News Corporation and NBC Universal has begun offering free online television to the United States public through internet joint venture Hulu.com. The much-anticipated online service boasts a rich library of shows and films people can view old-fashioned television style — supported by advertising.
It may be the world’s oldest profession, but prostitution is using some 21st-century tricks. The prostitution scandal involving now former New York governor Eliot Spitzer lays bare some of the inner workings of modern-day sex work: SMSing to clock in the client, electronic fund transfers, a website featuring photos, prices and rankings.
JP Morgan Chase set a deal to buy stricken rival Bear Stearns for a rock-bottom price, while the United States Federal Reserve expanded lending to securities firms for the first time since the Great Depression to prop up the financial system. The shock news, the biggest sign yet of how devastating the credit crisis is for Wall Street, slammed the US dollar to a record low against the euro,
Overeating disrupts entire networks of genes in the body, causing not only obesity, but diabetes and heart disease, in ways that may be possible to predict, researchers reported on Sunday. The researchers developed a new method of analysing DNA and used it to discover that obesity is not only complex, but complex in ways that had not been previously understood.
It was a sight many in America have longed to see: OJ Simpson wearing a blue jail-issue jumpsuit, his hands cuffed at his waist, being led before a judge by police officers. Simpson looked tired and forlorn in a courtroom packed with members of the media and curious public onlookers, all come to see the man most Americans believe brutally murdered his ex-wife Nicole Brown and her friend Ron Goldman.
A violent tornado blasting winds up to 200km/h wreaked havoc through downtown Atlanta, Georgia, toppling trees on to homes, blowing windows out of high-rises and injuring 30 people, city officials said Saturday. A second tornado in north-west Georgia killed two people and injured others on Saturday, officials said.
The global credit crunch claimed its biggest victim yet on Friday when the United States Federal Reserve orchestrated an emergency bail-out for Bear Stearns after a cash crisis prompted a run on the US’s fifth-biggest investment bank. President George Bush sought to calm fears of a deep recession in the world’s biggest economy.
A tornado hit downtown Atlanta on Friday night, causing several injuries and damaging buildings, including the roof of the Georgia Dome where thousands were watching a college basketball game, police and witnesses said. Nine people were taken to hospitals, one in serious condition, as a result of the heavy storm, police said.
Fans never seem to get their fill of Star Wars, and George Lucas is happy to oblige. Lucas offered a glimpse into the latest creation in his sci-fi universe at the theatre-owners’ convention ShoWest on Thursday, showing a sequence from Star Wars: The Clone Wars, a computer-animated movie due in August.
Google expanded its power in online advertising on Tuesday when it completed its takeover of DoubleClick, a move that increases the pressure on rival Microsoft to win its hostile bid for Yahoo!. The merger came after European regulators signed off on the deal, and strengthened Google’s domination of the lucrative online ad business.
Even after the turbulence he encountered last week, Barack Obama still seems the probable Democratic nominee for one simple reason. By June 8, all 54 primaries and caucuses will be completed. And on that morning Obama will, unless something really weird happens, be ahead of Hillary Clinton in the count of pledged delegates.
Stocks tumbled on Thursday as investors recoiled following a further decline in the dollar, spikes in gold and oil prices and a warning that a Carlyle Group fund is near collapse. The major indexes each lost more than 1%; the Dow Jones industrial average at times fell more than 200 points.
Resigning over reports he paid for a 000-an-hour prostitute, New York Governor Eliot Spitzer leaves behind his political post but could face legal trouble from the stunning sex scandal. Spitzer now faces the possibility of federal criminal charges over how he may have paid for prostitution services.
Alpha Oumar Konare, chairperson of the African Union Commission, says it is "scandalous" to spend $2-billion annually on the upkeep of a proposed 26Â 000-strong joint AU-United Nations mission in Darfur when Africa’s urgent needs are elsewhere.
New York Governor Eliot Spitzer resigned from office on Wednesday, succumbing to threats of impeachment and mounting media pressure over his involvement in a career-ending prostitution scandal. Speaking to reporters in New York, Spitzer said he had failed to live up to the standards expected of public officials.
Democrat Barack Obama easily beat rival Hillary Clinton in Mississippi on Tuesday, giving him new momentum in their heated presidential fight as they head to the next showdown in Pennsylvania in six weeks. Obama, who would be the first black United States president, rode a wave of heavy black support to victory and extended his lead over Clinton.
New York Governor Eliot Spitzer faces pressure to resign on Tuesday as well as questions about whether he will be prosecuted for any crime after a report linked him to a high-class prostitution ring. A New York Times report said the man who made his name fighting corruption hired a 000-an-hour sex worker
The United States space shuttle Endeavour blasted off from a seaside Florida launch pad on Tuesday to deliver part of a long-awaited Japanese space laboratory to the International Space Station. Piercing the still of night with a thunderous boom and a flash of white-hot flame, the spaceship lifted off from the Kennedy Space Centre at 2.28am local time.
World number one Roger Federer enjoyed a special moment on Monday when he beat Pete Sampras in an electrifying exhibition match in New York’s Madison Square Garden. ”It was like a dream come true for me,” Federer said. ”Playing my childhood hero here at the Garden. I had never played here. It was great. We had lots of fun.”
Pop star Madonna, folk singer Leonard Cohen, rocker John Mellencamp, British pop band The Dave Clark Five and instrumental group The Ventures will be inducted into the Rock’n’Roll Hall of Fame on Monday. The five artists have been chosen by 600 music industry professionals.
South African Kevin Anderson reached the final of the ATP hard-court tournament in Las Vegas on Saturday with a straight-sets victory over American Robby Ginepri. Anderson, ranked 175th in the world, defeated Ginepri 7-6 (7/4), 6-4 to advance and will next take on another American Sam Querrey.
United States employers unexpectedly cut jobs in February at the steepest rate in nearly five years, a second straight month of employment losses that heightened fears the world’s largest economy has skidded into recession. ”The question appears no longer to be are we going into a recession but how long and deep it will be,” said economist Joel Naroff.
One-time Olympic superstar Marion Jones on Friday began a six-month jail sentence for lying about her steroid use, a punishment likely to grab the attention of baseball home-run king Barry Bonds. Jones (32) reported to a correctional facility in Fort Worth, Texas, United States Bureau of Prisons spokesperson Traci Billingsley said.
Savvy office workers frustrated that their on-the-job computer tools don’t function as smoothly as, say, an Apple iPod are taking matters into their own hands. No longer are they relying on company technicians, or information technology (IT) administrators, to choose the software needed to get the job done.
The United States accused Libya on Thursday of preventing the Security Council from condemning as a ”terrorist attack” a deadly assault on a Jewish school in Jerusalem. The US delegation had hoped the council would unanimously support the text but Libya, backed by several other council members, prevented its adoption.
A small explosion caused minor damage to a United States military recruiting centre in New York’s Times Square area in the early hours of Thursday but there were no injuries, police said. The explosion, which authorities said appeared to have been directed at the recruiting centre, occurred in the early hours of the morning.
A United States teen who used vulgar slang in an internet blog to complain about school administrators should not have been punished by the school, her lawyer told a federal appeals court this week. But a lawyer for the school said administrators should be allowed to act if such comments are made on the web.
Now that he is the Republican presidential nominee, John McCain has a big decision ahead of him — who to choose as his vice-presidential running mate. A top priority for him is to pick a running mate whose presence on the ticket would reassure Americans concerned about McCain’s age.
Facebook has raided Google to hire a new chief operating officer, providing the popular online social network with more seasoned management and advertising savvy as it strives to make more money without alienating its audience. Sheryl Sandberg’s defection from Google, announced this week, represents a coup for Facebook.
In a dramatic about-face, Ask.com is abandoning its effort to outshine internet search leader Google and will instead focus on a narrower market consisting of married women looking for help managing their lives. As part of the new direction outlined on Tuesday, Ask will lay off about 40 employees.
Hillary Clinton won a critical showdown with Barack Obama in Ohio on Tuesday to breathe new life into her campaign and extend the Democratic presidential race, while John McCain clinched the Republican nomination and looked ahead to the November election.
Apple is expected to give details this week of how outside programmers can create software for its iPhone, a move aimed at spurring demand for the multifunction device. Apple also said it will unveil new iPhone features aimed at businesses, potentially stepping up competition with Research in Motion’s popular Blackberry devices.