Australian scientists said yesterday they aim to prevent a real-life version of the space disaster scenario portrayed in Oscar-winning film Gravity by removing extraterrestrial debris with lasers.

The US, China and Iran are firing the first shots in a new type of warfare being fought from the keyboard instead of the battlefield, writes John Hearne

Amnesty International has said it "fully accepts and welcomes" a statement from Aviva that it (Aviva) has no investments in companies that manufacture cluster munitions.

EMPLOYERS rushing to boost cyber defences after a rash of US online break-ins won’t block spies and thieves by simply throwing technology at the problem, since their core weakness is often badly-trained and badly-managed workers.

THE recent cyber attacks at Sony are just the latest in a increasingly long string of assaults on the databases of major firms across the globe.

New Delhi: India’s defence ministry opted for European over American warplanes for the world’s biggest fighter-jet aircraft order in 15 years, snubbing lobbying efforts by US President Barack Obama.

A SHANNON-BASED firm that provides testing technology to ensure the International Space Station is not at risk of shut-down, is set to double its workforce over the next three years.

Concerns over China’s plans for fiscal tightening and further uncertainty surrounding the European debt crisis saw the FTSE 100 Index close in the red today.

Nasa gave the go-ahead to a $438m (€316m) mission led by the University of Colorado-Boulder to investigate Mars and the likelihood that it once harboured life.

Richard Egan, who rose from street child to the US ambassador to Ireland after making millions of dollars founding data storage giant EMC Corp, died after a battle with lung cancer.

One of the US Air Force’s top-of-the-line F-22 fighter jets crashed in the high desert of Southern California, killing a test pilot for prime contractor Lockheed Martin Corp.

The US is pursuing a multibillion-dollar programme to develop the next generation of spy satellites, the first major effort of its kind since the Pentagon cancelled the ambitious and costly Future Imagery Architecture system two years ago, according to US officials.

BAE Systems is to come under further scrutiny over its dealings with Saudi Arabia after the defence group confirmed today it was being investigated by the US Department of Justice.

US stocks suffered their biggest fall in two months tonight, with the Dow Jones industrials logging a triple-digit decline as a disappointing bond auction and a lacklustre report on sales of existing homes halted the market’s two-day rally.

WHAT’S going on?

Japan and the United States have agreed to deploy advanced Patriot interceptor missiles on US bases in Japan for the first time, amid concerns North Korea may test-fire a long-range ballistic missile.

A space capsule ferrying the first comet dust samples to Earth parachuted on to a remote stretch of desert before dawn today, drawing cheers from elated scientists.

AIRCRAFT giant Boeing may lose a major component of a contract to build American spy satellites to rival Lockheed Martin because of continued cost and schedule problems.

Rolls-Royce secured a long-term role today on a £1.3bn (€1.9bn) project to develop engines for the next generation of stealth fighters.

Stocks in the United States ended an erratic session mixed today as investors weighed slightly higher oil prices against strong earnings from companies including Verizon Communications Inc and Texas Instruments Inc.

Defence stocks in the United States jumped higher, buoyed by expectations that President George Bush’s re-election would benefit the sector.

Defence stocks in the United States jumped higher today, buoyed by expectations that President George W Bush’s re-election would benefit the sector.

Positive momentum from across the Atlantic was holding the FTSE 100 Index above the key 4600 barrier today.

Last night’s surge on Wall Street provided the momentum to keep London shares above the key 4600 support level today.

THE head of the American hostage murdered by militants last month has been found after a raid on the hideout of an al-Qaida leader in Saudi Arabia.

The head of American hostage Paul Johnson, who was kidnapped and beheaded in Saudi Arabia last month, was found today by security forces during a raid on a hideout that left two militants dead.

IMAGES of an American hostage being decapitated surfaced on Saturday on an internet site known for carrying the statements of Islamic militants.

A weaker gross domestic product figure and a flurry of late-day trading left stocks widely mixed today, with tech issues and small caps gaining as blue chips suffered. The major indexes all finished the week lower.

THE al-Qaida group responsible for abducting and killing an American engineer say they were aided by sympathisers in the Saudi security forces — a claim denied by Saudi authorities.

The al-Qaida group that beheaded an American engineer said sympathisers in the Saudi security forces provided police uniforms and cars used during the victim’s kidnapping, according to an Islamic extremist website.

THE head of the al-Qaida cell that beheaded an American engineer justified the killing in a message written before he himself was shot dead by Saudi security forces.

The al-Qaida cell that kidnapped and killed American Paul M. Johnson Jr. claimed today that sympathisers in the kingdom’s security forces supplied it with police uniforms and vehicles and set up fake checkpoints to facilitate last week’s abduction.

Saudi Arabia killed four suspected terrorists, including the reputed leader of al-Qaida in the kingdom, the Interior Ministry said today.

Al Qaida’s leader in Saudi Arabia was killed in a raid by security forces hours after terrorists under his command beheaded an American hostage.

Time was running out tonight for an American hostage facing death in Saudi Arabia.

A letter signed “The Believer” has urged militants to spare American hostage Paul Johnson as the 72-hour deadline set by his captors was due to end today, saying killing him would break Islamic law.

Security forces were desperately hunting today for an American hostage facing death within hours at the hands of terrorists in Saudi Arabia.

Mark Sage, New York

Kidnappers in Saudi Arabia paraded a captured American man on a website and threatened to murder him within 72 hours unless al-Qaida prisoners were released.

Islamic militants who claim to have abducted an American in Saudi Arabia are threatening to torture him in the same way as Iraqi inmates were mistreated in a US-run prison in Baghdad.

Suspected militants have shot dead an American as he parked his car in the garage of his home in the Saudi capital.

The girlfriend of a man who shot dead five colleagues at a Mississippi factory interrupted a memorial service by standing up in the church and saying her partner was a victim too.

AN armed worker at a US defence contractor’s plant opened fire on colleagues yesterday, killing six before committing suicide.