n18
NEWS|Sci-Tech 
   |
Photo: Getty Images

Assailants attacked the offices of Microsoft in Athens early Wednesday, driving a van through the front doors and setting off an incendiary device that burned the building entrance, police said.

There were no reports of injuries in the pre-dawn attack on the U.S. company's headquarters in the Greek capital, located in the Maroussi suburb north of the city center. There was no immediate claim of responsibility. Authorities said no warning call had been made before the attack.

Greece has experienced attacks by several small armed anarchist or domestic terrorist groups for decades, which usually target official buildings, banks or symbols of state power with small bombs or incendiary devices. The attacks usually occur late at night and rarely cause injuries.

Police said initial information indicated three people had been inside the van. They forced the two security guards at the building to leave before they reversed the van into the front entrance, smashing the door.

The two security guards were giving testimony to police. The assailants then triggered an incendiary device inside the van that police said appeared to have consisted of camping gas canisters and several containers of gasoline. Police forensic teams examined the burned-out van, which was still outside the blackened entrance later Monday morning.

Although they have died down over the past year, attacks had spiked following the fatal police shooting of a teenager in Athens in December 2008 that led to widespread riots across the country. One group that had appeared in the aftermath of the rioting had set itself apart by claiming responsibility for shooting dead an anti-terrorism police officer in central Athens in 2009 and a journalist in 2010.

Control live cockroach from your smartphone

from PTI

Control live cockroach from your smartphone

Roboroach! Now, you can control the movements of a live cockroach from your own mobile device with the help of the world's first commercially available cyborg.


'Tweet' enters Oxford English Dictionary

from PTI

'Tweet' enters Oxford English Dictionary

The word 'tweet' in the sense of social networking has entered the hallowed pages of the Oxford English Dictionary.

Ban dissecting frogs in labs: NBC

from PTI

Ban dissecting frogs in labs: NBC

If the ban goes through, science students will no longer get to dissect frogs in biology lab class

China builds world's fastest supercomputer

from IANS

China builds world's fastest supercomputer

The world's fastest supercomputer is capable of performing 33.86 quadrillion operations per second, surpassing the US Titan supercomputer

Is it a bird? A plane? No, it's a G-8 drone

from AP

Is it a bird? A plane? No, it's a G-8 drone

Northern Ireland police have a new eye in the sky just in time for the G-8 summit of world leaders.

Google launches Internet-beaming balloons

from AP

Google launches Internet-beaming balloons

A culmination of 18 months' work on what Google calls Project Loon, in recognition of how wacky the idea may sound.

3D TVs: A revolution that didn't happen

from AP

3D TVs: A revolution that didn't happen

ESPN's decision to shut down its 3D channel by the end of the year is the latest sign the format won't revolutionise entertainment as the industry once hoped.