.65 percent at 797.03 points. "Financials

World stocks put in modest to strong gains on Wednesday with emerging markets leading the field as investors showed tentative confidence that the global economy will begin to improve. The dollar was slightly firmer against a basket of major currencies. European shares were generally higher with the pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 gaining 0.4 percent. Earnings results

The online networking site MySpace has identified and barred some 90,000 registered sex offenders from using the site over the last two years, MySpace revealed to an investigative task force on Tuesday. The "shocking" number was 40,000 more than MySpace had previously acknowledged, according to Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, a co-chairman of the task

U.S. Internet search company Google Inc released software on Wednesday that allows users of mobile phones and other wireless devices to automatically share their whereabouts with family and friends. Users in 27 countries will be able to broadcast their location to others constantly, using Google Latitude. Controls allow users to select who receives the information

 Many people have sent an email while angry, exhausted, inebriated or just by mistake that they later regretted. Now, Google has a way to help protect you (and others) from such a faux pas. As part of its quest to attract users to its Gmail service, the Internet search company has introduced dozens of features,

Japan's Panasonic Corp, the world's No.1 plasma TV maker, warned it would post an annual loss of $4.2 billion and said it would cut 15,000 jobs as it grapples with a stronger yen and slowing demand. The maker of Viera flat TVs and Lumix digital cameras joins a growing list of electronics makers stepping up