PARIS: Carbon pollution and over-use of Earth’s natural resources have become so critical that, on current trends, we will need a second planet to meet our needs by 2030, the WWF said. In 2007, Earth’s 6.8 billion humans were living 50 percent beyond the planet’s threshold of sustainability, according to its report, issued ahead of …

SAN FRANCISCO – Two years ago, the Android invasion began when T-Mobile released the first smart phone running Google’s Android operating system, HTC’s G1. Since then, a parade of increasingly capable and sexy-looking Android phones have hit the market, making the G1’s then-cool 3.2-inch touch screen and side-sliding QWERTY keyboard look quaint. One more just …

BERLIN: Scientists in Germany unveiling the latest self-driven car on Wednesday said the days of humans behind the wheel are numbered and that their technology can slash accidents and help the environment. "In the future it will be forbidden for safety reasons for people to drive cars," predicted Raul Rojas, professor at Berlin’s Free University …

LONDON: It wasn’t love. It could have been adventure. Or maybe she just got lost. It remains a mystery why a female humpback whale swam thousands of miles from the reefs of Brazil to the African island of Madagascar, which researchers believe is the longest single trip ever undertaken by a mammal — humans excluded. …

CAPE CANAVERAL: There’s still the matter of money. But it looks increasingly likely that NASA will get an extra space shuttle flight. President Barack Obama signed a NASA spending bill into law Monday, following last week’s approval by Congress. The measure directs NASA to move forward with an additional shuttle flight to the International Space …

CAIRO: Egypt’s chief archaeologist says the United States will return a number of sarcophagi smuggled out of the country 50 years ago. Zahi Hawass says US authorities seized the sarcophagi on American soil and will return them to Egypt in the next two weeks. He didn’t provide any further details about the antiquities or say …

SYDNEY: A thumbnail-sized frog with a long snout, a brilliant green katydid with bright pink eyes and a mouse with a white-tipped tail are among 200 species scientists have discovered in Papua New Guinea. The findings were unveiled this week by Washington D.C.-based Conservation International, whose researchers discovered a kaleidoscopic array of critters during two …

NEW YORK: A method for building complex molecules has paid off by helping to fight cancer, protect crops and make electronic devices — and now it has earned its developers a Nobel Prize. Three men — two Japanese scientists and an American researcher — designed the technique to bind together carbon atoms, a key step …

For three nights and nearly six mesmerizing hours, you witness a legendary terrorist on an epic scale from up-close-and-personal proximity. The film is "Carlos," a documentary-like dramatization of Carlos the Jackal, who even today inspires dread and fascination for his vicious attacks in Europe and the Middle East from the 1970s until his arrest as …

BEIJING – China’s space ambitions are forging ahead with plans to launch the country’s second unmanned lunar probe this weekend. The Chang’e II probe will be shot into space sometime between Friday and Sunday aboard a Long March 3C rocket, state media reported. Weather conditions at the Xichang launch center in the southwestern province of …

WASHINGTON – Astronomers say they have for the first time spotted a planet beyond our own in what is sometimes called the Goldilocks zone for life: Not too hot, not too cold. Juuuust right. Not too far from its star, not too close. So it could contain liquid water. The planet itself is neither too …

DUBAI: Dubai contractor Drake and Scull International (DSI) on Thursday said it will acquire a Saudi-based mechanical, electrical and plumbing company, adding it plans to buy another firm in the kingdom this year. "We made a commitment to our shareholders when Drake & Scull International listed on the Dubai Financial Market, and are pleased that …

CAIRO: Egypt’s Prime Minister said on Thursday the government would reallocate the land for Talaat Moustafa’s Madinaty project back to the firm after a court ruled the state land sale contract should be scrapped. The cabinet spokesman also said a group of ministers was drawing up details of the arrangement for final approval by the …

SAN FRANCISCO – By now, Apple’s introduction of new iPods each fall is about as surprising as kids going back to school. And, as usual, many of the changes CEO Steve Jobs announced this month were expected, such as the addition of cameras to the iPod Touch. But Apple Inc. took some risks this time …

NEW YORK: A new way to cause mischief quickly spread through short-messaging service Twitter on Tuesday morning before the site could fix the problem, as mysterious "tweets" of blocked-out text propagated themselves and caused popup windows to open. Shortly before 10 a.m. Eastern time, (1400 GMT), Twitter said on its "safety" feed on the site …

You’re a young guy with a few hours to waste. The sun is boiling. The tummy is starting to rumble and there in the distance, as if the higher forces had heard your call, is a glistening shopping mall with a food court and female shoppers that would make any mouth water. But there is …

NEW ORLEANS: Far beneath the surface of the Gulf of Mexico, deeper than divers can go, scientists say they are finding oil from the busted BP well on the sea’s muddy and mysterious bottom. Oil at least two inches thick was found Sunday night and Monday morning about a mile beneath the surface. Under it …

DUBAI: FTSE Group added the United Arab Emirates as a "secondary" emerging market within its global equity index series, which the index provider says is the first time the country has been added in a global equity universe. UAE and other Gulf states such as Qatar are generally classified as "frontier" markets, a classification seen …

BEIRUT: For fans of Sex and the City – a television series and movie centered on the lives of four single women living in New York City – the summer movie sequel Sex and The City 2 promised fashion, fun, friendships and more. Viewers who watched it when it premiered on July 15 in Lebanon …

WASHINGTON – Google Inc. and Verizon Communications Inc. are close to finalizing a proposal for so-called "network neutrality" rules, which would dictate how broadband providers treat Internet traffic flowing over their lines, according to a person briefed on the negotiations. A deal could be announced within days, said the person, who did not want to …

CAIRO: Egypt’s main stock index added 1.6 percent by the close, after the Talaat Moustafa Group’s court case was postponed and Orascom Telecom said its Algerian accounts have not been frozen. Talaat Moustafa gained 0.9 percent. The firm, which is the country’s biggest listed developer, is challenging a ruling that a land sale deal agreed …

PARIS: Scientists on Wednesday announced the discovery of an ancient, mammal-like crocodile that knew how to chew, something its modern gash-and-gulp cousins cannot do. The 100-million-year-old reptile, unearthed in Tanzania, was about the size of a domesticated cat and more at home on land than in water. It had an unusually lean profile, a flexible …

CAIRO: Fikry Group, Ford’s importer and dealer in Egypt, opened Tuesday a $5 million facility in Obour City. The new facility, located on an area of 6,300 square meters in the outskirts of Cairo, houses the company’s new corporate administrative headquarters in Egypt, a showroom as well as a training and service center. Ford Motor …

PARIS: Pakistan’s President Ali Asif Zardari was in Paris on Monday at the start of a difficult week-long trip to France and Britain overshadowed by British allegations of terror sponsorship. A spokesman for the Pakistani embassy said Zardari had arrived overnight and would meet France’s President Nicolas Sarkozy later in the day and Foreign Minister …

SYDNEY: A sailboat largely constructed from 12,500 recycled plastic bottles has completed a 4-month journey across the Pacific Ocean meant to raise awareness about the perils of plastic waste. The Plastiki, a 60-foot (18-meter) catamaran, and its six crew weathered fierce ocean storms during its 8,000 nautical miles at sea. It left San Francisco on …

WASHINGTON: Despite their tiny size, plant plankton found in the world’s oceans are crucial to much of life on Earth. They are the foundation of the bountiful marine food web, produce half the world’s oxygen and suck up harmful carbon dioxide. They also are declining sharply. Worldwide phytoplankton levels are down 40 percent since the …

PARIS: Scientists hit Greenland bedrock this week after five years of drilling through 2.5 kilometers (1.6-mile) of solid ice, a 14-nation consortium announced Wednesday. Ice core samples from Eemian period 130,000 to 115,000 years ago — the last time Earth’s climate was a few degrees warmer than today — could help forecast the impacts of …

LONDON: Ivy Bean, who became an online celebrity as the oldest known user of micro-blogging site Twitter, has died at the age of 104. Pat Wright, manager of the care home where she lived in Bradford, northern England, says Bean died peacefully early Wednesday. Wright said Bean "grabbed new technology. She would try anything." Bean …

TOKYO: Japan’s industry ministry has ordered Apple to report on measures it will take regarding cases of its iPod Nano music player overheating and catching fire, an official said Thursday. Overheating of the 2005 iPod Nano while charging has caused at least 27 incidents, including six fires that required firefighters to be called, an official …