Oscar nomination voting deadline extended
The deadline for voting for this year's Oscar nominations has been extended after some people experienced problems with a new online voting system.
Some of the academy's 6,000 members had reported trouble logging into the voting website, while others said they found it confusing.
Organisers said the deadline would be extended by 24 hours to 4 January.
It is the first time voting has been allowed online. It was previously conducted strictly via postal ballots.
However the new system still allows members to choose between voting electronically or sticking with the traditional method.
Trade newspaper The Hollywood Reporter spoke to around 10 academy members who reported either password issues or concerns the website could be hacked.
Documentary filmmaker Morgan Spurlock, whose 2004 film Super Size Me was nominated for the best documentary Oscar, tweeted last week that he was not able to log on to vote electronically.
"The password they sent didn't work for my login - and they couldn't email me a new login, only snail mail," the director said.
It is thought the deadline extension will help members who return from their Christmas holidays this week and experience problems voting online.
The additional day would allow either new passwords to be emailed, or for paper ballots to be sent out and returned.
"By extending the voting deadline we are providing every opportunity available to make the transition to online balloting as smooth as possible," the academy's chief operating officer, Ric Robertson, said.
Nominations for this year's awards will be announced on 10 January - two weeks earlier than usual.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences said the move would "provide members and the public a longer period of time to see the nominated films".
The winners will be named at a Los Angeles ceremony on 24 February.
Blak Ryno Addresses Sting 2012 Incident
STING 2012 is dubbed as one of the "Greatest One Night Reggae Dancehall Shows on Earth" and over the years its been filled controversy, raw energy, on the spot creativity and the end of many artiste careers as well as the birth of others.
Dancehall Artiste Blak Ryno is no stranger to the show as he's not just only performed on several occasions but entertained fans who tuned in to watched online or those who went to see the show live. This year the artiste wasn't formally booked for the event but just as how over the years spontaneously artiste made surprise performances, the artiste was about to the same.
Blak Ryno who went on when Popcaan was on stage performing hoped to give his fans and those who may not be a well wisher a show/performance many have been wanting to witness since his departure from the controversial group Portmore Empire more popularly known as GAZA.
After he made his entrance on Stage to much surprise, the artiste long anticipated clash came to an abrupt end when Popcaan made a cowardly move and push him off stage. Blak Ryno who attempted to make a second entrance to settle all scores lyrically was stopped by security personnel.
Aidonia Was Not Arrested After His Militant Sting Performance
Militantly clad in grey and black the lyrically potent lyricist Aidonia stepped out very confident at 7am belting crowd favourites which varied from "Nuh tek chat frm nuh bwoy", "Kush a kick inna mi Brain", "La La Land" to name a few .. He then tested the crowd paying homage to Bounty Killer who was absent from Stingthis year.
"Who respect Sizzla , Beenie, Vybz Kartel, Buju Banton..who respect Bounty Killa a him buss the most artiste, without Bounti you wouldn't have Movado you wouldn't ave Wayne Marshall ,Vybz Kartel and you wouldn't ave Aidonia... So you know if Bounty was here him woulda tell dem unu seh "From them dis wi nuh wah know how how" belted Aidonia. The crowd erupted thanking Aidonia for including the general Bounty Killer in his set.
The artiste then sparked the audience when he asked which song has been #1 in Jamaica for several weeks on the chart after which himself and his protege Deablo ignited the sting crowd of almost 40,000 when they dj'ed "Run Road". After which he asked the crowd again saying "who buss most artiste nuh Bounty suh this morning Aidonia ago buss a bad artiste Deablo spit for the ppl a Sting mek dem hear how you bad". Deablo then erupted the crowd in a freestyle setting allowing him some new fans as th crowd cheered him on line by line which was clad with
lyrics.
Hip Hop Stars Jeezy, T.I.& Diddy Ring in the New Year
Young Jeezy brought in 2013 in style at the “Hennessy V.S New Years Eve Takeover” event at Compound in Atlanta, Georgia.
Tailored in a royal blue embroidered suit jacket and black slacks, Jeezy arrived in an all white Rolls Royce.
The rapper was joined by famed Atlanta Club promoter Alex Gidewon and a slew of ladies.
Jeezy was spotted standing on couches and smoking cigars as he mingled with some of Atlanta’s elite.
Simultaneously, fellow ATL representer, T.I., partied alongside his wife, Tiny, at the“Hennessy V.S New Years Eve Takeover” at LIV on Sunday in South Beach.
The self proclaimed “King of the South,” performed a medley of his hits for the crowd including the latest off his top selling album, Trouble Man: Heavy Is the Head.
Tip was spotted posing for photos with celebrity friends, super producer Rico Love and DJ Clue.
After his performance, Tip hung out with his wife, Tiny, as well as his ATL co-star, actor Evan Ross.
Houston rapper Slim Thug was also in the building along with Kim Kardashian’s known good friend Jonathan Cheban.
Sean Combs Celebated New Years with his “Ciroc Vodka at Sea” bash on a yacht in St. Barths.
Kim Kardashian Says She’s Ready For Family With Kanye West
Kim Kardashian has expressed great joy over the news that she and rapper Kanye West are expecting their first child.
Kim took to her blog today to confirm the news that she is with Kanye West’s baby.
According to Kim, the high-profile couple feels “blessed”and they hope to start a family together.
“It’s true!! Kanye and I are expecting a baby” Kim Kardashian stated. “We feel so blessed and lucky and wish that in addition to both of our families, his mom and my dad could be here to celebrate this special time with us. Looking forward to great new beginnings in 2013 and to starting a family.”
Along with the blog post, Kim posted a picture of her and Kanye snuggled up together backstage
Rare version of Beatles album finally sells for £12,000
A rare copy of a Beatles LP signed by all four band members has finally been sold - for the sum rejected at auction in Sussex a few weeks earlier.
Chris Collins, from Eastbourne, and his sister, Liz Chambers, from Worthing, initially turned down a £12,000 bid for a copy of the album, Please Please Me.
They had hoped to get £15,000 for the LP, which was given to their late father during a drinking session.
But the siblings have now accepted £12,000 from private buyers.
The album was signed by John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr after they used it as a drinks coaster during a card game in 1963.
Kept in drawer
Mr Collins had played it repeatedly until an expert revealed that because of its provenance - and the fact that it had the rarer black-and-gold label - it was worth a substantial amount.
The album went into Mr Collins's sock drawer until they finally put it up for sale, at Campbell's auction house in Worthing, just before Christmas.
It was withdrawn from sale after failing to reach its £15,000 reserve price, but auctioneer Paul Campbell said: "The record has now sold for a hammer price of £12,000, to a private buyer."
He said the vendors had decided to cut their losses and accept £12,000 following renewed interest from a Dutch Beatles enthusiast living in Worthing and his father.
The auction house even slashed its commission to enable the sale to go through.
"The sale came just too soon for these buyers, but they came back immediately after the sale and said they would have it," Mr Campbell added.
Please Please Me was The Beatles' first album, released in March 1963.
The earliest copies had black and gold labels and are more valuable than the subsequent versions, featuring black and yellow ones.
The Hobbit holds on to box office crown
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey has topped the North American box office for the third weekend in a row.
The prequel to Lord of The Rings took $32.9m (£20.3m) over the weekend, dwarfing new releases Les Miserables and Django Unchained.
Director Quentin Tarantino's western Django Unchained came in second with $30.7m (£18.9m).
Star-studded musical Les Miserables, directed by Tom Hooper, was third, taking $28m (£17.3m).
Universal's president for domestic distribution, Nikki Rocco, described the musical's takings as "phenomenal, especially considering we went into the weekend with $40m (£24.7m)".
"People really love this movie, which is even more rewarding and gratifying," Nikki Rocco said.
Les Miserables surged past The Hobbit with $18.1m (£11.2m) on its opening on Christmas Day.
But Peter Jackson's return to Middle Earth is in its third week of release and has now grossed $222.7m (£137.3m) in North America.
The Hobbit outperformed the US debut of The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, Peter Jackson's previous best opening in December 2003.
Elsewhere, comedy Parental Guidance, starring Billy Crystal and Bette Midler as grandparents, was fourth with $14.8m (£9.2m).
Tom Cruise's crime drama Jack Reacher, which sees him playing a former military investigator solving a fatal sniper attack, landed in fifth with $14m (£8.7m).
Judd Apatow's This is 40, starring Paul Rudd and Leslie Mann as a middle-aged couple, was sixth with $13.2m (£8.2m).
The movie cost $35m (£21.6m) to produce and has so far taken $37m (£22.8m) after two weeks.
The seventh spot went to Steven Spielberg's historical film Lincoln with $7.5m (£4.6m). It has now made $132m (£81.6) in total domestically.
A rush of high-profile films in December is expected to push 2012 to a domestic box office record.
The current record is $10.6bn, set in 2009.
Meanwhile, James Bond's Skyfall has now topped the $1bn (£618.2m) mark internationally.
Sony Pictures say it is the most successful James Bond film yet in the 50-year franchise.
NORTH AMERICAN BOX OFFICE
- The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey ($32.9m)
- Django Unchained ($30.7m)
- Les Miserables ($28m)
- Parental Guidance ($14.8m)
- Jack Reacher ($14m)
Source: Hollywood.com
Asian shares rise as US House passes fiscal-cliff deal
Asian markets have risen after the US House of Representatives passed a deal to stave off the fiscal cliff.
A failure to agree a deal would have triggered spending cuts and tax increases worth $600bn (£370bn).
There had been fears that the measures would have derailed economic recovery in the world's biggest economy and in a worst case push it into a recession.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng index gained 2.1%, South Korea's Kospi added 1.7% and Australia's ASX 200 rose 1.2%
Along with being the world's largest economy, the US also is a key market for most of Asia's export-dependent economies.
There were concerns that if the full effects of the fiscal cliff were allowed to take hold, it may have led to a reduction in consumer spending.
That in turn could have hurt demand for Asian exports to the US and impacted growth amongst the region's leading manufacturers and economies.
Analysts said the approval of the deal had helped allay those fears among investors.
"With the final hurdle being passed now, we've got a minimum deal that avoids any immediate threat of the US falling off the cliff," said Jason Hughes, head of premium client management for IG Markets Singapore.
"That's definitely boosted Asian equities markets." he said
Market sentiment was also boosted by some encouraging regional economic data.
Manufacturing activity in China, the region's biggest economy and one of the key drivers of global growth in recent years, expanded for the third straight month in December.
China's official Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI), a key indicator or activity in the sector, stood at 50.6 in December. A reading above 50 shows expansion.
Meanwhile, a survey of manufacturing activity in South Korea indicated an expansion in the sector for the first time in seven months in December.
Over in Japan, the yen continued to weaken against the US dollar.
The Japanese currency was trading as low as 87.30 yen against the US dollar, the lowest level since July 2010.
Japan's new Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe, has promised to take measures to weaken the yen to help revive the country's struggling economy.
The yen has fallen almost 9% against the US dollar since 15 November amid hopes of additional stimulus from the newly elected government.
A weaker yen bodes well for Japanese exporters as it makes their goods more affordable to foreign buyers and also helps boost profits when they repatriate their foreign earnings back home.
Portuguese budget sent to court to assess its fairness
The Portuguese president has said that he will send this year's controversial budget to the Constitutional Court.
Aníbal Cavaco Silva said the budget didn't treat citizens fairly, and hit some of them worse than others.
The right-of-centre government has argued that the unprecedented tax increases the budget contains were necessary to meet the terms of the country's eurozone bailout.
It is only the second time a Portuguese head of state has made such a move.
For most Portuguese workers the tax rises that came into effect on January 1 are equivalent to more than a month's wages.
President Cavaco Silva made the surprise announcement in his New Year's speech, the day after signing the budget into law.
"On my initiative, the Constitutional Court will be called on to decide on the conformity of the 2013 state budget with the constitution of the republic," he said.
In his speech he also said the country was in a vicious circle of austerity and recession and acknowledged that Portugal's foreign debt, now twice as high as Portugal's annual output, was unsustainable.
The opposition Socialists had already questioned the validity of the tax hikes and had threatened to take them to the Constitutional Court if the president did not.
Last year the court ruled against a pay cut for civil servants which forced the government to seek alternative sources of revenue.
Grece Former Finance faces prosecution
Greece’s coalition government called on Monday for the indictment of former Finance Minister George Papaconstantinou for allegedly removing the names of three of his relatives from a list of Swiss bank account holders whose tax records were to be re-examined.