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| January 27, 2014 |
 Arctic ruling a setback for Shell? San Francisco (UPI) Jan 24, 2013 - A court decision regarding offshore oil and gas leases off the coast of Alaska could hinder oil giant Shell's plans to drill in the Chukchi Sea. The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco ruled Wednesday that the U.S. Interior Department did not properly evaluate the scale of oil production that could result in the Chukchi Sea when it sold more than $2.6 billion in developme ... more |  |
South Sudan agrees truce, but crisis not over yet Nairobi (AFP) Jan 24, 2014 - South Sudan's government and rebels have signed a ceasefire, but analysts warn that bringing battling gunmen on the ground under control and making the truce stick is far from guaranteed. Weeks of war in the impoverished young nation is feared to have spiralled out of the control of the political leaders, who themselves bickered for weeks to agree even a first stage deal, signed late Thursda ... more |  |
 Geeks the stars as Apple 'Mac' turns 30 Cupertino, United States (AFP) Jan 26, 2014 - Geeks who brought the Macintosh computer to life became Silicon Valley rock stars on Saturday, with people asking for autographs or photos while celebrating the Apple desktop machine's 30th birthday. Members of the original "Mac" team got the star treatment for passionately building a home computer "for the rest of us" at a time when IBM machines dominated in workplaces. The friendly des ... more |  |
Argentina clamps down on Internet shopping to stem capital flight Buenos Aires (UPI) Jan 22, 2013 - Argentine shoppers on the Internet are being asked to pay up to 50 percent tax on what they hoped will be bargains to escape gouging by local sellers. The government began clamping down on Argentine online shoppers when Argentine news media reported the buyers could make huge savings on essentials as well as comfort or luxury goods that are sold locally at exorbitant prices. A ru ... more |  |
 Npower's blaming of 'drafty' houses for high bills prompts criticism London (UPI) Jan 24, 2013 - A British firm blames rising heating bills on "old and drafty" houses but consumer advocates say bills are rising even though Britons are consuming less energy. Npower Chief Executive Paul Massara wrote in the company's "Energy Explained" newsletter Tuesday that Britain enjoys some of the lowest actual unit prices for gas and electricity in Europe, but asserted bills are high "because B ... more |  |
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US fires back at Apple bid to thwart e-book monitor San Francisco (AFP) Jan 25, 2014 - US prosecutors on Friday fired back at Apple's bid to derail a court-ordered monitor in its e-book price-fixing case. Apple is out of line asking for an emergency order stopping the monitor from tending to business until the outcome of an appeal in the case, Mark Ryan of the US Department of Justice argued in a court filing. Ryan held firm that assigning the monitor was backed by law and ... more |  |
 Lenovo to buy IBM's low-end server business for $2.3bn Hong Kong (AFP) Jan 23, 2014 - Chinese computer giant Lenovo will buy IBM's low-end server business for $2.3 billion, it said Thursday, giving it a platform to compete in that sector with US giants Dell and Hewlett-Packard. IBM will receive $2.07 billion in cash and the rest in shares for the x86 business, Lenovo said, in a deal that would help the Chinese firm diversify away from the slumping market for PCs. IBM will ... more |  |
Is Apple, late to the phablet party, rushing to catch up? Washington DC (UPI) Jan 25, 2014 - Phablet. Odd word, that. A mashup of smartphone and tablet, it's one of those construct words that pop up when technology moves too fast for the language and creates a niche genre of products for which there's no handy existing label. Odd/silly name or not, phablets are selling and selling well. After some initial "too awkward as a phone but too small for watching a movie" responses fro ... more |  |
China Internet breakdown blamed on Web address "hijacking" San Francisco (AFP) Jan 23, 2014 - A firm specializing in censorship-evading technology on Wednesday blamed a massive breakdown of China's Internet on website address "hijacking" tools used by authorities there. "In 2002, China started to use DNS hijacking technology to block web sites," said US-based Dynamic Internet Technology, which runs a tool called FreeGate designed to bypass Chinese Internet censors. "On January 2 ... more |  |
Apple mulling move into mobile payments: report New York (AFP) Jan 25, 2014 - Apple is considering launching a mobile-payments service for its iPhone and iPad, which would compete with major players such as PayPal, The Wall Street Journal said Friday. The newspaper, citing sources familiar with the matter, said Eddy Cue, Apple's iTunes and App Store chief, "has met with industry executives to discuss Apple's interest in handling payments for physical goods and service ... more |  |
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Europe's 'greenest city' tests limits of sustainable living Vaexjoe, Sweden (AFP) Jan 24, 2014 - Pine cones, moss and rotten food are fuelling a Swedish city's quest to be sustainable, but people's attachment to their cars may put the brakes on its carbon-neutral ambition. Nestled among glittering lakes and thick pine forests in southern Sweden, Vaexjoe has gone further than most in renewable energy, clean transport and energy conservation, promoting itself as "Europe's Greenest City". ... more |  |
Icahn takes eBay stake, seeks PayPal spinoff San Francisco (AFP) Jan 22, 2014 - EBay said Wednesday that activist investor Carl Icahn had taken a stake in the online retailer and was seeking a spinoff of its PayPal financial payments unit. In the company's quarterly earnings report, eBay said Icahn and his affiliated companies this month "acquired shares and derivative securities that give him an economic interest of approximately 0.82 percent in the company." Icahn ... more |  |
Iceland drilling creates world's first magma-based geothermal system Riverside, Calif. (UPI) Jan 24, 2013 - The world's first magma-enhanced geothermal system, created by deep drilling in Iceland, achieved several important milestones, scientists say. The project was able to drill down into molten magma and control it, allowing the hole to blow superheated, high-pressure steam for months at temperatures exceeding 840 degrees F, creating a world record for geothermal heat, researchers report i ... more |  |
Kurds' oil deal with Turkey 'endangers Iraq's budget' Baghdad (UPI) Jan 24, 2013 - The feud between Iraq's central government and the minority Kurds' semiautonomous enclave over oil is reaching critical mass, the head of parliament's treasury committee says. Haidar Al Abadi, a senior legislator, has warned the government's projected 2014 budget will fall apart if Kurdistan does not hand over revenue from independent oil exports to northern neighbor Turkey that began r ... more |  |
 US opens dumping probe on Chinese solar products Washington (AFP) Jan 24, 2014 - The US Commerce Department on Thursday opened an investigation into whether China and Taiwan are dumping a certain class of solar cells into the US market at below fair market value. Launching the latest round in an ongoing dispute with China over solar energy products, the department took aim at some $2.6 billion in imports of certain crystalline silicon photovoltaic products from the two c ... more |  |
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Toy story: old favourites fight rise of the tablet London (AFP) Jan 26, 2014 - The big players in the traditional toy market have come out fighting in Britain as little fingers are increasingly occupied by iPad-type devices at playtime. Previously seen as the preserve of grown-ups, tablets are increasingly top of children's wish-lists. The best-selling toy in Britain last year was the Furby, the cuddly robotic "pet" that has irritated millions of parents with its c ... more |  |
Netflix shares surge as membership numbers climb San Francisco (AFP) Jan 22, 2014 - Netflix shares jumped Wednesday after the streaming television and film service reported strong earnings and a surge in membership. Shares of California-based Netflix were up more than 17 percent to $391.39 in after-market trades that followed release of earnings figures for the final quarter of last year. The number of Netflix members grew by 2.33 million to top 44 million and the rate ... more |  |
 Indian authorities threaten to demolish Coke plant Lucknow, India (AFP) Jan 24, 2014 - Authorities in northern India said Friday they would demolish an "illegal" Coca-Cola bottling plant at the centre of protests over accusations it is extracting too much groundwater. The local revenue administration ordered demolition of the Mehdiganj plant last month in Varanasi in the state of Uttar Pradesh, saying it was built on village council land and was "illegal". The village admi ... more |  |
 Major default looms in China's huge 'shadow banking' system Shanghai (AFP) Jan 26, 2014 - A shockwave is looming in China's multi-trillion dollar "shadow banking" system, with an unprecedented default only days away on a $500 million investment product sold to hundreds of people. Staff at China's biggest bank ICBC pushed the "Credit Equals Gold #1 Trust Product" by promising returns of 10 percent a year, far more than traditional deposits, investors say. But the coal company ... more |  |
Fear of China 'hard landing' stalks Davos Davos, Switzerland (AFP) Jan 24, 2014 - The risk of a hard landing for the economy in China as well as the threat of military conflict with Japan stoked fears at the World Economic Forum in Davos on Friday. Days after the world's second-largest economy registered its worst rate of growth for more than a decade, top politicians and economists at the annual gathering of the global elite said the near-term outlook was bleak. Li D ... more |  |
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