Winston Churchill, grandson of wartime prime minister for Great Britain, dies at 69

Winston Spencer Churchill, 69, a former member of Parliament and grandson of Britain’s wartime leader, died Tuesday at his London home, said Cmdr. John Muxworthy, president of the United Kingdom National Defense Assn. He had been suffering from cancer.

Churchill was a member of the House of Commons from 1970 to 1997. Earlier he had been a foreign correspondent for the Times of London, the Daily Telegraph and other papers.

He was a founder of the Defense Assn., which campaigned for greater support for Britain’s armed forces.

Churchill was born in October 1940 at Chequers, the prime minister’s official country residence, shortly after Royal Air Force pilots prevailed in the Battle of Britain. During it, Hitler’s Luftwaffe was prevented from destroying Britain’s air defenses or forcing the country to negotiate an armistice.

He was the son of Randolph Churchill and Pamela Digby, who scandalized London society with her affairs and who, in later life as Pamela Harriman, became U.S. ambassador to France. His parents divorced in 1945.

"I never knew my parents together, so their split meant nothing to me," Churchill said in an interview with the Daily Telegraph in 2008. "But it did mean I got a great deal of grandparental sunlight."

Honoring President Reagan

Admirers of President Reagan are planning what kind of party to throw next year for the 100th anniversary of his birth.

The Times' Richard Simon reports that events are planned across the country: A Reagan-themed float will grace Colorado Boulevard in Pasadena during the Rose Parade on Jan. 1. His boyhood home of Dixon, Ill., has commissioned an original piece of music -- the "Reagan Suite" -- to honor him. A program at Eureka College, from which Reagan graduated, will reflect on his Midwestern roots. Warner Bros. has been contacted about a possible event looking at the former president's Hollywood years. An effort is even underway to name a mountain in Nevada after him.

Reagan died in 2004 at 93.

Reagan's 100th birthday -- Feb. 6, 2011 -- will fall on Super Bowl Sunday. "We will be discussing possible synergies with that important day for the nation's attention," said Stewart McLaurin, executive director of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation's Centennial Celebration.

You can find Simon's story here and Reagan's obituary here.

-- Keith Thursby

Photo: President Reagan with first lady Nancy Reagan during the inaugural parade in 1981. Credit: Associated Press

Iran's Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri dies

Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri, one of Iran's most senior dissident clerics, a staunch defender of the nation's opposition movement as well as a learned theologian and pillar of the Islamic Revolution 31 years ago, has died. He was 87.

You can find the complete story by special correspondent Ramin Mostaghim here. And there will be more coverage later at latimes.com.

-- Keith Thursby

'Thatcher has died' the text said. And then the fur started flying.

A text message that was a little too succinct  — “Thatcher has died”  — caused a brief diplomatic kerfuffle at a black-tie gathering earlier this month in Toronto.

As the news electronically ping-ponged around the soiree honoring Canadian armed forces, it reached
Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, who asked an aide to confirm what had everyone buzzing — that Margaret Thatcher, Britain’s former prime minister, had reportedly died.

Calls to 10 Downing Street and Buckingham Palace confirmed that the 84-year-old Thatcher was very much alive.

Turns out that the original message was sent by Canadian Transport Minister John Baird from his home to someone at the gala dinner.

“Thatcher,” Baird’s gray tabby cat named in honor of the British leader, had died at 16.

-- Valerie J. Nelson

Photo: Margaret Thatcher with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown in front of 10 Downing Street on Monday. Credit: Simon Dawson / Bloomberg

'Fidel Castro Killed by Rumors, Again'

Go ahead, Google this: "Fidel Castro," "rumors” and "death" and see what pops up.

Yes, the Internet, that virtual bastion of unverified dispatches, is once again frantically aflutter with “news” that the ailing 83-year-old former Cuban president may have died.

“Rumors of Fidel Castro’s Death Swirl Around Miami,” says one headline. Oops, that’s from 2007.

“Rumors of Castro’s Death May or May Not Be Greatly Exaggerated” says another. Argh, 2004.

“Fidel Castro’s Death Rumor Denied."  Wait. Right year, wrong month — January 2009 — but at least it attempts to set the record straight.

Finally, one posted yesterday on Discovery News, “Fidel Castro Killed by Rumors, Again,” displayed a refreshing amount of skepticism as it ran down present and past reports of Castro's rumored death all the way back to 1986.

“With so many crying wolf for so long,” wrote Talal Al-Khatib on the Discovery News site, “when the former Cuban leader finally passes away, will anyone actually believe it?”

-- Valerie J. Nelson

Photo: Fidel Castro appears on a TV broadcast in Cuba in 2006. Credit: Ismael Francisco / AFP / Getty Images

JFK's 'last autograph' bought by Calabasas collector

A Calabasas historic document dealer recently purchased what may have been the last autograph signed by President Kennedy.

Joe Maddalena paid $39,000 for a copy of the Dallas Morning News with the president’s signature, according to Heritage Auctions, the company that sold the item.

When a Dallas woman handed the president the newspaper, he signed the front page near the date, Nov. 22, 1963. He was assassinated about two hours later.

Maddalena told CNN that he got an “impressive piece of history at a bargain price” and plans to display it with other JFK items at “appropriate times,” such as the slain president’s birthday. The name of Maddalena's business, Profiles in History, is inspired by the Kennedy book "Profiles in Courage."

Immediately after taking possession of the autograph, Maddalena said he insured it for a quarter-million dollars.

-- Valerie J. Nelson

Photo: President Kennedy addresses a crowd in Fort Worth on Nov. 22, 1963. Credit: Associated Press