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 ...
Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki acknowledged on Sunday that he would probably need partners to gain a majority after the election on March 7, and said he was ready to join with Kurdish or other Shi’ite groups. “Alliances in forming the coming government are a must,” he said in remarks carried by the state-owned National Media Centre. “Coalition with the Iraqi National Alliance (INA) and the Kurdish coalition is... [more]
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh pitched for investment in his economy and closer petroleum sector cooperation with Saudi Arabia on Sunday, the second day of a visit to the Middle East oil giant. The first Indian premier to visit Saudi Arabia in 28 years, Singh said his country’s growth opens huge opportunities for trade and investment. India, which receives 20 percent of its oil from Saudi Arabia, wants to deepen that relationship,... [more]
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton flies toLatin America on Sunday for a trip which includes a stop in quake-ravaged Chile and talks in Brazil over Iran’s nuclear program. Officials said Clinton still planned to visit Chile, where she was due to hold talks on Tuesday with outgoing President Michelle Bachelet andPresident-elect Sebastian Pinera, both grappling with the aftermath of Saturday’s devastating 8.8 magnitude... [more]
Geert Wilders, the Amsterdam North-South metro line, drugs and the environment, these are the main themes in the campaigns for the Dutch local elections to be held on the third of March. This year, the local elections have taken on added significance because of the fall of the cabinet, which is still fresh in voters’ memories. The government crisis is expected to affect the results in the local elections. National politicians are sure... [more]
Britain’s retail banking sector is in the midst of a major makeover as lenders post sharply-improved earnings, bosses relinquish bonuses and new players prepare to join a recovering market. Half-way into the earnings season, analysts are lauding a 114-percent jump in annual profits at Barclays and a narrowing of losses at state-contolled groups Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) and Lloyds Banking Group (LBG). Following the encouraging... [more]
North Korea may return to nuclear disarmament talks in March or April, Yonhap news agency said Sunday, citing an unnamed senior South Korean government official. “We believe North Korea will come back to the six-party talks sooner or later, possibly in March or April, although we cannot predict the exact timing,” the official was quoted by Yonhap telling a group of South Korean journalists in Washington on Saturday. “Our... [more]
Today is Saturday, Feb. 27, the 58th day of 2010. There are 307 days left in the year. Today’s Highlight in History: On Feb. 27, 1960, the U.S. Olympic hockey team defeated the Soviets, 3-2, at the Winter Games in Squaw Valley, Calif. (The U.S. team went on to win the gold medal.) On this date: In 1801, the District of Columbia was placed under the jurisdiction of Congress. In 1807, poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was born in Portland,... [more]
JUDGES have adjourned until March 26 the trial that will see Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi accused of corrupting his former tax lawyer. Mr Berlusconi, who did not attend the hearing, is on trial for allegedly paying $US600,000 ($675,371) to British tax lawyer David Mills in exchange for false testimony during two trials in the mid-1990s. Mr Mills’ parallel trial for the same crime was thrown out by Italy’s appeals... [more]
A senior US congressman has accused Toyota of withholding documents it should have disclosed in lawsuits filed by crash victims. Democratic Representative Edolphus Towns, the chairman of a House committee that questioned Toyota executives this week about the carmaker’s recall, said that Toyota’s actions amounted to “a systematic disregard for the law”. Toyota has denied the charge. The world’s biggest car manufacturer... [more]
US troops are going to be allowed to use social networks such as Twitter and Facebook after a Pentagon review found that the benefits of social media outweigh security concerns. The decision, which comes at a time of growing concern over cyber-security, applies only to the US military’s non-classified network. But it could mean big changes for large portions of the US armed forces, including the Marines, which had selectively banned... [more]
