IF you were told that there is a custom among us that is suspect in its origins, inequitable in its application and unsound in its philosophy - and yet, for all that, acquiesced in with hardly a murmur -could you name it? Could your mind sift through the haystack of practices that only pretend to such distinction (the cocktail hour? the income tax? the expense account lunch? the Presidential primary?) and find the needle I have in mind? Could you, in other words, come up with the villain of this piece, the usage that for half the year tyrannizes us like a king with no clothes on?

Of course you could. It is daylight-saving time. And since we once again must bow to its yoke this weekend, what better occasion to challenge its claims?

First, as to its suspect origins. Like all usurpers it hides its lack of natural right to rule under a myth of divine birth. Ask any schoolchild. Daylight time, you will be assured, sprang fully formed like Venus from the brow of Benjamin Franklin. Pure buncombe, of course, but a triumph of fiction over fact nevertheless. Franklin did indeed advance the idea, but in a piece of whimsy written 132 years before the country grew humorless enough to take him seriously.

Historically its true origin is demonic, not divine. Its adoption was first advocated by entrepreneurs who realized that if you could con people into thinking the sun was shining an hour longer, you might very well get another 60 minutes' worth of haymaking out of them. And it was actually instituted in wartime - to increase the production of things designed to stop people from making hay altogether (for the record the dates are Germany 1915, England 1916, the United States 1917).

My personal disenchantment derives from the second of my charges - namely, that in practice daylight time results in inequities. For one thing, the daylight it purports to save is all in the evening. For another, the dates at which it undertakes to begin and end this selective rescue (late April and October) serve only to skew things even more. And for the last, rather than making the summer more bearable, it obtrudes the sun's heat on the very part of the day that needs it least. Let me illustrate these points in order.

Suppose for a moment that I am, as is the case, a confirmed morning person. And suppose further, as is not the case, that I actually subscribe to the notion that daylight can be saved by resetting clocks. Does that mean I must accept the present system quietly? It does not. For me it immediately raises the question why the savings are not deposited at the beginning of the day rather than at the end. Why not to the larks' account rather than the owls'?

I am aware, of course, that owls run the world and don't care whose ox is gored as long as it's not theirs. I am also aware that their principal argument for saving daylight in the evening is that if we didn't, the sun in solstice would rise at the, to them, monstrous hour of 4:15. Accordingly, since the best defense against such people is to be as offensive as they are, I propose a new system. Set the clocks back instead of forward in the spring and frighten them with an even bigger hobgoblin: sunrise at 3:15.

Note the excellences of this proposal. First, it is quite natural. Somewhere north of here the summer sun already rises at that time (indeed, to the north of there it never even sets). What is truly monstrous is not the dawn's early light but the darkness of minds that presume to judge the whole of nature by what happens only south of Armonk.

More to the point, though, a morning daylight-saving system would actually improve summer evenings. Consider for a moment what we call the ''heat of the day'' - the hours, four in all, bracketing the sun's transit of the meridian. In reality, of course, no amount of clock changing can make a degree's difference in their oppressiveness; the best we can hope for is to put supper as far away from them as possible. But what does the present system do? It drags the heat out till 3 P.M. so that no one wants even to look at food till 8. And what does that in turn do? It leads us to ply ourselves with cucumbers and gin in an effort to kill time - only to end up killing appetites and brain cells instead. No. Far better to set the clocks back. That way the heat is off at 1 P.M. and we can dine at 6, hungry, cool and sober all at once.

It is not only summer evenings that would benefit. If my proposal was left in force all year (the French, for example, already do as much with the present system), winter mornings would be better too. I am not only a lark but a runner. Put them both together and you have a creature who is on the road at 6 A.M. so he can be showered, clothed and in his right mind to begin the day at 8. What, though, do I now find forced upon me instead? Miserable mornings, that's what.

In winter the early jogger's greatest need is for light and heat. Accordingly, since both are functions of how long the sun has been up, it's obvious that any sensible system of resetting the clocks should be designed to have it rise as early as possible. But is that the case now? It certainly is not. In winter solstice the sun rises at 7:20 or so, standard time. To keep to my 6 @o'clock starting hour, therefore, I would have to run two miles in pitch darkness and the whole distance in bitter cold: break a leg, freeze to death or both. Putting the sunrise back to 6:20 would get me out in twilight and back in sunlight - and with rather better odds on my survival.

On the other hand, if for some reason I could not have morning daylight-saving time all year, I would at least put the changing of the clocks at the equinoxes and not, as we do now, a month later. Consider once again. At the end of April, sunrise comes at about the same time it does in mid-August; at the end of October it occurs when it does in February. To a morning person that is not just asymmetry; it is cruel and unusual punishment, especially in the weeks before the autumn change. The October sun rises so late it might as well be Christmas. Seeing December once is quite sufficient. Who needs a preview?

But enough. Mindless systems invite mindless implementation. Since my morning daylight-saving time would probably fare no better, I take it back and withdraw to higher ground.

I had a satori, or illumination, recently. While struggling to recall the unmemorable mnemonic (spring ahead, fall back? spring back, fall forward?), it suddenly dawned on me that whichever it was, its meaning was the reverse of what it seemed. The maxim was not a piece of advice about which way to turn the clocks; rather it was a warning against any turning of them at all. Like ''spare the rod, spoil the child,'' it was a double imperative stating a condition that implied a negative. ''If you set the clocks ahead in the spring,'' it said in effect, ''you will just have to put them back in the fall, so'' - and this is its real point - ''don't get all solemn about what's only a game with clocks.''

I like that. We take clocks too seriously as it is; who needs to credit them with the power to create or destroy even an hour? Only we have that. The crucial periods of our lives - the high times, the due seasons, the decisive conjunctions in which time is really gained or lost, redeemed or killed -are creatures of no clock. They come to us not because metal hands impose them but because we ourselves seize them - because finally, instead of waiting to be told what time it is, we dare to decide what it's time for.

I like that even more. Who knows? Maybe this weekend I'll even leave one clock unchanged just so I don't forget.


WASHINGTON, March 21— President Reagan's five-year plan to expand the nation's armed forces has come under increasing attack not only from those who consider it too costly but also from critics who say the Administration has failed to justify the military need for its large budget.

The criticism has come from Democrats and Republicans in Congress and from specialists in military matters outside the Government who span the political spectrum. Their arguments have complicated the Administration's attempts to justify sharp rises in military spending when the Federal Government is facing a $91.5 billion deficit for the fiscal year 1983.

The prevailing view in Congress is that the 1983 military budget, proposed at $216 billion, will almost certainly be cut, with the only questions being what will be reduced and by how much.

The Administration, however, is not without influential allies. Senator John Tower, the Texas Republican who is chairman of the Armed Services Committee, has warned of the dangers from Soviet military power as he has argued vigorously for the proposed military spending increases. He told the Senate Budget Committee last week that ''no Senator can separate himself from the foreign policy consequences of defense budget reductions.''

Similarly, Representative Jack F. Kemp, Republican of upstate New York, has solidly backed the Administration's military program.Most of the critics do not dispute the Administration's argument that the United States is endangered by the expansion of Soviet military power. But they say the Administration has not identified the particular national interests that are jeopardized, devised a strategy to protect those interests or specified the forces and weapons needed to meet the threat.

The Administration, they contend, has thus not made the connection between the Soviet threat and the need for additional military spending. Critic Sees No Global Strategy

Representative James R. Jones, Democrat of Oklahoma, who is chairman of the Budget Committee, has contended that the Administration has not related plans for military forces to worldwide commitments.

A leading conservative commentator, Walter Laqueur of the Center for Strategic and International Studies here, recently reviewed the Administration's first year and said that ''a strategy is not yet in sight, only occasional comments, gestures and reactions - sometimes conflicting, often inconsistent.''

Another military expert, Edward Luttwak, of the same research center, said that naval strategy consisted only of a list of ships to be built: ''None of this can tell us what we urgently need to know: How can the United States recover geunine naval supremacy, which is one of the premises of our entire world policy?''

A liberal Democrat, Representative Stephen J. Solarz of Brooklyn, said recently that the Administration had not justified spending large sums to refurbish the B-52 bomber fleet, build B-1 bombers and develop Stealth bombers.

Those comments appear to reflect a changed mood in Congress and across the nation. The New York Times/CBS News Poll published last week shows that a plurality of Americans would like to see the military budget reduced. A year ago, Congress applauded President Reagan's proposed increases in military spending. Today, many members of Congress argue that cuts in proposed military budgets are imperative, saying that the Administration has made neither an economic nor a strategic case for more weapons and troops. Weinberger in Rear-Guard Action

Confronted with those arguments, Secretary of Defense Caspar W. Weinberger has been fighting a rear-guard action in contrast to the enthusiastic campaign to ''re-arm America'' begun a year ago.

Mr. Weinberger has said that Soviet military power is expanding and warned, ''Anyone who believes the defense budget should be based on anything but the size and imminence of the threat we are all facing is pushing fallacious thought to the point of danger.''

He has said that the military budget must be a function of the threat and the need, not of the economy. So far, he has concentrated on general rather than specific arguments, maintaining that ''there is no cheap way to regain defensive strength, especially when you have to do it in a hurry and don't know how much time you have.''

While few disagree with Mr. Weinberger on the Soviet threat, many contend that the Administration's policy for meeting that threat is either too vague or is too ambitious and will unnecessarily tax economic resources.

The President proposed a year ago that the nation spend $1,600 billion over the next five years to overcome what Administration officials have called ''years of neglect.'' The goal of that program is for the United States to catch up, militarily, with the Soviet Union.

More important, the Administration's program was founded on a new strategy in which American military power would reach around the globe. The United States would be prepared to fight a protracted conventional war and might strike an adversary not where he attacked first but where it would be to this nation's advantage. The armed forces, moreover, were to prepare to meet levels of aggression from nuclear war through conventional conflict to terrorism.


More than three-quarters of Massachusetts residents who lost power during the blizzard that battered Massachusetts from Monday to Wednesday have had their electricity restored, and utilities say they’re making quick progress on the remainder.

Although the snowfall did less damage than expected, around 34,000 customers were without power statewide at one point on Tuesday. Shortly after noon on Wednesday, that number had fallen to 7,300, with around half that total on Nantucket.

Nantucket Police Chief William Pittman said Wedneday morning the restoration of electricity on the island is moving along a little faster than expected, considering that many had feared that power might not be restored until late this week or over the weekend.

As of 12:38 p.m. Wednesday, about 3,600 customers on the island still didn’t have power, out of 12,800 who lost electricity on Tuesday. By the end of Wednesday, officials are guardedly hoping the vast majority of homes and businesses will see their electricity back on, though Pittman emphasized “there are no guarantees.”

Some small areas across the island may have to wait longer for repairs to get done, such as at Brant Point, where flooding occurred and officials will need to inspect each individual home and building before power can be restored, Pittman said. Those and other scattered delays, which could last until the weekend, will impact scores of homes and businesses.

“It was pretty wicked,” Pittman said of Tuesday’s dramatic storm. “The snow was coming down sideways. You could hardly be outside. The snow would actually sting you.”

Pittman said one his officers described the storm on Nantucket as part snow blizzard, part hurricane, part ice storm, and part flood. “It was a little of everything,” he said.

National Grid, which serves the island and around 1.3 million customers statewide, said its total number of statewide outages didn’t rise above 14,000. Most of the damage on Nantucket was caused by ocean spray that washed over an electrical substation and froze.

“Yesterday afternoon we were able to get our substation operational again,” said Jake Navarro, a spokesman for National Grid, in a Wednesday e-mail. “We sent several dozen additional crews out to Nantucket on the first ferries this morning.”

NStar, the state’s second largest utility, said Wednesday morning that “most” customers would have their electricity restored by evening. As of 12:38 p.m., around 3,200 of its 1.1 million customers remained without power, the company said on its website. Most lived in the towns of Marshfield and Sandwich, while many others were located on Cape Cod.

Summary: The state’s largest utilities have said their work is mostly complete, but restoring power to all of Nantucket could take days.


The company also intends to use its healthy offerings to win new converts among non-Latino consumers, many of whom don't hold the same nostalgia for the brand that foreign- and native-born Hispanics may have.

"When you come to a different country and you're displaced ... you retain language, music and food. And food is so powerful because we reach the dinner table," Bob Unanue, Goya's president, told CNBC from the company's Jersey City headquarters. "We look for the best products and the products that strike home. It's very important for the way we do business."

Read MoreDon't underestimate the power of Hispanic shoppers

Goya has annual sales of at least $1 billion, according to published reports, which the company neither confirms nor denies because it is private, and more than 2,000 different product lines. That evolution is one that Unanue explains has tracked the wave of U.S. immigration over the last several decades. Approximately 54 million Hispanics lived in the U.S. as of July 2013, according to Census Bureau data, accounting for 17 percent of the population.

"We've followed that immigration with products that are familiar, that have good taste, that are nutritious, [and] mainly making the connection with the immigrant and their food," Unanue said.

Yet English-speaking consumers are very much part of the equation as well, he said—a shift away from the company's strategy when it was first founded in 1936 by Unanue's grandfather.

"Of course, we have fused into the general market and we've been advertising in the English language for many years," Unanue explained. "The reason we go in English is to not only reach the assimilated Hispanic but the general population as well."

Summary: As part of a broad global expansion, Goya Foods is aiming to keep a hold on the Hispanic food market while capturing the broader population.


★★★ Alleluia A stylish, cold, and explosive rendition of the career of the Lonely Hearts Killers of the ’40s, Belgian director Fabrice du Welz’s thriller is a merging of “Psycho” and “Bonnie and Clyde” ignited by uncompromising performances. Despite the precision, energy, and religious allusions, it doesn’t pierce the surface depravity. (90 min., unrated) (Peter Keough)

★ Dark Places Why is a thriller with Charlize Theron, Christina Hendricks of “Mad Men,” and young up-and-comers Nicholas Hoult, Tye Sheridan, and Chloe Grace Moretz being dumped into theaters like a body in the New Jersey Meadowlands? Your first guess would probably be that it’s just plain bad. Your first guess would be correct. (113 min., R) (Ty Burr)

★★★½ The End of the Tour Jason Segel in a career-changing (and very good) performance as the late novelist David Foster Wallace, on a book-tour road trip with a Rolling Stone journalist played by Jesse Eisenberg. A talky, touching portrait of an artist obsessed with getting to the reality behind words. Wallace would probably have hated it, but you don’t have to. (106 min., R) (Ty Burr)

★ Fantastic Four If the franchise’s handlers were set on rebooting — is it ever too soon? — they made a promising pick with director Josh Trank, whose found-footage “Chronicle” gave him credibility. But he and his writing team fixate on trying to manufacture a “Dark Knight”-trendy grounded tone that the family element gets lost. So does the colorfully adventuresome, time-to-save-the-world exhilaration. (100 min., PG-13) (Tom Russo)

★★★ The Gift Joel Edgerton has worked with great directors — Kathryn Bigelow in “Zero Dark Thirty” being one — and judging from this psychological thriller, his directorial debut, he was paying attention. He also stars as a visitor from the past of a high-powered executive (Jason Bateman), whose wife (Rebecca Hall) tries to figure out what others would prefer to forget. (100 min., R) (Peter Keough)

★★★½ Phoenix A heart-wrenching mashup of melodrama and coolly damning post-World War II drama: A disfigured concentration camp survivor (Nina Hoss) is given a new face and reconnects with her clueless rat of a husband (Ronald Zehrfeld). Christian Petzold (“Barbara”) directs with attention to the shifting nuances of identity, history, and national guilt. In German, with subtitles. (98 min., PG-13) (Ty Burr)

★★★½ Ricki and the Flash A lovely, messy human comedy from Jonathan Demme. Meryl Streep gets to indulge her hambone streak as a brassy rockergrrl called back to the family she abandoned long ago; Kevin Kline and Mamie Gummer (Streep’s daughter) underplay against the star beautifully. Think “Stella Dallas” remade by Jean Renoir. Written by Diablo Cody. (102 min., PG-13)(Ty Burr)

★★½ Samba In “The Intouchables,” French filmmakers Olivier Nakache and Eric Toledano tried to reduce racism to a master-slave bromance. Here they tackle xenophobia, with a spark flickering between an undocumented immigrant and a neurotic aid worker, but by the end it becomes clear that their real problem is with gender. (118 min., R) (Peter Keough)

★★★½ Shaun of the Sheep Aardman Studio’s stop-action animation draws on the classic elements of cinema — objects, motion, and sound. This fable about a restless sheep tired of the barnyard routine combines these basics into gags that provoke laughs even as it demonstrates the sad inevitability of becoming part of the flock. (84 min., PG) (Peter Keough)

Summary: Capsule reviews of new movies in area theaters.


In Act 2 of “Kinky Boots,’’ now at the Boston Opera House, a drag performer turned shoe designer named Lola declares: “Drag queens are mainstream.’’

Indeed, “Kinky Boots’’ itself is proof of that.

It could be seen as progress of a sort that a musical celebrating cross-dressing as a means of finding and forging identity feels so safe, so downright middle-of-the-road. “Kinky Boots’’ could frankly use a bit more edge.

What co-creators Harvey Fierstein (book) and Cyndi Lauper (music and lyrics) have crafted instead is a big-hearted, effervescent exercise in feel-good affirmation. Fierstein and Lauper evidently believe that (to paraphrase a certain pop song of yore) audiences just want to have fun — and on that score, it has to be said, “Kinky Boots’’ delivers.

The production doesn’t really hit its stride, though, until midway through Act 1, when Lola leads a rip-roaring rendition of “Sex Is in the Heel.’’ As “Kinky Boots’’ moves forward, the lack of a truly hissable villain or a real nail-biter of a crisis robs it of the necessary friction that comes with genuine dramatic tension; conflicts are too quickly ironed out, and the next uplifting message is never long in coming.

Boston Opera House, through Aug. 30, 800-982-2787. www.broadwayinboston.com

Directed and choreographed by Jerry Mitchell, the production at the Opera House is a touring version of the original, which is still running on Broadway, where it won a bunch of Tony Awards in 2013, including best musical, best original score (making Lauper the first woman to win solo in that category), and best lead actor in a musical for Billy Porter’s bravura portrayal of Lola.

Kyle Taylor Parker ably fills Porter’s stiletto heels in the touring production, endowing Lola with the necessary swagger and charisma, leavened with vulnerability, particularly in Parker’s powerful, showstopping performance of “Hold Me In Your Heart,’’ sung to Lola’s elderly and ailing father.

From a bland start Steven Booth steadily comes into his own as Charlie Price, who forges an unlikely alliance and friendship with Lola after Charlie’s father dies and leaves him the family shoe company, Price & Son. Faced with a shrinking customer base, Price & Son is struggling, jeopardizing the jobs of workers who have spent their lives there. (Contrary to the usual streamlined, aerodynamic body types on display in a glossy musical like this, the ensemble of “Kinky Boots’’ could actually pass for factory workers.)

After a chance encounter with Lola, Charlie realizes there’s an untapped niche market: men in need of high-heeled women’s boots. So he takes a big gamble, retooling Price & Son to focus on the production of the exotic footwear, and enlists Lola (birth name: Simon) to design the boots.

One burly worker, played by Joe Coots, makes no secret of the fact that he isn’t happy about this, or about Lola’s presence in the factory, but he seldom seems to pose any real threat, and his antagonism is short-lived. Charlie’s high-toned fiancee (Grace Stockdale) is pressuring him to convert the factory to condos and move to London with her, forcing him to make a choice between her and his loyalty to the workers, many of whom Charlie grew up with.

But where “Kinky Boots’’ strains for depth is in its depiction of the father issues Lola and Charlie have in common, their mutual struggle with the expectations their dads had for them leading to a bond communicated in a duet, “Not My Father’s Son.’’ That bond is ruptured, however, in the days before an all-important presentation of the boots in Milan.

The show’s be-true-to-who-you-are themes carry distinct echoes of another musical about drag performers, 1983’s “La Cage Aux Folles,’’ for which Fierstein also wrote the book. Lauper’s score for “Kinky Boots’’ is no match for Jerry Herman’s indelible work on “La Cage,’’ but she has composed some appealing and occasionally infectious numbers.

One of them is a minor comic gem titled “The History of Wrong Guys,’’ an anthem of hope over experience that is winningly performed by Lindsay Nicole Chambers as Lauren, a factory worker whose crush on Charlie is eventually reciprocated.

“Kinky Boots’’ would be better if it were more ambitious, less eager to please, and less wedded to platitudes like “You change the world when you change your mind.’’ But I have to admit it’s a hard show to resist, and by the uproarious and high-spirited finale, “Raise You Up/Just Be,’’ resistance becomes not just futile but pointless.

Summary: If anything, “Kinky Boots’’ is not kinky enough.


The strategists forecast WTI crude oil prices would remain at around $40 per barrel for most of the first half of the year, which would "slow supply growth, keep further capital investment in U.S. shale sidelined, and

"We think the oil market is experiencing a marginal cost re-basement," they said.

Read MoreCrude oil bottom seen at $40: CNBC Fed survey

Mueller-Glissmann and colleagues forecast that "balance" would return to global oil markets by 2016 and they upgraded their 12-month view of the commodity sector to "overweight" from "neutral".

"By the end of 2015, we see inventories closer to a neutral level and prices rising to the marginal cost of production, which we estimate to be US$65 for WTI and US$70 for Brent. However, the timing of normalizing inventories and prices remains highly uncertain, in part due to ongoing cost deflation in shale," they said.

Barclays also revised down its forecasts for oil prices on Wednesday, in its second substantial revision in recent months. The bank now forecasts Brent and WTI will average $44 and $42 respectively over 2015. Less than two months ago, Barclays' forecasts were $93 and $85 respectively.

Read MoreHedge funds snap up gold, but where's it heading?

Brent crude oil prices slipped to under $49 a barrel on Wednesday, pressured by the strengthening dollar. Oil prices were also pressured by an industry report showing a larger-than-expected rise in U.S. crude inventories.

Brent has fallen almost 60 percent since June last year. Earlier this month, it traded close to a six-year low of $45.19, and has since stabilized in a tight range just below $50 per barrel.

U.S. crude oil fell to under $45 per barrel on Wednesday.

Read More5 ways to profit from beaten-down energy stocks

Summary: After countless oil price downgrades, analysts at Goldman Sachs have cut their outlook for the commodity sector as a whole.


Last month, famed short seller Carson Block of Muddy Waters Research called the Chinese stock market the ultimate pump and dump.

Now, after that market has lost 24 percent of its value in just the last month, Block is warning Europe's markets could be the next shoe to drop.

"Europe is actually interesting from a short perspective. We've been spending a little bit of time looking there," said Block on CNBC's "Fast Money" last week.

Markets in Europe have been under pressure as Greece and the rest of the euro zone fight to come to an agreement over that nation's growing pile of debt. Greece is scrambling to get a last minute deal through, but would still have a long road ahead of it to a full recovery.

Read MoreMarkets cheer Greece, China: So is the drama over?

Now Block is setting his sights there for his next big short.

"We just kind of feel that investors and maybe regulators have been complacent there for some time. So from the perspective of the type of things we like to short, where there's some management wrongdoing or just pulling the wool over shareholders' eyes, Europe could be interesting in that regard," he said.

Yet the crisis-hit region is a tough nut to crack. European regulators, notoriously sensitive about short selling, recently slapped fines on several hedge funds for trying to profit from Greece's banking travails.

Summary: Famed short seller Carson Block called the Chinese stock market the ultimate pump and dump. Now he's warning about Europe.


Entrepreneurs who are naturally driven to create, build, innovate and work around-the-clock realize their dream upon selling their company. But once they do, they sometimes find themselves flush with cash but deficient in purpose.

What's more, being rich allows someone to disengage from the hoi polloi and live in peace on the top of the mountain. But that peace can also be isolating.

Add to that the distrust that can come with being rich—as some assume everybody wants something from them—and being rich can quickly become its own form of prison.

Though many will not take pity on others' riches, Persson's comments offer an important lesson: When it comes to large wealth, be careful what you wish for.

Summary: Markus Persson bemoaned the loneliness, isolation and lack of motivation that large wealth can create.


Aug 4 (Reuters) - Forget Milwaukee and Brooklyn - Lagos and Dar es Salaam are the new brewery hot spots, according to U.S. mutual fund managers as they tap Africa's emerging beer companies in pursuit of long-term returns on investment.

U.S. fund managers who originally entered the African market by investing in infrastructure said the continent's youthful demographics - large swaths of the continent are at prime beer-drinking age - and favorable economics brought by local production are a recipe for a profitable outlook.

"It would cost four or five times more for Tanzanians to import beer than to make it domestically," said Babatunde Ojo, portfolio manager for Harding Loevner's $600 million Frontier Emerging Markets strategy.

His fund has added in recent months 730,000 shares of Tanzania Breweries Limited and 900,000 shares of East African Breweries, also a Tanzanian company, according to Lipper data.

The Templeton Frontier Markets Fund noted that it added $3.58 million to East African Breweries and $11.80 million to Nigerian Breweries.

Roughly 45 percent of Tanzanians are between the ages of 15 and 45, prime ages for drinking beer, said Ojo.

Those demographics are reflected elsewhere in the continent. Cities including Dar-es-Salaam and Lagos, hubs for young professionals, are expected to experience rapid growth of their young populations, according to a 2015 trends report by Ernst and Young.

Africa is expected to see the largest increase in the legal drinking age population by 2018, while in western Europe and North America, the cumulative decline in beer volumes since 1998 has been between 5 percent and 10 percent, according to Rabobank Research.

Mark Mobius, executive chairman of the Templeton Emerging Markets Group, is particularly enthusiastic about Nigerian Breweries Plc, which is majority owned by Heineken Holding NV. Templeton Asset Management Ltd. holds 0.83 percent of the company.

"Relative to its competitors, the company (Nigerian Breweries) imports considerably fewer raw materials - reducing its exposure to the depreciating naira, and lessening the impact on profit margins and turnover - and also has the strongest distribution capability among its peers," Mobius wrote in an email to Reuters last week.

To be sure, share prices in Nigerian Breweries and other African peers have been falling this year as some countries suffer from decreased revenue and other commodities and in part because of uncertainty among minority investors about how and whether large global liquor companies Heineken and Diageo PLC will take their interests in Africa.

Should they choose to deemphasize beer at the expense of spirits, that could hurt the brewers.

Furthermore, some of these stocks are thinly traded and investing in Africa is still considered risky by many.

"If you invest in Africa, it will be a rocky ride between the possibility of economic and political instability, but if you look at the long-term potential, the rewards you can reap are very interesting and worthwhile," said Francois Sonneville, Director in Food and Agribusiness Research at Rabobank International, a Dutch banking company.

Sonneville also said governments could impose tough taxes on beer companies if economic growth remains low this year.

Furthermore, not all of Africa may be equally ripe for beer sales. North African countries with large Muslim populations have some of the highest abstention rates in the world, according to the World Health Organization's 2014 global status report on alcohol and health.

(Reporting by Tariro Mzezewa; Editing by Linda Stern and Alan Crosby)

Summary: Aug 4- Forget Milwaukee and Brooklyn- Lagos and Dar es Salaam are the new brewery hot spots, according to U.S. mutual fund managers as they tap Africa's emerging beer companies in pursuit of long-term returns on investment. Africa is expected to see the largest increase in the legal drinking age population by 2018, while in western Europe and North America, the...


Adam Berry | Getty Images

The Google Plus (G+, or Google +) social network logo.

Among the most "controversial" aspects was the integration with YouTube which meant users had to have a Google+ account in order to leave a comment on a video. Google also required users to have a Google+ profile in order to access some of the search giant's other services.

But Google confirmed that this would no longer be the case and users would only need a standard Google account to access all of the company's services.

"We want to formally retire the notion that a Google+ membership is required for anything at Google… other than using Google+ itself," Horowitz said.

Google+ has failed to gain traction as a serious contender in the social media space. Analysts said that the service failed to carve out its own distinctive purpose.

"Unlike other social media services which have their niches, Google+ was seen as a direct competitor to Facebook, but it was difficult to compete against the large networked competitor in this business and that was its biggest hurdle," Richard Broughton, research director at Ampere Analysis, told CNBC by phone.

Google is not shutting its social media service down completely but said it is becoming "more focused". It recently launched a feature on Google+ called Collections which lets users create pages around specific topics.

The U.S. technology giant also launched a new photo app that allows people to share pictures without the need for a Google+ account, while other services like sharing your location will be moved to Google's chat app known as Hangouts.

"We think changes like these will lead to a more focused, more useful, more engaging Google+," the company said in a blog post.

Summary: Google has halted its pursuit of making Google+ a rival to Facebook with the search giant even admitting its service was "confusing".


A showcase stadium built in Qatar ahead of the 2022 World Cup. (EPA/STR)

Qatar will not host the World Cup in 2022, according to Theo Zwanziger, the German member on the executive committee of world football's governing body FIFA.

"I think that at the end of the day the 2022 World Cup will not take place in Qatar," Mr Zwanziger said in an interview with Sport Bild Plus.

The former head of the German football federation (DFB) cited high summer temperatures as the reason Qatar would lose the right to host football's global showpiece.

"As Mr Zwanziger himself says, it's his personal opinion," a FIFA spokesman responded to AFP subsidiary SID when asked about the German's statement.

Mr Zwanziger said: "Doctors say, and I had insisted on this point in the protocol, that they cannot guarantee that a World Cup can be held in summer in these conditions."

While Qatar has reportedly developed stadium cooling systems, Mr Zwanziger said "the World Cup involves not only stadiums. There are fans coming from the four corners of the world who will be concerned by the heat".

"The first incident putting a life in danger will be subject to an investigation. And that, nobody in the FIFA Executive Committee would want to reply to."

Controversy has plagued FIFA's awarding of the World Cup to Qatar in 2010, with summer temperatures in the Gulf emirate reaching the upper-40s Celsius.

The idea of switching the World Cup to cooler winter months does not sit comfortably with all officials of Europe's big leagues.

Gas-rich Qatar has also come under the spotlight over foreign workers' rights as well as accusations that corruption played a part in winning the right to host the World Cup.

Britain's Sunday Times newspaper has alleged that former Qatari football boss Mohamed Bin Hammam paid more than $5 million (3.7m euros) to gain support for the emirate ahead of the vote.

Qatar has strongly denied the allegations.

FIFA's ethic committee is to announce in early 2015 the results of its investigation into the attribution of not only the 2022 World Cup to Qatar, but also the 2018 edition to Russia.

Do you have any news photos or videos?

Summary: Qatar will be stripped of the right to host the World Cup in 2022 due to the country's high temperatures, a senior German FIFA executive has said.


Arts organisations in England face being inspected every three years by a small team of experts who will scrutinise everything from how good their work is to how well they manage their finances.

The plans amount to a sea change in how publicly funded arts groups - from local theatres and galleries up to the Royal Opera House - are evaluated. Arts Council England is about to consult on what it believes could be a new model for judging success or failure in the public sector.

The new inspection regime is being brought in following a report by Sir Brian McMaster into excellence in the arts, in which he called for both greater self-assessment and less box-ticking. The problems of the present method of assessing arts companies were exposed last year when the Arts Council cut funding for nearly 200 organisations: many complained that they had not been given enough warning and decisions were made by "faceless bureaucrats".

Arts Council England's new chief executive, Alan Davey, told the Guardian that the new system would be based on both self-assessment and peer review, but he said it would avoid the mistakes of other public service models, such as Ofsted, which has spawned a sprawling industry of consultants.

In the new scheme, Davey said, the Arts Council would have to reduce its staff, so the system needed to be "light, flexible and fit for purpose".

He stressed that a firm set of plans was some way off but imagined a self-assessment process in which organisations would write honestly - on as little as one sheet of paper - about their strengths and weaknesses in artistic excellence/ambition, audience engagement and finance/management.

That would then be appraised by an inspector in the case of a small arts group, or a high-powered team in the case of a large national body. For example, English National Opera might be inspected by the artistic director of Opéra de Lyon, as part of a team that would also include a business leader.

The inspectors would regularly watch performances and then visit for an intense study, perhaps once every three years. "They might spend a day or two days in depth, in the organisation, speaking to all kinds of people in and outside of the organisation, testing the self-assessment and at the end of the process they will tell us and the organisation what they think," Davey said. "It wouldn't be a 200-page report - it would be something short and snappy."

Two problems which arise from the process could be: will self-assessing companies be honest, and will inspectors be honest? McMaster recently told an audience that the most difficult thing in peer group assessment was "peers telling other artists that they're crap".

Davey said he believed good arts organisations would be realistic, and it would foster a culture of honest assessment. "What we've got to do is make sure everyone learns a new way of behaviour and a new kind of honesty that is not based around competition," he said.

"If we start this happening all around the system, because people will all be assessing one another I believe - and maybe I'm being a little idealistic here - you'll get a change of behaviour and attitude towards the whole thing. At the moment people are probably defensive and worried about competitiveness."

He said the inspectors would have to see a range of performances over several months. "Just because one or two shows are bad doesn't mean a company is failing, because the company might be trying to innovate, and one of the things that should be looked at is the scale of artistic ambition."

Scotland has just begun a new system of self-assessment and inspection for its arts organisations, which includes show reports by designated inspectors which are posted on the internet. Davey was undecided about doing the same - organisations would be more inclined to report problems if they were not posted on the internet for all to see, he said.

The Arts Council says one model that will not return is the old panel system, whereby the same old faces would cast judgment on different arts organisations. "People who knew the system tell me that towards the end it became a little bit discredited, it became a little bit cliquey," said Davey.

The plan is to have a new system in place by the time of the next spending review in 2010-11.

Despite Arts Council protestations, the last funding round was widely condemned as a mess and Lady Genista McIntosh, former head of the Royal Opera House, is compiling a report looking into what went wrong.

Once the new plans are formulated Davey has promised a "real dialogue" with arts practitioners and organisations to make the new system work.

Summary: New evaluation scheme to rely more upon self-assessment and peer review following widespread condemnation of last funding round


"What happens if we divide our concept of time into smaller and smaller units to get to the absolute present? As we divide time, our perception of space tends towards the infinite." So Frances Richardson outlines the ritualised process of creating her meticulously executed sculptures and drawings. This is art that is so subtle it would add up to not much at all if it weren't for the artist's precise orchestration of compositional tension. The drawings build cryptic symbols out of networks of tiny binary plus and minus signs. The sculptures, constructed from common-or-garden DIY MDF, look somewhat like half-realised ladders. Propped against the wall the fragmented rungs lead one's attention towards nothing but instances of suspense and expectancy. Their subject is somehow something beyond what they are, forever eluding recognition.

Summary: Corn Exchange Gallery, to Aug 28


Trader Karen Finerman called the results a "mild disappointment" but felt the stock was hit too hard.

"I don't think this should be happening here," said Finerman, who noted that Apple looks appealing at $115 per share.

Trader Guy Adami added that the stock should hold above $119 per share.

Microsoft beat Wall Street's earnings and revenue projections, but shares fell as the company posted a $3.2 billion net loss after including more than $8 billion in write-downs. Revenue in the tech giant's key cloud computing segment rose 88 percent year-over-year.

Read MoreMicrosoft shares slip despite earnings beat

Adami contended that Microsoft would "get a pass" on the results. He noted he would buy the stock at around $45 per share, where it fell in the after-hours session.

Yahoo shares slid on Tuesday after a mixed earnings report. The company cut its revenue guidance for the year to a range of $1 billion to $1.04 billion from a previously stated $1.07 billion.

Trader Tim Seymour—who owns the stock—sees an opportunity for it to move higher, especially ahead of the planned spinoff of its Alibaba stake.

"The sum of the parts makes this thing very cheap," Seymour said.

Wearable camera maker GoPro beat top and bottom line estimates on Tuesday and shares rose more than 1 percent in extended trading. Adami believes the stock has more room to run.

Tim Seymour is long AAPL, T, BAC, C, DIS, F, GE, GM, GOOGL, INTC, JPM and SUNE. Tim's firm is long BABA, BIDU, MCD, NKE, NOK, SBUX and YHOO.

Dan is long TJX Aug put, CMG July put spread, TWTR, TWTR Sept call spread, SO, LVS July Aug put spread, PG Aug put and COST Aug put spread. He is short SO Aug call. Today he sold to close CMG July put fly.

Guy Adami is long CELG, EXAS and INTC. Guy Adami's wife, Linda Snow, works at Merck.

Karen is long BABA, BAC, C, FINL, FL, GOOG, GOOGL, JPM, KORS, M, URI, BABA puts and URI calls. She is short SPY. Her firm is long ANTM, AAPL, BAC, C, DIS, FBT, FINL, FL, GILD, GOOG, GOOGL, GPS, IBB, JPM, KORS, M, MYL, SUNE, URI, XBI, KORS call spreads, URI calls, KORS puts and SPY put spreads. Her firm is short IWM, SPY and MDY. Karen Finerman is on the board of GrafTech International.

Summary: Apple, Microsoft and Yahoo shares all dropped after earnings, and "Fast Money" traders looked at how to play the moves.


It can be difficult for retail investors to get into VC investing given the high amount of capital needed to back a company. Seedrs allows an investor to take an equity stake in a company without meeting the board and company. In short, an investment is made based on the firm's mission statement.

Pearson said he hoped to offer something different by allowing investors to back his fund, which works like a traditional VC, meeting companies and investing in companies that he thinks can perform well with a good team.

"There's a lot of wannabes that aren't actually going to do the hard work. I really believe it's about the team, it's about the passion and drive… I meet the teams face to face, I nurture and mentor them and actually help them over all the hurdles that will stop them being successful," Pearson said.

While no guarantees can be made to investors about how much they will earn, Pearson hoped investors will see a 10 fold return on their investments.

Summary: An entrepreneur has launched a fund called Fuel.Ventures and is crowdfunding part of it with starting investments as low as £100.


When Covaleski co-founded Victory with Ron Barchet in 1996, the local Pennsylvania consumer already was historically more receptive to the lager style.

"Pennsylvania is unique. The Yuengling Brewery roared back from Prohibition, and we have places like Stoudts Brewery and Iron City Beer," he said. "We have always had a lot of lager breweries. I think the folks that live here have stubbornly held onto the value of lager beer."

Read MoreWine from wastewater in California

Still, when Victory announced Prima Pils would be one of its first beers to be released in bottles, it was initially viewed with skepticism by many wholesalers and distributors, but the beer was met with wide acclaim and is now one of Victory's best-selling beers.

"It was highly hopped compared to what people had become accustomed to as a pilsner, so there was a part of it that appealed to the craft beer drinker with that hoppy aggressive edge, but there was also a refinement to it," he said. "I feel like it was encouragement for other craft brewers to take a look at pilsners, and reinvent them with us."

Summary: Often ignored in craft beer circles, lager is starting to get a little love from craft breweries.


Uber said it has obtained local licenses from the town for the past several summers. Now, the company is urging the public to contact the town's supervisor Larry Cantwell to speak out against the rule.

"We need your help to bring Uber back. Make your voice heard and contact town supervisor Cantwell today," Uber said in the email, which included a hyperlink with Cantwell's contact information.

Read More Summer in the Hamptons will be sizzling

In the two hours after Uber made its announcement, Cantwell's office received more than 100 phone calls and 600 emails about the new town code, according to a local news publication.

"Some are from East Hampton, some are from afar: Seattle, Boston and elsewhere," Cantwell told The South Hampton Press. "Most of them are supportive of Uber, but not all of them. We understand this is part of their strategy, and that's fine."

Cantwell did not respond to CNBC's request for comment.

East Hampton, located about about two hours away from Manhattan, is a popular summer vacation destination, well known for its upscale party scene. It's also known for its intoxicated revelers, many of which almost always need a ride home.

Read MoreGoogle to report driverless crashes

Last week, police made 11 alcohol-related arrests in East Hampton, as party goers flocked to the town to celebrate Memorial Day, according to the East Hampton Star.

"There is an unquestionable need and demand for Uber in the Hamptons because taxi service has been historically unreliable," Uber spokesperson Matt Wing told CNBC. "Unfortunately the East Hampton Town Supervisor and Town Board have changed the rules, banning Uber from the town and denying their constituents access to our service."

Uber has its own interestes at stake. The need for reliable transportation in the area has reportedly made it easy for drivers to demand higher rates there. In March, the New York Post reported Uber drivers "could make double fares" in the Hamptons, saying minimum fares were a lofty $25.

The seasonal influx of cabbies was apparently overwhelming for the coastal town. "At one time, there were over 700 cabs that were licensed to do business in East Hampton. The law is intended to bring order to that situation," Cantwell said in a statement to The Southampton Press.

Summary: New Yorkers looking to hail an Uber in East Hampton will likely be out of luck this summer.


One in 4 millennials is Hispanic, according to global information services group Experian. Not only does that make them a worthwhile group to target for advertisers, but Hispanic millennials are more active on digital media than any other group, especially on social media and mobile device activity. Popsugar Latina has already found a sponsor: J.C. Penney.

Read MoreThe new power of millennial Hispanics

The way to capture Hispanic millennial attention is to use technology, which is why many media companies are adding new digital experiences specifically for this market, said Marla Skiko, executive vice president and director of digital innovation at Starcom MediaVest Group's multicultural division. While television still reigns supreme, Skiko pointed out that especially when it comes to Hispanic millennials, more marketers are searching for ways to complement their television advertising with online campaigns.

"We haven't had a year where digital advertising spending toward the Hispanic market has been down," Skiko said.

What's encouraging even more marketers to reach out to Latinas more is that they no longer have to create bilingual campaigns. According to agency Sensis and ThinkNow Research's The Hispanic Millennial Project, about 56 percent of Hispanic millennials were born in the U.S.—a trend Popsugar also noticed among its site visitors.

While Popsugar Latina will be targeted to the young Latina, it will be in English. Content will include topics like celebrity gossip, Hispanic recipes, fitness and fashion. Because it is mobile-friendly, items will be shorter, "stackable" content. And, although many of the stories will be bespoke for the section, it can also appear anywhere else on the Popsguar site.

"Our intent is to deliver the content in English, focusing on content for the Latina who considers herself to be 100 percent American and 100 percent Latina," Fieler said. "It's the second generation Latina for who English is a native language, but she's still tied to her culture."

Read MoreA bigger, better consumer market than millennials

Even television has been getting in on the digital action. Univision Deportes and Snapchat worked together to broadcast highlights from the April USA-Mexico soccer match on Snapchat. NBCUniversal has been experimenting with various new technologies to reach the Hispanic millennial.

"What is really important about the Hispanic millennial market is that they are very engaged consumers," said Peter Blacker, executive vice president of digital media and emerging business at NBCUniversal. "They are very engaged consumers. They are also high tech consumers and high touch."

For example, Blacker pointed out that NBCUniversal found that Hispanic millennials on average watched 34 more minutes of online video than non-Hispanic millennials, and were also five times more likely to share digital content than their counterparts.

NBCUniversal's Double Action app creates a second screen experience on mobile that is concurrent with what is happening on television. During one episode of Telemundo's telenovela El Señor de los Cielos, one of the main characters gets in a car chase. While linear TV viewers will see the hero in his car talking on his phone with the windows up, those who have downloaded the Double Action app will get a video call from the protagonist himself and hear the conversation.

It's also experimenting with virtual reality through RAVE, or its real-time augmented virtual experience. The technology will help bring Hispanic millennials closer to the red carpets during top Industry events like the Latin Billboard Awards and Telemundo's "Premios Tu Mundo" award show.

Both digital initiatives are open to for advertiser sponsorship.

"The advertising community has woken up to the importance of the millennial Latina woman," Blacker said. "It's a really unique situation in a good way. The audience is there online, and the content creators are willing to make content for them."

Summary: Popsugar, one of the top online destinations for millennial women, is launching a section that it hopes will resonate with young Hispanic women.


On Wednesday Fed Chair Janet Yellen reassured markets that the Fed is not yet ready to raise rates and that it does not see the economic fortitude to do so. But Fed officials, in their statement and forecasts, signaled they expect a better economy and that they could hike rates one or two times this year.

Greece also was a factor, as traders were generally optimistic it would reach a deal with its creditors.

"I'm very concerned we're going to have some sort of a corrective move here. Basically, what drives those is everybody who has access to a price chart, which is everybody, could see this as a good place to take profits off the table," said Kosar.

But Dan Greenhaus, chief global strategist at BTIG, said with the Fed still unclear on when it will boost rates, the market's bias is to go higher. He said unanswered are questions on timing of the first rate hike and how many increases there could be this year.

"I don't think the (Fed) statement or the press conference resolved any of the issues that investors are wrestling with," he said.

Stocks have been stuck in a sideways push and pull, as traders worry about the potential impact of Fed rate hikes, a Greek default, and possibly sluggish earnings.

The Nasdaq has outperformed the other indexes, benefiting from gains in technology and biotechnology, but it is an entirely different market than it was at the turn of the century.

Back then there were many stocks with P/Es in the triple digits. Yahoo's valuation, for instance, was even higher, with a price-to-earnings multiple of 1,780, compared with close to a 6 P/E today. The highest P/E on the Nasdaq currently is Autodesk at 174, versus its 130 P/E in 2000.

The S&P 500 on Thursday was up nearly 1 percent, but was still a good 15 points below its all time high of 2,134. The Nasdaq in the past year has gained 17 percent, more than double the 8 percent gain of the S&P. The Dow was about 225 points below its high of 18,351 Thursday, but the Russell 2000, like the Nasdaq has broken into new territory.

Summary: The Nasdaq regained its 15-year tech-bubble high on the wings of a Fed-induced rally, but the market is likely to remain volatile.


An appeal has been launched to save a derelict building hidden in an overgrown wood in Scotland that is described as one of the greatest modernist buildings in Europe.

With its long, clean lines covered by graffiti and its concrete greyed with rainwater, St Peter's Seminary has lain in a state of ruin since it was abandoned by the Catholic church in 1980. The vast, crumbling building is accessible only by foot and, despite a number of restoration proposals over recent decades, it has been left to decay and to the vandals. It has been dubbed "Scotland's shame" and "Scotland's creepiest building", yet a plan to turn the ruin into a hotel in 2007 was dropped because of the cost of restoration.

Foreign architecture students who make pilgrimages to see St Peter's have often been unable to locate it, lost as it is inside the 140-acre Kilmahew Forest, near the small town of Cardross, about 25 miles outside Glasgow, whose great architectural scion was Charles Rennie Mackintosh.

St Peter's was opened in 1966, a triumph of post-war architecture and stunningly imaginative design. But it was practically obsolete by the time it was completed, as the Catholic church had decreed in 1965 that its trainee priests should be schooled not in isolated rural havens like St Peter's, but inside the urban churches of Europe, close to those they would later serve.

As a result the seminary was never fully occupied. In 1980, it briefly became a drug rehabilitation centre before its closure later that year.

The Catholic church was at the forefront of modernist building works in Scotland at the time, commissioning several churches of bold radical design across the country. Many were designed by Isi Metzstein, known as Britain's answer to Frank Lloyd Wright, and Andy McMillan, who then ran the Scottish firm Gillespie, Kidd and Coia, which designed St Peter's.

The seminary is now the subject of a new book: To Have and To Hold, Future of a Contested Landscape. Funded by the Scottish government and Creative Scotland, the book is the first step in an ambitious £10 million project to save St Peter's, turn the surrounding area into a public space and establish a new arts college there.

"It's not a lot of money for a project like this. There is a lot of positivity, but we are very aware we are attempting to do what we want to do in the middle of the worst recession in however long," said Angus Farquhar, the creative director of Nacionale Vitae Activa, a Scottish arts charity which has acquired the site, which is also home to a Victorian estate within its ancient woodlands which the seminary was designed to sit against.

"But we won't be trying a complete restoration. This isn't like the National Trust approach, where everything will be restored to its original state. This is more an intent to preserve and re-use a modern ruin. St Peter's was designed with 107 cell bedrooms for trainee priests. As we have seen with previous commercial projects, that doesn't translate into a hotel or flats."

The idea was to clean up St Peter's, seal it from the elements and use it as a public arts space, treating it "as one would a 19th-century castle", he said.

"As a skeletal form it is very powerful. There is this great sweeping form with each cell making a floating concrete plinth. The use of light is exquisite. The chapel in particular uses light and shadow and shape, where light is filtered down across these huge beams above the altar and across this curved linear wall.

"It's such a symbol of that period of post-war regeneration, it seems logical to use the site as living heritage for artists and the public to come into this amazing landscape, for concerts and theatre groups. It will be something very special for Scotland."

In 2008 St Peter's was listed on the World Monuments Fund's list of 100 most endangered sites, but Farquhar hopes that the £10m fund, to be raised over the next two years, will enable restoration work to begin by 2013.

Summary: St Peter's Seminary, a masterpiece of European modernism, has lain derelict for 30 years and fallen prey to vandals, writes Tracy McVeigh


Ever have one of those near-tactile dreams that makes sense until you wake up and try to grasp the meaning? Argentine director Lisandro Alonso’s “Jauja” (the title refers to a mythical South American Shangri-La), has that quality. An oneiric parable set in 19th-century Patagonia, the world it depicts shimmers with a crystalline reality, a hard-edged no-man’s-land of sea, desert, and rock. But look closely and it dissolves into mystery.

Expect no answers from Captain Gunnar Dinesen (Viggo Mortensen, far from Middle-earth), a Danish military engineer on loan to the Argentine army as it wages its campaign to exterminate the native population. He has brought with him books, tools, and a vague back story involving a wife who deserted him. He also has his beautiful 15-year-old daughter Ingeborg (Viilbjork Malling Agger), regarded with lascivious interest by Lieutenant Pittaluga (Adrián Fondari), who is first seen joylessly masturbating in a tidal pool. Pittaluga worries Dinesen, as does the renegade General Zuluaga, who has vanished like Joseph Conrad’s Kurtz into the wilderness and is rumored to be leading a band of savages while dressed as a woman.

Dinesen regards these threats warily, but his concerns are misdirected. He fails to heed his daughter when she tells him that she loves the desert, that it “fills” her. So he is astonished when she sneaks away from camp with a young soldier. Against the advice of his Argentine colleagues, Dinesen rides off alone to find her.

In full dress uniform, his sword by his side, a medal on his chest, wielding a pistol and rifle, he soon loses his way. His skills, tools, and regalia are lost or prove useless as he passes into a fatal narrative reminiscent of his namesake Isak Dinesen’s “Seven Gothic Tales,” or of Argentine writer Jorge Luis Borges’s story “The South.”

Alonso sustains an atmosphere of otherworldly immanence in a vivid setting, with a style involving long takes with characters posed as if in tableaux vivants. Figures in the distant background balance those in close-up, and then the angle is reversed, addling the point of view. Like Monument Valley in John Ford’s “The Searchers,” the desert, as one character notes, “devours everything.” The few exceptions include a scarf, a compass, and a toy soldier, which take on talismanic significance and show up at key moments, as if clues leading to a revelation. So does a dog, and an old woman in a cave who asks, “What is it that makes a life function, move forward?”

Mysteries, maybe, like in the movies.

Summary: “Jauja” review: Argentine director Lisandro Alonso’s stark mind-boggler starts in Patagonia in the late 19th century and ends somewhere between the Twilight Zone and Borges’s “Ficciones.”


To maintain the megaphone pattern, the market would need to sell off at some point to a level below the 2009 credit crisis low. But the huge turnaround in the market last month broke through the top of this megaphone pattern. Further gains this month confirm the Dow is shouting "goodbye" to that pattern, chartists say, and no such decline to the lows is in the cards.

"We would expect more gains to come now, as the top of that megaphone pattern (represented) very heavy resistance," said Chris Kimble of Kimblechartingsolutions.com.

Kimble, a chart analyst for 30 years, likes to take a step back and look at the monthly charts from time to time in order get a 30,000-feet perspective, something lost on many investors obsessed with the minute-by-minute tics today. The megaphone pattern is one he checks on occasionally.

Read MoreUS crude hits 3-year low after inventory data

"A monthly chart is more important than a weekly and a weekly chart is more important than a daily one," said Kimble.

In order to see the world as Kimble and other technical analysts see it, it's worthwhile to have a quick explanation of the bar chart.

A bar chart is drawn by marking a security's opening value from a designated time period, then drawing a vertical bar formed by the high and low points of the period, and then marking the security's close of the period.

The Dow's big bullish reversals

Summary: A chart of the Dow Jones industrial average is trying to tell us that further gains lie ahead, according to technical analysts.


PHOENIX -- The Arizona Diamondbacks have outrighted right-hander Jhoulys Chacin from the 40-man roster.

The Diamondbacks said Chacin elected for free agency rather than accepting a minor league assignment.

Chacin joined the Diamondbacks late last season, going 2-1 with a 3.38 ERA in five appearances, four starts. The former Colorado pitcher spent most of last season at the Triple-A level, splitting time with Columbus and Reno. He had a combined record of 7-6 with a 3.22 ERA in his stints with the two teams.

Summary: Veteran starter elects free agency rather than accepting a minor-league assignment.


11/17/2015 AT 09:45 AM EST

told the world that he is HIV-positive Tuesday – and just days earlier, he shared his secret with his eldest child.

, Sheen confirmed his ex-wives

have known about his condition, which he was diagnosed with about four years ago. Though his children with the actresses – Sam, 11, Lola, 10, and twins Bob and Max, 6 – are too young to understand what their dad is going through, the actor recalled explaining the sad news to his daughter Cassandra Estevez, 30.

"I told my oldest daughter Cassandra the other night, and I felt bad, it hit her hard," said Sheen, 50, on

. "But she recovered, and sheâs tough like her dad."

Cassandra Estevez and Charlie Sheen

"I said, 'Sweetie, I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner, but it didnât seem like you could do anything for me, and I didnât want to burden you with the stress," he explained. "But she was a rock star about it."

star estimated that he has paid extortionists who threatened to expose him upwards of $10 million over the years – something that hurt his family more than anyone.

"What people forget is that's money they're taking from my children," he said.

Mueller, 38, and her sons

, her spokesperson Steve Honig tells PEOPLE exclusively, and a source has said Richards, 44, and her daughters also

To learn more about living with HIV/AIDS today and to contribute in the fight against the diseases, visit

Summary: Charlie Sheen opened up about his diagnosis to Matt Lauer


12/11/2015 AT 01:00 PM EST

By now you've heard about that major problem plaguing our society – "idiots who claim that climate change is real."

Now, thanks to the folks over at

and a liberal climate advocacy group – not to mention "the Koch brothers" (both played by

) – climate change deniers have their very own anthem to help spread the word that "scientists are full of "s---," the oceans aren't rising and polar bears are fine.

Sung by the "hottest conservative pop stars" of our time, including

, Ed Weeks and many more, the "Climate Change Deniers' Anthem" features compelling lyrics like:

"Don't fret, the Earth's not getting warmer,

We're fine, just a little toasty weather,

To bring us all together, in sunny harmony."

serves as the voice of reason in the spoof music video when, after she gets a call to join the Koch brothers' chorus, she fires back:

"It's 90 degrees out in December, and you want me to deny climate change? This has to be a prank."

"Frickin' Clooney," she mutters after hanging up the phone.

Summary: "Don't fret, the Earth's not getting warmer," Darren Criss and more stars promise in Funny or Die's "Climate Change Deniers' Anthem"


She may work for luxury stationery brand Smythson, but Samantha Cameron isn't above dabbling in design's lower-end. Mrs C has been roundly castigated by the editor of Elle Decoration, Michelle Ogundehin, for buying a rip-off of a designer lamp – 1962's Arco lamp by Achille and Pier Giacomo Castiglioni – for a fifth of the price of an original.

Ogundehin called her "cheap, hypocritical and fake" on her blog, writing: "That's all we need, the endorsement of faux-furniture by the prime minister's wife." She argues that buying reproductions disrespects the legacy of the designer, suggesting originals are worth their price tag because of the skill involved in making them. An original Arco lamp currently costs £1,372 at Heal's and The Conran Shop. Sam Cam's fake cost her £250 from Iconic Lights. That was her real crime – she could have got one for £199 at Barker and Stonehouse.

Arco is one of a select club of arguably overpriced classics that have been successfully, and legally, reproduced. Here are the top five sellers:

• The Eames lounge chair and ottoman, £898 from Interior Addict (original: £4,208.35, from Heals).

• Ludwig Mies van der Rohe's Barcelona chair, £379 from The Furniture Market (original: £4,572, Utility Design).

• Arne Jacobsen's Egg chair, £299 from Milan Direct (original: £3,996, Utility Design).

• Eileen Gray's side table, £79 from Milan Direct (original: £575, Aram).

• Poul Henningsen's PH lamp, £150 from Iconic Lights (original: £584, nest.co.uk).

Summary: The prime minister's wife may have thought her fake Arco lamp was a good deal, but she probably hadn't bargained for the furore it caused in design circles


has been suggested as a strong contender to be

's running mate, but on Monday the presumptive GOP nominee announced other plans for his one-time rival.

Trump has appointed Christie the chairman of a "Transition Team" to help "take over the White House when we win in November."

Trump's campaign announced the news via a statement which read: "Governor Chris Christie will serve as Transition Team Chairman, overseeing an extensive team of professionals preparing to take over the White House, and all that entails, in the fall. Governor Christie has been a loyal supporter and confidant to Mr. Trump and the campaign."

The governor, who drew widespread scrutiny for his early decision to back Trump,

last month that he "has a hard time believing anyone would ask me to be vice president" – but he didn't rule out the possibility of sharing a ticket with Trump.

recently reported that sources close to Christie said he was willing to consider being Trump's running mate, but when asked about it at a Statehouse news conference Monday, Christie replied, "As I've said all along, one, I don't think I'm going to be asked. Two, I don't know that I'm necessarily the right person for it."

"Three, you never say never to anything in this business, because you don't know how you're going to feel if you get approached about anything," he added, according to

. "That's about any future job in a Trump administration."

Several other politicians have raised their hands to express interest in the job – albeit a little reluctantly.

Former Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer said Sunday that she would be "willing" to serve as Trump's vice president.

"Of course I would be â¦ willing to serve in any capacity that I could be of help with Donald on,"

Sunday, after viewing a short-list that included Marco Rubio, former U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin and former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich.

"But that's a tremendous list of people to choose from," she added. "They're all very wonderful people, well-qualified. I certainly think that Newt, I've known him for a long time, we all have experienced what he can get done in Washington, D.C. And Marco Rubio would be terrific. Mary Fallin would be terrific."

Thursday that he "might" be willing to serve as Trump's running mate, though he did not elaborate on his interest. Gingrich previously told

, "If a potential president says I need you, it would be very hard for a patriotic citizen to say no. People can criticize a nominee, but ultimately there are very few examples of people turning down the vice presidency."

Former Texas Gov. Rick Perry officially endorsed the billionaire businessman as "the people's choice" on Friday and said he would be open to being Trump's running mate.

"I am going to be open to any way I can help. I am not going to say no," Perry told

of potentially becoming the Republican vice presidential nominee. "We can't afford the policies and the character of Hillary Clinton."

"He is not a perfect man. But what I do believe is that he loves this country and he will surround himself with capable, experienced people and he will listen to them," Perry also said of Trump. "He wasn't my first choice, wasn't my second choice, but he is the people's choice." Maine Gov. Paul LePage said Wednesday he is considering running for Senate in 2018, "if I'm not into the Trump administration."

But for every door left open to being Trump's vice presidential pick, another door closes.

Former GOP hopeful Rubio sparked interest in a potential Trump-Rubio ticket when he praised the businessman last week by saying his "performance has improved significantly." But a Rubio adviser tells PEOPLE, "He was never interested" in being Trump's running mate.

Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and others have

Condoleezza Rice, now a professor at Stanford University, as a potential vice president for Trump. But her chief of staff, Georgia Godfrey, tells PEOPLE, "She is not interested. She's happy at Stanford and plans to stay."

Ben Carson – a former GOP hopeful who Trump has said will be on a committee to select his running mate – said he's "not interested" in the job himself "for a number of reasons." "I don't want to be a distraction," he told

On Thursday the campaign manager of Ohio Sen. Rob Portman said he wouldn't consider being Trump's running mate. "It's not happening, period."

And South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley said Wednesday that she would support Trump in the general election but added that she is "not interested in serving as vice president,"

Florida Gov. Rick Scott, who hails from an electorally crucial state, has been tossed out by

as a possible running mate for Trump. Scott has been early and vocal in his support for Trump, even taking to

before the real estate mogul clinched the nomination to urge Republicans to unite behind Trump.

But Scott too said he would decline to be Trump's vice presidential candidate,

reports. "I like my job. I worked hard to get this job. I'm going to stay in this job," Scott said on CNN's

is another politician whose name has cropped up as a suggested contender for Trump's vice president, but a spokesperson for Martinez told

Thursday that, "The governor has said repeatedly over the years that she isnât interested in serving as vice president. She appreciates that such attention puts New Mexico in the spotlight, but she is fully committed to serving the people of our state."

Trump said Thursday there is "probably a 40 percent chance" he would pick one of his 16 former GOP presidential rivals, but added that he was "unlikely" to choose Ohio Gov. John Kasich.

Some commentators have pointed out the obvious: Trump, given his sizable polling deficit with women, might do well to choose a woman running mate. One of his most notable endorsers, former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, has

on getting the position, according to Paddy Power.

interview Wednesday he said his vice presidential pick would definitely be a Republican and would "most likely" be an elected official.

Trump said Thursday that he will announce his vice presidential pick at the GOP convention in July.

Summary: Donald Trump has appointed Chris Christie the chairman of a "Transition Team"


Cyber terrorists are plotting a biological attack on the British government. All that stands in their way is a group of cybersecurity experts, who must hack into the ventilation systems and locate the weapon before it’s too late.

This scenario is fictitious, of course, designed to allow amateur cyber security enthusiasts the chance to pit their wits against one another in the Cyber Security Challenge UK Masterclass, which took place in London in late November. However, it’s part of an effort to tackle a very real problem: not enough people are entering the cybersecurity workforce.

“We have an awful lot of cyber vacancies, as does everybody else,” says Budgie Dhanda, sales director of security at QinetiQ, the UK-based defense and security business that designed the biological attack scenario. The shortfall is across the board, he says, from software developers to project managers. “There aren’t enough people out there to meet the needs of all the suppliers.”

The talent gap is a global problem. In the U.S. alone in 2014, companies posted 49,493 jobs that require Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) certification, a major cybersecurity qualification. However, only 65,362 people are CISSP certified in total, and most of them already have jobs, according to an October report from U.S. defense giant Raytheon and the National Cyber Security Alliance (NCSA), a public-private partnership that promotes Internet security.

Raytheon and NCSA focused on the younger generation, commissioning Zogby Analytics to survey 18 to 26-year olds in 12 countries around the world on their attitudes toward careers in cybersecurity. The survey found that perhaps the most important step in closing the talent gap is making millennials aware that there is such a field and that it’s growing.

“The perception—mostly fueled by the movie industry—of people sitting in dark rooms in front of glowing monitors is not what the cyber profession is all about,” says David Wajsgras, president of Raytheon’s Intelligence, Information and Services business. “We need to do a better job at communicating what we do. We are engineers, policy makers, critical thinkers, and innovators.”

Wajsgras outlined a range of ways in which the cyber industry and government were working to boost awareness among young people. He said they were aiming to enlighten teachers and career counselors about jobs in cyber, as well as getting cyber professionals into classrooms with children of all ages to run hands-on activities “and show students how it’s an exciting field to be part of.”

The Cyber Security Challenge UK, which is funded by the British government and private companies, conducts a range of programs with young people. Robert Nowill, chairman and director of the organization, highlights CyberCenturion, a competition for 12-18 year-olds that has them analyze a virtual computer for possible vulnerabilities. CyberCenturion is modeled on CyberPatriot, a similar program in the U.S.

There is also an effort to convince older people to switch careers, whether they work in a related tech field or something else entirely. Peter Clarke, the winner of the Cyber Security Challenge Masterclass in London, is a 38-year-old network engineer for a car dealer. He can now choose from a range of prizes worth over £100,000, in training, university courses, and access to industry events. Entrants to previous competitions have been offered jobs with companies like QinetiQ, or even the UK’s Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ), an intelligence service.

“Computer scientists [and] web scientists are difficult to attract because there is a lot of competition for them, and getting those CVs in the door is a struggle,” says David Cole, managing director of Roke Manor Research, an electronics engineering consultancy. “Therefore using events like [the Masterclass], which is recruitment with a difference, is a showcase to demonstrate that the UK needs the sort of talent that is on display here.”

The Raytheon/NCSA report also identified a talent “gap within the gap”: far fewer women than men are entering cybersecurity. The survey found that, globally, 33% of young men said they were more likely to consider a career in the field than they would have been a year before. That figure was 24% for women. The report suggested that much of this has to do with communication: 66% of women said that no teacher or counselor had ever discussed careers in cybersecurity with them, compared with 57% of men.

“We’re not attracting that huge swath of the population into considering this as a career,” says Nowill. “The ones who do come in are really successful, they’re some of the best people. So if we can open a door and a window into getting more people into this career, that’s a great thing to do.”

You may not end up saving the royal family from a biological attack, but the necessary skills are the same.

“We worked very hard with the [Cyber Security] Challenge to come up with what we thought was a hypothetical but potentially realistic scenario,” says QinetiQ’s Dr Dhanda. “It may not necessarily be in a defense or a national security context, but the same skills [the Masterclass finalists are] learning now are just as applicable if you’re in a bank or a big retailer or a telco.”

Summary: First step to solving this problem: telling workers that such a field exists.


Boris Johnson is leading the Brexit campaign. (AAP)

Former London mayor Boris Johnson says the European Union is trying to unify the bloc under one "authority", as did Nazi leader Adolf Hitler, in an interview with British media.

"Napoleon, Hitler, various people tried this out, and it ends tragically," said the outspoken Conservative politician, who is campaigning for Britain to vote to leave the European Union in a June 23 referendum.

"The EU is an attempt to do this by different methods," he conceded in an interview with the Daily Telegraph published late Saturday.

"Fundamentally what is lacking is the eternal problem, which is that there is no underlying loyalty to the idea of Europe," he said.

"There is no single authority that anybody respects or understands.

"That is causing this massive democratic void."

The opposing Britain Stronger In Europe campaign was quick to react, with former cabinet minister Yvette Cooper of the Labour Party accusing Johnson of playing a "nasty, nasty game", the Press Association reported.

"The more he flails around with this kind of hysterical claim, the more he exposes his shameful lack of judgment," she was quoted as saying.

"He should not try to play political games with the darkest and most sinister chapter of Europe's history."

The dispute was the latest in a contest which has been seen as a struggle for the leadership of the ruling Conservative Party. Prime Minister David Cameron is likely to come under pressure to step down if the public votes next month to leave the EU.

Johnson's remarks immediately elicited outrage on the part of those campaigning to remain in the EU ahead of a June 23 vote in Britain on whether to stay or leave.

The "stay" camp described Johnson's comments as a desperate effort take the focus off the economic impact such a rupture would create and on to the more populist theme of sovereignty issues.

"Leave campaigners have lost the economic argument and now they are losing their moral compass," said Hilary Benn, a senior member of the Labour Party.

"After the horror of the Second World War, the EU helped to bring an end to centuries of conflict in Europe. And for Boris Johnson to make this comparison is both offensive and desperate."

Another leading figure in the "out" campaign, the nationalist UKIP party leader Nigel Farage, compared Johnson to former US President Ronald Reagan and rejected suggestions he wasn't serious enough to be Britain's prime minister.

"Boris goes on surprising people," Farage told the Mail on Sunday. "They say he can't do this, he's a joker - it's like Ronnie Reagan. Could he do it? Yes."

Summary: Boris Johnson has compared the EU's aims to Hitler's, saying both involved the intention to unify Europe under a single "authority".


Malaysian tech entrepreneur Vishen Lakhiani had always wanted to live in New York City and build a growing business at the heart of the bustling city.

But in 2004, after five years of living in Manhattan and four years studying electrical engineering and computer science at the University of Michigan, he had to return home to Kuala Lumpur. “America is a hard place to get a visa,” he said.

Transitioning back was difficult. Malaysia didn’t have the same start-up tech culture as New York and he was lonely. He missed his colleagues, his friends and the life he had in America. “It was very different and much, much harder,” he said.

The resolution: To travel back as much as possible.

Today, 40-year-old Lakhiani is the co-founder and chief executive officer of Mindvalley, a $40m in revenue education technology business that creates apps, online academies and books related to health and personal growth. When he first made the 15,000-mile-move back to Malaysia, he visited New York every three months. Now it’s every six weeks and could become more frequent as his business grows stateside.

Lakhiani finds the 25-hour flight is a respite from his busy days. It’s the only chunk of time that he can read a book or watch a movie. He also started flying business class two years ago. The extra $2,000 per ticket is worth it, he said, because he’s far more awake and relaxed when he lands.

“It’s like going to a spa,” he said about the long flight.

The 25-hour flight is a respite from his busy days.

He also feels energised when he lands in New York. The city still has that same unbridled energy it did when Lakhiani left 12 years ago, he said. While there’s certainly a different vibe in New York than there is Malaysia — it’s a “microcosm of the entire world,” Lakhiani said — it’s not as much of a culture shock to move between the countries as one might think.

When Lakhiani returned to Malaysia, there was barely a business community. The country itself was also far less developed. So he set out to create a mini-NYC in Kuala Lumpur. He hired Americans to come work in Malaysia by promising plenty of holiday time to explore Asia and an all-expenses-paid trip to Bali. Lakhiani also built a sprawling Silicon Valley-like office, the likes of which most Malaysians had never seen.

Lakhiani began trying to foster entrepreneurship by meeting regularly with local entrepreneurs. He held hackathons — events where software developers work together to create computer programs — invested in other businesses and did whatever he could to make Malaysia’s business culture more like America’s.

“Because I couldn’t just pick up and move I decided, rather than leave, let’s mould a little part of Malaysia into the world I want it to be,” Lakhiani said.

Malaysian [executives] aren’t nearly as vocal or as extroverted as Americans and class matters here.

He also had to get used to the Malaysian culture again. At home, people are much shyer and introverted, he said, making it harder to strike up a conversation. In New York, and America in general, he observed, everyone’s far more friendly and open.

General business culture is different, too. In Asia, the hierarchy is much more top down, where the manager or the CEO wields more power and acts like it, too. While that does exist in America, there are also many companies that are more collaborative and allow employees to have a say. That’s the kind of company Lakhiani wanted to build.

“My style is a lot more democratic,” he said.

In Malaysia, Lakhiani is mindful of the communication gap and class. “Malaysian [executives] aren’t nearly as vocal or as extroverted as Americans,” he said, “and class matters here.” Taxi drivers and waiters, for instance, won’t speak to someone as an equal, he said, but rather as someone “above them.”

Travelling to New York regularly isn’t without its challenges. Lakhiani typically stays for two weeks, which means he’s away from his wife and two young children, aged 8 and 2, for long stretches.

“That’s the hardest part,” he said.

He stays in touch via Facebook and Skype video conferences every two days.

That’s one positive change since Lakhiani first started travelling. Then, video conferencing was for boardrooms only.

Lakhiani also takes interesting videos of New York and uploads them to his son’s Facebook page. “I was in Times Square and a filmed a little video of the beauty of it and why I love it so much,” for instance, he said.

Splitting his time between Kuala Lumpur and New York also makes it a challenge to be away from the office. When he’s in Malaysia, as CEO, he’s in back-to-back meetings. In New York, where’s most of his time is now spent promoting his recent book The Code of the Extraordinary Mind, his schedule as an author is more relaxed.

I learned to question the traditional rules of the world I grew up in.

But the time difference means he’s awake when his staff is sleeping. He has a team that can make decisions when he’s not around, Lakhiani said, but he also makes extensive use of Slack, an instant-messaging-collaboration program that helps people talk to each other in real-time. If someone has a question for him, he can quickly fire back an answer.

No matter where he is, Lakhiani makes a point to get seven hours of sleep a night. When he’s home in Malaysia, he wakes up at 7:30 every day, has breakfast with his kids and takes them to the school bus stop. He arrives at the office at 10:00.

“I have about 17 meetings a day, and they’re about 25 minutes each,” he said. “It’s fast-paced.”

He leaves the office at 19:00 and then goes home for dinner and family time before another 90 minutes of work at night. Lakhiani goes to bed at half past midnight. “I’m religious about it,” he said, and then it’s back to the grind the next day.

I love the fact that I get to be in a different country every six weeks.

It’s a different story in New York, where he mostly goes with the flow. “I sometimes go to bed at 2:00, but then I have to wake up at 9:00,” Lakhiani said.

He always stays at the Citizen M hotel when he’s in town, which is located between two subway stations and has a lobby that doubles as a start-up-like co-working space. “It’s like a cool Silicon Valley office,” he said.

All of his experiences in New York has made his life easier in Malaysia, he said. The city has taught him three main things: “I learned to appreciate diversity and thrive in it, I learned to question the traditional rules of the world I grew up in and I learned to discard useless cultural and religious dogmas that held me back,” he said.

Despite the challenges of being constantly between two cities, he refuses to cut down on travel. “I wouldn’t do this if it wasn’t exciting and fun,” Lakhiani said. “I love the fact that I get to be in a different country every six weeks.”

To comment on this story or anything else you have seen on BBC Capital, head over to our Facebook page or message us on Twitter.

Summary: A cultural nomad learned to question everything, one plane ride at a time between New York and Malaysia. Oh, and he built a business along the way.


“Orange Is the New Black” actor Jason Biggs sat front row at Christian Siriano’s show Saturday night with his wife, actress Jenny Mollen, in hand — and dared to admit that his wife does not always make the best fashion choices.

“There have been plenty of times where I had to tell my wife to change her clothes before we went out; she likes to dress very masculine sometimes,” Biggs brazenly told The Post.

“Sometimes it is cool and other times it is very extreme. So I have no choice but to tell her to change. I like to see her in anything see-through. But when she gets it wrong, it is all wrong. The last time I had to tell her to change, she had on these hardcore combat boots … it was too much.”

Summary: “Orange Is the New Black” actor Jason Biggs sat front row at Christian Siariano’s show Saturday night with his wife, actress Jenny Mollen, in hand — and dared to admit that his wi…


Ford paid nearly $200,000 for a Tesla Model X just so it could figure out what the electric car maker is hatching.

Ford F recently paid $199,950 to an individual who has bought and sold nearly a dozen Tesla TSLA Model S vehicles. Perhaps most surprisingly, Ford paid about $55,000 more than the sticker price on the Model X just to get its hands on Tesla’s crossover.

“It is a common industry practice among many automakers to buy production vehicles for testing as soon as they are released,” a Ford spokesman tells Fortune. “Sometimes, this means automakers pay more than sticker price to acquire them as quickly as possible.”

Indeed, Ford is among many companies in the automobile industry to buy competitor cars. Rather than buy the cars from competitors directly, however, the companies often buy new vehicles from brokers who have all the bells and whistles carmakers would want to analyze as they look at what the competition is developing.

Get Data Sheet, Fortune’s technology newsletter.

According to Bloomberg, which earlier reported on the buy, Ford bought the 64th Model X to have come off the production line. The car is a Founders Series and sports all of the features Tesla offers, including a Ludicrous Speed Upgrade package allowing the SUV to go from zero to 60 miles per hour in 3.2 seconds, Bloomberg says.

Ford currently offers one electric vehicle, called the Ford Focus Electric, a compact vehicle. However, Ford announced in December that it’s planning to invest $4.5 billion in “electrified vehicle solutions.” The auto maker added that it plans to have 13 “electrified” cars on the road by 2020. Some of those cars will be completely electric, like those from Tesla.

While it’s unclear exactly what Ford might be doing with the Tesla Model X it bought, it’s not uncommon for a company to completely tear down its purchase. In fact, most automakers, after buying a competitor’s car, will tear it down piece by piece to see how it’s constructed and what kind of engineering decisions were made. Before that happens, the cars are typically driven around and tinkered with. All along, the companies are gaining intelligence on their competitors.

For more about the Tesla Model X, watch:

So far, Ford is the only company known to have picked up a Tesla. But chances are, if companies buying competitor cars really is rampant in that industry and given Tesla’s standing in the burgeoning electric vehicle market, it’s not the only one looking under Tesla’s hood.

Tesla did not respond to a request for comment.

Summary: It's all about intelligence.


"These new guidelines provide a common framework to unify the division and help us address the industry-wide questions and concerns raised around the practicalities of investment banking," the memo said.

The letter was signed by John Miller, head of Americas investment banking; Joe McGrath, co-head of global finance and risk solutions; and Paul Parker, chairman and head of global mergers and acquisitions.

"It seems like management has their heart in the right place, but time will tell how these new measures impact the quality of life for junior bankers," said a current Barclays employee familiar with the investment banking program.

"There is an entrepreneurial element to being a successful analyst or associate, so no level of structured 'protection' will keep everyone out of the office; investment banking continues to be a competitive industry despite the recent image challenges," the person added. "The challenge around these lifestyle initiatives for all banks going forward is how to make them an accepted part of the culture. Paradigm shift? We'll see."

A Barclays spokesman declined to comment.

—By CNBC's Lawrence Delevingne. Follow him on Twitter @ldelevingne.

Summary: Barclays put out new work rules on Friday, including not allowing bankers to work in the office for more than 12 straight days.


's ex boyfriend was hauled off in cuffs while doing his best

impression ... after a fight with a photographer ended with a blast of pepper spray outside Craig's.

Street artist Retna -- who had a brutal fight with Gastineau last year -- was leaving the West Hollywood restaurant Monday night when he got into an argument with an independent paparazzo ... not one of our guys.

Witnesses say Retna appeared to have been drinking, and got in the camera guy's face. When the pap complained about Retna getting in his "personal space" -- Retna allegedly slapped the guy ... who retaliated by firing a can of pepper spray.

Law enforcement sources confirm he was pretty wasted, and say he was booked for misdemeanor battery.

You gotta see Retna getting stuffed in the patrol car, and yelling things like -- "I'm a U.S. government!" Reese did it better.

Easy to see why Brittny's moved on ... and is now rumored to be seeing ex-bf, singer Luis Miguel again.

Summary: Brittny Gastineau's ex boyfriend was hauled off in cuffs while doing his best Reese Witherspoon impression ... after a fight with a photographer ended…


There are many, many websites out there who will tell you that Keira Knightley limits her spending to $50K a year — we’re looking at you Daily Mail, Us and Business Insider among others [et tu, ABC News?] — but here at TIME, important stories like that get checked. And the actress says it ain’t so.

“It’s not true,” Knightley said during her interview for TIME’s 10 Questions about her new movie Begin Again, in which she plays a singer songwriter who lives on almost nothing at all. “I don’t know where that rumor comes from.” (It actually comes from something Glamour magazine reported earlier this year.)

Knightley dispenses with some other myths in the interview, including that Ian McShane was her drama teacher. (It was a different Ian McShane — not the scary gentleman from Deadwood and Sexy Beast and Kung Fu Panda.)

And if you always believed that Knightley comes across as a bit of an ice queen, well, that is actually true, and the actress knows it. It’s one of the methods she says she relies on to discourage unwanted male attention. Another is the thousand yard stare, so that nobody catches her eye. “I think I have quite a frightening exterior, so unless I’m soliciting, unless I’m up for it, I’m far too intimidating.”

Hear more about that, plus her favorite era in history, in the longer version of the interview, below.

Correction: An earlier version of this story misreported that Knightley had made a statement regarding her income to historian Amanda Foreman. Ms Foreman has never written anything about Knightley’s finances.

Summary: The Internet is lying to you — but that's why we're here