December 27, 2008
HOLLYWOOD stars including Halle Berry and Steven Spielberg and bosses of high-tech giants including Google and Microsoft are opening their wallets to help fund US President-elect Barack Obama’s inauguration party.
Mr Obama, in keeping with his vow to purge US politics of influence peddling, has ordered that the names of all inauguration donors, withheld by previous presidents, be published.
December 22, 2008
US vice-president Dick Cheney says he doesn’t know if the al-Qaeda terror leader Osama bin Laden is still alive – but thinks he is.
Asked if the elusive bin Laden was alive, Cheney said in an interview on Sunday: “I don’t know and I’m guessing he is.”
December 19, 2008
The Iraqi journalist arrested for throwing his shoes at US President George W Bush has written to Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki apologising over the incident, Maliki’s office said on Thursday.
“In his letter, he asks the prime minister’s pardon,” said press aide Yassin Majid, speaking of a note Muntazer al-Zaidi had “written by hand.”
December 16, 2008
Thousands of Iraqis have taken to the streets to demand the release of a reporter who threw his shoes at President George W Bush.
The protests came as suicide bombers and gunmen targeted Iraqi police, plus US-allied Sunni guards and civilians, in a series of attacks on Monday that killed at least 17 people and wounded more than a dozen others, officials said.
The journalist, Muntadhar al-Zeidi, was being held by Iraqi security on Monday and interrogated about whether anybody had paid him to throw his shoes at Bush during a press conference on Sunday in Baghdad, said an Iraqi official.
December 16, 2008
The private detective at the centre of a wiretapping scandal that gripped Hollywood was jailed for 15 years after being convicted of racketeering and conspiracy charges.
Anthony Pellicano was convicted on 78 counts at separate trials in May and August at US District Court in Los Angeles.
The 64-year-old “private eye to the stars” had been accused of bugging the phones of several celebrities, including Sylvester Stallone, as well carrying out illegal background checks using police records.
December 16, 2008
BAZ LUHRMANN’S epic Australia and its star Nicole Kidman have angered Aboriginal groups after the actress tried to play a didgeridoo on a German television show at the weekend.
The light-hearted stunt flouted Aboriginal custom in many parts of Australia, where women are forbidden to play the instrument.
December 13, 2008
How much would you pay for a 
?
A Russian businessman has trademarked the emoticon – or combination of punctuation marks – used to convey a wink in text messages and email.
Oleg Teterin, president of the mobile ad company Superfone, said Thursday he doesn’t plan on tracking down individual users following the decision by the federal patent agency.
December 11, 2008
Former US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and other top administration officials are responsible for abuse of detainees in US custody, a bipartisan Senate report says.
“Rumsfeld’s authorisation of aggressive interrogation techniques for use at Guantanamo Bay was a direct cause of detainee abuse there” and “influenced and contributed to the use of abusive techniques … in Afghanistan and Iraq,” the report released on Thursday concluded.
December 11, 2008
General Motors is saving every cent it can, from shutting down escalators at night to limiting workers’ choice of pens, in case it needs to fight to survive beyond year’s end and until a friendlier Washington takes over.
Yet even a truckload of penny-pinching might not be enough.
GM has already cut its US work force by almost 80,000 this decade, reducing it to 96,000, and it has idled five factories and laid off 11,000 domestic workers this year alone.
December 11, 2008
BUSH Administration officials were frantically trying to convince Republican senators yesterday to pass the $US14 billion in emergency funds for the US car industry, after a revolt by senior legislators cast doubt on whether the bailout would become law.
The House of Representatives passed the rescue package 237 to 170 on Wednesday after a marathon negotiation with the White House over its terms. But the Senate poses a much tougher test to bring the bill up for a vote.
New Bloomberg/LA Times Poll: Second Survey This Week Showing Obama +15 Points McCain Receives Surprising Endorsement From His Former 'Hanoi Hilton' Jailer SNL's "Skit of the Year" Ft. Jonah Hill *Breaking News w/Video* Wing Nut Larry Sinclair Arrested in D.C. Following His NPC Appearance Amy Winehouse Caught on Video Smoking Crack & Using Overly Racist Language Hockeytown is Back! The Detroit Red Wings Advance to the NHL Stanley Cup Finals Obama Raises the Level of Criticism: Remains Focused on McCain & Bush New Zogby Poll Shows Barack Obama as the Democrats Best Hope Obama Accuser Larry Sinclair Fails Polygraph Test Video of O'Reilly Apologizing For Obama "Lynching" Comment Why The Youth Vote Supports Barack Obama Results in Michigan May Be a Bad Sign For Hillary
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