BRITAIN’S talented young singing star Adele got a record six gongs at The Grammy Awards in Los Angeles, but the night was marred by the death before the ceremony of singer Whitney Houston.

Adele, 23, gave her first live performance since surgery on her vocal chords before Christmas. The girl from Tottenham, North London, won all six categories for which she was nominated, equalling Beyonce for most Grammy awards in a night by a female.

Paul Epworth co-wrote Adele’s song Rolling in the Deep and he took the Grammy for producer of the year.

Whitney Houston, 48, was found dead in a bath at the Beverley Hilton 24 hours before the ceremony, which opened with a prayer and standing ovation for the singer.

BRITAIN’S coalition Government is to review payments to public sector employees to ensure they do not receive bonuses for failure.

The Treasury has written to all government departments requesting information. The move follows controversial payments at the rescued Royal Bank of Scotland. Almost a quarter of public employees are thought to have automatically qualified for payments in the past.

Treasury Chief Secretary Danny Alexander told the Daily Telegraph there would be no rewards for failure in public funded bodies in the future.

 

ALTHOUGH Britain has its own currency and is not in the Eurozone, there is great relief that Greece has finally agreed tough new austerity measures to obtain bail-out funds and avoid bankruptcy next month.

But there were riots in Athens and elsewhere. Stores were looted and burned and many people were injured.

The move means Greece will receive 170-billion Euro in new loans and the country will not now default and leave the Eurozone, which is good news for unsettled global markets and for Britain, which does a great deal of trade with Europe.

 

THERE is anger in Britain over the Government’s inability to deport controversial cleric Abu Qatada to stand trial in Jordan. The deportation has been prevented by the European Court of Human Rights.

The Daily Telegraph suggested in its editorial comment that the Government should reassert its rights and eject Qatada, whatever the European Court thinks. The cleric has been described as Osama Bin Laden’s ambassador in Europe.

A British  Government Minister has visited Jordan in a renewed attempt to obtain assurances that would allow the deportation to go ahead.

 

IT Has been a week in which much of the soccer news has not been the result of kicking a ball around a football pitch, the most important story being the shock resignation of Italian Fabio Capello as the £6-million-a-year England manager.

It followed a meeting at Wembley Stadium where the Football Association’s decision to remove the England captaincy from John Terry was discussed. Capello did not agree with the decision.

Football Association chairman David Bernstein thanked Capello for his four years in charge and wished him success in the future.

The announcement coincided with Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp being cleared of tax evasion charges. He is the clear favourite for the England job.

John Terry has denied racially abusing Queen’s Park Rangers player Anton Ferdinand and faces a court hearing in July. 

Ex-England and Tottenham footballer Paul Gascoigne has also been in the news. He has received £68,000 for being caused mental harm and distress after having his telephone messages hacked by the now defunct News of the World newspaper.

 

THE cut and thrust of Argentina’s long dispute over the sovereignty of the Falkland Islands continues with British Prime Minister David Cameron accusing the Buenos Aires administration of having thoughts of colonialism.

Argentina has complained to the United Nations Security Council that Britain is ‘militarising’ the dispute by sending one of its newest destroyers to the South Atlantic and has named the country’s domestic football competition after the  Belgrano, the warship Britain sank causing considerable loss of life 30 years ago.

 

TOTTENHAM appear to be the team of the moment in the English Barclays Premier League. They beat a strong Newcastle team 5-0 and looked devastating in attack.

Harry Redknapp’s talented team are third behind Manchester City and Manchester United, seven points off leaders City.

Two goals from Wayne Rooney gave United victory over Liverpool in a bad tempered match at Old Trafford, but Manchester City stay top with a two-point advantage after a narrow 1-0 victory over Aston Villa.

It was bad news at the bottom end of the table for Wolves, who were beaten 5-1 by West Brom on Sunday, and for Queen’s Park Rangers, who lost 3-2 at Blackburn.

 

Vic Gardner's London Letter