James Bond studio Pinewood to be sold
Pinewood film studios - home to the James Bond movies - are set to be sold for £323.3m.
Pinewood Group's two biggest shareholders have tentatively agreed to sell the famous film and television studios to a property investor.
The deal depends on Aermont, which runs property investment funds, securing financing in the next four weeks.
Pinewood's 007 stage is one of the world's largest and was used to film parts of Spectre and Skyfall.
Some of Star Wars: The Force Awakens was also filmed at Pinewood in Buckinghamshire. However, Harrison Ford, the actor who plays Han Solo, was injured when the door of the Millennium Falcon closed on him and broke his leg.
Goodweather Investment Management, which is owned by property investors Peel Holdings, and Warren James Holdings, owner of the eponymous jewellery chain, together control 65% of Pinewood Group and have agreed to the cash sale providing the buyer secures financing.
The prospective new owner intends to keep the existing management in place, led by chief executive Ivan Dunleavy. The company has film and TV studios all over the world including in the US, Canada, Malaysia and the Dominican Republic.
Earlier this year, Pinewood Group retained investment bank Rothschild to examine its strategic options. In the past, it had been constrained from raising additional funding for investment via the stock exchange.
Shares in Pinewood were down 4.8% at 552.1p in afternoon trading.
Source-BBC
Actor from Babylon 5, Jerry Doyle dies aged 60
Actor Jerry Doyle, best known for his role in the sci-fi series Babylon 5, has died at the age of 60.
Doyle appeared in all five series of the 1990s show as Chief Warrant Officer Michael Garibaldi.
He also made guest appearances on other popular shows, such as Beverly Hills 90210, NYPD Blue and Martial Law, and was the host of a nationally-syndicated daily radio show in the US.
A spokesman for Doyle's family said the cause of his death was not yet known.
Fellow Babylon 5 actor Bruce Boxleitner tweeted that he was "so devastated at the news of the untimely death of my good friend".
Born in Brooklyn, New York, Doyle worked as a pilot and on Wall Street as a stockbroker before moving to Hollywood to pursue a career in acting.
He secured his role in the Emmy Award-winning Babylon 5 within a year of arriving and went on to play Garibaldi for several years.
Set in the 23rd Century, the show told the story of a space station where humans and aliens tried to live in harmony and work to avoid interplanetary war.
After the success of the show, Doyle took a hiatus from acting and ran for office in the US House of Representatives as a Republican candidate but failed in his campaign.
According to his biography on KDWN, one of the radio stations that hosted his show, he also received "numerous awards and accolades including Honorary F-16 Test Pilot, Honorary Naval Aviator and Distinguished Supporter of the Nation's Space Program".
Source-BBC
PUBLIC FORECAST FOR TODAY AND TONIGHT THURSDAY 28TH JULY 2016
GENERAL SITUATION: A HIGH PRESSURE SYSTEM WILL PREVAIL ACROSS THE BAHAMAS AND CONTINUE TO DOMINATE THE WEATHER OVER THE ISLANDS.
SPECIAL WARNINGS: BEACHGOERS IN THE CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST BAHAMAS SHOULD EXERCISE CAUTION DUE TO THE RISK OF RIP CURRENTS AT BEACHES MAINLY ALONG THE EASTERN SHORELINES…ALSO, DUE TO THE HIGH HEAT INDEX, RESIDENTS SHOULD CONTINUE TO LIMIT OUTDOOR ACTIVITY DURING PEAK SUNLIGHT HOURS AND STAY HYDRATED.
NORTHWEST AND CENTRAL BAHAMAS
WEATHER: PARTLY SUNNY, HOT AND HUMID WITH ISOLATED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS TODAY. MOSTLY FAIR AND WARM WITH THE CHANCE OF A FEW ISOLATED SHOWERS TONIGHT.
ADVISORY: SMALL CRAFT SHOULD BE ALERTS FOR GUSTY WINDS AND HIGHER SEAS IN OR NEAR HEAVY SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS.
WINDS: EAST TO SOUTHEAST AT 10 TO 15 KNOTS, FALLING LIGHT AND VARIABLE AT TIMES OVER OPEN WATERS.
SEAS: 2 TO 4 FEET OVER THE OCEAN.
BAHAMAS
WEATHER: PARTLY SUNNY, HOT AND HUMID WITH ISOLATED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS TODAY. PARTLY CLOUDY AND WARM WITH THE CHANCE OF A FEW ISOLATED SHOWERS TONIGHT.
ADVISORY: SMALL CRAFT CAUTION REMAINS IN EFFECT.
WINDS: EASTERLY AT 15 TO 20 KNOTS TODAY BECOMING EASTERLY AT 10 TO 15 KNOTS TONIGHT OVER OPEN WATERS.
SEAS: 4 TO 6 FEET TODAY SUBSIDING 2 TO 4 FEET TONIGHT OVER THE OCEAN.
DAYTIME HIGH TEMPERATURE: 93°F 34°C
OVERNITE LOW TEMPERATURE: 79°F 26°C
SUNRISE: 6:36AM
SUNSET: 7:57PM
MOONSET: 3:09PM
MOONRISE: 2:35AM FRI
LOW TIDE: 9:24AM 10:19PM
HIGH TIDE: 3:53PM 4:10AM FRI
EXTENDED FORECAST: HIGH PRESSURE WILL PREVAIL OVER THE BAHAMAS THROUGH THE WEEKEND AS A TROPICAL WAVE WILL MOVE THROUGH THE SOUTHEAST BAHAMAS SUNDAY AND MONDAY.
TROPICAL WEATHER OUTLOOK: A TROPICAL WAVE ACCOMPANIED BY A BROAD LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM IS PRODUCING A LARGE AREA OF CLOUDINESS AND DISORGANIZED SHOWER ACTIVITY SEVERAL HUNDRED MILES SOUTHEAST OF THE CABO VERDE ISLANDS.
SOME DEVELOPMENT OF THIS SYSTEM IS POSSIBLE DURING THE NEXT FEW DAYS WHILE IT MOVES WESTWARD OR WEST-NORTHWESTWARD AT ABOUT 15 MPH.
HOWEVER, ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED TO BECOME LESS CONDUCIVE FOR DEVELOPMENT EARLY NEXT WEEK WHEN THE SYSTEM IS OVER THE CENTRAL TROPICAL ATLANTIC OCEAN.
TROPICAL CYCLONE FORMATION CHANCE THROUGH 48 HOURS IS LOW AND MEDIUM THROUGH 5 DAYS.
Weather for 22-7-2016
THIS IS A PUBLIC FORECAST FOR THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT FRIDAY 22ND JULY 2016 ISSUED BY THE DEPARTMENT OF METEOROLOGY AT 12PM
GENERAL SITUATION: TROUGHING ACROSS THE BAHAMAS WILL CONTINUE TO SUPPORT SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS THE ISLANDS TODAY THROUGH TONIGHT.
SPECIAL WARNINGS: RESIDENTS ARE ADVISED TO CONTINUE TO LIMIT OUTDOOR ACTIVITY ESPECIALLY DURING PEAK SUNLIGHT HOURS AND TO STAY HYDRATED DUE TO HIGH HUMIDITY COUPLED WITH HEAT INDICIES IN THE UPPER 90’S TO LOW 100’S.
ALL AREAS
WEATHER: VARIABLY CLOUDY, HOT AND HUMID WITH SCATTERED SHOWERS AND ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS THIS AFTERNOON THROUGH TONIGHT.
ADVISORY: BOATERS CAN EXPECT GUSTY WINDS AND HIGHER SEAS IN SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS.
WINDS: EAST TO SOUTHEAST AT 10 TO 15 KNOTS IN THE NORTHWEST AND CENTRAL BAHAMAS.FALLING LIGHT AND VARIABLE AT TIMES AND EAST TO SOUTHEAST AT 15 KNOTS IN THE SOUTHEAST BAHAMAS…
SEAS: 2 TO 4 FEET OVER THE OCEAN IN THE NORTHWEST AND CENTRAL BAHAMAS AND 3 TO 5 FEET IN THE SOUTHEAST BAHAMAS…
DAYTIME HIGH TEMPERATURE 91 °F 33 °C
OVERNITE LOW TEMPERATURE 79°F 26°C
SUNSET: 8:00PM MOONRISE: 10:06PM LOW TIDE: 4:20PM & 4:59AM SAT
SUNRISE: 6:33AMSAT MOONSET:10:05AM SAT HIGH TIDE: 10:34PM & 11:01AM SAT
WEATHER OUTLOOK: 11:00 AM (FOR TOMORROW)…WEAK UNSTABLE CONDITIONS WILL CONTIUE TO SUPPORT SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS THE ISLANDS INTO THE WEEKEND…
TROPICAL WEATHER OUTLOOK: THE TROPICS REMAIN QUIET AND TROPICAL CYCLONE FORMATION IS NOT EXPECTED DURING THE NEXT 5 DAYS…
Tesla working with suppliers to improve Autopilot
Tesla Motors Inc. is working with suppliers Bosch GmbH and Mobileye NV to refine its Autopilot technology, which has come under fire in recent weeks following a fatal accident that occurred while it was in use.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk said in a Sunday Twitter post that he had a “promising call” with Bosch, which supplies radar for the semiautonomous Autopilot feature. He said “significant improvements” to the system could be possible via an over-the-air software update.
He also thanked Israeli company Mobileye, which supplies technology used in the Autopilot system, and Bosch for their “help and support in making Autopilot better” and said criticism of the system should be directed at Tesla, not the suppliers.
The Palo Alto, Calif., automaker has come under scrutiny after it was revealed that Joshua Brown was killed May 7 after his Model S, in Autopilot mode, crashed into a tractor trailer on a Florida highway.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, in a letter made public last week, said it is investigating the incident, asking the automaker for details on the design and testing of the Autopilot system. The incident also has drawn an investigation from the National Transportation Safety Board, and a U.S. Senate committee has asked Tesla to brief it on the accident.
Since releasing the Autopilot feature last year, Tesla has said it should be utilized solely as a driver aid in certain conditions, saying the driver should remain in control of the car and stay alert at all times.
“Tesla Autopilot functions like the systems that airplane pilots use when conditions are clear,” the company said Thursday. “The driver is still responsible for, and ultimately in control of, the car.”
Some consumer advocates say Tesla has not gone far enough in educating users about the feature. Consumer Reports magazine last week called on Tesla to disable the feature until updating it to require that drivers keep their hands on the steering wheel, while also calling the Autopilot name “potentially dangerous” and misleading.
Musk told The Wall Street Journal last week that the company has no plans to disable Autopilot, though it is looking to educate drivers on its proper use and is working to update the system.
“A lot of people don’t understand what it is and how you can turn it on,” Musk said, according to The Journal.
Musk said Sunday on Twitter that a “recent poll” of Tesla customers showed zero percent of them want Autopilot disabled.
“Tesla customers are v smart & don’t want media speaking on their behalf abt Autopilot,” he wrote.
Source-AN
Turkish shares close down 7% after coup attempt
Shares in Istanbul closed down by 7.1% following Friday's attempted coup in Turkey.
But the Turkish Lira, which initially fell by nearly 5%, recovered some of its lost ground and rose by 1.4% on Monday.
Over the weekend the government moved to calm fears and said it had consulted the central bank and the treasury and decided on "all necessary measures".
The central bank said it would provide unlimited liquidity to banks.
At about 1600 BST the lira was trading at 2.97.31 against the dollar, having ended the week at 3.01.57 per dollar, close to the record low set last September.
After a fairly quiet start to trading on Monday, shares on the Istanbul National-100 stock exchange slid by nearly 9% at one point, before clawing back some ground.
Salman Ahmed, chief global strategist at Swiss investment manager Lombard Odier, said the "swift resolution of the problem" had largely helped to cushion the shock to financial markets.
However, there are fears events could further damage Turkey's tourism industry, which is crucial to the economy.
Shares in tourism-related companies were worst hit on the Istanbul National-100 stock exchange. Airport operator TAV saw its shares fall by 17.34% and Turkish Airlines was down by 12.58%.
In May, visitor numbers were 35% lower than the same time last year, following some high profile security incidents.
"Given the sharp rise in political instability and Turkey's extremely vulnerable external profile, which is likely to worsen as tourism gets hit further, we think Turkish assets are likely to remain under pressure," said Mr Ahmed.
He pointed out that Turkey was already considered as vulnerable among emerging economies. The World Bank has forecast that Turkey's economy will grow by 3.5% this year, compared with 4.5% last year, which is low compared with other emerging nations.
The wide current account deficit is a particular problem. In 2015 it stood at more than $32bn (£24bn), or about 4.5% of GDP, and this is set to deteriorate because of the predicted decline in tourism and the blow to investor confidence.
Source-BBC
Microsoft to miss 'one billion' Windows 10 target
Microsoft has said it will miss its target of getting its Windows 10 operating system running on more than one billion devices by 2018.
In a statement, it said problems with its smartphone business would delay it hitting the milestone.
The software giant has struggled to find customers for Windows phones in a market dominated by Android and Apple.
Microsoft says Windows 10 is in active use on about 350 million separate devices at present.
Released in July 2015, Windows 10 has been built to act as a unifying platform across desktops, laptops, tablets, smartphones, small embedded systems and the Xbox One games console.
Shortly before the main release of the operating system, Microsoft set itself the target of getting the software on to one billion devices.
However, its plans took a knock soon after when it sacked 7,800 people in its smartphone business and wrote off the entire value of the Nokia phone business it bought in 2014 for $7.2bn (£5.4bn).
Earlier this month, it scrapped its Finland phone unit and laid off more staff.
At the time it made the prediction about Windows 10 use, Microsoft was hoping to sell about 50 million Windows phones a year.
However, global smartphone sales figures from Kantar Worldpanel suggest Windows phones now account for only 1.6% of sales in North America and 0.4% in China - the two biggest markets for smartphones.
Microsoft said the "focusing" of its smartphone business would mean it would now take longer than three years to hit the one billion figure.
It said it expected adoption numbers to get a boost from businesses starting to use it and because it will be used on new devices Microsoft and its partners are planning.
However, as Peter Bright at Ars Technica pointed out, demand for Windows 10 looks set to slow in the near future thanks to dwindling sales of PCs and because the Microsoft programme that lets people upgrade to the OS for free will stop at the end of this month.
Many people have also been reluctant to install the software on their home computers because of the "aggressive" tactics Microsoft has used to prompt them to update.
Source-BBC
"Game of Thrones" Leads 68th Annual Emmy Nods, "People v. O.J. Simpson" Close
On Game of Thrones, winter has arrived, and so have the Emmy nominations. The HBO fantasy drama lead this morning's 68th Annual Emmy Nominations, with 23 nods, though the FX series The People v. O.J. Simpson is right behind it, with 22.
Other top-nominated series include Fargo with 18, Veep with 17, Saturday Night Live with 16, House of Cards with 13, The Night Manager with 12, Silicon Valley with 11, and Downton Abbey with 10.
HBO is the network with the most nods -- a total of 94 -- followed by FX with 56, Netflix with 54, NBC with 41, and ABC and CBS with 35 each.
Jimmy Kimmel returns to host the 68th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards, broadcast live on ABC Sunday, September 18.
Here are the nominees in key categories. For the full list, go to Emmys.org.
Drama Series
Game of Thrones
The Americans
Better Call Saul
Downton Abbey
Homeland
House of Cards
Mr. Robot
Lead Actor in a Drama Series
Kyle Chandler, Bloodline
Rami Malek, Mr. Robot
Bob Odenkirk, Better Call Saul
Matthew Rhys, The Americans
Liev Schreiber, Ray Donovan
Kevin Spacey, House of Cards
Lead Actress in a Drama Series
Viola Davis, How to Get Away with Murder
Robin Wright, House of Cards
Claire Danes, Homeland
Taraji P. Henson, Empire
Tatiana Maslany, Orphan Black
Keri Russell, The Americans
Comedy Series
black-ish
Master of None
Modern Family
Silicon Valley
Transparent
Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt
Veep
Lead Actor in a Comedy Series
Anthony Anderson, Black-ish
Jeffrey Tambor, Transparent
Aziz Ansari, Master of None
Will Forte, The Last Man on Earth
William H. Macy, Shameless
Thomas Middleditch, Silicon Valley
Lead Actress in a Comedy Series
TraceeEllis Ross, black-ish
Laurie Metcalf, Getting On
Lily Tomlin, Grace and Frankie
Amy Schumer, Inside Amy Shumer
Ellie Kemper, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt
Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Veep
Limited Series
American Crime
Fargo
Roots
The Night Manager
The Peopple v. O.J. Simpso
Movie
A Very Murray Christmas
All the Way
Confirmation
Luther
Sherlock: The Abominable Bride
Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Movie
Bryan Cranston, All the Way
Idris Elba, Luther
Benedict Cumberbatch, Sherlock: The Abominable Bride
Cuba Gooding Jr., The People v. O.J. Simpson
Courtney B. Vance, The People v. O.J. Simpson
Tom Hiddleston, The Night Manager
Lead Actress in a Limited Series or Movie
Sarah Paulson, The People v. O.J. Simpson
Audra McDonald, Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar & Grille
Kerry Washington, Confirmation
Kirsten Dunst, Fargo
Lili Taylor, American Crime
Felicity Huffman, American Crime
Reality-Competition Program
The Amazing Race
American Ninja Warrior
Dancing with the Stars
Project Runway
Top Chef
The Voice
Variety Talk Series
Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee
Jimmy Kimmel Live
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver
The Late Late Show with James Corden
Real Time with Bill Maher
The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon
Source-ABC
Death robots: Where next after Dallas?
The use of a robot to deliver an explosive device and kill the Dallas shooting suspect has intensified the debate over a future of "killer robots".
While robots and unmanned systems have been used by the military before, this is the first time the police within the US have used such a technique with lethal intent
"Other options would have exposed our officers to greater danger," the Dallas police chief said.
Robots are spreading fast. What might that mean?
Remote killing is not new in warfare. Technology has always been driven by military application, including allowing killing to be carried out at distance - prior examples might be the introduction of the longbow by the English at Crecy in 1346, then later the Nazi V1 and V2 rockets.
More recently, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) or drones such as the Predator and the Reaper have been used by the US outside of traditional military battlefields.
Since 2009, the official US estimate is that about 2,500 "combatants" have been killed in 473 strikes, along with perhaps more than 100 non-combatants. Critics dispute those figures as being too low.
Supporters of drones argue that they are more effective than manned planes because they can usually loiter longer and ensure they strike the right target.
And, of course, there is the understandable desire to reduce risks to pilots, just as in Dallas the police officers could stay protected.
But critics argue that the lack of risk fundamentally changes the nature of operations since it lowers the threshold for lethal force to be used.
Secret Life of Pets holds off Tarzan at UK box office
The Secret Life of Pets has retained the top spot at the UK box office for the third week in a row.
The movie took £3.62m over the weekend - holding off competition from The Legend of Tarzan, which debuted at number two with takings of £3.57m.
Now You See Me 2, another a new entry, took £2.96m to enter at number three.
Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie and Central Intelligence - both in their second week of release - rounded off the top five.
1. The Secret Life of Pets - £3.62m
2. The Legend of Tarzan - £3.57m
3. Now You See Me 2 - £2.96m
4. Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie - £2.31m
5. Central Intelligence - £1.34m
The Secret Life of Pets is an animated children's comedy that imagines what house pets get up to when their human owners are out.
The film, which features characters voiced by Kevin Hart and Eric Stonestreet, has now taken £22.26m in the UK since its release.
But it will face tough competition for next week's top slot from another children's film - Ice Age: Collision Course, which is released on Friday.
Source-BBC