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 ...
A farmer from central China has discovered his mystery illness was caused by a bullet inside his brain 23 years after it lodged there. Wang Tianqing was suffering from symptoms that had grown progressively worse over two decades, but when he finally visited the doctor, the cause came as a surprise. CT scans showed a bullet inside his head. The Chinese surgeon who removed it says Mr Wang cheated death by a matter of millimetres. “The... [more]
Striking truck drivers protested for a third day Friday in Shanghai’s main harbour district amid heavy police presence and signs the action has already started to curb exports from the world’s busiest container port. The strike is a very public demonstration of anger over rising consumer prices and fuel price increases in China. It comes as the government struggles to contain higher inflation, which hit 5.4 percent in March,... [more]
SPARE a thought for the seating planners on April 29, who must accommodate not only royals, diplomats and celebrities including David Beckham but also a butcher and a yoga teacher. Prince William and Catherine Middleton’s wedding guestlist reveals the breadth of the company they keep and hints at a relatively normal life where local tradesmen and colleagues are valued as much as Prince Albert of Monaco. The middle-class bride has... [more]
The Archbishop of Canterbury has called on the public to give their support to the Royal couple on their wedding day next week. Dr Rowan Williams is the spiritual leader of the Church of England and the man who will be conducting the marriage service at Prince William and Kate Middleton’s wedding. “A marriage is first and foremost about two individuals,” Dr Williams said. “But no individual exists alone – people... [more]
COUNTRY music star Taylor Swift bought a multi-million dollar home in Beverly Hills, the New York Post reported today. Swift, 21, closed last week on the property for between $3 million and $4 million. A source added that the singer’s primary home will remain in Nashville, where she reportedly purchased a $1.4 million home for her parents. Swift’s rep declined to comment. The Grammy winner’s latest album Speak Now sold... [more]
The U.S. cabinet is working intensively to increase transparency on tactical nuclear weapons (TNW) in Europe and secure an agreement with Russia on the reduction of such weapons, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Rose Gottemoeller has said. “Consistent with the President’s agenda to reduce the role and number of nuclear weapons, and the Senate’s call for pursuing negotiations with Russia on tactical nuclear weapons, we... [more]
Actress Jane Krakowski is a new mum – the 30 Rock star gave birth to baby boy Bennett last week. The tot was born in New York last Wednesday. The son is the first child for Krakowski and her fiance Robert Godley. A statement from the happy couple reads, “Jane Krakowski and Robert Godley are thrilled to announce the arrival of their baby boy, Bennett Robert Godley, born Wednesday, April 13, in New York. Bennett, the first child... [more]
The United States said it will hold hold human rights talks with China in Beijing next week, amid a Chinese crackdown on government critics that has drawn US condemnation. The “discussions will focus on human rights developments, including the recent negative trend of forced disappearances, extralegal detentions, and arrests and convictions,” the State Department said in a statement on Friday. Assistant Secretary for Democracy,... [more]
Police were questioning 22 people removed from an Australian detention centre that was set ablaze, as the government came under renewed pressure to overhaul its asylum seeker policy. Riots erupted at the Villawood Detention Centre in Sydney on Wednesday night, involving an estimated 100 people as nine buildings were torched and firefighters pelted with tiles and other objects. A number of detainees remained on a roof Friday but the night... [more]
Japanese police sealed off roads leading into an evacuation zone around a radiation-spewing nuclear power plant Friday to enforce an order meant to keep residents from sneaking back to their homes. Road blocks with large flashing “Off Limits” signs were set up along major streets leading into the 12-mile (20-kilometer ) zone around the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear reactors, where nearly 80,000 people were hurriedly evacuated after... [more]
