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| Canadian police charge Justin Bieber with assaulting limo driver Wednesday, Jan 29, 2014 07:59 PM PST  By Allison Martell and Jeffrey Hodgson TORONTO (Reuters) - Canadian police charged Justin Bieber on Wednesday with assaulting a limousine driver in Toronto in December, the latest in a string of legal troubles for the young pop star. The incident happened in the early hours of December 30, when the limousine picked up six people including Bieber, 19, outside a Toronto nightclub, police said in a statement. Bieber struck the limousine driver on the back of the head several times during an altercation on the way to a hotel, police said. The driver got out and called police, but Bieber left before they arrived, according to the statement. Full Story | Top |
| Oscars organizers revoke 'Alone Yet Not Alone' song nomination Wednesday, Jan 29, 2014 05:20 PM PST  The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Sciences has revoked a nomination in the best original song category for "Alone Yet Not Alone," after the songwriter violated Oscar rules and emailed voters about submitting the song for consideration. Musician Bruce Broughton, a former Academy governor and executive committee member in its music branch, composed the title song from the independent Christian faith movie "Alone Yet Not Alone." The Academy said on Wednesday that Broughton had used his position within the organization to contact voters about his own submission of the song, which was "inconsistent" with the Academy's rules on Oscar nominations campaigning. "No matter how well-intentioned the communication, using one's position as a former governor and current executive committee member to personally promote one's own Oscar submission creates the appearance of an unfair advantage," Cheryl Boone Isaacs, Academy president, said in a statement. Broughton said in a statement he was "devastated" at the Academy's decision. Full Story | Top |
| Analysis: Charter's bid for Time Warner Cable hinges on Rutledge's skill Wednesday, Jan 29, 2014 04:34 PM PST  By Liana B. Baker NEW YORK (Reuters) - As Charter Communications Inc campaigns for investor support for its $37.3 billion bid for Time Warner Cable Inc, Charter Chief Executive Officer Tom Rutledge and his turnaround skills are front and center of that effort. But Rutledge's track record as chief operating officer of Cablevision Systems Corp from 2004 to 2011 shows that he may not be quite the miracle worker that allies like to portray him as. In meetings with Time Warner Cable shareholders, Rutledge, 60, and his management team have pledged to revive the fortunes of the second-largest U.S. cable operator. Time Warner Cable suffers from one of the industry's poorest customer service records, has lost subscribers at a higher rate than other large operators, and lags in the rollout of new technology. Full Story | Top |
| One Direction takes new record industry award as top band of 2013 Wednesday, Jan 29, 2014 04:11 PM PST  Boy band One Direction was named the most popular recording artist of 2013 on Wednesday, in a record industry award that for the first time counted streaming numbers on services such as Spotify and Deezer as well as CD sales and downloads. Streaming music has soared in popularity in recent years and Spotify boasts 24 million active users around the world. "Streaming has become so much more mainstream within the music industry worldwide over the last couple of years we thought it was time we integrated the streams-on services such as Deezer and Spotify and YouTube as well," IFPI communications manager Alex Jacob said. U.S. rapper Eminem took No. 2 spot with Justin Timberlake coming in third. Full Story | Top |
| Justin Bieber to be charged with assault in Toronto: CBC Wednesday, Jan 29, 2014 04:00 PM PST  By Allison Martell TORONTO (Reuters) - Canadian pop star Justin Bieber will be charged with assault in Toronto over an incident in December involving a limousine driver, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation said on Wednesday, citing unidentified police sources. The broadcaster said Bieber was expected to arrive in Toronto on Wednesday and be formally charged. Bieber's representatives declined to comment on the report. Toronto police said on their Twitter feed that they cannot confirm information in the media about Bieber, but journalists were gathered outside Toronto's 52 division police station, where the report said he was expected to turn himself in. Full Story | Top |
| 'That Awkward Moment' - romantic comedy film enters the man cave Wednesday, Jan 29, 2014 02:51 PM PST  By Patricia Reaney NEW YORK (Reuters) - Actor Zac Efron navigates the tangled, complex web of dating and the New York singles scene in "That Awkward Moment," a film that puts an uncommon spin on romantic comedy: the male perspective. The movie, due to open in U.S. theaters on Friday, follows the lives and loves of best friends, 20-something men in the big city trying to remain emotionally unattached as they maneuver the tricky terrain of jobs and relationships. "Sometimes it takes your best friends to get through it," added the star, who shot to fame in the Disney "High School Musical" TV movies and more recently starred in the historical drama "Parkland" and the thriller "The Paperboy." In "That Awkward Moment," Efron plays confident, carefree Jason, who likes to hang out with his friends and does his best to avoid commitment. Miles Teller, 26, who starred in last year's Sundance hit "The Spectacular Now" and this year's film festival favorite "Whiplash," is Jason's best buddy, the funny, affable Daniel. Full Story | Top |
| Deport-Bieber petition reaches threshold for White House response Wednesday, Jan 29, 2014 01:18 PM PST  (Reuters) - A petition asking the Obama administration to deport Canadian pop star Justin Bieber after his arrest last week on a drunken driving charge, on Wednesday passed the 100,000-signature mark needed to require a White House response. The petition so far has collected about 118,000 signatures since being added by user "J.A. from Detroit" to the White House website on January 23, the same day Bieber was caught drag racing on a residential street in Miami Beach in a rented Lamborghini. However, it is highly unlikely that Bieber, 19, would be deported, as federal law dictates that a visa could be revoked or denied for a conviction of a violent crime with a one year, or longer, prison sentence. Bieber told police after his arrest that he had taken prescription medicine, had been smoking marijuana and had consumed alcohol. Full Story | Top |
| Egypt to put Al Jazeera journalists on trial: prosecutor Wednesday, Jan 29, 2014 01:00 PM PST By Shadia Nasralla CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt will put an Australian, two Britons and a Dutchwoman on trial for aiding 16 Egyptians belonging to a "terrorist organization", the public prosecutor said on Wednesday, describing the four as Al Jazeera correspondents. Three of the Qatar-based television network's journalists - Peter Greste, an Australian; The British Embassy said it was aware of the report and was seeking more information. The 16 Egyptians are to face trial for belonging to a "terrorist organization", an apparent reference to the Muslim Brotherhood, which has been protesting against the government since the army toppled Islamist President Mohamed Mursi in July. Full Story | Top |
| 'Frozen' keeps Grammy nominees at bay on Billboard 200 Wednesday, Jan 29, 2014 12:57 PM PST By Piya Sinha-Roy LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Not even the Grammy awards could keep the soundtrack to Disney film "Frozen" from returning to No. 1 on the weekly Billboard 200 album chart on Wednesday, its third non-consecutive week at the top of the chart. "Frozen" sold 93,000 copies in the past week, according to figures from Nielsen SoundScan, and climbed one spot back to No. 1. The televised Grammy awards on Sunday helped the official "2014 Grammy Nominees" album debut at No. 2 with sales of 59,000. The compilation features songs by Grammy winners Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, Kacey Musgraves and Lorde. Full Story | Top |
| Lambert, McGraw score seven nods at Academy of Country Music Awards Wednesday, Jan 29, 2014 12:50 PM PST  (Reuters) - Country singers Miranda Lambert and Tim McGraw led the nominations for the Academy of Country Music Awards on Wednesday with seven nods apiece, and Australian singer Keith Urban followed with six nominations. Lambert joins her husband Blake Shelton, George Strait, country-pop starlet Taylor Swift and last year's winner Luke Bryan for the entertainer of the year award, the most coveted honor at the annual ACM ceremony, scheduled to be held this year on April 6 in Las Vegas. Full Story | Top |
| Russian TV channel sees censorship after being taken off air Wednesday, Jan 29, 2014 12:22 PM PST  By Maria Tsvetkova MOSCOW (Reuters) - A Russian television station that made its name covering massive street protests against President Vladimir Putin has been taken off the air by three television providers in a move the channel's chief said was censorship. Dozhd (TV Rain), an independent-minded television station with a strong online presence, has aired aggressive reporting critical of Russian authorities and even-handed broadcasts on Ukraine's anti-government protests. General Director Natalia Sindeyeva said three providers had dropped the channel in and around Moscow, adding Dozhd had been under pressure since it ran exposes on expensive property owned by high-ranking Kremlin officials. Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Russian agency Interfax on Wednesday the survey was "beyond what was acceptable from the moral and ethical point of view of our people". Full Story | Top |
| Factbox - Key nominees for the Academy of Country Music awards Wednesday, Jan 29, 2014 11:09 AM PST (Reuters) - Nominees for the 49th Academy of Country Music awards, one of country music's top honors, were announced on Wednesday. The awards will be handed out in a televised ceremony in Las Vegas hosted by singers Blake Shelton and Luke Bryan on April 6. Following are a list of nominees in key categories. ... Full Story | Top |
| Murdoch's UK arm in phone-hacking cover-up, ex-reporter says Wednesday, Jan 29, 2014 10:41 AM PST  By Michael Holden LONDON (Reuters) - A former tabloid reporter told a London court on Wednesday that Rupert Murdoch's British newspaper arm, News International, had been involved in a conspiracy to cover up phone-hacking and that he had lied about his own role to toe "the company line". Dan Evans, who has admitted hacking into mobile phone voicemails of dozens of celebrities during his time at Murdoch's News of the World, said he had lied about it both to police and in a civil legal case as part of a widespread company cover-up. However, the lawyer for Andy Coulson, the paper's former editor and Prime Minister David Cameron's ex-media chief, suggested Evans had only implicated others people in a bid to make a deal with police to avoid prosecution. "The truth is Andy Coulson knows exactly what went on his watch," said Evans during more than five hours of often heated exchanges with Coulson's lawyer Timothy Langdale at London's Old Bailey Court. Full Story | Top |
| Paintings by Richter and Freud to be sold by Sotheby's Wednesday, Jan 29, 2014 09:58 AM PST  By Julia Fioretti LONDON (Reuters) - An abstract painting by German artist Gerhard Richter will go on sale for the first time at Sotheby's Contemporary Art Sale in London, alongside works by Lucian Freud and Andy Warhol, Sotheby's said on Wednesday. Richter's "Wand (Wall)", painted in 1994, has been shown in 20 museum exhibitions, including the Richter retrospective "Forty Years of Painting" at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, but it has never before been offered for sale by the artist, the auction house said. The oil painting, whose price is expected to exceed 15 million pounds ($25 million), features "bold bands of cadmium red, blue and magenta", showcasing the revolutionary technique Richter developed in the previous decade. Full Story | Top |
| A Minute With: Julianne Nicholson on drama, schizophrenia and Julia Wednesday, Jan 29, 2014 09:05 AM PST  By Piya Sinha-Roy LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - What would you do if you found yourself in the middle of a dinner table fight with Oscar-winning actresses Meryl Streep and Julia Roberts? For actress Julianne Nicholson, it was a "dream come true" as she joined an all-star cast of Hollywood heavy-weights for the dark family drama "August: Osage County," which has earned both Streep and Roberts Oscar nods this year. "I still don't really believe it, even though the proof is out there," Nicholson told Reuters with a laugh. Nicholson, 42, has carved out a career on television, with long-running roles on "Ally McBeal," "Law and Order: Criminal Intent" and more recently, on HBO's "Boardwalk Empire" and Showtime's "Masters of Sex." She has also starred in independent films including 2009's "Brief Interviews with Hideous Men" and 2012's "Keep The Lights On." The actress will next be seen playing a schizophrenic mother on the Sundance Channel's new series "The Red Road", a gritty crime thriller exploring tensions between a small town community and a Native American tribe, premiering February 27. Full Story | Top |
| Madonna to introduce Pussy Riot duo at U.S. Amnesty concert Wednesday, Jan 29, 2014 08:07 AM PST  Pop icon Madonna said Wednesday she will introduce to the stage two formerly jailed members of the Russian punk band Pussy Riot when they appear at an Amnesty International concert in New York next week, hailing the pair as "fellow freedom fighters." Maria Alyokhina, 25, and Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, 24, will speak at the concert organized by the human rights group on February 5 during their first trip to New York since being granted amnesty in December by Russian President Vladimir Putin. They became international were symbols of human rights campaigners after being jailed in Russia for nearly two years. Full Story | Top |
| Grappling German grammar, Eddie Izzard proves humor can travel Wednesday, Jan 29, 2014 07:26 AM PST  By Victoria Bryan BERLIN (Reuters) - If anyone wants to know the German for "weasels covered in gravy", then comic Eddie Izzard, who unlike some of his countrymen is a lover of all things European, is the go-to man. The stand-up, already known for doing shows in French, is bringing his Force Majeure tour to audiences in German, Spanish, Russian and Arabic - all languages he doesn't actually speak. Standing somewhat nervously in front of a 250-strong crowd in Berlin's Quatsch Comedy Club, the 51-year-old Izzard tells the audience his aim is to encourage harmony among Europeans. The comic and actor is on a mission to prove that everyone, whether in Britain, Germany or elsewhere, has a sense of humor that can be understood by others. Full Story | Top |
| Sweden's Inspector Wallander author says he has cancer Wednesday, Jan 29, 2014 05:56 AM PST  Best-selling Swedish crime writer Henning Mankell, author of the Inspector Wallander novels, said on Wednesday that he had been diagnosed with cancer. Writing in Swedish daily Goteborgs Posten Mankell said he received the diagnosis earlier this year and would write about his experiences in the newspaper. "The cancer could also have spread to other parts of my body," he said. The 65-year-old, who in addition to dark crime novels has written several books for children, said doctors were performing further examinations before beginning treatment. Full Story | Top |
| Google maps, free milk: play looks at women having it all Wednesday, Jan 29, 2014 05:37 AM PST This old issue is revisited by Gina Gionfriddo's piercingly funny play "Rapture, Blister, Burn," looking at the lives of three women from different generations and throwing in a love triangle for some added drama. After a well-received round in the United States in 2011, American Pulitzer Prize finalist Gionfriddo's play opened at the Hampstead Theatre in London last week, directed by Peter DuBois. The plot revolves around three former grad-school friends in their 40s who reunite when Catherine, a glamorous, high-profile academic and author, leaves her high-flying New York lifestyle to return to her small hometown and care for her mother Alice, who has just suffered a heart attack. To keep herself busy Catherine, played by Emilia Fox, holds summer classes in which she lectures on feminism, pornography and horror films to her only students, Gwen and her former babysitter, the irreverent 21-year old Avery (Shannon Tarbet). Full Story | Top |
| Britain's ITV to launch its first pay-TV channel Wednesday, Jan 29, 2014 05:07 AM PST  By Paul Sandle LONDON (Reuters) - ITV is launching its first pay-TV channel, one dedicated to British drama, exclusively on Sky's satellite and online platforms as part of a new four-year partnership with its pay-TV rival, the UK broadcaster said on Wednesday. ITV Encore, due to launch later this year, will broadcast re-runs of shows previously transmitted on ITV's free-to-air channels, ITV said, and from 2015 it will also screen original commissions. "ITV Encore is right in line with our strategy of growing non advertising revenues while at the same time creating even greater opportunities to showcase new drama," ITV chief executive Adam Crozier said. Drama has been a highlight of ITV schedules in recent years, with shows such as Broadchurch and Downton Abbey helping its main ITV free-to-air channel increase its share of viewing last year for the first time in a decade. Full Story | Top |
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