The euro held firm against the dollar and yen in Asian trade on Thursday after dropping overnight amid concerns about political upheaval in debt-hit Greece and strains on Spain's banking sector. The euro bought $1.2948 and 103.28 yen in Tokyo morning trade, stronger than $1.2944 and 102.98 yen in New York late Wednesday. The dollar strengthened against the Japanese currency, changing hands at 79.74 yen against 79.69 yen. Despite a breather …

Scanning the horizon on his solar-powered catamaran, Swiss electrical engineer Raphael Domjan counts down the hours to the completion of his record-breaking world tour. "The idea was not to perform a feat but an eco-adventure with the aim of passing on the message that change is possible," Domjan told AFP-TV as his boat furrowed through choppy waves from Italy's Elba Island to Corsica in France. Domjan began his journey from Monaco in September …

The US company SpaceX on Wednesday said it was unlikely to meet a planned May 7 launch to send its Dragon space capsule to the International Space Station, but did not set a new date for the attempt. "At this time, a May 7th launch appears unlikely," spokeswoman Kirstin Grantham said in a statement. "SpaceX is continuing to work through the software assurance process with NASA. We will issue a statement as soon as a new launch target is set." …

Pakistan has successfully test-fired long-range Hatf IV (Shaheen 1A) ballistic missile, Geo News reported Wednesday. According to Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR), Pakistan successfully conducted the launch of the intermediate Range Ballistic Missile Hatf IV Shaheen-1A Weapon System. The missile is an improved version of Shaheen-1 with improvements in range and technical parameters. It is capable of carrying nuclear and conventional warheads. …

The dollar eased in Asian trade on Tuesday with the euro and safe-haven yen both rising ahead of key economic data due this week, including a US jobs report. The greenback slipped to 81.84 yen in Asian trade, compared with 82.28 yen in New York Monday. The euro gained to $1.3346 from $1.3325 in New York, and edged up to 109.27 yen, compared with 109.22 yen overnight in mixed trade. The yen's lure as a safe haven continued as investors …

An unmanned European craft docked with the International Space Station (ISS) on Wednesday 2233 GMT, laden with tonnes of fuel, water, oxygen and other supplies, France's CNES space agency said. The robot freighter hooked up with the station, which is currently staffed by six astronauts, the National Centre for Space Studies (CNES) said. The Edoardo Amaldi, a 20-tonne Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) gently hooked up to the ISS after inching …

Libya's prime minister flew to a desert oasis city on Sunday to try to patch up a tribal dispute that has killed about 150 people over the past week and underscored the ethnic faultlines threatening Libya's stability. A Reuters team that flew with the prime minister to Sabha, about 750 km south (450 miles) of the Libyan capital, said a ceasefire appeared to be holding between the Tibu ethnic group and the Sabha militias with which they had been …

The U.S. government now projects that the total cost to develop, buy and operate the Lockheed Martin Corp F-35 Joint Strike Fighter will be $1.45 trillion over the next 50-plus years, according to a Pentagon document obtained by Reuters. The Pentagon's latest, staggering estimate of the lifetime cost of the F-35 -- its most expensive weapons program -- is up from about $1 trillion a year ago, and includes inflation. While inflation accounts …

Gold surged by Rs 129 to Rs 49,414 per 10 grams in the local market Friday as its international price improved to $ 1,665 an ounce, market sources said. According to Karachi Saraf Association official, tola (11.664 grams) price also went up by Rs 150 at Rs 57,650. Silver closed higher at Rs 925.71 per 10 grams.

At speeds even he could barely imagine, Albert Einstein's private papers and innermost thoughts will soon be available online, from a rare scribble of "E=mc2" in his own hand, to political pipe-dreams and secret love letters to his mistress. Fifty-seven years after the Nobel Prize-winning physicist's death, the Israeli university which he helped found opened Internet access on Monday to some of the 80,000 documents Einstein bequeathed to it in …