The WikiLeaks website came under another powerful internet-based attack today making it inaccessible for hours.

The site appeared to have responded by switching its main hosting base from Sweden to the US, making it available again.

The site, which distributed masses of US diplomatic documents on Sunday, said that it was under a "distributed denial of service attack," a method commonly used by hackers to slow down or bring down sites.

Arab rulers secretly lobbied America to launch air strikes to destroy Iran's nuclear programme, according leaked US diplomatic cables reported today.

Details from 250,000 leaked United States embassy cables obtained by the WikiLeaks whistleblowers website have been published by a number of newspapers given advance sight of the material, including The Guardian.

A concept straight out of science fiction could one day make it possible to "hide" history by editing out passages of time.

The "spacetime cloak" would speed up and slow down light to give the illusion that events have not happened.

A "cloaked" individual could, for instance, travel from one place to another while appearing to vanish and rematerialise instantaneously in a new location.
To an outside observer it would look as if the person had been "beamed" across space by a Star Trek-style matter transporter.

Below: A Klingon Bird of Prey warship, which could be cloaked.

A case of Facebook triggering asthma has prompted warnings about the psychological dangers of social networking sites.

Doctors in Italy reported on a depressed 18-year-old who was dumped by his girlfriend and then saw her picture on Facebook.

The shock brought on an asthma attack, which was repeated each time he logged on and accessed his ex's profile.

When a psychiatrist persuaded the teenager to stay clear of the site, the attacks stopped.
Writing in The Lancet medical journal, Dr Gennaro D'Amato, from Naples, and two colleagues pointed out that psychological stress was a recognised cause of asthma attacks.

Consumers have markedly increased their online spending compared to last year as they attempt to spread the cost of Christmas, analysts said today.

Shoppers spent a total of £5.2 billion online during October, up 23% on the same time last year, according to the IMRG Capgemini e-Retail Sales Index.

The figures show online sales have grown by 17% so far this year compared to the same period in 2009, with shoppers spending £46 billion since January.

Antimatter has been captured for the first time in a scientific breakthrough echoing the hit movie Angels & Demons.

But the 38 atoms of anti-hydrogen trapped by scientists for one sixth of a second would hardly pose a threat to the Vatican.

Nor could they drive a starship, as depicted in Star Trek.

However, the particles might help physicists further their understanding about the nature and origins of the universe.

People living in rural areas are continuing to have to put up with slow broadband speeds, with some places taking up to 45 minutes to download one album from the internet, a survey found today.

The village of Farningham in Kent was named as having the slowest internet speeds in the UK by broadband comparison website Top10.com.

With an average download speed of just 1.30Mb, it would also take a whole 12 hours to download one movie from the web.

The Beatles are going to be available on iTunes for the first time, it was announced today.

The deal, which means the Beatles will be sold online for the first time, follows years of talks between record label EMI and Apple.

Sir Paul McCartney said: "We're really excited to bring the Beatles' music to iTunes. It's fantastic to see the songs we originally released on vinyl receive as much love in the digital world as they did the first time around."

Ringo Starr said: "I am particularly glad to no longer be asked when the Beatles are coming to iTunes.

"At last, if you want it - you can get it now - The Beatles from Liverpool to now! Peace and Love, Ringo."

Yoko Ono Lennon said in a statement: "In the joyful spirit of Give Peace A Chance, I think it is so appropriate that we are doing this on John's 70th birthday year,"
Olivia Harrison, George's widow, said: "The Beatles on iTunes-Bravo!"
Below: The Beatles...just in case you'd, er, forgotten what they look like.

Users of Twitter have today expressed their anger at a court failing to overturn the conviction and sentence of a trainee accountant who posted a message on the site threatening to blow up an airport.

Paul Chambers, 27, was found guilty of sending a menacing electronic communication by a district judge at Doncaster Magistrates' Court earlier this year and is now facing a £3,000 bill after losing his appeal yesterday.

Chambers, from Northern Ireland, had written on Twitter in January: "Crap! Robin Hood Airport is closed. You've got a week and a bit to get your shit together, otherwise I'm blowing the airport sky high!"

Apple has trumped Amazon and Sky to win a prestigious best gadget accolade with its iPad, it was announced today.

The iPad beat the Amazon Kindle and Sky 3D to win both Gadget of the Year and Readers' Gadget of the Year in the 2010 Stuff Gadget Awards.

Stuff magazine editor and judge Fraser Macdonald said: "The iPad's success was by no means pre-ordained. It's expensive and functionally limited.

Below: An iPad in use.