The top United States government communications official said on Tuesday his agency has all the authority it needs to prevent internet service providers from discriminating against web surfers and that new legislation is unnecessary -- this at a time when the issue of "network neutrality" has heated up.
Paul Tibbets, the pilot and commander of the B-29 that dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan, died on November 1, a spokesperson said. He was 92. Tibbets died at his Columbus home after a two-month decline in his health stemming from a variety of health problems, said Gerry Newhouse, a long-time friend.
For four decades, residents of the tiny Pennsylvania town of Kecksburg have told their story of strange blue lights in the sky one winter's evening and a fireball crashing into woods. In 1965, they say, they saw armed soldiers cordoning off the area and a large, metallic, acorn-shaped object driven off at speed on the back of a lorry.
Oil climbed to a life-time high above $130 a barrel on Wednesday, driven higher by a combination of long-term production worries and a near-term focus on tight fuel stocks. A United States government report later on Wednesday was expected to show crude inventories rose for a fifth straight week.
World oil prices touched new record highs above $112 a barrel in Asian trade on Tuesday as supply concerns and a sluggish greenback remained key factors behind the hike, dealers said. They said market sentiment remained bullish after the latest United States government data showed a surprise sharp fall in the country's energy stockpiles.
Oil rose above $96 on Wednesday, bolstered by expectations United States government data would show crude stocks falling for the seventh consecutive week, and as fresh violence in major oil exporter Nigeria revived supply concerns. US light crude for February delivery rose 46 cents to $96,44 a barrel by 7.08am GMT, while London Brent crude rose 48 cents to $94,33 a barrel.
Staff Reporter, Mark Trevelyan
In the James Bond novels and films, it fell to technical expert Q to invent the gizmos and cunningly concealed weapons that helped the British spy cheat death and save the world. From a biometric keyboard to blast-proof curtains, the inventions on display in the real world this month came from five technology firms in the final round of the Global Security Challenge.
World oil prices fell on Friday after a momentous week that saw record peaks close to $100 as traders worried about tight energy supplies and geopolitical jitters in key producer countries. New York's main contract, light sweet crude for January delivery, sank 95 cents to $96,34 per barrel. The contract had hit an historic $99,29 on Wednesday.
South African stocks extended losses at noon on Friday in line with overseas markets as fears of economic recession mount, but traders said details of the United States government's plan to bail out the economy might help the market stage a recovery.
More than a century ago, a war correspondent called Winston Churchill was dispatched to Cuba to cover the conflict with Spain. "It may be that future years will see the island as it would be now, had England never lost it -- a Cuba free and prosperous under just laws and patriotic administration, throwing open her ports to the commerce of the world, sending her ponies to Hurlingham and her cricketers to Lord's."
With a series of small beeps from a spiky globe 50 years ago, the world shrank and humanity's view of Earth and the cosmos expanded. Sputnik, the first artificial satellite, was launched by the Soviets and circled the globe on October 4 1957. The Space Age was born. And what followed were changes to everyday life that people now take for granted.
Earthquake's don't destroy strong, well-built buildings. They destroy weak ones. As China reels from its biggest earthquake in 30 years, public anger is mounting. The danger for the Communist government is obvious. China is earthquake prone, Sichuan in particular experiencing a similar scale earthquake in 1933.
Chinese state security forces have arrested one of the country's most prominent civil rights activists in an apparent crackdown on dissent ahead of the Olympics. Hu Jia -- who used blogs, webcasts and video to expose human rights abuses -- is expected to face charges of inciting subversion of state power, his lawyers said on Saturday.
Benazir Bhutto was going nowhere. A phalanx of riot police stood at the end of her leafy street, tapping their shields and manning a barbed-wire barricade. Armoured vehicles rolled in. Officers even prowled the neighbours' gardens, just in case the opposition leader might vault her back wall.
Lebanon edged closer to chaos on Friday when President Emile Lahoud ordered the army to take charge of security after political rivalries blocked the election of his successor hours before his term expired. The pro-Syrian head of state said the country risked descending into a state of emergency.
The songs of The Beatles have always enjoyed a global appeal. Now one of their best-loved recordings is to be beamed into the galaxy in an attempt to introduce the Fab Four's music to alien ears. Nasa will broadcast the song, Across the Universe, through the transmitters of its deep-space communications network on Monday.
Ailing Cuban leader Fidel Castro, who has not been seen in public for 16 months, suggested on Monday he might give up his formal leadership posts -- the first time he has spoken of his possible retirement since he fell ill. Castro, who took power in a 1959 revolution, handed over temporarily to his brother Raul Castro in July 2006.
Physician-scientist Wilhelm Reich, best known for his claims of a cosmic life force associated with sexual orgasm, died in federal prison, and the United States government burned many of his books and other publications and destroyed his equipment. But now scientists and other believers are working to advance the psychiatrist's work.
Selina Akello sits in a clearing between the mud huts in her village. "I will tell you anything," she says. An older man passes within earshot, but she does not falter. This conversation would have been impossible a few years ago; Akello has the disease that used to be called "slim" because people wasted away. Now it is called HIV/Aids.
South African diplomats have expressed shock at strong United States government criticism in the New York Times this week of the country's stance over a United Nations resolution, introduced by the US, that condemns rape by governments and military formations.
