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California will establish a high-profile, $600 million research center to devise solutions for global warming, the Public Utilities Commission decided in a 5-0 vote Thursday. The California Institute for Climate Solutions will have a $60 million budget each year for 10 years. The money will come from ratepayers of the state's major utilities, including Pacific Gas & Electric, which serves much of Northern California. The new institute, which will seek matching funds to expand its reach, will administer research grants; work to transfer technologies to commercial businesses; and develop a related workforce for these companies. Undecided is where the new...

A massive fire has destroyed a leading computer science research facility at the University of Southampton. Gas canisters exploded inside the Mountbatten building on Salisbury Road, Highfield, which was engulfed by a 100ft plume of smoke on Sunday morning. No-one was hurt, but the building, housing valuable equipment for making chips and optic fibres, was destroyed. A spokesman said some of the world's most advanced research was carried out there and its loss was devastating. The laboratory, part of the school of Electronics and Computer Science, was completely destroyed, and a nearby office building was damaged. John Lauwerys, secretary...

OSLO, Norway (AP) - The imposing mansion used by the Norwegian Nazi-collaborator Vidkun Quisling during World War II was turned over Tuesday to a research center focusing on the Holocaust and the persecution of minorities. The Center for Studies of Holocaust and Religious Minorities in Norway will use the Villa Grande for displays and research activities focusing on the Nazi-led genocide of millions of Jews. It will also raise awareness about the persecution of other minorities. Quisling was executed at the end of the war for setting up a puppet government that collaborated with German occupation forces. His name remains...