“We’re in a situation of total emergency, the worst crisis we have ever lived through” said ex-premier Felipe Gonzalez, the country’s elder statesman. The warning came as the yields on Spanish 10-year bonds spiked to 6.7pc, pushing the “risk premium”
More patients and families are using Facebook to seek kidney donations, but it’s not clear if doing do improves the chances of obtaining a donor organ, a new study finds. Researchers from Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood, Ill., examined
A day after markets in Europe were calmed on news that Greece’s pro-bailout New Democracy party appeared to be pulling clear in the polls ahead of next month’s crunch general election, new polls yesterday threw the situation back into doubt
In a courtroom in Italy, six seismologists and a civil servant are facing charges of manslaughter after failing to predict a 2009 earthquake that killed 308 people in the Apennine Mountain city of L’Aquila. The charge is remarkable partly because
U.S. officials and high-tech business giants have launched an assault against what they view as a massive threat to the Internet and to Silicon Valley’s bottom lines: foreign governments. In a congressional hearing Thursday, they will warn lawmakers of a
The National Emergency Commission (CNE) on Wednesday declared a preventive “green alert” due to recent seismic activity at three volcanoes: Rincón de la Vieja, in the northwestern province of Guanacaste, Poás, northwest of San José in the province of Alajuela,
That eruption is estimated to have happened about 760,000 years ago, and would have covered half of North America in its ash. Such super-eruptions can release thousands of cubic kilometres of debris – hundreds of times larger than any eruption
As the UK queen prepares to celebrate her Diamond Jubilee, many millions of the British public want the whole institution of monarchy consigned to the history books. According to the result of a new survey a large swathe of the
A nine stone toddler, a chicken that thinks it’s a penguin, and a teenager’s near miss after some high jinx with a sword – these are just some of the more colourful stories to come out of China recently. We’ve
The bad news from BlackBerry owner Research in Motion just gets worse, as the Canadian group has warned of an operating loss in the second quarter to June. RIM, once the darling of the smartphone industry before being eclipsed by
A specific antioxidant supplement may be an effective therapy for some features of autism, according to a pilot trial from the Stanford University School of Medicine and Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital that involved 31 children with the disorder. The antioxidant,
A new generation of insect larvae is eating the roots of genetically engineered corn intended to be resistant to such pests. The failure of Monsanto’s genetically modified Bt corn could be the most serious threat ever to a genetically modified
California is one step closer to banning law enforcement from tapping the data from the tracking device in your palm, pocket or purse without a warrant. The state Senate passed a bill Wednesday that requires a warrant to seek access
The last Soviet mission to the moon, Luna-24, returned to Earth with water-rich rocks from beneath the lunar surface. But the West ignored the result. The possibility of water on the moon has excited scientists and science fiction fans for
The euro has slumped to a two-year low versus the US dollar amid fears that Spain could be forced into asking for a bailout for its ailing banks. The single currency sank below 1.24 dollars on Wednesday, touching a low
All her professional life, Lola Santillana has been trying to help Spain’s unemployed. Now the 45-year-old is joining their ranks. The former school careers officer and social worker has been running the local government department in Toledo, wrestling with the
Indian opposition parties planned a national strike on Thursday in protest against the steepest petrol price rise in the country’s history, seeking to exploit popular anger with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s embattled coalition government. Protests, marches and road blocks were
