Euro zone wrangling batters stocks (Reuters)

LONDON (Reuters)- Doubts about the euro zone's ability to come up with a comprehensive plan to solve its debt crisis hammered equity markets and hit the euro on Thursday, underlining investor impatience with political wrangling.

World stocks as measured by MSCI (.MIWD00000PUS) were down around 1 percent, European shares lost 1.2 percent and volatile emerging market equities lost nearly 2.2 percent.

Investors are also increasingly concerned about a slowdown in China's economy, fearing that it will become sharp rather than gradual.

Optimism had been growing that the weekend meeting of European Union leaders in Brussels would come up with a substantial plan for dealing with the debt crisis, primarily through ramping up the bloc's bailout mechanism, the EFSF.

But French President Nicolas Sarkozy said on Wednesday that

plans to tackle the crisis had stalled with Paris and Berlin at odds over how to increase the bailout fund.

This kind of wrangling -- a kind of two steps forward, one step backwards process that has been going on for most of this year -- is wearing on investor confidence in government action.

"With the mood they're in at the moment, markets won't even believe anything that is decided (at the summit)," said Justin Urquhart Stewart, director at Seven Investment Management.

A report in the Financial Times that a related plan to plan to strengthen Europe's banking system is set to fall short of market expectations also accentuated the mood.

The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 (.FTEU3) was down 1.2 percent.

Earlier, Japan's Nikkei (.N225) lost 1 percent.

BONDS IN DEMAND

The mood drove investors into core German bonds, where the yield fell 7 basis points.

More significantly, the spread between the German yield and that of France and Spain widened.

Both countries had what analysts said were reasonably successful bond auctions.

Spain sold 3.91 billion euros of three lines of government bonds in its first bond auction since Moody's cut the country's sovereign ratings by two notches on Tuesday.

France sold 7.49 billion euros of a fixed coupon bond, days after Moody's warned on the country's sovereign ratings.

On foreign exchange markets, the euro fell to $1.3673 before recovering. It is still at a relatively strong rate given the year's focus on the currency bloc's stability.

The euro's downside was considered likely to be limited ahead of the summit.

"As long as hopes for a soft-landing (of the crisis) persist, the euro's downside will probably stay firm, at least for this week and next week," said Makoto Noji, senior bond and currency strategist for SMBC Nikko Securities in Tokyo.

"I don't think we are in a situation where selling will snowball."

(Editing by Stephen Nisbet)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/stocks/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111020/bs_nm/us_markets_global

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Jennifer Morrison puts new twist on TV fairy tale (Reuters)

NEW YORK (Reuters) ? Actress Jennifer Morrison, best known for her portrayal of Dr. Allison Cameron on "House M.D.," returns to television this Sunday, putting a new twist on the idea of a fairy tale life in "Once Upon a Time."

Set in the small New England town of "Storybrooke," the drama alternates between a land of make-believe, full of princes and evil queens, to a parallel world in modern-day Maine, where townspeople remain unaware they are part of a fantasy world.

Morrison portrays Emma, an abused foster child who is the abandoned daughter of Snow White and Prince Charming. Reuters spoke to her about the new series.

Q: Your new show is from the writers of sci-fi fantasy "Lost." Are there similarities between the shows?

A: "It's not so much that it's similar, but I do feel like they've taken some elements of the structure of "Lost" and used that to serve the storytelling in "Once Upon A Time," kind of similar to the way the viewer gets to know the character in "Lost" through flashbacks. Everyone is in reality and existing in reality and the flashback element flashes to fairy tale land when these people were actually the characters who we are suggesting that they are."

Q: What do you think will draw fans to the series?

A: "The show is incredibly unique and different from anything I know to compare it. I think it's kind of a combination of 'Lord of the Rings' and 'Harry Potter.' It definitely has elements of good vs. evil and there's fairy tale characters involved, but it's also very grounded in reality and focuses on people's very real, very gritty relationships with each other."

Q: How did you prepare for Emma because there's not a lot of people who can claim to be the abandoned daughter of Snow White and Prince Charming?

A: "I've been reading memoirs by people raised in the foster system, and trying to take bits and pieces from each memoir of those who have been through that system, forced to move from home to home, who have had abusive foster parents or have really kind foster parents, but did not know how to handle someone being kind to them since they were abused in the past. It's been really quite fascinating and heartbreaking to learn about these stories and how these kids have had to exist in that system."

Q: You trained in theater. How does your theatrical background figure into your work on "Once Upon a Time?"

A: "I've been acting for as long as I can remember. It's all I ever wanted to do. I was very lucky to grow up in a school with a great theater program, and I've been on stage since I was 5 years-old. I ended up going to Loyola University where I majored in theater, and then studied at Steppenwolf. I guess with "Once Upon a Time" specifically, there is a theatrical element to the storytelling, so I believe I can transfer some of my theater training to the show."

Q: Will Dr. Cameron be coming back to "House?"

A: "Playing Dr. Cameron was life-changing in all the most amazing ways and I loved being on that show and I would do it again in a heartbeat. I haven't been contacted by anyone from the show about it, but it's a door I'll always leave open."

Q: What kind of roles do you hope to play in the future?

A: "I feel like I couldn't dream up the great things that have happened in my life so far and I don't like to put restrictions or expectations on what's coming next. I'm always drawn to something different. I definitely feel like I am open from one job to the next and try to find the next adventure that has something new and different, hoping the next project will be even better than I can imagine."

Q: How do you spend your free time when not working?

A: "I love traveling, shopping, concerts -- I recently acquired a record player so I have been collecting vinyl albums."

Q: So what's on your iPod?

A: Been loving Bon Iver, and their older album, "For Emma, Forever Ago." St. Vincent and Dr. Dog are great, too.

Q: What would you be doing if you were not actor?

A: Probably teaching. My parents are both teachers and I've taught theater and dance in the past, and I do really enjoy the process and experience of teaching, so I guess in the back of my mind, I thought it would be nice to be a professor or teach theater at a college at some point.

Q: Do you have a favorite fairy tale?

A: I have several that I really love. I probably would have to say Cinderella and Alice in Wonderland. Those are probably the two I was most fascinated with growing up.

(Editing by Bob Tourtellotte)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/tv/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111020/tv_nm/us_jennifermorrison

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With deals, YouTube expands as music destination (AP)

NEW YORK ? YouTube has been very good to bedroom singers, who have found a quick path to fame, and major labels, which have benefited from some of the largest digital audiences for their top music videos.

But the middle tier ? hundreds of independent labels and their deep rosters of bands ? has sometimes been marginalized in YouTube's endlessly expansive video jukebox.

Now, as YouTube continues to expand as a music destination, it's making itself more welcoming to independent labels and musicians.

On Monday, YouTube unveiled a new feature called the Merch Store that allows users to purchase fan merchandise directly on an artist's YouTube channel. On Wednesday, YouTube will announce a long-awaited deal with global rights agency Merlin, which represents some 14,000 independent labels.

Those announcements follow deals with indie labels such as the Beggars Group (whose roster includes Vampire Weekend), Merge Records (whose acts include Arcade Fire) and a settlement earlier this year with the National Music Publishers' Association on royalties for music publishers. In August, YouTube relaunched its music page, adding local concert listings, curated playlists and a kind of digital Billboard list: the YouTube Top 100.

For the Google Inc.-owned YouTube, it's part of a long-term push to build its music section into a more robust consumer experience while also making more money for labels, big and small ? and YouTube, too, of course.

"We see YouTube as a comprehensive entertainment destination and music is a core component of that," says Chris Maxcy, YouTube partner development director for music, games and platforms. "My charter is to make sure we have as comprehensive a catalog as possible of all the professionally produced video out there."

Until recently, that catalog was mostly driven by major labels. Though the majors (Sony Music, EMI Group, Warner Music Group, Universal Music Group) were skittish about YouTube in its early days and rights squabbles were common, they have all come to profit considerably from the video site.

YouTube declined to give specific numbers, but said the music industry as a whole is making "hundreds of millions of dollars annually from having their content on YouTube" and that music ad revenue on YouTube for the major record labels has more than doubled year after year.

That has made YouTube an important digital realm for independent labels, too, for a percentage of advertising revenue, and now, opportunities for merchandise and ticket sales.

"Those labels and the artists they represent now have a powerful monetization opportunity on what has become pretty clearly a significant music destination on the Web," says Charles Caldas, CEO of Merlin.

The arrival of YouTube was part of the reason Merlin was founded. The agency ? which considers itself the "fifth major" ? began in 2008 as a centralized hub, gathering smaller labels to make digital deals with music services like MySpace, Spotify and Rdio. This enabled smaller labels to get a piece of revenue from official music videos and user-generated content, as well as protection from piracy.

It's not a small part of the business. Merlin's combined market share in the U.S. is around 10 percent. Independent music is one of the few growing sectors of the music industry, and statistics from Nielsen have shown that independents are even more powerful in digital music than in physical sales.

But the indies have sometimes had to play catch-up.

"It was a situation which the major labels turned to their advantage early on," says Caldas. "The time on that has passed now. There's nothing really we can do now about what happened six years ago, unfortunately."

Maxcy says YouTube's efforts to work closely with the independents will continue to grow, and that the relationship is now "picking up steam." Chris Larosa, music product manager at YouTube, says its yearlong effort to connect consumers with independent music will continue: "There's definitely more we want to do."

In the meantime, YouTube is churning out new bands. One of its stars is the Northern California indie duo Pomplamoose, which has a full-fledged digital identity thanks to YouTube.

The duo's "videosongs" ? simple clips of the pair, Jack Conte and Nataly Dawn, performing their songs, with many split screens showing each instrumentation ? have racked up more than 65 million views.

Their YouTube channel pages also now offer for sale downloads, T-shirts, concert tickets and even official Pomplamoose grapefruit soap.

___

Online:

http://www.youtube.com/music

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/digitalmusic/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111019/ap_on_hi_te/us_youtube_music

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David Banner Questions Motives of Artists Moving In On Occupy Wall Street

'All of us have become so corporate that people don't even feel like we're a part of the people,' rapper tells MTV News.
By Steven Roberts


David Banner at Occupy Wall Street
Photo: MTV News

NEW YORKDavid Banner wasn't the first artist to visit Occupy Wall Street, and he certainly won't be the last. But Banner questioned the true intentions of many of the artists taking part in the demonstrations. When MTV News followed Banner down to Manhattan's Zuccotti Park last Thursday, he said others probably questioned their intentions as well.

"One of my only criticisms of hip-hop right now is that we all — like everybody — we can't separate ourselves. All of us have become so corporate that people don't even feel like we're a part of the people, especially rappers and punk rockers," Banner said. "People always felt like we were them. We were their voice.

"You look at what happened with Troy [Davis]. We're still at war, we're in a recession, where's that in the music? I don't hear that in the music," he continued. "This is the general feeling that people won't really say, but I hear it."

Banner said that in the aftermath of 2005's Hurricane Katrina, many rappers ran to the Gulf Coast to help, but only when cameras were there. Banner, who won a Visionary Award from the National Black Caucus of State Legislators for his efforts during the hurricane, said that many of those rappers disappeared once the cameras did.

"That's why I applaud somebody like Big Boi, like he still holding Troy [Davis] down. The thing is, we have to understand that it's not about what you do when the cameras are on, it's what you do when the cameras are off."

Banner also addressed the merits of the Occupy Wall Street demonstrators. People have questioned whether or not the demonstration is representative of everyone it claims it is, because the demonstrators are predominantly white. But Banner said that if upper-middle-class white kids weren't there, the police wouldn't be as patient with the demonstration.

"They'd just send the police out there, throw some tear gas, plant somebody in there. Call it gang violence, whatever, ya'll know what they do in the 'hood," Banner said. "When their children are out there is when it becomes a movement. And I used to fight that and be mad at that, but what we got to understand is, in every movement, even in the '60s, young, white, middle-class people were a major part of the movement. We have to stop separating ourselves."

Related Videos Related Photos

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1672762/occupy-wall-street-david-banner-hip-hop.jhtml

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IndyCar driver Dan Wheldon dead at 33 (AP)

LAS VEGAS ? Dan Wheldon, who moved to the United States from his native England with hopes of winning the Indianapolis 500 and went on to twice prevail at his sport's most famed race, died Sunday after a massive, fiery wreck at the Las Vegas Indy 300.

One of the most well-liked drivers in the paddock, Wheldon was 33.

He called the Indy 500 "the biggest sporting event in the world," and his second and final win there came in most unexpected fashion. Trailing rookie JR Hildebrand with only one turn remaining, Wheldon was resigned to finishing in second place for the third straight year.

Then Hildebrand brushed the wall just seconds away from what seemed like certain victory, giving Wheldon one of the luckiest breaks ever at the Brickyard. He crossed the line in front, making the final lap the only one he led in the entire race.

Wheldon returned to the track the next morning for the traditional photo session with the winner, kissing the bricks as his 2-year-old son Sebastian sat on the asphalt alongside him, and wife, Susie, held their then-2-month-old, Oliver.

"That's Indianapolis," Wheldon said after this year's Indy win. "That's why it's the greatest spectacle in racing. You never know what's going to happen."

Such was the case again Sunday at Las Vegas.

Wheldon started last in the 34-car field and was up to 24th quickly, but still well behind the first wave of cars that got into trouble on the fateful lap, and had no way to avoid the wrecks in front of him. There was no time to brake or steer out of trouble. His car sailed into the fence extending high over the track barrier, and about two hours later, his death was announced.

Wheldon began driving go-karts as a 4-year-old, and racing was a constant in his life as he attended school in England as a child, winning eight British national titles along the way. He moved to the United States in 1999, trying to find sponsor money to fund his dream, and by 2002 ? after stints in some lower-profile open-wheel series, such as the F2000 championship, Toyota Atlantic Series and IndyLights ? he was on the IndyCar grid for the first time.

Wheldon was a fast study. He got his first IndyCar Series ride in 2002, competing twice with Panther Racing, then replaced Michael Andretti when Andretti retired the next season and won Rookie of the Year.

His first victory came the next season, in Japan, and he finished second in the championship standings behind Andretti Green Racing teammate Tony Kanaan. The next year, he was the series champion. NASCAR teams talked to him about changing series. So did Formula One organizations.

In the end, he decided IndyCar was his calling.

"The biggest thing for me is the Indianapolis 500," Wheldon said in 2005, not long after becoming the first Englishman since Graham Hill in 1966 to win that race. "It would be really difficult to leave this series because of that race."

A star was born at that 2005 Indy 500 ? and it wasn't necessarily Wheldon, the winner. Danica Patrick was a rookie at Indy that year, and not only did she steal the show, she nearly took the biggest prize as well. Wheldon passed Patrick with less than 10 laps to go and held on for the victory, and that wasn't the last time those two would share a spotlight.

At Milwaukee in 2007, Wheldon and Patrick brushed cars during the race, then brushed bodies on pit road after the race in a relatively heated exchange.

He good-naturedly poked fun at what was fast known as Danicamania following the 2005 race, famously posing in a T-shirt afterward with the words "Actually 'Won' The Indy 500" emblazoned on the front. Wheldon got his share of fame as well after that '05 win, of course, throwing out the first pitch at a Yankees game and appearing on CBS' "Late Show with David Letterman."

On Sunday, Patrick was clearly emotional after drivers were told of Wheldon's death. And it also was widely expected that Wheldon would replace her on Michael Andretti's team next season when Patrick switches to a full-time NASCAR ride. Even with his resume ? two Indy wins, 16 race victories on the circuit overall ? Wheldon found it difficult just to stay in the series. He finished among the top 10 in IndyCar points annually from 2004 through 2010, but Sunday was only Wheldon's third start of the 2011 campaign.

Lacking the financial backing to secure a full-time ride for himself this season, Wheldon kept busy by working as a commentator for some races and testing prototype cars that the IndyCar series will be using in the future. IndyCar will have new cars in 2012, much of the changes done with a nod for safety. It had been a passion of Wheldon's in recent months, and he once quipped that he was a "test dummy" for the new cars by working with engineers as often as he was.

"We need to make sure that the product that the IndyCar Series puts out toward the end of this year, beginning of 2012, is something that primarily the fans get very excited about, but also the teams and drivers," Wheldon said this summer. "And obviously we want to make sure that the product we put out is incredibly safe."

Wheldon, his wife and their children lived in St. Petersburg, Fla., and he often said that he believed fatherhood made him a better driver.

Wheldon said the 2011 Indy victory was "a Cinderella story," and lauded his wife for helping him deal with all that came with not having a full-time driving gig this season. He did not personally need money ? his winnings already ensured his family would be set for life, he said ? but rather the lack of sponsorship funds is what kept him from regularly racing this year.

At times, he said it was difficult, and Wheldon credited his wife for helping him through the emotional lows.

"There's times where you do doubt yourself a little bit," Wheldon said after this year's Indy win. "Through all of this, she's been incredibly supportive and she understands that this is all I've ever done. Racing is all I've ever done. She knows that racing creates the personality in me that she loves. So she was desperate to get me back out the house and in a race car. It's good to deliver for her, my two boys, my family back home, too."

Off the track, Wheldon had varied interests, some of which had almost nothing to do with his driving.

He raised money for several charities, was a spokesman for the National Guard and its education-awareness programs, and most recently tried to raise money for Alzheimer's research. His mother was diagnosed with an early onset form of that disease in 2009.

He visited Lake Placid, N.Y. in 2010 for the Bo-Dyn Bobsled Challenge, taking a run down the icy chute ? and getting ejected from the back of a two-man sled in a crash. Wheldon was unhurt, and even hopped to his feet quickly, taking a bow.

"Us IndyCar drivers, we like to go fast," Wheldon said that day.

Later that year, he released a photo book he called "Lionheart," a coffee table book that he described as "almost like a photo biography from my career in IndyCars up until this point." He spent years editing the book, which included dozens of photos of his life away from the track, including images from his wedding.

"I wanted it to have a lot of my input," Wheldon said last year. "Obviously, it's a reflection of me."

He also wanted that book to provide his fans with a glimpse of his life that they would never have known otherwise.

"There's a lot of my wedding in there," Wheldon said. "I wanted there to be a lot of photos of my wife. She was the most beautiful bride on her wedding day the world had ever seen."

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/sports/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111017/ap_on_sp_au_ra_ne/car_obit_wheldon

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Murdoch's Sky closer to Australia TV tender win: report (Reuters)

CANBERRA (Reuters) ? A consortium bidding for an Australian government contract to broadcast local television into Asia, and including Rupert Murdoch's part-owned Sky News, has moved closer to winning with officials backing the bid, a report said Monday.

An independent panel set up to decide the A$223 million ($230.1 million) Australia Network tender had unanimously backed Sky over incumbent ABC for a second time after the government reopened the tender and imposed a new "national interest" hurdle, The Australian newspaper said, without naming sources.

The extension of the tender in July coincided with the mobile phone hacking scandal sweeping over the Australian-born Murdoch's News Corp. empire in Britain and a row with Australia's Labor government over alleged political bias in reporting.

The Australian newspaper, owned by Murdoch, said the independent panel, made up of Treasury, Finance, Foreign Affairs and Communications department bureaucrats, had recommended the overseas service be taken from the public-funded ABC and awarded to Sky News.

The Sky News Australia bid was thought superior by the four-member panel because of the network's plans to establish special programing for services to China and the Middle East, the paper said.

Sky News Australia is a 24-hour cable and satellite news channel, with Murdoch owning a third through his stake in BSkyB, along with Australia's Seven West Media Ltd. and the private equity-owned Nine Entertainment Co.

A spokesman for Communications Minister Stephen Conroy declined to comment, saying the tender process was still open.

Conroy, who will decide on the tender, can now ask for more information from the panel before taking the issue to Prime Minister Julia's Gillard's cabinet with his recommendation.

Conroy was earlier this year critical of News Corp's Australian arm, News Ltd, accusing it of biased treatment targeting the minority Labor government. News Ltd, which denied the allegations, controls 70 percent of Australia's newspaper readership market.($1 = 0.969 Australian Dollars)

(Reporting by Rob Taylor; Editing by Ed Davies)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/enindustry/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111017/media_nm/us_newscorp_australia

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DreamIt-Backed CloudMine Lets App Developers Bypass The Backend Pain, Focus On Their Product

Screen shot 2011-10-14 at 11.08.18 PMI think it's a fair assumption to say that, for app developers, the enjoyable part of their job is building the actual app, not finding the right web services and hosting provider, setting up databases, and slogging through configuration. I could be wrong to presume this to be true, but CloudMine, a Philadelphia-based startup launching in open beta today is willing to bet that most developers might agree with me. So, CloudMine has developed a service that will allow developers to reduce the pain by providing a set of RESTful APIs that allow them to quickly create back-end solutions for their apps. Specifically, the startup is offering schema-free data structure storage, user account creation and management, and server-side business logic for computations that are too complex or data-intensive to run on a mobile device.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/1KmEGx_O_yo/

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