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Actor Heath Ledger dies at 28

NEW YORK (CNN) — Actor Heath Ledger was found dead Tuesday of a possible drug overdose in a Lower Manhattan apartment, the New York Police Department said.

The Academy Award nominated actor was 28.

Pills were found in the vicinity of the bed, police spokesman Paul Browne told CNN.

This is being looked at as a possible overdose, but that is not confirmed yet.

The pills appeared to be over-the-counter sleeping medication, said police spokeswoman Barbara Chen.

Ledger was unresponsive when he was found by a housekeeper who had gone to wake him for an appointment with a masseuse in the Soho apartment, Browne said.

Ledger was declared dead at about 3:30 p.m., Browne said. Watch a report about Ledger’s death

A crowd of onlookers, photographers and reporters gathered outside the apartment building after news of Ledger’s death was reported. Police officers were guarding the doors.

Ledger was born in Perth, Australia, and named Heathcliff Andrew after the main characters of Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights. He began acting at a local theater as a child.

Ledger’s first American film was the teen comedy 10 Things I Hate About You in 1999, and he immediately attracted attention from Hollywood. He passed up several scripts before taking a role in the Revolutionary War drama The Patriot in 2000 and A Knight’s Tale in 2001. He also played a supporting role in Monster’s Ball, among other films. See a photo gallery of Ledger’s life and career

In a way I was spoon-fed a career, he told the Glasgow Herald in 2005. It was fully manufactured by a studio that believed it could put me on their posters and turn me into a product. … I hadn’t figured out properly how to act, and all of a sudden I was being thrown into these lead roles.

But Ledger was perhaps best known for his 2005 portrayal of Ennis Del Mar in Brokeback Mountain, about two cowboys who had a secret romantic relationship. The role earned him an Oscar nomination.

I felt that choices were being made for me, so I feel this has been my time now to find the good stories and test myself, Ledger told the Glasgow Herald in the 2005 interview. It has been an interesting year, where I finally have a sense of accomplishment.

Asked how he felt about filming love scenes with another man, Ledger said he and his co-star Jake Gyllenhaal simply focused on their roles.

We can’t say that we weren’t nervous about it, Ledger told Oprah Winfrey in 2006. But once the first take was over, it’s like, ‘OK. So what? It’s kissing another human being. How are we going to finish this scene? Let’s get on with it and let’s get out of here.’

In a written statement, the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation said it mourns Ledger’s death, adding that his portrayal of Del Mar changed hearts and minds in immeasurable ways.

Ledger has a daughter, Matilda Rose, born in 2005 to his then-girlfriend, Michelle Williams, who played his on-screen wife, Alma, in Brokeback Mountain. The couple have since separated.

He was just so respected in the industry, said Kim Serafin, senior editor of In Touch Weekly.

It’s just horribly tragic. He was just a fine actor and a good person, so this is horribly sad and very unexpected.
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Bush: ‘Common ground’ possible on economic stimulus package

WASHINGTON (CNN) — President Bush, before meeting with the congressional leadership on Tuesday, said that common ground could be reached on an economic stimulus package.

I believe we can find common ground to get something done that’s big enough and effective enough so that an economy that’s inherently strong gets a boost, the president said before meeting with the bipartisan group to brief it on his recent trip to the Mideast and his economic plan.

He said he looks forward to the discussions, acknowledging that while everybody wants to get something done quickly … we want to make sure it’s done right.

Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson met with the same group ahead of the president’s session, saying he was encouraged by the way all the parties have come together.

We’re moving quickly to do something that will make a difference this year in our economy, the secretary said. I’m very encouraged by the conversations we’ve all been able to have over the last weeks and days.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nevada, also attended the meeting. He urged other leaders there to get something done really quickly and set aside our individual ideology.

House Republican Leader John Boehner noted the growing problem with the U.S. economy and said it’s also clear that American middle-class families are being squeezed.

He pledged to work quickly with other leaders to get a package together.

The meetings followed an active morning on the economic front: After global markets swooned overnight, the Federal Reserve slashed two key interest rates by three-quarters of a percentage point after an unscheduled meeting. The Fed cited continued concerns about a weakening economy and turmoil in the financial markets.

The rate cut came more than a week before the Fed’s next regularly scheduled meeting. This was the biggest rate cut by the Fed since October 1984, and it was the first cut between regularly scheduled meetings since a half-point cut on the day the market reopened following the September 2001 terrorist attacks.

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D-California, said the Fed’s emergency rate cut indicates a commitment across all levels of government to revitalize the economy, restore confidence in the markets, and help Americans struggling with soaring bills for gasoline, groceries, housing and home heating.

Congress is also taking action — working as quickly as possible in a bipartisan way with the Bush administration to stimulate the economy by putting money into the hands of people who will spend it. Any stimulus package will be timely, targeted, and temporary, and we are working with great speed to get this done and get relief to Americans, she said in a statement.

Paulson on Tuesday said that he hoped the rate cut would restore some confidence in the financial markets and U.S. economy.

I think it’s very constructive and what I think it shows to this country and to the rest of the world [is] that our central bank is nimble and able to move quickly, he said.

Bush on Friday proposed a temporary, broad-based tax relief package aimed at spurring the nation’s slowing economy, saying the nation’s economy is at risk for a downturn and Congress must act to head off trouble.

The president proposed the quick passage of a growth package that would infuse about $140 billion into the economy so we can provide a shot in the arm to keep a fundamentally strong economy healthy.

Bush said the economy will continue to grow but at a slower rate.

The president offered no specific details of the proposed package, but he did insist that it include tax incentives for business, including small businesses, to make major investments in their enterprises this year.

Bush also said the economic package must include rapid income tax relief for consumers to lift our economy at a time when people otherwise might spend less.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said on the Senate floor Tuesday the package needs to be passed in the next four weeks.

To be effective, this stimulus plan must be timely, it must be targeted and it must be temporary, said Reid, D-Nevada.

But when asked Tuesday morning if there would be a quick deal, House GOP Whip Roy Blunt said more time is needed to reach an agreement with the Democrats.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell warned the Dems not to include any wasteful spending, not to increase capital gains taxes and not to put in new taxes.

Republicans in the 110th Congress have shown that we will use our robust minority to ensure that we’re heard and use our power to object to any growth package that is held hostage to wasteful spending, he said on the Senate floor.

We need to put together a bipartisan package that helps the economy and do it soon, without raising taxes and without growing government, added the senator from Kentucky.
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Rossi crashes in testing at Sepang

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — Seven-time world champion Valentino Rossi crashed on the opening day of pre-season testing at the Sepang circuit in Malaysia, as he returned from a long layoff with a fractured hand.

Rossi broke his right hand in three places during a crash at the Valencia Grand Prix in November.

He came to grief on his new 2008 YR-M1 at the entry of the sharp second turn on his 20th lap. His team explained that the front wheel gave in.

As he rode slowly to the pits (Rossi) was seen holding his left hand with the new machine badly dented on the right side, Fiat Yamaha reported.

Rossi, who won five world titles in a row from 2001-2005, has been less successful over the past two seasons, seeing the crown go to American Nicky Hayden in 2006 and Australian Casey Stoner last year.

His new team-mate Jorge Lorenzo also crashed on a dismal day for Fiat Yamaha. Rossi clocked the eighth fastest time of two minutes 3.295 seconds while Lorenzo was fifth fastest with two minutes 2.871 seconds.

Stoner went out on the morning practice run but did not finish the lap. Honda’s Dani Pedrosa was fastest in two minutes 1.864 seconds despite also crashing at turn one.

The Sepang tests will run for three days until Thursday. Afterwards they will shift to Phillip Island in Melbourne before returning to Sepang on February 4-6 for a second round of testing. E-mail to a friend

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Man convicted of murder expected to be freed

By Eliott C. McLaughlin CNN

FORT COLLINS, Colorado (CNN) — Tim Masters is expected to walk out of prison Tuesday after spending more than nine years incarcerated for murder — and despite the promise of a new trial, a local district attorney says Masters may no longer be a suspect.

After a special prosecutor announced Friday that new DNA evidence in the case warranted a retrial, District Attorney Larry Abrahamson issued a statement Monday explaining it might be unnecessary to try Masters again.

In light of newly discovered evidence revealed to me on Friday, Abrahamson wrote, I will be moving as expeditiously as possible to make the determination of whether all charges against Timothy Masters will be dismissed.

Masters was 15 when a passing cyclist discovered the mutilated body of Peggy Hettrick, 37, near his home. Masters has said since February 12, 1987 — the day after the murder — that he did not commit the crime.

Police mounted an investigation that ultimately saw Masters jailed in 1998 and sentenced to life in prison for murder in 1999. See the key players in the case

On Friday, after months of hearings in which Masters’ new defense team alleged police and prosecutorial misdeeds in the investigation and trial, special prosecutor Don Quick delivered what was likely the best news of Masters’ life.

A defense-commissioned DNA test — subsequently backed by the Colorado Bureau of Investigation — pointed to a potential suspect in the early investigation of Peggy Hettrick’s murder, Quick said in a news conference.

However, Quick did not say the evidence vindicated Masters, only that it met the constitutional requirements for a new trial. Watch Masters talk about what he’ll do when he’s likely released

In a Monday phone interview, Quick said it was up to the Eighth Judicial Circuit, which had recused itself from the latest hearings, to determine the next step.

Abrahamson of the Eighth Judicial Circuit said not only was he trying to decide whether to scrap the case against Masters but also that he wanted to review all contested convictions in which advances in DNA testing may prove useful.

He also said he wanted to review the discovery process and that he had met with the Fort Collins police chief and his officers to discuss the critical flow of information with assurance that all information is available to our office and the defense.

The statement is noteworthy because the crux of the new defense team’s allegations against the Fort Collins police and Eighth Judicial Circuit is that they withheld evidence favorable to Masters during his 1999 trial.

Quick filed a motion this month citing four instances in which police and prosecutors should have handed over evidence to Masters’ original defense team.

Among them was a police interview with a plastic surgeon who said it was improbable that a teen could have made the meticulous cuts necessary to remove Hettrick’s body parts. Also, according to Quick’s motion, police failed to divulge that a renowned FBI profiler warned police that Masters’ penchant for doodling gruesome horror scenes did not tie him to the crime.

Those sketches, along with a collection of narratives and knives, helped convince the jury of Masters’ guilt. No physical evidence was found tying Masters to the crime.

Masters’ defense attorneys David Wymore and Maria Liu said they are confident their client will walk out of the Larimer County Justice Center on Tuesday. So confident, said Liu, that they took him street clothes Monday night — a navy sports coat with tan pants and a yellow tie.

Quick is confident, too. He said he wants the paperwork for Masters’ release prepared before Tuesday’s 9:30 a.m. MT (11:30 a.m ET) hearing. He predicted the proceedings will take no more than 45 minutes, barring any anomalies.

Masters, however, is still skeptical, Liu said.

He’s not convinced it’s happening, that it’s true, until it actually happens, she said.

While Liu is confident Masters will walk out of the courthouse, she appears more cynical about the prospect of Abrahamson dropping the charges against her client.

Until I see it in writing and verbally presented in court, I’m not going to get my hopes up, she said. We’re going to keep plugging as if we’re preparing for trial.

If Abrahamson drops the charges against Masters, the investigation likely will focus on the new DNA evidence, Quick said. Authorities have the partial DNA profiles of three men, one of them matching a full DNA profile provided by the defense.

But even with the DNA evidence, many questions remain: To whom do the other partial profiles belong? How did the physical evidence arrive on Hettrick’s clothing? How long has it been there? And ultimately, who killed her?

I’m hoping for both Mr. Masters and the Hettrick family that we can answer those questions, Quick said.
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Stock markets go into freefall

HONG KONG, China (CNN) — Share markets across Europe and Asia plunged for a second day Tuesday as global markets reacted to fears that a U.S. economic slowdown will lead to a global recession.

In early trading, London’s FTSE 100 was down 3.30 percent, Paris’ CAC 40 fell 4.15 percent and Germany’s DAX 30 dropped 4.50 percent.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 index slid 5.65 percent to close at 12,573.05 on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.

Australia’s benchmark SP/ASX200 index closed down 7.1 percent at 5,186.8 — the biggest one-day loss for almost 20 years.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index closed down 7.2 percent at 4,559.75.

India’s Sensex index plunged 10 percent after resuming trade when an automatic shutdown was triggered by an 9.75 percent slump at the opening. Shares on the Sensex had fallen nearly 11 percent — a four-month low — on Monday.

South Korean shares fell sharply before the Korea Composite Stock Price Index recovered slightly to finish the session down 4.4 percent at 1609.02, having slid as much as 6.3 percent during the day.

Indonesia’s market, meanwhile, was down 10 percent and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index dropped 2,061.23 points, or 8.7 percent, to 21,757.63.

The Singapore stock exchange was down 4.5 percent, and Taiwan’s benchmark Taiex was down 6.6 per cent during trading.

Europe’s main three indices, the FT-100 in London, the CAC 40 in Paris and the DAX in Frankfurt fell between 5 and 7 percent on Monday.

I think a lot of people had been hoping that when the new year started that we would find that the U.S. housing market’s problems were largely isolated to that market, said Royal Bank of Scotland’s Kit Jukes. Every piece of news we’ve had since Christmas has argued against that position.

Traders said steps announced last week by President Bush to kick-start the U.S. economy are too little too late. They got no direction from New York, because U.S. markets were closed for the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday.

Traders now want to see how Wall Street reacts when it reopens Tuesday.

I think the expectation is the U.S. will open further down tomorrow, said analyst Howard Wheeldon of BGC Partners. That is a big kick in the teeth for President George W. Bush.

Markets also plunged across South America, where the United States is the largest trading partner for many economies. Brazil’s Bovespa exchange, the continent’s largest, closed down 6.6 percent, Argentina’s Merval dropped 6.3 percent, Colombia’s IGBC was down 7.7 percent and Peru’s General Index was off 8.4 percent.

In North America, the Toronto stock exchange fell 4.75 percent, while Mexico City closed down 5.35 percent.

If the United States slips into recession, Americans may buy fewer goods, especially those from overseas. That’s why shares from Toyota in Tokyo to BMW in Frankfurt were down heavily.

Banks also fell hard as the lending policy during the boom time continues to concern analysts. Banks and insurance companies also own a lot of equities.

Commodity-led shares, like oil firms and mining companies, were also hit hard, after flying high for most of 2007. If the world economy falters consumers are likely to less oil and buy fewer products like gold and copper.

By only the 14th trading day of 2008, shares in Europe’s main markets are now down between 12 to 15 percent on the year.

During the market gyrations of 2007, sharp falls were often followed by sharp rises. There is no evidence of that yet in 2008. E-mail to a friend

CNN’s Espanol’s Gabriela Frias contributed to this report.

Copyright 2008 CNN. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Associated Press contributed to this report.

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