http://www.earthtimes.org The Earth Times online newspaper, serving the planet with general news and current affairs that matter en-us PHP/4.4.4 http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/293636,ebay-settles-skype-software-suit.html San Francisco - E-commerce giant eBay has settled its long- running legal feud with the founders of Skype, clearing the way for a 2-billion-dollar sale of the internet telephony pioneer, the company announced Friday. Under the terms of the settlement... Legal,General Fri, 06 Nov 2009 23:10:23 GMT http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/293636,ebay-settles-skype-software-suit.html http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/293607,court-rejects-request-to-block-access-to-pirate-bay-website.html Oslo - Norwegian telecommunications group Telenor Friday welcomed a Norwegian court ruling that the firm was not obliged to block its customers from accessing the controversial Pirate Bay file- sharing website. The International Federation of the Pho... Legal,General Fri, 06 Nov 2009 16:40:23 GMT http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/293607,court-rejects-request-to-block-access-to-pirate-bay-website.html http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/293574,construction-of-frances-largest-mosque-set-to-begin.html Paris - The construction of France's largest mosque, with room for some 7,000 visitors, was officially launched Friday when Marseille Mayor Jean-Claude Gaudin handed over the construction permit. The mosque will cost 22 million euros (32.6 million do... Religion,General Fri, 06 Nov 2009 13:22:17 GMT http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/293574,construction-of-frances-largest-mosque-set-to-begin.html http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/293511,foreign-students-shocked-at-college-closures-in-australia.html Sydney - Thousands of foreign students studying in Australia were left shocked and angry on Friday after the collapse of four private colleges in Melbourne and Sydney. Students, many of them just weeks from graduating, turned up for class, only to fi... Education,General Fri, 06 Nov 2009 06:46:21 GMT http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/293511,foreign-students-shocked-at-college-closures-in-australia.html http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/293431,war-crimes-tribunal-appoints-attorney-for-karadzic--summary.html The Hague - The war crimes tribunal in The Hague said Thursday it has appointed an attorney for Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic, and adjourned the trial until March 1. The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) said it ... Legal,General Thu, 05 Nov 2009 16:16:23 GMT http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/293431,war-crimes-tribunal-appoints-attorney-for-karadzic--summary.html http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/293384,reconstructed-hymens-are-forbidden-saudi-religious-scholars-say.html Riyadh - Saudi religious scholars remain firm in their position that hymen-reconstruction surgery was haram, or religiously forbidden, contradicting Egyptian clerics, the Saudi daily Okaz reported Thursday. It is not permissible to repair a hymen ... Religion,General Thu, 05 Nov 2009 13:04:25 GMT http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/293384,reconstructed-hymens-are-forbidden-saudi-religious-scholars-say.html http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/293371,doors-shut-as-psychologist-testifies-at-german-murder-trial.html Dresden- A psychologist briefed German judges behind closed doors Thursday on the mental state of Alex W, the xenophobic unemployed man who killed an Egyptian woman and wounded her husband with a knife in a Dresden courtroom in July. The stabbing dea... Legal,General Thu, 05 Nov 2009 12:28:19 GMT http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/293371,doors-shut-as-psychologist-testifies-at-german-murder-trial.html http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/293362,around-5480-people-convert-to-islam-through-mobile-hotline.html Riyadh - Around 5,480 people converted to Islam in Saudi Arabia through the Bring me to Islam cell phone hotline service, media reports said on Thursday. The service, provided in 12 languages, was launched to raise awareness among foreign communiti... Religion,General Thu, 05 Nov 2009 11:40:17 GMT http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/293362,around-5480-people-convert-to-islam-through-mobile-hotline.html http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/293333,opel-workers-to-strike-over-general-motors-u-turn.html Berlin - Workers at all four of troubled-carmaker Opel's plants in Germany were set to strike Thursday, following owner General Motors' surprise announcement that it would not now sell off its European subsidiary. The Detroit-based automotive giant s... Cars,General Thu, 05 Nov 2009 09:10:17 GMT http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/293333,opel-workers-to-strike-over-general-motors-u-turn.html http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/293308,lifestyle-trends.html New York - People who work in offices where the lunchroom has a shared refrigerator know the problem: Colleagues sometimes steal each other's lunch. ... Homes,General Thu, 05 Nov 2009 03:10:45 GMT http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/293308,lifestyle-trends.html http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/293307,save-your-relationship-by-tango-dancing.html Frankfurt - Tango dancing could help patch up troubled relationships, according to the German Society for Sports Medicine and Prevention (DGSP). It cited a study done at Frankfurt University in which levels of the stress hormone cortisol and the sex ... Homes,General Thu, 05 Nov 2009 03:10:43 GMT http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/293307,save-your-relationship-by-tango-dancing.html http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/293296,eleven-fold-murder-suspect-held-without-bond-in-ohio--summary.html Washington - An 11-fold serial murder suspect in Cleveland, Ohio, was ordered held without bail on Wednesday after prosecutors said he posed a great danger to the public. Anthony Sowell, 50, is suspected in the murders of 11 women whose bodies have b... Legal,General Thu, 05 Nov 2009 00:10:16 GMT http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/293296,eleven-fold-murder-suspect-held-without-bond-in-ohio--summary.html http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/293285,fiat-to-flout-four-new-chrysler-models-on-road-to-recovery.html New York - Italian car giant Fiat will use its new control of Chrysler to launch at least four new models in the US market over the next three years, Fiat's chief executive Sergio Marchionne said Wednesday. Marchionne also said Chrysler was able to p... Cars,General Wed, 04 Nov 2009 21:40:20 GMT http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/293285,fiat-to-flout-four-new-chrysler-models-on-road-to-recovery.html http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/293270,italian-court-sentences-23-us-citizens-in-imam-kidnapping--summary.html Milan - A Milan court on Wednesday sentenced 23 US citizens in absentia to several-year prison terms for the broad-daylight kidnapping of a Muslim cleric six years earlier. The case concerned the 2003 kidnapping of Abu Omar, who was seized on a stree... Legal,General Wed, 04 Nov 2009 18:46:19 GMT http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/293270,italian-court-sentences-23-us-citizens-in-imam-kidnapping--summary.html http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/293220,poland-want-to-cut-budget-deficit-by-reducing-pension-payments.html Warsaw - Poland wants to reduce its deficit by reducing payments to private pension funds while keeping that money in the state's social insurance company ZUS, the Finance Ministry said Wednesday. Under the proposal, private pension funds would recei... Finance,General Wed, 04 Nov 2009 13:28:22 GMT http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/293220,poland-want-to-cut-budget-deficit-by-reducing-pension-payments.html http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/293219,us-author-dave-eggers-wins-prestigious-french-literary-prize.html Paris - American author Dave Egger's novel What Is the What has won the 2009 Prix Medicis for best foreign work of fiction, the Medici jury announced Wednesday. A fictional reworking of a true story told to the author by the book's hero, What Is the ... Culture,General Wed, 04 Nov 2009 13:22:22 GMT http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/293219,us-author-dave-eggers-wins-prestigious-french-literary-prize.html http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/293217,dresden-attacker-denies-killing-of-egyptian-woman-was-racist-act.html Dresden, Germany - Admitting that he stabbed an Egyptian woman to death in a German courtroom, the accused man, Alex W, denied in Dresden on Wednesday that his motivation had been racist. The admission was read in court by his lawyer, Veikko Bartel. ... Legal,General Wed, 04 Nov 2009 13:16:25 GMT http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/293217,dresden-attacker-denies-killing-of-egyptian-woman-was-racist-act.html http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/293213,imf-unfreezes-standby-loan-after-serbia-promises-spending-cuts.html Belgrade - The International Monetary Fund (IMF) will unfreeze funds from a 4-billion-dollar standby loan to Serbia, which in return must curb spending and reform its social care system, officials said Wednesday in Belgrade. The head of the IMF missi... Finance,General Wed, 04 Nov 2009 12:52:22 GMT http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/293213,imf-unfreezes-standby-loan-after-serbia-promises-spending-cuts.html http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/293137,volvo-to-offer-xc90-suv-as-seven-seater-only.html Stockholm - Volvo is to offer its Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV), the XC90 in only the seven-seat version on the European market with a third row of seats including two additional child seats by the end of this year, the Swedish manufacturer has announ... Cars,General Wed, 04 Nov 2009 03:10:36 GMT http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/293137,volvo-to-offer-xc90-suv-as-seven-seater-only.html http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/293136,motorists-warned-to-be-alert-on-dark-days.html Munich - With dark, foggy and wet days of autumn and winter in the northern hemisphere causing slippery roads and poor visibility conditions, safety organisations have appealed to motorists to be especially alert. Here are some tips for safer motorin... Cars,General Wed, 04 Nov 2009 03:10:34 GMT http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/293136,motorists-warned-to-be-alert-on-dark-days.html