Italy's Berlusconi announces fresh run for PM

ROME: Silvio Berlusconi on Saturday ended weeks of speculation by announcing he would run again for the job of prime minister, the post he was forced out of last year."I am running to win," the leader of the right-wing populist People of Freedom (PDL) party told journalists in Milanello, near the northern city of Milan.He had called a meeting of the PDL for Sunday and had opened talks...

Read More..

Gift ideas for the audiophile in your life

The tiny Firestone Audio Fireye Mini headphone amplifier(Credit:Firestone Audio)While audiophile gear can be quite expensive, picking out a selection of terrific gift ideas that won't break the bank is still doable. Here you'll find books, music, gear, and even a free download that will put a smile on any audiophile's, or music lover's, face. The Audiophiliac had a self-imposed price limit of $100...

Read More..

Plants Grow Fine Without Gravity

When researchers sent plants to the International Space Station in 2010, the flora wasn't meant to be decorative. Instead, the seeds of these small, white flowers—called Arabidopsis thaliana—were the subject of an experiment to study how plant roots developed in a weightless environment.Gravity is an important influence on root growth, but the scientists found that their space plants didn't...

Read More..

Australian DJs Behind Prank Call Under Fire

An outpouring of anger is being directed today at the two Australian radio hosts after the death of a nurse who was caught in the DJs' prank call to hospital where Kate Middleton was treated earlier this week.Lord Glenarthur, the chairman of King Edward VII's Hospital - the U.K. hospital where the Duchess of Cambridge was receiving treatment, condemned the prank in a letter...

Read More..

North-east Japan quake rattles same fault as last year

The large earthquake today 245 kilometres off the east coast of Japan involved the same fault as in last year's devastating Tohoku earthquake and tsunami, which killed 15,000 and wrecked the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear facility. The...

Read More..

Football: All options open for Euro 2020: Platini

NYON, Switzerland: UEFA president Michel Platini on Friday said that he was open to all options for the European championships in 2020, a day after the ruling body said that the tournament would be held across the continent."It's a blank page at the moment," said the former France captain. "I can't tell you where we're going to go. We haven't yet gone into the details. It's a one-off decision."Platini...

Read More..

Negative Yelp post lands reviewer with $750K suit

Dietz Development's current Yelp rating.(Credit:Screenshot by Chris Matyszczyk/CNET)The Web is a lovely place to not merely get mad, but get even.But what if the company you're criticizing thinks your version of "even" isn't even-handed?A woman in Fairfax, Va., may now have to go to court to prove that her Yelping assessment of a contractor's work was vaguely just.The way the Washington Post tells...

Read More..

Space Pictures This Week: Lunar Gravity, Venusian Volcano

Cassiopeia’s BubbleImage courtesy T.A. Rector, UAA/WIYN/NOAO/NSFA new camera called the One Degree Imager, located at Kitt Peak National Observatory in Arizona, is responsible...

Read More..

Nurse Duped by 'Queen's' Prank Call Found Dead

The hospital receptionist who was hoaxed by a prank call from a DJ claiming to be the queen asking about Kate Middleton has been found dead."It is with very deep sadness that we confirm the tragic death of a member of our nursing staff," the hospital said in a statement released today.The nurse was identified as Jacintha Saldanha. The hospital said that Saldanha worked at the...

Read More..

Zoologger: The toughest eggs in the world

Zoologger is our weekly column highlighting extraordinary animals – and occasionally other organisms – from around the world Species: Eucypris virensHabitat: Temporary ponds throughout Europe and central Asia, shrugging things off...

Read More..

IMF says Bangladesh loan program on track

WASHINGTON: The International Monetary Fund on Thursday said Bangladesh was making progress with reforms under an IMF loan program and may be eligible for the second aid payment.An IMF mission to Dhaka met with senior Bangladeshi officials in the first review of the country's performance under a $987 million Extended Credit Facility granted in April.Bangladesh's performance under the loan...

Read More..

Made in America? Foxconn mulls U.S. expansion

Foxconn operates factories in several Chinese cities, including two campuses in Shenzhen. This is the gate of the Shenzhen factories.(Credit:Jay Greene/CNET) "Made in the U.S." is becoming more appealing to at least one Asian manufacturer. Foxconn, a major supplier to Apple and other tech companies, today told Bloomberg that it's seeking to expand its operations in North America as customers request...

Read More..

High-Voltage DC Breakthrough Could Boost Renewable Energy

Patrick J. Kiger Thomas Edison championed direct current, or DC, as a better mode for delivering electricity than alternating current, or AC. But the inventor of the light bulb lost the War of the Currents. Despite Edison's sometimes flamboyant efforts—at one point he electrocuted a Coney Island zoo elephant in an attempt to show the technology's hazards—AC is the primary way that electricity...

Read More..

Deadly, or Just Misused? Feds Sue Nap Nanny

The Consumer Product Safety Commission is taking action against the makers of a portable baby recliner called the Nap Nanny after five infant deaths linked to the product.The commission filed a complaint Wednesday to force the manufacturer, Baby Matters LLC, to pull its product off store shelves and offer full refunds to their customers. In addition to the five deaths, the commission...

Read More..

Dying aspen trees sound alarm for world's forests

They say what doesn't kill you makes you stronger, but that's not true for the US's iconic aspen trees. They appeared to survive a severe drought between 2000 and 2003, but it is now clear that it fundamentally weakened them. If...

Read More..

Football: West Ham recommended for Olympic Stadium move

LONDON: West Ham United took an important step towards moving into London's Olympic Stadium after being granted 'first bidder' status by the London Legacy Development Corporation (LLDC) on Wednesday.The Premier League team are competing with third-tier football club Leyton Orient, a football business college and a Formula One racing group to become permanent tenants of the east London...

Read More..

Facebook has 350 apps with 1M+ monthly active users each

Facebook's app world is getting pretty big. The social networking giant today says there are now more than 350 apps on its Web site, with more than 1 million monthly active users each. On the mobile side, nearly 200,000 iPhone andAndroid apps are integrated with Facebook, including nine of the top 10 grossing iPhone apps. Additionally, more than 45 percent of the top 400 grossing iOS apps use the...

Read More..

Scientific Results From Challenger Deep

Jane J. Lee The spotlight is shining once again on the deepest ecosystems in the ocean—Challenger Deep in the Mariana Trench (map) and the New Britain Trench near Papua New Guinea. At a presentation today at the American Geophysical Union's conference in San Francisco, attendees got a glimpse into these mysterious ecosystems nearly 7 miles (11 kilometers) down, the former visited by filmmaker...

Read More..

Fiscal Cliff: Can Savings Be Found Without Sacrifice?

How does one come up with $4 trillion in revenue and spending cuts?That's the question members of Congress, the Obama administration and fiscal experts around the country are grappling with as "fiscal cliff" talks continue to stall.The fiscal cliff is a combination of the soon-to-expire Bush tax cuts coupled with a series of deep budgetary cuts to defense and domestic programs-...

Read More..

Back-to-basics money shot shows a cent's battle scars

Sumit Paul-Choudhury, editorThe euro has taken a bit of a battering of late - and not just in the financial markets. As you can see for yourself above, the surface of a 1-cent coin, while smooth to the naked eye, is pitted and scarred when viewed through a powerful microscope. To create this image, artist Martin John Callanan, a fellow at University College London based in the Slade Centre for...

Read More..

Iran claims US drone captured

TEHRAN: Iran claimed on Tuesday to have captured a small US drone that penetrated its airspace over Gulf waters, but the US Navy in the region denied any of its unmanned spy planes were missing.The naval arm of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards said in a statement on the Guards website Sepahnews.com that "the unmanned US drone patrolling Persian Gulf waters, performing reconnaissance and...

Read More..