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 ...
United Airlines and Continental Airlines have confirmed they are to merge, creating the world’s biggest carrier. Both boards of directors have unanimously approved the $3bn (£1.97bn) deal, but it must still be approved by shareholders and industry regulators. Under the agreement, United shareholders will own approximately 55% of the equity of the combined company and Continental shareholders will own approximately 45%. The companies... [more]
Michael Douglas has praised the judge overseeing his son’s court case for handing Cameron a five-year prison sentence – calling the punishment “adequate”. The 31 year old faced a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years behind bars after he pleaded guilty to one count of methamphetamine possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance and one count of possession of cocaine in January. Douglas, along with... [more]
France and The Netherlands called on Monday for extra rigour in the EU’s Stability Pact after the Greek debt debacle, with France targeting financial stability and the Dutch attacking slack budgets. Finance Minister Christine Lagarde told Le Monde newspaper that advance warning systems were needed to prevent a repetition of the Greek crisis and that new criteria must be decided to monitor the eurozone’s 16 members. “We... [more]
A German official says Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Cabinet has approved legislation to provide Greece with billions in aid as part of an EU bailout plan. The official, speaking on condition of anonymity because the formal announcement was to be made later Monday, told The Associated Press the Cabinet approved the plan but gave no further details. Germany’s contribution was to be euro8.4 billion ($11.14 billion) for the first... [more]
An Indian court on Monday convicted a Pakistani man of murder and waging war for his role in the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks that left 166 people dead in the heart of India’s financial capital. Two Indians accused of helping plot the attacks were acquitted. Mohammed Ajmal Kasab, the lone survivor of the attack’s 10 gunmen, sat impassively with his head bowed as the verdicts were read. He was convicted in one of the siege’s... [more]
Today is Sunday, May 3, the 123rd day of 2010. There are 242 days left in the year. Today’s Highlight in History: 1294 – John II becomes duke of Brabant/Limburg 1342 – Count Hartmann II becomes ruler of Vaduz (Liechtenstein) 1382 – Battle on Beverhoutsfield near Brugge 1455 – Jews flee Spain 1491 – Kongo monarch Nkuwu Nzinga is baptised by Portuguese missionaries, adopting the baptismal name of João... [more]
Drug violence in Mexico’s Chihuahua state has claimed 14 lives just across the US border, eight of them in the crime capital Ciudad Juarez, local authorities said Saturday. The latest slayings, which took place on Friday, brought the Monday-to-Friday death toll to 55 in Ciudad Juarez alone, the Chihuahua deputy attorney general’s office told reporters. Some 850 people have been killed in this border city of 1.3 million so far... [more]
Angered by a controversial Arizona immigration law, tens of thousands of protesters — including 50,000 alone in Los Angeles — rallied in cities nationwide demanding President Barack Obama tackle immigration reform immediately. “I want to thank the governor of Arizona because she’s awakened a sleeping giant,” said labor organizer John Delgado who attended a rally in New York where authorities estimated 6,500 gathered. From... [more]
Dutch brewer Heineken says it has completed the acquisition of Mexican beer maker FEMSA, adding Dos Equis and Sol to its long list of labels. The deal has been approved by all relevant anti-trust authorities and shareholders of Heineken and FEMSA, Europe’s biggest brewer says in a statement. “Today represents the start of a new era for Heineken,” Heineken CEO Jean-Francois van Boxmeer said. In January Heineken valued FEMSA... [more]
More than 100 Swedes were ejected from Helsingør in Denmark on Friday for starting fights, with the trouble continuing on the ferry back to Sweden. “Between 100 and 200 Swedes, most of them men, behaved in a rowdy manner in Helsingør and were sent away. The rowdiness continued on the ferry,” said police spokesman Mikael Persson. Police said there were a lot of young people on board the vessel for theWalpurgis Night journey... [more]
