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AT&T Inc is no longer an official sponsor of Fox's "American Idol," as the pioneer singing competition's declining viewership appears to be making it less attractive to advertisers. _0"> The Fox broadcast TV network confirmed the end of AT&T's sponsorship on Wednesday prior to the premiere episode of the show's 13th season. AT&T could not be immediately reached for comment outside regular U.S. business hours. Coke and Ford also sponsor the show. "Idol" erupted in 2001 as a broadcast TV powerhouse with the biting commentary of one of its original judges, Simon Cowell. Last season, tension between judges Mariah Carey and Nicki Minaj made headlines, taking attention away from the talent. According to Nielsen data provided by Horizon Media, the average audience size for "Idol" dropped by 9.9 million viewers over the past three seasons, from 23.1 million in 2011 to 13.2 million last year. Kevin Reilly, chairman of ent

"Star Wars" creator Lucasfilm formally expanded its creative universe on Thursday by launching its visual effects and animation hub in Singapore that works on Hollywood blockbusters and bolsters marketing efforts in fast-growing Asia. "May the Force be with you," Lee Hsien Loong, the prime minister of the Southeast Asian city-state, said in a speech at the glass-enclosed and horseshoe-shaped "Sandcrawler" building. Lucasfilm Ltd, bought by Walt Disney Co in 2012 for more than $4 billion, opened a small studio in 2005 in another part of Singapore but has built up the size and skills of the team into a staff of 400 at the new headquarters. "This is a very robust operation that is comparable to exactly what we're doing in San Francisco or Vancouver," Kathleen Kennedy, the president of Lucasfilm and a producer of more than 60 films, told reporters before the launch. "Many of the top-end movies that are being made in the next 18 months

Having an unusual personality structure could be the secret to making other people laugh, scientists said on Thursday after research showed that comedians have high levels of psychotic personality traits. In a study in the British Journal of Psychiatry, researchers analyzed comedians from Australia , Britain and the United States and found they scored significantly higher on four types of psychotic characteristics compared to a control group of people who had non-creative jobs. The traits included a tendency towards impulsive or anti-social behavior, and a tendency to avoid intimacy. "The creative elements needed to produce humor are strikingly similar to those characterizing the cognitive style of people with psychosis - both schizophrenia and bipolar disorder," said Gordon Claridge of the University of Oxford's department of experimental psychology, who led the study. Although the traits in question are known as "psychotic", Claridge said, they can also

Portrayals of the difficulties of family life in Tokyo around World War Two and in Texas in the 21st century lend a domestic tone to the Berlin Film Festival's competition this year. The uncut "Nymphomaniac" by Denmark's Lars von Trier and George Clooney's topical "The Monuments Men", about art looted by the Nazis, will probably grab more attention - for different reasons - but both are being screened out of competition. The line-up for the Golden Bear and other prizes is short on current Hollywood "A-listers" but rich in global variety. The 23 films in competition come from 20 countries, including multiple entries from places as far apart as China and Argentina . Twenty of those 23 will compete for the "Golden Bear" which will be presented on February 15, while 18 are world premieres. Alain Resnais, director of classics such as "Hiroshima mon amour" of 1959 and "Last Year at Marienbad" in 1961, will enter th

Three films - "American Hustle," "Gravity" and "12 Years a Slave' - cemented their frontrunner status for the Oscars on Thursday in what is shaping up to be a highly competitive year for Hollywood's top honors. Director David O. Russell's 1970s con-men caper "American Hustle" and Alfonso Cuaron's space thriller "Gravity" each won 10 Academy Award nominations, while Steve McQueen's brutal depiction of slavery in "12 Years a Slave" secured nine. All three films garnered nods for best picture and best director. "This has been an amazing ride, and to receive nine nominations from the Academy is testament to all of the hard work," said McQueen, a British filmmaker who unearthed the real-life American story about a free man sold into slavery. But in a year hailed as one of high quality for the Hollywood industry, several other films could challenge the favorites in the race for the world's top film

"Dallas Buyers Club" is a film that prompts a discussion about money - not big Hollywood money, but rather the lack thereof. The scrappiest of the nine films nominated for a best picture Oscar on Thursday cost just $4 million to make - a speck on a Hollywood studio spreadsheet - and 25 days to film. But the real-life story of an unlikely activist in the fight against AIDS drew big talent, like Matthew McConaughey who plays the lead role of Ron Woodroof, Jared Leto as his transsexual side-kick, Rayon, and up-and-coming Canadian director Jean-Marc Vallee. Co-producer Robbie Brenner, after earning her first Oscar nomination with the best picture nod, remembered how they were handicapped by the lack of money. "When we told Jean-Marc that he was going to have less days, he said 'I am going to get rid of the lights, I am going to shoot the movie without lights,'" she told Reuters after what she called "tears and screams" upon hearing Thursday's

Voters in Florida were still waiting to cast their ballots more than six hours after polls closed on Election Day, registered voters in Ohio were told they were not on voter rolls and new voter ID laws in Pennsylvania led to confusion at voting places. Election Day problems have become commonplace in the United States in recent general elections. But a comment by President Barack Obama offered a glimmer of hope that problems that have dogged voting for years might finally be addressed. In his election victory speech, made while some people still waited in line to cast ballots in Florida six hours after polls closed, Obama took a moment to point out that he was aware of problems with the electoral system. "I want to thank every American who participated in this election, whether you voted for the very first time, or waited in line for a very long time," Obama said in Chicago. "By the way, we have to fix that." That heartened supporters of election reform, who h

The chairman of Florida's Democratic Party congratulated President Barack Obama on Thursday on winning the battleground state on Tuesday, while blasting the state's Republican governor for his handling of the election. _0"> "On behalf of Florida Democrats, I wish President Barack Obama congratulations on his re-election and on winning Florida's 29 electoral votes," said Rod Smith in a statement posted on the party's website. Vote counting in Florida continued on Thursday, with Obama holding a narrow 58,000 vote lead that Republican challenger Mitt Romney appeared unlikely to overturn. If Obama's victory is confirmed, the Florida result would give the president 332 electoral college votes and 206 for Romney. The Republican Party in Florida has yet to officially concede the race, though one party strategist was quoted by The Miami Herald accepting defeat. Said Smith: "It is appalling that two days after the election, Florida was not able

Political watchdog and secularist groups are asking the U.S. government to investigate whether Catholic bishops and a Christian evangelical group headed by preacher Billy Graham should lose tax breaks for telling followers how to vote in this year's election. Under constitutional protections of free speech and separation of church and state, churches are free to speak on any issue. But they risk losing tax breaks worth $145 billion in the past decade if they violate Internal Revenue Service rules by promoting or opposing any particular candidate. Other non-profits also have special tax status. Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, a political watchdog group, in its complaint to the U.S. Internal Revenue Service, cited reports of individual bishops "abusing their positions to advocate against the election of President Barack Obama." The group's executive director, Melanie Sloan, said some bishops went too far by saying a vote for Democrats would me

Bain Capital LLC, the private equity firm co-founded by defeated presidential candidate Mitt Romney, thanked its investors on Thursday for their support and patience over the last year as it confronted "political hyperbole and distortion." Romney's bid for the White House led to a broad political attack on the private equity industry, which was accused of raiding companies and cutting jobs at a time of high unemployment and growing income inequality. "We are emerging from this unusual period in our firm's history as strong as ever, and with renewed conviction about how we add value to the marketplace and society as a whole," Bain's managing directors wrote in a letter to investors, which was first reported on by the Boston Globe and a copy of which was obtained by Reuters. Bain became the object of political and media scrutiny after Romney cited his tenure as head of the firm - between 1984 and 1999 - as evidence that he is a good economic manager t

Nate Silver is an oxymoron come to life: the famous statistician. After successfully calling the Electoral College results in all 50 states ahead of the U.S. presidential election, Silver, the man behind the popular FiveThirtyEight blog, has quickly become a symbol of the new power of data in politics. Television pundits across the political spectrum praised his accuracy on the night of the election. His book, "The Signal and the Noise," about the science of prediction, shot up to number two on Amazon.com. Silver spoke with Reuters Thursday evening. Here is an edited and condensed version of the conversation. Q: Some of the more established polls this year had some of the worst results. Why do you think that was? A: I think pollsters have to get back to the basics here. Do you have a poll that is actually calling everyone? Some of the polls that didn't include cellphones had bad years and that's what you would expect. If you aren't taking a representative s

President Barack Obama had little time to savor victory on Wednesday after voters gave him a second term in the White House where he faces urgent economic challenges, a looming fiscal showdown and a still-divided Congress able to block his every move. Despite a decisive win over Republican Mitt Romney in Tuesday's election, Obama must negotiate with a Republican majority in the House of Representatives to try to overcome the partisan gridlock that gripped Washington for much of his first term. The Democratic president's most immediate concern is the "fiscal cliff" of scheduled tax increases and spending cuts that could crush the U.S. economic recovery if it kicks in at the start of next year. The prospect of Obama and Congress struggling to agree on the issue weighed heavily on global financial markets on Wednesday and helped send Wall Street stocks into a post-election swoon. Obama also faces challenges abroad including the West's nuclear standoff with Iran

Top Republican lawmaker John Boehner said on Thursday he would not make it his mission to repeal the Obama administration's healthcare reform law following the re-election of President Barack Obama. _0"> "The election changes that," Boehner, speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, told ABC news anchor Diane Sawyer when asked if repealing the law was "still your mission." "It's pretty clear that the president was re-elected," Boehner added. "Obamacare is the law of the land." Under Boehner's leadership, the House tried repeatedly to repeal the healthcare law, the signature domestic measure of Obama's first term. While a few provisions were eliminated or changed, Senate Democrats blocked outright termination of the law. Boehner added that parts of the law were going to be difficult to implement and that everything had to be on the table as lawmakers try to create a path to a balanced budget. A spokesman for Boeh

Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell set two top goals for the 2012 election: a Republican takeover of the Senate and the defeat of President Barack Obama. He achieved neither. Starting in January, he will be up against a president he tried and failed to bring down, with a Senate minority weaker by two. "We all had a bad day," said Josh Holmes, chief of staff of McConnell's personal Senate office. While there is no sign of any immediate threat to his job as minority leader, McConnell is facing intensified criticism from the right, which has seen him for some time as too "establishment." McConnell blocked much of Obama's agenda the past two years, including his call to increase taxes on the wealthiest Americans. But some conservatives complained that he was not sufficiently hardline. They were outraged, for example, when he compromised with Obama and agreed to increase the debt limit in 2011 and extend a payroll tax cut. McConnell is also looking

A measure of global equity markets edged lower on Thursday, weighed by a decline on Wall Street following a slew of corporate earnings, while the dollar fell against rival currencies although the dip was viewed as temporary. On Wall Street, the S&P 500 pulled back from record levels following a round of disappointing earnings as financial stocks led the way lower. After a lackluster start to the new year on concerns stock valuations may be over-extended, the S&P 500 had rallied 1.6 percent in the prior two sessions to set its first record high since Dec. 31. "We've made a nice run and the market is entitled to consolidate and use sort of a 'wait-and-see' attitude as far as earnings are concerned," said Terry Morris, senior equity manager for National Penn Investors Trust Company in Reading, Pennsylvania. The MSCI all-country world index was down 0.1 percent at 406.65. The dollar fell against the euro and the yen, pressured by a data showing a jump

Time Warner Inc will relocate its Manhattan corporate headquarters to the Hudson Yards development from Columbus Circle in a move to bring operations under one roof and cut costs, the company said on Thursday. _0"> The media conglomerate that includes HBO and Warner Bros said it sold the space it owns in the Time Warner Center at Columbus Circle for $1.3 billion to real estate company Related Companies, an entity owned by the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) and fund management company GIC. Time Warner will lease the office space at Columbus Circle until early 2019. Additionally, the media company made an undisclosed financial commitment to Related Companies and Oxford Properties Group, the developers behind the Hudson Yards, to relocate all of its divisions including HBO and CNN to the west side of Manhattan. "By consolidating our space to Hudson Yards ... we will be able to reallocate substantial savings to our primary business," Jeff Bewkes, chief executi

Britain said on Thursday it will pay France's Veolia Environnement to incinerate 150 tonnes of Syrian poison gas precursors in northern England, the first deal for a private firm to help destroy Syria's chemical arms programme in the UK. Facing the threat of U.S. air strikes, the government of Bashar al-Assad last year promised to dismantle its chemical arsenal, telling the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) it had 1,300 tonnes of such weapons. Foreign powers have scrambled to find countries to destroy the chemicals. The most toxic are first to be processed on board a U.S. ship. Less dangerous precursor chemicals are to be destroyed commercially at industrial facilities. Britain agreed in December to destroy part of Syria's chemical weapons stockpile and to escort Scandinavian ships transporting the toxic cargo. The industrial-grade chemicals, which are of the type used routinely in the pharmaceutical industry, will be processed at Veolia's

Johnson & Johnson said on Thursday it would sell its ortho clinical diagnostics unit to buyout firm Carlyle Group LP for $4.15 billion, shedding a slow-growing business to focus on more lucrative products. A major deal in the private equity world, the sale is small change for J&J, which has a market value of $267 billion and assets spanning pharmaceuticals, medical devices and consumer products. Analysts said the move highlighted J&J's determination not to waste resources on unloved divisions. "Now with this divestiture nearly complete, we're inclined to believe (J&J) will continue to strategically prune its business segments and use the proceeds to return cash to shareholders or invest in higher-growth assets," Leerink analyst Danielle Antalffy wrote in a note. J&J's diabetes business, which includes LifeScan blood glucose meters and Animas pumps, could be the next business to go, given slowing sales growth and weak margins, Antalffy said.

Mexican low-cost airline VivaAerobus filed a prospectus on Thursday to list shares on Mexico's stock exchange for the first time. _0"> The Monterrey-based group launched in 2006 and is a venture of Mexican transport company Grupo IAMSA and the family behind the Irish low-cost airline Ryanair. Vivaaerobus gave no details on when it hoped to offer the shares nor how many it would sell. The airline in October said it had ordered 52 Airbus A320-family jets worth $5.1 billion. Barclays, Banorte and HSBC are co-bookrunners on the deal.

The Bank of England discussed with top London currency dealers their process for setting foreign exchange rates more than a year before a global investigation into alleged manipulation, according to a document provided to Reuters by the bank. The document, supplied in response to a freedom of information request for details of a meeting on April 23, 2012 of the chief dealers subgroup of the London Foreign Exchange Joint Standing Committee, said there was a brief discussion of "processes around fixes" - referring to the daily setting of benchmark exchange rates - and "extra levels of compliance". Two sources with knowledge of the meeting said the traders told the BoE about online chatroom use in the run-up to the daily rate-setting. It was not clear how much detail of this the traders provided at the meeting. The subgroup, set up for banks and brokers to discuss broad currency market issues, met at the London offices of French bank BNP Paribas. The time lag betw

A U.S. bankruptcy judge on Thursday rejected a deal for Detroit to end costly interest-rate swap agreements with two investment banks, potentially eliminating a source of cash for the bankrupt city. _0"> Ending the swaps with UBS AG and Bank of America Corp's Merrill Lynch Capital Services for $165 million - a 43 percent discount - was a key component of Detroit emergency manager Kevyn Orr's plan to adjust the cash-strapped city's finances through the municipal bankruptcy process. Judge Steven Rhodes, who is overseeing the city's historic bankruptcy case, said Detroit was likely to succeed with some potential challenges to the validity of the swaps, which were used to hedge interest-rate risk for some of the $1.4 billion of pension debt the city sold in 2005 and 2006. He also said the $165 million payment to end the swaps was "too high a price to pay." Rhodes denied Detroit's plan to finance the swap termination through a $285 million loan wi

Canada bluntly told the United States on Thursday to settle the fate of TransCanada Corp's proposed Keystone XL pipeline, saying the drawn-out process on whether to approve the northern leg of the project was taking too long. The hard-line comments by Foreign Minister John Baird were the clearest sign yet that Canada's Conservative government has lost patience over what it sees as U.S. foot-dragging. Baird also conceded that Washington might veto the project, the first admission of its kind by a Canadian government minister. The 1,200-mile (1,930-km) pipeline would carry 830,000 barrels a day from the Alberta tar sands in western Canada to the U.S. Gulf Coast. Ottawa strongly backs Keystone XL, which it says would create jobs and provide a secure supply of oil to Canada's closest ally and trading partner. "The time for Keystone is now. I'll go further - the time for a decision on Keystone is now, even if it's not the right one. We can't continue in th

China's regulators launched probes into skincare products maker Nu Skin Enterprises Inc after local media questioned the U.S. company's business practices, dragging down shares of several retailers that use similar distribution models. Nu Skin shares shed a third of their market value by Thursday afternoon. Shares of nutritional supplements maker Herbalife Ltd fell 10 percent, while those of USANA Health Sciences were down 12 percent. Earlier Thursday, the Xinhua news agency said the State Administration for Industry and Commerce (SAIC) ordered local authorities to investigate a report in Communist Party mouthpiece, the People's Daily, alleging Nu Skin had been exaggerating its influence and creditworthiness in brochures and organizing "brainwashing" gatherings. Short sellers and other critics have accused companies such as Herbalife, USANA and Nu Skin of running illegal pyramid-type schemes, questioning their distribution model where distributors make money

The U.S. government sent a confidential, 16-page technical bulletin to retailers and other merchants on Thursday that describes the malicious software and techniques used to attack Target Corp late last year. _0"> The report provides steps to identify the malicious software used by criminal hackers that went undetected by anti-virus software when it infected Target's network, according to Tiffany Jones, a senior vice president with the security intelligence firm iSIGHT Partners, which helped draft the document. "This report was generated so that we could get it into the hands of commercial entities so that they had information they needed to protect themselves," she told Reuters in an interview.

The Dow and S&P 500 dipped on Thursday, led by financial shares after a round of disappointing earnings from the sector. The S&P 500 pulled back from record levels and was nearly flat for the week. Financials were the biggest drag on the market after both Citigroup Inc and Goldman Sachs Group Inc reported quarterly profits hit by lower bond trading revenue, with Goldman's earnings falling 21 percent and Citigroup's missing expectations. The results followed fairly positive reads on the sector from JPMorgan Chase & Co, Bank of America Corp and Wells Fargo & Co. Goldman's stock slid 2.1 percent to $175.06, one of the Dow's biggest decliners, while Citigroup dropped 4.1 percent to $52.75. The S&P financial sector index fell 0.7 percent, making it the biggest loser among the S&P 500 sectors. Given last year's 30-percent gain for the S&P 500, the market doesn't need much of a catalyst for selling, said Uri Landesman, president of Pl

Suvretta Capital Management, founded by a former portfolio manager for billionaire investors George Soros and Steven A. Cohen, told clients on Thursday that its bet against shares of J.C. Penney Company Inc. helped contribute to solid returns in the last two years. "On the short side, we have now generated profits three times (generating a total return of approximately 130 percent) in the past two years with our J.C. Penney positions," Suvretta Chief Investment Officer Aaron Cowen said in a client letter obtained by Reuters. Cowen, who was a former portfolio manager for Soros Fund Management and SAC Capital Advisors, said his $700 million-plus Suvretta Capital Management generated net returns of 8.9 percent for the fourth quarter and net returns of 26.3 percent for 2013. Soros Fund Management, which invests about $20 billion on his and his family's behalf, announced a large stake in J.C. Penney shares in early 2013 and began adding to its exposure as the year went on

ProsiebenSat.1 shareholders KKR and Permira will sell on the open market the remaining 17 percent stake they hold jointly in the German broadcaster, completing a gradual exit. The two buyout firms will place the 36.3 million shares they own in ProSiebenSat.1 - worth 1.27 billion euros ($1.73 billion) at Thursday's closing price - in an accelerated bookbuilding process with institutional investors that will start immediately, KKR said in a statement late on Thursday. "The share sale is the logical last step in the exit of the former majority owners, which invested in the media company in 2006," KKR said in the statement. KKR and Permira at the time bought a controlling stake in ProSiebenSat.1 and merged it with SBS Broadcasting, a media group they had acquired a year earlier. Since then they have been disposing of their investment in stages. The shares have advanced 47 percent over the last 12 months, outperforming the 41 percent gain in the STOXX Europe 600 Media in

RCS Capital Corp on Thursday announced it would buy independent broker-dealer Cetera Financial Group from private equity firm Lightyear Capital LLC for about $1.15 billion in cash to expand its retail brokerage business. New York-based Lightyear Capital, which is run by former Paine Webber Group Inc Chief Executive Officer Donald Marron, created Cetera in 2010 when it acquired three ING broker-dealers. Over the years, Lightyear has continued to build Cetera through acquisitions. Just last year, it acquired two brokerage firms from MetLife Inc. Today the firm provides broker-dealer and advisory services to about 6,500 independent financial professionals as well as financial institutions. RCS, which has been an aggressive acquirer over the past few months, approached Lightyear several times last year about buying Cetera, Marron said. But it was not until right before Christmas that Lightyear took the offer seriously, he said. "They said Cetera's management would remain as

"Dallas Buyers Club" is a film that prompts a discussion about money - not big Hollywood money, but rather the lack thereof. The scrappiest of the nine films nominated for a best picture Oscar on Thursday cost just $4 million to make - a speck on a Hollywood studio spreadsheet - and 25 days to film. But the real-life story of an unlikely activist in the fight against AIDS drew big talent, like Matthew McConaughey who plays the lead role of Ron Woodroof, Jared Leto as his transsexual side-kick, Rayon, and up-and-coming Canadian director Jean-Marc Vallee. Co-producer Robbie Brenner, after earning her first Oscar nomination with the best picture nod, remembered how they were handicapped by the lack of money. "When we told Jean-Marc that he was going to have less days, he said 'I am going to get rid of the lights, I am going to shoot the movie without lights,'" she told Reuters after what she called "tears and screams" upon hearing Thursday's

T-Mobile US Chief Executive John Legere appeared to go back on his own words on Thursday with the announcement of a plan to sponsor a concert by rapper Macklemore & Ryan Lewis. _0"> T-Mobile announced the Jan. 23 concert in Los Angeles just over a week after Legere said he was kicked out of a Macklemore concert hosted in Las Vegas by archrival AT&T Inc after he had crashed the event. The companies are in a full-scale battle to steal each other's customers after No. 2 U.S. mobile service AT&T on Jan. 3 offered to pay T-Mobile customers who switch to AT&T from the smaller carrier following months of direct marketing attacks from T-Mobile. Legere had said at his own company's press conference on Jan. 8 that T-Mobile would focus on giving his customers a better deal rather than charging more so it could afford to hold expensive high-profile events, like Macklemore concerts. "We didn't have a big concert with Macklemore the other night. I had t