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 ...
More than 1500 workers in the cleaning industry went on strike Thursday morning, after arbitration between the union and the management failed in the early hours of the morning. This means that the daily cleaning at several firms and institutions will not be carried out. Toilets will not be cleaned and garbage cans will not be emptied. Shopping centra, office buildings, the University of Oslo and public broadcasster NRK are among institutions... [more]
Greek workers held a general strike against the government’s austerity measures Thursday, two weeks after the previous day of protests deteriorated into rioting in which three people died in a burning bank. Ferries stayed tied up at port, buses, the Athens metro and trains suspended services, and many banks were closed. Schools shut down while public hospitals were working with emergency staffing levels. Demonstrators are protesting... [more]
South Korea accused North Korea on Thursday of firing a torpedo that sank a naval warship in March, killing 46 sailors in the country’s worst military disaster since the Korean War. President Lee Myung-bak vowed “stern action” for the provocation following the release of long-awaited results from a multinational investigation into the incident. North Korea, reacting swiftly, called the results a fabrication and warned... [more]
The suspected military leader of the armed Basque separatist group ETA has been arrested, French police say. Four suspected members were held during dawn raids, including the man thought to be ETA’s current military chief, Mikel Kabikoitz Karrera Sarobe. Reports say three were picked up in the southern town of Bayonne and the fourth in a nearby village. Five ETA leaders have been arrested in France in the last two years. Share this:... [more]
As a financial storm battered Europe and rain beat down on Frankfurt, the European Central Bank laid the cornerstone on Wednesday for its glittering new twin-towered headquarters. A mainly glass structure “will reflect the values – integrity, excellence, efficiency and transparency – that are essential to our activities,” ECB president Jean-Claude Trichet told guests protected under a huge white tent. He spoke next... [more]
Norway and the other Nordic countries are intensifying global efforts to prevent international tax evasion by signing agreements with Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada and St. Lucia. The new agreements represent the continuation of a major project by the Nordic Council of Ministers to enter into information exchange agreements with international offshore financial centres worldwide. Since the autumn of 2007 the Nordic countries have... [more]
Rescue teams in Turkey have found 28 bodies after Monday’s underground mine blast. The explosion ripped through a coal mine in northern Turkey on Monday trapping up to 25 workers. Rescue workers had been trying to reach those trapped after the powerful blast at the Karadon mine in the Black Sea province of Zonguldak. It is still not known what caused the explosion or whether it had caused a cave-in at the mine. The blast is the third... [more]
The Mamma Mia! romance is over – Dominic Cooper and Amanda Seyfried have reportedly split. A source tells People.com the couple who became an item as they played lovers in the Abba movie musical have decided to take a break from each other. The insider says, “Amanda and Dominic have been on and off for a while, and right now they’re taking a break, but they’re great friends and could still get back together.” The... [more]
A lawyer for Lindsay Lohan has said the actress will miss a mandatory court appearance because she is stuck in France. Attorney Shawn Chapman Holley told ABC7 that Lohan’s passport was stolen while she was at the Cannes Film Festival. She said Lohan has an appointment at the American embassy to replace it. Superior Court Judge Marsha Revel ordered the 23-year-old actress to appear in a Beverly Hills courtroom for a progress report... [more]
Today is Thursday, May 20, the 140th day of 2010. There are 225 days left in the year. Today’s Highlight in History: On May 20, 1961, a white mob attacked a busload of Freedom Riders in Montgomery, Ala., prompting the federal government to send in U.S. marshals to restore order. On this date: In 1506, explorer Christopher Columbus died in Spain. In 1861, North Carolina voted to secede from the Union. In 1902, the United States... [more]
