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 ...
Queen Beatrix is right to say Geert Wilders is talking nonsense by describing Muslim headscarves as a symbol of female oppression, prime minister Mark Rutte said on Friday after the weekly cabinet meeting. ‘There are an awful lot of women who wear headscarves and they are not all oppressed,’ Rutte said. On Thursday, the queen, who was on a state visit to Oman, told reporters Wilders was talking nonsense for criticising her decision... [more]
A murder mystery with elements of an Agatha Christie whodunit is unfolding at the vast country estate whereQueen Elizabeth II and her family gathered in rural splendor to celebrate Christmas and New Year’s. British police said that a young woman’s body was found in the forest at Sandringham and that they are treating it as a murder case. An autopsy was conducted Tuesday, but the precise cause of death was not disclosed, and... [more]
Prince Philip may have missed the royal family’s traditional Christmas celebrations, but he will be home in time to ring in the New Year. The 90-year-old husband of Queen Elizabeth II was released from Papworth Hospital in Cambridge early today after spending four nights there to undergo treatment for a blocked coronary artery. Philip was seen smiling and waving to bystanders as he was driven away from the hospital to begin the... [more]
Britain’s Prince Philip left the hospital Tuesday, after undergoing treatment for a blocked coronary artery. Philip, Queen Elizabeth II’s 90-year-old husband, spent four nights in the hospital recovering from a successful coronary stent procedure. He was taken to Papworth, a specialist heart hospital in Cambridge, on Friday after complaining of chest pains. It was the most serious health scare suffered by Philip, who is known... [more]
Queen Elizabeth II will use her Christmas Day message, recorded before her husband Prince Philip was rushed to hospital and underwent heart surgery, to praise the institution of family. The prince, who celebrated his 90th birthday in June, underwent a procedure to correct a blocked artery late Friday after being taken to hospital with chest pains. He was to remain for a “short period” in hospital in Cambridge, eastern England,... [more]
Reservations Queen Beatrix had regarding Dutch Interior Minister Piet Hein Donner’s candidacy as the next Vice-President of the Council of State, the country’s highest administrative court, delayed his appointment and may have damaged his standing, newspaper NRC Handelsblad reports. Before approving Mr Donner’s nomination, the Queen first questioned Mr Donner about his role during the formation of the current minority coalition,... [more]
King Juan Carlos told his son-in-law in 2006 to cut ties with a company now mired in corruption allegations, an official at Spain’s royal palace said Sunday. Authorities are probing the activities of a non-profit company run by Inaki Urdangarin between 2004 and 2006. “(The king) ordered him to stand down from his activities and he sold his shares,” said the official, who works at the royal palace’s press office, confirming... [more]
Britain’s Prince Harry rushed to the aid of a friend who was robbed of his mobile phone while speaking to the royal, The Mail on Sunday newspaper said. Harry, third in line to the throne, heard the robbery and quickly drove to the crime scene in Battersea, southwest London. When the army helicopter pilot could not find Thomas van Straubenzee, he drove to the nearest police station, where his friend was already reporting the crime. Harry,... [more]
The Dutch government says it plans to hold to the custom of addressing the king’s wife as “queen” This means that when Crown Prince Willem-Alexander succeeds his mother as monarch, Princess Máxima will automatically become his queen. Dutch Foreign Minister Uri Rosenthal made the announcement in response to three Dutch opposition parties who wanted to break with this tradition. Labour, GreenLeft and the Party for the Animals argued... [more]
Sarah Ferguson, the former wife of Prince Andrew, says it was “difficult” that she wasn’t invited to last month’s royal wedding, but blamed herself for the snub. In an interview with US chat show host Oprah Winfrey, she said it was all the more painful because of memories of her own wedding in Westminster Abbey, where Prince William and Kate Middleton wed on April 29. “I was not invited, and I chose to go and... [more]
