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 30 percent increase in the reported number of incidents on Dutch trains has prompted the FNV trade union to demand heavier policing. The country’s biggest union says an additional 250 railway policemen should be hired to assist train guards faced with aggressive ticketless travellers. Dutch Railways told daily de Telegraaf that there is no increase in violent incidents as such, but the numbers have gone up because train staff appears... [more]
The Oslo Conference on armed violence, which was to have been held in the Norwegian capital on April 20th-22nd has been cancelled, due to the air traffic problems caused by the volcanic eruption in Iceland. In its place, the organisers, the Government of Norway and UNDP, will organise an event on Armed Violence and Development in Geneva on Wednesday 12 May 2010 in order to facilitate an opportunity to present and endorse the Oslo Commitments... [more]
The air space over Southern and Western Norway was Tuesday morning closed due to increased flow of volcanic ash from Iceland over the area. Air trafffic to North Sea oil fields is also affected. This means that the four air fields at Kjevik Kristiansand, Sola Stavanger, Haugesund and Stord are closed Tuesday morning. Flesland Bergen was also closed, but reopened between 08:00 and 11:00. Airports along the coast from Ålesund Vigra and north... [more]
Many German airlines resumed service on Tuesday morning despite another extension on the flight ban until at least 2 pm due to volcanic ash still hovering over Europe. Thanks to exceptions in the ban allowing for flights below six kilometres in altitude, flights by carriers Lufthansa, Air Berlin and Condor were already able to take off late on Monday – mainly to pick up stranded German tourists at vacation destinations. Meanwhile... [more]
European governments opened the continent’s airspace to new flights from Tuesday giving hope to passengers around the world trapped by the cloud of volcano ash that has grounded airlines there. But British air traffic chiefs warned that the Icelandic volcano at the source of the chaos had spewed a fresh cloud of ash that was headed for Britain. On Monday, as the dust that has blanketed much of Europe’s skies forced the cancellation... [more]
A trickle of passengers have arrived at airports in Scotland after the skies above parts of the UK cleared of volcanic ash. Scottish airspace re-opened at 7am after air traffic control company Nats lifted restrictions. But there were only a handful of domestic flights, mainly to the islands. Glasgow Airport had been the scene of a brief flurry of flights that landed and took off on Friday and Saturday, allowing some school geography field... [more]
North Korea has been making preparations for a third nuclear test that could come in May or June, South Korean broadcaster YTN reported Tuesday, quoting an unnamed diplomatic source. North Korea has boycotted international nuclear disarmament talks for over a year and put conditions on its return that include ending U.N. sanctions imposed after its last test in May 2009 that dealt a severe blow to its staggering economy. The preparations... [more]
Today is Tuesday, April 20, the 110th day of 2010. There are 255 days left in the year. Today’s Highlight in History: On April 20, 1980, Cuban President Fidel Castro invited any of his countrymen who wanted to leave their country to do so, sparking the massive Mariel Boatlift from Cuba to the United States. On this date: In 1812, the fourth vice president of the United States, George Clinton, died in Washington at age 72, becoming... [more]
An interaction of genetics and psychology may be the cause of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), say U.S. researchers. Their study of 304 youths found that ADHD symptoms were more common in children and teens with high or low activity levels of the neurotransmitter serotonin and who blame themselves for conflict between their parents. “To date, studies have mostly focused on the effects of genetic and environmental... [more]
The leader of the Palestinian militant groupHamas has vowed to capture more Israeli soldiers to use in bargaining for the release of Palestinian prisoners. Khaled Mashaal accused Israel of obstructing a deal to trade Israeli soldier Gilad Schalit for hundreds of jailed militants. Gaza militants captured Schalit in a 2006 cross-border raid. A deal brokered by Egypt and Germany for his release had appeared close in November. The exiled... [more]
