Category Archives: United States

Marie Colvin, one of Britain’s leading war correspondents, was killed alongside French photographer Remi Ochlik in the city of Homs when the house they were staying in was hit by government forces. Ms Colvin, who worked for The Sunday Times, stayed in the besieged city despite being ordered to get out by her editor because of the risk, her mother Rosemarie said last night. “She had to stay. She wanted to finish one more story,” her mother added. Lebanese intelligence staff were said to have intercepted communications between Syrian army officers revealing that direct orders were issued to target the building which was being used as a makeshift press centre. … Continue reading →

Whitney Houston’s sad and sudden death on the eve of the Grammys after a well-documented history with substance abuse has plunged the media into schizophrenic mode as it wrestles with ways to praise her legacy while acknowledging her lurid end. The news on Monday, after hagiographic tributes at the Grammys on Sunday, dragged readers back to ugly reality: Whitney Houston was found submerged in her bathtub, police said. She’d been pulled from the bathwater and attempts at resuscitation were futile.   Before that, most news organizations by and large focused on her superstardom and on her climb to the top of the music charts with a uniquely powerful and stirring … Continue reading →

  Etta James, whose powerful, versatile and emotionally direct voice could enliven the raunchiest blues as well as the subtlest love songs, most indelibly in her signature hit, “At Last,” died on Friday morning in Riverside, Calif. She was 73. Her manager, Lupe De Leon, said that the cause was complications of leukemia. Ms. James, who died at Riverside Community Hospital, had been undergoing treatment for some time for a number of conditions, including leukaemia and dementia. She also lived in Riverside. Ms. James was not easy to pigeonhole. She is most often referred to as a rhythm and blues singer, and that is how she made her name in … Continue reading →