Britain's Queen Elizabeth will use her traditional Christmas Day message, filmed in 3D for the first time, to pay tribute to the world's athletes for delivering a "splendid summer of sport" at the London Olympics. In her personal address to the nation, the monarch will pay tribute to the competitors' "skill, dedication, training and teamwork",
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Not so long ago, fracking was a technical term little known beyond the energy industry. Now it's coming to Hollywood, as the fierce battle between environmentalists and oil firms is played out in several forthcoming films. Hydraulic fracturing, the controversial drilling technique also known as fracking, has lifted U.S. energy output dramatically, despite warnings from
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Arms sales will be on the agenda when Russian President Vladimir Putin visits India on Monday to court a country that has traditionally been a top client. Putin's trip, his first to India since he started a new Kremlin six-year term in May, is a chance to reaffirm Russia's interest in India, long a regional
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Two days after stepping down, Mario Monti announced on Sunday he would consider seeking a second term as Italian prime minister if approached by allies committed to backing his austere brand of reforms. The former European commissioner, appointed to lead an unelected government of experts to save Italy from financial crisis a year ago, resigned
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Asian shares steadied in quiet pre-holiday trade on Monday from a slump late last week, with prices capped by nervousness about the risk of the United States failing to avert a fiscal crisis. European shares will likely be subdued, with financial spreadbetters predicting London's FTSE 100 and Paris's CAC-40 to open steady to 0.1 percent
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Dozens of people were killed and many more wounded in a Syrian government air strike that hit a bakery where a crowd was queuing for bread on Sunday, activists said. If confirmed, the attack on Halfaya in central Syria, which was seized by rebels last week, would be one of the deadliest air strikes of
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**How much do the Cypriot banks hold in Cyprus government bonds?** By Fiona Mullen, Director Sapienta Economics Ltd A report in Der Spiegel on 20 December suggested that the IMF might demand a haircut on Cypriot government debt before it will approve the bailout for Cyprus that will recapitalise the banks and help finance maturing
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Germany declined on Friday to rule out a writedown of Cypriot sovereign debt, saying instead that all options should be looked at to bring the Mediterranean island's debt down to sustainable levels. Cyprus has dismissed as unfounded suggestions that the International Monetary Fund is seeking a debt writedown before it agrees to participate in a
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Scientists in Hong Kong appear to have mapped out a formula that can delay the aging process in mice, a discovery they hope to replicate in people. Their finding, published in the December issue of Cell Metabolism, builds on their work in 2005 which shed light on premature aging, or progeria, a rare genetic disease
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Thousands of mystics, hippies and spiritual wanderers will descend on the ruins of Maya cities on Friday to celebrate a new cycle in the Maya calendar, ignoring fears in some quarters that it might instead herald the end of the world. Brightly dressed indigenous Mexican dancers whooped and invoked a serpent god near the ruins
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