LONDON — Just once, in a raid over Düsseldorf in 1944, Jack Watson said on Thursday, he had a momentary misgiving about the carpet bombing of German cities that became, after World War II, one of the most controversial aspects of the Allied operations that won the war. It came on a rare daylight raid as [...]

  Prof Sir Mark Walport has been appointed to be the UK government’s chief scientific advisor. He is seen as a “big-hitter” who knows his way around the Whitehall machine. He is earthy, forthright and a great communicator. His tenure as one of the most influential civil servants in Whitehall is likely to be eventful. [...]

The Mercosur trade bloc plans to suspend Paraguay over the impeachment of President Fernando Lugo, Brazil’s foreign minister has said. But Antonio Patriota said foreign ministers from Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay would recommend against imposing economic sanctions. He was speaking at the start of a summit in Mendoza in Argentina. Regional leaders described the dismissal [...]

American researchers took control of a flying drone by hacking into its GPS system – acting on a $1,000 (£640) dare from the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS). A University of Texas at Austin team used “spoofing” – a technique where the drone mistakes the signal from hackers for the one sent from GPS [...]

Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel says she is satisfied with a deal to help finance debt-laden eurozone countries. “I think we found a good compromise,” she said after all-night talks which saw her come under heavy pressure from Italy and Spain. A new supervisory body will enable the European Central Bank (ECB) to “keep a very [...]

China’s Shenzhou-9 spacecraft returned to Earth on Friday, completing an ambitious mission that notched up a series of breakthroughs for the country, including putting its first woman in orbit. Shenzhou-9 successfully carried out a manned space docking last week, making China the third country to complete such a feat after the United States and Russia. [...]

European leaders reached a “breakthrough” deal early Friday to ease the recapitalization of struggling banks that should help draw the eurozone back from the brink of a gathering crisis. Under the deal, European leaders agreed to create a single supervisory body to oversee the eurozone’s banks which could use the single currency area’s rescue funds, [...]

International envoy Kofi Annan expressed optimism Friday that the latest talks on the crisis in Syria will yield “an appropriate outcome” despite a failed peace plan and relentless violence in the Middle East nation. Diplomats prepared for a weekend emergency meeting in Switzerland as angry grass-roots momentum against Bashar al-Assad’s regime spread across Syria and [...]

Saif avoided cameras and paparazzi pictures until his departure to Morocco this week in order to avoid giving away his Agent Vinod look. But man proposes, Aamir disposes. Aamir insisted that Saif make it to the party at his home last weekend, thereby blowing the whistle on Saif’s carefully-concealed look. On the eve of his [...]

A bath drawn just right and the mood set perfectly can be an enriching experience. The rigours of life leave even the strongest and the most stoic minds exhausted and in need of a sensuous retreat. Not all of us have the time or the resources to make visits to spas as a regular habit. [...]