"Retaliation is the last refuge of the incompetent which Obama displays at every post-defeat by the righteous men. Maven Stark
United States has expelled 35 Russian spies in response to Kremlin-backed interference in the presidential election, further escalating tensions between Moscow and Washington.
The diplomatic officials from the Russian embassy in Washington and its consulate in San Francisco were deemed "persona non grata" and told to leave the country within 72 hours.
President Barack Obama also
announced it was closing two compounds owned by the Russian government, and used for intelligence operations, in New York and Maryland, from noon on Friday.
He also ordered sanctions against Russia's GRU and FSB intelligence agencies, and six named Russian individuals.
They included Lt Gen Korobov, head of the GRU, and three of his deputies. The other two were Alexei Belan and Yevgeny Bogachev, two Russians wanted by the FBI for cyber crimes for years.
Also sanctioned were three computer companies alleged to have provided "material support" to the GRU.
The moves marked an unprecedented new low for US-Russian relations under Mr Obama's presidency.
He said the 35 expelled diplomats were "intelligence operatives".
The developments marked an unprecedented new low in US-Russian relations under Mr Obama's presidency.
The Russian Embassy in London called it "Cold War deja vu", and said the US "wanted to destroy" ties with Moscow.
Mr Obama accused Russia of "aggressive harassment" and said "all Americans should be alarmed by Russia's actions". He said hacking "could only have been directed by the highest levels of the Russian government".
Mr Obama said: "These actions follow repeated private and public warnings that we have issued to the Russian government, and are a necessary and appropriate response to efforts to harm US interests in violation of established international norms of behaviour. Such activities have consequences."
He added: "This is not the sum total of our response to Russia’s aggressive activities. We will continue to take a variety of actions at a time and place of our choosing, some of which will not be publicised."
A US official added: "By imposing costs on the Russian diplomats in the United States, by denying them access to the two facilities, we hope the Russian government reevaluates its own actions."
It was understood that Russia's ambassador to the United States, Sergei Kislyak, will not be one of those expelled.
It comes after the the CIA and FBI concluded that Russia was responsible for hacking the Democratic Party and releasing embarrassing emails with the intention of helping Donald Trump to win the White House.
Russia has repeatedly denied the hacking accusations. A spokesman for Russia's Foreign Ministry said: "If Washington really does take new hostile steps they will be answered. "Any action against Russian diplomatic missions in the US will immediately bounce back on US diplomats in Russia."
Rex Tillerson, Donald Trump's nominee for secretary of state, with Vladimir PutinCREDIT: AFP
Mr Trump said he would meet intelligence officials next week to hear evidence of the Russian hacking.
He said: "It's time for our country to move on to bigger and better things.
"Nevertheless, in the interest of our country and its great people, I will meet with leaders of the intelligence community next week in order to be updated on the facts of this situation."
Kellyanne Conway, one of Mr Trump's top advisers, told CNN that Mr Trump stood by his claims that it was unclear whether Russia carried out the hacks and insisted that alleged Russian hacking was being used to try and delegitimise Mr Trump's victory.
The US State Department said the expelled diplomats had been "acting in a manner inconsistent with their diplomatic or consular status".It also said the US actions were a response to increased harassment of US diplomats in Moscow over the last year. In 2001 the US expelled 50 Russian diplomats from the country over accusations of spying. Russia responded in kind, ordering 50 US diplomats to leave its own country.
The Russian Embassy in London called the US action "Cold War deja vu". It added: "Everybody, including the American people, will be glad to see the last of this hapless administration." Its post on social media was accompanied by a picture of a duck and the word "Lame".
According to one US official there are a total of about 100 Russian spies in the US, so about one third of th
em are being ejected.
Starting on Friday at noon, the White House said, Russia will be denied access to compounds in Maryland and New York that have been used for intelligence-related purposes.
A statement from the state department said the diplomatic expulsions were a response not only to hacking but to “a pattern of harassment of our diplomats overseas, that has increased over the last four years, including a significant increase in the last 12 months”.
The statement said the harassment has included “arbitrary police stops, physical assault, and the broadcast on state TV of personal details about our personnel that put them at risk”.
For some time, US diplomats in Russia have anecdotally reported being followed and harassed by police.
In June, a US diplomat was wrestled to the ground by a policeman as he scrambled to get inside the embassy. Russian authorities said the man was a CIA agent operating under cover.
A longtime Republican congressman says that Russia’s leak of hacked emails from the Democratic National Committee and Hillary Clinton’s campaign during the U.S. presidential election was a public service.
“If Russia succeeded in giving the American people information that was accurate,” Arizona Rep. Trent Franks said Thursday afternoon on MSNBC, “then they merely did what the media should have done.”
Franks’ comments came shortly before the Obama administration announced sanctions against Moscow for interfering with the U.S. election.
“I’m all for doing what’s necessary to protect the election here,” Franks said. “But there’s no suggestion that Russia hacked into our voting systems or anything like that.”
In October, U.S. intelligence agencies concluded that Russian hacking of American “political organizations” like the Democratic National Committee was an attempt to undermine confidence in the U.S. electoral system. In a closed-door briefing on Capitol Hill earlier this month, the Central Intelligence Agency concluded that it was “quite clear” that electing Donald Trump was Russia’s goal.
Trump dismissed the assessment, calling it a “card” being played by the Democrats to undercut his stunning election victory.
“Can you imagine if the election results were the opposite and WE tried to play the Russia/CIA card,” Trump tweeted on Dec. 12. “It would be called conspiracy theory!”
“Are we talking about the same cyberattack where it was revealed that head of the DNC illegally gave Hillary the questions to the debate?” Trump tweeted on Dec. 16.
On CNN, Sean Spicer, Trump’s incoming White House press secretary, also suggested to Jake Tapper that the media did not scrutinize the DNC’s lack of adequate cybersecurity.
“At what point is it incumbent upon you guys in the media to ask the DNC what measures do they take to protect this? Because it seems to me there’s a lot of talk about the DNC not doing what they should have done to protect their own network servers,” Spicer said. “I’m not saying in any way shape or form, to be clear, any attempt to hack or to do anything nefarious is wrong and illegal. At some point, the question hasn’t even been asked of the DNC, ‘Did you take basic measures to protect the data that was on there?'”
But Franks’ praise of a foreign actor’s alleged cyberattack against the United States ignited a backlash on social media.
“It’s good to know what side he’s on,” Neera Tanden wrote on Twitter. “When it comes to American citizens v Russia, Franks chose Russia.”
Carrie Fisher, the actress best known as Star Wars‘ Princess Leia Organa, has died after suffering a heart attack. She was 60.
Family spokesman Simon Halls released a statement to PEOPLE on behalf of Fisher’s daughter, Billie Lourd:
“It is with a very deep sadness that Billie Lourd confirms that her beloved mother Carrie Fisher passed away at 8:55 this morning,” reads the statement.
“She was loved by the world and she will be missed profoundly,” says Lourd. “Our entire family thanks you for your thoughts and prayers.”
Fisher was flying from London to Los Angeles on Friday, Dec. 23, when she went into cardiac arrest. Paramedics removed her from the flight and rushed her to a nearby hospital, where she was treated for a heart attack. She later died in the hospital.
The daughter of showbiz veteran Debbie Reynolds and entertainer Eddie Fisher, Fisher was brought up in the sometimes tumultuous world of film, theatre and television.
Star Wars’ Carrie Fisher gave Daisy Ridley sex advice on set: “Don’t go through the crew like wildfire”
Escaping Hollywood in 1973, the star enrolled in the Central School of Speech and Drama in London, where she spent over a year studying acting.
Just two years later, though, the bright lights of Hollywood drew her back, and Fisher made her film debut in the Warren Beatty-lead Shampoo.
Her role in Star Wars would follow in 1977 – the experience she recently detailed in memoir, The Princess Diarist. She was only 19 when the first installment of the beloved sci-fi franchise was filmed. In addition to the second and third Star Wars films – and last year’s The Force Awakens – Fisher starred in 1980’s The Blues Brothers, The Man with One RedShoe, Woody Allen’s Hannah and Her Sisters in 1986 and, later, When Harry Met Sally.
Carrie Fisher and Paul Simon's Turbulent Love Affair
Fisher wed musician Paul Simon in 1983. It was an explosive marriage, according to Homeward Bound: The Life of Paul Simon author Peter Ames Carlin, and was cut short by swinging stages of depression, the actresses’ drug use and an array of personal insecurities. The relationship continued, though, on-and-off for several years after the pair divorced in 1984.
The star’s substance abuse problem was well-known, starting at only age 13 when she first started smoking marijuana, Fisher previously told The Telegraph. She said she later dabbled in drugs like cocaine and LSD. Fisher’s addiction was largely profiled in her 1987 best-selling, semi-autobiographical novel, Postcards from the Edge, which was later turned into a movie starring Meryl Streep.
“I never could take alcohol. I always said I was allergic to alcohol, and that’s actually a definition to alcoholism — an allergy of the body and an obsession of the mind,” Fisher told the Herald-Tribune in 2013. “So I didn’t do other kinds of drugs until I was about 20. Then, by the time I was 21 it was LSD. I didn’t love cocaine, but I wanted to feel any way other than the way I did, so I’d do anything.”
In 1985, Fisher was diagnosed with bipolar disorder, she told the Herald-Tribune, and subsequently became an outspoken advocate for mental health awareness.
Throughout much of the ’90s, Fisher focused on her writing career, publishing Surrender the Pink and Delusions of Grandma.
In addition, Fisher reportedly helped craft the scripts for numerous Hollywood films, going uncredited, for films like The Wedding Singer, Hook and Sister Act.
Billie Lourd, Fisher’s only child, was born in July 1992. The Scream Queens star’s father, talent agent Bryan Lourd, dated Fisher for three years and is now married to Bruce Bozzi. In 2005, Fisher was recognized with the Women of Vision Award by the Women in Film & Video – DC.
Three years later, Fisher’s Wishful Drinking autobiography was turned into a one-woman stage show and eventually an HBO documentary.
Of returning to the role that launched her career – Leia – for The Force Awakens, Fisher told PEOPLE in 2015, “I knew that something enormous was likely going to impact my life from this film and that there was absolutely no way of understanding what that was or was likely to be.”
The film – which brought Fisher back into the spotlight – earned her a nomination for the 2016 Saturn Award for best supporting actress.
Just last month, Fisher also revealed her surprising on-set affair with Star Wars costar Harrison Ford in The Princess Diarist, telling PEOPLE of the three-month fling, “It was so intense.” The memoir, which drew from Fisher’s old diaries and notebooks, brought up mixed feelings for the actress.
“I had forgotten that I’d written them, and I’ve never written diaries sort of like that,” she said. “I write when I’m upset … it was about two or three months of upset.”
Fisher added, “It was sad because I was so insecure, and it’s very raw and obviously I didn’t expect anyone — including myself, I suppose later on — to read it.”
She is survived by her mom Reynolds, daughter Lourd and beloved French bulldog, Gary.
George Michael performing at a concert to raise money for an Aids charity in 2012 You don't get to die on Christmas morning because Jesus loves you and heaven awaits you (although, it's possible if you're religious or believe in coincidence). You die because you are unhappy with real life's complications and drugs and the spirit of Christmas is the spirit of love and of sadness that pull you deeper into the oblivion. Maven
In a haunting image, a famous music star staring out from the window of his country home as the village Christmas procession passed by - life going on without him.
To his fans he was the defining pop idol of their generation, to his admirers he had one of the most beautiful soul voices in British pop, but this last sighting of George Michael reveals that he died the death of a recluse.
His boyfriend has revealed how the singer-songwriter, who gave us one of the most-loved Christmas songs of all time, had died alone on Christmas morning, at the age of just 53.
George's boyfriend, Fadi Fawaz discovered his body on Christmas morning CREDIT: SPLASH NEWS
He told The Daily Telegraph: "We were supposed to be going for Christmas lunch. I went round there to wake him up and he was just gone, lying peacefully in bed. We don't know what happened yet.
"Everything had been very complicated recently, but George was looking forward to Christmas, and so was I.
"Now everything is ruined. I want people to remember him the way he was - he was a beautiful person."
George Michael earned a legion of fans after bursting onto the music scene in the 1980s CREDIT: CHRIS CRAYMER
In recent years, the hedonistic lifestyle that the singer became famous for had left the once dashingly handsome pop icon a bloated version of himself.
It can also be revealed that during the past year he is thought to have been battling a spiralling heroin addiction.
A source revealed yesterday that Michael had been treated in hospital for an overdose.
“He's been rushed to A&E on several occasions," the source said. "He used heroin. I think it’s amazing he’s lasted as long as he has.”
Cardiac arrest - the cause of death according to Michael's manager, Michael Lipman - is common among heroin users.
It was a deeply sad death for a man whose bravery in forcing the world to come to terms with his sexuality on his terms was widely admired, but who was dogged by the long shadow of Aids.
The condition took several friends and at least one lover and had initially forced him to keep the truth about his homosexuality hidden for fear of terrifying his mother about the consequences.
Fans left floral tributes outside his h Fans left floral tributes outside his home home in Goring CREDIT: ANDREW MATTHEWS/PA
His former partner Kenny Goss described him as an "extremely kind and generous man".
In a statement, he said: "I'm heartbroken with the news that my dear friend and long-time love George Michael has passed.
"He was a major part of my life and I loved him very, very much. He was an extremely kind and generous man.
"The beautiful memories and music he brought to the world will always be an important part of my life and those who also loved and admired him."
Neighbours near his home in Goring-on-Thames, near Oxford, which Michael bought for a reported £1.5 million in 1999, spoke movingly yesterday about his last few months.
Outside his home, two reindeer sculptures lit by fairy lights were still illuminated in the garden, while a Christmas wreath covered in apples, berries and pine cones hung on a side door.
The manager of the nearby Catherine Wheel pub, who wanted to remain anonymous, said Michael had been a regular face in the pub, but in recent years his appearances became few and far between.
"He has changed over the years, got a lot bigger and wore glasses. He was very self-conscious. He just did not look like George Michael any more. It's very sad.
"I went down to lay a candle outside his house with a group and they said the last time he was seen was watching the torchlight procession on Christmas Eve from the window."
Residents told how Michael chose to buy his home in Goring-on-Thames after he visited the area with Geri Halliwell and no one recognised him.
They said the star had become less visible in recent years and was rarely seen out and about, unless it was to buy packet of Rizla cigarette papers from the local newsagents.
Neighbours fear he spent Christmas Eve either alone or with his housekeeper.
Malcolm Allport, 80, reported seeing Christmas deliveries arriving, but no guests.
Church Warden David Beddall, 77, said: 'He came to the midnight service last year but he didn't come this year.
“He decorated the garden with Christmas lights so we knew he was there but we didn't see him."
George had maintained a low public profile in recent years, only communicating with fans through Twitter where he had insisted he was “perfectly fine”.
In his last Facebook post, the star said he was busy putting the finishing touches to a documentary called Freedom, which is due to air in March 2017.
On his 53nd birthday, on June 25, Michael apologised to fans for his absence from the limelight.
He wrote on Twitter: “To my lovelies and fans around the world, thank you for all the birthday wishes, I am truly overwhelmed. I am looking forward to spending it with friends and family, thank again, love The Singing Greek!”
The once fresh-faced boy from East Finchley, who had wowed the world with a song about enjoying life on unemployment benefit with his school friend Andrew Ridgeley, had long struggled with substance abuse.
In 2014/15, it was claimed that Michael had secretly spent a year in the £190,000-a-month Kusnacht Practice in Switzerland after becoming addicted to crack cocaine.
Michael’s spokesman said he had not entered rehab but instead had been "spending time in Europe" on an ‘"extended break".
George Michael had well publicised battles with drugs CREDIT: PA
What is certain is that the singer had a close brush with death as a result of contracting pneumonia in 2011, while on tour.
George started dating Texan art dealer Kenny Goss in 1996 and they broke up in 2009 - something the singer did not confirm for two years.
On the opening night of his Symphonica tour in 2011, he said: “I love him very much. This man has brought me a lot of joy and pain.”
His secret donations to charity
Quietly generous, Michael's many acts of kindness have begun to be revealed since his death.
A couple who desperately wanted a baby but could not afford fertility treatment and a debt-ridden student nurse were among those who he secretly donated small chunks of his fortune to.
The pop icon’s silent acts of philanthropy over the years added up to millions of pounds, it is now thought, as recipients began to come forward to reveal how his generosity changed lives.
Lynette Gillard, 38, from Bolton, received £15,000 from an anonymous donor in 2008 after her husband at the time Stephen appeared on the game show Deal or No Deal but walked away with £3000 - £5000 short of the amount needed for a round of IVF treatment.
The show’s former executive producer Richard Osman announced on Twitter that after a contestant said they needed money for fertility treatment, “George Michael secretly phoned the next day” and said he wanted to donate the thousands of pounds the couple needed.
Last night Ms Gillard said: “For many years I wondered who would have been so generous and now I know. What more can I say other than thank you George.”
A spokesman for Deal or No Deal would not confirm whether Ms Gillard’s mystery donation was from Michael, saying: “Anonymous donations are kept private in line with the donor’s wishes."
George Michael was an iconic figure in the global music industry
The author and journalist Sali Hughes said that Michael once tipped a barmaid £5,000 because she was a student nurse who was in debt.
She added that Michael was the only star on the celebrity version of the game show Who Wants To Be a Millionaire who felt comfortable gambling with all the money he had raised for his chosen charity because he had decided he would pay back the money out of his own pocket if he lost.
A population declines for many wildlife species in Africa, conservationists are sounding alarm bells for the cheetah, the fastest animal on land.
An estimated 7,100 cheetahs remain in the wild across Africa and in a small area of Iran, and human encroachment has pushed the wide-ranging predator out of 91 percent of its historic habitat, according to a study published on Monday.
Consequently, the cheetah should be defined as "endangered" instead of the less serious "vulnerable" on an official watch list of threatened species worldwide, the study said.
"This period is really crunch time for species like cheetah that need these big areas," said Sarah Durant, a cheetah specialist at the Zoological Society of London and the lead author of the report published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
About 77 percent of cheetah habitats fall outside wildlife reserves and other protected areas, the study said, requiring outreach to governments and villages to promote tolerance for a carnivore that sometimes hunts livestock.
Besides habitat loss, cheetahs face attacks from villagers, loss of antelope and other prey that are killed by people for their meat, an illegal trade in cheetah cubs, the trafficking of cheetah skins and the threat of getting hit by speeding vehicles.
A cheetah has been recorded running at a speed of 29 meters (95 feet) per second. The species may move more slowly while hunting and it can only maintain top speeds for a few hundred meters.
More than half of the world's cheetahs live in southern Africa, including in Namibia and Botswana, which have relatively sparse human populations. Cheetahs have been virtually wiped out in Asia, save for fewer than 50 in Iran, according to the study, whose contributors included the Panthera group and the Wildlife Conservation Society.
Durant said there was uncertainty over the 7,100 number, which was based on data from experts in areas where cheetahs live and estimates for other areas. Cheetahs are difficult to find because they move over vast regions, she said.
Durant also led a previous assessment of nearly 6,700 cheetahs published last year by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, which keeps a watch list of threatened species. Since then, experts have provided new information and refined counting methods, contrasting with rough estimates in the 10,000-range in recent decades.
The cheetah population in Zimbabwe declined from an estimated 1,500 in 1999 to between 150 and 170, according to a survey conducted between 2013 and 2015 by a group called Cheetah Conservation Project Zimbabwe. The group solicited cheetah photographs and reports of sightings from tourists, safari guides and others and interviewed more than 1,000 people, including village heads and cattle managers.
Mavenvision Stock Imagery, Los Angeles
Cheetah experts note that Angola is developing a plan to protect cheetahs and African wild dogs. That could yield better data on cheetah numbers in a country where information has been thin, said Rosemary Groom, a conservationist who participated in an October workshop on the subject in Angola's Quicama National Park.
Despite habitat loss across the continent, the Mara area in southwest Kenya and in the adjacent Serengeti National Park in Tanzania still offers a refuge, said Femke Broekhuis, head of the Mara Cheetah Project. Recent data from a GPS collar on one Mara cheetah showed that it traveled 19 kilometers (12 miles) overnight, she said.
Cheetahs often roam alone, though on Monday morning Broekhuis saw a rare sight: five male cheetahs, together.
While not everything smartphone makers announced in 2016 was a hit, seemingly small features became must-haves throughout the year.
In 2016, we saw some phone manufacturers take big risks, trying to push the boundaries of what a smartphone should do, while other companies played it safe.
LG and Lenovo each tried to create a modular ecosystem, while Google walked away from the idea altogether. Apple even got on board with water resistance, and then Google jumped into the smartphone war.
The new iPhones can withstand a splash or quick drop in the pool -- or even worse, the toilet -- and most likely will continue to work without issue.
For its part, Samsung brought the feature back to its Galaxy S7/S7 Edge, as well as the doomed Note 7, after waterproofing the Galaxy S5, but not the Galaxy S6 lineup.
Water resistance is a feature you hope to never have to use, but it provides peace of mind and a reassurance that your investment is protected during random mishaps.
Going forward, water resistance is sure to become a feature expected of flagship smartphones. Reading through reviews of the Google Pixel, for example, there was a lot of disappointment due to the lack of water resistance -- and rightfully so for a phone priced over $650.
The technology, which makes a phone immune to an occasional dip without impacting aesthetics, exists, and it's time phone makers far and wide begin using it.
Modularity fell flat
The Moto Z Play and Hasselblad True Zoom Moto Mod.
When LG announced its flagship smartphone in 2016, the G5, it included a removable battery. Only, instead of removing the back of the phone to get at the battery, the bottom chin of the device pulled out of the phone.
Users could then put in a new battery or enhance the capabilities of the phone using a series of modules. Surely, you saw the commercial featuring Jason Statham dressed up as various characters, swapping modules in and out of the G5.
Despite no announcement regarding the company's next smartphone, presumably the G6, reports already indicate LG has decided to forget about adding modules to phones.
Lenovo's Moto division is still pushing forward with Moto Mods on the Moto Z line of devices. Instead of removing the battery to swap out a mod, thus forcing the device to power off and back on, Moto Mods use magnets to activate and stay attached to the phone.
Google's Project Ara, a phone designed from the ground up as modular, so you can swap out processors and camera sensors, was reportedly canceled during the year.
Moto's implementation is better than LG's, and I rather liked the Hasselblad True Zoom Moto Mod, but it's still unclear if modular phones are the future. ZDNet Contributor Ross Rubin said they aren't sticking.
Owning The Entire Experience
Google Pixel XL's back is half metal, half glass. It's different, but not as ugly as I expected it to be.
After years of rumors and speculation, Google released a phone of its own. The Pixel and Pixel XL, for all intents and purposes, are Google's.
Through a partnership with HTC, which acted as a contract manufacturer working with Google, Google took control of the entire Android experience.
Historically, Google's Nexus phone line used a reference design from a phone manufacturer and ran a "pure" version of Android. The end result was often a decent phone, with a disappointing camera and less-than-stellar battery life.
With the Pixel, however, Google was able to tweak the processor to ensure the battery lasted all day, along with fine tuning the camera module to get the best photos possible. And it succeeded.
The Pixel, for many, including yours truly, is the phone of 2016. It puts Google on course to seriously compete with Apple, on its own, while also forcing its Android partners to improve their own products.
For the most part, 2016 was a year of slight iterations and changes, interspersed with companies trying to set themselves apart from the pack.
Google's Pixel XL next to Apple's iPhone 7 Plus.
With rumors suggesting 2017 will usher in radical changes for Samsung and Apple smartphones, the future sounds more exciting than ever.
Ex-Wham! member and London-born singer and songwriter George Michael has passed away. He was 53.
Michael (probably one of the biggest musicians of the 80s along with Prince, Michael, Whitney and Madonna) was born Georgios Kyriacos Panayitou in 1963. He was a member of the pop duo Wham! from 1981 to 1986. Wham! sold more than 25 million albums.
Michael sold more than 80 million records worldwide as a solo artist. His first album, "Faith," sold more than 20 million copies. Billboard magazine named Michael the 40th most successful artist on its Hot 100 Top All Time Artists List in 2008. His many hits included "Careless Whisper," "Freedom" and "Father Figure."
Michael was named the most played artist on British radio from 1984 to 2004 by the Radio Academy.
In 1991, Michael and Elton John joined musical forces with a live rendition of John's 1974 hit "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me." The performance reached number one on the Billboard Top 100 the following year.
The BBC was the first to report Michael's death. The cause of death was heart failure, according to Billboard and The Hollywood Reporter. The pop star's death stunned the entertainment community. His U.S. publicist, Cindi Berger, told the Associated Press he had not been ill.
"It is with great sadness that we can confirm our beloved son, brother and friend George passed away peacefully at home over the Christmas period. The family would ask that their privacy be respected at this difficult and emotional time. There will be no further comment at this stage," Michael's publicist said.
Thames Valley Police said South Central Ambulance Service arrived at a property in Goring in Oxfordshire at 1:42 GMT, according to BBC.
Police say no suspicious circumstances were involved.
Michael’s first solo album, 1987’s Faith, confirmed that. With six top-five singles — among them the title track, the then-controversial smash I Want Your Sex and the rhapsodic Father Figure — Faith dominated the charts for much of 1988, and has sold more than 25 million copies worldwide to date. But Michael’s solo debut, which earned a Grammy Award in 1989 for album of the year, was more than a commercial milestone. Faith’s artful blend of pop, funk and blue-eyed-soul textures made it the first album by a Caucasian artist to reach the top position on Billboard’s R&B chart. Michael’s intense creative involvement — he wrote all the songs, most independently, and also produced — helped reshape the template for pop acts. Even Michael Jackson hadn’t been quite so autonomous, collaborating heavily with Quincy Jones and others on his ’80s megahits. George Michael, the British singer, musician and founding member of Wham!, died over the Christmas holiday, his publicist confirms to USA TODAY. He was 53.
"It is with great sadness that we can confirm our beloved son, brother and friend George passed away peacefully at home over the Christmas period," read a statement sent to USA TODAY by Michael's London-based publicist, Connie Filippello. "The family would ask that their privacy be respected at this difficult and emotional time. There will be no further comment at this stage."
George Michael, pictured here in September 2010, died over the Christmas holiday. The musician died in Goring, England.
The BBC was the first to report Michael's death. The cause of death was heart failure, according to Billboard and The Hollywood Reporter. Elton John wrote on Instagram. "I have lost a beloved friend — the kindest, most generous soul and a brilliant artist. My heart goes out to his family and all of his fans." Michael sold more than 80 million albums globally, earned numerous Grammy Awards, and recorded duets with Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles, Luciano Pavarotti and John, among others.
Stunned stars react to George Michael's death
Few teen idols have made critics eat their words more handily than Michael did back in his late-’80s heyday, when the former Wham! frontman emerged as one of the most successful and admired singer/songwriters of that decade. But in the years that followed, Michael made news more frequently for his professional struggles and personal scandal, even as he continued to record and tour profitably and inspire younger acts. Born Georgios Panayiotou in North London — his father was a Greek immigrant — Michael met another aspiring musician, Andrew Ridgeley, while both were attending secondary school in Hertfordshire. By 1982, they were recording together as the bubble-gum duo Wham!, and within two years they would be among the world’s most popular acts, with bouncy hits such as Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go and Freedom becoming staples of the early MTV era.
One song from Wham!’s American breakthrough album, Make It Big, was credited to Michael as a solo artist when it was released as a single: the lovelorn ballad Careless Whisper, which reached No. 1 in the U.K., the USA and various other countries. That feat, and subsequent well-received solo turns, including a duet with Aretha Franklin (1987’s I Knew You Were Waiting for Me), led many to suspect that Wham!’s frontman had abilities and ambitions beyond making little girls scream.
Garth Brooks and George Michael perform at the Equality Rocks concert at RFK Stadium in Washington, D.C. Michael’s first solo album, 1987’s Faith, confirmed that. With six top-five singles — among them the title track, the then-controversial smash I Want Your Sex and the rhapsodic Father Figure — Faith dominated the charts for much of 1988, and has sold more than 25 million copies worldwide to date.
But Michael’s solo debut, which earned a Grammy Award in 1989 for album of the year, was more than a commercial milestone. Faith’s artful blend of pop, funk and blue-eyed-soul textures made it the first album by a Caucasian artist to reach the top position on Billboard’s R&B chart. Michael’s intense creative involvement — he wrote all the songs, most independently, and also produced — helped reshape the template for pop acts. Even Michael Jackson hadn’t been quite so autonomous, collaborating heavily with Quincy Jones and others on his ’80s megahits. If Faith clearly demanded a new level of respect, some viewed Michael’s behavior in its wake as self-defeating. He refused to actively promote his much-anticipated follow-up album, 1990’s Listen Without Prejudice Vol. 1, and didn't appear in its music videos; for the hit single Freedom! '90, he memorably tapped a bevy of supermodels, among them Christy Turlington and Naomi Campbell, to lip-sync the lyrics. Listen yielded other hits, notably the chart-topping first single Praying for Time, but didn’t approach the massive success of its predecessor. The BBC was the first to report Michael's death. The cause of death was heart failure, according to Billboard and The Hollywood Reporter. The pop star's death stunned the entertainment community. His U.S. publicist, Cindi Berger, told the Associated Press he had not been ill.
"I am in deep shock," Elton John wrote on Instagram. "I have lost a beloved friend — the kindest, most generous soul and a brilliant artist. My heart goes out to his family and all of his fans." Michael sold more than 100 million albums globally, earned numerous Grammy Awards, and recorded duets with Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles, Luciano Pavarotti and John, among others.
Stunned stars react to George Michael's death
Few teen idols have made critics eat their words more handily than Michael did back in his late-’80s heyday, when the former Wham! frontman emerged as one of the most successful and admired singer/songwriters of that decade. But in the years that followed, Michael made news more frequently for his professional struggles and personal scandal, even as he continued to record and tour profitably and inspire younger acts. He continued to release albums — Michael's last studio effort, the aptly titled Patience, came out in 2004, and his final album was 2014's live Symphonica — but his music career would be overshadowed by his tabloid exploits. Longstanding questions about Michael’s sexual orientation came to the fore in 1998, when he was arrested for lewd behavior after revealing himself to another man, who turned out to be a police officer, in a public restroom in Beverly Hills.
Michael would later make light of the incident, and became more open about his homosexuality. Having lost a partner, Brazilian designer Anselmo Feleppa, to a cerebral hemorrhage in 1993, Michael began a long-term relationship a few years later, with Texas-born businessman Kenny Goss; they split in 2009. The singer, whose charity work dates back to his participation in the 1984 Band Aid single Do They Know It’s Christmas?, also raised money for AIDS research and terminally ill children. There would be other run-ins with the law for Michael, who between 2006 and 2010 was arrested several times in London for possession of drugs and driving under the influence. Michael was hospitalized in November 2011 in Austria for pneumonia after postponing a series of concerts.
In 2004, the Radio Academy declared that his music had been played on British radio more than that of any artist between 1984 and 2004.
That year, Michael told USA TODAY that he “was kind of glad that my success level went down in America. I got more of a life, got to enjoy being in America, with less attention than I was used to in Europe. But now I’m strong again. I feel ready to take on the world.” Follow @mavenstark
