cheese, wine & robots

French car maker Renault dismisses its chief operating officer and six others after audits showed a ''chain of failures'' in the events that led to the unjust accusations of spying against three of its employees.

Long-term climate change could be responsible for moving the Earth's tectonic plates.

People fleeing Japan's crippled nuclear plant are being turned away from evacuation centres because of fears they will contaminate others with radiation.

Rory Cellan-Jones tries out the new high-end tablets hoping to take a bight out of Apple's market.

Japan upgraded its month-old nuclear emergency to a maximum seven on an international scale of atomic crises Tuesday, placing it on a par with the Chernobyl disaster a quarter-century ago.

"I ♥ Boobies" bracelets worn by students in support of breast cancer awareness are not lewd or vulgar, a US judge has ruled.

The thunder of heavy weapons rocked Abidjan once more as President Alassane Ouattara struggled to take control of Ivory Coast's commercial capital after capturing his rival Laurent Gbagbo who was placed under house arrest.

A New Zealand company developing a jetpack personal flying machine says the first machines are set to be dispatched by the end of the year.

The focus of the Libyan conflict will shift to the Gulf state of Qatar on Wednesday, with the rebel shadow government being given the chance to address an international contact group.

The worst maritime oil spill in history began nearly a year ago with a drop in pressure in a poorly drilled well deep in the Gulf of Mexico. It hasn't really ended even though BP's runaway well was eventually capped 87 days later.

Andrew Bogut had arthroscopic surgery in Florida to remove loose particles and scar tissue from his right elbow.

Denmark's Princess Mary and Crown Prince Frederik will finally reveal the names of their three-month-old twins at the babies' christening on Thursday.

Two Kiwi boys have gobsmacked police by stealing a tanker from a construction site with one on the wheel and the other on the pedals.

Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero said Wednesday during a visit to China that he had no plans to take any new measures to reduce his country's public deficit.

Ivory Coast President Alassane Ouattara is struggling to take control of Ivory Coast's commercial capital after capturing his rival Laurent Gbagbo.

talawahdotnet writes "Gavin King of Red Hat/Hibernate/Seam fame recently unveiled the top secret project that he has been working on over the past two years, a new language and SDK designed to replace Java in the enterprise. The project came out of hiding without much fanfare or publicity at QCon Beijing in a keynote titled 'The Ceylon Project — the next generation of Java language?'"

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Japanese auto giant Toyota said on Wednesday it would temporarily halt production at five European plants for several days in April and May, due to a shortage of parts following the March 11 earthquake.

Britain and France have pressed NATO allies to step up air raids in Libya by deploying more combat jets to protect civilians.

The Government Accountability Office found that the F.D.A. is continuing to approve dozens of high-risk medical devices annually with little review.