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 New Zealand inventor has put a bizarre floating machine that can also take to the skies up for sale. Mechanic Rudy Heeman took the model of a hovercraft to create the WIG or “wing in ground effective vehicle”. It rides like a normal hovercraft but, once it reaches a speed of 70km an hour, it becomes airborne. It took Mr Heeman more than a decade to complete the machine. Over those years, he taught himself to laminate fibreglass,... [more]
Ellie Goulding feels she has been so hyped up that some people don’t want to like her music. The 23-year-old singer-songwriter topped the BBC Sound Of 2010 poll and won the Critics Choice Award at the 2010 Brits, but claims it hasn’t necessarily been the advantage it sounds. Ellie said: “People want to not like me because I’ve been so hyped up.” She explained: “A journalist came to a gig a few weeks ago... [more]
492 St. Felix III ends his reign as Catholic Pope 492 St. Gelasius I begins his reign as Catholic Pope 705 John VII begins his reign as Catholic Pope 743 Slave export by Christians to heathen areas prohibited 918 Balderik becomes bishop of Utrecht 1260 Hulagu Khan, grandson of Genghis, conquerors Damascus 1382 French Maillotin uprises against taxes 1420 Pope Martinus I calls for crusade against the hussieten 1434 Jacoba of Bavaria marries... [more]
Greek police arrested two men trying to sell several artifacts, including a bronze sculpture of emperor Alexander the Great from the 4th century B.C., for which the asking price was euro7 million ($9.5 million), authorities said Sunday. Police identified the suspects as a 48-year-old Thessalonikibusinessman and a 51-year-old farmer, but did not provide their names. The men were arrested Saturday morning near the town of Kavala, east... [more]
Jacques Audiard’s powerful prison drama “Un Prophete” (A Prophet) swept the board at the “Cesar” awards on Saturday, picking up the best film, best actor and best director prizes at France’s annual version of the Oscars. “A Prophet,” one of the outstanding films at last year’s Cannes film festival, was named as best foreign film at the BAFTA awards last week and is in the running in... [more]
Today is Sunday, Feb. 28, the 59th day of 2010. There are 306 days left in the year. Today’s Highlight in History: On Feb. 28, 1960, a day after defeating the Soviets at the Winter Games in Squaw Valley, Calif., the United States won its first Olympic hockey gold medal by defeating Czechoslovakia’s team, 9-4. On this date: In 1844, a 12-inch gun aboard the USS Princeton exploded, killing Secretary of State Abel P. Upshur,... [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]
The Netherlands is in shock. Not because the government fell on Saturday, but because of the dramatic end to the Olympic 10,000 metre race for the Netherlands’ best skater, Sven Kramer in Vancouver. It was seen as a certainty in the Netherlands that the all-round ice athlete would win Olympic gold on Tuesday, but a totally incorrect instruction from his own coach sent him into the wrong lane and on to… his disqualification instead... [more]
Today is Thursday, Feb. 25, the 56th day of 2010. There are 309 days left in the year. Today’s Highlight in History: On Feb. 25, 1940, a hockey game was televised for the first time, by New York City station W2XBS, as the New York Rangers defeated the Montreal Canadiens, 6-2, at Madison Square Garden. On this date: In 1836, inventor Samuel Colt patented his revolver. In 1901, United States Steel Corporation was incorporated... [more]
Angie Sanselmente Valencia, a former lingerie model, is believed to be heading one of the world’s largest drug gangs. An international arrest warrant has been issued for the 30-year-old, who is suspected of recruiting beautiful women and using them to move drugs to Europe and North America. Many of these women are believed to be other lingerie and glamour models who compete in international beauty pageants, whom Valencia describes... [more]
