Apple reserve cash is more than US government

While the world's most powerful government has just $73.76 billion in its reserves, the world's top technology company has a neat cash pile of $75.87 billion Thursday.

The US Treasury Department Thursday warned that it has now only this much operating budget as Republicans and Democrats fight over raising the nation's debt ceiling. With only that much reserve at its disposal, the Obama White House has warned the Republicans that the US government won't be able to meet its obligations as of Aug 2.

Facing a government default, Obama can definitely turn to Steve Jobs to give him a very brief breathing space.

The failure by the Republicans and Democrats to come to a compromise to raise the current $14.3 trillion debt ceiling by Aug 2 could lead to a hike in interest rates. The already battered dollar may also plunge further.

With its market capitalisation of $363.25 billion, Apple is the second largest company on the planet after American oil giant Exxon Mobil. The Cupertino-based Apple started rising suddenly in 2007 when it entered the smart phone market with the launch of its first version of the iPhone.

Within three years, Apple went on to overhaul BlackBerry company Research In Motion (RIM) which invented the smart phone and dominated the market.

But its fortunes skyrocketed last year with the launch of the iPad tablet which has sold in millions. In fact, the iPhone and the iPad have made Apple the czar of mobile computing technology as rivals play up catch-up.

The stock of the company, which doesn't pay dividends, has now touched $400.

After Apple, another non-financial company sitting on a huge cash reserve is Microsoft whose own pile is about $40 billion.

Samsung Galaxy s2 sale may affect forthcoming iPhone 5,

More than one in three US consumers want to buy the forthcoming iPhone 5, which is expected to be released in early September, according to a new survey released Wednesday.

The signs of strong demand will be welcomed at Apple in light of a market research report that shows Korean electronics giant Samsung fast encroaching on Apple’s smartphone sales figures.

According to research company Strategy Analytics, Samsung is estimated to have sold between 18 million and 21 million smartphones in the April—June quarter, compared with 20.3 million iPhones and 16.7 million Nokia smartphones.

The report said that Samsung’s sales have received a strong boost from the introduction of its Galaxy S II device, which is proving a strong competitor to the iPhone. The phone has sold 5 million units in just 85 days, according to Samsung, despite not being available in the US.

“Samsung’s Android portfolio is selling strongly in most regions,” said Strategy Analytics. “Samsung stands a reasonable chance of capturing the top spot on a quarterly basis if it can continue expanding its Android portfolio across high—growth markets like China and Brazil. Samsung and Apple will be at similar levels in smartphones by the end of the year.” The iPhone survey by Pricegrabber.com found strong levels of demand for the iPhone 5, even among consumers who only recently bought an iPhone 4.

“Our survey data confirms the strong following Apple has built around its iPhone, with more than one—third of consumers planning to upgrade to the latest model only a little over a year following the release of the iPhone 4,” Pricegrabber general manager Graham Jones said.

Pricegrabber’s survey was conducted among 2,852 online consumers.

Hamilton wins German GP 2011

Lewis Hamilton of McLaren won a hard-fought German Grand Prix on Sunday, fending off challenges from Ferrari's Fernando Alonso and Mark Webber of Red Bull for his second victory of the season.

Hamilton started second but took the lead from Webber by the first turn, and McLaren then successfully defended the position in a cat-and-mouse game of pit stops between the top teams. Alonso finished 3.9 seconds back in second place, with Webber 9.7 seconds behind in third.

"I feel great. One of the best races I think I've ever done," said Hamilton, who also won the third race of the season, the Chinese Grand Prix in Shanghai in April. "This is a massive step forward ... and I hope we can keep the momentum going."

It was the second victory in four races for McLaren after Jenson Button's win in Canada last month, andHamilton is hopeful that the British team has finally caught up with Red Bull.

"I appears so ... but coming into this weekend we didn't think we'd be so fast," Hamilton said. "I do still feel that the overall performance of the Red Bulls is better than ours."

Hamilton's winning time was 1 hour, 37 minutes, 30.334 seconds around the 3.2-mile Nuerburgring circuit.

The top three finishers were within 3 seconds of each other for long parts of the 60-lap race and each took turns in the lead because of the three pit stops by all the top drivers.

The most exciting lead change came on lap 33, when Alonso returned to the track in front after a tire change, but was overtaken by Hamilton just meters after a pit-lane exit.

Championship leader Sebastian Vettel of Red Bull was fourth — the first time all season he hasn't finished first or second. After 10 of 19 races, he leads the standings with 216 points.

Uruguay crushes Paraguay 3-0 to win Copa America

Uruguay won the Copa America for a record 15th time after beating Paraguay 3-0 on Sunday from two goals by Diego Forlan and another from Luis Suarez.

Suarez scored in the 12th minute while Forlan hit the target in the 42nd and final minute of the match. The victory gives Uruguay its first Copa America title since 1995. The small country of 3.5 million also reached the World Cup semifinals a year ago, surpassing the performance of continental powers Brazil and Argentina.

Argentina and Brazil were upset again in the quarterfinals of this tournament. Uruguay ousted Argentina on penalties and Paraguay eliminated Brazil, also in a shootout. Argentina has won the title 14 times, Brazil eight. Brazil had won four of the past five titles.

Uruguay was the clear favourite going into the final, wrapping up a tournament filled with surprises. Not only had Brazil and Argentina been sent home early, but Venezuela reached the third-place match on Saturday before losing 4-1 to Peru.

Uruguay’s squad featured 20 of the 23 players it took to the World Cup a year ago, showing teamwork and unselfish play with none of the vast star power of Argentina or Brazil.

Suarez gave Uruguay the lead in a match it dominated in the opening minutes. Receiving a pass in the area, the Liverpool forward beat defender Dario Veron to score from a deflected left-footed shot that went in off the far post behind ‘keeper Justo Villar.

Uruguay could have even have led in the second minute, when Villar stopped Diego Lugano’s point-blank header. Forlan made it 2-0 by lashing a left-footed shot from 12 metres that left Villar flat-footed. He was set up after teammate Egidio Arevalo Rios had stolen the ball from a Paraguay player near midfield.

Sebastian Eguren almost made it 3-0 in the 74th, foiled when Villar stuck out his left arm with the ball headed for the net. Forlan notched the final goal in the 90th, taking a pass from Suarez and scoring into the far corner

Bullet trains collide in China made 35 dead, 210 hurt

At least 35 people were killed and 210 others injured following a collision between two bullet trains in southern China on Saturday evening, in the biggest accident to strike the country’s fast-expanding high-speed rail network.

Chinese officials said on Sunday morning the death toll from the collision had risen to 35, leaving unclear whether further casualties were expected from Saturday’s derailment in southern China.

The accident occurred after one bullet train lost power after being struck by lightning, and was subsequently rear-ended by another train, the official Xinhua agency reported. The trains were running on a 20 metre-high bridge between Hangzhou, the prosperous capital city of Zhejiang province, and Fuzhou.

Xinhua quoted a witness as saying one coach of the train that lost power “plunged onto the ground vertically while another coach was hanging on the bridge with one side seriously deformed.” Four cars on the second train also derailed off the viaduct, Xinhua said. Each coach was carrying around 100 passengers.

Following the accident near the city of Wenzhou, authorities said 23 trains running from Hangzhou were suspended. Thirty trains run to Wenzhou from Hangzhou every day, according to Xinhua.

The trains were “D trains” – the first generation of China’s express trains, which run at around 150 km/h. China is now expanding its railway network of faster high-speed “G trains”, which travel at more than 250 km/h.

The Chinese government has recently invested billions in rapidly expanding its high-speed rail network, which now stretches across more than 8,000 km, and will double by 2020.

The speed at which the railway network has grown has raised concerns among some safety experts in China.

Earlier this year, the former Railway Minister Liu Zhijun, who spear-headed the expansion, was sacked amid allegations of corruption.

Chinese President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao on Sunday “called for all-out efforts to rescue passengers”, Xinhua reported, while Minister of Railways Sheng Guangzu, who recently took over from Mr. Liu, was on his way to the scene of the accident.

Norway attacks dead up increases 92

Shooting and bomb attacks left at least 92 dead in western Europe's deadliest carnage since the 2004 Madrid bombings as a Norwegian gunman opened fire at a youth camp and a bomb tore through central Oslo on Friday.

The suspect is a 32-year-old Norwegian who posted anti-Muslim rhetoric online, police commissioner Sveinung Sponheim told NRK television channel, but added: “It's too early to say if this was a motive behind the act.”

Police voiced fears that the death toll could rise as they searched for victims of the shootings at a summer school meeting organised by Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg's ruling Labour Party on Utoeya, an island outside the capital.

“We have confirmation that at least 80 people are dead. We do not exclude a higher toll,” police spokesman Are Frykholm told AFP, speaking of the shooting spree on the island.

Police had earlier confirmed that seven people were killed as a powerful bomb ripped through central Oslo — where the Prime Minister's office and several government buildings are located — and nine were critically injured.

The Norwegian suspect in the attacks described himself as a fundamentalist Christian, said police, as evidence emerged that he had flirted with the political far-right.

The 32-year-old, previously unknown to police, was arrested on Friday. Local media have identified him as Anders Behring Breivik, whose picture on his Facebook page shows a man with longish blonde hair and piercing eyes.

The posting lists his religion as “fundamentalist Christian” and his political opinions lean “to the right,” police said.

Mr. Stoltenberg said the culprits would not intimidate one of Europe's most peaceful countries.

“People have lived through a nightmare that very few of us can imagine,” he said. “The coming days will show who is responsible and what kind of punishment they will get.

“The message to whoever attacked us, the message from all of Norway is that you will not destroy us, you will not destroy our democracy and our ideals for a better world.”

Western leaders denounced the attacks and vowed solidarity with NATO member Norway — an enthusiastic participant in international military missions that has forces in Afghanistan and is participating in air strikes in Libya.

Mr. Stoltenberg had been due to give a speech on Saturday to the 560 people attending the youth camp on the island.

Witnesses described scenes of panic and horror after the gunman, who police said was disguised as a police officer but had never worked for the police force, opened fire on the youth gathering.

“I saw a lot of people running and screaming, I ran to the nearest building and hid under a bed,” Emilie Bersaas, 19, told Britain's Sky News.

“It is kind of unreal, especially in Norway... This is something we hear about happening in the U.S.”

Another young survivor, Jorgen Benone, said: “People were hiding behind stones. I saw people being shot... I felt it was best to stay quiet, not to run into the open.

Google Plus croses to 20 million users

Google has another hit on its hands.

According to a study released Friday by web-tracking firm comScore, the web search giant’s new social networking tool, Google Plus, has amassed 20 million users in just three weeks since its launch on June 28.

While that figure is still far from the 750 million registered users of Facebook, it is still enough to make Google Plus the fastest growing social network in history. The spectacular early success indicates that Google Plus may well challenge Facebook once it comes out of a trial mode in which Google has strictly restricted the number of users, Comscore said.

“It would be difficult to think of many sites that reached such a large number in such a short period of time,” said study author Andrew Lipsman.

“That said, Google does have a built-in visitor base of more than 1 billion to work with, so there is clearly potential to convert a high number of users to its new social tool — even if it is still invite-only.” According to Comscore, the latest figures represent an 82 per cent surge from the previous week and a 561 per cent increase over the usage figures two weeks prior.

While the U.S. is the biggest market with 5.3 million users, India is a strong second with 2.8 million users, followed by Britain (866,000), Canada (858,000), and Germany (706,000).

End of an era: Atlantis returns to Earth :Images

Singer Amy Winehouse dies at age 27

Amy Winehouse, the troubled soul-jazz diva whose self-destructive habits overshadowed a distinctive musical talent, was found dead on Saturday in her London home, police said. She was 27.

Winehouse shot to fame with the album “Back to Black,” whose blend of jazz, soul, rock and classic pop was a global hit. It won five Grammys and made Winehouse - with her black beehive hairdo and old-fashioned sailor tattoos - one of music’s most recognizable stars.

Police confirmed that a 27-year-old female was pronounced dead at the home in Camden Square northern London; the cause of death was not immediately known. London Ambulance Services said Winehouse had died before the two ambulance crews it sent arrived at the scene.

An ambulance could be seen parked beneath the trees outside her London home, and the whole street was cordoned off by police tape. Officers kept onlookers away from the scene.

Last month, Winehouse cancelled her European comeback tour after she swayed and slurred her way through barely recognisable songs in her first show in the Serbian capital of Belgrade. Booed and jeered off stage, she flew home and her management said she would take time off to recover.

Apple launches new 2 computers and its new OS

Configuration Of Macbook air click here

Macbook Air

Apple unveiled new versions of its Macbook Air and Mac Mini Wednesday, and launched its new operating system Mac OS X Lion, a day after announcing record financial results spurred by strong sales of its popular iPhone and iPad.

Apple is hoping that its new computers, which feature backlit keyboards, multitouch trackpads, faster chips and a new expansion technology called Thunderbolt I/O will help it attract more buyers away from Windows—powered PCs.

Sales of its Macbooks are already outperforming PC sales, growing 14 per cent in the last quarter, compared to 2 per cent growth for PCs. The introduction of the new models coincided with the axing of the popular white MacBook, an entry level line of Apple computers.

The MacBook Air sells for between 999 dollars and 1,699 dollars, depending on features.

The new operating system is the eighth major release of the Apple software and boasts some 250 new features including support for full screen apps, new program launchers, an autosave feature that automatically saves all documents, and a tool which automatically records the history of every document.

Mac Mini

Apple posted record quarterly revenue Tuesday, doubling its profit as the technology trailblazer sold 20.34 million iPhones and 9.25 million iPads.

The Silicon Valley company said it had sales of 28.57 billion dollars in the latest quarter, up 82 per cent from 15.7 billion dollars in sales from the same period a year ago. Profits rose 125 per cent to 7.31 billion dollars, compared to 3.25 billion dollars a year ago.

Sales of iPhones represented a 142—per—cent jump, despite the widely expected release of a newer model later in the year, which can deter current buyers. iPad sales soared 183 per cent, easily fending off a rash of competitors powered by Google, HP and RIM. The company sold 3.95 million Macs during the quarter.

Google+ makes another Facebook relation

In just two weeks, Google's much-anticipated and delayed foray into the ‘social' Web, Google Plus, crossed the 10 million mark. Despite being launched in an exclusive by-invites-only mode, no less than 1 billion items were shared in a single day and the +1 button (similar to Facebook's ‘Like') is already all over the Web.

Google may finally have got third time lucky with Plus. After two failed attempts to enter the ‘social' sphere on the Web — the lukewarm Google Wave and the controversial Buzz — Plus' “field trial phase” appears to be going down well with users. Amidst reports of Facebook (the social networking giant that has over 750 million users worldwide) losing users — which has been rubbished by the firm — Plus hopes to give users more privacy, more control over their data stream and an integrated Google experience by weaving together its plethora of existing services.

Figures quoted by third-party analytics service provider, Google Analytics, project that India is the second largest country in terms of Google Plus users, comprising over 5.6 per cent of the total share, following the U.S. at 49.3 per cent. The number of active users is pegged at around 18,000 in India. While the accuracy of this statistic cannot be vouched for, experts say this is plausible given that Google dominates the Internet in emerging markets.

Indeed, Google appears to have learnt its lessons. But can it replace the wide appeal of Facebook or provide the simplicity and speed of Twitter? Plus will have to do a lot more than it is doing now to actually get people to make that shift. So what does Plus offer? For starters, Google Plus' Beta already appears to score over its competitors on privacy. Learning its lessons from Buzz, which creeped out Gmail users, privacy controls are fairly ubiquitous. This is particularly important, because unlike Facebook, Google users are bound to be paranoid about the fact that their personal email is closely linked to this new social media platform.

The interface is clean. Not as cluttered as Facebook yet, the minimalist interface offers three principal choices: Circles, Hangout and Sparks. Of these, both Circles and Hangouts score over what's already on offer, while Sparks appears to be attempting to offer you a steady stream of content from the Web, based on your ‘interests'.

In Circles, Plus takes a cue from Diaspora, the Free and distributed social networking alternative to Facebook. Like ‘aspects' on Diaspora, which allows you to compartmentalise your friends and control what you share with whom, Circles allows you to create your own groups too. And discreet it is, for your ‘circles' are only visible to you. This, to date, is the most appealing feature of Plus.

Hangouts, too, are great, and scores over Facebook's recent Web-chat feature, because it allows you to Web-conference with 10 users at the same time.

For brands

Google has announced that Plus is currently only for individual users. However, its separate registration process for brands and businesses has already drawn over 35,000 applications.

Gaurav Mishra, social media expert and Asia Director of Social Media at MSLGroup, says, “In the long term, there are two important players: You Tube, a possible marketing tool, and Blogger, still the biggest blogging platform. It will be interesting from a marketing perspective to see how it integrates with Blogger, Adwords and Search.”

Woman finds giant sinkhole under her bed

That's what one Inocenta Hernandez from Guatemala City in Guatemala one of the country in North America learned after a sudden noise caused her to run outside, thinking there had been an explosion nearby. When she realized the problem was inside her home, she returned to find a gaping, three feet wide, 40 feet deep sinkhole beneath her bed.

Hernandez, 65, was relieved that the damage was only to her house, and hadn't harmed her grandchildren, who had been playing near the bed. This was a little too close to home, but she couldn't have been too surprised that a sinkhole had visited her city.

Guatemala City is prone to spawning giant pits, which are often caused by tropical rain storms. Sinkholes are natural depressions in the earth that can range anywhere from a few feet to hundreds of acres wide, and measure a shallow foot to 100 feet deep.

A massive chasm opened up in Guatemala City back in May 2010; it swallowed up whole buildings and an intersection. No deaths were blamed on the almost perfect cylindrical crater, though.

Meanwhile, a Texas-sized pit opened up in Daisetta, Texas in 2008. The sinkhole stretched 600 feet long and 150 feet wide; it sucked down a tractor, several telephone poles and an assortment of oil field equipment.

Japan take over USA in Women's Football Worldcup finals

Japan has won the 2011 Women’s World Cup final. And while all the credit goes to Japan, it’s clear that missed opportunities cost the US team the soccer championship. The USA had numerous first half chances and held a one-goal lead twice, but Japan showed resilience, kept fighting and finally pulled out the 2011 World Cup championship in penalty kicks.

Japan’s win arguably means more to any nation, after the tsunami and nuclear disaster they suffered earlier this year. Ironically, Japan was celebrating Uminohi (Marine Day), a national holiday that honors the blessings of the sea.

Much like the US’s Brazil match, 120 minutes of soccer wasn’t enough. It came down to penalty kicks again.

Shannon Boxx set the tone early by missing the US’s first attempted penalty kick. It would mostly go downhill from there.

Japan scored on their first attempt. And then Carly Lloyd missed the US’s second attempt by hitting it over the crossbar. It all looked over, but Hope Solo came up with a huge save and stopped Japan’s second attempt. But Japan’s goalkeeper Ayumi Kaihori answered and made the US 0-3 in their first three attempt. Hope Solo came close to stopping Japan’s third attempt, but came up short. Abby Wambach kept the US alive by scoring her penalty kick, but Japan scored on their fourth attempt and taking their first World Cup ever.

After the match, star goalkeeper Hope Solo gave a tearful interview where she said, "As difficult as this is, if there was any team I would give it to, it would be Japan."

Head coach Pia Sundhage, said “It came down to a couple of mistakes. It’s hard to lose. You can’t explain [missing their first three penalty kicks.] We couldn’t put away our chances.”

Abby Wambach said it all, “It’s heartbreaking. We had our chances. Evidently it wasn’t meant to be.”

The US dominated play for the first twenty minutes, putting seven shots on goals, but unable to capitalize on any of them. The majority of of play was in Japan’s end with Megan Rapinoe and Abby Wambach getting close calls. The next eight minutes were played with end-to-end action that offered up solid scoring chances for both sides.

Japan took some momentum back from the 20-25 minute mark, but they were also unable to put the ball in the back of the net.

The momentum shifted back in the US’s favor at the 28 minute mark when Abby Wambach took a great left-footed shot from 30 feet out that went off the cross-bar.

Japan’s Kozue Ando gave Japan their best chance up to that point with a mini breakaway on the left side at the 30 minute mark, but was only able to get a feeble shot which Hope Solo scooped up with ease.

While the US couldn’t capitalize on their numerous chances, their defensive pressure kept Japan off their rhythm. Whenever Japan tried to get something going, the US would swarm the ball.

Both sides calmed down from that point on until half time, with a nil-nil score after 45 minutes.

Three minutes into the second half the US hit another post, when an Alex Morgan redirect went off the goal post, then off the keeper and was cleared. At this point it almost seemed like it wasn’t going to happen for the US today. Despite all their pressure, they just couldn’t finish.

In the 63rd minute the Japanese had a seemingly free breakaway, but were called for an offside. The replay showed that it was the wrong call.

In the 68th minute the 22-year-old Alex Morgan took a perfect drive from Megan Rapinoe and put the ball in the back of the net. Morgan fought off a Japanese defender and drove the ball hard and true across past Japanese keeper Kaihori to put the USA on the board and take a 1-0 lead.

It seemed that the US was cruising to the win at that point. Celebrated goalkeeper Hope Solo had not been truly tested all game. But a disorganized clearing attempt by Rachel Buehler in their own end ended poorly when the ball went straight to Japan’s Aya Miyama right in front of the goal and got an easy chip in to tie it at 1-1 with ten minutes of regulation left.

That score held as they went into extra time.

Overtime had gone back and forth, Abby Wambach, who had been surprisingly held in check all game by one of the shortest team’s in the tournament pulled through at the most important moment of her career. 15 minutes into extra time, Abby took a perfect cross from Alex Morgan and put one of her patented headers past the keeper to give the US a 2-1 lead. It was her fourth goal with her head, and she is now the third leading goal scorer in Women’s World Cup history.

But Japan would not give up. Most smaller teams would not have much success on corner kicks, but Japan pulled through yet one more time when Homare Sawa chipped a corner kick off a US defender and into the goal. Moments earlier Hope Solo needed medical attention to her knee, but that did not seem to play a part in the goal. It was just poor defense on the United States part.

Harry Potter 7.2 takes down Dark Knights with $168.6M weekend gross

Box Office Report list click here

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 soared into the record books with the highest-grossing opening weekend ever. The series finale drew an estimated $168.55 million on around 11,000 screens at 4,375 locations, dethroning The Dark Knight's $158.4 million.

Deathly Hallows Part 2's first weekend flew past the previous franchise high of $125 million, posted by Deathly Hallows Part 1 last November, and it topped the franchise in terms of estimated attendance as well. While its opening gross also out-distanced The Dark Knight, Spider-Man 3 ($151.1 million), The Twilight Saga: New Moon ($142.8 million), Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest ($135.6 million) and the first Spider-Man ($114.8 million), Deathly Hallows Part 2's estimated opening attendance was less than those titles, ranking sixth overall.

After conjuring the opening day record of $92.1 million on Friday (buoyed by a record-shattering $43.5 million midnight launch), Deathly Hallows Part 2 saw the steepest Friday-to-Saturday drop on record for a non-holiday first weekend, falling 53 percent to an estimated $42.85 million. Its Saturday slotted ninth among the top-grossing Saturdays of all time. Distributor Warner Bros. projected a 22 percent Saturday-to-Sunday decline to $33.6 million, which would rank eighth on the all-time Sunday grosses chart.

Mick Jagger, who has collaborated with A R Rahman for a new band Super Heavy

Former Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger, who has collaborated with A R Rahman and three other music superstars for a new band Super Heavy, have released their first single Miracle Worker.

Jagger, Rahman, Dave Stewart, Joss Stone and Damien Marley are also planning to come up with their first album by September. Rahman, who one two Oscars for his music in Slumdog Millionaire, is thrilled by the idea of being part of such a band.

"It took me way back to my high school days when I was playing in a rock band, but this one was a real one!" said Rahman. Jagger says he couldn't believe that the band would actually come to life. "I said it sounds like a good idea, I never thought it would actually happen," said Jagger.

The band Super Heavy with diverse and electric line up who share 11 Grammy Awards between them, have been recording together in various studios around the world.

"It's the most complicated record ever made. Imagine, some of it's recorded in LA, some of it's recorded in the South of France, some of it's recorded off the coast of Cyprus, some of it's recorded in Turkey, some of it's recorded in Miami, some of it's recorded in the Caribbean, and some of it's recorded in Chennai, in India," said Stewart.

Alonso wins British GP

Fernando Alonso produced Ferrari's first victory of the Formula One season at the British Grand Prix on Sunday after championship leader Sebastian Vettel's hopes were thwarted by a pit-stop blunder.

Vettel was overtaken in the Silverstone pits by Alonso just after the halfway point when the Red Bull driver's mechanics struggled to attach a wheel.

"I saw the problem in the pit stop with Sebastian and we were in the lead at that moment, but who knows what might have happened after that," Alonso said. "I knew it was a race to be calm, make no mistakes, to not be off the track, and with that I knew the car had enough for victory and it came."

A 27th career victory for Alonso lifted the two-time world champion to third in the standings behind the Red Bull team's duo of Vettel and Mark Webber.

"Today it is 60 years since Ferrari won its first Grand Prix in Formula One," Alonso said. "And today we won on the same circuit with the same passion."

Vettel didn't linger on the pit-spot issue, saying that "Ferrari beat us fair and square."

"There were little mistakes here and there," said the German, who has won six of the opening nine races. "You can't get it right all the time, but credit to Ferrari — they have been getting stronger and improving their car, so it shows we need to keep pushing hard."

There was controversy on the final lap as Vettel increased his lead in the drivers' championship to 80 points over Webber, who had started from pole.

Webber had been ordered by the team to hold his third place and halt his pursuit of Vettel, who had jumped ahead of the Australian at the start when they started from the front row.

Webber said he was "not fine" with the situation, disclosing that he had ignored "probably four or five" orders not to pass his teammate.

"Seb was doing his best, I was doing my best," Webber said. "I wasn't going to crash with anyone. I try to do my best with the amount of one way conversation I was having — I was trying to do my best to pass the guy in front."

Red Bull's bosses, though, stressed that they were trying to secure the maximum points possible for the team, which has a 110-point lead over McLaren in the constructors' championship.

"I can understand Mark's frustrations but we cannot give away a load of points," Red Bull team principal Christian Horner said. "We did not want to see our drivers in the fence at some time in the last two laps, which is how it would have ended up.

"Mark is not out of the championship race but we could not afford to risk losing points. Mark should be fine with that, he is a team player. Second and third is a very strong result."

Having qualified a season-worst 10th, McLaren's Lewis Hamilton went on to defy critics of his driving style in the buildup to his home race. The 2008 world champion surged ahead from the start and after some fine passing maneuvers edged Felipe Massa to finish fourth, going wheel-to-wheel with the Ferrari driver on the final lap.

"That was as close as it's going to get," Hamilton said. "I had a good start, made some places up but unfortunately towards end I had to save fuel. I had to give Webber his position.

"Then on the last lap they said now you can push and I was like, 'Thanks, after I'd let him catch me up' but I was not giving him that position."

Coffee reduces liver cancer risk: Study

The hindu

A study involving ethnic Chinese residents of Singapore found that drinking three or more cups of coffee a day could reduce the risk of liver cancer by 44 per cent, The Straits Times newspaper reported Saturday.

Researchers at the Department of Epidemiology of the National University of Singapore suggested two oils found in coffee beans, cafestol and kahweol, have liver—protecting properties.

The research — begun in 1993 and involving more than 63,000 ethnic Chinese men and women aged 45 to 74, populations considered at higher risk of liver cancer — added to a growing body of evidence contradicting the long—held notion that coffee is bad for the health.

Associate professor Koh Woon Puay, who was involved in the study recently published in the US journal Cancer Causes and Control, said the finding meant coffee drinkers could now worry less about liver cancer.

“Coffee has often had to fight its bad image, compared with tea, which is often portrayed very positively,” Koh was quoted as saying.

But a study by her team on green tea drinking found that it had delivered no protection against the disease.

A 2008 coffee—drinking study found that drinking four or more cups a day might lower the risk of diabetes by 30 per cent.

Twitter celebrates 5th birthday

Today is five years since the incredibly popular real—time messaging service, Twitter, fully opened to the public.

However, little is known about when its actual birthday is.

Earlier this year, Twitter celebrated the fifth anniversary of the first tweet, reports the Telegraph. However, the 140—character message was sent while the site was still in beta and limited to only a few invited members.

Twitter has not yet tweeted or commented on this particular date, but in March earlier this year, the company posted a blog announcing its fifth anniversary since the code was first written for the site, and released a series of statistics to reflect the site’s popularity and global usage.

On average 140 million tweets are sent a day, which is up nearly 100 million on the amount posted on a daily basis a year ago.

More than 460,000 new accounts have been added every day over the last month and the number of mobile Twitter users has increased by 182 per cent over the last year.

Steve Jobs, Former Apple CEO Dies At The Age Of 56

Steve Jobs, the co-founder of Apple, died on Wednesday in Palo Alto, California, at the age of 56. The death was officially announced by Apple. Their homepage is now filled with Steve Jobs Remembrance. Steve Jobs has been suffering from some peculiar form of pancreatic cancer. Despite being unwell, he lead Apple from the front till August, when he finally decided to quit. He has underwent surgery for pancreatic cancer in 2004, underwent a liver transplant in 2009 and took as many as 3 medical leaves to take rest.

When he resigned as the CEO of Apple in August, he handled it to Tim Cook, the current Chief Operating Officer. Steve Jobs was the most passionate leader in technology industry for the past two decades. Apple website has a separate page for Steve Jobs urging people to send their remembrance for their tech leader.

Apple says like, “Apple has lost a visionary and a creative genius, and the world has lost an amazing human being. Those of us who have been fortunate enough to know and work with Steve have lost a dear friend and an inspiring mentor. Steve leaves behind a company that only he could have built, and his spirit will forever be the foundation of Apple”. They also added that, people can email their remembrance, thoughts and memories to rememberingsteve@apple.com

Facebook CEO, Mark Zuckerburg says, “Steve, thank you for being a mentor and a friend. Thanks for showing that what you build can change the world. I will miss you.”

Michael Jackson's artwork in legal trouble

Pop icon Michael Jackson's secret $900 million art collection is at the centre of a legal battle, after it was sold off for a tenth of its value.

The 'Thriller' hitmaker's 'rare intact major collection' was sold to an undisclosed businessman and now Jackson's lawyers are trying to reverse the sale of the art to return it to the singer's children, reported Sun online.

“Michael's mystique in life combined with this exposure of his wonderful fine art creations following his tragic death will escalate the value of these works and the popularity of his artistic vision worldwide. I do not think we have begun to see the true value of this fine art yet,” a source said.

The 182-piece collection, which has never publicly been seen and has just been discovered, is a source for securing the financial future of his three children – Prince, 13, Paris, 12, and Blanket, eight

The 182-piece collection, which has never publicly been seen and has just been discovered, is a source for securing the financial future of his three children – Prince, 13, Paris, 12, and Blanket, eight

Facebook launches video calls, group chat features

Quick on the heels of Google’s launch of its latest social-networking venture, Facebook said Wednesday that its 750 million users will now be able to make video calls on the site.

The feature will be powered by the Internet phone service Skype. Facebook also redesigned its chat feature, so that the people a user messages the most often show up first.

To make video calls, Facebook users with webcam-equipped computers have to select the friends they want to chat with. In the chat window that pops up, clicking on a small blue video icon brings up the video chat feature. Currently there is no option to video chat more than one person. That feature is available on Google Plus, a social service that Google began testing last week with a small number of invited users.

Facebook is also adding a group chat option. This works much the same way as the group chat on Google Plus. Once you are chatting with one friend, you can click an icon to add more people to the conversation.

Facebook’s new products come after a relatively quiet period for the world’s largest online social network. Mr. Zuckerberg, 27, said the company is embarking on “launching season 2011.” Users can expect “a lot of stuff coming out” from Facebook in the next couple of weeks and months, he said at an event at the company’s Palo Alto, California, headquarters.

Facebook updated its user count -- to 750 million users worldwide -- for the first time since last summer, when it reached half a billion people. Mr. Zuckerberg said that’s because “we don’t think it’s a metric to watch anymore.”

Rather, Facebook is paying more attention to how much its users are sharing with one another. That number is growing at a much faster rate than its monthly user base. Currently, people share 4 billion items, such as photos, status updates and links, every day using Facebook.

Without mentioning Google by name, Mr. Zuckerberg said that “independent entrepreneurs and companies focused on one particular thing will always do better than companies that try to do everything.”

For Facebook, that one thing has been creating an online social infrastructure that other companies, such as Skype, can then add their own products to.

Skype has agreed to be bought by Microsoft Corp. for $8.5 billion in a deal expected to close by the end of the year. Microsoft owns a small stake in Facebook.

Foldable twin-seater sport plane to be seen in air

Have you ever seen or flown a small sport plane which can both take off and land on water or ground, has foldable wings so that you can carry it on your trailer-truck and park it in your garage?

Now this may not remain a dream, as a prototype of the American light-sport aircraft (LSA), which is being tested for the past three years, is likely to enter the production line in the second quarter of 2012.

The two-seater ICON A5 is being developed by California-based Icon Aircraft. Its wings can be folded easily from the cockpit in under five minutes while on water or land.

The company last week announced that it closed a $25 million round of equity infusion in June to fund the project through the completion of its ongoing engineering development programme, manufacturing setup and the beginning of production of the amphibious sport plane.

The financing was led by investors Satyen Patel and Bart Becht, who have expertise in building consumer product companies. Mr. Patel has been associated with a top IT-BPO firm and held senior positions with global brands like Pepsi-Cola International and Nike.

Icon is looking at India to set up a supply chain base for spares and other essential components, besides trying to focus on the growing market of high net-worth individuals who could be interested in buying this aircraft, Mr. Patel told PTI.

Other investors include Google Chairman Eric Schmidt, the former Chairman and CEO of Boeing, Phil Condit, and several top Silicon Valley venture capitalists.

Fox News Twitter Hacked and tweets that Obama is dead

Hackers took over a politics Twitter feed belonging to U.S. broadcaster Fox News announcing that President Barack Obama had been shot dead on America’s national day.

The @foxnewspolitics feed stated: “@BarackObama has just passed. The President is dead. A sad 4th of July, indeed. President Barack Obama is dead.”

Just an hour before the message, there was a post “Just regained full access to our Twitter and email. Happy 4th”. July 4 is America’s national day.

Even nearly three hours after the last twitter update on the account wishing luck to the “new” President John Biden, none of the messages have been removed.

Reporting that hackers have taken over a Twitter account belonging to Fox News, BBC said a group or individual, calling themselves ‘The Script Kiddies’ appeared to claim responsibility.

Fox News Politics is one of the Twitter accounts associated with the industry-leading cable news network, the BBC said adding its Twitter account carries the “verified” tick icon, indicating that the feed belongs to the organisation it claims to be.

The twitter account that one get to see on the channels website @FoxNews follows the account of @foxnewspolitics.

BBC said it is unclear why Fox News has been attacked in this instance. “However, the broadcaster’s conservative stance has made it unpopular with many Americans.”

Fox News is said to be the most watched cable news network in the United States, with its prime time shows attracting almost two million viewers, well ahead of rivals CNN and MSNBC.

An attack on another Fox Entertainment Group website, Fox.com was the first confirmed hit by hacker group Lulz Security in May 2011, BBC said.

Djokovic won his 1st Wimbledon after beating Nadal

Novak Djokovic won his first Wimbledon title Sunday, and he beat defending champion Rafael Nadal 6—4, 6—1, 1—6, 6—3 to do it.

Djokovic, who was already guaranteed to take over the No. 1 ranking from the Spaniard on Monday, extended his mastery over Nadal this season with a fifth straight head—to—head victory.

Djokovic assured himself of the top ranking just by reaching the final. He opened the season with 41 straight wins, including the Australian Open title, but his 43—match winning streak came to an end against Roger Federer in the French Open semifinals.

The win over Nadal improved Djokovic’s record in 2011 to 48—1, with five of them coming against the Spaniard in finals - two on hard courts, two on clay and now one on grass.

Serbian President Boris Tadic was in the Royal Box along with several former champions to watch the match on Centre Court, and when Nadal sent a backhand long on match point, Djokovic turned to face them and dropped to the turf, laying on his back with his arms spread wide.

Djokovic played near—flawless tennis in the first two sets, and his incredible movement and precise shot placement gave him a big lead. His play dipped in the third, but it returned in the fourth to secure him a third Grand Slam title.

Nadal had won 20 straight matches at the All England Club, including the 2008 and ‘10 titles. He missed the 2009 tournament because of injury, but was playing in his fifth Wimbledon final in six years.

Nadal injured his left foot in a fourth—round win, but painkilling injections helped him roll through the next two rounds and into the final.

Phelps wins 100 butterfly at Canada Cup

Michael Phelps won the 100-meter butterfly in 51.32 seconds on Sunday to complete a 100-200 double at the Canada Cup.

“I’m really happy with that and I know I need to do more training,” said Phelps, who turned 26 on Thursday. “It’s races like these that I think help me more mentally than anything else... Being able to still see that I can pop a good race here and there gives me a little bit of a confidence.”

The three-day meet was billed as a tune-up for the world championships starting July 16 at Shanghai and Phelps helped draw 1,800 spectators Sunday, when he stayed for an hour after his race to sign autographs and pose for photos with fans.

Phelps could swim up to seven events at the world championships, including the 100 and 200 butterfly, the 200 freestyle, the 200 individual medley and three relays.

He won eight medals at each of the 2004 and 2008 Olympics -- all but two were gold -- and needs only two Olympic medals to equal the record of 18 won over three Games.

Canadian Katerine Savard won three races and set a new Canadian record in the 50—meter freestyle during the meet.

“It gives me a lot of confidence because I think I can lower my times even more,” she said.

Bhupathi-Vesnina finish runner-up

India's Mahesh Bhupathi failed to notch up his third Wimbledon mixed doubles title as he and his partner Elena Vesnina were outplayed by Jurgen Melzer and Iveta Benesova in straight sets in the final here on Sunday.

The fourth seeded Indo-Russian pair lost 6-3, 6-2 to its ninth seeded opponent in a 51-minute summit clash on the centre court.

Austrian Melzer and the Czech Republic's Benesova, who have not lost a single set on their way to the title, were the dominant pair for most part of the final match with better serve and returns.

Bhupathi and Vesnina found their opponents' serve too hot to handle most of the time as the Austrian-Czech duo had as many as seven aces to the Indo-Russian duo's two.

Bhupathi and Vesnina were broken in the fourth game as Melzer and Benesova raced to a 4-1 lead before winning the first set 6-3 in 24 minutes.

In the second set, Bhupathi and Vesnina were broken in the third and seventh games to lose it in 27 minutes.

With this loss, Bhupathi has failed to equal Leander Paes' 12 Grand Slam titles as he remains on 11 Major crowns — seven in mixed doubles and four in men's doubles.

Bhuapthi has not won a Grand Slam title since clinching the 2009 Australian Open mixed doubles trophy along with compatriot Sania Mirza. All of Bhuapthi's mixed doubles titles have come with different partners.

Paes has won six men's doubles and as many mixed doubles titles.

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Petra Kvitova won her first Grand Slam is Wimbledon title

Petra Kvitova won her first Grand Slam title Saturday by beating Maria Sharapova 6-3, 6-4 in the Wimbledon final, and then dropped to her knees in disbelief.

Kvitova was playing in her first major final, but it was three-time Grand Slam champion Sharapova that showed her nerves. The 2004 Wimbledon champion double-faulted six times, including twice to get broken to 4-2 in the first set.

The 21-year-old Kvitova is the first left-handed woman to win the Wimbledon title since Martina Navratilova in 1990.

Using a fast-paced and well-placed forehand, Kvitova did little wrong on Centre Court as Czech greats Navratilova and Jana Novotna sat in the Royal Box with a host of other former Wimbledon champions.

Kvitova kept Sharapova on the run with 18 winners, and never seemed to lose confidence despite being broken three times.

Sharapova was the clear favorite entering the match. Besides winning the title at the All England Club in 2004, she also won the U.S. Open in 2006 and the Australian Open in 2008. Shoulder surgery in October 2008 slowed her career, but she returned to the semifinals at a Grand Slam tournament for the first time since 2008 at the French Open last month.

At Wimbledon, Sharapova had not lost a set heading into the final. But she struggled with her serve in the semifinals, double-faulting 13 times before beating German wildcard Sabine Lisicki.

Sharapova won the toss at the net before the final and elected to receive, perhaps because she wanted some time to get into game action before testing her serve.

Whatever the reason, it appeared to be a smart move because she broke for a 1-0 lead as Kvitova missed three forehands.

Sharapova’s serve was then tested for the first time in the next game, and although she only had one fault in five attempts, she lost four of the points to even the score at 1-1.

Sharapova wasted her second chance at a break in the third game, but Kvitova didn’t have to a few games later. With the score 30-30, Sharapova produced her second double-fault of the match. The third came two swings later.

Trailing 5-2, Sharapova double-faulted again to open the eighth game. But she did manage to hold and force Kvitova to serve out the set.

Kvitova broke Sharapova again in the opening game of the second set, with the Russian double-faulting for the fifth time to give the Czech a break point.

The pair twice traded breaks later in the set, but Kvitova held to win the championship dish for the first time.