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Written by NEKESA MUMBI MOODY
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Sunday, 12 February 2012 08:46 |
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Whitney Houston, superstar of records, films, dies
LOS ANGELES — Whitney Houston, who ruled as pop music's queen until her majestic voice was ravaged by drug use and her regal image was ruined by erratic behavior and a tumultuous marriage to singer Bobby Brown, died Saturday. She was 48.
Beverly Hills police Lt. Mark Rosen told reporters outside the Beverly Hilton that Houston was pronounced dead at 3:55 p.m. in her room on the fourth floor of the hotel. Her body remained there and Beverly Hills detectives were investigating.
"There were no obvious signs of any criminal intent," Rosen said.
Houston's publicist, Kristen Foster, said the cause of death was unknown.
Rosen said police received a 911 call from hotel security about Houston at 3:43 p.m. Saturday. Paramedics who were already at the hotel because of a Grammy party unsuccessfully tried to resuscitate the singer, he said.
Houston's end came on the eve of music's biggest night – the Grammy Awards. It's a showcase where she once reigned, and her death was sure to cast a heavy pall on Sunday's ceremony.
Her longtime mentor Clive Davis was to hold his annual concert and dinner Saturday, and a representative of the show said it would proceed.
Producer Jimmy Jam, who had worked with Houston, said he anticipated the evening would become a tribute to her, and he expected there to be one at the Grammys as well.
Houston was supposed to appear at the gala, and Davis had told The Associated Press that she would perhaps perform: "It's her favorite night of the year ... (so) who knows by the end of the evening," he said.
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Written by Bucharest Herald
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Sunday, 22 January 2012 11:23 |
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World Politics Review: Romanian protests, the European version of the "Arab Spring"
The woes that have brought Romanians to the streets - low incomes, corruption and rising authoritarianism - are familiar to many in Eastern Europe. Indeed, the protests, which according to police estimates brought 13,000 people to the streets across the country over the weekend, follow similar demonstrations in Russia and Hungary, leading some to suggest that this is the European incarnation of the Arab Spring, a World Politics Review Analysis reads.
Approximately 1,000 people continued to rally in the center of the capital every evening, threatening to stay until the government of President Traian Basescu and his ally, Prime Minister Emil Boc, stood down.
While the crowds have thinned, anger remains, despite the swift reinstatement of popular Deputy Health Minister Raed Arafat, whose resignation sparked the first protests. The Palestinian-born Arafat, a rare symbol of virtue in Romanian public service, quit after clashing with Basescu over a proposed new health law that would introduce elements of private enterprise into the medical emergency service. The service is regarded as one of the few efficient, uncorrupted public organizations in the country, for which Arafat is given most of the credit.
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Written by THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
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Saturday, 11 February 2012 22:09 |
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'Last Lecture' author Jeffrey Zaslow killed in car crash
Comments
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Zaslow was also a former columnist for The Wall Street Journal, former advice columnist for the Chicago Sun-Times
DETROIT (AP) — Best-selling author Jeffrey Zaslow was killed Friday when he lost control of his car on a snowy road after promoting his latest book in northern Michigan. He was 53.
Zaslow, co-author of the million-selling book "The Last Lecture," was also a former columnist for The Wall Street Journal and former advice columnist for the Chicago Sun-Times. Zaslow, who had an affinity for stories of heroism and resilience, worked on memoirs of U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and airline pilot Capt. Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger.
"Jeff was a beautiful writer, wonderful collaborator, loving husband, father and friend," Sullenberger, who was praised for his skill after safely ditching a plane in the Hudson River in 2009, said in a written statement Friday. "Our whole family loved him dearly and he will be sorely missed."
Zaslow was killed in an accident Friday morning in Warner Township, about 160 miles northwest of Lansing, according to the Antrim County sheriff's office. Zaslow's car slid into the path of a semitrailer. He was killed on impact.
The sheriff's department did not release the name of the victim, but literary agent and friend Gary Morris confirmed Zaslow's death. Morris said he was told of Zaslow's death Friday evening by the author's wife.
Zaslow was in northern Michigan speaking about "The Magic Room: A Story About the Love We Wish for Our Daughters." The book, based on a Michigan bridal shop, was published in December.
"His great talent was to find stories that had heart that people could relate to," Morris said.
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Written by Herald Bucharest
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Friday, 02 December 2011 13:33 |
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Mayan prediction of world ending in 2012 may be a 'misreading' - it's just the start of a new era
An inscription found in the Mayan temple of Tortuguero make a prediction of an apocalyptic even in 2012 - with some conspiracy theorists predicting the world being swallowed by a black hole, the sun, or just clipped by a passing asteroid, Daily Mail writes.
The Mayan inscriptions refer to Bolon Yokte 'descending from the sky' in 2012 - a god associated with war and the underworld. But a German expert, Sven Gronemeyer, says that the whole thing could just be a misreading.
The tablet on which the inscription was found has a break which makes the end nearly illegible - but even so, the legible parts don't necessarily spell oncoming doomsday.
Gronemeyer said his decoding of a Mayan artefact with a reference to a 2012 date denotes a transition to a new era in the Mayan calendar - and not a possible end of the world. Bolon Yokte is a figure also associated with change.
Many Mayans also dismiss the apocalyptic predictions as largely a Western idea. Rather than the end of time itself, the inscription refers to the start of a new era.
The interpretation of the hieroglyphs by Sven Gronemeyer of La Trobe University in Australia was presented for the first time at the archaeological site of Palenque in southern Mexico.
His comments came less than a week after Mexico's archaeology institute acknowledged there was a second reference to the 2012 date in Mayan inscriptions - touching off another round of talk (and panic) about whether it predicts the end of the world.
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