Asian stocks headed for their biggest daily fall since the attacks on the United States in Sept. 2001 as persistent fears about a global credit squeeze sapped investor appetite for risky assets.
Out of the four candidates currently using mobile technology as part of their campaigns, Sen. Barack Obama is the first to set up a two-way text messaging service where people can text questions to the campaign. Introduced in June, the service has cellphone users type in the short code OBAMA (62262) and pose queries.
When Elizabeth Edwards called in and confronted polarizing conservative pundit Ann Coulter on MSNBC's Hardball With Chris Matthews, the exchange dominated TV news broadcasts and quickly circulated on the Internet. For John Edwards's supporters signed up to receive text messages to their cellular phones from his campaign, there was even personalized service. By replying to a text message sent from the campaign with the word "call," they would then receive a phone call from Edwards that played an automated audio clip of the spat.
Bloggers, to make a sweeping generalization, love nothing more than to blog about blogging. All this E-navel gazing, along with the occasional California conferences on the future of civilization, has produced a whole lexicon to describe what's going on with the Internet and where it's heading. Thence came "Web 2.0," that protean phrase that means everything from "harnessing the collective intelligence" to "I don't understand computers but want to sound like I know what I'm talking about." But things move fast. Forget Web 2.0. Say hello to Webs 3.0, 4.0, 5.0, and 6.0.
AP - A powerful 7.9-magnitude earthquake shook Peru's coast near the capital on Wednesday, toppling buildings, setting off landslides and killing at least 48 people.
AP - Images from a videocamera lowered Wednesday into the mine where six men were trapped 10 days ago showed an undamaged shaft and a curtain that could mean the men, if they survived the initial blast, found breathable air, the mine's co-owner said.
AP - Army soldiers committed suicide last year at the highest rate in 26 years, and more than a quarter did so while serving in Iraq and Afghanistan, according to a new military report.
An earthquake centered off Peru was upgraded to a 7.9 magnitude Wednesday evening by the U.S. Geological Survey. About 15 people have died, President Alan Garcia said on national television, and 70 people are injured.
Rescue workers trying to reach six men trapped in a Utah mine for nine days have cleared about 90 more feet of rubble that blocks the entrance to the area where the miners were working.
Tropical Storm Erin was christened this morning in the Gulf of Mexico. It could make landfall Thursday near Corpus Christi, Texas, forecasters said. Meanwhile, Tropical Storm Dean intensified in the open Atlantic and was expected to become a hurricane Friday.
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