Tearful reunion as United States journos return home

Returned home to a tearful family reunion on Wednesday accompanied by former President Bill Clinton, who secured their release in a meeting with the reclusive state's leader Kim Jong-Il. Laura Ling, 32, and Euna Lee, 36, reporters for an American cable television, venture co-founded by Mr Clinton's former vice-president, Mr Al Gore, arrived with Mr Clinton at Burbank Airport near Los Angeles aboard a private jet from North Korea. The two Current TV journalists were arrested on March 17 for illegally crossing into the North from China and had been reporting on the trafficking of women. They were both sentenced to 12 years hard labour in June.

Ms Ling raised her arms in the air as the two women descended from the plane for a tearful reunion with their families. Ms Ling thanked all those who had campaigned for their release.

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Needle marks on Jacko body, pills in stomach

The autopsy details of pop star Michael Jackson give a horrifying picture of the singer at the time of his death — he was a virtual skeleton as he was barely eating and there were only pills in his stomach. He was bald, bruised and also had broken ribs and needle wounds.

His hips, thighs and shoulders were riddled with needle wounds believed to be the result of injections of narcotic painkillers, given three times a day for years.

And multiple surgery scars were said to be the legacy of at least 13 cosmetic operations. Experts found the distressing evidence of Jackson’s physical decline while investigating his startling death here last week, reported thesun.co.uk.

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Kate triumphs on sixth attempt

British actress Kate Winslet won her first Oscar on Sunday night for her portrayal of a German woman with a secret Nazi past in the romantic drama The Reader.

Titanic star Winslet, 33, was Oscar-nominated five times in the past 13 years but had always returned home empty-handed.

Her best actress Oscar joins two Golden Globes, a Screen Actors Guild award, a British Bafta and a handful of US critics awards that Winslet has won this season.

“To the academy, thank you so much,” she said. Winslet gave credit to her fellow best actress nominees — Meryl Streep, Anne Hathaway, Angelina Jolie and Melissa Leo — calling them “goddesses.”

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Whole of California is hit by rain, snow

A winter storm blanketed California with heavy rain and snow, forcing the closure of a major highway and the cancellation of the final round of a national golf tournament.

The West Coast storm stretched from the Mexican border up to Oregon and Washington state and was expected to last through Tuesday afternoon, said Stan Wasowski, a forecaster for the National Weather Service in San Diego. He said rain clouds extended several hundred miles off the Pacific coast.

“This one here is hitting the entire state,” Mr Wasowski said on Monday. Heavy snow forced the closure of a 80-kilometre stretch of Interstate 5 in both directions in north of Los Angeles. The roadway is the region’s main north-south artery. “We don’t see it opening any time soon,” said David Porter, a California highway patrol officer.

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