News Article 31

Kesha denied legal request to escape contract with man she alleges raped her

Singer cried as judge ruled contract with Dr Luke’s record label will remain intact despite Kesha’s allegations that he physically and sexually assaulted her.

Kesha filed a lawsuit against Luke, whose real name is Lukasz Sebastian Gottwald, in 2014, claiming that the physical and sexual abuse began soon after she signed with him in 2005, when she was 18.

In the lawsuit, Kesha alleged that Luke plied the singer with drugs and alcohol before making sexual advances toward her. Kesha claimed that on one occasion, Gottwald gave her “sober pills” during a drinking session, and that she later woke up naked in his bed, unable to recall how she got there.

Gottwald quickly countersued, claiming Kesha’s allegations were part of a “campaign of publishing outrageous and untrue statements”. Judge Shirley Kornreich denied Kesha’s motion for preliminary injunction, claiming that “there has been no showing of irreparable harm”, BuzzFeed reported.

Kesha reportedly sobbed as the verdict was announced, and was comforted by her mother who accompanied her to the trial. Dozens of Kesha fans gathered outside the New York City courthouse in support of the #FreeKesha movement and outrage spread over social media.

Attorneys for Gottwald argued that the producer had invested $60m in Kesha’s career and had agreed to allow her to record without his involvement. Kornreich said her instinct was the “do the commercially reasonable thing” and noted that Sony had agreed to let Kesha record without Gottwald’s participation – an agreement Kesha’s lawyers said would set up the singer for failure since Sony’s interests lie in promoting Gottwald.

I think it's terrible Kesha is trapped in a record deal with a man who abused her. I believe he did as kesha does not achieve anything from lying. She should be released from the contract as she has not even released any more music as she can't bear to make money for this man any more. #FreeKesha

The Music Industry - Adele and Jessie J

Adele Laurie Blue Adkins (born 5 May 1988) is an English singer and songwriter. She graduated from the BRIT School for performing arts and technology in 2006. Adele received a recording contract from XL recordings in the same year. She received commercial and critical success for her debut album 19 (2008), 21 (2011) and 25 (2015). Her net worth is said to currently be about £53 million.

Adele has won over 90 awards from a range of different music awards. Adele’s 25 album sold 3.38 million copies in its first week in the U.S., according to Nielsen Music. That’s the largest single sales week for an album since Nielsen began tracking point-of-sale music purchases in 1991. 25 is the first album to sell more than 3 million copies in a week in Nielsen history, and only the second to surpass 2 million sold in a single frame. 

Adele also made a huge impact in both the music and film industry with her song Skyfall which featured in the 23rd instalment of James Bond.

Adele was accused of plagiarism in 2015 over her song one million years ago after it was pointed out that it sounds very similar to Ahmet Kaya’s song Acilara Tutunmak which was released 30 year ago. Fans of the Kurdish artist were quick to point out similarities between the album track and Kaya's song, which was released in 1985.

Taking to social media one questioned: "Million Years Ago has too much similarity with Ahmet Kaya's Acilara Tutunmak to be just a coincidence @Adele"

Adele was also accused of stealing lyrics from Lionel Richie’s song Hello with her own song Hello. "I was so amazed. However, Lionel Ritchie said Everyone said, 'Lionel, Adele is doing your song Hello,' and I said, 'No she's not,' and all of a sudden I heard Hello. But it's Adele. Even though she didn't cover the song, [just] the word Hello, automatically everyone called me on the phone and said 'she used Hello,' and I said, 'Well, I kind of own Hello.'2 But not to the point where it's any kind of problem. I'll loan Hello to Adele."

Jessica Ellen Cornish (born 27 March 1988), better known by her stage name Jessie J, is an English singer and songwriter. Born and raised in London, she began her career on stage, aged 11, with a role in the West End Musical Whistle Down the Wind. She studied at the BRIT School where she graduated in the class of 2006 along with singers Adele and Leona Lewis before signing with Gut Records and striking a songwriting deal with Sony/ATV Music Publishing where she wrote for artists including Chris Brown and Miley Cyrus.

Jessie J was signed to Gut Records, recording an album for the label, but the company went bankrupt before any material was released. Since then Jessie j has won over 40 music awards. As of January 2015, Jessie J had sold over 20 million singles and 3 million albums worldwide with her net worth being around £5.6 million. Alike to Adele Jessie J featured her song Flashlight in the film industry in the film Pitch Perfect 2.

Jessie J has also been called out over plagiarism back in 2012 with her song Domino by TMZ Will Loomis from the band The Loomis & Lust over his song Bright Red Chords. She was also accused of fixing the votes on the singing show The Voice which she featured as a judge.

News Article 30

Black Workers earning less than White colleagues 

Black workers earn much less than similarly qualified white workers, at all levels of education, research suggests.

Analysis of pay data by the Trades Union Congress (TUC) suggests that the difference in average pay rates amounts to a gap of 23%.

Black graduates earn on average £14.33 an hour, compared with £18.63 earned by white graduates, the TUC says.

The average pay gap between black and white workers with A-levels is 14%.

And at GCSE level the gap is 11%, the TUC says.

The TUC's general secretary Frances O'Grady said: "Race still plays a huge role in determining pay.

"The harsh reality is that at any level of education, black and Asian workers are getting paid less than their white counterparts.

"The government cannot afford to ignore these figures and must now take genuine action to tackle pay discrimination."

The Runnymede Trust, a leading race equality think tank, has previously found that pay gaps are not due to the type of university attended, as they even extend to black workers with degrees from the most selective Russell Group of universities.

In fact the TUC's analysis, based on the Labour Force Survey figures from 2014 and 2015, shows the pay gaps are widest for those with higher qualifications.

"This suggests that education alone will do little to address racial inequalities, and the need for interventions that directly challenge racial inequalities in the workplace," the TUC said.

The trade union umbrella body is calling on the government to recognise the scale of the problem and to urgently develop a race equality strategy.

As part of an anti-discrimination drive announced on Sunday, David Cameron said universities in England would be forced to disclose the proportion of ethnic minority applicants who get places.

The prime minister said transparency would force top universities like Oxford to work harder to broaden their intake.

I think the fact racial discrimination is taking part in the amount of pay someone receives is terrible. Just because someone is white doesn't mean they'll work harder than any one else. But this is obviously down to the dominant ideology and who they think will do the best job. This topic this article surrounds is useful when talking about the representation of race. 

News Article 29

The Revenant storms to the top of the US Box Office

The Oscar nominated film, starring Leonardo DiCaprio, is about a frontiersman fighting for survival after being attacked by a bear. It took $16m (£11.2m) with Star Wars: The Force Awakens in second place with $14.3m (£10m).

Storm Jonas forced cinema closures in Washington DC and New York, while hundreds of others suspended showings.

Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst for box office firm Rentrak, said the storm had a limited effect. "It probably altered the box office 10 or 12 percent overall. This was never predestined to be an earth-shattering box office weekend anyway," he said.

The Revenant, directed by Alejandro G Inarritu, has taken $119.2m (£83.5m) in North America so far. It had a limited release on Christmas Day, followed by a wide release on 8 January.

JJ Abrams' The Force Awakens has made $1.94bn globally to date and is likely to cross the $2bn (£1.36bn) mark over the next week.

Last week's number one, Kevin Hart and Ice Cube comedy Ride Along 2, dropped to third with $13m (£9.1m).

Rounding out the top five were two new entries, comedy Dirty Grandpa and The Boy, about an American nanny who finds her English family's boy is a life-sized doll.

Next week's new releases include thriller The Finest Hours starring Chris Pine, Holliday Grainger and Casey Affleck, and Kung Fu Panda 3.

US box office top five

1. The Revenant - $16m (£11.21m)

2. Star Wars: The Force Awakens - $14.3m (£10.02m)

3. Ride Along 2 - $13m (£9.1m)

4. Dirty Grandpa - $11.5m (£8.06m)

5. The Boy - $11.3m (£7.9m)

News Article 28

Muslim women's segregation in UK communities must end – Cameron

"More assertive" action is needed to tackle discrimination against Muslim women and their segregation in some UK communities, David Cameron has said.

A review will be conducted of Sharia councils operating in Britain and £20m spent on language classes for the 22% of Muslim women in England said to speak little or no English.

The prime minister said the moves could help combat radicalisation. But some Muslims have questioned the link between language and extremism.

Writing in the Times, Mr Cameron said the lack of integration within British society of some Muslim communities had helped to foster extremism and allow "appalling practices" such as female genital mutilation and forced marriage.

"Last week, I chaired a meeting of a group of brilliant Muslim women role models. And while I heard great examples of so many women who are flourishing in our country, some painted an alarming picture of forced gender segregation, discrimination and social isolation from mainstream British life," he said.

Mr Cameron said it was time to be "more assertive about our liberal values, more clear about the expectations we place on those who come to live here and build our country together and more creative and generous in the work we do to break down barriers".

"This is Britain. In this country, women and girls are free to choose how they live," he said.

W.O.W - Who Own's What

Disney

The Walt Disney Company commonly known as Disney is a multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate. It is the world's second largest media conglomerate in terms of revenue. Disney was founded on October 16th, 1923 by Walt Disney and Roy O. Disney at the Disney brothers cartoon studio.

According to Investopedia.com these are the top  companies Disney owns that are well known around the world.

Disney/ABC Television group

Disney/ABC Television Group operates Disney's broadcast television, cable television and radio businesses. Its broadcast TV businesses include ABC Studios, ABC News and the ABC Television Network, which combine to deliver programming to more than 200 local TV affiliates across the country. Disney/ABC Television Group also operates eight local television stations in some of the country's biggest media markets. 

ESPN Inc.

ESPN is a sports media and entertainment company with eight cable networks in the U.S. and another 16 TV networks abroad. Disney holds a controlling 80% stake in ESPN, while Hearst Corporation owns 20%. 

Lucasfilm Ltd. LLC

Lucasfilm is a film production company best known for producing the Star Wars series, one of the biggest-grossing film franchises in history. Disney acquired Lucasfilm in 2012. Its subsidiary media and production businesses include Industrial Light and Magic, Skywalker Sound, and Lucas Licensing.

Marvel Entertaiment. LLC

Marvel Entertainment is a media and entertainment company with operations in publishing, television and film. Marvel is best known for its catalog of fictional characters, including Spider-Man, Captain America and the X-Men. Disney acquired Marvel and the rights to its more than 5,000 characters in 2009. 

SONY

Sony Corporation commonly referred to as Sony is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation. The company is one of the leading manufacturers of electronic products for the consumer and professional markets. 

Sony's website states: 

At Sony, our mission is to be a company that inspires and fulfills your curiosity.

Our unlimited passion for technology, content and services,

and relentless pursuit of innovation, drives us to deliver

ground-breaking new excitement and entertainment in ways that only Sony can.

Creating unique new cultures and experiences.

Everything we do, is to move you emotionally.

BE MOVED

Electronics 

Sony's electronics produce everything from batteries and televisions to music players and professional video/audio equipment.

Video Games

Sony owns Sony Computer entertainment, a distinct part of it electronic business. Sony Computer Entertainment produces the popular playstation consoles.

Film and Television Production

Sony owns Sony Pictures Entertainment, which includes the Columbia Pictures, Screen Gems and TriStar Pictures Marquees. Sony Pictures also has a large television production and distribution business. Sony also owns 20% of MGM Studios.

Music Production

Sony is the sole shareholder of the major label Sony Music. This was assembeled from Sony's acquisition of colombia Musi from CBS in the 1980's as well as a merger with BMG music in 2004.

Financial services 

Sony owns Sony Financial Holdings as a company for its financial service businesses in Japan. The company owns and operates Sony Life Insurance and Sony Bank.

Joint Ventures

Sony owns 50% of cellular phone joint venture Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications AB with Swedish telecommunications manafaturer Ericsson. Sony also owns 50% minus one share of S-LCD, a joint venture with Samsung Electronics.

News Article 27

David Bowie Dies of Cancer aged 69

His son, film director Duncan Jones, confirmed the news and a statement was issued on his social media accounts. 

"David Bowie died peacefully today surrounded by his family after a courageous 18-month battle with cancer," it said.

"While many of you will share in this loss, we ask that you respect the family's privacy during their time of grief."

His hits include Let's Dance, Space Oddity, Starman, Modern Love, Heroes, Under Pressure, Rebel, Rebel and Life on Mars. He was also well known for creating his flamboyant alter ego Ziggy Stardust.

The singer only released his latest album Blackstar on his birthday on Friday. The album, which includes just seven songs, has been well received by critics. Tributes have been paid to Bowie from across the world of entertainment.

Brian Eno, who collaborated with Bowie on his albums Low and Heroes, said: "Words cannot express... rest in peace David Bowie".

Rapper Kanye West said: "David Bowie was one of my most important inspirations, so fearless, so creative, he gave us magic for a lifetime."

Comedian and actor Ricky Gervais, who convinced Bowie to star as himself and ridicule Gervais in an episode of 2006 sitcom Extras, wrote simply: "I just lost a hero. RIP David Bowie."

Comedian and writer Eddie Izzard said: "Very sad to hear about the death of David Bowie but through his music he will live forever."

Bowie collaborator Rick Wakeman wrote on Twitter: "As I'm sure you can imagine I'm gutted hearing of David's passing. He was the biggest influence & encouragement I could ever have wished for."