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| U.S. stock markets are rigged, says author Michael Lewis Sunday, Mar 30, 2014 07:43 PM PDT By John McCrank NEW YORK (Reuters) - The U.S. stock market is rigged in favor of high-speed electronic trading firms, which use their advantages to extract billions from investors, according to Michael Lewis, author of a new book on the topic, "Flash Boys: A Wall Street Revolt." High-frequency trading (HFT) is a practice carried out by many banks and proprietary trading firms using sophisticated computer programs to send gobs of orders into the market, executing a small portion of them when opportunities arise to capitalize on price imbalances, or to make markets. HFT makes up more than half of all U.S. trading volume. The trading methods and technology that make HFT possible are all legal, and the stock exchanges HFT firms trade on are highly regulated. But Lewis said these firms are using their speed advantage to profit at the expense of other market participants to the tune of tens of billions of dollars. Full Story | Top |
| Committee fears for BBC World Service under new funding Sunday, Mar 30, 2014 07:42 PM PDT  By Belinda Goldsmith LONDON (Reuters) - Parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee raised fears on Monday for the future of the BBC World Service, the world's largest international broadcaster, as funding shifts from government grants to financing by domestic television user fees. The BBC World Service, which started as the "Empire Service" in 1932, airs news and discussions around-the-clock in 28 languages, reaching about 190 million people a week. "We have clear differences with the BBC on governance of the World Service .. It remains to be seen whether they will indeed safeguard the distinct nature of the World Service," the committee said in a report on Monday. The World Service has been given a budget of 245 million pounds in 2014/15, which the committee welcomed along with an undertaking by the BBC's news director to maintain this level until the current licence fee period ends in 2016. Full Story | Top |
| Disney's 'Frozen' becomes top-grossing animated film ever Sunday, Mar 30, 2014 05:13 PM PDT Disney's hit film "Frozen" has become the top-grossing animated film in box office history, the studio said on Sunday as the musical topped $1 billion in global sales. Foreign box offices have added another $674 million, for a global total of $1.072 billion, Disney said. The previous animated-film box office champion was 2010's "Toy Story 3," which racked up $1.063 billion in sales, according to Boxofficemojo.com. Both films were distributed by Walt Disney Pictures. Full Story | Top |
| British lawmakers fear for BBC World Service under new funding Sunday, Mar 30, 2014 05:06 PM PDT  By Belinda Goldsmith LONDON (Reuters) - British lawmakers raised fears on Monday for the future of the BBC World Service, the world's largest international broadcaster, as funding shifts from government grants to financing by domestic television user fees. Parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee said it was concerned that a change in funding and a lack of presence on the BBC's executive or management boards would erode the on-air and online influence of the radio and television service. The BBC World Service, which started as the "Empire Service" in 1932, airs news and discussions around-the-clock in 28 languages, reaching about 190 million people a week. "We have clear differences with the BBC on governance of the World Service .. It remains to be seen whether they will indeed safeguard the distinct nature of the World Service," the committee said in a report on Monday. Full Story | Top |
| U.S. rapper Benzino shot, injured during mother's funeral procession Sunday, Mar 30, 2014 12:47 PM PDT By Elizabeth Barber BOSTON (Reuters) - Reality television star and rapper Benzino was shot and wounded, allegedly by his nephew, during the funeral procession for his mother outside Boston, authorities said on Sunday. Benzino, star of the VH1 show "Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta," was driving in the procession on Route 3 on Saturday when he was shot by his nephew, Gai Scott, who had pulled alongside in another vehicle, the Plymouth County, Massachusetts District Attorney said. He was listed in good condition on Sunday at South Shore Hospital in South Weymouth, Massachusetts, a spokeswoman said. There had been "growing family tension" between Scott and Benzino, whose given name is Raymond Scott, the district attorney said in a statement. Full Story | Top |
| Australia's '5 Seconds of Summer' debuts in top spot in UK music chart Sunday, Mar 30, 2014 11:07 AM PDT Boy band "5 Seconds of Summer" shot to the top of Britain's music charts on Sunday with their debut single "She Looks So Perfect", the first time a group from Australia has been number one here for 14 years, the Official Charts Company said. The group, whose average age is 18, came to global attention after posting two cover versions of other people's tracks on YouTube. The Sydney band's success pushed last week's number one - dance track "I Got U", by Duke Dumont and Jax Jones - into second place. The album has sold nearly 73,000 copies in the last seven days, the Official Charts Company said, making it the fastest-selling album of 2014. Full Story | Top |
| 'Noah' rains down on 'Divergent', 'Muppets' to win U.S. box office Sunday, Mar 30, 2014 10:27 AM PDT  By Ronald Grover and Chris Michaud LOS ANGELES/NEW YORK (Reuters) - "Noah", starring Russell Crowe as the biblical figure who built an ark to save his family and specimens of every animal from the great flood, collected $44 million in U.S. and Canadian ticket sales to lead the weekend box office. It sailed past last weekend's winner, "Divergent", based on the novel by Veronica Roth about a dystopian world divided into factions. "Muppets Most Wanted", starring Ty Burrell and Tina Fey with Jim Henson's furry puppets, was third with $11.4 million in ticket sales from Friday through Sunday, according to estimates provided by Rentrak. To counter reports in trade newspapers that Christians disapproved of the film, Paramount Pictures, the film's distributor, commissioned a survey by Nielsen that found 83 percent of "very religious" moviegoers were anxious to see the film. Full Story | Top |
| British actress Kate O'Mara, star of U.S. TV soap 'Dynasty', dies Sunday, Mar 30, 2014 10:20 AM PDT British actress Kate O'Mara, best remembered in the United States for her role in long-running 1980s TV soap "Dynasty", died in England on Sunday aged 74, Phil Belfield, her agent, said. O'Mara, who passed away after a short illness at a nursing home in the English county of Sussex, played Cassandra 'Caress' Morrell, the scheming sister of Alexis Colby (Joan Collins) in Dynasty, a soap opera that centered on the life of the wealthy and fictional Carrington family in Denver, Colorado. Full Story | Top |
| Retrospective of late artist Mike Kelley comes home to Los Angeles Sunday, Mar 30, 2014 04:04 AM PDT  By Eric Kelsey LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - With sullied stuffed animals, models of a sci-fi city and a statue of astronaut John Glenn covered in broken ceramic, a retrospective on influential contemporary artist Mike Kelley opens on Monday in Los Angeles, two years after the artist took his own life. The exhibition at the city's Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) is as moving as it is large. "It was going to be a thematic retrospective that was very much involved in his participation and collaboration," said Ann Goldstein, the exhibition's curator and a former artistic director at the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam. Kelley was born in 1954 in suburban Detroit and attended the University of Michigan before moving to Southern California in 1976 to attend the California Institute of the Arts and later settling in as a prominent figure in the Los Angeles art scene. Full Story | Top |
| Tibetan Communist who urged reconciliation with Dalai Lama dies Saturday, Mar 29, 2014 11:07 PM PDT  By Benjamin Kang Lim and David Stanway BEIJING (Reuters) - Phuntso Wangye, a veteran Tibetan Communist leader who became an outspoken critic of Beijing's hardline policies towards the Himalayan region, died on Sunday, his son said. "Before his death, he was a Communist Party member. After his death, we have invited lamas to pray (for his soul) according to traditional Tibetan culture." Phuntso, who was in a Beijing hospital since July, recently developed lung problems. Born in 1922 in the Tibetan county of Batang, now part of China's Sichuan province, Phuntso founded the Tibetan Communist Party and launched a series of guerrilla uprisings against Nationalist Chinese rule until joining forces with the Chinese Communist Party in 1949. Full Story | Top |
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