World powers, Iran bid to break nuclear stalemate

ALMATY, Kazakhstan: World powers meet negotiators from Iran in Kazakhstan on Tuesday in the hope of reaching a breakthrough in the decade-long crisis over its nuclear programme, despite low expectations after years of dashed hopes.They are hoping to coax concessions out of Iran by advancing a new offer but Tehran has already doused expectations by installing new centrifuges and saying...

Read More..

Foursquare checks in to more revenue with credit card specials

Foursquare's latest offer: attach a Visa or MasterCard to your account and get $1 credited back to your card when spend $10 at Burger King.(Credit:Foursquare)Money in the bank. That's the motivation behind a new Foursquare initiative that lets members link their Visa and MasterCard credit or debit cards and redeem money-back specials from participating merchants. Foursquare, a company banking on...

Read More..

Sharks Warn Off Predators By Wielding Light Sabers

Diminutive deep-sea sharks illuminate spines on their backs like light sabers to warn potential predators that they could get a sharp mouthful, a new study suggests.Paradoxically, the sharks seem to produce light both to hide and to be conspicuous—a first in the world of glowing sharks. (See photos of other sea creatures that glow.)"Three years ago we showed that velvet belly lanternsharks...

Read More..

Americans Targeted for Allegedly Running Underage Prostitution in Philippines

Arthur Benjamin is sitting at the edge of a small stage, wearing a lavender Hawaiian shirt and nursing a bottle of San Miguel Light beer. The 6-foot-6 mustachioed Texan lazily watches the half dozen or so girls dancing rather unenergetically around the stage's pole."I forgot your gift again, it's in the car," Benjamin says to one of the girls on stage, shouting above the pop music...

Read More..

Ancient continent hides beneath Indian Ocean

The sands of Mauritius are hiding a secret: deep beneath them lurks an ancient continent. Trond Torsvik and colleagues at the University of Oslo, Norway, analysed grains of zircon found on the island's beaches, measuring the balance...

Read More..

Swimming: Magnussen reveals sleeping tabs 'tradition'

SYDNEY: World 100m freestyle champion James Magnussen -- who led the much-vaunted 4x100m Australian relay team which bombed spectacularly at the 2012 Olympics -- has claimed taking sleeping tablets was "a tradition".The team last week admitted taking the prescription drug Stilnox, banned by the Australian Olympic Committee (AOC), as part of a "bonding exercise" ahead of the Games in London,...

Read More..

How MasterCard plans to transform mobile purchases

Pay for goods using MasterPass loaded on a smartphone.(Credit:MasterCard)BARCELONA, Spain--The hype around mobile payments is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the coming transformation for how people purchase goods and services. That's according to Ed McLaughlin, chief emerging payments officer for MasterCard, who spoke with CNET about his company's vision.While at the Mobile World Congress...

Read More..

Picture Archive: Dorothy Lamour and Jiggs, Circa 1938

Dorothy Lamour, most famous for her Road to ... series of movies with Bing Crosby and Bob Hope, never won an Oscar. In her 50-plus-year career as an actress, she never even got nominated.Neither did Jiggs the chimpanzee, pictured here with Lamour on the set of Her Jungle Love in a photo published in the 1938 National Geographic story "Monkey Folk."No animal has ever been nominated for...

Read More..

Oscars 2013: 'Argo' Wins Best Picture

"Argo" took home the top prize as best picture at the Oscars Sunday night, with first lady Michelle Obama announcing the winner from the White House."You directed a hell of a film," co-producer Grant Heslov told director and fellow producer Ben Affleck. "I couldn't be more proud of the film and more proud of our director."Affleck was snubbed in the directing category but humbly accepted...

Read More..

Amazon to open market in second-hand MP3s and e-books

A new market for second-hand digital downloads could let us hold virtual yard sales of our ever-growing piles of intangible possessions WHY buy second-hand? For physical goods, the appeal is in the price – you don't mind the creases in a book or rust spots on a car if it's a bargain. Although digital objects...

Read More..