Wales-born Howard Stringer, one of the few foreign bosses to head a major Japanese company, is to give up his role as Sony chief executive but remain as chairman, the electronics giant said today.

Sony has been hit by a second massive data breach, hackers claim, another potential embarrassment for a company that is struggling to restore its image following the loss of millions of credit card numbers through its PlayStation Network.

Michael Jackson has restructured his finances with the help of Sony, which shares ownership of his valuable music catalogue of Beatles hits, the singer’s lawyers said in a statement.

World's number one photographic film manufacturer, US group Eastman Kodak, has filed a lawsuit against Sony, accusing the Japanese giant of infringing 10 of its patents on digital photo technology.