The war in Georgia last year was started by a Georgian attack that was not justified by international law, an EU-sponsored report has concluded. However, the attack followed months of provocation, and both sides violated international law, the report said. Russia said the report delivered an "unequivocal answer" on the question of who started [...]
Microsoft has released its free computer security package to the public. From 1700 BST on 29 September, Windows users will be able to download the software from Microsoft’s Security Essentials website. The free software gives basic protection against viruses, trojans, rootkits, and spyware. The Essentials software is Microsoft’s second try at making an own-brand [...]
Children whose mothers work are less likely to lead healthy lives than those with "stay at home" mothers, a study says. The Institute of Child Health study of more than 12,500 five-year-olds found those with working mothers less active and more likely to eat unhealthy food. Other experts said more work was needed to [...]
US consumer confidence fell unexpectedly in September, suggesting Americans are not as convinced as US policymakers of an economic recovery. The closely-watched Consumer Confidence Index from the Conference Board business organisation slipped to 53.1 from a revised 54.5 in August. Economists were expecting confidence to improve after it rose in August. Separately, a leading US [...]
Czech senators opposed to the EU’s Lisbon Treaty have filed a new complaint against it with the country’s constitutional court. The complaint could create a new delay to treaty ratification, even if Irish voters back the treaty in a referendum on Friday. Czech President Vaclav Klaus, a Eurosceptic, says he will not sign the [...]
Nintendo is cutting the price of its popular Wii games console by 20% in the US and Japan. The company has also confirmed to BBC News that the trade price will drop in the UK and Republic of Ireland. However, the firm said the the ultimate cost for UK customers would be "determined by retailers [...]
An experimental HIV vaccine has for the first time cut the risk of infection, researchers say. The vaccine – a combination of two earlier experimental vaccines – was given to 16,000 people in Thailand, in the largest ever such vaccine trial. Researchers found that it reduced by nearly a third the risk of contracting HIV, [...]
World leaders are meeting in the US city of Pittsburgh as the two-day G20 summit gets under way. Economic stability, financial regulation, climate change and bankers’ bonuses are set to top the agenda. With many major economies beginning to climb out of recession – attention will turn to when and how to withdraw government [...]
A controversial broadband tax should be law before the next election, according to Minister for Digital Britain Stephen Timms. The 50 pence a month tax will apply to everyone with a fixed line telephone. Speaking at a debate in London, Mr Timms said the tax will be presented to parliament as part of the Finance [...]
Ertugrul Osman – the would-be sultan known in Turkey as the "last Ottoman" – has died in Istanbul at the age of 97. Osman would have been sultan of the Ottoman Empire had Turkey’s modern republic not been created in the 1920s. As the last surviving grandson of Sultan Abdul-Hamid II, he would have [...]
Scientists have presented results of an experimental new drug which in early stage trials has significantly shrunk skin cancer tumours. US rearchers from Memorial Sloan-Kettering Hospital in New York said their results were "unprecedented". While not a cure, the study of 31 patients with late-stage skin cancer suggested the therapy could improve the quality of [...]
German Finance Minister Peer Steinbrueck has accused the UK of blocking tougher financial rules ahead of the G20 summit. "There clearly is a lobby in London that wants to defend its competitive advantage tooth and claw," Mr Steinbrueck told Stern magazine. Germany and France have led calls for more restrictions on banks, which have been [...]