Recriminations flew on Monday over the biggest data breach in United States history as the theft of private information on more than 40-million credit card holders spread to Japan and Hong Kong. About 22-million affected customers are Visa holders and nearly 14-million are with MasterCard.
Actress Lorna Thayer, the waitress who memorably refused to let Jack Nicholson order toast in the 1970 movie Five Easy Pieces, died on June 4 at the Motion Picture and Television Fund retirement home after a long battle with Alzheimer’s disease. She was 85.
Radical latte lovers are getting the bean rolling in a new campaign against big brand coffee giants like Starbucks. In a new and frothy front in the struggle to turn back globalisation, United States coffee lovers are being offered the chance to wean themselves off what critics deride as the same blends and decor of big coffee chains.
The number of refugees around the world rose by one million in 2004, to 11,5-million, according to the United States Committee for Refugees and Immigrants. People fleeing Sudan’s troubled Darfur region to Chad and Iraqis crossing into Syria contributed to the increase, the private aid group said in its annual survey.
Mike Tyson’s career apparently ended in yet another shocker on Saturday night when he quit on the stool after taking a beating in a foul-filled sixth round against unheralded Kevin McBride. Tyson lost for the third time in his last four fights, and once again he faded badly as the rounds went on before deliberately head butting McBride.
The United States trade deficit rose by a modest 6,3% to -billion in April, despite record sales of exports, including civilian aircraft, the government said on Friday. Wall Street was expecting the shortfall to widen to -billion, compared with a revised ,6-billion in March.
Apple co-founder Steve Jobs dropped a bombshell in his keynote speech opening this week’s Worldwide Developer Conference in San Francisco. ”Yes, it’s true,” said Jobs, confirming the rumours. ”We are transitioning from PowerPC to Intel processors.”
A mellower Mike Tyson who has come to terms with his controversial past and portrayal as a boxing villain showed he still has a fierce side on Wednesday in his last appearance before Saturday’s comeback fight. Tyson faces Irishman Kevin McBride on Saturday in a 10-round bout that the ex-champ must win in order to retain any hopes of recapturing his past glory.
United States President George Bush is meeting with the leaders of several African nations later this month to celebrate elections held last year in each and hold them up as models of democratic progress on the troubled continent. The presidents of Botswana, Ghana, Mozambique, Namibia and Niger are meeting Bush.
A Las Vegas museum dedicated to the memory and myth of Elvis Presley has launched a worldwide casting call for impersonators of the "King of Rock", organisers said on Monday. Elvis-a-Rama is a sprawling museum that is home to a collection of more than $6-million-worth of Presley memorabilia.
Former undisputed world heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson is making a boxing comeback less than three weeks before his 39th birthday with only one goal — reclaiming global heavyweight supremacy. Tyson portrayed himself as a more mature man and fighter on Tuesday in his first pre-fight public comments.
Americans who smoke marijuana for medicinal purposes aren’t likely to be pursued by federal authorities, despite a ruling by the top United States court that these users could face federal charges, people on both sides of the issue say. ”We have never targeted the sick and dying,” a Drug Enforcement Administration spokesperson said.
CNN’s founder, Ted Turner, has accused the news channel of dumbing down by devoting too much airtime to what he termed ”pervert of the day” at the expense of serious news. Turner told staff at a celebration of CNN’s 25th anniversary that he had tried to create a channel that would eschew the ”trivial news” liked by local stations in favour of international coverage.
Visiting South African President Thabo Mbeki pushed on Wednesday for more United States economic aid to Africa and logistical support for African peacekeepers in Darfur in a meeting with US President George Bush. The United States has offered aircraft to transport African Union peacekeepers to Darfur, and has approached Nato for help as well.
A conservative Christian group has launched a boycott against Ford Motor Company, saying the second-largest United States automaker has given thousands of dollars to gay rights groups, offers benefits to same-sex couples and actively recruits gay employees.
The United States Supreme Court on Tuesday overturned the conviction of the Arthur Andersen accounting firm for destroying Enron Corporation-related documents before the energy giant’s collapse. In a unanimous opinion, justices said the former Big Five accounting firm’s June 2002 conviction was improper.
David Beckham and Michael Owen say they intend to stay with Real Madrid next season. The two stars joined the English national team in the United States on Monday, a day ahead of the exhibition game against Colombia that concludes a two-game tour. ”I’m happy in Real Madrid. I want to finish my career there,” said Beckham.
They are the new pioneers, echoing their 19th-century forebears by flocking to the prairies on the promise of free land and new opportunity. Small American towns are desperate to fight off decades of decline and depopulation. Now many have made a last-ditch promise to attract settlers: go there, build a home and the land will be free.
As a superstar Tom Cruise vaunts his romance with actress Katie Holmes, but Americans are extremely sceptical about whether the feted relationship is true love or an extravagant publicity stunt. An unscientific poll by People magazine indicated that 63% of readers believe the romance is a publicity stunt, while only 37% believe the pair are genuinely in love.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas was set on Thursday for a groundbreaking summit at the White House, seeking strong United States commitments to a viable Palestinian state and a halt to Israeli settlement expansion. Abbas is looking for renewed support for an independent and contiguous Palestinian state.
Last week’s Electronic Entertainment Expo Show in Los Angeles offered several exciting glimpses into the future of videogames, not all of which were fuelled by the new consoles on show. Chief among them was Spore, the latest project by Will Wright, who conceived Sim City and The Sims.
A liberal slathering of suntan lotion gave one woman more protection than she bargained for, allowing her to slip out of the grasp of a would-be rapist, police near Los Angeles said on Tuesday. The attack took place while the woman stopped off in a bathroom while jogging in a deserted public park early on Sunday.
A United States man was on Monday sentenced to 600 hours of community service and ordered to pay more than $13 000 (R84 600) for trying to sell an antique Hawaiian skull in an online auction. In the sale notice, Hasson said he had snuck on to the beach with friends and uncovered an entire skeleton, but only kept the skull.
A beast of burden turned the tables on a United States woman, giving her a load to bear when the camel sat on her and pinned her to the ground. On the bright side — if there is one to such a situation — the woman in Bethlehem, West Virginia, had her cellphone in her hand at the time.
The Force was with the last Star Wars movie when Revenge of the Sith raked in a record R107-million in its first wave of North American midnight screenings, distributors said on Friday. The movie also did what no other movie in history has accomplished — sold R326-million-worth of tickets in a single day.
A new version of the Netscape browser, the early leader in the internet field, was launched on Thursday with new updates aimed at fighting viruses, spyware and other security problems. Netscape takes a page from the growing Firefox browser, with which it shares many technical origins.
Claiming invasion of privacy and humiliation, a staff attorney for a United States senator has filed suit against a woman who published details of their sexual relationship on her blog, or web log. Robert Steinbuch, a counsel for Republican Senator Michael DeWine, filed the civil suit on Monday.
The arrest of accused airline bomber Luis Posada Carriles in Florida poses a thorny problem for United States President George Bush, who has vowed to battle terrorism anywhere, analysts said. Federal agents arrested Posada Carriles (77) on Tuesday two hours after he held a secret press conference with selected reporters.
Mount St Helens is living up to the name it was given by Indians who inhabited the north-west United States — ”Smoking Mountain”. Since late last year, it’s been showing signs of life again, and a new 100m-high lava dome has formed over the seething magma within it. The 25th anniversary of the volcano’s big eruption was this week on Wednesday.
Former South African leader Nelson Mandela told on Monday, ahead of a meeting with United States President George Bush, how he backs the US leader’s call for global ”liberty” but disagrees with some of Bush’s methods. The Nobel Peace Prize laureate insisted, however, it is just a disagreement among friends.
Microsoft took the wraps off its next generation Xbox 360 games console on Friday — and took the gloves off in the latest round of an fight to dominate the -billion market. In a star-studded launch that was scheduled to be broadcast early on Friday on MTV America and presented by the Lord of the Rings star Elijah Wood, the firm paraded a product it says will ”kick the backsides” of its rivals.
Google shareholders got a free lunch on Thursday at the online search engine leader’s first annual meeting as a public company. There were plenty of leftovers. Fewer than 200 people attended the meeting at the company’s Mountain View headquarters — a high-tech mecca known as the ”Googleplex.”