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 ...
Air travel in Germany was set to creep back to normality Wednesday with the air traffic authority DFS announcing air space would be gradually opened for regular flights. Pilots would be cleared to use their instrumentation rather than just flying visually over the course of Wednesday, meaning many more flights would be approved to take off and land. There was “a good chance that the air space over Germany and all international airports... [more]
If you have been affected by the disruptions in air travel resulting from the plume of ash from the Icelandic volcano that is drifting across Europe, scroll down for links to airport websites, helpline numbers and alternative ways to travel. France Seventy-five percent of scheduled flights flying on Tuesday from Orly and Roissy-CDG airports. For more information call +33 (0)1 70 36 39 50. Germany German airspace is to remain closed until... [more]
A court handed two former Siemens executives suspended sentences and hefty fines Tuesday for their part in a corruption scandal that engulfed the German industrial giant in 2006. Michael Kutschenreuter, 55, received a two-year suspended sentence and a fine of 60,000 euros (81,000 dollars). The court in the southern city of Munich also ordered him to pay 100,000 euros to charity. A former financial director at Siemens’telecommunications... [more]
Shuttle Discovery and its astronauts returned safely to Earth on Tuesday after making a rare flyover of America’s heartland to wrap up their 15-day, 6 million-mile journey to the International Space Station. The touchdown was delayed by rain and fog that dissipated as the sun rose, allowing Mission Control to take advantage of the morning’s second landing opportunity. Discovery swooped through a hazy sky before landing on... [more]
Greece said Tuesday it could call on loan backup from the EU and the IMF by next month as its bond yields hit a record high and it was forced to once again pay steep rates to borrow money. The Greek finance minister insisted that the recession-plagued economy would not be “left hanging” whilst seeking to raise fresh loans in May and that it “will find funds” through an EU-IMF loan guarantee mechanism if necessary. The... [more]
Air Traffic INFO ON FLIGHTS AS OF 11:30 GMT EUROCONTROL: Almost half of planned flights to go ahead Tuesday. FRANCE: 30% of scheduled flights flying Tuesday from Orly and Roissy-CDG airports. FINLAND: Airports to stay closed until 06:00 GMT Wednesday. GERMANY: Closure of airspace extended 18:00 GMT Tuesday. UK: Airspace remains mostly closed (except over Scotland). No time given for reopening of London airports. Applause, cheers and whoops... [more]
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said on Tuesday he had reached agreement with all but one of Australia’s states on major health reforms which he hopes will spearhead his 2010 re-election campaign. Failure to clinch the $51 billion deal, which will see the government become the nation’s main health funder, would have fueled perceptions Rudd has been unable to deliver on reform promises that propelled him to power in 2007. Rudd, who... [more]
European airports made tentative steps toward resuming flights on Tuesday after five days cut off from global air traffic by a huge ash cloud, but much airspace stayed closed after reports of a new plume. Italy, Switzerland and France reopened their airports early on Tuesday though many flights remained cancelled and in Italy only a handful took off, mainly for domestic destinations. Hungary opened its airspace completely, effective... [more]
FRANCE: 30% of scheduled flights flying Tuesday from Orly and Roissy-CDG airports. GERMANY: Closure of airspace extended 18:00 GMT Tuesday, with special permission given for some flights. UK: Airspace remains mostly closed (except over Scotland). No time given for reopening of London airports. BELGIUM: Only landings are authorised. BRITISH AIRWAYS: Short-haul and medium-haul flights have been cancelled. Netherlands : Although flights... [more]
There was no sign of escalating activity at Iceland’s erupting volcano Tuesday, and the plume of ash wreaking havoc for air traffic across Europe had clearly diminished, experts said. “We are not seeing an escalation in activity,” University of Iceland geophysicist Sigrun Hreinsdottir told AFP. “We still see a contraction of the volcano, which is always good. I would worry if we saw expansion of the volcano, but we... [more]
