United States authorities found 000 stuffed in a freezer at the home of a US lawmaker under federal investigation for corruption and shady deals in West Africa, court documents showed on Monday. Democratic representative William Jefferson was involved in bribery schemes and suspect business deals in Nigeria and Ghana, according to an FBI affidavit.
As many as 10 Atlantic hurricanes could form in coming months, and up to four of them could hit the United States, experts said on Monday, urging residents to prepare for potentially devastating storms. ”The outlook calls for a very active 2006 season,” the National Weather Service said in a report released on Monday.
Microsoft has developed technology for people to pay by the hour to use a computer in their own homes, similar to the way many people use pre-paid cards for cellphones. The technology, called FlexGo, will be used as part of efforts to sell computers to lower-income consumers in developing countries.
The Da Vinci Code scored -million worldwide and topped the North American box office in its weekend debut as the controversial film overcame bad reviews and calls for boycotts, early figures showed on Sunday. It was the fourth biggest worldwide opening, according to Daily Variety, the top Hollywood trade paper.
The top United Nations humanitarian official warned on Friday that relief efforts in Darfur could collapse within weeks unless the government makes good on a peace deal and donors fund aid work in the troubled Sudanese region. Jan Egeland, the top humanitarian aid official, told the UN Security Council that the government must lift restrictions on aid groups if they are to do their job properly.
A sperm donor passed an extremely rare and dangerous genetic ailment to five children born to four couples, doctors reported on Friday in a case that exposes a gap in the screening process. The disease, severe congenital neutropenia, can be fatal in children if untreated but is so rare that sperm banks do not test for it.
After more than a decade of talking about it, movie theatres and studios are finally rolling out digital projectors that show sharper, brighter images without cracks, pops or hisses. This weekend, Sony Electronics will enter the field with a projector that displays the sharpest resolution envisioned under a set of standards issued for digital cinema.
A new report released on Thursday disputes scientists’ claims that bones of a dwarf human discovered on an Indonesian island are those of an entirely new human species. The 18 000-year-old bones found on Flores Island in 2003 were given the scientific name Homo floresiensis, and the nickname ”Hobbit” after the diminutive figures in JRR Tolkien’s novel.
United States state governments are once again doing battle with the tobacco industry. This time it’s little cigars. Attorneys general from 39 states and Guam say these small cigars are really just brown cigarettes and ought to be identified as such.
A vaccine that blocks infection by four types of human papillomavirus could cut global deaths from cervical cancer by more than two-thirds, its manufacturer said in seeking federal approval. Merck wants Food and Drug Administration approval for its Gardasil vaccine against the two of those four types of human papillomavirus, or HPV, believed responsible for about 70% of cervical cancer cases.
Former United States vice-president Al Gore debuted his global-warming documentary, An Inconvenient Truth, on Wednesday night to a Washington audience that included members of Congress and Queen Noor of Jordan.
After writing an autobiography that sold millions of copies and earned him a hefty advance, former United States president Bill Clinton has struck a deal to write another book. Alfred Knopf will publish the new work, in which Clinton will focus on public service and individual citizen activism, telling a story that he hopes will ”lift spirits” and ”touch hearts”.
<i>Rolling Stone</i>, the American music and pop culture magazine, is celebrating a milestone this month with the release of its 1Â 000th issue. For 39 years, the magazine has straddled the divide between countercultural and conventional journalism, with covers that have depicted and even created modern-day icons.
Richard Hatch, who won -million in the debut season of the United States reality television programme Survivor, was sentenced on Tuesday to four years and three months in prison for failing to pay income taxes on his reality TV prize and other earnings.
It is good to be president, not the least because it inspires rock stars and others to buy you presents like 800 suits, poker sets, chain saws and 500 bikes. President George Bush and Vice-President Dick Cheney on Monday released the financial disclosure forms they are required by law to file every year.
American oil companies stand to gain in competing for access to oil reserves in Libya by the restoration of normal diplomatic relations and the removal of Moammar Gadaffi’s regime from a United States list of terrorism sponsors. The diplomacy that led to the renewal of ties with the North African country, which were severed in 1980, could also serve as an example to Iran.
Internet search titan Yahoo! showed its new face to the world on Tuesday with the online debut of its revamped website. The new Yahoo! page mixes news updates and entertainment with tools for searching, connecting, sharing and communicating online.
The United States is to renew full diplomatic ties with Libya and take it off a list of states that back terrorism, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on Monday. Rice called the resumption of relations the ”tangible results” of Libyan leader Moammar Gadaffi’s decision in 2003 to renounce terrorism.
The United States Supreme Court on Monday delivered a victory to internet giant eBay in a closely watched case seen as a test for high-tech disputes over patent infringement. The court’s unanimous ruling does not exonerate eBay in the patent dispute with a company called MercExchange.
Faced with fewer buyers and soaring oil prices, General Motors has decided after a 14-year run to drive its gargantuan Hummer "Alpha" 4X4 into the sunset and shutter its production. GM announced on Friday that production of the giant 4X4 known as the "H1", based on a vehicle designed for the United States army, will cease in June.
President George Bush, in a nationally-televised speech on Monday, is expected to propose tougher immigration-enforcement measures along the United States-Mexico border, including the use of additional troops, US media reported on Friday. The New York Times reported that the president is likely to discuss the deployment of national-guard troops.
Faced with opposition from conservative groups and some pornography websites, the internet’s key oversight agency voted to reject a proposal to create a red-light district on the internet. The decision on Wednesday from the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers reverses its preliminary approval last June to create a ”.xxx” domain name for voluntary use by the adult entertainment industry.
AM Rosenthal, a brilliant, demanding editor who lifted The New York Times from economic doldrums in the 1970s and moulded it into a journalistic juggernaut known for distinguished reporting of national and world affairs, died on Wednesday at age 84.
Critics complain the Bush administration once again dropped the ball by failing to cite China for a currency system they see as a prime culprit in the loss of millions of United States manufacturing jobs. The administration said in a report to Congress on Wednesday that China moves too slowly to reform its currency system, but isn’t technically a currency manipulator.
John Thys still has not figured out how much his company has paid Google for bogus sales referrals caused by ”click-fraud” — a sham aimed at a perceived weakness in the internet search leader’s advertising network. But Thys says he has uncovered enough of it to conclude that Google is trying to shortchange his company and thousands of other advertisers.
Escalating an already heated national debate, a first-of-its-kind TV channel premieres on Thursday designed specifically for babies — an age group that the American Academy of Paediatrics says should be kept away from television altogether.
United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on Wednesday that Iran would face "isolation" if it did not establish a nuclear programme that meets international standards. Speaking after talks with Javier Solana, the European Union’s foreign policy chief, Rice also stressed that Iran faced a United Nations Security Council resolution over its nuclear programme.
Western powers will wait a ”couple of weeks” before pressing tough United Nations action against Iran and offer new incentives for it to renounce its controversial nuclear activities, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on Wednesday. Rice spoke after two days of intensive consultations on an approach to Tehran’s suspected effort to build a nuclear bomb.
An Andy Warhol canvas portraying a can of Campbell’s Soup was auctioned off here for nearly ,8-million, Christie’s auction house reported late on Tuesday. The sale of Small Torn Campbell’s Soup Can (Pepper Pot), a 1962 canvas, set a record for work from the artist’s Campbell’s Soup series.
Sony, Nintendo and Microsoft will unleash their latest video game offerings as they battle it out at a premier showcase of new products in the -billion global gaming market. The United States and Japanese computer game titans were among game-makers from 90 countries converging on the Los Angeles Convention Centre for an Electronic Entertainment Expo which begins on Tuesday.
Foreign ministers from world powers held intensive discussions on Iran’s controversial nuclear programme on Monday, but there was no sign whether they made any progress on a unified position. US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice hosted talks and a dinner for her counterparts from Russia, China, France, Britain, Germany and the European Union.
Nevada boxing regulators revoked Zab Judah’s licence and fined him  000 on Monday, the harshest penalty yet for a melee which broke out at last month’s welterweight title fight with Floyd Mayweather Jr. Judah was punished for landing a punch to the back of Mayweather’s head in the April 8 IBF title bout.