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 ...
Thailand’s embattled premier Monday accused “terrorists” of inciting the country’s bloodiest civil violence in almost two decades as protesters paraded their dead through the tense streets of Bangkok. With no sign of an end to the deep political turmoil, Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva insisted the government remained united in how to tackle the crisis but the defiant “Red Shirt” protesters said the time... [more]
Norway has entered into an agreement with Pakistan and the UN, covering the return of Afghan asylum seekers who have been denied asylum in Norway. It covers both voluntary and forced returns. The agreement was reached during talks between Norway’s Minister of Justice, Knut Storberget and the Afghan Minister for Refugees, Abdul Rahim. The Secretary General of the Norwegian Refugee Council, Elisabeth Rasmusson, has strongly criticised the... [more]
A car bomb exploded near to the headquarters of MI5 in Northern Ireland on Monday within minutes of policing and justice powers being transferred from London to Belfast. The explosion happened at the rear of Palace Barracks in Holywood, Co Down, shortly after midnight, police said. Homes around the base, which houses the MI5 building, were evacuated and residents were taken to the nearby Redburn Community Centre. Republican dissidents opposed... [more]
The euro rose sharply on Monday as the markets embraced the 30-billion-euro aid package for debt-ridden Greece, a massive safety net also designed to restore confidence in the single currency. Finance ministers from the 16 countries that share the under-pressure euro currency agreed Sunday a three-year financing programme at interest rates of around five percent. The decision to spell out the scale and the terms of the aid, which will involve... [more]
President Barack Obama’s pledge to one day rid the world of nuclear weapons runs up against global realities this week when representatives from 47 countries try to craft an agreement on keeping nuclear weapons out of terrorist hands. Sweeping or even bold new strategies were, however, unlikely to emerge from the two-day gathering that begins Monday. But Obama invited the swarm of world leaders as an important step to intensify global... [more]
French President Nicolas Sarkozy’s approval ratings took a fresh blow on Sunday with a new survey showing his popularity has reached a record low weeks after disastrous regional elections. The French leader’s approval rating dropped seven points to 31 percent in the first week of April, a Metro-Krief Group survey carried out by OpinionWay showed. It had previously not fallen below 38 percent. The approval rating for Prime Minister... [more]
European governments were set to nail down on Sunday the terms for possible emergency loans for debt-stricken Greece in an effort to calm investor fears that have caused the euro to plunge. Finance ministers from the 16-nation eurozone grappled with Greece’s debt crisis in a conference call starting at 2:00 pm (1200 GMT) with the aim of “finalising aid mechanisms for Greece,” a Spanish official said. Sunday’s talks... [more]
Ousted Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev on Sunday appealed to the United Nations to send peacekeepers to help secure order in the Central Asian state, Russian news agency RIA-Novosti reported. Bakiyev, who fled the Kyrgyz capital Bishkek amid a wave of violent protests against corruption and rising utility prices last week, said outside forces were needed to prevent further bloodshed in the volatile country. “The police are paralysed.... [more]
Liv Signe Navarsete, leader of the Agrarian Party (Senterpartiet), one of three Government coalition partners, has presented her own Government with an ultimatum over the planned hospital reform, NRK reports. Navarsete says her party (SP) cannot be part of a government which is closing down local hospitals which are providing important emergency medical services, unless equivalent services are provided close by. Navarsete points to the... [more]
Defiant “Red Shirt” Thai protesters vowed Sunday to keep up their bid to topple the government, after the country’s worst political violence in almost two decades left 20 dead and over 800 injured. Protest leaders, who have promised to maintain their campaign until the government dissolves parliament and calls fresh elections, demanded Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva step down and leave the country. Sixteen civilians,... [more]
