[unable to retrieve full-text content]
AP – Iraq’s Sunni vice president on Monday asked for popular support to fight government charges that he commandeered death squads and said he would continue to defy arrest with the help of the nation’s powerful Kurds in a showdown that tests the limits of Baghdad’s reach.
rick springfield martin luther king quotes jimmy page slv soe abigail breslin sony online entertainment
LOS ANGELES ? Whitney Houston’s life of glorious song and unnerving self-destruction apparently ended in a bathtub at the Beverly Hilton Hotel on Grammy weekend, but it could be weeks before investigators know exactly why she died.
Coroner’s officials say they will not release any information on an autopsy performed Sunday at the request of police detectives investigating the singer’s death. Houston was found in the bathtub of her room, but Assistant Chief Coroner Ed Winter declined to say anything more about the room’s condition or any evidence investigators recovered.
There were no indications of foul play and no obvious signs of trauma on Houston’s body, but officials were not ruling out any causes of death until they have toxicology results, which will likely take weeks to obtain. Beverly Hills Police Lt. Mark Rosen said that his agency may release more details Monday about Houston’s death, but it will depend on whether detectives feel comfortable releasing any information.
Security holds on autopsy results are used in some high-profile Los Angeles cases, with Michael Jackson’s results being withheld for weeks while detectives pieced together the circumstances of his death in June 2009. Toxicology results are frequently necessary before the coroner will release an official cause of death.
A member of Houston’s entourage found the 48-year-old singer unresponsive in her hotel room at the Beverly Hilton Hotel on Saturday, just hours before she was supposed to appear at a pre-Grammy gala.
The Grammys themselves were in part a memorial to Houston, a six-time winner. LL Cool J introduced a clip near the start of the show of a glowing Houston singing her signature ballad, a cover of Dolly Parton’s “I Will Always Love You.”
Bonnie Raitt and Stevie Wonder were among other performers who praised Houston and Jennifer Hudson capped the tributes with an emotional version of “I Will Always Love You” that ended with a personal note: “Whitney, we love you.” Houston’s most famous song was the most downloaded single for much of Sunday on iTunes.
Meanwhile, Houston’s daughter was transported by ambulance to a Los Angeles hospital Sunday morning and later released. A source close to the family who did not want to speak given the sensitivity of the matter said she was treated and released for stress and anxiety. Bobbi Kristina Brown, 18, who is Houston’s daughter from her marriage to singer Bobby Brown, had accompanied her mother to several pre-Grammy Awards events last week.
“At this time, we ask for privacy, especially for my daughter, Bobbi Kristina,” Bobby Brown wrote in a statement released about an hour after she was transported from the hotel. “I appreciate all of the condolences that have been directed towards my family and I at this most difficult time.”
A sensation from her very first album, Houston was one of the world’s best-selling artists from the mid-1980s to the late 1990s. She awed millions with soaring, but disciplined vocals rooted in gospel and polished for the masses, a bridge between the earthy passion of her godmother, Aretha Franklin, and the bouncy pop of her cousin, Dionne Warwick.
Her success carried her beyond music to movies, where she became a rare black actress with box office appeal, starring in such hits as “The Bodyguard” and “Waiting to Exhale.”
Bishop T.D. Jakes, a Texas minister and producer on Houston’s final film project, a re-make of the 1970s release “Sparkle,” said he saw no signs she was having any substance issues. He said Houston was a complete professional and moved the cast and crew to tears two months ago when she sang the gospel hymn “Her Eyes on the Sparrow” for a scene shot in Detroit.
“There was no evidence in working with her on `Sparkle’ that there was any struggle in her life,” Jakes said Sunday. “She just left a deep impression on everybody.”
___
Associated Press writers Nekesa Mumbi Moody and Andrew Dalton in Los Angeles, Adrian Sainz in Memphis, Tenn.; Bruce Shipkowski in Newark, N.J.; and Hillel Italie in New York contributed to this report.
draft grades cesar millan los angeles power rangers samurai prince bengals pele
LOS ANGELES ? Whitney Houston’s last days were spent surrounded by family, catching up with old friends and doing a bit of what she was best known for: singing.
Her death Saturday afternoon in a Beverly Hills hotel room came hours before she was scheduled to appear at an annual pre-Grammy party that introduced her to the industry decades ago and was expected to honor the six-time Grammy winner.
The 48-year-old singer had been making the rounds in the days before the event, appearing at rehearsals and offering advice to singers Monica and Brandy. On Thursday, she appeared with fellow singer Kelly Price on stage at a Hollywood club, where she sang the hymn “Yes, Jesus Loves Me” to loud cheers.
With Houston’s daughter Bobbi in the audience, the women shared a long hug and talked about their lives and families throughout the night, Price recalled Saturday. Houston spent hours standing on the side of the stage at the event honoring R&B music then joined partygoers on the dance floor, she said. “Whitney on Thursday night was one of the girls.”
“She was happy,” Price said. “She was the Whitney I always knew.”
Soul singer Kenny Lattimore, who co-hosted the R&B event, said Houston seemed to be having a good time, making her sudden death “such a shock for me.” He said Houston didn’t appear to be having any issues.
Houston struggled for years with addiction to cocaine, marijuana and pills and the years of hard-living took a toll on her once-pristine voice. During rehearsal for a pre-Grammy event Thursday, Houston appeared disheveled, sweated profusely and her breath smelled of liquor and cigarettes, said a source who was present but not authorized to speak publicly.
Despite more than a decade of problems, including her divorce from Bobby Brown and numerous instances of erratic behavior, Houston was working toward a potential comeback. She had just completed work on a remake of the film “Sparkle,” a project she’d worked to develop for years.
Yet some speculated that she was under the influence after the Thursday club appearance, when paparazzi snapped photos of Houston leaving and looking disheveled. Price called the rumors “totally untrue.”
There was a family feel to the gathering, she said: “Our kids were there.”
Price said she and Houston were planning another reunion, and that she was set to appear at the pre-Grammy gala thrown by her longtime mentor, Clive Davis, on Saturday night. Davis had expected that Houston would sing at the party, which went on as planned, he explained, because the diva would have wanted it that way. It took place in another part of the hotel from where her body was being examined by coroner’s officials.
“I am personally devastated by the loss of someone who has meant so much to me,” Davis said. “She was full of life, looking forward for tonight. She loved music and she loved this night that celebrated music.”
Officials have released few details about how Houston was found or what killed her. A member of her entourage found the singer and alerted hotel security and paramedics already on site for Davis’ gala. They failed to revive the singer.
In the hours after Houston’s death, fans chose to remember the singer in better times, when her soaring voice introduced a new generation to the Dolly Parton song “I Will Love You” and propelled the film “The Bodyguard” into blockbuster status.
Her songs and albums quickly became top-sellers on iTunes, and fans and celebrities alike shared remembrances and accounts of impromptu memorials on the social networking site Twitter. Her death on the eve of the Grammy awards has already prompted changes to the broadcast Sunday, with Jennifer Hudson scheduled to perform a tribute during the show.
Price said her friend would want to be remembered as God-fearing and a good mother, rather than simply a singer. She said she and Houston often discussed parenting and issues unrelated to their musical careers.
She recalled her last night with Houston, the words they shared before Houston delivered what would be her final performance.
“I never ever imagined I’d be talking about her because she’s not here,” Price said.
___
Associated Press reporters Nekesa Mumbi Moody and Mesfin Fekadu contributed to this report.
meredith vieira apollo 11 casey anthony face transplant carter jimmy carter marg helgenberger
HONG KONG (Reuters) ? A Chinese man accused of participating in a riot over land claims in September died in police custody on Sunday, threatening to fan tensions in a far southern region that has become a source of persistent unrest.
The death in Guangdong province occurred as masses of riot police moved to quell a longstanding dispute in Wukan village on the east coast of the booming province, where industrial development has consumed swathes of rice paddies.
The government of Shanwei, an area that includes Wukan village in its jurisdiction, said in the early hours of Monday that Xue Jinbo fell ill on Sunday, his third day in detention over the riot. Hospital doctors later pronounced the man dead despite frantic efforts to save his life.
In an apparent effort to head off further trouble in the area, officials immediately notified Xue’s family and offered aid, said the announcement on the Shanwei government website (www.shanwei.gov.cn).
“The cause of death was cardiac failure, and other causes of death have been provisionally ruled out,” said the government notice, citing hospital doctors.
The death in custody nonetheless threatens to stir fresh tensions.
Land grab disputes are an explosive social issue in rural China, with disputes spreading to the undeveloped west of the country, according to a recent poll published in Outlook Weekly, a magazine run by China’s Xinhua News Agency.
Pictures on microblogging sites from Wukan village showed large numbers of riot police standing off with residents who are demanding the return of farmland to restore their livelihoods.
Hong Kong’s Apple Daily newspaper and two villagers contacted by Reuters said police had used tear gas and blocked all roads to the village.
(Reporting by James Pomfret and Chris Buckley; Editing by Chris Lewis and Sanjeev Miglani)
love bites feather hair extensions carey hart toxoplasmosis farrah fawcett colon aarp
Not logged in