'Euro 2012' emerged as Britain's most searched term this year, beating 'Olympics tickets' and 'Whitney Houston' into second and third place respectively

Whitney Houston was given a final sendoff by the Grammys last night as Halle Berry, Britney Spears, Jennifer Hudson, Usher and other stars shared their memories and performed in homage to the late singer.

A long-time New York City publicist who worked with celebrities including Marilyn Monroe, Robert Redford and Martin Scorsese has died. Lois Smith was 85.

Procrastination is not just the avoidance of essential, dull everyday tasks such as essay writing or washing. For students it is an art form to be carefully cultivated.

Mark Ronson and Katy B use the sounds of athletes training on their Olympic song, writes Elisa Bray

Country-pop princess Taylor Swift is in talks to play legendary singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell in a forthcoming adaptation of Sheila Weller's acclaimed – and brilliant – book Girls Like Us, about the lives of Mitchell, Carly Simon and Carole King. Fans of the acclaimed Mitchell, who is consistently heralded as one of the greatest songwriters in history, are less than pleased at the idea of such a comparatively lightweight artist portraying their complex idol (rumours that Justin Bieber, currently causing mayhem across London, is interested in the role of Jackson Browne remain unfounded).

1. Manchester Piccadilly

Union ties are as burdensome for Labour as the Tories' debt to wealthy donors. State funding beckons

US officials have said it is too soon to determine whether prescription drugs were involved in Whitney Houston's death.

As I stood outside the Beverly Hilton Hotel on Saturday, just hours after Whitney Houston was found dead in her room, cars streamed past, blasting her songs out of their windows. It served as an instant reminder of just how many sensational hits Houston had. Few can forget her cover of Dolly Parton's "I Will Always Love You". But there were many more.

Dead dogs, broken bidets and beans... Tim Rich is your guide on a tour of the FA's hotel history

Nick Ashford, one half of the legendary Motown songwriting duo Ashford & Simpson that penned elegant, soulful classics funk hits for the likes of Diana Ross, Marvin Gaye and Chaka Khan, has died at the age of 70, his former publicist said.

Whitney Houston is to return to the big screen for the first time in 15 years.