London, September 19: A new study has determined that a 740,000-year-old wedge of ice discovered in central Yukon Territory, Canada, is the oldest known ice in North America, thus suggesting that permafrost has survived climates warmer than today’s.

“Previously, it was thought that the permafrost had completely disappeared from the interior about 120,000 years ago,” said Duane Froese, an earth scientist at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada, who is the author of the study.

“This deep permafrost appears to have been stable for more than 700,000 years, including several periods that were warmer and wetter,” he added.

Stockholm/Oslo - Bourses in the Nordic region surged Friday in morning trading on the news of a US government bailout plan to the battered finance and banking sector and a massive cash injection by leading central banks.

The Stockholm bourse index opened up over 5 per cent with banking shares posting double-digit increases.

Telecommunications equipment maker Ericsson increased 5 per cent while clothes retailer Hennes and Mauritz was up 4 per cent.

The main Oslo index surged 6 per cent in opening trading with strong performances from banking sector shares.

Shares in Norway's largest financial services group DnB NOR increased 11 per cent while financial services group Storebrand was up roughly 8 per cent.

Washington, Sept 19: The United States has said it will ensure that India had a reasonable steady supply of nuclear fuel and in case of disruptions, it is determined to do everything possible.

New York, Sept. 19: Alaska Governor and Republican vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin has told FOX News in an interview that the inquiry into the firing of her former public safety commissioner, is being tainted by “obsessive partisanship”.

The investigation, which centers on whether Palin punished her public safety chief for refusing to fire a trooper who was going through a nasty divorce with her sister, comes at a potentially damaging time in the political calendar.

Grand Rapids (Michigan, US), Sept. 19: Republican presidential candidate Senator John McCain showed some confusion Wednesday night about the identity of the Prime Minister of Spain and exactly where that country of 40 million people is located.

According to the New York Daily News, McCain was asked during an interview whether he would he invite Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero to the White House after becoming president.

"I would be willing to meet with those leaders who are friends and want to work with us in a cooperative fashion," McCain said.

Washington, September 19 : A team of astronomers has discovered the least luminous, most dark matter-dominated galaxy known to exist.

The galaxy, called Segue 1, is one of about two dozen small satellite galaxies orbiting our own Milky Way galaxy.

The ultra-faint galaxy is a billion times less bright than the Milky Way, according to the team’s results.

But despite its small number of visible stars, Segue 1 is nearly a thousand times more massive than it appears, meaning most of its mass must come from dark matter.