The Solar Impulse lands in Texas.
(Credit:
Solar Impulse)
The solar-powered Solar Impulse plane has set a new world’s record, and its journey across America still has a few more legs to go.
Flying the second and longest leg of the journey, pilot Andre Borschberg successfully landed the plane in Dallas/Fort Worth on Thursday, achieving a record for the longest distance flown by a solar-powered aircraft. The 1,541 kilometers (957 miles or 832 nautical miles) beat the previous record of 1,116 kilometers (602 nautical miles) held by [...]
Solar Impulse sets record in flight across America
The Solar Impulse lands in Texas.
(Credit:
Solar Impulse)
The solar-powered Solar Impulse plane has set a new world’s record, and its journey across America still has a few more legs to go.
Flying the second and longest leg of the journey, pilot Andre Borschberg successfully landed the plane in Dallas/Fort Worth on Thursday, achieving a record for the longest distance flown by a solar-powered aircraft. The 1,541 kilometers (957 miles or 832 nautical miles) beat the previous record of 1,116 kilometers (602 nautical miles) held by [...]
Thousands at author Achebe’s funeral
23 May 2013
Last updated at 09:59 ET
Chinua Achebe is being buried in his hometown of Ogidi
Thousands of mourners are attending the funeral of renowned Nigerian author Chinua Achebe in his home town in Anambra state.
Mr Achebe’s body arrived back in Nigeria on Wednesday from the US, where he died in March at the age of 82.
Relatives and officials were at Enugu airport in southern Nigeria as the coffin was lowered from the plane.
Mr Achebe is widely regarded as the founding father of African literature in English.
C [...]
Global markets in turmoil
A wave of selling hit Wall Street early Thursday as markets tumbled from Tokyo to London.
The Dow Jones industrial average fell 0.6% at the opening bell. The SP 500 fell more than 1%. The Nasdaq sank 0.9%
Meanwhile, the yield on the 10-year Treasury note nudged back up near 2%, as investors sought safety in government-backed bonds.
With U.S. stocks up more than 15% so far this year, some investors have warned that the market is primed for a correction, while others maintain that dips offer buying opportunities.
Investors looked out [...]
Roberto Martínez’s future at Wigan will be decided next week
The future of Roberto Martínez will not now be decided until next week but the Wigan Athletic chairman, Dave Whelan, is positive about holding on to the Spaniard.
Martínez on Wednesday had asked for 24 hours to consider his next move, but after meeting Whelan again on Thursday it is the chairman who has now gone away to consider whether he can match his manager’s ambitions.
“We have had a good, constructive talk – nothing about wages it is all about the club and can we move it forward in terms of the training facilities and yo [...]
House set to vote on varible-rate student loans
By PHILIP ELLIOTT
May 23, 2013
House lawmakers are ready to pass legislation that links student loan rates to the financial markets in spite of a veto threat from President Barack Obama.
Supported by Republicans, the bill would avoid a rate increase for students with new subsidized Stafford loans if lawmakers pass it, as expected, on Thursday. Democrats generally opposed the measure, which would provide some students a deal in the first years of the new system before ratcheting up interest rates later.
“As the economy continues to recov [...]
Verizon’s Galaxy S4 gets rooted almost instantly
Devs have already gotten to the bottom of the Verizon Galaxy S4.
(Credit:
Josh Miller/CNET)
Modders and ROMmers rejoice, almost as soon as it reached the hands of consumers, Verizon’s Galaxy S4 has been rooted.
Instructions for rooting Big Red’s S4 were posted on the xdadevelopers forum this week, allowing folks who want to take full control of all that sweet new hardware to do so and get the thrill of voiding their warranty at the same time.
Just a few short years ago, it seemed like a major milestone when each of these ne [...]
SA police anti-crime site hacked
23 May 2013
Last updated at 09:24 ET
The hacker wants prosecutions over the killing of South African miners last year
A hacker has attacked a South African police website, downloading the details of whistle-blowers who reported crime, an official has said.
An “oversight” led to the data being kept on an insecure site, he added.
The anonymous hacker said the attack was over the failure so far to prosecute policemen who shot dead 34 miners in Marikana last August.
Nearly 16,000 whistle-blowers had their details [...]
Unilever’s CEO has a green thumb
Polman in a shop for employees at Unilever House, the company’s London headquarters
Asad Rauf stood down from umpiring in ICC Champions Trophy
Pakistani umpire Asad Rauf has been withdrawn from next month’s Champions Trophy by the International Cricket Council following media reports that he was under investigation by Mumbai police.
Rauf, who has been on the ICC’s Elite Panel since 2006, was due to join seven other umpires in officiating at the tournament, which will be held at Edgbaston, Cardiff and the Oval from 6 June.
But following the reports in the media, the ICC has opted to stand him down.
ICC chief executive David Richardson said: “In the wake of repor [...]
BTG says interventional medicine buys could boost sales to $1 bln
By Paul Sandle
LONDON |
Thu May 23, 2013 8:07am EDT
LONDON (Reuters) – British pharmaceutical company BTG announced two deals on Thursday that it said could create an interventional medicine business with potential sales of $1 billion.
Chief Executive Louise Makin told Reuters the deals would more than double BTG’s revenues in the fast-growing market of targeting specific areas rather than administering drugs to the whole body.
BTG added to its liver cancer treatments by agreeing to buy the targe [...]
Obama’s national security speech looks at drones, Gitmo
By LARA JAKES and LOLITA C. BALDOR
May 23, 2013
President Barack Obama (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais, File)
President Barack Obama on Thursday is expected to address some of the thornier aspects of national security policy, including drone strikes, the prison at Guantanamo Bay and the dire threats Americans continue to face — even from fellow citizens.
On the eve of the president’s speech at the National Defense University, the Obama administration revealed for the first time that a fourth American citizen had been killed in secret [...]
New cave-dwelling arachnids discovered in Brazil
Related images(click to enlarge)
Two new species of cave-dwelling short-tailed whipscorpions have been discovered in northeastern Brazil, and are described in research published May 22 in the open access journal PLOS ONE by Adalberto Santos, from the Federal University of Minas Gerais (Brazil) and colleagues. The reddish-brown short-tailed whipscorpions inhabit cool, humid limestone caves in an otherwise arid region. Both new species, Rowlandius ubajara and Rowlandius potiguara, were found deep within the limestone caves, which are a [...]