Amy Winehouse drank herself to death. That was the ruling of a coroner's inquest into the death of the Grammy-winning soul singer, who died at age 27 with empty vodka bottles in her room and lethal amounts of alcohol in her blood -- 0.4 percent, more than five times the 0.08 percent that is Britain's drunken-driving limit. Coroner Suzanne Greenaway gave a verdict of "death by misadventure," saying Wednesday the singer suffered accidental alcohol poisoning. Winehouse had fought a very public battle with drug and alcohol abuse for years, and there had been much speculation that she died from a drug overdose. But a pathologist said the small amount of a drug prescribed to help her cope with the symptoms of alcohol withdrawal had nothing to do with her death. Instead, a resumption of heavy drinking killed the singer, best-known for her beehive hairdos and Grammy-winning album "Back to Black." "She's made tremendous efforts over the years," said Dr. Christina Romete, who had treated Winehouse. But "she had her own way and was very determined to do everything her way." The singer had resumed drinking in the days before her death after abstaining for most of July, she said. She was found dead in her home on July 23.

EXPECTING: Bruce Willis, 56, is expecting a baby with his wife, Emma Heming Willis. He has three daughters -- Rumer, 23; Scout, 20; and Tallulah Belle, 17 -- from his marriage to Demi Moore.

SPEAKING OUT: Ruth Madoff told the New York Times that she and her husband, Bernard Madoff, attempted suicide on Christmas Eve 2008, two weeks after Madoff confessed to running history's largest Ponzi scheme. The situation was "just horrific," said Ruth Madoff, who has been living in seclusion in Florida. "And I thought, 'I just can't, I can't take this." Still, she said she was "glad to wake up" from a drug-induced slumber the next day. Bernard Madoff is serving a 150-year prison sentence. Ruth Madoff said she agreed to talk because her son Andrew had asked her to help promote a biography, "Truth and Consequences: Life Inside the Madoff Family," to be published Monday.

WHAT HAPPENED TO MCCHRYSTAL? Retired Gen. Stanley McChrystal is planning to visit Afghanistan in the next few weeks on the invitation of President Hamid Karzai. The general has not been back since he resigned his command in June 2010 after an article in Rolling Stone quoted members of his staff saying disparaging things about the Obama administration. Although his visit is being described as a private one -- his wife, Annie, will accompany him -- it may be the beginning of a return by the general to the Afghan policy arena, where he was a significant player for much of the past 10 years and has remained in touch with senior officials, in particular Karzai.