LOS ANGELES: Larry King, the suspenders-sporting everyman whose broadcast interviews with world leaders, movie stars and ordinary Joes helped define American conversation for a half-century, died Saturday. He was 87.King died at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, Ora Media, the studio and network he co-founded, tweeted. No cause of death was given, but CNN had earlier reported he was hospitalized with COVID-19.A longtime nationally syndicated radio host, from 1985 through 2010 he was a nightly fixture on CNN, where he won many honors, including two Peabody awards.With his celebrity interviews, political debates and topical discussions, King wasn't just an enduring on-air personality. He also set himself apart with the curiosity be brought to every interview, whether questioning the assault victim known as the ``Central Park Jogger'' or billionaire industrialist Ross Perot, who in 1992 rocked the presidential contest by announcing his candidacy on King's show.In its early years, ``Larry King Live'' was based in Washington, D.C., which gave the show an air of gravitas. Likewise King. He was the plainspoken go-between through whom Beltway bigwigs could reach their public, and they did, earning the show prestige as a place where things happened, where news was made.King conducted an estimated
LONDON (AFP) - The UK said on Sunday (Jan 17) it had intensified efforts to secure the release from Teheran of detained British-Iranian woman Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe after her family said her detention could end in seven weeks. "I think that's based on the existing sentence," Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said of the timeline, stressing that Iran had repeatedly dashed hopes for Zaghari-Ratcliffe's release after postponing another trial in November. Britain is "pushing as hard as we can to get the immediate release, not in seven weeks, but as soon as possible, of Nazanin and all of our other dual nationals", Mr Raab told Sky News. "We have intensified those negotiations and are leaving no stone unturned, and I want to get Nazanin released, absolutely as soon as possible." Mr Raab added that with the inauguration next week of Mr Joe Biden's US administration, the "contours and the thinking" in Iran may change, and there may be "additional possibilities". The comments were welcomed by Zaghari-Ratcliffe's husband Richard Ratcliffe, who has campaigned for her release since she was arrested at Teheran airport in April 2016 after visiting relatives with their young daughter.
MOSCOW (AFP) - Moscow on Sunday (Jan 10) confirmed its first case of the new UK coronavirus strain, despite an earlier decision by officials to suspend flights from Britain to stop the mutation reaching Russia. One person returning to Russia from the UK was found to have been infected with the new strain, the head of Russia's health regulator Rospotrebnadzor told state-run television. Watchdog head Anna Popova did not specify when the individual tested positive for coronavirus or any other circumstances surrounding the discovery. The B117 coronavirus strain is thought to have first emerged in southeastern England late last year, and has since been detected in dozens of countries around the world. Officials in Moscow temporarily suspended flights to and from the UK in December, following a similar move by dozens of other countries in the wake of the emergence of the new strain. Russia has one of the highest infection rates in the world and officials on Sunday confirmed a total of nearly 3.5 million cases. Health officials last month admitted the country's virus toll was much higher than previously reported, making Russia the third-worst hit globally. The Kremlin
