Legendary pop singer Whitney Houston was found dead Saturday at a Beverly Hills, California, hotel, officials said. She was 48. The entertainer, whose incredible talent was discovered at an early age, was pronounced dead at 3:55 p.m. (6:55 p.m. ET) at the Beverly Hilton hotel despite resuscitation efforts, a police spokesman said. Beverly Hills Police Lt. Mark Rosen said there were "no obvious signs of criminal intent" and that the cause of her death is being investigated. Houston's bodyguard found her body, said Courtney Barnes, publicist for hip-hop artist Ray J, who was dating the pop diva. According to her official website, Houston sold ...
Yahoo Inc Chairman Roy Bostock and three other directors will step down as the struggling company ploughs ahead with an internal overhaul, including discussions on dealing with its stakes in China's Alibaba Group and Yahoo Japan. The corporation - once a Web powerhouse but now agonizing over a range of options to revive flagging growth - on Tuesday said it appointed former Rovi Corp CEO and International Business Machines Corp veteran Alfred Amoroso and ex-eBay COO Maynard Webb as independent directors. Yahoo's board has come under fire from investors impatient with the company's persistent inability to effect a turnaround, and frustrated with the apparent indecisiveness of stakeholders over ...
Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne has vowed to fight an "anti-business culture" in Britain, warning that a row overexecutive pay and bonuses threatens the country's fragile economic recovery. "Let me say something about the row over bonuses and pay," Osborne said in a speech to the Federation of Small Businesses. "Of course rewards for failure are unacceptable -- and those who believe in the free market are the first to say so. But a strong, free market economy must be built on rewards for success." The Labour Party has heaped pressure on the ruling coalition to curb excessive pay for top executives, using a House of Commons debate to demand the return ...
Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda said on Tuesday he is resolved to settle a longstanding territorial dispute with Russia at an annual rally calling for the return of all four Russian-held islands off Hokkaido in northern Japan, the Kyodo news agency reported. "We'll continue to make steady and determined efforts to move ahead with negotiations," Noda said, stressing the need to sign a peace treaty with Russia. The four islands - which Russia calls the Southern Kurils and Japan calls the Northern Territories - has been the subject of a territorial dispute between the two nations since the end of World War ...
Amanda Knox's Italian lawyer has filed an appeal of her slander conviction in Italy, a Knox family spokesman inSeattle said Monday. In October, an Italian appeals court overturned the young Seattle woman's murder conviction in the 2007 death of her British roommate in Perugia. But the same court upheld Knox's conviction for slander — for falsely accusing bar owner Diya "Patrick" Lumumba of involvement in the slaying. Lumumba was freed after two weeks in prison for lack of evidence. Knox later said she was "manipulated" during her lengthy police interrogation. An appeal of the slander conviction was filed Monday, Knox family spokesman Dave Marriott confirmed. He doesn't know when the Italian ...
The Dutch railway will remain 'vulnerable' during wintry weather but Dutch Rail (NS) and track operator ProRail did not help matters during the current cold snap by the late introduction of schedule adjustments to cope with the conditions, transport minister Melanie Schultz van Haegen told parliament in a briefing on Tuesday. The NS and ProRail assumed on Thursday of last week that there would be three to five centimetres of snow. When the forecast was increased on Friday morning to between 10 and 15 centimetres, it was too late to change the timetables automatically, Schultz van Haegen told parliament. Drivers and conductors ...
Greece can leave the eurozone without damaging monetary union, European digital affairs commissioner Neelie Kroes says in an interview with the Volkskrant on Tuesday. Kroes, a member of the Dutch ruling right-wing Liberal party VVD, is not a supporter of Greece exchanging the euro for the drachma, but says: 'It is absolutely not a case of man overboard if someone leaves the eurozone.' The commissioner is very critical of the new Greek government and says they are not fulfilling their promises. 'Too few spending cuts, too little restructuring,' she says. She says the Greeks should follow the example of Italy where the new ...
Mitt Romney hopes his presidential campaign hasn't ignored Rick Santorum's aggressive attacks for too long, as caucuses in Colorado and Minnesota on Tuesday could reshuffle the race for the Republican presidential nomination. Santorum largely bypassed Florida and Nevada to blanket the two caucus states with criticism of Romney and lay the groundwork among conservatives who have great sway in the process. RivalNewt Gingrich praised Santorum's strategy as shrewd even as he signaled he had no interest in exiting the four-way race, which also includes Ron Paul. "I think that Santorum's going to have a pretty good day," Gingrich told reporters on the eve of the caucuses. "He targeted differently than I ...
Glencore and Xstrata agreed an all-share merger worth $90 billion (56 billion pounds) on Tuesday in the industry's largest ever deal, creating a commodities powerhouse spanning mining, agriculture and trading. Glencore, the world's largest diversified commodities tradinghouse, will issue 2.8 new shares for each Xstrata share in a deal they said was a "merger of equals." The ratio is a 15.2 percent premium to Xstrata shareholders compared with its share price last Wednesday before word leaked out about the merger talks, a joint statement said. "A merger between Glencore and Xstrata offers a unique opportunity to create a new business model in our industry to respond to ...
US White House hopeful Mitt Romney aims for another big caucus win in Colorado on Tuesday, as his well-oiled campaign machine works to cement his position as the Republican front runner in the US presidential race. Polls suggest he should triumph easily in the western US state -- where he scored 60 percent in 2008 -- although there is a tighter race in Minnesota, where last-placed Rick Santorum is hoping to snatch a win. Romney's main rival, former House speaker Newt Gingrich, is battling to stay in the race after two heavy losses in a row to the former Massachusetts governor, who ...
As most of you already know my wife, my son and I were on “that plane” on Christmas Day. We had ringside seats. In order to keep myself from going crazy (repeating everything about everything over and over again) I am writing this e-mail. The therapeutic value of writing things down and staring at the words over and over again after such an event should also not be overlooked. Please, that definitely does NOT mean that you can’t... [more]
PASADENA, Calif. – After a run of celebrity grand marshals, a real American hero led the Rose Parade on Friday. Onlookers stood and cheered as Capt. Chesley B. “Sully” Sullenberger III rode down Colorado Boulevard in a vintage 1928 Pierce Arrow with his wife and two daughters as part of the annual armada of flower-draped floats, marching bands and prancing horses. Sullenberger said he did not hesitate when asked to serve... [more]
ST. LOUIS – A company official says a United Airlines Express flight headed to Chicago had to return to St. Louis because of computer trouble in screening passengers. Spokesman Fred Oxley said GoJet Airlines, the regional carrier operating the flight, had a problem with its computers Friday morning, and manually checked in passengers. Oxley is a spokesman for Trans State Holdings, which owns GoJet. He says the computers started... [more]
A new decade is about to start, and you may be tempted to set a copious list of resolutions for yourself in order to broadly “make life better.” You may be thinking that you’ll jump in on January 1 to reform everything from diet to relationships to personality. That, experts say, is the wrong approach. It’s great to want to make changes, but in order to actually accomplish your goals, they say, it’s important... [more]
Nearly a week after the bloody weekend crackdown on Iranian protesters, the issue is still generating thousands of posts on Twitter, YouTube, and Facebook. CNN’s Iran desk is analyzing dozens of Internet videos of the violent demonstrations on Dec. 23-24 in which at least seven protesters were killed. Hundreds of “tweets” are still being posted onto Twitter every hour. Each day, thousands of people are joining a Facebook... [more]
POLICE have arrested a night watchman at a museum from where a valuable painting by 19th century artist Edgar Degas was stolen, a judicial official said. Police in the southern port city of Marseille arrested the man on Thursday, the official said, adding: “It is an employee of the museum, a night watchman.” The colourful image of singers performing on a theatre stage was missing when staff opened up the Cantini Museum in Marseille... [more]
TWO French journalists kidnapped in eastern Afghanistan this week are thought to be alive and in good health, a source involved in efforts to free them said. But the condition of three Afghan assistants abducted on Wednesday with the journalists from France’s public television broadcaster was unclear, the source told AFP from Kabul. “The two French journalists appear to be alive, in good health and being well treated,” said the... [more]
LUBBOCK, Texas – Fired Texas Tech coach Mike Leach says he did not mistreat a player after a concussion. Leach spoke to The New York Times and ESPN about his firing. He was dismissed Wednesday, two days after his suspension. The school was investigating his treatment of Adam James. The sophomore receiver said Leach twice confined him to a small, dark place after his concussion diagnosis. Leach told the Times onThursday night and ESPN on... [more]
WASHINGTON – Foreign countries including Saudi Arabia and Norway gave millions of dollars to former President Bill Clinton’s charity asHillary Rodham Clinton served her first year as President Barack Obama’s secretary of state. A donor list released on New Year’s Day by the William J. Clinton Foundation shows that Saudi Arabia and Norway each donated somewhere between $10 million to $25 million to the former president’s... [more]
ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates – Rafael Nadal has won and Roger Federer has lost in the semifinals of the season-opening Capitala exhibition tournament. Nadal beat Spanish Davis Cup teammate David Ferrer 7-6 (7-3), 6-3 on Friday to secure a place in the final against Robin Soderling, who earlier dispatched the top-ranked Federer 6-7 (6-8), 7-6 (7-1), 6-2. The players held serve in the opening two sets before Soderling broke the... [more]
