A British mother has successfully given birth to the first baby selected free of a gene responsible for breast cancer. Still relatively rare, the selection procedure is banned in several countries for ethical reasons.

With foreign journalists banned from entering the Gaza Strip, local residents send out their view of the conflict through videos and texts posted on the Web. Also in today's programme: debating Obama's choice of Leon Panetta as CIA chief.

Introduced as “simple, reliable and fast”, Windows 7, a follow-up to Windows Vista, will be downloadable on Microsoft’s website as of January 9.

MySpace is to launch the first social network available on TV. Developped with Yahoo! and Intel, a MySpace widget embedded in some Samsung and Toshiba models will allow members to watch TV while connecting with online friends.

A genetically modified corn that is supposedly resistant to drought will next year be put on the market by US agribusiness giant Monsanto.

Apple is putting an end to anti-piracy software on iTunes, the company announced at Tuesday's Macworld Expo. Marketing vice president Phil Schiller also unveiled Apple's snazzy new MacBook Pro model.

As the world's biggest show of high-tech gadgetry gets under way here this week the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) is forecasting an end to the boom years of double-digit sales growth.

What's pink with black spots? Answer: a population of iguanas discovered on the Galapagos Islands which scientists have hailed as a unique species.

A team of international astronomers have determined that the Milky Way, the Earth's home galaxy, is spinning much faster and has a mass 50 percent larger than believed, raising the probability of a collision with another galaxy.

A total of 33 Twitter accounts were hacked on Monday, including those of US president-elect Barack Obama and singer Britney Spears. Twitter, launched in August 2006, was also the target of a phishing attack over the weekend.

In this edition: after a month of riots in Greece the Web is still talking about the attacks following the killing of a young man by a police bullet. In Sri Lanka, bloggers debate the outcome of the battle between the army and Tamil Tiger rebels.

The twin robots landed on Mars in January 2004. Their data-collection mission was the first overland exploration of the red planet. Together, they have driven more than 21 kilometres on the planet.

China's government has launched a nationwide campaign against major Web sites "to clean up a vulgar current on the Internet". The Financial Times reported on Monday that China is arming censors with more advanced filtering software.

In this edition: Israel's ground offensive in the Gaza Strip provokes deep reactions online as the conflict also takes place on the net. In China, the blogosphere comments on the lawsuit that has resulted from the country's milk scandal.

For the fourth time since 2007, West Bengal's authorities have announced a bird flu outbreak has happened in this region of India. Officials confirmed they had to start culling about 60,000 poultry.

Jimmy Wales, founder of online encyclopedia Wikipedia announced Friday that six millions dollars had been raised through donations since July 1, enough to cover operating expenses for the current fiscal year, ending June 2009.

Today on the Web: we take a look back at the best videos of 2008, notably the now infamous one of the Iraqi journalist who threw his shoes at George W. Bush, as well as the best Web sites, from Twitter to Deezer.

The world's official timekeeper has decided to add an extra second to the year 2008, one second before midnight GMT tonight, in order to adjust our clocks to solar time. Time will therefore stand still for exactly one second.

For the first time after eight years of growth, online retail spending in the United States is down for the holiday period of November 1 - December 23, compared to last year. Sales, which reached $25.5 billion, were down 3%.