The producer- director was suffering from dengue and after being diagnosed he was admitted to Lilavati hospital last week.
Chopra reportedly fell ill on October 10, upon returning home from superstar Amitabh Bachchan's birthday party.
Yash Chopra was on life support-system for some time now. According to hospital reports Mr Chopra suffered from multiple organ failure.
Yash Raj Films issued a statement to the media, saying: "Yash Chopraji breathed his last at around 5.30pm today (IST). Details of his last rites will be communicated later."
The 80 year old legend was working on his up coming movie 'Jab Tak Hai Jaan' and announced his retirement after the movie.
After the filmmaker was admitted speculations were rife about his movie being delayed. 'Jab Tak Hai Jaan' will remain his unfinished movie as he was yet to shoot a romantic song between lead actor Shah Rukh Khan and Katrina Kaif.
Great loss to Indian cinema
Film director Subhash Ghai said to media: "It's a great loss to Indian cinema. Yashji had always said he wants to die making films.
"He was full of energy; an inspiration truly."
Regarded as the country's king of celluloid romance, Chopra has also proved his mettle with intensely emotional and tragic movies, many of which went on to become box-office blockbusters.
Born in 1932 in Lahore, now in Pakistan, the film-maker was favoured by leading Indian actors with his movies seen as a sure-fire way to become a hit with audiences.
Chopra has made some of Indian cinema's most memorable films such as Deewar, Kabhi Kabhie, Silsila and Chandni. His flamboyant style of film-making, movies filmed in exotic locales and mellifluous music became a hallmark, endearing him to filmgoers.
Chiffon sarees and the Swiss Alps are so synonymous with Chopra's style of film-making that Switzerland Tourism even offered visitors a guided tour of the places where the director filmed some of his most famous songs and scenes.
Riding on his success, Chopra established Yash Raj Films, one of Bollywood's biggest production houses, churning out at least three movies a year. In November, the film studio announced its foray into Hollywood, signing on actors such as Nicole Kidman and Jason Bateman for its overseas productions.
Chopra also produced Indian cinema's longest-running blockbuster, Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (1995), which marked the debut of his son Aditya as director.
"I have never made romantic films. I have made films on human relations, and humans are complicated people," Chopra said in a recent interview.
DTN News - SPECIAL REPORT FROM ENTERTAINMENT WORLD: Singer Whitney Houston Dies At 48 Source: DTN News - - This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources CBS News (NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - February 11, 2012:Whitney Houston, who ruled as pop music's queen until her majestic voice and regal image were ravaged by drug use, erratic behavior and a tumultuous marriage to singer Bobby Brown, has died. She was 48.
Houston's publicist, Kristen Foster, said Saturday that the singer had died, but the cause and the location of her death were unknown.
News of Houston's death came on the eve of music's biggest night — the Grammy Awards. It's a showcase where she once reigned, and her death was sure to case a heavy pall on Sunday's ceremony. Houston's longtime mentor Clive Davis was to hold his annual concert and dinner Saturday; it was unclear if it was going to go forward.
At her peak, Houston the golden girl of the music industry. From the middle 1980s to the late 1990s, she was one of the world's best-selling artists. She wowed audiences with effortless, powerful, and peerless vocals that were rooted in the black church but made palatable to the masses with a pop sheen.
Her success carried her beyond music to movies, where she starred in hits like "The Bodyguard" and "Waiting to Exhale."
She had the he perfect voice, and the perfect image: a gorgeous singer who had sex appeal but was never overtly sexual, who maintained perfect poise.
She influenced a generation of younger singers, from Christina Aguilera to Mariah Carey, who when she first came out sounded so much like Houston that many thought it was Houston.
But by the end of her career, Houston became a stunning cautionary tale of the toll of drug use. Her album sales plummeted and the hits stopped coming; her once serene image was shattered by a wild demeanor and bizarre public appearances. She confessed to abusing cocaine, marijuana and pills, and her once pristine voice became raspy and hoarse, unable to hit the high notes as she had during her prime.
"The biggest devil is me. I'm either my best friend or my worst enemy," Houston told ABC's Diane Sawyer in an infamous 2002 interview with then-husband Brown by her side.
It was a tragic fall for a superstar who was one of the top-selling artists in pop music history, with more than 55 million records sold in the United States alone.
She seemed to be born into greatness. She was the daughter of gospel singer Cissy Houston, the cousin of 1960s pop diva Dionne Warwick and the goddaughter of Aretha Franklin.
In this July 11, 1999, file photo, singer Whitney Houston performs "Until You Come Back To Me" during the 26th annual American Music Awards at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles.
(Credit: AP Photo/Kevork Djansezian)
Houston first started singing in the church as a child. In her teens, she sang backup for Chaka Khan, Jermaine Jackson and others, in addition to modeling. It was around that time when music mogul Clive Davis first heard Houston perform.
"The time that I first saw her singing in her mother's act in a club ... it was such a stunning impact," Davis told "Good Morning America."
"To hear this young girl breathe such fire into this song. I mean, it really sent the proverbial tingles up my spine," he added.
Before long, the rest of the country would feel it, too. Houston made her album debut in 1985 with "Whitney Houston," which sold millions and spawned hit after hit. "Saving All My Love for You" brought her her first Grammy, for best female pop vocal. "How Will I Know," "You Give Good Love" and "The Greatest Love of All" also became hit singles.
Another multiplatinum album, "Whitney," came out in 1987 and included hits like "Where Do Broken Hearts Go" and "I Wanna Dance With Somebody."
The New York Times wrote that Houston "possesses one of her generation's most powerful gospel-trained voices, but she eschews many of the churchier mannerisms of her forerunners. She uses ornamental gospel phrasing only sparingly, and instead of projecting an earthy, tearful vulnerability, communicates cool self-assurance and strength, building pop ballads to majestic, sustained peaks of intensity."
Her decision not to follow the more soulful inflections of singers like Franklin drew criticism by some who saw her as playing down her black roots to go pop and reach white audiences. The criticism would become a constant refrain through much of her career. She was even booed during the "Soul Train Awards" in 1989.
"Sometimes it gets down to that, you know?" she told Katie Couric in 1996. "You're not black enough for them. I don't know. You're not R&B enough. You're very pop. The white audience has taken you away from them."
Some saw her 1992 marriage to former New Edition member and soul crooner Bobby Brown as an attempt to refute those critics. It seemed to be an odd union; she was seen as pop's pure princess while he had a bad-boy image, and already had children of his own. (The couple had a daughter, Bobbi Kristina, in 1993.) Over the years, he would be arrested several times, on charges ranging from DUI to failure to pay child support.
But Houston said their true personalities were not as far apart as people may have believed.
"When you love, you love. I mean, do you stop loving somebody because you have different images? You know, Bobby and I basically come from the same place," she told Rolling Stone in 1993. "You see somebody, and you deal with their image, that's their image. It's part of them, it's not the whole picture. I am not always in a sequined gown. I am nobody's angel. I can get down and dirty. I can get raunchy."
It would take several years, however, for the public to see that side of Houston. Her moving 1991 rendition of "The Star Spangled Banner" at the Super Bowl, amid the first Gulf War, set a new standard and once again reaffirmed her as America's sweetheart.
In 1992, she became a star in the acting world with "The Bodyguard." Despite mixed reviews, the story of a singer (Houston) guarded by a former Secret Service agent (Kevin Costner) was an international success.
It also gave her perhaps her most memorable hit: a searing, stunning rendition of Dolly Parton's "I Will Always Love You," which sat atop the charts for weeks. It was Grammy's record of the year and best female pop vocal, and the "Bodyguard" soundtrack was named album of the year.
She returned to the big screen in 1995-96 with "Waiting to Exhale" and "The Preacher's Wife." Both spawned soundtrack albums, and another hit studio album, "My Love Is Your Love," in 1998, brought her a Grammy for best female R&B vocal for the cut "It's Not Right But It's Okay."
But during these career and personal highs, Houston was using drugs. In an interview with Oprah Winfrey in 2010, she said by the time "The Preacher's Wife" was released, "(doing drugs) was an everyday thing. ... I would do my work, but after I did my work, for a whole year or two, it was every day. ... I wasn't happy by that point in time. I was losing myself."
In the interview, Houston blamed her rocky marriage to Brown, which included a charge of domestic abuse against Brown in 1993. They divorced in 2007.
Houston would go to rehab twice before she would declare herself drug-free to Winfrey in 2010. But in the interim, there were missed concert dates, a stop at an airport due to drugs, and public meltdowns.
She was so startlingly thin during a 2001 Michael Jackson tribute concert that rumors spread she had died the next day. Her crude behavior and jittery appearance on Brown's reality show, "Being Bobby Brown," was an example of her sad decline. Her Sawyer interview, where she declared "crack is whack," was often parodied. She dropped out of the spotlight for a few years.
Houston staged what seemed to be a successful comeback with the 2009 album "I Look To You." The album debuted on the top of the charts, and would eventually go platinum.
Things soon fell apart. A concert to promote the album on "Good Morning America" went awry as Houston's voice sounded ragged and off-key. She blamed an interview with Winfrey for straining her voice.
A world tour launched overseas, however, only confirmed suspicions that Houston had lost her treasured gift, as she failed to hit notes and left many fans unimpressed; some walked out. Canceled concert dates raised speculation that she may have been abusing drugs, but she denied those claims and said she was in great shape, blaming illness for cancellations.
DTN News - NORTH KOREA ~ KIM JONG IL DEAD: Missile fired, Shares Fall As North Korea Mourns Kim Jong-il's Death • Kim Jong-il, North Korea's 'Dear Leader', dies aged 69 • Kim Jong-il died 'after stroke or heart attack on train' • Kim Jong-un annointed 'great successor' • Death sparks hysterical outpouring of grief in North Korea • Obituary: Kim Jong-il Source: DTN News - - This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources DTN News Archives - Telegraph (NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - December 19, 2011: It was next year that Kim Jong-il was finally supposed to deliver for his people. North Korea, he had long promised, would become a “strong and prosperous nation” in 2012, in time to celebrate what would have been the 100th birthday of his father, the country’s founder Kim il-Sung.
Latest
13.23 As the US wakes up, the State Departmenttweets that Barack Obama has talked with his South Korean counterpart Lee Myung-bak:
13.15 The AFP news agency has done a useful Question & Answer piece - one question that caught the eye in particular is what will happen now? They say that Kim's body will lie in state in Kumsusan palace where the embalmed body of his father - Kim Il-Sung, the founder and "eternal leader" of North Korea who died in 1994 - is on display.
After Kim's funeral on December 28, thoughts will turn to the succession but there are few details as to how it will be carried out. Kim Jong-Un's status as heir apparent was only made clear in September 2010.
Even Kim Jong-Il, who was openly groomed for the leadership and designated as successor some 14 years before his own father died, did not formally take over the leadership of the ruling party for three years afterwards.
12.55 More on North Korea test-firing a short-range missile off its east coast - South Korea's Yonhap news agency is quoting an unnamed government official as saying the missile launch was unrelated to the announcement that Kim had died.
The missile is believed to have a range of about 72 miles, he said.
12.45pm Amid the bizarre images of the day, here is the South Koreancabinet holding an emergency meeting. They appear to be wearing yellow boiler suits. The South Korean president ordereded all government employees to be on emergency alert, a measure that would restrict their unauthorised leaves and put them on standby. Presumably that is where these dashing suits come in?
South Korean President Lee Myung-Bak presides over an emergency Cabinet meeting in Seoul
As is often the case in totalitarian states with no meaningful contact with the outside world, we can expect the authorities in Pyongyang to be gripped bv intense paranoia as they attempt a seamless transition of power. Any false move by one of North Korea's many perceived enemies could have the regime reaching for the panic button, which is never a reassuring thought when you are dealing with an inherently unstable country that also happens to be armed with nuclear weapons.
12.22pm Burma, who are in the midst of their own political transition right now, but aren't exactly bastions of democracy, has said they believe "things can change" in North Korea after Kim's death.
Myanmar will convey its condolences over the demise of North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il.
We do not know much about his successor, his son. But we think things can change in his term, especially their economic policy.
12.20pmTelegraph TV has a video on the life and times of Kim Jong-il:
12.17pm Professor Steve Tsang, director of the China Policy Institute at the University of Nottingham, who specialises in East Asian political and security issues.
The death of Kim Jong-il represents a real opportunity for the United States to seize the initiative to secure long-term stability on the Korean Peninsula.
At present, as the North Korean leadership debates internally over which direction the country will take, the reclusive state has two options: maintain the status quo or embrace the Chinese model of economic reform.
The US must ensure Pyongyang has a third option to consider: that the US and South Korea will provide support and subsidies to help North Korea develop and modernise in return for the abandonment of its nuclear weapons programme.”
11.54am It is worth noting that rumours about Kim Jong-il's health have persisted for years. The Times reported back in 2008 that an image of Mr Kim, posing with the North Korean army, was a fake. In the photo, the shadow cast by his calves ran a different direction from that of the soldiers on either side of him, while a black line running along the strand on which the soldiers were position disappeared when it got to Kim.
Questions have been asked as to whether Kim Jong-il has been photoshopped into this photograph of a parade of troops
11.40am The Telegraph's Richard Alleyne, who is camped outsideNorth Korea's London embassy, in Ealing, says not too much activity outside, but South Korean television have apparently got very excited a man who brought flowers. They think he looks like the late leader and are checking to see if he is a relative. As far the emabssy itself goes, Richard writes:
All quiet at the People's republic of north acton. Only one mourner all morning and no one is answering the door.
The embassy is an Edwardian house along an ordinary suburban street in west London. The only evidence that it is an embassy is a plaque on the door and a wood carving of a hydro electric plant. Black Mercedes are parked in the drive and in the back garden there is a basketball hoop.
11.36am Korean Central News Agency says a National Funeral Committee has been formed. Kim Jong-un, unsurprisingly, is at the top of the list. His funeral, by the way, is due to take place on December 28.
11.27amBreaking on Reuters: North Korea test fired a short-range missile this morning. Most likely to let the world know that things are not going to change.
It depicts Jong-il as an evil dictator attempting to conquer the world while openly mocking his limited English. He was featured as a singing dictator who was lonely – or “ronrey” – while living in his large opulent palace.
Stone, 40, and Parker, 42, also wrote the screenplay and supplied voices of many of the characters to the cult movie. Parker voiced Kim’s voice. Neither have commented about the death.
What is sure is that the country presents a greater proliferation danger than any other on the planet.
North Korea was the key source of the material sold by Abdul Qadeer Khan to Iran, Libya and Syria. It is believed to be continuing its assistance to Iran.
An explosion at a military facility in Iran 10 days ago was reported to have killed several North Korean engineers.
11.15am Former Japanese prime minister Junichiro Koizumi, one of the few "developed-nation" leaders ever to have had direct talks with Kim, said he was a "straight talker". Mr Koizumi visited Kim in 2002 and 2004. He said his death was "unfortunate" and might represent a lost opportunity to reintegrate Pyongyang with the outside world.
What I remember from the talks is that, rather than the dark image that one might have of a dictator, he was very upbeat and directly spoke his mind.
It's unfortunate because I wished the path toward normalised relations (between Japan and North Korea) would have been paved while General Secretary Kim was still well, after having resolved the abduction, nuclear and missile problems.
11.13am The German government has said the death of Kim offers a "chance" for positive change, much like Britain and France before them.
This is of course a chance for things to change there but our expectations remain the same: that North Korea gives up its nuclear programme, that the catastrophic social situation of its own people improves and that it declares itself ready to open up in the political and economic spheres.
11.10am Some more on Kim's greatest 'achievements' from The Telegraph's Julian Ryall. Clearly destined for greatness from an early age - he was learning to walk aged three weeks.
At junior high school in Pyongyang, he corrected and chastised his teachers for incorrectly interpreting history with images of teachers bowed before the future leader of the nation – already a little on the paunchy side.
Moving on to higher education, he found time to write 1,500 books during his three years at Kim Il-sung University, from where he graduated in 1964, and penned six full operas in two years – "all of which are better than any in the history of music," his biography gushes.
Turning his hand to major architectural feats, he designed the Tower of the Juche Idea, a 170-metre-tall monolith on the east bank of the Taedong River in Pyongyang that is topped by a glowing red flame.
10.55 Tim Shipman, The Daily Mail's Deputy Political Editor, Tweetsabout one of Kim's more outlandish habits:
10.54amMike Chinoy, a former CNN Correspondent, with 15 visits to North Korea, and the author of 'Meltdown: The Inside Story of the North Korean Nuclear Crisis, has spoken about the short-term consequences of Kim's death:
In the short run, the system is going to continue more or less as-is… The deeper questions come over the long term, in the sense that Kim Jong-un is very young, he’s still quite inexperienced, not very much is known about him, and so there are lots of questions about what he’s going to do. Will he be able to consolidate his power, will he be essentially a figurehead?
10.50am It is worth remembering, that amid all the jokes, Team America references and bizarre facts, an estimated two million people have died since the 1990s due to food shortages triggered by economic mismanagement and natural disasters.
An estimated one-third of all children in North Korea are stunted by malnutrition caused by ongoing food shortages, according to the UN children's fund. Guido Fawkes has posted a very powerful picture on his blog.
4 June 2003: Kim Jong-il inspects a farm run by Korean People's Army unit 534 in North Korea
10.39am Julian Ryall has broken down Kim Jong-il's various relationships over the years. Kim, perhaps an unlikely sex symbol, had long-term relationships with at least seven women and fathered four children apparently. It all stems from his stepmother.
He has spoken to Toshimitsu Shigemura, a professor at Tokyo's Waseda University and author of numerous books on the North Korean leadership:
He had problems with his new mother when he was growing up and that coloured his relationships with women when he was older...
But we also have to remember that the situation in North Korea is unlike anywhere else in the modern world. This is a dynasty with a king at the top; he could do exactly what he wanted."
10.28am If ever there was a picture to highlight the difference between both Koreas, then surely this is it - satellite picture at night. Note how one side is lit up, the other... is not.
A satellite image of the Korean peninsula illustrated with the outline of North Korea
10.20am Konstantin Pulikovskiy, the Kremlin's former special representative in the far East, has spoken about when he met Kim Jong-il, both pre- and post-stroke. For his money, he does not see any regime change on the horizon:
I saw Kim Jong-il before his stroke, I was travelling with him, and at the time he did not have any health problems. I saw him after the stroke and it was like night and day. I think that the main reason for his death was precisely the consequences of his stroke...
It seems that there will not be any upheaval in North Korea in the short term. Kim Jong-il managed to do everything to preserve his regime by appointing his son as his heir.
10.18am France has become the latest country to react to Kim Jong-il's death. Alain Juppe, the French foreign minister, has echoed William Hague's sentiment:
We are very watchful of the consequences of this succession, hoping that one day the people of North Korea will be able to find freedom.
Pyongyang residents mourn the death of leader Kim Jong-il
9.44am The Telegraph's Obituaries team have compiled a fascinating read about the Dear Leader. On the one hand, he was a spoiled playboy, with a passion for Rambo and Daffy Duck videos, but on the other, he developed an all-pervasive personality cult, shielded the whole country from the rest of the world, and held on to power for nearly five decades:
Kim il Sung had maintained his grip on power through "Juche" – a philosophy based on an eccentric blend of Stalinist repression, an all-pervasive personality cult, total isolation from the outside world and paranoid hostility towards South Korea and its capitalist allies. Over nearly five decades in power he had reduced his country to a destitute fortress-state with a standing army of 1.2 million out of a population of some 20 million. The combination of barbarism, isolation and eccentricity was an Orwellian nightmare beside which Enver Hoxha's Albania seemed a bastion of liberal enlightenment.
9.40am Telegraph TV has more video on hysterical grieving in North Korea. It begs the question, how do you react when your 'god' dies?
9.22am Aiden Foster-Carter, a British expert on North Korea, has spoken about Kim Jong-un, the 'great successor', and his complete lack of experience.
Kim Jong-un is completely untried, indeed he has been plunged into this, with only two years to prepare.
So far we have no reason to think he has the abilities to exercise power in his own right.
The military make look at this callow youth and say ok we can use him as a figurehead or it may go the other way and we get a full military regime, a ruling council. The party had rather atrophied under Kim Jong-il until it came together to back Kim Jong-un for the leadership.
There may be some rivalries there that would help him. So it's a question of whether he will go with the grain or decide to be bold and open up to the international community.
9.14am Kim Jong-il is predictably trending on Twitter. At the moment, the UK's top 10 trends include: "Kim Jong", "Team America", "North Korea" and "Dear Leader".
Kim Jong-il reportedly began an affair with actress Song Hye-rim in 1968 who gave birth three years later to Kim Jong-nam - which was kept secret from Kim Jong-Il until 1975. After learning of his son, Kim Jong-il began to groom him for a future leadership role - although that came to an abrupt end in May 2001 when he was arrested trying to enter Japan on a forged Dominican Republic passport with two women and a boy aged 4. He told Japanese polce that he wanted to visit Disneyland and there are reports that he was a frequent visitor to the red light districts of Tokyo.
Using the Chinese alias Pang Xiong, which can be read as "fat bear," Kim Jong-nam's arrest was humiliating for his father, who was forced to cancel a state visit to China.
Kim Jong-Nam reportedly has two wives, at least one mistress and several children and continues to live in exile in Macau. His son, Han-sol, is believed to have been born in 1995 to his second wife, Lee Hye-Kyong, and recently enrolled at the United World College in Mostar, Bosnia-Herzogovina.
Kim Jong-Il's next companion was Ko Young-hee, who was a dancer born in Osaka in 1953 and the mother of Kim Jong-chul, a member of the central committee of the party, a daughter, Kim Sul-song, and Kim Jong-un, who has been given the task of continuing the family regime.
9.04am For those of you who might not remember what I was talking about regarding Team America (8.10am), please watch this musical masterpiece. Say what you like about South Park's creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone, but they know how to create a catchy tune - Mormons can testify.
8.42am Benedict Brogan, The Daily Telegraph's Deputy Editor, comments that Kim Jong-il's death adds a "whole new element of instability to our already shaky world" in his Morning briefing.
When Kim Jong-il, the North Korean dictator, was born, “a bright star lit up the sky, the seasons spontaneously changed from winter to spring, and rainbows appeared” (according to the North Korean Communist Party).
So far, his death early this morning hasn’t produced any of that, but it does add a whole new element of instability to our already shaky world. William Hague has issued a carefully worded statement...
South Korea has put its military on alert, while Kim Jong-un, the dictator's 28 year old son, has been promoted. The death is likely to dominate the news agenda.
Converted from a seven-bedroom house built in the 1920s, the embassy is a far cry from the opulent Mayfair and Kensington mansions that make up most of London's foreign diplomatic missions. When it first opened in 2003, it was plunged straight into a bitter planning dispute with Ealing Council, which objected to its grandiose portico entrance with pillars.
But in contrast with Pyongyang's hostile relations with Japan and South Korea, it maintains a good neighbours policy when it comes to fellow occupants of Gunnersbury Avenue.
"The ambassador is a lovely chap, very friendly," said a man living next door. He claimed that people in the neighbourhood were untroubled by having in their midst the outpost of a nation notorious for slave labour camps and weapons of mass destruction.
8.30am And for those of you wanting a reminder about his father, look no further than Julian Ryall's profile of Kim Jong-il. Kim was clearly destined for greatness from an early age. He was apparently talking at eight weeks old, wrote six operas and once hit a 38-under-par during his first ever round of golf.
Kim led a privileged life after the war as North Korea made use of its natural resources and received assistance from Moscow and, later, Beijing while the United States increased its commitment to the government in South Korea.
The cult of personality that was built up around his father was equally heaped upon Kim as he was groomed to be the first dynastic successor of a communist regime.
8.28am Kim Jong-un the 'great successor', will be thrown into the spotlight more than ever before. For those of you who want to know more about him, The Telegraph's Danielle Demetriou has done a handy guide. He has been dubbed a style guru thanks to his haircut, which has been labelled the "youth" or "ambition" cut, and he is apparently a massive Michael Jordan fan.
8.10am He may have been a dangerous dictator, but to many younger readers, Kim Jong-il was a widely mocked figure, perhaps best remembered for his star turn in Team America, by the creators of South Park.
Kim Jong-il in Team America
8am William Hague, the Foreign Secretary, has released a statement on Kim Kong-il's death:
The people of N Korea are in official mourning after the death of Kim Jong Il. We understand this is a difficult time for them.
This could be a turning point for North Korea. We hope that their new leadership will recognise that engagement with the international community offers the best prospect of improving the lives of ordinary North Korean people.
We encourage North Korea to work for peace and security in the region and take the steps necessary to allow the resumption of the Six Party Talks on denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula.
7.57am In the wake of the Dear Leader's death, this video is going somewhat viral on YouTube. It has been viewed as of now 142,800+ times. Fact number 10: He once attempted to breet giant rabbits to alleviate famine in North Korea. Fact number nine - he claimed to have invented the hamburger... you get the idea.
7.40am Telegraph TV has found some video footage of the aforementioned tearful TV presenter (see 6.55am) announcing Kim Jong-il's death.
The announcer said that the 69-year old had died of physical and mental over-work on his way to give "field guidance".
"I'm announcing in the most woeful mind that our great leader Kim Jong-il passed away due to sudden illness on his way to a field guidance on December 17, 2011," said the news presenter.
7.30am Whilst most of the 24 million North Koreans will be genuinely distraught by the death of the 'Dear Leader', the end of Kim Jong-il's tyrannical reign has increased the chill of uncertainty across the region. The Telegraph's Peter Simpson writes:
Kim's regular war and mind games, which saw on one hand overtures towards denuclearisation negotiations, and on the other random torpedoing of submarines and artillery bombardments of the South, regularly put Beijing, the Korean peninsular and Tokyo on red alert.
Yet the leadership acumen of his hereditary successor Kim Jong-Un, his 20-something youngest son, as "supreme leader" and a four-star general, is today causing equally grave concern among Pyongyang’s neighbours and in Washington.
Will the young Kim seek to show off to his new and expectant subjects the same verve and might of his father by launching a symbolic military strike against the “US imperialist-led” South?
7.25am Little is known about the 'Great Successor' Kim Jong-un, but al-Jazeera last year posted some footage of his formative years - what is believed to be a young Kim at school in Switzerland.
7.10am China, North Korea's regional neighbour, has become the latest country to offer its "deep condolences" on the death of Kim.
We were distressed to learn of the unfortunate passing of the senior-most North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, and we express our grief about this and extend our condolences to the people of North Korea.
7.06am Philip J Crowley, the former US State Department spokesman, has give some snap analysis for the future of North Korea via Twitter, putting a dampner who those who think his death might trigger an Arab-Spring-style sweep of reform:
6.55am Here is a picture of the tearful news reader dressed in black as she announces the death of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il on North Korean state television.
6.50am Japan has expressed its condolences over the death of Kim Jong-il. The Telegraph's Julian Ryall files this report:
The Japanese government expressed its condolences on Monday over the death of Kim Jong-il, the leader of North Korea, but simultaneously told officials to be prepared for potential instability.
"We express our condolences upon receiving the announcement of the sudden passing of Kim Jong-Il, the chairman of the National Defence Committee of North Korea," Osamu Fujimura, the chief government spokesman, said after an emergency meeting of the National Security Council.
"The Japanese government hopes that this unexpected development will not have any adverse impact on the peace and stability of the Korean Peninsula," he added.
Yoshihiko Noda, the prime minister, cancelled a speaking engagement on Monday morning and has instructed government officials to be prepared for all possible contingencies.
Monitoring of the situation in North Korea has also been stepped up and officials have been to stay in close contact with their counterparts in the United States, South Korea and China.
Kim's death has apparently caught analysts off-guard, with Masashi Nishihara, president of the Research Institute for Peace and Security, saying it had been believed that the North Korean leader had been recovering after a serious illness - believed to have been a stroke - three years ago.
6.30am Japan has held a hastily prepared ministerial meeting on national security. Chief Cabinet Secretary Osamu Fujimura said:
We hope this sudden event does not have an adverse effect on the peace and stability of the Korean peninsula.
Prime Minister (Yoshihiko) Noda told members of the security meeting to strengthen information gathering efforts, work closely and share information with relevant states including the United States, South Korea and China, and to prepare for any unexpected circumstances. The government hopes to take appropriate action as needed.
6.25am UPDATED Obama and South Korea's Lee have discussed Kim Jong-Il's death, White House sources have said. Earlier this morning, a White House spokesman said the US was "closely monitoring" reports that Kim Jong-il had died.
6.15am North Korea has described Kim's youngest son as the "great successor"
6am Here is a profile of Kim Jong-un from The Telegraph's Malcolm Moore. Kim Jong-un is expected to succeed his late father.
Such is the secrecy of North Korea, the Hermit Kingdom, that until he was 20-years-old, no one even knew that Kim Jong-un existed.
The first mention of Kim Jong-il's third, and favourite, son, came in the memoirs of a Japanese sushi chef who claims he became a drinking companion of North Korea's "Dear Leader".
Kim Jong-un was born to his father's third wife, Ko Yong-Hi, who reportedly died of breast cancer in 2004.
The only photograph of the younger Kim, who is likely to succeed his father imminently, is a grainy black-and-white snapshot taken when he was 11-years-old.
5.50am North Korea has urged its 24 million people to rally behind 20-something heir-apparent Kim Jong-un as the nation mourned the death of supreme leader Kim Jong-il.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-il (L) and his son and designated heir Kim Jong-un
5.30am Oil slipped has slipped below $93 a barrel in Asia as crude followed the region's stock markets lower after North Korea announced the death of leader Kim Jong-il.
Benchmark crude for January delivery was down 78 cents to $92.75 a barrel at midday Singapore time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract fell 34 cents to settle at $93.53 on Friday.
In London, Brent crude was down 45 cents at $102.90 on the ICE futures exchange.
5am UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon was among world leaders put on alert Sunday over the death of North Korea's leader Kim Jong-Il, officials said.
The United Nations has been desperately trying to raise international funds to provide food for North Korea. It appealed for $218 million dollars this year but less than 20 percent has been raised.
Ban, who is from South Korea, has in turn regularly expressed concern at the deadlock in international talks on the North's nuclear arms program. He said last week that the mood on the Korean peninsula was almost "frozen".
UN spokesman Martin Nesirky told AFP:
The secretary general is aware but of the reports but we don't have an immediate reaction.
4.50am South Korea has ordered its military on emergency alert and increased border air surveillance after North Korea announced the death of its leader Kim Jong-il, the Joint Chiefs of Staff said.
Seoul also asked its US ally, which stations 28,500 troops in the South, to step up surveillance by planes and satellites, a JCS spokesman said.
No unusual activity had been observed from the North, officials said.
President Lee Myung-bak ordered all government officials on emergency response status, meaning they are restricted from taking leave or travelling.
The North's state media, in a shock announcement, reported earlier Monday that the 69-year-old Kim died of a heart attack Saturday while on board a train during one of his field trips.
TV news report the death of North Korean leader Kim Jong Il at a Labi Yamada Denki Co. retailer in Tokyo, Japan AP Photo/Shuji Kajiyama
The mercurial and enigmatic longtime leader who ran his nation with an iron rod was 69.
The state-TV announcer, wearing black and fighting back tears, made the emotional announcement on state-run television.
She said Kim died “of fatigue” while on a train.
His youngest son, Kim Jong-un, is likely to be appointed leader to continue the family dynasty that has administrated a tyrannical government since the end of the Korean War.
4.30am North Korea's Kim Jong-il has reportedle died from "a massive heart attack" while travelling on a train in Pyongyang, state media have said. The military dictator, who was 69, apparently died on Saturday but news of his death was announced early Monday morning.
Source: DTN News - - This article compiled by Roger Smith for BHGSG News
As is often the case in totalitarian states with no meaningful contact with the outside world, we can expect the authorities in Pyongyang to be gripped bv intense paranoia as they attempt a seamless transition of power. Any false move by one of North Korea's many perceived enemies could have the regime reaching for the panic button, which is never a reassuring thought when you are dealing with an inherently unstable country that also happens to be armed with nuclear weapons.
Myanmar will convey its condolences over the demise of North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il.
All quiet at the People's republic of north acton. Only one mourner all morning and no one is answering the door.
What is sure is that the country presents a greater proliferation danger than any other on the planet.
At junior high school in Pyongyang, he corrected and chastised his teachers for incorrectly interpreting history with images of teachers bowed before the future leader of the nation – already a little on the paunchy side.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-il (L) and his son and designated heir Kim Jong-un
TV news report the death of North Korean leader Kim Jong Il at a Labi Yamada Denki Co. retailer in Tokyo, Japan AP Photo/Shuji Kajiyama
