Europe
France's Hollande visits Japan to push nuke ties
June 6, 2013 11:27 am | by ELAINE KURTENBACH, AP Business Writer | News | CommentsFrench President Francois Hollande arrived in Japan on Thursday for a visit expected to focus on closer cooperation in nuclear energy technologies and on Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's economic strategies. Hollande and Abe will hold summit talks that local media say may yield an agreement on cooperating in nuclear fuel cycle technology...
China premier warns EU over solar, telecom probes
May 28, 2013 10:36 am | by The Associated Press | News | CommentsPremier Li Keqiang, China's top economic official, has criticized the European Union for pursuing anti-dumping cases against Chinese solar power and telecommunications equipment that he warned will hurt both sides. In a speech in Swizerland, Li said the action will hurt European consumers and might encourage trade protectionism...
Plans for Australia spy HQ hacked by China
May 28, 2013 10:31 am | by ROD McGUIRK, Associated Press | News | CommentsAustralian officials on Tuesday refused to confirm or deny whether Chinese hackers had stolen the blueprints of a new spy agency headquarters as a news report claims. A tiny party essential to the ruling coalition's government demanded an inquiry into how much damage may have been done.
The long road to the 2000-watt society: How sustainable is Switzerland?
May 24, 2013 10:02 am | by EMPA | News | CommentsThe vision of a society in which each inhabitant of the earth manages to consume only 2000 watts has already been around for 15 years. During this time, there has been a steady increase in environmental awareness in the West. Technology has become more efficient and there appears to be very little standing in the way of a sustainable lifestyle.
French industry minister denies country closed to foreign investment after vetoing Yahoo deal
May 2, 2013 9:31 am | by GREG KELLER Associated Press | News | CommentsThe French government has defended its veto over Yahoo Inc.'s attempted takeover of video sharing website Dailymotion, even as the move draws jeers for discouraging much needed foreign investment. Yahoo this week abandoned plans to take a 75 percent stake in Dailymotion, a deal sought by the managements of both companies, after the government blocked it.
Europe gets 1st fix from its own satnav system
March 13, 2013 9:02 am | by The Associated Press | News | CommentsThe European Space Agency says it has received the first location fix from its own satellite navigation system. The Galileo system is seen as Europe's rival to the American-built Global Positioning System. ESA says technicians at a control center in the Dutch city of Noordwijk received a longitude, latitude and altitude reading early Tuesday from the four satellites already in orbit.
German flight set to take off with comet tourists
March 5, 2013 12:35 pm | News | CommentsA German travel agency is selling tickets for a flight to give 88 astronomy buffs a close-up view of one of two rare comets expected to pass Earth this year. Eclipse Travel, based in Bonn, has joined charter agency Air Partner and airline Air Berlin to organize flight AB1000 on March 16 as comet Pan-STARRS passes through the solar system, 100 million miles from Earth.
Google not expected to check every upload says Italian court
February 27, 2013 12:05 pm | News | CommentsInternet platforms like Google cannot be forced to filter every video uploaded by users without endangering freedom of thought and their own functionality, an Italian court ruling made public on Wednesday said.
Europol breaks up multi-million euro Internet fraud gang
February 14, 2013 12:38 pm | News | CommentsA network of online fraudsters who masqueraded as European crime-fighting agency Europol and collected millions of euros in fake fines has been broken up - by Europol.
Google must extend payments across Europe for use of content
February 7, 2013 2:02 pm | News | CommentsGoogle Inc must extend its offer made last week to pay French publishers for use of their content to all media companies across Europe, the head of the European Publishers Council said on Thursday.
UK's space age Antarctic base can slide across ice
February 6, 2013 8:56 am | by The Associated Press | News | CommentsResearchers say that Britain's new Antarctic base will be movable - capable of sliding across the ice on ski-clad stilts. The innovation will enable researchers to keep one step ahead of the southern continent's shifting ice and pounding snows. The British Antarctic Survey says that the Halley VI Research Station
LG Electronics sinks to loss after EU fine
January 30, 2013 10:31 am | by YOUKYUNG LEE, AP Technology Writer | News | CommentsLG Electronics Inc. reported its first quarterly loss in a year Wednesday after Europe slapped it with a massive fine for price fixing. Its net loss totaled 468 billion won ($429 million) for the last quarter of 2012, compared with a loss of 112 billion a year earlier.
Funai Electric to acquire audio operations of Philips
January 29, 2013 10:28 am | by The Associated Press | News | CommentsFunai Electric Co. said Tuesday it will acquire the audio equipment businesses of Royal Philips Electronics later this year so it can expand its product range and improve its performance. The Osaka-based consumer electronics maker will acquire all shares to be floated by a new company that the Dutch maker will set up in the April-September period.
Google to develop new headquarters at London's Kings Cross
January 18, 2013 8:55 am | News | CommentsGoogle Inc. is developing a new UK headquarters which could be worth as much as 1 billion pounds ($1.6 billion) when finished, the latest overseas property deal for the cash-rich U.S. Internet group. Google has purchased a 2.4 acre plot at the Kings Cross Central development,
Seeing beyond cameras: Predicting where people move in CCTV blind spots
January 17, 2013 9:03 am | by Eurekalert! | News | CommentsA new model from Queen Mary, University of London could be a useful security tool in tracking people in large, busy venues such as airport terminals and shopping centres. The research fuses information gathered from multiple Close-Circuit Television (CCTV) network cameras and geographical maps for the first time,
NASA, Europeans uniting to send spaceship to moon
January 17, 2013 8:51 am | by MARCIA DUNN AP Aerospace Writer | News | CommentsNASA is teeming up with the European Space Agency to get astronauts beyond Earth's orbit. Europe will provide the propulsion and power compartment for NASA's new Orion crew capsule, officials said Wednesday. This so-called service module will be based on Europe's supply ship used for the International Space Station.
France delays move to make Web giants pay for networks
January 15, 2013 1:59 pm | by Leila Abboud, Reuters | News | CommentsFrance backed away from legislation to make Internet companies including Google pay for the burden they place on telecommunications networks, opting instead to ask a commission to study the controversial issue. Fleur Pellerin, junior minister for the digital economy, said the government would ask the National Digital Council...
Seeking the next CERN: Europe to award $1.3 billion to next-generation science projects
January 15, 2013 9:01 am | by FRANK JORDANS Associated Press | News | CommentsCall it Europe's Got Talent for geeks.Teams of scientists from across the continent are vying for a funding bonanza that could see two of them receive up to (EURO)1 billion ($1.33 billion) over 10 years to keep Europe at the cutting edge of technology. The contest began with 26 proposals that were whittled down to six last year. Just four have made it to the final round.
iPhone 5 users are Europe's biggest data consumers
January 14, 2013 8:59 am | by Reuters | News | Comments(Reuters) - Users of Apple's iPhone 5, launched in September 2012, have the most voracious appetite for data in Europe, consuming on average more than four times the amount of a typical person still using a iPhone 3G, according to a study.
British waterway deploys ship safety aid to combat GPS attacks
January 11, 2013 12:20 pm | by Jonathan Saul, Reuters | News | CommentsBritain is deploying a back-up ship navigation system in the English Channel, one of the world's busiest shipping lanes, to tackle the growing risks of disruptions of vessel satellite devices and jamming by criminal gangs.Mariners increasingly rely on global navigation systems that use satellite
EU lawmakers seek to limit use of data by internet firms
January 9, 2013 8:53 am | by Claire Davenport, Reuters | News | Comments(Reuters) - Internet companies such as Facebook and Google may have to get more permission to use information if European Union lawmakers give users more control over their personal data. EU lawmakers want to limit companies' ability to use and sell data, such as internet browsing habits, to advertising companies, especially when people are unaware their data is being used in such a way.
French government persuades Internet provider to stop blocking online ads amid debate
January 7, 2013 8:56 am | by The Associated Press | News | CommentsFrance's government says it has persuaded a leading Internet provider to stop blocking online advertisements - a controversial move that would have hit online search giants such as Google.The French minister for the Internet economy, Fleur Pellerin, met Monday with leading figures from the online industry
Sharp to withdraw from solar power battery business in Italy
January 3, 2013 9:56 am | by The Associated Press | News | CommentsStruggling Japanese electronics maker Sharp Corp. is considering pulling out of the solar power battery business in Italy to streamline its operations amid slumping demand in Europe, sources close to the matter said Sunday.
Scientists may make definitive Higgs boson announcement in March
December 20, 2012 2:59 pm | by Robert Evans, Reuters | News | CommentsScientists at Europe's CERN research center said on Wednesday they may be able to definitively announce at a conference next March that they had discovered the elusive Higgs boson. But they dismissed suggestions circulating widely on blogs and even in some science journals that instead of just one type of the elementary particle they might have found a pair.
European Commission wades into global tech patents war
December 20, 2012 12:10 pm | by Ethan Bilby, Reuters | News | CommentsEU regulators are poised to accuse Samsung of breaking competition rules in filing patent lawsuits against rival Apple, in the EU's first formal challenge to the consumer electronic industry's patent wars. "We will issue a statement of objections very soon," the European Union's competition chief Joaquin Almunia said on Thursday, referring to the Commission's charge sheet.
