Amy Winehouse inquest to be heard again

LONDON (AP) — Officials in London say the inquest into the death of soul singer Amy Winehouse was overseen by a coroner who lacked the proper qualifications and will be re-heard next month.Camden Council says a new hearing will take place on Jan. 8.Winehouse was found dead in her London home in July 2011 at age 27. An inquest in October 2011 found the “Back to Black” singer had died of accidental...

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Draft EU rules open door to plain cigarette packs

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The European Union‘s executive Commission will propose larger health warnings on cigarette packs and a ban on flavorings such as menthol, a draft revision of EU tobacco rules seen by Reuters on Monday showed.The proposals stop short of forcing all cigarettes to be sold in plain packets carrying graphic health warnings, as required in Australia from the start of this month. But...

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Oil below $87 as US fiscal concerns drag on

The price of oil hovered below $ 87 a barrel Monday as uncertainty over a deal on the U.S. budget overshadowed expectations of economic stimulus in Japan and China.By early afternoon in Europe, benchmark oil for January delivery was down 7 cents to $ 86.66 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract ended up 84 cents Friday at $ 86.73.In London, Brent crude was...

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Iran media: Son of ex-president released on bail

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iranian media say the son of influential former President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani has been released on bail.Several papers, including the pro-reform Etemad daily, say Mahdi Hashemi was released late Sunday and immediately went to his father’s home.Authorities arrested the younger Hashemi in late September, a day after he returned to Iran from Britain.He is held on charges of fomenting...

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Modern Etiquette: A bit of netiquette will keep Christmas real

LONDON (Reuters) – Christmas is a convivial time of year when people get together for celebrations and conversation. It’s all about human contact so it’s important that you’re discriminating about how you use your digital devices.It’s fine if they’re used to facilitate get-togethers and spread seasonal cheer. But Christmas is a real, not a virtual event, so it’s important to discard the phones, tablets...

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Actor Depardieu hits back at French PM over tax exile

PARIS (Reuters) – Actor Gerard Depardieu, accused by French government leaders of trying to dodge taxes by buying a house over the border in Belgium, retorted that he was leaving because “success” was now being punished in his homeland.A popular and colourful figure in France, the 63-year-old Depardieu is the latest wealthy Frenchman to seek shelter outside his native country after tax increases by...

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Child deaths and bitter cold in Syrian refugee camps

ZAATARI, Jordan (Reuters) – One-year-old Ali Ghazawi, born with a heart defect, faced a battle for survival even before his family fled Syria‘s civil war. It was a struggle he lost two weeks ago in the bitter winter cold of a tented refugee camp in north Jordan.Ali died two days after undergoing a heart operation in Zaatari camp, which houses at least 32,000 refugees who escaped fierce bombardment...

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Cinnabon in Tripoli: Libya Opens Up to Foreign Business

After 42 years, the country formerly known as the Great Socialist People’s Libyan Arab Jamahiriya is getting its first taste of consumer capitalism in an unlikely form: sweet, sticky cinnamon rolls. Cinnabon, the Atlanta-based bakery chain, is at the vanguard of a potential business boom in the North African country, which deposed dictator Muammar Qaddafi last year in a bloody civil war. In July the...

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Nigeria governor, 5 others die in helicopter crash

LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) — A navy helicopter crashed Saturday in the country’s oil-rich southern delta, killing a state governor and five other people, in the latest air disaster to hit Africa’s most populous nation, officials said.Nigeria‘s ruling party said in a statement that the governor of the central Nigerian state of Kaduna, Patrick Yakowa, died in the helicopter crash in Bayelsa state in the Niger...

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The Surface might be even more overpriced than the iPad

Everyone knows that Apple (AAPL) gets away with charging a premium for its wares because its fans have shown they’re willing to pay more money for their favorite products than fans of, say, Samsung (005930) and Amazon (AMZN) are willing to pay. This practice has led to enormous gross margins for Apple products but has not spawned many imitators because few companies command the sort of loyalty...

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