Justin Timberlake and Jessica Biel settle Heat magazine legal action
Singer Justin Timberlake and his wife Jessica Biel have settled legal action against Heat magazine after it published a "false and unfounded story" questioning their two-year marriage.
The celebrity magazine has now apologised and retracted the story, which featured pictures of Timberlake at a party in a Paris nightclub.
It was accompanied by quotes wrongly attributed to actress Biel.
The couple lodged the defamation claim at the High Court in Dublin, Ireland.
The court heard the story, which featured in the 6-12 September edition of Heat, was based on an "unfounded report" regarding Timberlake's alleged behaviour at a birthday party in the club after one of his shows.
Lawyers for the couple confirmed a settlement had been reached after the brief hearing before the president of the High Court, Mr Justice Nicholas Kearns.
Paul Tweed of Johnsons Solicitors read a statement outside, although he did not disclose any financial details.
"Justin Timberlake and Jessica Biel are very satisfied with this categoric retraction of what was a false and unfounded story, together with the comprehensive apology from Bauer Consumer Media, the publishers of Heat magazine," he said.
Source-BBC
Microsoft boss Satya Nadella gets $84m pay package
Microsoft boss Satya Nadella has been given a pay package worth $84.3m (£52m), making him one of the top earners in the tech industry.
The total pay package is largely made up of share awards, and most of the payments will be made over several years.
News of the package comes less than a month after Mr Nadella advised women not to ask for a pay rise but to have "faith in the system".
He later apologised for the remark.
In a regulatory filing, Microsoft said the promotion of Mr Nadella had meant it had a chief executive without a major equity stake in the firm for the first time.
Its previous chief executives, Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer, both had multi-billion dollar holdings in the company.
"In approving the initial annual total compensation opportunity for Mr Nadella, our board was mindful of both the fierce competition for talented executives in the technology sector and the demands on and responsibilities of the leader of a global organization with the scope and stature of Microsoft," it said in the filing.
Excluding the long-term share awards, Mr Nadella's pay package for this year totals $11.6m.
Mr Nadella was named as chief executive in February, and is only the third chief executive in the firm's history.
Oscar Pistorius begins jail sentence for Reeva Steenkamp death
South African athlete Oscar Pistorius has begun serving time in jail for killing his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp.
He was driven to Pretoria's Kgosi Mampuru prison where he is expected to be housed in the hospital wing.
Judge Thokozile Masipa gave Pistorius a five-year jail sentence for culpable homicide, but cleared him of murder.
His defence said it expected him to serve about 10 months, with the remainder under house arrest. His family say he will not appeal.
The parents of Reeva Steenkamp told the BBC they were happy with the sentence and relieved the case was over.
Prosecutors had called for a minimum 10-year term, and the defence had argued for community service and house arrest.
Pistorius, 27, an amputee sprinter who became the first athlete to compete in the Olympic and Paralympic Games, killed Ms Steenkamp on Valentine's Day last year.
He says he shot her by mistake, fearing there was an intruder in his house in Pretoria.
Ms Steenkamp, a 29-year-old model, reality TV star and law graduate, was hit three times by bullets fired by Pistorius through a toilet door.
Source-BBC
PUBLIC FORECAST FOR THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT MONDAY 20TH OCTOBER, 2014
GENERAL SITUATION: A FRONTAL BOUNDARY OVER THE BAHAMAS WILL SLOWLY DISSIPATE AS IT LIFTS NORTHWARDS
SPECIAL WARNINGS: BEACH GOERS AND MARINERS ESPECIALLY ALONG THE EXPOSED ATLANTIC SHORELINES OF THE BAHAMAS SHOULD EXERCISE EXTREME CAUTION FOR MODERATE TO HIGH SURF AND THE STRONG POSSIBILITY OF RIP CURRENTS GENERATED BY POST-TROPICAL CYCLONE GONZALO.
FOR THE NORTHWEST BAHAMAS
WEATHER: A FEW SHOWERS NEAR INAGUA BUT A SLIGHT CHANCE OF A PASSING SHOWER OR TWO ELSEWHERE
ADVISORY: SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY REMAINS FOR THE ATLANTIC EXPOSED AREAS
WINDS: EAST TO SOUTHEAST AT 10 TO 15 KNOTS OVER OPEN WATERS
SEAS: 3 TO 5 FEET BUT UP TO 11 FEET IN NORTHEASTERLY SWELLS OVER THE OCEAN
FOR THE CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST BAHAMAS
WEATHER: PARTLY TO MOSTLY SUNNY AND HOT WITH A FEW SHOWERS BECOMING PARTLY CLOUDY TONIGHT
ADVISORY: SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY CONTINUES FOR THE ATLANTIC EXPOSED AREAS
WINDS: NORTHEAST TO EAST AT 10 TO 15 KNOTS OVER OPEN WATERS
SEAS: 2 TO 4 FEET BUT UP TO 11 FEET IN NORTHEASTERLY SWELLS OVER THE OCEAN
DAYTIME HIGH TEMPERATURE: 89°F 32°C
OVERNIGHT LOW TEMPERATURE: 70°F 21°C
SUNSET: 06:38 PM MOONSET: 04:43 PM LOW TIDE: 12:16 PM
SUNRISE: 07:11AM MOONSET: 05:07 AM TUE. HIGH TIDE: 06:16 PM
LOW TIDE: 12:31 AM TUE.
HIGH TIDE: 06:42 AM TUE
TROPICAL WEATHER OUTLOOK: AN AREA OF LOW PRESSURE LOCATED OVER THE EXTREME SOUTHWESTERN OF CAMPECHE ALONG WITH A LARGE NON-TROPICAL LOW LOCATED A FEW HUNDRED MILES SOUTHEAST OF THE AZORES ARE BEING MONITORED FOR TROPICAL CYCLONE
Ford invests £190m in a plant for clean diesels
Ford has invested in the future of the UK car manufacturing by pumping £190 million into its Dagenham production facility, helping to secure another 318 jobs at the plant.
The funding has been provided for the development and building of new ultra-low emission 2.0-litre diesel engines for commercial vehicles, then passenger cars. We expect versions of this diesel to make their way into the all-new Mondeo and Focus family cars by 2018.
Ford says the investment is a response to London Mayor Boris Johnson's announcement of a planned 'Ultra-Low Emission Zone' in the capital and surrounding areas, meaning charges for anyone driving current diesels that are not Euro6 compliant.
With the pollution charges set to come in as early as 2020, Ford has sprung into action to invest in cleaner engines that will be exempt from the emissions zone fines.
The new diesel engines have been designed and developed at Dagenham and the Ford Dunton Technical Centre in Essex. The company claims the powerplants will have 'dramatically lower' NOx emissions, crucial in cities with high traffic levels.
The announcement is the second phase of investment in the new engine programme, with the original £287 million going to producing the clean diesels for Ford commercial vehicles around the world.
Both sums combine with funding from the UK Government's Regional Growth Fund to bring the project total to £475 million, showing long-term commitment to the East London plant and its workers.
Source- AutoExpress
Apple earnings beat expectations
Apple reported third-quarter earnings of $8.47bn (£5.24bn), a 13% rise from the same period a year earlier, beating analysts' expectations.
Profits at the technology giant were helped by sales of its new iPhone 6 models, which were on sale for ten days during the three-month period ending 30 September.
Total iPhone sales numbered 39.3m.
However sales of Apple's iPad disappointed, with 12.3m sold, down from 13.1m a year earlier.
"Our fiscal 2014 was one for the record books, including the biggest iPhone launch ever with iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus," said Apple chief executive Tim Cook in a statement accompanying the earnings report. He added that he was optimistic for the crucial holiday quarter coming up.
Apple shares rose over 2% in after-hours trading after the earnings were released.
Pay for the future
The earnings were announced on the same day that Apple introduced its digital payment system, Apple Pay, at a host of US retailers including supermarket chain Whole Foods and pharmacy Walgreens.
Some analysts believe that alongside iPhone sales, Apple Pay could be one of the biggest drivers of revenue growth at the company in coming years.
The technology works by allowing users to scan their fingerprint using an iPhone 6 or iPhone 6 Plus to access stored credit information to pay for goods at participating retailers.
However, while analysts are optimistic about ApplePay's potential, only a few stores are currently equipped to use the technology - and several large retailers, most notably Wal-Mart, have yet to sign on to the service.
Furthermore, the technology is only available on the newest model of iPhones.
Google changes 'to fight piracy' by highlighting legal sites
Google has announced changes to its search engine in an attempt to curb online piracy.
The company has long been criticised for enabling people to find sites to download entertainment illegally.
The entertainment industry has argued that illegal sites should be "demoted" in search results.
The new measures, mostly welcomed by music trade group the BPI, will instead point users towards legal alternatives such as Spotify and Google Play.
Google will now list these legal services in a box at the top of the search results, as well as in a box on the right-hand side of the page.
Crucially, however, these will be adverts - meaning if legal sites want to appear there, they will need to pay Google for the placement.
The BPI said that while it was "broadly" pleased with Google's changes, it did not think sites should have to pay.
"There should be no cost when it comes to serving consumers with results for legal services," a spokesman told the BBC.
The BPI made 43.3 million requests for Google to remove search results in 2013 (the US equivalent group, the RIAA, made 31.6 million)
Google removed 222 million results from search because of copyright infringement
Google's Content ID system, which detects copyrighted material, scans 400 years-worth of video every day
300 million videos have been "claimed" by rights holders, meaning they can place advertising on them
Source-BBC
Tech Reporter: David Lee
IBM pays $1.5bn to offload chip unit as profit falls
IBM is to pay $1.5bn (£930m) in cash to offload its loss-making chip manufacturing division to Abu Dhabi owned GlobalFoundries.
IBM, which wanted to avoid the cost of upgrading the unit's technology, said it would now focus on cloud computing, mobile and big data analytics.
IBM will take a $4.7bn charge in the third quarter as a result of the sale.
The sale came as IBM announced a 17% drop in third quarter profit,
IBM said it made $3.5bn profit for the three months to the end of September, with revenues down 4% to $22.4bn.
"We are disappointed in our performance," chief executive Ginni Rometty said.
Ms Rometty blamed a "marked slowdown" in client buying behaviour for the drop in sales, which were lower than analysts had expected.
However, she said the results also reflected "the unprecedented pace of change in our industry."
Reggae legend John Holt dies at 67
Reggae vocalist John Holt, who sang the original version of Blondie's hit The Tide is High, has died aged 67.
His manager Copeland Forbes told the Jamaica Observer he died in a London hospital on Sunday. The cause of death has yet to be confirmed.
Holt rose to fame in the 1960s as the lead singer of The Paragons, writing and releasing The Tide is High in 1967.
He went solo in 1970 and went on to become one of the biggest stars of reggae music in Jamaica.
Musicians paying tribute to the singer have included Jamaican rapper Shaggy, who tweeted: "We have lost a legend. Very instrumental part of our reggae history! You'll be missed."
Fellow Jamaican artist Sean Paul said: "RIP Sir John Holt. You have served your culture well. I salute you."
UB40 added that Holt was a "massive inspiration and will be sorely missed".
Born in 1947 in Kingston, Jamaica, Holt penned a number of The Paragons' hits including Tonight, I See Your Face and Ali Baba as well as The Tide is High.
Although the track was popular in Jamaica, it only went mainstream when US band Blondie topped the charts on both side of the Atlantic with their version in 1980.
It went on to be covered by a number of other artists including Atomic Kitten, Maxi Priest and Canadian rapper Kardinal Offishall.
As a solo artist, Holt's 1972 track Stick By Me was the biggest-selling Jamaican record of the year.
His only success in the UK came with his 1974 cover version of Kris Kristofferson's Help Me Make It Through the Night, which spent 11 weeks in the top 40 and peaked at number six.
Holt went on to release almost 40 albums over his career, mostly through Trojan Records.
The record company paid tribute to the singer, calling him "a huge talent and a true gentleman".
His last solo album, Peacemaker, was released in 1993.
Martina Navratilova slams ITF 'silence' over Williams sisters
Martina Navratilova has criticised the "silence" of the International Tennis Federation after comments from one of its members about the Williams sisters.
Russian Tennis Federation president Shamil Tarpischev described world number one Serena Williams and older sister Venus as "brothers".
The Women's Tennis Association banned him for a year and fined him £15,500 but Navratilova wants ITF action.
"The silence from the ITF has been pretty deafening," Navratilova said.
"They are the ones who actually have the possibility of doing something as Tarpischev is head of the Russian Tennis Federation, which falls under the ITF and is also Fed Cup captain which falls under the ITF.
"This kind of bullying comment cannot be tolerated from anyone, but particularly from a high-up official in the tennis world."
Tarpischev, also an International Olympic Committee member, offered an apology on Saturday at the behest of the WTA, whose chief executive Stacy Allaster said the comments were "insulting, demeaning and have absolutely no place on our sport".
Serena Williams, winner of 18 Grand Slam singles titles, has also won 13 Grand Slam doubles events with her sister and described the comments by Tarpischev as "very insensitive and extremely sexist as well as racist".
ITF president Francesco Ricci Bitti said: "Although Mr Tarpischev assured us that his comment was meant as a joke, we made it clear to him that what he said is inappropriate in any context.