Stars join Songwriters Hall of Fame - BBC News
Ne-Yo, Bette Midler, Ben E. King and Bob Seger give their reaction to their awards
Multi-platinum artist Bob Seger, Bette Midler and R&B star Ne-Yo have been inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.
The team behind enduring hit Stand By Me - Ben E. King and songwriting duo Mike Stoller and the late Jerry Leiber - were given The Towering Song Award.
King was also presented with a special award for his performance on the track.
Ne-Yo, who was given the Hal David Starlight Award for young songwriters, credited music with saving him.
"I was a pretty riled up little kid," he explained, on the red carpet. "If not for my mom giving me the pad and the pen and telling me to take my emotions and put them there, there's no telling. I might I have been sticking you up or something."
Fleetwood Mac singer Stevie Nicks presented Bette Midler with the Sammy Cahn Lifetime Achievement Award. It honours industry veterans who are "pioneers in their craft" and have "inspired the music community".
Midler has enjoyed success on stage, screen and as a recording artist, winning three Grammys - including for her 1989 hit, Wind Beneath My Wings.
"Any award is a great honour," said Midler. "I mean people think of you and it is very sweet. It is all very sweet."
Seger kicked off the ceremony in New York with a performance of 1973 track, Turn the Page.
The Detroit rocker achieved commercial success with 1976 album Night Moves. He called songwriting the hardest but most rewarding thing he does.
The Songwriters Hall of Fame was founded in 1969 by Johnny Mercer to recognise the best in the field.
Harvey Schmidt and Tom Jones, the writers of long-running musical, The Fantastick's, were also honoured in the ceremony's 43rd year.
Other inductees include Jim Steinman, who wrote Bat Out of Hell and Total Eclipse of the Heart, Canadian folk rocker Gordon Lightfoot, and Don Schlitz, who penned country hits including When You Say Nothing at All.
Among those taking to the stage to hand out awards or perform were Meatloaf, Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl, Steve Miller and Kenny Rogers.
Aides stop former RSS chief from speaking to media - Times of India
PUNE: Former Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief K S Sudarshan was stopped from interacting with the media by his own men at a function held at Balgandharv Rangmandir on Thursday.
Sudarshan, who was in the city to attend a felicitation programme, was seated in the audience and not among dignitaries on the stage. When some media persons requested him to speak, Sudarshan readily agreed. However, his aides sitting nearby immediately surrounded him. They said that Sudarshan does not speak to the media without prior permission. Sudarshan looked puzzled by the reaction of his own men. "Why will I not speak? I am going to speak to them," he said. However, his aides did not relent and told the media persons to go away. "You need to understand the RSS system. Don't insist and go away. I know you are going to ask him about RSS," one of his associates said. Sudarshan remained a mute spectator as the journalists left the scene.
Sudarshan's early years as the sarsanghachalak were tumultuous with the BJP in power at the Centre. The Sangh Parivar came under attack for the post-Godhra riots in Gujarat and the Jinnah controversy triggered by Advani during a trip to Pakistan. Sudarshan, who retired in 2009 citing health reasons, made headlines for making controversial statements. In 2010, the Sangh had to express regret over one such statement he made against Congress president Sonia Gandhi. The Sangh had then clarified that Sudarshan's views on the Congress president do not represent the views of the organisation.
Sudarshan has kept a low profile since then and is guarded from making any statements, said an RSS worker present at the functioN.
Apple I computer fetches $374,500 at NY auction - Reuters
NEW YORK, June 15 |
NEW YORK, June 15 (Reuters) - A rare, still-working Apple I Computer from 1976 sold at Sotheby's auction house on Friday for $374,500, or more than 500 times its original retail price.
The computer, one of only a handful in full working condition, had been estimated to sell for about $150,000 at the auctioneer's sale of books and manuscripts.
The Apple computer, built by the company's founders Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak, included the original cassette interface, operating instructions and BASIC computer language user's manual. But like all Apple 1's, it did not come with a monitor or power supply.
Two bidders competed for the machine, the first compact computer to allow casual users to type on a keyboard and operate basic programs. An anonymous telephone bidder prevailed for a final cost of just under $375,000 including commission.
The Apple founders created the personal computer in 1976 and presented it at a Palo Alto computer club, but there were few takers at the time. Paul Terrell, owner of a retail chain called Byte Shop, placed an order for 50 of the machines and sold them for $666.66 retail - once Wozniak and Jobs agreed to assemble the circuit boards rather than offer them as kits, Sotheby's said.
The pair then produced 150 more and sold them to friends and other vendors. Sotheby's said fewer than 50 original Apple 1s are believed to survive, with only six known to be in working condition.
Other highlights of the sale, which took in a total of $2.67 million, included an unpublished F. Scott Fitzgerald story, "The I.O.U.", which sold to an unidentified U.S. institution for $194,500, far above the $75,000 pre-sale estimate, and an autographed letter from Oscar Wilde calling his work, "The Ballad of Reading Gaol", his swan song. It fetched $134,500, or more than three times the estimate.
Another unpublished Fitzgerald story, "Nightmare", from the early 1930s, doubled its pre-sales estimate and sold for just over $80,000, while artist Andy Warhol's illustrated book from 1954, "25 Cats Named Sam and One Blue Pussy", also doubled its estimate, selling for just under $60,000.
Rory & Donald set to miss cut as McDowell flies flag - ESPN.co.uk
Defending champion Rory McIlroy could be set to miss the cut at the US Open after a lapse in concentration saw him miss a two-footer on the final hole of his second round.
McIlroy, looking to bounce back after a difficult opening round on Thursday, reached the par-three 8th, his final hole of Friday's round, at nine-over for the tournament - but a moment of absent-mindedness saw him make a hash of his tap-in for par.
That mistake means it is very likely he will miss the cut at Olympic Club - joining playing partner Luke Donald on the sidelines over the weekend.
Donald, the world No. 1, had all-but ended his tournament chances with a 79 to begin proceedings and, while a follow-up 72 was respectable, his 11-over total for 36 holes will see him miss the weekend's action in San Francisco.
The cut is expected to be around eight-over but could well slip to nine-over - although that will not be a problem for the third member of McIlroy's group, Lee Westwood, who will have a chance to move up the leaderboard in the second half of the tournament after finishing five-over.
European hopes are currently riding with 2010 US Open champion Graeme McDowell, who endured a difficult finish to his round but nevertheless sits among the clubhouse leaders at one-over.
One-under when beginning his round on the ninth on Friday, the Northern Irishman reached two-under for the tournament at one point but Olympic's formidably difficult front nine eventually punished him - as four bogeys and a solitary birdie left him just over par overall.
The only man ahead of him in the clubhouse, however, was playing partner and fellow former champion of this event Jim Furyk - the 2003 winner flying under the radar to card a second round of 69 after an opening 70 and become the first man (so far) to be under par after 36 holes.
Nevertheless, the marquee group of the morning involved the three top-ranked Europeans - but none of them lived up to their billing as Westwood was the only one who just about kept himself in tournament contention.
Donald was far more precise than in his damaging opening round, but nevertheless could not get in position to threaten the cut-line - with a failure to birdie the short par-four seventh (his 17th) ultimately sealing his fate.
McIlroy gave himself a chance at eagle at the same hole which would have almost certainly sealed his participation over the weekend, but was forced to settle for a birdie that left him likely needing to pick up another shot at his last, the par-three eighth.
An iron shot to 15-feet set up that opportunity, but McIlroy was not able to make the putt as it slid narrowly to the right. It was then that disaster - or, more accurately, human fallibility - struck, as the defending champion rushed his par attempt and saw it lip out.
Forced to settle for 10-over, it will take a lot of poor play from the afternoon starters for him to now make the cut.
Elsewhere, big-hitting Belgian Nicolas Colsaerts and 23-year-old American John Peterson are also both well placed at one-over for the tournament, after second rounds of 69 and 70 respectively.
Pre-tournament hot tips Hunter Mahan, Jason Dufner and Matt Kuchar are well-placed alongside Aaron Watkins at three-over.
Sergio Garcia, Ernie Els, Charlie Wi, Martin Kaymer and Nick Watney - he of the Thursday albatross - are all four-over, while Ian Poulter and John Senden are level with Westwood in the clubhouse at five-over.
Steve Stricker is also four-over for the tournament after the round of the day so far, a two-under par 68 that included an eagle at the 17th after he holed out from the fairway.
Players waiting to see if they will make the cut at nine-over include Casey Martin, Bill Haas and former champion Lucas Glover.
Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and first round leader Michael Thompson are among the afternoon starters.
© ESPN EMEA Ltd
Tickets fly as benefactor makes Derry concert free - BBC News
All tickets for the Peace One Day concert in Ebrington Square in Londonderry have been snapped up.
The tickets were offered free on Friday after benefactor Michael Hamyln offered to pay for them.
People who had already paid for tickets will get their money back.
The film producer said he is delighted to have made the gesture.
The concert on 21 June marks the start of the London 2012 Festival.
It will be the first major event to be staged at the arts quarter, which was formerly a military barracks.
The line-up includes Pixie Lott, Dublin singer Imelda May, indie-rockers Guillamots, Derry's Wondervillains and Newton Faulkner.
Founder of Peace One Day Jeremy Gilley said: "It's incredible that someone has come forward to make the concert free.
"I'm delighted. This opens the doors to everyone. It'll be a wonderful show in a wonderful city."
The free tickets were made available at 10:00 BST on Friday morning and ran out in less than two hours.
The director of the London 2012 Festival, Ruth Mackenzie, said the concert will "highlight the key theme of how sport and culture can resolve conflict.
"We are really grateful that thousands of lucky people will now be able to join in the celebration for free."
The event also marks the three-month countdown to Global Truce, a campaign that promotes peace.
The culmination of the Global Truce campaign will be another Peace Once Day concert in London on 21 September, the day of Global Truce and World Peace Day.
Sweden V England : UEFA Euro 2012 Match Report - Football
Published: 15 Jun 2012 - 22:16:26
Welbeck and Walcott rescue England as Sweden out
England remained on course for a place in the knockout rounds after coming from behind to send Sweden crashing out of the tournament with a 3-2 victory in Kiev.
Manchester United striker Danny Welbeck scored a well-taken winner for England in the 78th minute after the introduction of substitute Theo Walcott swung a see-saw Group D battle back in his side's favour.
England had got off to a dream start when recalled striker Andy Carroll headed them into a 23rd-minute lead.
But an own goal from Glen Johnson on 49 minutes followed by a header from Olof Mellberg in the 59th minute threatened to set up a disastrous night for Roy Hodgson's side.
However, the substitution of James Milner for Walcott changed the game. The Arsenal winger lashed in a 64th-minute equaliser to make it 2-2 and then provided the run and pass which set up Welbeck's winner.
England's first ever competitive victory over the Swedes means they will qualify for the quarter-finals with only a point in their final group game against co-hosts Ukraine in Donetsk next Tuesday.
Hodgson's side had started positively, Scott Parker forcing a fine save out of Andreas Isaksson after only seven minutes with a fine swerving effort from 20 yards that the Swedish keeper parried to safety.
Sweden meanwhile had to wait until 20 minutes before threatening the England goal, captain Zlatan Ibrahimovic letting fly with a long range shot that was blocked comfortably by Joe Hart.
After successive crosses from Ashley Young and Milner failed to meet their targets, captain Steven Gerrard had clearly seen enough on 23 minutes.
Seizing possession in midfield the England skipper looked up to curl in a pinpoint long-range diagonal ball which the twisting Carroll met with a thunderous header that gave Isaksson no chance.
England's positive first half display came unstuck, however, within five minutes of the restart as a rejuvenated Sweden dominated play.
The equaliser came after an Ibrahimovic free-kick bounced back off the wall and was played back to an unmarked Mellberg being played onside by Johnson.
The centre-half's shot beat Hart and Johnson was unable to scramble out of his own net. Mellberg claimed it, but the equaliser was ruled an own-goal by Johnson.
England were rocking and it got worse for Hodgson's men on 59 minutes as Sweden went 2-1 up. Sebastian Larsson swung in a curling free-kick and shambolic defending allowed Mellberg to nod home Sweden's second.
Milner, who had capped a poor evening by conceding the free-kick which led to Sweden's second, was then promptly hauled off for Walcott.
The Arsenal winger made an immediate impact and within minutes England were level, Walcott's shot from just outside the area catching Isaksson off-balance to make it 2-2.
Sweden continued to cause England problems on the break and Ibrahimovic forced Hart to dive at full-stretch to turn around a 76th-minute effort.
But two minutes later Walcott rescued England again, darting into the box with an electrifying burst to cross for Welbeck, who flicked in a deft finish with the back of his heel to make it 3-2.
Related Sweden News
UPDATE 4-Ex-business titan Gupta guilty of insider trading - Reuters UK
* Gupta found guilty of four of six criminal counts
* Defense lawyer says appeal is likely
* Juror wanted to believe allegations were not true
* Enough circumstantial evidence - juror (Adds comments by jurors and lawyers not in case)
By Grant McCool and Basil Katz
NEW YORK, June 15 (Reuters) - Rajat Gupta, a consummate business insider who once sat on the board of Goldman Sachs Group Inc, was convicted on Friday of leaking secrets about the investment bank at the height of the financial crisis, a major victory for prosecutors seeking to root out illicit trading on Wall Street.
A Manhattan federal court jury delivered the verdict on its second day of deliberations, finding Gupta fed stock tips to his hedge fund manager friend Raj Rajaratnam gleaned from confidential Goldman board meetings. He was found guilty of four of six criminal counts and could face a prison term of up to 25 years.
The conviction burnishes the record of the U.S. Attorney's Office in Manhattan, which has spent the last several years aggressively prosecuting insider trading. More than 60 people have pleaded guilty or been convicted in cases brought by the FBI and the Manhattan U.S. Attorney in the past four years.
In its case against Gupta, who headed elite business consultancy McKinsey & Co for nine years and is the most prominent person charged in the insider-trading crackdown, the government faced a challenge. There was no evidence he traded on any of the information he allegedly leaked and the government did not have the trove of FBI wiretaps that helped win a conviction of Rajaratnam a year ago.
Jury foreman Rick Lepkowski told reporters after the verdict: "On the counts we convicted, we felt there was enough circumstantial evidence." He said wiretaps in which Rajaratnam was heard telling two of his traders about the board information "didn't tip the balance."
The verdict capped a four-week trial that featured Goldman CEO Lloyd Blankfein as a star government witness. All of the counts Gupta was convicted of involved tips and trades in Goldman stock in September and October 2008, including passing inside information on a crucial $5 billion investment by Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc.
As the verdict was read in court by the jury foreman, there was a gasp when Gupta was pronounced "not guilty" on the first count of securities fraud. It involved whether Gupta told Rajaratnam about Goldman's quarterly earnings after a March 12, 2007 board meeting. He was then declared guilty on three other securities fraud counts and a count of conspiracy.
Gupta, 63, was also found not guilty of divulging the quarterly earnings in January 2009 of Procter & Gamble Co , where he also served as a board member.
After the verdict, an ashen-faced Gupta glanced grimly back at his wife and daughters. Later, the family stood together hugging in the courtroom as Gupta tried to console his distraught, sobbing daughters and wife.
"This is only Round One," his defense attorney, Gary Naftalis, told reporters. "We will be moving to set aside the verdict and will, if necessary, appeal the conviction."
Gupta, who lives in Westport, Connecticut, is also a former director at American Airlines Corp and had ties to a prominent business school in his native India. Well known in philanthropic circles, he advised groups such as the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to help fight AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis in developing countries.
Jury foreman Lepkowski said he was impressed by Gupta's "storybook life" up to the time of the allegations and his family's support.
"I wanted to believe the allegations weren't true," said Lepkowski, 51, a non-profit group executive from Ossining, New York. "At the end of the day, when all of the evidence was in, it was in my opinion, overwhelming."
Another juror, child welfare worker Ronnie Sesso, 53, said the jury, which also included a nurse, a teacher and a school counselor, struggled to determine what Gupta's motive might have been in passing tips to Rajaratnam.
"Gupta was a true friend," she said. "Raj was a snake in the grass."
Since being implicated in the Rajaratnam case more than a year ago, Gupta has denied the charges. His lawyers said Rajaratnam cheated Gupta out of $10 million and the two men had a falling out in 2008. They argued that prosecutors "had no real, hard, direct evidence" against Gupta, who did not take the witness stand after signaling late in the trial he might.
U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff scheduled a tentative sentencing date of Oct. 18. The maximum sentence for securities fraud is 20 years and the maximum sentence for conspiracy is five years, although it seems unlikely that Gupta would receive such a heavy punishment.
Rajaratnam, founder of Galleon Group hedge fund, was convicted of 14 counts of securities fraud and conspiracy last year and is serving an 11-year prison term. He turned 55 years old on Friday in prison near Boston.
Earlier this month, a New Jersey federal court handed a 12-year sentence - the longest ever for insider trading - to a corporate lawyer whose illegal conduct stretched over 17 years.
In another tough sentence, a Houston federal judge sentenced disgraced financier Allen Stanford on Thursday to 110 years in prison for a $7 billion fraud that swindled investors out of their savings.
Two former executives of hedge funds Level Global and Diamondback and one trader who worked at SAC Capital Advisors unit Sigma, at the time of his arrest, could be the next significant criminal insider trading trial in October. They deny charges of running a $62 million scheme on Dell Inc stock. Level Global no longer manages money. Diamondback has settled civil insider trading charges. SAC has not been charged.
"THREW IT ALL AWAY"
Gupta "achieved remarkable success and stature, but he threw it all away" Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara, who was also born in India, said in a statement after the verdict.
"Violating clear and sacrosanct duties of confidentiality, Mr. Gupta illegally provided a virtual open line into the board room for his benefactor and business partner, Raj Rajaratnam."
Jacob Frenkel and Andrew Stoltmann, two lawyers who were not involved in the Gupta trial, said the verdict surprised them because they believe juries nowadays come with what they termed a "CSI mentality" from the popular TV drama series "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" where the evidence is direct.
"The partial guilty verdict suggests that the jury did in fact distinguish between the evidence in the counts, but that does not make me any less surprised because of the way I think juries tend to look at cases now," said Frenkel of Shulman, Rogers, Gandal, Pordy & Ecker in Potomac, Maryland.
Chicago securities lawyer Andrew Stoltmann, who predicted Gupta would be found not guilty, said, "Without real wire taps of Gupta, the jury was still able to connect the dots and bought into the prosecutor's arguments."
Among the most dramatic contentions at the trial was the prosecutors' charge that Gupta told Rajaratnam about the Buffett investment in Goldman at the height of the financial crisis.
Part of the prosecution's evidence was that within a minute of disconnecting from a Sept. 23, 2008 board call approving the investment, Gupta called Rajaratnam
UPDATE 2-Brazil offers cheap credit to boost investment - Reuters UK
* Gov't creates $9.8 bln credit line for states
* Investments aim to shield economy from European crisis (Adds governor comments and background)
By Luciana Otoni and Asher Levine
BRASILIA, June 15 (Reuters) - The Brazilian government on Friday offered 20 billion reais ($9.78 billion) in cheap loans to states, the latest in a string of stimulus measures to bolster investment as Latin America's top economy struggles to grow.
After a meeting with the country's governors, President Dilma Rousseff agreed to give out the subsidized loans via the state-owned development bank BNDES to finance infrastructure investment.
Rousseff, a career economist, has struggled to jump-start an economy that has flirted with recession since mid-2011. Risks to Brazil's economic performance have grown further in the past few months as the European debt crisis threatens another global financial meltdown.
"The federal and state governments are carrying out investments in an anti-cyclical move that aims to lower our exposure to the international crisis," Finance Minister Guido Mantega told reporters in the capital Brasilia.
He added that the government will ease rules on public-private partnerships in states to boost investments, which have disappointed in the first quarter of the year.
Governors said the new measures will help them spend more on key projects and boost activity in their home states.
"These measures are very important for us to guarantee a recovery in the second half of the year," said Eduardo Campos, the governor of Pernambuco, the country's 10th largest economy.
Policymakers are scrambling to make the Brazilian economy grow this year more than the 2.7 percent recorded in 2011 after red-hot growth of 7.5 percent in 2010.
Economic activity grew only 0.22 percent in April from March, official data showed on Friday, highlighting the gradual pace of recovery in the world's No 6 economy.
SHIFT IN FOCUS?
Rousseff's administration seems to be shifting its focus to investments after a slew of measures aimed at boosting consumption, such as tax cuts on cars and freezers and record-low lending rates.
Some analysts say Brazil's consumer-led growth model is overstretched and the country needs structural reforms to lower the infamous "Brazil Cost" - a mix of high taxes, decaying infrastructure and crippling bureaucracy that drags on growth.
Increasingly indebted Brazilian consumers and companies are starting to cut spending. Research company Serasa Experian said on Friday that consumer defaults rose in May at the fastest pace this year.
Rousseff has vowed to keep fostering consumer spending and lower costs for companies by improving the tax system, slashing duties and fighting the country's cumbersome bureaucracy.
She has scored several victories with legislation that aims to simplify the tax system and lower the federal government's share in a growing pension bill for public workers. However, economists say the leftist government needs to do more to help businesses deal with growing foreign competition. (Writing by Alonso Soto; editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Andrew Hay)
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