Robin Williams needs heart surgery

By Calvin Palmer
Robin Williams, who was admitted to a Miami hosptial earlier this week, has been told that he needs heart surgery.
His publicist Diane Rosen said today the 57-year-old actor needs an aortic valve replacement and must cancel the remainder of his one-man comedy show, “Weapons of Self-Destruction”.
In a statement Williams said: “I’m so touched by everyone’s [...]

Woman poisoned her husband and then tried to kill and frame daughter

By Calvin Palmer
A judge today told an upstate New York woman convicted of the murder of her husband “you are in a class all by yourself.”
Stacey Castor, 41, poisoned her husband with antifreeze and then tried to kill her daughter and frame her as the murderer.
Onondaga County Judge Joseph Fahey told her that he had “never [...]

Students challenge school board ban on gay tolerance club

By Calvin Palmer
An attorney for two gay students at a north Florida high school told a federal judge today they should be allowed to form a campus club promoting tolerance toward gays, despite a school prohibition.
But a lawyer for the Nassau County School Board said the group’s name, Gay-Straight Alliance, is against school policy.
Yulee High [...]

Teenage girl given probation for beating cheerleader

By Calvin Palmer
One of five Florida teenage girls accused of beating a cheerleader classmate was today put on probation for a year.
Brittany Mayes, 18, pleaded guilty to misdemeanor battery in January.
As part of her probation, Mayes was ordered not to contact the victim’s family, not to have an account on social networking sites such as [...]

Brown charged over argument with Rihanna

By Calvin Palmer
R&B singer Chris Brown is due to be arraigned this afternoon on charges of assault likely to cause great bodily injury and making criminal threats.  The charges stem from an alleged attack on his girlfriend, Rihanna.
The felony complaint handed down in court this morning identifies Brown’s alleged victim only as “Robyn F.” Rihanna’s [...]

Chavez seizes U.S.-owned rice mill

By Calvin Palmer
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez yesterday ordered the expropriation of a rice-processing plant owned by American food giant Cargill Inc. because the company allegedly was not distributing rice at prices imposed by the government.
Chavez said Cargill’s plant in Portuguesa state violated local laws by distributing rice without printing the regulated price on its packages.
“Prepare [...]

Bogus aristocrat and four others jailed for £229 million bank plot

By Calvin Palmer
A bogus aristocrat, a London sex shop owner and three other men were give prison sentences today for their part in an attempt to carry out the world’s biggest theft from a bank.
The international gang of criminals attempted to steal £229 million ($324 million) from accounts at the London offices of Sumitomo Mitsui [...]

Murder trial defendant shot by police after stabbing judge

By Calvin Palmer
The defendant at a murder trial in Stockton, California, was shot and killed by police yesterday after he got up from the witness stand and attacked the judge.
David Paradiso, 29, was killed after he stabbed Superior Court Judge Cinda Fox.  It is not clear what he used to stab her.
Paradiso, on trial for [...]

Auditor raises “substantial doubt” about GM’s future as a going concern

By Calvin Palmer
The future of General Motors as a going concern is in doubt, according to the annual report by its auditor, and the company said it may have to seek bankruptcy protection if it cannot execute a huge restructuring plan.
The concerns were revealed today in an annual report filed with the U.S. Securities and [...]

Barbara Bush undergoes open heart surgery

By Calvin Palmer
Former first lady Barbara Bush is recovering at The Methodist Hospital in Houston after successful open heart surgery yesterday to replace her aortic valve.
“The surgery went extremely well,” said Dr Gerald Lawrie, the surgeon who replaced Bush’s aortic value with a biologic valve during a procedure that took two-and-half hours. “I expect her to [...]