Google on Monday unveiled Google Health, a long-anticipated United States health information service that combines the leading web company’s classic search services with a user’s personal health records online. The password-protected service stores a user’s basic medical history and gathers relevant information connected to their health conditions.
Prosecutors played the sex tape at the centre of R Kelly’s child pornography trial in open court on Tuesday, just hours after opening statements in which they accused the R&B singer of choreographing and starring in a video featuring ”vile, disturbing and disgusting sex acts” with an underage girl.
Massachusetts Senator Edward Kennedy, the brother of assassinated president John F Kennedy and the elder statesman of American liberal politics, has a malignant brain tumour, his doctors said on Tuesday. Kennedy (76) who has been hospitalised in Boston since he had a seizure on Saturday, will likely need chemotherapy and radiation therapy to treat the glioma.
The number of conflicts in which child soldiers were involved dropped sharply from 27 in 2004 to 17 at the end of 2007, according to a report on Tuesday by the Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers. But despite the decline, the report said tens of thousands of children remain in the ranks of militias and other armed groups in at least 24 countries.
Barack Obama passed a milestone to move within reach of the United States Democratic presidential nomination on Tuesday, but rival Hillary Clinton refused to surrender. A split of two nominating contests — Obama handily won Oregon and Clinton crushed the front-runner in Kentucky — gave Obama a majority of pledged delegates won during their lengthy nominating fight.
With Yahoo! facing pressure from a corporate raider, the internet giant has reopened discussions on a tie-up with Microsoft, but for a new deal that would probably not be an outright takeover. The two firms said over the weekend that they were exploring new options two weeks after Microsoft withdrew its offer to acquire the struggling internet pioneer.
Global information company Thomson Reuters plans to cut 140 editorial jobs by the end of the year as its Reuters news service absorbs Thomson Financial News. More than half the cuts will be in Europe, while the rest will be scattered, editor-in-chief David Schlesinger wrote in a memo to employees on Monday.
John McCain is 71 years old, and his age has provided late-night TV comedians with some easy punch lines. On Saturday Night Live, he joined in. ”I ask you, what should we be looking for in our next president?” McCain said. ”Certainly, someone who is very, very, very old.”
Disgraced former 100m world-record-holder Tim Montgomery was sentenced to three years and 10 months in prison on Friday for his role in a check fraud scheme that also led to the downfall of Marion Jones. Montgomery was once considered the world’s fastest man before being banned from athletics as a dope cheat.
Kira Cochrane defends <i>New York Times</i> literary critic Michiko Kakutani, who has been described as “the stupidest person in New York City".
When to slow down and retire? For most people in their 60s the decision is a no-brainer — the sooner the better. But in the rare air of movie stardom, where careers are fuelled by a mix of talent, ego, vanity and, sometimes, cosmetic surgery, it seems to be a far harder decision.
The popular online hangout MySpace has won a -million judgement over junk messages sent to its members in what is believed to be the largest anti-spam award to date. A federal judge in Los Angeles ruled against notorious ”Spam King” Sanford Wallace, and his partner, Walter Rines.
Apple has scooped up Time Warner’s HBO to feed television shows to its online iTunes store, reeling in one of the last holdouts among major channels and agreeing to a rare pricing concession to land hit shows such as The Sopranos, Sex and the City and The Wire.
Swedish golfer Annika Sorenstam (37) announced her retirement from golf on Tuesday, two days after winning her 72nd LPGA title on Sunday at the Michelob Ultra Open in Williamsburg, Virginia, United States. Sorenstam, who said she will retire at the end of the 2008 season, has won three tournaments this year.
Billionaire investor Carl Icahn is considering mounting a proxy campaign to replace Yahoo! board members after the company failed to reach a deal to merge with Microsoft. The veteran investor has built up a stake in Yahoo! in the last week and would run a slate in an effort to force the company back to the negotiating table.
West Indies batsman Marlon Samuels has been found guilty of breaching regulations after a probe into allegations of links with a bookmaker, the West Indies Cricket Board said on Monday. Samuels (27) could now face a two-year ban from the game if the International Cricket Council enforces a mandatory ban.
Hillary Clinton appeared headed to a big West Virginia victory over frontrunner Barack Obama in the Democratic presidential race on Tuesday, although it could be too late to turn around her faltering White House bid. Clinton has an advantage of at least 20 points in most opinion polls in West Virginia.
Powerset on Sunday unveiled tools for searching Wikipedia that use conversational phrasing instead of keywords, marking the first step of its challenge to established web-search services such as Google. Powerset’s technology breaks down the meaning of words and sentences into related concepts, freeing users from always needing to type the exact words they want to find.
If there is anything more satisfying than being rich, it must be basking in the glow of being proved right. The world’s wealthiest man, Warren Buffett, was lauded by 31Â 000 devotees in his home town last weekend for eclipsing the biggest brains on Wall Street through his homespun approach to business.
The United States Supreme Court said on Monday that it cannot intervene in an important dispute over the rights of apartheid victims to sue US corporations in US courts because four of the nine justices had to sit out the case over apparent conflicts. The result is that a lawsuit accusing some prominent companies of violating international law will go forward.
United States authorities rushed aid to disaster areas on Monday after a series of tornadoes tore across the US, killing at least 22 people, shattering homes and businesses, and leaving tens of thousands without power. US President George Bush called it a ”sad day” for devastated communities in the states of Missouri, Oklahoma and Georgia.
As the Democratic primary contest heads to its climax, the Republicans are firing the opening shots of an election barrage to come against their probable White House opponent, Barack Obama. Republican John McCain and his colleagues already see Hillary Clinton’s campaign as mortally wounded.
Barack Obama moved closer to sewing up the Democratic presidential nomination on Friday with more superdelegates rallying to his side, as rival Hillary Clinton fought on despite mounting odds against her. Clinton has vowed no surrender and plunged straight back into campaigning before the May 13 primary in West Virginia.
United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice spoke on Friday with African leaders and former United Nations chief Kofi Annan for their insight into how to end Zimbabwe’s election crisis, her spokesperson said. Rice spoke to Botswana President Ian Khama, Zambian President Levy Mwanawasa and Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete.
Irvine Robbins, who delighted ice cream afficionados by conjuring up ever more inventive flavours as co-founder of the Baskin-Robbins empire, has died aged 90. Robbins, who started the Baskin-Robbins ice-cream chain with late brother-in-law Burt Baskin in 1945, died on May 5 at the Eisenhower Medical Centre in Rancho Mirage, California.
Mildred Jeter Loving was a shy, unassuming black woman who never expected to make history when her landmark 1967 Supreme Court case ended the ban on interracial marriages in the United States. Loving (68) died on May 2 of pneumonia at her home in the town of Milford, Virginia.
The international community pleaded with Burma’s military rulers on Wednesday to let foreign aid workers and desperately needed relief supplies into the cyclone-crushed country. The United Nations, the United States and France stepped up pressure on the junta to open their doors to foreign aid.
Climate change is harder on women in poor countries, where mothers stay in areas hit by drought, deforestation or crop failure as men move to literally greener pastures, a Nobel Peace laureate said on Tuesday. ”Women are very immediately affected, and usually women and children can’t run away,” said Wangari Maathai.
Diamonds may be forever. But what’s a girl to do when she gets dumped or divorced and those rings, necklaces and love gifts lose their emotional sparkle? Help is just a click away on new websites that provide an outlet for selling jewellery from past relationships, sharing break-up stories and helping broken hearts heal.
Many Africans are getting substandard malaria drugs, with more than a third of the pills tested failing quality tests. Tests of 195 different packs of malaria drugs sold in six African cities showed 35% of them either did not contain high enough levels of active ingredient or did not dissolve properly.
Lawmakers on Tuesday debated legislation to remove former South African president Nelson Mandela and the African National Congress (ANC) from an apartheid-era United States terrorist blacklist. Barbara Lee, a California Democrat, recalled that ANC members could travel to United Nations headquarters in New York but not to Washington DC or other parts of the United States.
A Grammy-nominated violinist who left his -million, 285-year-old Stradivarius violin in a taxi is giving a free concert at an airport taxi stand for the driver who returned it. Philippe Quint (34) left his 1723 ”Ex-Keisewetter” violin in Mohammed Khalil’s taxi when returning from Newark Liberty Airport last week.