The mystery bird was certainly distinctive: dark brown, red bill, red legs, call like a trumpet, pretty hopeless at flying. You couldn’t miss it if you knew it was there. Many of the 8 500 residents of Calayan, an island in the remote Babuyan group in the northern Philippines, knew it was there and occasionally caught it by mistake in their chicken traps.
Oprah Winfrey, one of the United States’s wealthiest women and most recognisable faces, has accepted a ,20 a day job after being picked to do jury duty at a murder trial in Chicago. She told ABC news: ”I’m just hoping it doesn’t take longer than a week because I’ve got shows to do.”
He may be fuzzy on the war and vague on trade but when it comes to women, the Democratic presidential hopeful John Kerry knows his mind. Speaking to the United States edition of the magazine GQ he was asked his advice on what to seek in a woman. Asked which actors he found attractive he said: ”I think Charlize Theron is pretty extraordinary.”
President Robert Mugabe came under unexpected pressure on Tuesday when fellow African leaders agreed on exacting standards for democratic elections in the south of the continent. Despite a public show of support for Mugabe at the opening of the Southern African Development Community summit, the government leaders voted for election regulations and a commitment to a free press with which the Zimbabwean leader will find it difficult to comply.
Greek national sporting hero Kostadinos Kenteris and Greek 100m silver medallist Ekaterini Thanou said on Wednesday they are quitting the Athens Olympics after leaving an International Olympic Committee hearing into their controversial missed drugs test. Kenteris said he is doing it in the interests of his country.
Special Report: Olympics 2004
Kenyan cricketer Maurice Odumbe has been found guilty of taking bribes from an Indian bookmaker and banned for five years, the International Cricket Council (ICC) announced on Tuesday. The suspension follows last month’s hearing into the affair by the ICC’s anti-corruption and security unit.
South Africa’s men’s hockey team let in two goals in the dying seconds to lose 4-2 to India in a thrilling encounter at the Olympics Games in Athens on Tuesday. The teams had been deadlocked at 2-2 with just seconds on the clock when Indian captain Dilip Tirky smashed the ball into the corner of the net from a penalty corner.
Springbok coach Jake White delivered a well-placed verbal uppercut to the Australians’ jaw on Wednesday as the next round in the psychological rugby battle continued unabated. South Africa and Australia have been squaring up ahead of the eagerly anticipated winners-take-all Tri-Nations clash on Saturday afternoon.
Politics has helped clothes company American Apparel come from nowhere to be a must-wear brand among young Americans. American Apparel is one of a new wave of youth brands starting to use politics to sell their wares and, according to new research out last week, more advertisers eager to attract younger consumers should be doing the same.
A man’s right to bitch seems to be written in white ink right under the statute that sanctioned the sexist holiday. Yes, I am referring to those genderised 24 hours of Women’s Day, which appears to be the offspring of flatulent political correctness and stale statutory compromise.