Facebook goes down in parts of Europe

Facebook Inc, the world's biggest social networking site, said its service was unavailable in some European countries on Wednesday morning because of technical problems.

"Today we experienced technical difficulties causing the site to be unavailable for a number of users in Europe," Facebook said. "The issue has been resolved and everyone should now have access to Facebook. We apologise for any inconvenience."

Apple unveils hi-definition iPad

Apple Inc took the wraps off a faster 4G-equipped iPad on Wednesday, hoping the latest version of its tablet can safeguard its dominance as rivals from Amazon to Samsung pile into the market. 

CEO Tim Cook, presiding over his biggest product launch since 2011's voice-enabled iPhone 4S, introduced the highly anticipated third iteration of the tablet, which commands upwards of two-thirds of the growing market.

The newest iPad will be capable of operating on a high-speed 4G "LTE" or Long-Term Evolution network. At speeds roughly 10 times faster than current 3G technology, that may help banish the sometimes shaky video quality of older devices.