China is to effectively abolish its scandal-plagued railways ministry as part of a sweep of government reforms aimed at tackling inefficiency and corruption, a top official told parliament on Sunday. The changes include bolstering a maritime body as China engages in island disputes with its neighbours, and giving an economic development body more say over the one-child policy as the country faces a shrinking labour pool.

How important were Twitter, Facebook and other social media in toppling regimes in the Arab Spring uprisings? Amid a fierce debate in academic circles, an upcoming book argues that social media and new technology made a key difference in successful uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt and helped foster grassroots movements in other Arab nations. The book by Philip Howard and colleagues concludes that digital media was "consistently one of the most important sufficient and necessary conditions" for the Arab Spring movements.

WASHINGTON, March 9 (Reuters) - President Barack Obama poked fun at himself, Bob Woodward and Washington reporters on Saturday at a dinner that brought together the country's press and political elites. Attending the Gridiron Club dinner, Obama made light of a recent back and forth between his administration and Woodward, the veteran Washington Post journalist whose reporting on the Watergate scandal helped bring down Richard Nixon's presidency.

The upcoming conclave to elect a new pope is proving a boon for business in Rome in a harsh economy -- from a new iPad application to booked-out hotels and balconies rented out for stellar prices. Thousands of pilgrims have descended on the Italian capital in what would normally be low season to bid a final farewell to Benedict XVI and watch the rare and centuries-old tradition of a papal conclave to vote in his successor.