Obama: North Korean nuclear test ‘a grave threat’

President Obama castigated the North Korean government Monday for conducting a second nuclear bomb test in defiance of multiple international warnings. North Korea’s actions “pose a grave threat to the peace and stability of the world,” Obama said at the White House.

Share

Can green cellphones ring the changes in mobile industry?

The next time you go to throw away your old mobile phone, Gert-Jan van Breugel hopes you bury it in a garden instead tossing it in a garbage can. That is of course if the cellphone you’re using is the biodegradable bamboo handset he’s designed with bamboo seeds implanted in its case that should start to sprout when the mobile disintegrates in the ground.

Share

Quake survivors: What about our future?

Many survivors from the earthquake which has devastated central Italy have found themselves homeless, terrified — and wondering what the future now holds. Aftershocks have continued to strike following Monday’s 6.3-magnitude quake, in the mountainous Abruzzo region surrounding the city of L’Aquila. The most severe, a 5.6 magnitude tremor that struck the area Tuesday night, according to the U.S.

Share

Aftershocks rattle quake rescue efforts

The arduous work of combing through rubble and treating the wounded of this medieval city continued into the early hours of Wednesday morning, even as the death toll from the powerful earthquake that rocked the area continued to climb. By late Tuesday night, 235 people had been confirmed dead, according to the Italian Civil Protection Agency, which was helping with recovery efforts in L’Aquila, about 120 km (75 miles) northeast of Rome.

Share

At least 150 killed in Italian earthquake, officials say

Rescuers worked into the early morning hours Tuesday in hopes of finding survivors of a powerful earthquake that ripped through Italy’s mountainous Abruzzo region, killing scores of people and leaving tens of thousands homeless. Tearful survivors, many of them clad in pajamas and blankets, watched as bodies were pulled from the rubble in the medieval city of L’Aquila, about 120 km (75 miles) northeast of Rome. The quake killed more than 150 people, L’Aquila’s fire department said late Monday.

Share