Whitney Houston Funeral to Be Streamed Online

Fans worldwide who want to bid Whitney Houston farewell will be able to watch her private funeral on the World Wide Web.

Her publicist, Kristen Foster, announced that The Associated Press will be the pool camera for the Saturday ceremony in Newark, N.J., and the AP will stream the service on livestream.com/aplive.

Meanwhile, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie strongly defended his decision to have flags lowered to half-staff Saturday for the late singer amid criticism partly related to her history of substance abuse.

Christie said he rejects the idea the New Jersey native "forfeited the good things that she did in her life" because of her substance abuse struggles.

The Republican governor said Wednesday disparaging emails and other messages have been coming into his office.

Houston died in Beverly Hills, Calif., on Saturday at the age of 48. Her body was flown back to her native New Jersey on Monday.

Some fans were disappointed when they learned that the funeral was private and no public memorial was planned.

Houston was born in Newark and the service will be at New Hope Baptist Church.