Winfrey to end talk show in 2011 after 25 years

Winfrey to end talk show in 2011 after 25 years

CHICAGO — “The Oprah Winfrey Show,” an iconic broadcast that began as a local Chicago talk show and grew over two decades into the foundation of a media empire worth billions, will end its run in 2011 after 25 seasons on the air, Winfrey’s production company said Thursday night.

Winfrey plans to announce the final date for her show during a live broadcast today, Harpo Productions Inc. said, bringing an end to what has been television’s top-rated talk show for more than two decades, airing in 145 countries worldwide and watched by an estimated 42 million viewers a week in the U.S. alone.

A Harpo spokeswoman declined to comment Thursday on Winfrey’s plans except to say that “The Oprah Winfrey Show” will not be transferred to cable television.

Press to get limited access to Palin at Fort Bragg

RALEIGH, N.C. — The U.S. Army will allow the media limited coverage of Sarah Palin’s appearance at Fort Bragg but will bar reporters from interviewing her or her supporters on the post, officials said Thursday.

A Fort Bragg spokesman initially said the Army would ban the media from Palin’s book- signing next week, fearing it would turn into political grandstanding against President Barack Obama. After The Associated Press and The Fayetteville Observer protested, Col. Billy Buckner said the post would permit restricted access.

A small pool of reporters will be allowed to view and document the event but will be barred from the interviews.

Buckner said the setup will allow reporters their right to access while preventing the appearance from turning political — something that officials believe would violate policy.

Suicide bomber kills 19

ISLAMABAD — A suicide bomb strike on a crowded courthouse in Peshawar killed 19 people Thursday, the 10th bomb attack in six weeks for a city bearing the brunt of retaliation from Taliban militants battling Pakistani troops along the Afghan border.

Now in its fifth week, Pakistan’s military offensive has succeeded in retaking much of the ground held by Taliban and al-Qaida fighters in South Waziristan, for years the militants’ primary stronghold. That success, however, has been tempered by a wave of militant attacks since early October that have claimed more than 300 lives across Pakistan.

University of California raises student fees 32%

LOS ANGELES — The governing board of the University of California approved a $2,500 increase in student fees Thursday after two days of tense campus protests across the state.

The vote by the Board of Regents in a windowless University of California, Los Angeles, meeting room took place as the drone of protesters could be heard from a plaza outside. Scores of police in riot gear guarded the building.

The 32 percent increase will push the cost of an undergraduate education at California’s premier public schools to more than $10,000 a year by next fall, about triple the cost of a decade ago. The fees, the equivalent of tuition, do not include the cost of housing, board and books.

House panel votes to levy fees on financial firms

WASHINGTON — Taking aim at Wall Street and the U.S. central bank, an important House committee voted Thursday to assess fees on large financial firms to pay for the failure of their peers and to require a sweeping congressional audit of the secretive Federal Reserve.

The votes were the final brush strokes to the House Financial Services Committee’s response to last year’s banking meltdown.

In a surprise, however, Democratic committee Chairman Barney Frank delayed final action on a long-awaited regulatory overhaul bill until after next Thursday’s Thanksgiving national holiday.

Belgian premier becomes first president of EU

LONDON — European Union leaders on Thursday selected Belgian Prime Minister Herman Van Rompuy as the first president of the 27-nation bloc.

Meeting behind closed doors in Brussels, leaders of the E.U.’s 27 nations chose Van Rompuy, a self- effacing, haiku-writing politician who has served as Belgium’s premier for just 11 months, over more widely recognized names such as former British Prime Minister Tony Blair.

Combined dispatches