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 ...
Austria’s president easily won a second term Sunday, deflecting a challenge by a far-right politician who had denounced the country’s anti-Nazi law, projections based on partial returns showed. Incumbent Heinz Fischer, a Social Democrat, had won 78.9 percent of the vote with 82.6 percent of ballots counted, according to the projections broadcast on public television ORF. Barbara Rosenkranz of the anti-foreigner and anti-European... [more]
Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble said in an interview published on Sunday that Germany could refuse Greece’s plea for emergency loans to rescue it from a mountain of debt. “The fact that neither the European Union nor the German government has taken a decision means: it could be positive or negative,” he told the Bild am Sonntagnewspaper. “It depends alone on whether Greece in the coming years continues along the saving... [more]
The house where artist Karel Appel was born has opened its doors in Amsterdam. It has been furnished in the artist’s style and will house domestic and foreign students from the Dutch Royal Academy of Visual Arts. Karel Appel who died in 2006 was one of the founders of the avant-garde Cobra movement in 1948. The housing association which owns the house in a lively market suburb of the capital believes the artist lived there till he... [more]
The head of the IMF warned on Sunday that speed was of the essence if a Greek bailout is to soothe money markets, after Germany stressed it has the right to reject Athens’ call. “The IMF, the European partners and everyone involved in the financing effort recognizes the need for speed,” said International Monetary Fund managing director Dominique Strauss-Kahn in Washington after talks with Greek Finance Minister George... [more]
Russia’s President Dimitrij Medvedev will on Monday begin an official visit to Norway, a visit which will be followed with interest, as many important issues will be on the agenda in his talks with Norwegian leaders. Already, it has been reported that when President Medvedev meets with Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg, they will approve the establishment of an non-visa borderzone between Norway and Russia. The agreement open up for... [more]
Britain’s Foreign Office issued a hasty apology Sunday toPope Benedict XVI after publication of an internal memo in which officials joked he could open an abortion clinic, launch a range of condoms or sing a duet with Queen Elizabeth II during a four-day visit in September. The document, sections of which were published in the Sunday Telegraph newspaper, also proposed the pope could bless a gay marriage, and acknowledge the... [more]
European heavyweights Germany and France vowed on Sunday to take a hard line with Greece in exchange for financial support as doubts emerged over whether a 45 billion euro (39.2 billion pound) aid package was sufficient to prevent a default. Greece bowed to intense pressure from financial markets on Friday, requesting funds from the European Union and International Monetary Fund (IMF) in what would be the first bailout of a member of the... [more]
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A small amount of lava is now flowing from the Icelandic volcano that disrupted air traffic across Europe last week, and the ash production that caused the problems has diminished. “There is a very little lava and ash production,” Johannes Tomasson at Iceland’s Department of Civil Protection and Emergency Management said on Sunday. Huge ash clouds spewing from the volcano last week led to European air traffic being grounded... [more]
Tens of thousands of runners including Princess Beatrice and an assortment of celebrities are set to take on the London Marathon. More than 36,000 athletes will pound 26.2 miles through the streets of the capital to earn their marathon medals and raise money for countless charities. Beatrice, 21, is aiming to become the first royal to complete the route as she joins a “human caterpillar” of 34 runners. The team will be strung... [more]
A tornado nearly a mile wide has killed at least 10 people – including three children – after it ripped through the US state of Mississippi, authorities have said. Dozens more were injured after the storm tore roofs off buildings, reduced homes to rubble, overturned vehicles, downed power lines and toppled trees. The tornado struck at least 13 counties, leaving some people trapped under debris, the Mississippi Emergency Management... [more]
