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| Canada strips former publisher Conrad Black of honors Friday, Jan 31, 2014 06:42 PM PST  Canada has canceled two prestigious honors for Conrad Black, who once ran a newspaper empire stretching from the Chicago Sun-Times to Britain's Daily Telegraph and the Jerusalem Post but who ended up in U.S. prison for fraud. The government on Friday terminated his appointment as an officer of the Order of Canada, which recognizes a lifetime of high achievement and merit. It also removed him from the Queen's Privy Council for Canada, ostensibly a group of cabinet ministers and other prominent Canadians appointed to advise Queen Elizabeth, Canada's head of state, though for distinguished individuals outside of the cabinet it is mainly a mark of honor. He was found guilty in 2007 of scheming with business partner David Radler and other executives to siphon off millions of dollars from the sale of newspapers as they unwound Hollinger International. Full Story | Top |
| Bieber friend rapper Lil Za charged with drug possession Friday, Jan 31, 2014 05:07 PM PST A friend of Justin Bieber's has been charged with drug crimes in connection with a raid on the teen pop star's home this month, the Los Angeles County District Attorney's office said on Friday. Xavier Smith, 20, better known as rapper Lil Za, was charged with possession of MDMA and oxycodone and vandalizing the Los Angeles County Sheriff's jail where he was held, said Ricardo Santiago, a spokesman for the district attorney. Smith was arrested on January 14 during a Sheriff's Department raid on Bieber's home in Calabasas, about 30 miles northeast of Los Angeles. He is due to be arraigned in Los Angeles on February 4. Full Story | Top |
| Exclusive: Charter may raise Time Warner Cable bid within weeks -sources Friday, Jan 31, 2014 04:09 PM PST  By Liana B. Baker and Soyoung Kim NEW YORK (Reuters) - Charter Communications Inc is discussing raising its bid for Time Warner Cable Inc as soon as in the next two weeks, according to people familiar with the matter, a move that could pressure its reluctant rival ahead of a proxy deadline. Charter is considering a higher bid in the low $140s per share range, the people said on Friday, up from its current $132.50 per share offer that values the second-largest U.S. cable operator at $37.3 billion based on shares outstanding. The likely bump reflects feedback from Time Warner Cable investors Charter has received in its two-week roadshow, that person added. Time Warner shares were up 2 percent in after-hours trading at $136 following Reuters' report on the higher bid possibility. Full Story | Top |
| In teen star transition, Bieber may want to emulate Miley Friday, Jan 31, 2014 03:26 PM PST  By Eric Kelsey LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A role model for troubled teen star Justin Bieber could be, believe it or not, provocative songstress Miley Cyrus. Bieber, who racked up charges in two cities in the span of a week, would be wise to use Cyrus as his guide to navigate the transition from teen pop stardom to a serious adult career, branding and celebrity crisis experts said. Should the 19-year-old Canadian fail to chart a new music-focused course soon, he could go the way of actress Lindsay Lohan and countless other young stars who rose to fame only to have promising careers come unhinged by their personal lives. "The hardest, hardest transition to make is from teen idol to working performer with an ongoing career," said Howard Bragman, vice chairman of online personal branding website Reputation.com. Full Story | Top |
| Chile's rescued miners to surface again in Hollywood movie 'The 33' Friday, Jan 31, 2014 03:04 PM PST  By Alexandra Ulmer SANTIAGO (Reuters) - Chile's rescued miners enjoyed the spotlight once again on Friday when they met Antonio Banderas and the other actors who will portray them in the Hollywood film "The 33." During the 2010 ordeal, the 33 miners trapped 700 meters underground drank oil-contaminated water to survive and set off explosives in a desperate bid to alert rescuers. "I was one of the many millions obsessed with the story," said Banderas at a ceremony with Chilean President Sebastian Piñera and miners held at the presidential palace to greet the actors who have just arrived in Chile for shooting. "It reflects the value of life in a confused and violent world," the Spanish actor added, before high-fiving Mario Sepulveda, the de facto spiritual leader of the 33 miners who he portrays in the film. Full Story | Top |
| This U.S. official is heading to Jeopardy! Who is Richard Cordray? Friday, Jan 31, 2014 12:50 PM PST  Richard Cordray, director of the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, will appear on Jeopardy! on February 5, about 27 years after he won $45,303 as a contestant on the game show. Cordray was an undefeated, five-team champion in 1987. Full Story | Top |
| Anna Gordy Gaye, ex-wife of Marvin Gaye, dies in Los Angeles at 92 Friday, Jan 31, 2014 12:01 PM PST  Anna Gordy Gaye, the ex-wife of late soul legend Marvin Gaye and the older sister of Motown record label founder Berry Gordy Jr., died in Los Angeles on Friday at the age of 92, the family publicist said. "She died today at her Los Angeles home. They discovered her body at 3:00 a.m.," said Maureen O'Connor, executive vice president of publicists Rogers & Cowan. The songwriter and businesswoman was married to Gaye from 1964 to 1977 and helped compose two songs, "Flying High (In the Friendly Sky)" and "God is Love," on Gaye's classic album "What's Going On." She was also the inspiration for his hit "Pride and Joy." When Marvin Gaye was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987, she attended the ceremony. Full Story | Top |
| Roald Dahl's dark 'Dirty Beasts' set to music for children Friday, Jan 31, 2014 12:00 PM PST By Michael Roddy LONDON (Reuters) - Roald Dahl's "Dirty Beasts" poems have a musical cadence which may explain why, after the success of stage versions of "Matilda" and "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory", three of them are being set to music to introduce young people to the orchestra. The anteater which gobbles a spoiled rich boy's aunt, the flying toad which can turn itself into a roly-poly bird to escape frog-loving French gourmands, and the girl with a bag of sweets who sits on a porcupine and has to have quills removed by a dentist have been orchestrated by composer Benjamin Wallfisch for a February premiere at London's Southbank Centre. The premiere will take place during Southbank's "Imagine" children's festival, which this year features a major strand of Dahl tributes to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the publication of "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory". Luke Kelly, Dahl's grandson who helps direct his estate and who was in London on Friday for the festival launch, said the late Welsh-born author and onetime fighter pilot had a knack for writing works that lend themselves to adaptations. Full Story | Top |
| Germany must publish list of artworks hoarded by recluse: court Friday, Jan 31, 2014 11:41 AM PST  By Sarah Marsh BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany must publish the full list of artworks found in the flat of an elderly recluse last year which are mostly believed to have been looted or extorted by the Nazis, a German court ruled on Friday, citing the need for transparency in a case long hushed up. The stash of more than 1,400 paintings, drawings and sculptures includes works by Picasso, Matisse and German expressionists Otto Dix and Ernst Ludwig Kirchner. Germany has faced criticism from around the world for failing to publish the full list of artworks, as well as for keeping silent for nearly two years about the trove. "The administrative court of Augsburg has ordered state prosecutors to give a list of the artworks ... to the reporter of a daily newspaper," the Bavarian court said in a statement, referring to the right to information under media law. Full Story | Top |
| Actress Sienna Miller angry at British phone-hacking case details Friday, Jan 31, 2014 10:01 AM PST  By Michael Holden LONDON (Reuters) - British actress Sienna Miller spoke on Friday of her anger that "titillating" information about her affair with James Bond actor Daniel Craig had been made public at the phone-hacking trial of a former Rupert Murdoch tabloid editor. The trial of Andy Coulson, who edited Murdoch's now defunct-News of the World Newspaper, has heard lengthy evidence this week about a voicemail message she left for Craig in 2005 which has taken centre stage in the high-profile court case. Coulson, editor of the mass-selling tabloid until 2007 and then Prime Minister David Cameron's head of communications up to early 2011, is accused of conspiracy to illegally intercept messages on mobile phones, a charge he denies. On Monday, her former boyfriend, actor Jude Law, was quizzed about their relationship, which had fascinated Britain's tabloid press. Full Story | Top |
| Artist Basquiat's early works to be on exhibit, auction in New York Friday, Jan 31, 2014 09:44 AM PST  By Marina Lopes NEW YORK (Reuters) - Early works by artist Jean-Michel Basquiat, known for his provocative, powerful and sometimes controversial paintings, will be exhibited and sold in online and in-house auctions in March, Christie's said on Friday. Approximately 50 works that the Brooklyn-born artist, who burst onto the New York art scene more than 30 years ago, left to his former lover, Alexis Adler, will be included in the exhibit that opens on March 1 in New York. Adler, an embryologist at New York University's School of Medicine, shared an apartment with Basquiat on New York's Lower East Side from 1979 to 1980, when he was a struggling artist. He could not afford supplies and painted on the walls, doors, refrigerator and even on Adler's coat - a gold garment she plans to wear to the exhibit opening, she said in an interview. Full Story | Top |
| Hungarian director and Cannes nominee Miklos Jancso dies age 92 Friday, Jan 31, 2014 09:10 AM PST By Marton Dunai BUDAPEST (Reuters) - Hungarian film director Miklos Jancso, director of five films nominated for best director prizes at the Cannes Film Festival, died on Friday of lung cancer at the age of 92, his family said. Jancso was widely credited for instilling a unique quality into Hungarian cinema, such as long, unbroken shots and the intense examination of the relationship of ordinary men and those in power. The prolific director, who has more than 30 feature films and nearly 50 shorter pieces to his name, had suffered from lung cancer for some time, his family told Hungarian news agency MTI. He was already 37 years old when he made his first feature film in 1958, "The Bells Have Gone to Rome", and seven years later earned a nomination for best director at Cannes for his work on "The Round Up". Full Story | Top |
| Miami Beach officer investigated for trying to snap Bieber photo Friday, Jan 31, 2014 09:05 AM PST  A female Miami Beach police officer is under investigation for improperly attempting to take a photograph of teenage pop singer Justin Bieber after his arrest last week for alleged driving under the influence. The officer is alleged to have attempted to photograph Bieber while he was in a temporary holding facility, according to police spokesman, Bobby Hernandez. The woman faces possible disciplinary action for conduct unbecoming an officer, he added. Bieber, 19, was arrested on January 23 after police said he was caught drag racing with friends at the wheel of a Lamborghini in a residential area of Miami Beach. Full Story | Top |
| Jewish leader says German museums turn blind eye to Nazi-looted art Friday, Jan 31, 2014 07:34 AM PST  By Monica Raymunt BERLIN (Reuters) - German museums are willfully ignoring their duty to come clean about works they hold that were looted from Jews by the Nazis, the head of the World Jewish Congress said on Thursday, and the government must do more to force them to act. Germany has faced heavy criticism over its handling of the discovery of 1,407 Nazi-plundered works in the flat of Cornelius Gurlitt, an elderly recluse whose father took orders from Hitler to buy and sell so-called 'degenerate art' to fund Nazi activities. Since a magazine broke the story last November, debate over the rightful ownership of works stashed in the Munich apartment - including by masters such as Duerer, Delacroix, Picasso and Matisse - has grown into a wider controversy over thousands of paintings on open display in museums. "They know what's been stolen," WJC President Ronald Lauder told Reuters in an interview during a visit to Berlin. Full Story | Top |
| Bertelsmann 2013 profit exceeds own expectations Friday, Jan 31, 2014 06:13 AM PST FRANKFURT (Reuters) - German media group Bertelsmann said on Friday its 2013 net profit increased 30 percent to a better-than-expected 800 million euros ($1.1 billion), helped by cost cuts and financial windfalls. The privately held company earlier had predicted 2013 net profit would rise by around 20 percent. Bertelsmann is co-owner of Penguin Random House, the publisher of bestsellers such as Dan Brown's "Inferno", and holds the majority of broadcaster RTL. Preliminary 2013 earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) from continuing operations rose to 2. ... Full Story | Top |
| 'Back to the Future' time travels to London stage Friday, Jan 31, 2014 05:51 AM PST  By Michael Roddy LONDON (Reuters) - The 1985 hit film "Back to the Future" is headed for the London stage as a musical that is scheduled to open in the movie's 30th anniversary year, the producers said on Friday. The film starred Michael J. Fox as a time traveler in a souped-up DeLorean who lands 30 years in the past and, among other things, introduces Chuck Berry to rock and roll. Robert Zemeckis, who directed and co-wrote the movie, will team up with co-writer Bob Gale for a new book for the musical, a joint statement from Zemeckis and Gale said. Universal Stage Productions ("Wicked" and "Billy Elliott"), London-based producer Colin Ingram and Hollywood producer and director Steven Spielberg's Amblin Entertainment are also involved in production, the statement said. Full Story | Top |
| Eric Church entices country fans with unique videos, mature sound Friday, Jan 31, 2014 05:12 AM PST  By Vernell Hackett NASHVILLE, Tennessee (Reuters) - Despite having more than 2.7 million Facebook fans and over a million Twitter followers, country music singer Eric Church is not a fan of social media. I'm not on Facebook and I never will be," said Church during an interview in a Nashville studio. Instead, the 36-year-old singer is going back to music basics to engage fans with videos to accompany the intimate, often melancholic love songs from his new album, "The Outsiders," due to be released on February 11. The videos for the new songs will be connected by recurring characters and themes, which Church said would come together into one story as each installment is released. Full Story | Top |
| You've got mail, Pope Francis Friday, Jan 31, 2014 03:57 AM PST  By Philip Pullella VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - He's nowhere near Santa Claus yet, but Pope Francis gets so much mail that the tiny office that deals with it is swamped and working overtime. "Mostly, they are requests for comfort or prayers," Monsignor Giuliano Gallorini, the head of the office, told Vatican Television (CTV). The U.S. Postal Service says it gets millions of letters addressed to Santa Claus each year. Full Story | Top |
| 'Gravity' Oscar buzz showcases UK visual effects industry Friday, Jan 31, 2014 03:09 AM PST  By Julia Fioretti LONDON (Reuters) - Some viewers love Alfonso Cuaron's space thriller "Gravity" and others think it pales in comparison with classics like Stanley Kubrick's "2001: A Space Odyssey", but pretty much anyone who has seen it agrees the visual effects are stunning. While the film was Mexican-directed and partly American-financed, the studio that created the visual effects - which have been nominated for an Academy Award - is British, adding to the accolades UK firms have accumulated in the field. "It's not a movie where we're putting visual effects into a film," said Tim Webber, who was visual effects supervisor for "Gravity". "It's a movie that is created using visual effects from the ground up." British talent was propelled into the industry limelight by the "Harry Potter" series, which involved UK companies Cinesite, Double Negative and Framestore, where Webber is director of visual effects. Full Story | Top |
| Indiana Jones' leather jacket in an English field - and no snakes! Friday, Jan 31, 2014 12:04 AM PST By Jonathan Cable SWANLEY, England (Reuters) - It's not quite like finding the grail but in their quest for the perfect jacket for Indiana Jones, props procurers for Hollywood director Steven Spielberg tracked down leather coat maker Peter Botwright to a small barn in the English countryside. And just like a Hollywood happy ending, nearly a quarter-century on from the movie whose hero played by Harrison Ford can deal with anything but snakes, Botwright still sells between 1,000 and 1,500 replicas a year. "The Brando motorcycle jacket is probably the top one but I wouldn't put the Raiders' jacket far down the list." Marlon Brando's image as an outlaw biker in the 1953 film "The Wild One" inspired a craze for sideburns, tilted caps - and leather motorcycle jackets. Based in the county of Kent, southeast England, Botwright's Wested Leather made the jacket Ford wore in Spielberg's 1981 film "Raiders of the Lost Ark" the first in the franchise. Full Story | Top |
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