Ed Pilkington looks at the feud involving the <i>Sex and the City</i> spin-off tour businesses in New York.
Citigroup, the largest United States bank, on Friday posted its second straight quarterly loss, hurt by more than -billion in write-downs and increased reserves for credit losses. The loss totalled ,11-billion, or ,02 per share, and compared with a year-earlier profit of ,01-billion, or ,01 per share. Revenue fell 48% to ,22-billion.
It was a murder plot on slow burn. The two women, both in their 70s, would befriend the homeless in Hollywood, put them up and insure their lives for millions. Then the women would cash in, dispatching their victims in staged hit-and-run accidents in dark alleys.
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown on Thursday night set the seal on a new phase in Britain’s special relationship with the United States when he won ringing endorsements from the present and future generations of American leaders. US President George Bush hailed Brown as a ”good friend”.
The internet company Google has defied predictions of economic doom by delivering a 31% surge in quarterly profits, which appeared to vindicate the company’s claims that people will continue searching the web in a recession. Google’s first-quarter earnings jumped from -billion to ,31-billion.
Pope Benedict, celebrating a stadium Mass for 45 000 people, acknowledged on Thursday that the United States paedophile priests scandal caused ”indescribable pain and harm” to victims but asked Catholics to love their pastors. ”No words of mine can describe the pain and harm inflicted by such abuse,” he said.
Democratic presidential rivals Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton tried to explain recent controversial remarks during a tense debate on Wednesday, with Obama accusing Clinton of taking political advantage of his characterisation of small-town residents.
Western states joined the United Nations in urging action to ensure a fair outcome from Zimbabwe’s elections, but most African countries avoided the issue at a summit of the Security Council on Wednesday. British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said: ”No one thinks, having seen the results of polling stations, that President [Robert] Mugabe has won.”
United Nations chief Ban Ki-moon on Wednesday expressed grave concern at the mounting violence in the Gaza Strip and southern Israel and urged all parties to show restraint. "The secretary general is gravely concerned at the escalation of violence in Gaza and southern Israel," his press office said in a statement.
The United States Supreme Court on Wednesday rejected a challenge to the lethal three-drug cocktail used in most US executions during the past 30 years. By a 7-2 vote, the court rejected a challenge by two Kentucky death-row inmates, who argued the current lethal injection method violated the constitutional ban on cruel and unusual punishment.
For someone who’s on top of the world, Trevor Immelman has lately spent a lot of time looking up. One day after becoming the Masters champion, Immelman was courtside at Madison Square Garden for the Boston Celtics’ 99-93 victory over the New York Knicks.
Campaigners pressing for tougher controls on the sale of guns in the United States notched up a big victory this week when Wal-Mart, the country’s largest seller of firearms, agreed to a 10-point plan designed to prevent weapons falling into the hands of criminals.
South African President Thabo Mbeki had intended to lead a summit on Wednesday at the United Nations in New York that would focus on the increasing peacekeeping chores of African Union troops. But on Tuesday, it became clear that Mbeki would not be able to dodge the ongoing election crisis in Zimbabwe.
Making a Windows-based computer truly personal takes both time and money. Not only do you have to buy the computer, but you also spend many hours setting it up just the way you like it. That’s why it’s frustrating when, over time, your well-tuned Windows box starts to get sluggish or unreliable.
A 15-minute film of Marilyn Monroe engaging in oral sex with an unidentified man will be kept from public view by a New York businessman who has bought it for ,5-million, the broker of the deal said on Monday. Monroe is clothed and the man’s head remains out of the frame for the entire 15 minutes of the film.
United States Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama spent a fourth day on Monday defending himself for calling people in small towns with economic blight ”bitter” in a controversy that rival Hillary Clinton is trying to use for a comeback. Republican John McCain also sought political gain from the flap.
Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton blasted rival Barack Obama during a debate on Sunday, accusing him of being ”elitist” and ”patronising”. Clinton again seized on a controversy sparked off by Obama’s comments about working-class voters. Obama, she said, was ”elitist, out of touch, and frankly patronising”.
A doubling of food prices over the past three years could push 100-million people in poorer developing countries further into poverty and governments must step in to tackle the issue, World Bank president Robert Zoellick said on Sunday at the end of the World Bank spring meeting in Washington, DC.
Manhattan is a famously elitist place when it comes to fine dining. Who you know is often the key to securing a table at one of the hot new restaurants. Imagine the horror then, when the latest hyper-chic establishment of New York’s most happening chef opted for an egalitarian alternative.
T Boone Pickens is famous for thinking big. He founded his Texan oil company, Mesa Petroleum, in 1956 with just 500 in the bank. After a string of audacious takeovers he turned it into an independent empire that challenged the big oil companies, and today he is worth -billion. Now this straight-talking Southerner is launching the biggest and most audacious project of his career.
Patrick ”Deep Dish” Bertoletti looked down at the litter of empty oyster shells on the red plastic tray and savoured the sweet taste of victory. The Acme World Oyster-Eating Championship belt — a massive leather affair featuring a silver dish with a single oyster on the half-shell in the centre — hung on his skinny hips.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) called on Saturday for ”strong action” and ”close cooperation” to combat the financial crisis that is battering the world economy. The IMF, wrapping up a meeting in Washington, DC, stressed ”the challenges facing the world economy are of a global nature”.
Hillary Clinton’s audacious bid to take her fight with Barack Obama all the way to Denver in August is now threatening to tear their party apart. Pennsylvania is now the next do-or-die battle in that grim fight. The state goes to the polls on April 22 and for Clinton it is a must-win.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) holds its spring meeting in Washington, DC, on Saturday amid what officials describe as the worst financial crisis since the 1930s Depression and as the global economy weakens. The 185-member IMF warned on Wednesday that the economic outlook was increasingly grim.
Archbishop Desmond Tutu had kind words on Friday for United States First Lady Laura Bush and both Democratic candidates for president. But when asked about President George Bush’s legacy to the world, Tutu avoided the question and left the stage in an exaggerated tiptoe as the audience roared.
On one floor is a bullet-scarred car used by American journalists in the Balkans. On another is the phone Rupert Murdoch used to make multibillion-dollar media deals. And in between there is one of the biggest remaining chunks of the Berlin Wall and the mangled remains of a communication tower from the 9/11 attack.
He told his wife he’d gone fishing. But when a photograph of Dick Cheney, the United Vice-President, appeared on the White House website, the smile on his face and the reflection in his sunglasses left some questioning his catch. The reflection appears to show the double image of a naked woman cavorting before him.
But for a trick of fate, Chris Rock might have been a truck driver. Instead the Brooklyn boy is the "funniest man alive".
Britain’s Justin Rose reeled off six birdies in eight holes to share the first-round lead at the US Masters while Tiger Woods laboured to stay in touch on Thursday. Rose shrugged off two early bogeys to fire a four-under-par 68 in bright sunshine. He launched his sizzling run at the par-three sixth before ending the day level with South African Trevor Immelman.
A vast study of the plants and animals unique to Madagascar was published on Thursday in a bid to protect thousands of rare species found only on the large African island. The island is home to 2% of the Earth’s total biodiversity, and only in Madagascar can one find wild lemurs, among many other unique species.
American Airlines has cancelled about 570 flights scheduled for Friday, raising to more than 3 000 the number this week it has grounded to reinspect the wiring on its MD-80 fleet for a second time. The disruption has affected more than 300 000 passengers, including Friday’s schedule cuts.
American Airlines cancelled 1 094 flights, or nearly half its schedule, on Wednesday to reinspect aircraft, a disruption that affected about 100 000 passengers and triggered chaos at the busiest United States airports. The airline said it also expected more than 900 cancellations on Thursday.