CONGRATS TO HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS & WIFE MEGHAN, DUCHESS OF SUSSEX.
GOD BLESS THEM ALL.
Post Sources: CBS News, NY Times, Youtube
*** Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are officially parents to a baby boy.
The Duchess of Sussex gave birth to her first child early on Monday morning UK time, after months of speculation about her exact due date.
“Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Sussex was safely delivered of a son at 0526hrs (2.26pm Monday AEST),” Buckingham Palace said in a statement. “The baby weighs 7lbs 3oz (3.26kg).
The day of the royal wedding, we could not keep our eyes off her. What was she thinking, as she sat in the pews of the five-hundred-year-old chapel, enveloped in history and irony? I mean the mother of the bride, Doria Ragland. A millennium of world-shifting encounters—of violence and of romance and of acts in between—produced this scene: the sixty-one-year-old Ragland, an American who teaches yoga and does social work in Culver City, California, sitting in the opposite and equivalent seat to Queen Elizabeth II. They’d agreed on green, the color of beginnings—Ragland in churchy, pastel Oscar de la Renta, the Queen in electric-lime Stewart Parvin. One is a descendant of the enslaved, a child of the Great Migration and Jim Crow and seventies New Age spirituality; the other, the heir to and keeper of empire. Blood had long ago decided what life would be like for both.
But love barges in and finds a way. Love brings together Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, whose train of identifiers—biracial, actress, Angeleno, divorcée, feminist, former life-style blogger—complete the Mad Libs of the new American vogue. Love brings together their families: the House of Windsor and a one-woman house. Genuine attraction seemed to pulse between them, as Harry, biting his lip, giddily whispered to his bride, “You look amazing.” Markle’s doe eyes glinted. Nearby, Ragland radiated with what looked like maternal pride. Certainly it was more complex than just that.
Ragland isn’t an actress like her daughter, but she said many things with her face. Photographs of her and Markle pressed close to one another in the Rolls-Royce on the way to the chapel show the mother trying on a regent’s wave, smiling warmly but tentatively. Inside, she executed her duties with grace. Her locs had been swept beneath her pillbox hat; the shine of her tiny nose ring gleamed like the shine in her eyes. There was not much emoting in the crowd of royal fascinators, although many screwed their faces as Bishop Michael Bruce Curry, the first black head of the Episcopal Church, thundered in his sermon about the possibility of a “new world.” But one could perceive Ragland softly reeling beneath her composure. Her lips trembled as her daughter walked down the aisle. She cried gently. When Curry spoke about the example of Martin Luther King, Jr., and the power of radical, social love, she nodded unreservedly; when the East London choir roused the room with Ben E. King’s “Stand By Me,” she swayed. Sometimes the cameras would catch Ragland as if she were in a trance, lost in some intimate thought.
What we know of the relationship between mother and daughter has an “us against the world” feel to it. After her parents divorced, when she was six, Markle spent weekdays with her mother. Ragland doted on her only child, calling her “Flower.” When Markle became wealthy, she paid for her mother to attend graduate school; in a Mother’s Day post on her blog, she swooned with reverence over Ragland’s resilience. There’s no “Imitation of Life” drama here, in which the mixed-race daughter shuns her darker-skinned mother. Markle clearly delights in what she euphemizes as her mother’s “free spirit.” But they are different women. Markle makes it a point to call herself biracial. She vaguely invokes the “wounds” of American history, but is careful not to frame herself as a race hero. The skin of the mother is honey brown, but the daughter has been cast as ethnically ambiguous. In essays, Markle recalls that, as a child, strangers in the Valley mistook her mother for her nanny. In front of billions, Markle entered one of the oldest halls of whiteness, with the flowers of former colonies sewn onto her veil, and blended in. Ragland stood out.
It is true that Markle and her groom beautifully threaded black rituals throughout the ceremony. But claims about the wedding’s “wokeness” are a little jarring. This was a royal marriage set against the backdrop of the government threatening to deport Britons of the Windrush generation. Was that melancholy in Ragland’s eyes? A worry about whether her daughter would be truly accepted in the family, and what she may have to do to usher in that acceptance? Did she recall the Christmas luncheon that Markle attended in December, at which Princess Michael of Kent wore a blackamoor brooch clipped to her jacket? Markle had longtime friends in her party, but Ragland was the sole representative of her family. Ragland’s mother, Jeannette, who reportedly watched Markle as a child while Doria worked, died in 2000. Through her presence, Ragland implied a lineage of black women—and represented the fraught lineage of a nation.
It should not be lost on anyone that, despite the pitiful shenanigans of her ex-husband, Thomas Markle, and the gossiping of her ex-step-children, Ragland flew to Heathrow to do what black women do: straighten the mess up. One vision of the black mother depends on this kind of self-effacing altruism. The public has fallen for Ragland. On Twitter, people speculate that Lady Diana Spencer, whose legend of social rebellion is especially idolized by black women, would have adored her. At an afternoon tea on Friday, Ragland “charmed” the Queen, and she has quit her job at the mental-health clinic to avoid the paparazzi. The big interview will likely come via Oprah, who, swaggering into the castle on Saturday in pink, called attention to her own supremacy. But how Ragland will participate in the cult of her daughter’s marriage is yet to be seen. There is new pressure on the Duke and Duchess of Sussex—who take their titles after the first and only Duke of Sussex, who supported abolition—to liven up the monarchy’s social reputation. The hunger for a cordial kind of racial harmonizing is strong. I know Markle feels that burden, and I know that Ragland does, too.
Representation matters. We’ve both heard and said it repeatedly: our visibility and presence—in every arena—is vital to our perception of ourselves and what spaces we believe we deserve to occupy, both in the world and in the scope of the human imagination.
And yet, as The Root covered the marriage of Meghan Markle into the British monarchy, repeatedly we heard some variation of any or all of the following questions:
“Why are you reporting on this? Why should we care? What does this mean for us?”
Let’s get one thing out of the way up front: we’re a black news site (don’t @ me about that fact while you’re using Al Gore’s internet; I know who I work with and to whom I report), so the question of why we’d cover the entry of a biracial American actress into the British royal family is basically asking us why we’re doing our jobs properly. (Which is a dumb question, so cut it out.)
But aside from that, contrary to Al Sharpton’s surprisingly naive opinion, no one here is under the illusion that the new Duchess of Sussex is going to change the course of white supremacy—or the long and brutal history of imperialism and colonialism that Britain has both perpetuated and passed down to its younger brother, America. If the election of the first black biracial American president only served to stoke the ire of the irrationally entitled, an interracial marriage into the British monarchy is probably not going to spontaneously inspire world peace (or solve racism, hunger or inequality), amirite?
Frankly, that’s not even a fair expectation to place upon Markle’s newly crowned head, as ending any ism remains the job of those who perpetuate it. And, as the royal family is currently more of a PR-driving figurehead than absolute British rule, it’d be a losing battle, anyway.
But with that in mind, it could be argued that the question of Meghan Markle’s relevance is only, well, a relevant question if one is predominantly concerned with the white gaze—and the white supremacy so often adjacent to it.
Fun fact: When I was a little girl, my parents refused to buy me any dolls that weren’t black because they didn’t want me to aspire to a beauty standard that didn’t include me (forget the skinny and perpetually in heels part). Accordingly, my Barbie Christie collection (which didn’t really resemble me, either, tbh) was pitifully small, which was fairly devastating to an already fashion-obsessed child.
It would take Mattel 40 years to introduce a full range of dolls that could even hope to begin to reflect the range of children (and doll enthusiasts) who want to be part of the Barbie universe. I now have a young niece who’s only just beginning to take an interest in dolls; despite my own childhood disappointment, should I not consider it progress that if and when she asks for a Barbie, I can now get her one that has a massive mane of naturally textured hair, just like her?
Meghan Markle is a living, breathing human being—a fact many seem to forget when discussing her—and while very light-complected and straight-haired, is the first black woman to be openly acknowledged by the British royal family (despite not being the first to potentially enter the royal bloodline; she’s not even the only black princess in Europe). Is that not a space we are (finally) entitled to be represented in, too?
Yesterday, those of us who were interested enough to watch (or were professionally obligated to) were given indisputable evidence that Meghan Markle knows exactly who she is, and what she represents—and clearly wanted the world to know it, too. She may have married a wealthy white man, but the question of her own identity was well-answered; not that she hasn’t answered it before, years before her engagement was announced:
Growing up in a homogeneous community in Pennsylvania, the concept of marrying an African-American woman was not on the cards for my dad. But he saw beyond what was put in front of him in that small-sized (and, perhaps, small-minded) town. ... He wanted me to find my own truth.
Markle’s truth was evident in the choice of a black priest to deliver an impassioned homily at her wedding. It was evident in the gospel choir that followed. It was evident in her musical selections. And most profoundly, there was tangible evidence of Markle’s heritage in her mother, Doria Ragland, to whom Markle once wrote a deeply loving tribute on her now-defunct blog, The Tig.
From the looks of it, Markle has been clear about her identity for quite some time. And whether or not a royal wedding—or the idea of “royalty” at all—personally resonates with you, to question whether or not she “matters” is, in some ways, to question whether or not you do.
Because bottom line: Representation does matter. While I don’t personally aspire to be a princess (or know anyone who does, though I’m sure they’re out there), if only mere months ago we were collectively overjoyed to meet the fictional black princess of a country that only exists onscreen, does it really make sense to be dismissive of a real one in one of the most powerful countries in the world?
It doesn’t unless you’re really dismissive of whom she chose to marry. And that’s your prerogative; just call a thing a thing, rather than dismissing the entire affair. (I personally just shrug at people marrying folks that look like their one of their parents, but that’s me.)
As to the question of what impact Markle’s presence and story will or should have, that was perhaps best answered by British writer and broadcaster Afua Hirsch, who has been very open about her own experiences growing up biracial in Britain, and was one of many commentators who spoke to BBC America just prior to Saturday’s nuptials:
I think the challenge for the royal family is how to be a family that represents very old-fashioned values—of intergenerational inherited privilege—in a society that’s about equality of opportunity and multiculturalism. And I think that Meghan Markle is certainly someone who represents the latter; she has become successful through her own talent and hard work, she’s used her celebrity to champion causes that she’s passionate about, and also, as a woman of mixed heritage, she hasn’t shied away from speaking about that; she’s owned it.
And for me, as a black British woman of mixed heritage myself, I think there’s been a lot of pressure in my lifetime in this country—if you’re entering spaces that have previously been very white—to downplay your identity. And I think she represents a real cultural change in her willingness not to minimize it, but to speak about it. And for me, that sends a powerful signal, that you can own your identity and it’s not a taboo; it’s not something to shy away from. And that also, there is nothing essentially ‘white’ about Britishness.
You know, for a lot of people, the royal family represents a sense of British identity, and until now, that has been an identity very much linked to whiteness in many people’s perceptions. So, I think the visual and symbolic change that Meghan’s entry into that family represents is actually quite profound.
Born: Emmanuel Olajide A Olaniyan
27 November 1997 (age 19)
Lewisham, London
Nationality British
Occupation TV Presenter, YouTuber, Actor
Years active 2012-Present
Emmanuel Olaniyan (born 27 November 1997) is an Nigerian British YouTube Personality, better known by his online name Eman Kellam, born (November 27, 1997) Lewisham, London, in the United Kingdom.
David Cameron has resigned as prime minister after Britain voted to leave the European Union.
The prime minister said Britain required "fresh leadership" to negotiate the country's exit from the EU.
"I do not think it would be right for me to be the captain that steers our country to its next destination," he said in a statement outside Downing Street.
He promised to "steady the ship" over the coming months before stepping down in October.
Mr Cameron said the result was the "will of the British people" which was an "instruction which must be delivered".
Mr Cameron was close to tears as he announced his decision.
The referendum, called by Mr Cameron, delivered a shock victory for the Leave campaign.
The Brexit vote immediately sent the pound tumbling and sparked calls for his resignation.
Boris Johnson is the favourite to replace Mr Cameron.
The referendum turnout was 71.8% - with more than 30 million people voting - the highest turnout at a UK election since 1992.
Wales and the majority of England outside London voted in large numbers for Brexit.
Labour's Shadow chancellor John McDonnell said the Bank of England may have to intervene to shore up the pound, which lost 3% within moments of the first result showing a strong result for Leave in Sunderland and fell as much as 6.5% against the euro.
'Independence day'
UKIP leader Nigel Farage - who has campaigned for the past 20 years for Britain to leave the EU - told cheering supporters "this will be a victory for ordinary people, for decent people".
Mr Farage - who predicted a Remain win at the start of the night after polls suggested that would happen - said Thursday 23 June would "go down in history as our independence day".
He called on Prime Minister David Cameron, who called the referendum but campaigned passionately for a Remain vote, to quit "immediately".
A Labour source said: "If we vote to leave, Cameron should seriously consider his position."
But pro-Leave Conservatives including Boris Johnson and Michael Gove have signed a letter to Mr Cameron urging him to stay on whatever the result.
Labour former Europe Minister Keith Vaz told the BBC the British people had voted with their "emotions" and rejected the advice of experts who had warned about the economic impact of leaving the EU.
He said the EU should call an emergency summit to deal with the aftermath of the vote, which he described as "catastrophic for our country, for the rest of Europe and for the rest of the world".
Germany's foreign minister Frank Walter Steinmeier described the referendum result as as "a sad day for Europe and Great Britain".
But Leave supporting Tory MP Liam Fox said voters had shown great "courage" by deciding to "change the course of history" for the UK and, he hoped, the rest of Europe.
And he called for a "period of calm, a period of reflection, to let it all sink in and to work through what the actual technicalities are," insisting that Mr Cameron must stay on as PM.
Exit process
Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has said that the EU vote "makes clear that the people of Scotland see their future as part of the European Union" after all 32 local authority areas returned majorities for Remain.
London has voted to stay in the EU by around 60% to 40%.
However, no other region of England has voted in favour of remaining.
The referendum has underlined the social and cultural gap between London and provincial England.
Remain's defeat seems to have been primarily the product of the decisions made by voters living north of the M4.
Throughout the Midlands and the North of England the level of support for Remain was well below what was required for it to win at least 50% of the vote across the UK as a whole.
Britain would be the first country to leave the EU since its formation - but a leave vote will not immediately mean Britain ceases to be a member of the 28-nation bloc.
That process could take a minimum of two years, with Leave campaigners suggesting during the referendum campaign that it should not be completed until 2020 - the date of the next scheduled general election.
The prime minister will have to decide when to trigger Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty, which would give the UK two years to negotiate its withdrawal.
Once Article 50 has been triggered a country can not rejoin without the consent of all member states.
Mr Cameron has previously said he would trigger Article 50 as soon as possible after a leave vote but Boris Johnson and Michael Gove who led the campaign to get Britain out of the EU have said he should not rush into it.
But they also said they want to make immediate changes before the UK actually leaves the EU, such as curbing the power of EU judges and limiting the free movement of workers, potentially in breach the UK's treaty obligations.
The government will also have to negotiate its future trading relationship with the EU and fix trade deals with non-EU countries.
In Whitehall and Westminster, there will now begin the massive task of unstitching the UK from more than 40 years of EU law, deciding which directives and regulations to keep, amend or ditch.
The Leave campaign argued during a bitter four-month referendum campaign that the only way Britain could "take back control" of its own affairs would be to leave the EU.
Leave dismissed warnings from economists and international bodies about the economic impact of Brexit as "scaremongering" by a self-serving elite.
CURLY PROVERBZ, THE HENNA QUEEN: DON'T SLEEP ON HER CHANNEL
Sources: Black Girl Long Hair, YouTube
If you've never visited the YouTube channel of Natural hair/ Health Vlogger Curly Proverbz I encourage you to please do so today.
Curly Proverbz (real name Farida) is from Ghana but currently resides in the UK.
She is married, has children, works and manages a successful YouTube channel.
She is a beautiful, pleasant young woman with a head full of naturally long, healthy hair who shows other women how to grow and maintain their own hair via the use of Henna and DIY Oil mixtures.
F: My Name is Farida, also known as Remedy on my YouTube channel and I am from London.
Why did you make the decision to go natural?
F: I have been relaxer free for just over two and a half years. There was a time that I thought going relaxer free was crazy, I mean why would anyone choose that? Boy have my views changed. My mum used to texlax my hair every 8 weeks, however around the time I was due a relaxer she was on a vacation and for the first time in over 18 years I saw some of the texture, which I had previously avoided like the plague. It was a revelation and I loved what I saw.
How would you describe your texture?
F: I have a thick head of hair, which is 3a in the back and 3c at the front.
Describe your styling regimen over the course of the month.
F: I do a three week rotation in my regimen. I do a monthly henna treatment after washing my hair with African Black Soap to strengthen my hair, and always follow this with a moisturizing deep conditioner. The following week I cowash and deep condition. In the final week of my rotation I cleanse with Rhassoul Clay and follow with a deep condition again. This ensures a balance of strength and moisture.
Describe your favorite go-to hairstyle for days when you don’t have a lot of time to style.
F: I just moisturize, seal and throw my hair up into a simple bun.
How do you combat shrinkage?
F: I am not too bothered about shrinkage, but whenever I do want to stretch out my hair I detangle dry hair with coconut oil and place my hair into large twists to stretch it out. Alternatively I use the banding method.
What are some of your problem areas (if any) that require special care and attention?
F: Single strand knots – I seem to be getting more and more of these with increased length.
What are 2 do’s for your texture?
F: Do use aloe vera juice to get curls popping and shiny, and to minimize tangles. Use twists as a protective style to minimize tangles.
What are 2 don’ts for your texture?
F: Do not go for longer than a week without a deep condition and detangle. Do not comb out curls and leave hair out.
Is there a blog/webpage where we can find you?
F: Curly Proverbz on YouTube and Facebook. Instagram: Remz316. You can find videos of my hair journey, wash and go routine and regimen on my channel.
Abdelbeset Ali Mohmed al Megrahi, the only person convicted in connection with the Lockerbie bombing that killed 270 people, died Sunday, the Libyan government and a family member said.
He was 60.
The former intelligence officer, who had suffered from prostate cancer, will be buried Monday, a foreign ministry spokesman said.
Al Megrahi's cousin Omer al-Gharyani told CNN he was with al Megrahi at the Tripoli hospital when he died.
The destruction of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, in 1988 in the deadliest act of air terrorism against Americans until the September 11, 2001 attacks on New York and Washington, according to the FBI.
American and British investigators who painstakingly pieced together the wreckage of the Pan Am 103 found it had been destroyed by a bomb, and they accused al Megrahi and another man of planting it.
Al Megrahi -- once the security chief for Libyan Arab Airlines -- and Al Amin Khalifa Fhimah were Libyan intelligence agents, the United States and Britain charged, indicting them in November 1991 on 270 counts of murder and conspiracy to murder.
The indictment set off the first of two international battles over al Megrahi. The first resulted in international sanctions and finally led to his trial and conviction.
The second came after he was released from a Scottish prison, on the grounds that he was diagnosed with terminal prostate cancer in August 2009 and was expected to have only a few months to live. He was sent home to Libya on "compassionate" grounds, and received a hero's welcome at the airport.
His release -- a little more than eight years after being sentenced to life in prison -- and the celebrations that greeted him in Libya sparked condemnation from the U.S. and British governments and some victims' families.
The fury grew as he lived long past the time doctors had expected him to survive.
U.S. senators including Robert Menedez and Frank Lautenberg, both New Jersey Democrats, and Charles Schumer, a Democrat from New York, called for an Investigation into why he was set Free.
"This man was a horrible man," Schumer said Sunday in an interview with CNN. "It would have been better had he not died in freedom, but died in prison. That's what he deserved, and I still believe that the Scottish government, perhaps with the participation of the British government, created a major injustice when they let him out."
"The only legacy we have is in the memory of all those who were lost," Schumer added.
"...We have to just make sure we continue this battle against terrorism on airplanes. We made great progress and we have to keep it up."
As rebels swept into Tripoli two years after al Megrahi's release, politicians on both sides of the Atlantic called for him to be extradited, with the Americans demanding a trial in the United States, and British lawmakers saying he should return to prison in Scotland.
CNN Senior International Correspondent Nic Robertson tracked al Megrahi down last year at the palatial villa Moammar Gadhafi had built for him during his reign as Libyan leader. Al Megrahi was apparently in a coma and near death.
His family said al Megrahi's son and mother were trying to care for him with oxygen and an intravenous drip, but with no medical advice.
Al Megrahi's death may make it impossible ever to get the full story behind the Lockerbie bombing.
In an interview with Reuters last October, al Megrahi said the truth will come out "one day, and hopefully in the near future." He vowed that "new facts" would come to light.
When Washington and London accused him and Fhimah of responsibility for the attack, Libya refused at first to hand the men over.
That prompted the United Nations Security Council in April 1992 to slap sanctions on the north African country, clamping down on arms sales and air travel.
The FBI put the two on its 10 Most Wanted Fugitives list -- the only time officers of a foreign government have ever been named on the list, as far as the FBI knows, spokesman Ken Hoffman said.
Two years later, Libya floated the idea of trying the men in an international court, which the United States and Britain rejected.
In the summer of 1998, Libya made a fresh proposal: that the men face justice in the Netherlands under Scottish law.
By the end of the year, matters came to a head when Kofi Annan, then U.N. secretary-general, met Gadhafi in Tripoli.
Ten days later, a U.S. Appeals Court ruled that the families of the 189 Americans killed in the bombing could sue Libya for its possible role in sponsoring in the attack.
Libya agreed the next day to let the men face trial.
They were handed over on April 5, 1999, to the United Nations, which suspended its sanctions the same day.
The handover helped break a long-running standoff between the United States and Libya.
Two months later, American and Libyan officials met face-to-face for the first time in 18 years, and al Megrahi and Fhimah made their first court appearance before the end of the year.
The trial lasted nine months.
In 2001, al Megrahi was convicted of the murders after prosecutors dropped lesser charges, and was sentenced to life in prison, having to serve a minimum of 27 years. Scotland does not allow the death penalty. Fhimah was found not guilty.
Al Megrahi always insisted he was innocent, and filed one appeal after another against his conviction. The first was rejected in 2002.
Relations between the United States and Libya improved swiftly.
Libya agreed in 2003 to pay $2.7 billion in compensation to the families of the bombing victims, though Gadhafi always remained cagey about admitting official Libyan involvement in the bombing.
For his part, al Megrahi continued to fight to clear his name.
In June 2007, the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission allowed am fresh appeal, ruling that it had uncovered new evidence and that al Megrahi "may have suffered a miscarriage of justice."
Before the appeal could be heard, however, it emerged that al Megrahi had terminal prostate cancer.
Scottish Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill ordered him freed on compassionate grounds in August 2009. MacAskill had authority over al Megrahi's case because the convicted bomber was jailed in Scotland.
Al Megrahi dropped his appeal when he was freed. The release proved immediately controversial.
Some family members of Lockerbie victims complained that with the legal process ending when al Megrahi dropped his appeal, they would never know the full truth about the bombing.
The British press, meanwhile, alleged the release was tied to oil deals with Libya. British and Scottish officials denied the claim, and released more than 100 pages of previously secret documents to make their case.
The papers included a handwritten letter from al Megrahi to MacAskill, pleading to be allowed to see his family before he died, and continuing to proclaim his innocence.
The documents also showed that senior Libyan officials warned their Scottish and British counterparts it would be "catastrophic" for British-Libyan relations if al Megrahi died in prison.
When Al Megrahi returned to Libya on August 20, he was accompanied by Gadhafi's son, Saif al-Islam.
The younger Gadhafi confirmed that Libya was "very angry" at British efforts to keep al Megrahi out of a separate prisoner transfer agreement, but said ultimately, the bomber was released for a different reason anyway.
It "was based on the compassionate grounds, not because of business deals," he told CNN's Nic Robertson in early September. "The guy is sick, seriously sick.
He has cancer and because of that they made their decision and I think it was the right decision. Very simple."
Four current and former senior Sun journalists and one serving police officer have been arrested as part of Scotland Yard's investigation into police corruption.
The Metropolitan police have also launched a search at News International's headquarters in Wapping, east London, in an attempt to secure any potential evidence relating to alleged payments to police by journalists.
Officers were accompanied by lawyers who arrived at the Sun's offices between 6am and 8am on Saturday morning. They are there to ensure that "journalist privilege" in relation to sources is not compromised.
It is the first time since the phone-hacking scandal erupted that the Sun has been targeted in such a major way, but sources stressed the dawn raid had nothing to do with voicemail interception and was solely related to paying police for stories.
The four Sun employees arrested are understood to be Mike Sullivan, the Sun's crime editor, the former managing editor Graham Dudman, the executive editor, Fergus Shanahan, and Chris Pharo, a newsdesk executive.
The arrests came after information was passed to the police by News Corporation's internal investigations unit, the Management and Standards Committee. It was set up by Rupert Murdoch in the wake of the phone-hacking scandal, which erupted last July, and operates independently of News International.
It is understood that staff and management at the Sun had no warning of the police plans to make arrests or conduct a search of the paper's newsroom.
A statement from News Corp in New York said: "Metropolitan police service (MPS) officers from Operation Elveden today arrested four current and former employees from the Sun newspaper. Searches have also taken place at the homes and offices of those arrested.
"News Corporation made a commitment last summer that unacceptable news gathering practices by individuals in the past would not be repeated.
"It commissioned the Management and Standards Committee to undertake a review of all News International titles, regardless of cost, and to proactively co-operate with law enforcement and other authorities if potentially relevant information arose at those titles.
"As a result of that review, which is ongoing, the MSC provided information to the Elveden investigation which led to today's arrests.
"No comment can be made on the nature of that information to avoid prejudicing the investigation and the rights of individuals."
The Management and Standards Committee has been charged with ridding the company of old practices and illegal activities such as phone hacking which led to the abrupt closure of the News of the World in July after 168 years. One source said. "They are there to drain the swamp."
In his witness statement to the Leveson inquiry earlier this month, the Sun's editor, Dominic Mohan, said: "To the best of my knowledge, the Sun has never knowingly paid or made payments in kind to police … for information."
Scotland Yard confirmed in a statement that the investigation "relates to suspected payments to police officers and is not about seeking journalists to reveal confidential sources in relation to information that has been obtained legitimately."
It is understood that three of the four journalists were arrested before 8am on Saturday while the fourth was arrested in mid-morning.
"Home addresses of those arrested are currently being searched and officers are also carrying out a number of searches at the offices of News International in Wapping. These searches are expected to conclude this afternoon," the Met said in an earlier statement.
A source said police were interested in everything from "notepads, emails, Post-it notes".
All four men were being questioned at police stations in Essex and London, police said. Fourteen people have so far been arrested under Operation Elveden – 13 by the Metropolitan police and one by the Independent Police Complaints Commission.
The operation is being run in conjunction with Operation Weeting, the Met inquiry into the phone hacking of voicemail boxes.
It was launched after officers were handed documents suggesting that News International journalists made illegal payments to police officers.
Others questioned as part of the inquiry include the former News International chief executive Rebekah Brooks, the ex-Downing Street communications chief Andy Coulson, the former News of the World managing editor Stuart Kuttner, the paper's former royal editor Clive Goodman, the former News of the World crime editor Lucy Panton and the Sun district editor, Jamie Pyatt.
Brooks and Coulson are both former editors of the News of the World, which was closed in July at the height of the hacking scandal following revelations that the murdered teenager Milly Dowler's phone had been hacked.
Deborah Glass, the deputy chair of the Independent Police Complaints Commission, said: "It will be clear from today's events that this investigation is following the evidence.
"I am satisfied with the strenuous efforts being made by this investigation to identify police officers who may have taken corrupt payments, and I believe the results will speak for themselves."
Details surrounding Amy Winehouse's final hours became clearer as her family and friends laid her to rest today.
Kelly Osbourne and Mark Ronson were among the famous friends that joined Winehouse's family and loved ones at London's Edgwarebury Cemetery earlier today. Winehouse will be cremated following the service.
Winehouse's U.K.-based representative, Chris Goodman, told Britain's Daily Mail that her father gave a touching eulogy at today's ceremony.
"Mitch's last words to Amy in his eulogy were 'Goodnight my angel,'" Goodman said. "Sleep tight. Mummy and Daddy love you ever so much."
Reg Traviss, Winehouse's most recent boyfriend, attended the funeral and spoke to Britain's Sun newspaper about the singer's death, saying "I have lost my darling who I loved very much." Blake Fielder-Civil, Winehouse's ex-husband, was not in attendence. He's currently serving a 32 month jail sentence.
Rabbi Frank Hellner officiated the Jewish service in which family and friends sang Winehouse's favorite song, Carole King's "So Far Away." Afterwards, Winehouse's body was taken to Golders Green Crematorium, where her grandmother was cremated. Her family will sit shiva for two days in mourning.
What Killed Amy Winehouse?
U.K. officials began an autopsy Monday to determine what killed the 27-year-old singer, who was found dead in her home in London's Camden district Saturday. They are awaiting the results of a toxicology test, which are expected in two to four weeks. No formal cause of death has been established, and officials reportedly have found no paraphernalia or sign of drugs in Winehouse's home.
Winehouse's official cause of death will be released in October.
On Monday, Goodman revealed that a bodyguard hired to watch the singer was the first person to discover her death.
"She was in her bedroom after saying she wanted to sleep, and when he went to wake her, he found she wasn't breathing," he told the Sun. "He called the emergency services straight away. He was very shocked. At this stage no one knows how she died. She died alone in bed."
The Sun also reported that Winehouse had seen a doctor Friday night as part of a routine series of checkups, given her history of drug and alcohol abuse. The doctor saw nothing wrong.
The Grammy-winning singer was literally rocking out the night before she died, according to People magazine,
"We know that she was well enough to be playing drums well into Friday night," said Julie Dam, People's assistant managing editor. "We spoke to neighbors who said she was usually so quiet. It's worth noting that she was making a lot of noise that night."
But Winehouse's clean bill of health and activity prior to her death might have masked underlying problems from years of substance abuse that eventually killed her.
"She may have had asthma and emphysema because of her smoking," said Dr. Eric Braverman, an addiction specialist and author of the book "The Edge Effect." "From that, you can have a terrible respiratory arrest. You can have a seizure. Your lungs can choke off your trachea. It happens in asthmatics a lot."
Respiratory conditions might not have been picked up by Winehouse's physician.
"If you have a pulmonary disease, you need a lung function test, not a stethoscope," Braverman said. "So a simple physical that tells you you have a clean bill of health doesn't say much."
Winehouse's father told reporters in 2008 that she had been diagnosed with early-stage emphysema. She was also vocal about her struggles with eating disorders, which could have played a part in her death, too.
"You can also suffer cardiac arrhythmia from dieting and not eating properly," Braverman said. "Even panic attacks in her state can constrict the lungs and bring on death."
Amy Winehouse, British Soul Singer With a Troubled Life, Dies at 27 Amy Winehouse, the British singer who found worldwide fame with a sassy, hip-hop-inflected take on retro soul, yet became a tabloid fixture as her problems with drugs and alcohol led to a strikingly public career collapse, was found dead on Saturday in her apartment in London, the police said. She was 27.
The cause was not immediately known. The police said that they were investigating the circumstances of the death, but that “at this early stage it is being treated as unexplained.”
With a husky, tart voice and a style that drew equally from the sounds of Motown and the stark storytelling of rap, Ms. Winehouse became one of the most acclaimed young singers of the past decade, selling millions of albums, winning five Grammy Awards and starting a British retro-R&B trend that continues today.
Yet, almost from the moment she arrived on the international pop scene in early 2007, Ms. Winehouse appeared to flirt with self-destruction. She sang of an alcohol-soaked demimonde in songs like “Rehab” — whose refrain, “They tried to make me go to rehab/I said, ‘No, no, no,’ ” crystallized Ms. Winehouse’s persona — and before long it seemed to spill over into her personal life and fuel lurid headlines.
The interplay between Ms. Winehouse’s life and art made her one of the most fascinating figures in pop music since Kurt Cobain, whose demise in 1994 — also at age 27 — was preceded by drug abuse and a frustration with fame as something that could never be escaped. Yet in time, the notoriety from Ms. Winehouse’s various drug arrests, public meltdowns and ruined concerts overshadowed her talent as a musician, and her career never recovered.
On Saturday, as the news of Ms. Winehouse’s death spread, many musicians took to Twitter with deep sadness but no surprise. Lily Allen, who rose through the British pop scene shortly after Ms. Winehouse, called her “such a lost soul.” The singer Josh Groban wrote: “Drugs took her gift, her soul, her light, long before they took her life. RIP Amy.”
As much as her misfortunes eventually took on a sense of predictability, when Ms. Winehouse arrived with her breakthrough second album “Back to Black,” which was released in Britain in late 2006 and in the United States the next year, she was a fresh voice with a novel take on pop history. She spoke of her love for Frank Sinatra, Thelonious Monk and Motown, as well as Nas, the hard-core New York rapper with a sharp eye for narrative detail.
Her greatest love, however, was the 1960s girl groups, something that was evident from the instantly recognizable beehive hairdo and Cleopatra makeup that she borrowed from the Ronettes. In an interview with The Los Angeles Times in 2007, Ms. Winehouse explained how a breakup had inspired the songs on “Back to Black,” and described her state of mind in terms of music and alcohol.
“I didn’t want to just wake up drinking, and crying, and listening to Shangri-Las, and go to sleep, and wake up drinking, and listening to the Shangri-Las,” she said. “So I turned it into songs, and that’s how I got through it.”
Amy Jade Winehouse was born in Southgate, London, on Sept. 14, 1983. Her mother, Janis, was a pharmacist, and her father, Mitch, was a cab driver who nursed a love for music. They both survive her, along with a brother, Alex.
Ms. Winehouse showed an early talent for performing, as well as an eclecticism that would characterize her later work. She loved her father’s Sinatra records, but she also liked hip-hop; at age 10 she and a friend formed a rap group called Sweet ’n’ Sour that Ms. Winehouse later described as “the little white Jewish Salt-N-Pepa.” (Ms. Winehouse was the “sour” half.)
She attended the Sylvia Young Theater School in London and later went to the BRIT School for Performing Arts and Technology, a free performing arts school there that counts several other recent female pop stars among its alumnae, including Ms. Allen and Adele, another young singer who is sometimes seen as picking up the neo-soul mantle from Ms. Winehouse.
In 2003, at age 19, Ms. Winehouse released her first album, “Frank.” Influenced by jazz, it established her as a rising star in Britain. But “Back to Black,” recorded with the producers Mark Ronson and Salaam Remi, and the Brooklyn retro-soul band the Dap-Kings, made her an international sensation. With thick horns and club-ready hip-hop beats, the album was a darkly stylish update of classic 1960s R&B, and it was adored by critics and the public alike.
According to Nielsen SoundScan, which tracks music sales, Ms. Winehouse has sold 2.7 million albums and 3.4 million tracks in the United States.
Yet, while “Rehab” was still climbing the charts, Ms. Winehouse made headlines for drug binges and arrests that left her hospitalized and forced her to cancel concert dates.
In October 2007, Ms. Winehouse and her husband at the time, Blake Fielder-Civil, were arrested in Norway on charges of marijuana possession. A month later, Mr. Fielder-Civil was arrested and accused of perverting the course of justice by trying to bribe the victim in a bar fight not to testify against him. (Ms. Winehouse and Mr. Fielder-Civil divorced in 2009.)
Perhaps the peak of Ms. Winehouse’s career was the 2008 Grammy Awards. She was nominated for six prizes and took home five, including Best New Artist. Yet even days before the show, her appearance there was uncertain because of visa problems. In the end, she performed by satellite from London.
Although Ms. Winehouse has not made an album since “Back to Black,” she tried to revive her career several times. In a recent interview with The New York Times, Ms. Winehouse’s father, who released a jazz album this year, said she had been in good health lately. (Mr. Winehouse was scheduled to perform at the Blue Note jazz club in New York on Monday, but canceled after learning of his daughter’s death.)
Yet Ms. Winehouse’s most recent comeback attempt faltered badly. Last month, she canceled a European tour after a performance in Belgrade on the first night, during which she appeared to be too intoxicated to perform properly.
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