NEPAL has begun a project to re-measure Mount Everest in an attempt to end confusion about the exact height of the world’s tallest peak, a government spokesman in Kathmandu said on Tuesday. Everest, which straddles Nepal and China, is generally thought to stand at 8,848mafter an Indian survey in 1954, but other more recent measurements […]
No evidence that coffee ups risk of high blood pressure
GO AHEAD. Have that second cup of coffee – or maybe even a third. Despite previous concerns, downing lots of coffee doesn’t seem to increase the risk of high blood pressure, says a US study. High blood pressure, or hypertension, has been linked to heart disease, stroke and a shorter life expectancy, and some scientists […]
Schwarzenegger back in Hollywood saddle
TWO months after putting his Hollywood return on hold following a damaging sex scandal, Arnold Schwarzenegger is ready to get back into the saddle. The former action star turned politician is scheduled to start shooting the Western movie The Last Stand in September, a film industry source said on Monday, despite being embroiled in what […]
US cancels millions in aid to Pakistan military
THE Obama administration is suspending and, in some cases, cancelling hundreds of millions of dollars of aid to the Pakistani military, in a move to chasten Pakistan for expelling American military trainers and to press its army to fight militants more effectively. Coupled with a statement from the top American military officer last week linking […]
Japan consumer confidence falls after quake
JAPANESE consumer confidence fell in March from the previous month to its lowest since June 2009 as a record earthquake, tsunami and a nuclear emergency cast a shadow over the economy. Analysts said the data bolstered the view that the March 11 disasters will force the world’s third largest economy to contract this quarter amid […]
McDonald’s grimaces at Happy Meal lawsuit
A LAWSUIT that seeks to stop McDonald’s from selling Happy Meals should be dismissed because parents can always prohibit their children from consuming the food, the hamburger giant said in a court filing on Monday. The lawsuit claims McDonald’s unfairly uses toys to lure children into its restaurants. The plaintiff, Monet Parham – a Sacramento, […]
Nepal’s rhino numbers recovering after war: study
THE number of rhinos living wild in Nepal has risen above 500 for the first time since a civil war that led to rampant poaching of the endangered animals, the government said on Sunday. It said wildlife experts who have spent the past month conducting an exhaustive survey had counted 534 rhinos in Nepal’s southern […]
CERN atom smasher sets new record
THE world’s biggest atom smasher has set a new world record for beam intensity, a key measure of performance and power, the European Organisation for Nuclear Research (CERN) said on Friday. On a quest to unlock some of the universe’s deepest secrets, the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) in Geneva collided beams with a luminosity exceeding […]
Triple ‘terror’ blasts kill 21 in Mumbai
THREE bombs ripped through India’s commercial capital Mumbai on Wednesday, killing 21 people and injuring more than 100 in the deadliest attack in the city since the 2008 assault by Islamist militants. The strongest of the coordinated blasts hit busy districts in the south of the city, the same area targeted two and half years […]
Sony to launch Android tablets to take on Apple
JAPANESE electronics and entertainment giant Sony Corp on Tuesday announced plans for two tablet computers, codenamed S1 and S2, in a direct challenge to Apple’s iPad. The S1 has a single screen and is for home use while the portable S2 has two screens, Sony said at a news conference to unveil the devices. The […]