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 ...
Airline Air France – KLM is to force very overweight people to buy two tickets if they can not fit comfortably in one chair, news agency ANP reports. ‘It is new policy. The reason is flight safety. This way we can guarantee it and offer better comfort,’ a spokeswoman told ANP. The new rule will come into effect on April 1. From that date, passengers on full flights who do not fit into one chair will be offered a second... [more]
A DUTCH charter plane was flying to Haiti today to collect around 100 children for adoption after last week’s devastating earthquake left them orphaned or in need, a spokesman in The Hague said. “The aim is that the children come as quickly as possible to The Netherlands,” Dutch foreign ministry spokeswoman Ozlem Canel said. The children were aged from a few months to seven years. About 30 people including doctors, nurses,... [more]
Today is Wednesday, Jan. 6, the Sixth day of 2010. There are 359 days left in the year. Events in History 1066 King Harald of England crowned 1099 Henry V crowned German king 1227 Ferrand of Portugal freed from the Louvre 1352 French king Jean II introduces Order of the Star 1453 Emperor Frederik III becomes archduke of Austria 1496 Moorish fortress Alhambra, near Grenada, surrenders to the Christi 1497 Jews are expelled from Graz (Syria) 1535 City... [more]
MICHAEL Jackson’s estate and record label have pulled an unfinished, unreleased Michael Jackson song from the internet after the song leaked Sunday, TMZ reported today. Sources said the track Another Day, which appeared on YouTube, was never intended for release. Jackson’s record label, Sony, reportedly had the support of Jackson’s estate lawyers in its attempt to have the song pulled. Lenny Kravitz, who appears on the track with... [more]
HUMAN rights groups have praised the official lifting of a decades-old ban that prevented people with HIV/AIDS from travelling to the United States. President Barack Obama announced in October last year his administration would end the ban, and the legislation lifting the travel restrictions came into effect overnight. “We’re very excited to finally see the end of this discriminatory and harmful policy,” said Victoria Neilson,... [more]
A poll published on Saturday shows that France’s most popular celebrity is once more pop singer and former tennis player Yannick Noah, followed by comedian Dany Boon and footballer Zinedine Zidane. The French have voted pop singer and former tennis champion Yannick Noah their favourite celebrity once again, with the star beating off stiff competition from film-makers to politicians. A poll to be published on Saturday showed the flamboyant... [more]
POLICE have arrested a night watchman at a museum from where a valuable painting by 19th century artist Edgar Degas was stolen, a judicial official said. Police in the southern port city of Marseille arrested the man on Thursday, the official said, adding: “It is an employee of the museum, a night watchman.” The colourful image of singers performing on a theatre stage was missing when staff opened up the Cantini Museum in Marseille... [more]
TWO French journalists kidnapped in eastern Afghanistan this week are thought to be alive and in good health, a source involved in efforts to free them said. But the condition of three Afghan assistants abducted on Wednesday with the journalists from France’s public television broadcaster was unclear, the source told AFP from Kabul. “The two French journalists appear to be alive, in good health and being well treated,” said the... [more]
SCORES of cars were burned in France on New Year’s Eve and hundreds of people arrested, authorities said today. Interior Minister Brice Hortefeux said in a statement that 405 arrests were made across the country and 11 police officers injured but “no major incidents” were reported. The official toll of burned cars was due later, he said. The interior ministry had mobilised 8,000 police in the capital and 45,000 nationally... [more]
An artwork by Impressionist artist Edgar Degas has been stolen from a Marseilles museum, police have said. Les Choristes (The Chorus) was missing when staff at the Catini Museum opened the premises on Thursday morning. There were no signs of a break-in, said Jacques Dallest, the French city’s public prosecutor. Local police originally said that its value was £26m, but France’s national museum service subsequently put its worth... [more]
