Supreme Court Will Hear the Affirmative Action Cas...

 The US Supreme Court agreed to review an appeal from a white student who was denied admission to the University of Texas because of her race.  

According to sources, the court said Tuesday it will return to the issue of affirmative action in higher education for the first time since its 2003 decision endorsing the use of race as a factor in admissions. 

However, the new case will be argued in October, weeks before the presidential election, because the Supreme Court’s calendar is filled through spring. 

The Obama Administration will not take part in on the issue even if it could choose to do so. Justice Elena Kagan also announced that she disqualified herself from hearing the case, presumably because she had worked on it previously as solicitor general. 

Arguments in the case will be heard during the court’s next term, which starts in October.

Whitney Houston’s funeral details

Whitney Houston’s family has decided to make available the Pop Superstar’s funeral services available on television and online this weekend.

A video camera will be installed in the church on Saturday to record the funeral at the New Hope Baptist Church in Newark, New Jersey.

Officials started to investigateHouston’s death after finding prescription drugs in her hotel room. The 48-years-old Whitney Houston was found unconscious in the bathtub by a member of her personal staff last Saturday night.

According to newspapers, Houston's funeral begins at 12:00 EST (17:00 GMT) on February 18 and is expected to last 90 minutes. Sources tell that Houston will be buried Saturday in Fair View Cemetery in Westfield, next to her dad. Whitney's father, John Russell Houston Jr, died in 2003.

A 9-year-old girl back home after six – orga...

A 9-year-oldMainegirl is back home from Children’s Hospital Boston, three month after a receiving multiple organs transplant. 

Last fall the doctors gave Alannah Shevenell six new organs in a transplant operation: a new stomach, liver, spleen, small intestine, pancreas, and part of an esophagus, which were been attacked by an extremely complicated tumor. 

“They come together sort of as a cluster, so it’s almost like transplanting one big organ,” said Dr. Heung Bae Kim, the director of the Children’s Pediatric Transplant Center. 

According to hospital officials, “it was the world's first known esophageal transplant and the most organs transplanted at one time inNew England.” 

Even though Alannah is now home healthy and active her grandparents have to check her blood sugar and make sure that she takes all her medications each day according to doctors’ prescriptions. 

Samsung’s plan on smart TV sales in 2012

Samsung Electronics has officially announced details on its upcoming 2012 upgrade to smart TV. Samsung plans is to sell more than 25 million smart TVs this year as it tries to capture the emerging Internet TV market. 

The new smart TV is installed with Samsung Smart Touch Control, complete with touchpad, and voice control.  

Samsung's latest smart TV has the option to change channels and adjust the volume with a simple swipe of the touchpad. It can recognize the hand motions. 

With the newest Samsung Smart TV, it is possible to use the Smart Touch Control’s microphone to tell to television what to do. It can recognize human voice in some 30 languages to turn itself on or off, switch channels or adjust volume.  

“The new smart TVs are being introduced for the first time inKoreaand the main products in the new ES 8000 series will be launched worldwide by the end of March,” said Kim, chief of the firm’s television business. 

Novak Djokovic, Barcelona win 2012 Laureus Sports ...

Novak Djokovic has won the top individual honour at the 2012 Laureus Sports Awards. The top-ranked Djokovic won sportsman of the year at the ceremony in London, one week after the Serbian triumphed at the Australian Open to become the fifth man in the Open era to win three consecutive Grand Slam titles.

Kenyan distance runner Vivian Cheruiyot, who won the 5,000-and 10,000-metre titles at the world championships last year, took the sportswoman's award, Vancouver Sun reported.

Spanish and European football champions Barcelona won the Team of the Year award while Northern Ireland golf celebrated two gongs.

Rory Mcllroy clinched the World Breakthrough of the Year title after winning the US Open and Darren Clarke collected the Comeback of the Year following a maiden British Open Championship triumph at his 20th attempt.

In other awards, South Africa's 'Blade Runner' Oscar Pistorius collected the World Sportsperson of the Year with a Disability and American surfer Kelly Slater was named Action Sportsperson of the Year.

Manchester United and England football great Sir Bobby Charlton was given a Lifetime Achievement Award but couldn't collect it in person due to a recent illness, with United manager Sir Alex Ferguson accepting ...