It is commendable that many women seek ordination to better serve God and humanity (''Equal Rights on the Altar of God?'' by Paul Wilkes, Nov. 30). However, ''good will'' cannot replace ''good theology.''

The fact that those who are seeking ordination indeed are borrowing rhetoric from the women's movement is particularly reflected in the remark of Dr. Sonya Quitslund: ''Was Christ, as God, taking on humanness, or was He taking on maleness when He came to earth?''

It seems Dr. Quitslund and many feminist theologians wish to deny Jesus Christ full humanity. They want to make him a sort of ''spirit of humanity'' entrapped in male flesh. They want to grant him a human will, mind and nature, but deny him sexuality.

Paul Wilkes's article merely establishes what he tried so hard not to emphasize - that the issue of the female priesthood is merely feminist philosophy projected into theological terms. DEBORAH BELONICK

Summary: Women and The Church   It is commendable that many women seek ordination to better serve God and humanity (''Equal Rights on the Altar of God?'' by Paul Wilkes, Nov. 30). However, ''good will'' cannot replace ''good theology.''


Negotiations between the Newspaper Guild and The New York Times and The Daily News continued past midnight in an effort to avert a strike against The Times that had been scheduled for 12:01 A.M. today.

The guild stopped the clock just before the deadline to consider a proposal from the publishers. A guild spokesman said later that it had been rejected, and that the guild then went into caucus to determine its next move.

The main point of contention between the guild and the publishers has been a two-tiered wage scale under which newly hired employees are paid at lower starting rates than had previously been established. The guild contends that the dual system could eventually destroy the union, and it wants it eliminated.

The latest proposal from the publishers concerned the dual wage scale, but the details were not made public. Shortly after the clock was stopped, Patrick Smith, a reporter for The New York Post who is serving as a spokesman for the guild, said guild officers had been told to refrain from posting pickets at The Times.

Mr. Smith said the guild's decision to make The Times the target of a possible strike was influenced by the decision of The Times and the News to negotiate together and the guild's contention that the problem of unequal pay rates was greater at the Times than at the other two newspapers. The Post is bargaining separately.

Robert L. Kyler, a Federal mediator, said, ''I'm going to keep the parties at the table if possible until we can reach an agreement.'' There are 1,900 guild members among the roughly 5,000 employees of The Times. In the event of a guild strike, union officials say, members of the unions covering most of the remaining employees of the newspaper would be expected to honor picket lines and not report for work. Officials of the other unions have not explicitly said how they would respond. Other Strikes Possible

There are 1,100 Guild members at The News and 400 at The Post. The Guild, which represents news, advertising, circulation and clerical employees, had warned that it was prepared to strike either The News or The Post in addition to The Times, depending on how the talks with the publishers proceeded.

Seven other newspaper unions have reached full agreements on new contracts calling for pay increases of $124 over three years, with $6 additional for fringe benefits in the second year. The pressmen - the seventh union - and the publishers reached full agreement early last evening, according to the publishers. The deliverers, who with the pressmen negotiated the wage package earlier, have not settled all issues.

The extent of support for the guild from the other newspaper unions was not clear following a report by guild negotiators on the status of the talks at a meeting of the Allied Printing Trades Council in midafternoon. The council is composed of 10 newspaper unions. Position of Other Unions

George E. McDonald, president of the council, said council members were backing the guild as it continued negotiations in its efforts to resolve ''serious'' guild problems over the issue of dual wage scales. Mr. McDonald said he thought the dual wage issue was negotiable. He added that the council had not concluded that it was a strike issue.

Edwin R. Egan, executive vice president and chief negotiator for the guild, asked in the late afternoon if there had been any progress, quickly replied, ''Not that I know of.''

The Times and The News had offered the guild the same wage package accepted by eight other unions, but the issue of the dual wage scale remained a major stumbling block to a settlement. Under the contracts negotiated by the guild and the newspapers three years ago, the salaries and stepups of new employees were frozen pending a study, which has not been completed, on whether the salaries should be adjusted in line with those paid at competitive companies. 'Most-Favored Nation' Proposal

Other issues have also not been resolved. These include questions of jurisdiction, job security and guild demands for limits on subcontracting of work. The Times and The News want a so-called ''most-favored nation'' provision to protect them against a settlement at The Post that would be more advantageous to that paper.

Last weekend, the guild made a proposal aimed at solving the dual scale problem. Under the plan, the top minimum pay rate in each wage classification would be the rate paid to people hired before the 1978 contract plus the increase negotiated this year.

Starting rates and the schedules of stepups to reach the top level would be negotiated. Current rates range from $173 a week at the lowest level to $616 a week for reporters and photographers. The guild says most of its members make less than $450 a week.

Throughout the negotiations, the publishers have emphasized their determination to maintain wage levels that are competitive with those of comparable companies and newspapers in the metropolitan area.


Lieut. Gov. Mario M. Cuomo said yesterday that his rematch with Mayor Koch would be comparatively inexpensive and ''friendly,'' would go beyond the state's Democratic Convention into a primary and would end differently from last time.

''I'll win,'' Mr. Cuomo said, recalling his loss in the 1977 mayoral campaign. ''You saw the movie?'' he continued in a telephone conversation from his office in Albany. ''Well, this is 'Rocky II.' '' Setting out the sort of campaign he expects to wage against Mr. Koch, who announced yesterday his ambition to move from Gracie Mansion to Albany, Mr. Cuomo made these points:

- What might have been a Democratic race involving a big field will now be a one-on-one match, focusing the debate and cutting the costs.

- He will also seek the nomination on the Liberal line and thinks that having been ''one of the strongest candidates they ever supported,'' he merits the party's support. After losing the 1977 Democratic mayoral runoff, he ran as the Liberal candidate against Mr. Koch.

- He will soon issue a formal challenge to debate and to limit campaign expenses ''to save up for a race against a very rich Republican.''

- He probably will not try to fashion a ticket for the other jobs on the state ballot, ''because nobody will be able to control that. There'll be primaries like in 1974 and 1978.''

- He expects Mr. Koch to raise the issue of capital punishment, which dominated their mayoral runoff in 1977. Mr. Koch favors the death penalty; Mr. Cuomo opposes it.

''In the end, what wins is not media wizards or political organizations,'' Mr. Cuomo said. ''What wins is rationale, and the Mayor has no rationale for this campaign.''

Mr. Cuomo conceded that he lacked a ''media wizard'' - David Garth, who intended to work for him, will work for Mr. Koch instead - and organization support. Leaders in the city will support the Mayor, Mr. Cuomo said, because he has power and ''an immense reputation for not forgetting.'' 'Put This State Together'

He said his campaign would stress that he would be better able than Mr. Koch to ''put this state together'' and resolve conflicts between upstate and downstate.

''That's what I've spent all my professional life doing,'' he said. When the party holds its convention in June to designate state candidates, Mr. Cuomo said, he expects to get at least the 25 percent needed to put his name on the ballot for the September primary.

Even if most leaders support Mr. Koch? he was asked. ''After eight years of distinguished service, I can't believe the Democratic Party would deny me that,'' he said. However, if he did not get that percentage, he said, he would circulate petitions to get on the primary ballot. Mr. Cuomo noted that while Mr. Koch was immensely popular in political polls, those polls were testing his popularity as Mayor. ''It doesn't transfer to Governor,'' Mr. Cuomo said. 'He Will Cost Us'

And he challenged the suggestion that Mr. Koch, as Governor, could do more for New York City than he could as Mayor. ''It's simply not true,'' Mr. Cuomo said. The political realities suggest, he said, that the things an upstate Governor might do for the city would be impossible for a politician as closely identified with the city as Mr. Koch. ''He will cost us,'' Mr. Cuomo said.

He added that he expected some support from people who want to keep Mr. Koch as Mayor and from people - he cited labor leaders, although he declined to specify which ones - ''who don't even like him as Mayor.'' Charges and Countercharges

After nasty charges and countercharges, their 1977 mayoral runoff ended with both men angry. However, Mr. Cuomo said that neither man had personally slurred the other and that they were now friends.

Mr. Cuomo was an acknowledged, although undeclared, candidate even before Governor Carey decided against seeking a third term. Mr. Koch, after making up his mind on Sunday to seek the governorship, telephoned the Lieutenant Governor.

''I wished him luck,'' Mr. Cuomo said, ''and told him it would be an issue-oriented and decent campaign.'' ''And he said, 'I hope so. And we'll be friends' '' Since news organizations cover the Mayor abundantly, Mr. Cuomo said, he expects them to cover him whether they like it or not. This coverage will save both candidates some publicity expenses, he added.

He said that with Mr. Garth on the other side he would interview other media consultants. Nonetheless, he does not plan to deviate from his previously chosen timetable and list his campaign team until his formal announcement, which is scheduled for March 16.

''I made the plan, and I'm going to stick with it,'' he said.


NEW YORK — New drugs that boost the immune system’s ability to fight tumors may be one of the greatest medical advances in years, cancer doctors say, pulling some patients from death’s door and keeping them in remission for years.

But the truth is that this happens for only a minority of patients. Now, doctors say, there is a new imperative to develop a test that will identify which patients will benefit, sparing others the cost and possible side effects.

The drugs currently cost about $150,000 a year per patient — even more for higher doses used in some cases — and the health system is eventually expected to spend billions or even tens of billions of dollars on the drugs each year.

“We don’t want to give these to 100 percent of the patients if only 59 percent or 20 percent will benefit,” said Dr. David R. Gandara, a professor and lung cancer specialist at the University of California Davis. Being able to test for a biomarker that could predict the drugs’ efficacy “would make this new class of drugs easier on the wallet, the national health wallet,” he said.

But developing such a test has proved tricky so far, for ethical as well as scientific reasons. Some doctors said it would be unfair to withhold the new drugs from patients based on a test if there was even a slight chance the drugs would help.

The industry is doing everything in its power to look like Monty Burns, the money-hungry mogul on “The Simpsons.”

“We don’t want to be wrong, because these medicines have an effect that, in some cases, is durable for years,” said Dr. Jedd D. Wolchok, chief of the melanoma and immunotherapeutics service at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York. “We don’t want to have an imperfect biomarker.”

The need for such biomarkers is illustrated in a study led by Wolchok that was to be presented Sunday in Chicago at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology. The study is being published online by the New England Journal of Medicine.

The 945-patient study shows that the combination of two immune-boosting drugs from Bristol-Myers Squibb — Opdivo and Yervoy — is more effective than either drug alone in treating advanced melanoma.

Patients treated with both drugs went a median of 11.5 months before their disease worsened, a longer reprieve than the 6.9 months for those who received only Opdivo and 2.9 months for those who took Yervoy.

But the combination also caused serious side effects like diarrhea and colitis in 55 percent of patients, compared with only 16.3 percent for Opdivo alone and 27.3 percent for Yervoy alone.

Dr. Antoni Ribas, a melanoma specialist at the University of California Los Angeles who was not involved in the study, said Opdivo alone might be just as good as the combination for many patients, with far fewer side effects, but that a biomarker test was needed.

“The combination is outstanding, but we have to figure out who needs the combination, as opposed to the single agent,” he said.

The main test being explored is for PD-L1, a protein produced by cancer cells that, in effect, orders the immune system to stand down and not attack.

The Merck drug Keytruda, Opdivo, and other similar treatments work by keeping this “stand down” order from being received by the immune cells. So it makes sense that the drugs work best against tumors that are issuing such an order and that it may not work at all against tumors that are not issuing the order.

Studies by Bristol-Myers and Merck, as well as Roche, which is also developing such a drug, have shown that there was a much greater success rate using the drugs to treat tumors that were positive for PD-L1.

Still, at least a small number of patients whose tumors do not produce meaningful amounts of PD-L1 also seem to benefit from these drugs. So some doctors say it is wrong to withhold the drugs from patients whose tumors test negative for PD-L1.

In the melanoma study, patients whose tumors were positive for PD-L1 did as well on Opdivo alone as with the combination, as measured by the delay before their cancer worsened. One implication might be that those patients should get only Opdivo, while others should get the combination.

But Dr. Michael B. Atkins, deputy director of the Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center in Washington, said that even for PD-L1-positive tumors, the combination was better at shrinking the abnormalities.

“The biomarker isn’t good enough to make any decisions on it,” said Atkins, who was not involved in the study.

PD-L1 is not the only possible biomarker. Scientists are finding that the drugs work best against tumors with lots of mutations.

Summary: New drugs that boost the immune system’s ability to fight tumors may be one of the greatest medical advances in years, cancer doctors say, pulling some patients from death’s door and keeping them in remission for years. But the truth is that this happens for only a minority of patients. Now, doctors say, there is a new imperative to develop a test that will identify in advance which patients will benefit, sparing others the cost and possible side effects. The drugs currently cost about $150,000 a year per patient


The Royal Mail steamship Africa, Capt. SHANNON, from Liverpool on the morning of the 29th, and from Qucenstown on the 30th, arrived at this port yesterday. Her advices were telegraphed, in brief summary, from Cape Race. We now publish the details.

No particulars are received of the fall of Ancona.

The Official Journal of Rome publishes a formal protest of Cardinal ARTONELLI against the invasion of the Papal States. It is addressed to the representatives of all Foreign Powers at Rome.

A private letter from Rome, dated the 19th inst., contains the following passage:

"Gen. DE GOYON has announced to the officers under his command that the mission of the French army is -- first, to protect the person of the Pope as long as PIUS IX. intrusts himself to the protection of the French arms; secondly, to pursue without mercy every Garibaldian, Mazzinian, or revolutionist who shall dare to attack the territory which NAPOLEON III. has charged his troops to defend."

The Vienna correspondent of the London Times says:

"Great preparations are being made for the defence of Venetia and the coast of Dalmatia, which is much more likely to be attacked by GARIBALDI than Istria, which forms a part of the German Federal territory. Fiume belongs to the maritime coast of Croatia, and, consequently, does not enjoy the protecion of the Bund. The Austrian ships of war are assembling at Lissa, where there is a very large and secure harbor."

It is stated that GARIBALDI's check before Capua, (previously reported,) was a rather disastrous one. The forces are reported to have been driven back by a brilliant charge of cavalry, and returned to their position with the loss of 400 killed and wounded, and leaving three hundred prisoners in the enemy's hands. Nevertheless, the positions were maintained and the attack was to be renewed in force.

It is asserted that the King of Naples was at the head of 50,000 men and would show fight.

It is stated that MAZZINI had had an interview with GARIBALDI, and was well received. Dissatisfaction was expressed in Naples and Sicily with GARIBALDI's appointments.

GARIBALDI had sent an envoy to Turin with another letter, stating on what conditions an agreement may be come to between him and the Sardinian Government. VICTOR EMANUEL received envoy, but simply observed that he should make his reply known.

A formal order has been given to the Piedmontese commanders hot only to avoid any conflict with the French, but even any discussion on any point whatever with the French commanders.

It is said that FARINI is to retire, as a compromise between GARIBALDI and the CAVOUR administration.

The commander of the Fort of Baia, near Naples, still resists, and threatens to blow up the fortress.

The King of Sardinia was to leave Turin on the 29th ult. for Florence and Bologna, accompanied by FARINI.

A deputation from Sicily was expected to arrive in Turin on the 28th ult., to pay homage to His Majesty.

The remainder of the Sardinian military, contingent of 14,000 men, had been called under arms.

It was reasserted that the Emperor of Austria and the Prince of Prussia would arrive at Warsaw simultaneously, and remain there three days.

It was stated that Austria intended to propose at Warsaw that the different Powers should not recognize any settlement of the Italian question as binding without her consent.

The Earl of Derby was suffering from a severe attack of gout at his seat near Liverpool. A report that he had died was current the day before the Africa sailed, but it proved unfounded, and at latest dates his Lordship was considerably better.

The following is an extract of a letter from Mr. EDWIN JAMES: SANTA MARIA, Sept. 21.

The repulse sustained by GABIBALDI's troops on Wednesday, may and probably will be retrieved by future successes; but it was a reverse, and a serious one -- not so much from the fact that raw troops were compelled to retire before the murderous fire of the Neapolitan artillery, but as proving a total want of organization and discipline among considerable portion of his army, and their incapability to contend against disciplined troops. The truth should be told in England, and GARIBALDI is the last man who would wish it to be concealed. His consummate skill as a guerilla chief, his undaunted personal courage, the celerity of his strategical movements, equaling those of NAPOLEON in his first Italian campaign, have been proved; but when he hesitates not to proclaim his intention to meet the legions of Austria to the field, all who desire his success in the noble enterprise he has undertaken must wish that he should know the material of which a portion of his army is composed, and whether he can rely upon them in such battle-fields as Solferino or Magenta. That Gen. BRESLAU was deficient in military skill; that he allowed that which was intended as a mere feigned attack upon Capua to become an actual attack upon such a fortress without any artillery at his command; that he exposed young troops to a cruel and murderous fire for hours, against which many of them stood firmly and courageously; that he ought and probably will have to answer for these defaults before a court-martial may be true. But the fearful panic which spread through the troops at the sight of Neapolitan Hussars issuing from Capua, covering artillery, and approaching the gate of Santa Maria, and which spread like a "fire in the prairie" to other regiments, who had not even seen the cavalry -- the wild flight led by officers, who seized the carriages intended for the wounded and galloped wildly through the streets of Santa Maria, along the high road to Caserta! Soldiers who left the road instead of forming to resist the attack, and ran across fields and through vineyards! -- these scenes, which I witnessed, convinced me of a want of discipline, organization, and of courage, which will demand the earnest attention of the great chief in the remodeling the large number of soldiers who have voluntarily joined his standard. CAPUA may capitulate or may fall; the prestige of his name,

may do, as it has done, much; Gaeta may surrender, the King may fly, and probably will, but the moral effect upon an army produced by the events of Wednesday last is not in a moment removed.


In the U.K. alone, it is expected that £1.9 billion ($2.91 billion) will be spent for the day, according to a new study by eHarmony, an online dating platform.

Out of the £1.9 billion spent over the next week, the most expensive item on the menu will be dinner out (£557 million) while U.K. lovers will spend an extra £192 million on jewelry and £57.6 million on cards.

The average spend on Valentine's Day will be around £53 per person, however men will spend more (£70.47 on average) compared to their female partner (£39.58). Londoners however are predicted to spend the most, with a predicted splashing-out of £86.02.

eHarmony compiled the data from an index using Google Trends search trends data relating to love and dating, social media trends, and the site's registration data.

Americans are the biggest of "big spenders" with a predicted $18.9 billion expected to be spent this year, an average of $142.31 (£92.82) per person. Confectionary will be the favorite; as more than 53 percent expect to spend their money on chocolate treats for their other half, according to the National Retail Federation.

Read MoreDinner is coming! Game of Thrones pop-up restaurant opens this Valentine's weekend

Summary: “Red Saturday” - the day spouses and partners rush out to the shops to buy their other half a Valentine’s Day gift.


The PM's announcement struck the wrong note on a number of fronts. It made it easy for Labour politician Douglas Alexander to attack him as "typically arrogant". The U.K. population has historical form for disliking leaders who look like they are assuming the results of an election. The best-known example is probably the 'Sheffield rally' – when Neil Kinnock, then leader of the Labour Party (and now better-known as the father-in-law of the Danish Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt) appeared to enthusiastically celebrate an expected Labour victory, only to lose the election a week later.

Another is Cameron's predecessor Tony Blair, who famously did not make it to the end of his third term after promising not to serve a fourth term – turning himself into a lame duck.

Summary: David Cameron hasn’t had the smoothest ride in office – and he may have hit another speed bump weeks before trying to secure a second five-year term.


After screening over 1000 drugs approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the scientists discovered that chloroquine and amodiaquine—two common anti-malaria treatments—could bind and activate a class of proteins in the brain vital to fight Parkinson's. Called Nurr1, these proteins protect the brain's ability to generate dopamine neurons, which are essential to the body's movement of muscles. Patients with the disease gradually cease the production of dopamine neurons, thus losing motor control.

"Backed by various lines of scientific evidence, Nurr1 is known to be a potential drug target to treat Parkinson's. Despite great efforts from pharmaceutical companies and academia, no one has managed to find a molecule which can directly bind to it and activate it, except for us," said Professor Kwang-Soo Kim from Harvard's McLean Hospital.

Read MoreScientists cure disorders in mice by resetting their brains

In laboratory tests on rats, the team found that by activating Nurr1, the rats with Parkinson's appeared to have their symptoms alleviated.

Current treatment for the disorder is aimed at replenishing dopamine levels via medication or surgical methods but while these methods improve mobility functions in the early stage, they cannot slow down or stop the disease, Professor Kim explained.

"Our research shows that existing drugs can be repurposed to treat other diseases and once several potential drugs are found, we can redesign them to be more effective in combating their targeted diseases while reducing the side effects," said NTU Associate Professor Yoon Ho Sup.

Parkinson's typically affects people over the age of 60, according to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), and as countries battle with rapidly ageing populations, cases of neurodegenerative diseases like Parkinson's are widely expected to rise.

The scientists are now aiming to design better drugs for the disease by modifying chloroquine and amodiaquine with the hope of carrying out clinical trials soon.

Summary: Existing anti-malaria drugs have the ability to treat Parkinson's disease, a team of international scientists announced on Thursday.


US stocks rebounded in afternoon trading Wednesday after slumping for six straight days on concern that growth in China was slowing more quickly than previously thought.

With the market set to close, the Dow Jones industrial average rose more than 600 points, to about 3.9 percent. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index gained 73 points, or 3.93 percent, to 1,941. The Nasdaq composite added 192 points, or 4.25 percent, to 4,698.

The three major U.S. indexes dropped six days in a row heading into Wednesday. That’s the longest market slide in more than three years. The Dow has fallen about 1,900 points over that period, while the slump wiped more than $2 trillion off the value of S&P 500 companies.

Wednesday was the second day that stocks staged a morning rally. A rebound on Tuesday faded in the final minutes of trading, with the Dow closing more than 200 points lower after having been up more than 400 earlier in the day.

Markets have been volatile since China decided to weaken its currency earlier this month. Investors interpreted the move as an attempt to bolster a sagging economy.

Investors might speed up the flow of cash from China into real estate here as they look for a safe haven, experts say.

Traders are also jittery about the outlook for interest rates. The Federal Reserve has signaled it could raise its key interest rate for the first time in nearly a decade later as this year. The Fed isn’t expected to deliver a policy update until it wraps up a meeting of policymakers in mid-September.

Investors were also following the latest corporate deal and earnings news. Technology stocks were among the biggest gainers.

Mohamed El-Erian, chief economic adviser at Allianz SE and a nationally known bond expert, told Bloomberg Television that the central bank missed its window to raise rates without adding risk to the markets and the economy.

The Fed’s rate-setting committee is scheduled to meet next on Sept. 16.

The Investment Co. Institute said in its weekly report on mutual fund flows that in the week before the Dow started to fall, investors were pulling money out of domestic funds and pouring it into world stock funds.

In the week ended Aug. 19, investors pulled $5.2 billion out of US stock funds, and put $4.7 billion into world funds, potentially opening themselves up to the declines in foreign markets at the same time they evaded some of the domestic losses.

Money has been steadily flowing out of US funds in recent weeks, the ICI reported.

Summary: The question was whether the market could hold its gains through the close, after six straight days of losses.


Asciano said in July that Brookfield made an indicative offer of A$9.05 per share but on Tuesday said Brookfield upped its offer price to A$9.15 per share, giving it a market capitalization of A$8.9 billion and an enterprise value of A$12 billion.

Further sweetening the offer, Asciano said it will pay a special dividend which effectively values the shares at A$9.54 each, and that it will offer a "mix and match" component so shareholders can choose how much cash or scrip to receive.

"This combination will provide Asciano the scope to leverage our industry leading expertise globally, and the financial capacity to take advantage of the myriad of growth opportunities in our sector," Asciano Chief Executive John Mullen said in a statement.

Read MoreAsian shares edge up on US lead; China home prices eyed

Brookfield Infrastructure Chief Executive Sam Pollock said in a statement that "combining Asciano's Australian container terminals with our existing assets in North America and Europe provides the foundation for a global container platform".

Record low interest rates have added to the M&A appeal of the Australian logistics sector which is already struggling with lower valuations because of a downturn in coal exports.

Asciano's former parent company, Toll Holdings, agreed to a A$6.5 billion takeover by Japan Post earlier this year.

Asciano shares have traded at a discount to Brookfield's indicative offer since news broke of the approach as investors questioned whether the company would accept a buyout just as it emerges from a costly restructure aimed at automating its processes and cutting costs amid the coal downturn.

The shares were in a trading halt on Monday after last trading at A$8.11 on Friday, an 11 percent discount to the takeover price. The company said it requested removing its shares from the trading halt on Tuesday.

Brookfield Infrastructure's shares were down 3.5 percent at $40.57 in afternoon trade on the New York Stock Exchange. They fell as much as 7 percent earlier.

Summary: A group led by Canada's Brookfield will buy Australian logistics company Asciano for $6.5B, creating a global port and freight business.


Everyone is familiar with waiting in line. According to a recent study in The New York Times, Americans spend roughly 37 billion hours each year waiting for all sorts of things.

Yet for some people, patience isn't necessarily a virtue and time is money. Therefore, there are better ways to get that shiny new Apple gadget than camping out for days in front of their store, or squatting on the sidewalk to purchase a pair of limited edition Nike Air Jordans.

Enter the professional who, for a fee, will save you precious time.

"The longest I've ever been on a line was 38 hours for an iPhone," says Robert Samuel, a professional line waiter, in an interview with CNBC.

Samuel is the CEO and founder of SOLD, an acronym for Same Old Line Dudes. After he was laid off from his job in 2012, Samuels launched SOLD as a line waiting service. Since then, the business has since grown into an enterprising start-up that views time as a precious commodity. And people are clearly willing to pay to save it.

While Samuel describes SOLD's clients as average everyday people, he says his customer are more time strapped than cash poor, and vary widely from middle class to super-wealthy.

"Moms hire me because they can't wait in lines in the mornings. They have to take the kids off to school," says Samuels. "I get hired by people who want stuff but their schedules are just tight."

Read MoreExcited about Apple? The line seems to have started in Sydney

Summary: For a fee, this professional line waiter will wait in line to land you that iPhone or Cronut.


Why aren't the markets worried about Greece?

I have said for some time that the consequences of Greece leaving the euro zone may be far greater than anyone realizes, but the market thinks otherwise.

The German stock market is rallying today, and is flat on the week. European markets are down only about 1 percent for the week. European bond yields are up, but not too dramatically. The S&P 500 is up 1.3 percent this week, and the CBOE Volatility Index is near the lowest levels of the year.

Read MoreOdds of Greek solution at 60%: Ex-Clinton official

I've had many discussions with analysts and traders about this seeming indifference. Opinions vary, but there are four factors that show up in everyone's list to explain the phenomenon:

1) Fatigue: After five years of crisis, everyone is over it.

2) Complacency: Most feel that a deal will be made, even if it is just a "kick the can" deal.

3) No contagion: Traders believe the European Central Bank when it said it would do "whatever it takes" to keep the euro together.

4) Containability: Finally, even if Greece leaves the euro, many have now convinced themselves the damage could be contained. Peripheral bond yields are only modestly elevated, with Spanish 10-year yields, for example, is at 2.24 percent.

Summary: Four factors show up on everyone's list to explain why markets are sanguine about a Grexit.


Roughly 40 percent of Brazil's 200 million people live in households earning less than $700 a month, according to Reuters. But the government's expansion of welfare spending has helped lift more than 40 million people out of poverty, the news service said.

That achievement is now at risk in Brazil, as well as in other emerging-market nations that are feeling the end of the global commodities boom.

The good times also have left Brazil with a debt hangover, the result of a private borrowing binge over the past decade. As credit now tightens, the economy faces yet another headwind.

Read MoreDennis Gartman: Stay far, far away from Brazil

"The real concern is that, faced with a struggling economy, the authorities lean on banks to raise lending further," said Neil Shearing, emerging markets economist at Capital Economics. Such a move would increase the risk of a much harder economic landing at some point during Dilma's second term.

After growing by as much as 7.5 percent the year before she took office, Brazil's economy is on track to expand by less than 1 percent this year. Tax breaks and other policies designed to spur growth have had little effect.

Big spending on social programs also has sparked higher inflation and left the government with widening budget deficits, bringing louder calls for reforms.

Summary: Brazil's election Sunday is widely seen as a big win for workers over investors. But the victory celebration may be short-lived.


Advancements in technology will make banking very personal within the next decade—it may require your eye or finger to pay for shopping and your social network profile may determine your access to credit, the Daily Mail reports.

Banks may request access to clients' Facebook account and see whether users have a stable friends network—a sign they may be less of a credit risk than users who change friends frequently, financial technology expert Gi Fernando told the Daily Mail.

Read MoreHow to avoid the bite of big bank fees

"The old saying largely remains a truism. You are defined by the company you keep," Fernando said. "'By giving up a bit more information to the banks, you might stand to benefit in a wider choice of products."

Besides social network probes, banks may soon replace credit cards with mobile phones that can be tapped against reading devices to pay for goods, according to Fernando. However, he says mobile payments will be substituted by finger scanners and retina readers, more secure transaction methods than cards or phones that could be lost or stolen.

Read MoreHow one start-up is trying to raise credit scores

However, Fernando says banks must improve technology training for their staff in order to ensure a seamless transition into tech-savvy banking.

Read the full story from the Daily Mail.

Summary: In the future, bank giants may require an eye or finger to pay for shopping and social network profiles may determine credit access.


Cruise lovers, say hello to one of the swankiest ships ever to set sail.

Recalling television's iconic "Love Boat," Regent Seven Seas cruise line unveiled this week what it boasts will be "the most luxurious ship" ever built. As one might expect, the price of admission isn't cheap.

When it hits the high seas in July 2016, the opulent 750 passenger Seven Seas Explorer will feature a host of lavish amenities—the centerpiece of which is a more than 3,700 square foot double occupancy "Regent Suite" that will cost a whopping $5,000 per night per person, or $10,000 for a couple, based on the ship's double occupancy rate.

That's multiples higher than the daily rate for a stay in the penthouse suite of New York's Waldorf Astoria, one of New York's most exclusive hotels—–yet still a bargain when compared to the $45,000 price tag at the Four Seasons Ty Warner Penthouse.

Despite the steep price, parent company Norwegian Cruise Lines says it already has people lined up to book when bookings open in February. The 56,000 ton ocean liner will also be the roomiest of its size in the cruise industry, according to the company.

"We wanted to redefine the overall luxury vacation market with Seven Seas Explorer," said Frank Del Rio, newly appointed chief executive officer for Norwegian, who called the vessel "the most luxurious ship ever built."

Read MoreTouring Royal Caribbean's $1 billion 'smart' cruise ship

A big draw is the 2-bedroom suite, which even Regent's top brass recently acknowledged was "over the top."

Summary: Regent Seven Seas cruise line unveiled what it boasts will be "the most luxurious ship" ever, and the price of a stay won't be cheap.


* Turkey shelters world's largest refugee population

* Ankara faces spiraling costs as economy slows

* West must do more to keep Turkey onside, analysts say

ANKARA, Sept 15 (Reuters) - The strain of sheltering the world's largest refugee population is showing in Turkey, whose open door to those fleeing Syria and Iraq is shielding European nations from a migration crisis far worse than the one they are struggling with now.

As some European governments turn to baton-wielding police and barricades to stem the flow of migrants, Ankara has vowed to continue accommodating more than 2 million people from its war-torn southern neighbours and welcome any more who come.

But refugees are becoming a political liability in the run-up to a close-fought election due in November, especially near border towns where Syrians can outnumber Turkish nationals. Barred from work by a government that fears a voter backlash, many of the newcomers are restless.

When war first broke out in Syria in 2011, Turkey believed tens of thousands would cross its 900-km (560-mile) frontier. Since then, fighting has engulfed the country and Islamic State militants have exploited the chaos to impose brutal, medieval-style rule across large parts of both Syria and Iraq.

Turkey says it has spent $6.5 billion on its humanitarian response, which includes some of the best equipped refugee camps ever built, including schooling, healthcare and social services.

"It's one of the most humanitarian responses I've seen anywhere," Rae McGrath, from U.S. aid agency Mercy Corps said. "There is an acceptance that, however inconvenient, Turkey must help its neighbour."

But its ability to help is reaching capacity, he said, and Sinan Ulgen, chairman of the Istanbul-based Centre for Economics and Foreign Policy Studies (EDAM) expressed a similar view.

"Turkey's response has been very much more humane than Europe, and far more in line with what Europe claims to have as universal values," Ulgen said.

"Many people are trying to understand the limits of how much Turkey is prepared to do. I think we are reaching those limits."

A bomb blast in the frontier town of Suruc in July blamed on Islamic State has increased concern that the open-door policy makes it easier for militants to enter Turkey, and the collapse of a ceasefire with Kurdish insurgents in July has deepened security fears.

But the biggest challenge is long-term. Authorities are struggling to integrate a huge refugee population which does not speak Turkish and has little prospect of returning home soon.

The sensitive issue of work permits for refugees has been shelved ahead of the snap parliamentary poll in which the ruling AK Party will try to recover the majority it lost in June.

That decision, criticised by aid workers, has driven refugees to take to perilous boats headed illicitly to Europe.

In contrast with Greece which has let many migrants move on, Turkish coastguard and security forces patrol the routes to Europe, detaining boats and bringing passengers back to Turkey.

Often, as in the case of drowned toddler Aylan Kurdi, this involves picking up the bodies of those who died en route.

Turkey gives refugees "Temporary Protection" status to access schooling, healthcare and social services. But costs are spiralling as economic indicators tick into the red.

The lira this month hit record lows against the dollar whilst the economy grew just 2.9 pct last year, far below a 5 pct target. The gloomy outlook is only fuelling the illicit flow of refugees to Europe.

"There is no life here. We need to live a normal life. I want to find a job," 32-year old Tariq said as he awaited to cross illegally from the Turkish resort of Bodrum to the Greek island of Kos on his flight from Syria's devastated Aleppo.

On Tuesday security forces stopped hundreds of would-be migrants as they tried to reach Turkey's western land border with Greece.

Unless European countries take more refugees or boost financial aid to Turkey, officials could begin to turn a blind eye to those trying to leave, aid-workers and diplomats fear.

"European countries need to step up to the plate to increase their support to Turkey," says Jean-Christophe Pegon, Turkey head of the European Commission Directorate-General for Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection (ECHO).

"Turkey could just open the gates, and for the moment they're not doing that."

A senior EU source told Reuters the bloc had been slow to engage with Turkey on tackling refugee flows, but that talks were underway to unlock funds to help refugees inside Turkey.

Although it houses roughly half of all Syrian refugees, Turkey receives less money than poorer refugee-hosting countries like Lebanon and Jordan.

The United Nations estimates that it has raised only 30 pct of the funds it says it needs for Turkey this year.

Some diplomats say direct offers of funding have been made but have foundered on Ankara's tight conditionality on how money is used and what role aid organisations are allowed to play.

Ankara has also made little concrete progress convincing western partners of the urgent need for a "safe zone" in northern Syria, where some refugees could be resettled. Western officials privately say any such plan is probably years away.

"I don't think it's even being discussed by the Turkish General Staff, it's just a political aspiration," one western diplomat with military knowledge said.

Despite the worsening prospects, a senior Turkish official insisted Ankara's policy would remain unchanged.

"Turkey remains committed to helping people in need, whether or not the international community will continue to turn a blind eye to the problem," the official told Reuters.

EDAM's Ulgen says Ankara would likely wait and see if the recent upsurge of debate in Europe over the migrant crisis would bolster resolve in the West for more decisive action on Syria.

"But if on all fronts expectations remain unfulfilled, then as a last resort, Ankara could raise pressure by being less co-operative in regard of the outflow of refugees towards Europe," he added.

(Additional reporting by Ece Toksabay in BODRUM, Orhan Coskun in ANKARA and Paul Taylor in BRUSSELS; editing by David Dolan and Philippa Fletcher)

Summary: *Turkey shelters world's largest refugee population. *West must do more to keep Turkey onside, analysts say. ANKARA, Sept 15- The strain of sheltering the world's largest refugee population is showing in Turkey, whose open door to those fleeing Syria and Iraq is shielding European nations from a migration crisis far worse than the one they are struggling with now.


Snow is already coming down in Philadelphia and New York, as a storm the National Weather Service called "potentially historic" starts to make its way through the Northeast. Cities in the region that's home to more than 35 million people have begun shutting down.

The heaviest snow is expected to hit Monday night and into Tuesday, with one to three feet across much of the region. The National Weather Service has issued a blizzard warning for a 250-mile stretch of the Northeast—meaning heavy, blowing snow and possibly whiteout conditions.

Read MoreTrack the "Blizzard of 2015" live with CNBC

More than 5,000 flights have already been canceled. In Boston, which is expected to get at least two feet of snow, officials at Logan Airport say there won't be any flights after 7 p.m. today—and the shutdown could last until late Wednesday. About half the flights out of New York's LaGuardia Airport today were called off, along with about 60 percent of the flights headed to that airport.

"This will be the strongest storm of the year," said NWS meteorologist Brian Hurley. "This Nor'easter is going to produce a wide swath of snowfall." New York City, Boston and Connecticut should expect whopping snow totals of up to 2 feet, he said.

The latest NWS forecast calls for 18 to 24 inches of snow for New York City, down from a forecast of up to 36 inches last night.

Connecticut's governor has ordered a travel ban on the state's highways. Officials in other states are asking residents to avoid any unnecessary travel.

New Jersey governor Chris Christie declared a state of emergency on Monday and said state offices would be closed on Tuesday.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo also declared a state of emergency and said the state is considering a travel ban on main roads starting at 11:00 p.m. ET. NY subways will operate on a limited schedule after7 p.m..

As of 1 p.m. ET, FlightAware reports 2,808 flight cancellations for Monday, with JetBlue, ExpressJet, and United leading the list.

Towns and cities along the Northeastern and mid-Atlantic coast were under flood watches, warnings and advisories on Monday morning, according to a NBC News report. The mid-Atlantic region could see 2 to 4 feet of storm surge flooding, the report said.

Read More Not just snow: There's a coastal flood threat too

A weekend storm that had brought snow and slush to the Northeast — the first real snow of the season for many areas — was just a warm up.

"Looks like our luck is about to run out," said John Paulsen as he gassed up his sport utility vehicle in New Jersey. "I can't complain too much since we've had a pretty mild winter, but I don't know if I'm ready for a foot or so of snow all at once."

The storm system driving out of the Midwest brought snow to Ohio on Sunday and was expected to ultimately spread it from the nation's capital to Maine.

Read MoreTexas snow only the beginning as storm threatens east

Lesser totals were forecast for the Washington area — a coating or a bit more — with steadily increasing amounts expected as the storm plods its way north. Philadelphia could expect to see about 8 inches but points north and east should see more substantial snowfalls: 14 inches were possible in some parts of New Jersey, the National Weather service said Sunday afternoon.

The storm promised treacherous travel by both land and air throughout the busy northeast corridor.

At New York's Penn Station, Cicero Goncalves was waiting for a train to Vermont, where he's going snowboarding, because he expected the flight he had hoped to take would be canceled.

But the 34-year-old flight attendant from Queens counted himself and his travel partner as lucky. "We'll get there before it snows, and we're coming back when the storm is over, on Thursday," he said.

Preparations large and small were in effect elsewhere in New York. A Manhattan Home Depot store sold about twice as many shovels over the weekend as it normally does while transit officials hoping to keep the subways running smoothly planned to use modified subway cars loaded with de-icing fluid to spray the third rail that powers trains.

Farther north, a blizzard watch is in effect for Boston from Monday night through early Wednesday. Wind gusts of 60 mph or more are possible on Cape Cod, forecasters said.

Wyatt Baars, manager of the Charlestown Ace Hardware in Boston, sold out of his bags of ice-melting pellets. But he said a New Hampshire distributor is helping him and delivering more.

"Everybody is preparing for the storm," he said. "When we have something this big on the horizon, everybody comes in for the ice melt, snow shovels, snow brooms."

Snow plow driver Al Laplant expected to be out clearing roads of Simsbury, Connecticut this week, just as he has for more than two decades.

"We'll be out there until the storm's over and then at least three hours after cleaning up," he said as he attended a home show in Hartford. "We'll be out there through the whole storm."

But even for a plow driver, the snow is no cake walk.

"It's kind of exhilarating," he said. "But at the same time, I've been doing it for 27 years, so I'm kind of tired of it myself."

—CNBC contributed to this report.

Summary: The National Weather Service called "potentially historic" could dump 2 feet or more of snow between New York and New England.


Sean Tarala and Jennifer Connell

updated 10/17/2015 AT 01:15 PM EDT

•originally published 10/15/2015 AT 09:15 AM EDT

her 12-year-old nephew for injuring her wrist at his 2011 birthday party appeared on the

show alongside the boy to explain why she did it.

"We love each other very much and this was simply a case formality with an insurance claim," Jennifer Connell, 54, said.

Connell's story made waves earlier this week after a jury rejected her claim to $127,000 for injuries she says she sustained when her nephew Sean Tarala leapt into her arms when she arrived at his 8th birthday party in 2011.

"All of a sudden he was there in the air, I had to catch him and we tumbled onto the ground," she testified. "I remember him shouting, 'Auntie Jen I love you,' and there he was flying at me."

Connell was roundly criticized for attempting to sue the boy, but she has since said that she was given "no choice" but to sue.

"From the start, this was a case was about one thing: getting medical bills paid by homeowners' insurance. Our client was never looking for money from her nephew or his family. It was about the insurance industry and being forced to sue to get medical bills paid," a statement from Connell's law firm Jainchill and Beckert read in part.

Sean, who sat next to his aunt during their

show appearance, said that he understands why Connell did what she did. "She'd never do anything to hurt the family or myself," he said. "She loves us."

Connell added that she was never "comfortable" with naming her nephew in the suit. "It sounded terrible to me from the very beginning," she said. "At the start of this I said I would never want to sue Sean."

But, she explained, "An individual has to be named."

"I just feel like perhaps it's the way the legal system is set up so that the insurance companies aren't necessarily in the spotlight," Connell said.

All of the attention was a total shock to Connell. "It was amazing how I walked into court that morning and walked out all over social media."

She added: "It was sort of heartbreaking and really painful, but also like walking into a film of someone else's life."

Summary: A jury rejected Jennifer Connell's claim to $127,000 for injuries allegedly sustained when her nephew gave her a hug


* U.S. private equity firm to buy 24.9 pct of Marshall Wace

* Retains an option to raise its stake to 39.9 pct

* Deal ups KKR's bets on lucrative hedge fund sector

(Adds quotes from interviews, details, background)

LONDON/BENGALURU, Sept 9 (Reuters) - American private equity firm KKR & Co is buying a stake in European hedge fund operator Marshall Wace, raising its bets on the rapidly growing $3 trillion industry.

KKR will acquire a 24.9 percent stake in the London-based company, one of Europe's biggest hedge fund operators with $22 billion of assets under management, with an option to raise it to 39.9 percent.

The two firms did not disclose the deal value but said the majority of the proceeds would be reinvested in Marshall Wace's funds or held in KKR stock.

A number of big companies have sought to buy stakes in firms in the hedge fund industry - where assets have tripled to $3 trillion in the past decade, according to data from HFR.

Meanwhile, many hedge fund firms are keen to strike such deals as the backing of a big company makes their products more competitive as some of the world's biggest investors such as pension funds and endowments are gravitating towards larger and more well-established industry players.

"Through this partnership, we increase meaningfully our breadth and capabilities," Scott Nuttall, head of global capital and asset management at KKR, told Reuters. "This is a driver of fee growth for us ... and further diversifies our earnings."

Similar deals in the sector have included Blackstone Group buying a stake in hedge fund Magnetar Capital and Goldman Sachs investing in hedge funds Caxton Associates, Knighthead Capital Management and Pelham Capital.

Marshall Wace, founded in 1997 by Paul Marshall, 56, and Ian Wace, 52, specialises in hedge funds mainly betting on rising and falling stock prices.

"For us, it's about the future," Wace told Reuters of the KKR deal. "The reality is that clients over time have wanted to be with bigger and stronger counterparts and this presents a very, very credible force," he added.

KKR started buying stakes in hedge funds in 2013 when it picked up a 24.9 percent stake in Nephila, which makes natural catastrophe and weather risk-related investments. The Marshall Wace deal doubles its exposure to the hedge fund sector in terms of assets under management.

(Editing by Greg Mahlich and Pravin Char)

Summary: *U.S. private equity firm to buy 24.9 pct of Marshall Wace. LONDON/ BENGALURU, Sept 9- American private equity firm KKR& Co is buying a stake in European hedge fund operator Marshall Wace, raising its bets on the rapidly growing $3 trillion industry. KKR will acquire a 24.9 percent stake in the London- based company, one of Europe's biggest hedge fund operators with $22...


11/10/2015 AT 09:40 AM EST

But thanks to the confidence she found while competing on season 21 of

star, 27, found the strength to go public with her story.

"The one thing that I had always wanted was for someone to be real with me about that whole situation," PenaVega told PEOPLE after

of her battle with bulimia, which started in childhood after she was told by a movie producer that she was too fat.

"You read textbooks and it's just so, well, textbook. 'This is how you get over bulimia.' But it is so much deeper than that," she continued. "I wish I'd had somebody who could have told me, 'It's scary.' You struggle giving it up. You want to get rid of it but you struggle because, in a strange way, you enjoy it."

PenaVega was sent home on

Monday, but not before scoring a standing ovation (and perfect 10s) from all three judges for her contemporary dance inspired by her journey and choreographed by her partner

"I feel like it's such a sensitive, tender issue. A lot of people are afraid or get uncomfortable talking about issues like this, but I think that it's good to tackle the topic head on," Ballas said.

PenaVega says she has successfully been able to put her eating disorder behind her and is now focused on shedding light on the issue for others going through a similar struggle.

"This is something that I was so afraid to talk about before, but this show has given me so much confidence," PenaVega said. "I went through a big battle and all I wanted to do was move and inspire people and show them that bulimia is something that you can get over. That's really all I wanted tonight. I couldn't have asked for a better way to end my time in the competition."

Summary: "This is something that I was so afraid to talk about before," Alexa PenaVega tells PEOPLE


New numbers for the average price for a gallon of gas in Massachusetts will be released on Monday. Average gas prices rose 3 cents to $2.09 a gallon last week in Massachusetts, according to AAA Northeast.

Burlington-based Nuance Communications, Inc., which helps power Apple’s Siri service, is expected to release its quarterly earnings report after the market closes on Monday.

US Representative Stephen F. Lynch, who is a member of the Financial Services Committee and Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, is speaking at The Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce government affairs forum. Monday, 7:45 to 9 a.m., The Langham Hotel, 250 Franklin St., Boston. $55 for chamber members, $100 for nonmembers.

L.I.R. Productions, an event-planning business, is hosting a networking event that includes a panel discussion on how to grow a personal brand. Attendees must be 21. Monday, 6:30 to 8:30 p.m., The Charlesmark at Copley, 655 Boylston St., Boston. Free.

The Boston Entrepreneurs’ Network is organizing a panel discussion to give insight into how angel and seed investors approach funding companies. Pizza and soft drinks will be served. Tuesday, 6 to 9 p.m., Microsoft Technology Center, One Cambridge Center, Cambridge. Free for ENET members, $10 for nonmembers.

Summary: Gas prices, Chamber of Commerce, and more notable events and things to know.


12/02/2015 AT 01:00 PM EST

This should make you think twice about sleeping in your contact lenses. The new episode of Animal Planet's Monsters Inside Me tells the terrifying, true story of Melanie, an Iowa college student whose opthamologist discovered she had a rare parasite eating her eye after she complained of light sensitivity and pain. "What makes the Acanthamoeba paraside so dangerous is their ability to burrow deep into the tissue of the eyeball," biologist Dan Riskin says in a clip exclusive to PEOPLE. "Once there, they can be hard to remove or even treat, which allows the parasites to feed on the host's cells unchecked." Melanie returned to school a regimen of squirting a solution that her doctor likened to professional pool cleaner into her eye every hour for four days. "When I put the eye drops in, the pain it caused was just intense burning," she says. "It was an uphill battle, knowing at the top of the next hour you were going to have to do it again and having to set my alarm clock and get up all hours of the night. Just a continuous cycle of pain." Then, things took a turn for the worse: She woke up one morning to discover her entire eyeball was white and difficult to see with. "It made me look possessed, and I was starting to lose my eyesight," she says. "The parasite was completely taking over." To find out how Melanie fought the parasite, tune in to Monsters Inside Me on Thursday at 10 p.m. ET on Animal Planet.

Summary: Melanie tells her story in the next episode of Monsters Inside Me


Fred A. Sabine/NBCU Photo Bank

12/07/2015 AT 07:00 PM EST

Martin E. Brooks, who starred in the ABC series

in the 70s, died on Monday, according to reports.

confirms Brooks died of natural causes inside of his home in Studio City, California and the family will not hold a memorial service.

Brooks spent his career working in television and Broadway on titles including,

. He also received a Theatre World Award and a Donaldson Award for his role in

, Brooks also authored two novels, "Danny Brown" and "Roman Candle" and also had his play, "Flo and Joe," optioned as a Broadway production.

Brooks spent his past 20 years as the "soul mate" of Edie, Landau's mother, who he is survived by.

Summary: Brooks, who starred in The Six Million Dollar Man died on Monday


12/11/2015 AT 06:00 PM EST

is a hard woman to get over, it seems. The actress's ex-fiancé,

, gave an interview to

detailing his heartbreak after the couple's split last fall. The pair dated for three years, ending in what Holbrook says felt like "a divorce."

"On the same day that my best friend died, I got a call from my girl to tell me it was over," he says. Holbrook's friend, photographer David Armstrong, died last October. "It was depression," Holbrook continues. "David was the first person in my life to encourage me."

Holbrook, 34, recounts that he threw himself into work and travel, leaving the Brooklyn apartment he shared with 26-year-old Olsen to move upstate, make films and take a motorcycle ride through Chile.

"I was consumed with own personal depression, my own personal scenario at the time," he recalls. "What happened over the course of the journey is that I started noticing the different types of trees. I started noticing the beauty, the details."

this past summer with her

. She plays Hank Williams' wife, Audrey Mae Williams, in the biopic opening in March.

Summary: Holbrook says breakup was like 'a divorce'


02/03/2016 AT 07:05 PM EST

are going to have one ballin' Valentine's Day – literally!

The actor, 40, stopped by

on Wednesday and revealed the non-traditional plans he has for his

"I mean, every girl's dream – we're going to go to the NBA All-Star weekend," he said, adding that it's in Toronto this year.

So why is Sudeikis forgoing the typical romantic candlelit dinner plans?

"I'm playing in the celebrity all-star game," he explained. "It's Americans versus Canadians."

Although he played college ball, Sudeikis admits watching her man dribble up and down the court might be a bit of a letdown for Wilde, 31.

"I haven't played basketball in over a year and half," he said. "So it could be a swan-song for me. But we're going to go up there and watch the dunk contest, the three-point, then watch the game."

Turns out a love of basketball runs in the family. Sudeikis was recently spotted taking

son Otis Alexander to a

, where the toddler looked to be having just as much fun as his dad.

"That was his first live basketball game, or as we call it 'Hoops,''' he told DeGeneres. "An NBA game for a two year old is actually pretty great. Every four minutes it's something different – there's t-shirt guns, dancers, little kid dancers, they're throwing balls out."

Sudeikis went on to gush over Wilde's striking beauty, joking that people sometimes don't even notice him when she's nearby.

"She's my invisibility cloak," he laughed. "Nobody notices me when I walk in the room. They're like 'Oh my god, she has a stalker!' "

Summary: "We're going to go to the NBA All-Star weekend," Jason Sudeikis told Ellen DeGeneres on Wednesday


's future in music remains up in the air, her label's parent company Sony is weighing in on her legal battle over her recording contract with

"Sony has made it possible for Kesha to record without any connection, involvement or interaction with Luke whatsoever, but Sony is not in a position to terminate the contractual relationship between Luke and Kesha," Sony's attorney, Scott A. Edelman, tells PEOPLE in a statement.

"Sony is doing everything it can to support the artist in these circumstances but is legally unable to terminate the contract to which it is not a party," Edelman added.

When she was 18, Kesha signed a multi-record deal with Kemosabe Records, a Sony Music Entertainment label co-founded and run by Luke.

After releasing two successful LPs and an EP under the label, Kesha, in 2014, sued Luke, 42, alleging he drugged and raped her and emotionally and verbally abused her for a decade. Luke vehemently denied the accusations, countersuing for breach of contract and defamation. Then in 2015, Kesha

, adding Sony Music as a defendant alleging the company supported his behavior.

At a hearing last week, a New York Supreme Court judge

that would allow her to record outside of her contracts; at the hearing; the judge cited affidavits from Sony and Luke saying they would allow Kesha to record without coming into contact with Luke.

Kesha in court on Feb. 19

Jefferson Siegel / NY Daily News / Getty Images

After news of the judge's dismissal broke, disheartened fans took to Twitter to support Kesha – and criticize Sony, to the point that the hashtag "#SonySupportsRape" was trending on the social media platform. (Sony's attorney did not immediately respond to PEOPLE's request for comment on the hashtag.)

In a Monday statement, Luke's attorney Christine Lepera said, "The New York County Supreme Court on Friday found that Kesha is already 'free' to record and release music without working with Dr. Luke as a producer if she doesnât want to."

But a source close to the situation tells PEOPLE, "There are issues beyond just whether she has to see him ... They would still be contractually tied [through the label], so it's not exactly an untethering of the two."

Both Kesha and Luke have taken to social media since the injunction dismissal. On Monday, Luke again denied the abuse allegations, writing: "I didn't rape Kesha and I have never had sex with her. Kesha and I were friends for many years and she was like my little sister."

Then on Wednesday, Kesha posted a lengthy statement on Facebook, thanking the entertainers (like

) who have spoken out in support of her and explaining why she came forward with the lawsuit.

Noam Galai / Getty; Jason LaVeris / FilmMagic

"This case has never been about a renegotiation of my record contract – it was never about getting a bigger, or a better deal. This is about being free from my abuser. I would be willing to work with Sony if they do the right thing and break all ties that bind me to my abuser. But at this point, this issue is bigger than just about me,"

clips of edited video footage from a 2011 deposition showed Kesha saying, "Dr. Luke never made sexual advances at me."

Kesha's attorney Mark Geragos responded to the video, reissuing a statement to PEOPLE from 2014 when content from the deposition was unsealed, saying: "[Dr. Luke] threatened to destroy Kesha's life and the lives of her family if she didn't cover up his sexual assaults in a 2011 deposition."

As fans and pop stars (

) continue to support the singer and the viral #FreeKesha campaign, the New York Supreme Court judge reviews evidence and Sony and Luke's requests for dismissal.

Summary: 'Sony has made it possible for Kesha to record without any connection, involvement or interaction with Luke whatsoever," an attorney for the company said in a statement


FORTUNE — Want to work for Peter Thiel’s new macro-global hedge fund? Then you had better have a “high GPA from top-tier university,” according to this job ad first spotted by Slate blogger Matt Yglesias.

This may not sound terribly surprising, unless you remember that Thiel has literally been paying top college students to drop out. Sure the goal was to identify promising young entrepreneurs rather than hedge fund analysts, but there is more than a bit of irony here — if not outright hypocrisy.

What if one of Thiel’s dropouts fails as an entrepreneur, or decides that they’d like to do something else. Say, become a hedge fund analyst. Will their former “top tier” universities allow them to return, or give that spot to someone who values it a bit more?

I guess this is kind of like then Thiel recently decided to teach a computer science course at Stanford — which happens to be his own alma mater. Or like how each of the partners in his venture capital firm also have undergraduate degrees (save for Sean Parker, who isn’t a fulltime partner anymore).

Do as I pay, not as I do?

Sign up for Dan’s daily email newsletter on deals and deal-makers: GetTermSheet.com

Summary: Hedgie hypocrisy?


You probably have never heard of LaserShip Inc., OnTrac or Eastern Connection Operating Inc. Yet these small regional shippers may well have dropped a package off on your doorstep this holiday season.

These and other small shippers, which handle packages for companies ranging from Amazon.com Inc. to Avon Products Inc. to Walgreen Co. , are expanding their networks across the U.S., creating a "super regional" threat to the duopoly of United Parcel Service Inc. and FedEx Corp. , which are under pressure to build their own ground-delivery businesses in the face of weak demand for express air delivery.

They work like this: A company such as Eastern Connection, which operates in the Northeast, picks up a package in New York City. It hands it off in Harrisburg, Pa., to another shipper, partner Pitt Ohio LLC, which delivers it a total of two days later to a customer in Columbus, Ohio.

By cobbling together networks, the regional shippers are grabbing market share from UPS, FedEx and the U.S. Postal Service as e-retailers look for cheaper, faster delivery options for their online shoppers.

Regional shippers typically can get a package between two points in one region—from New York to Boston, for example—faster than their national counterparts, and they are able to price shipments 20% to 40% below the national shippers because of their lower costs. Most regional shippers have ground-only delivery networks that employ contracted drivers who own their own company-branded vans.

"They're going into the area that UPS and FedEx pretty much dominate—and they can go further faster," said Ivan Hofmann, a former executive at FedEx Ground who now consults with regionals as part of ETC & Associates LLC.

UPS and FedEx "are so much larger, but they have learned a lesson from early years not to ignore smaller competitors," said Satish Jindel, a transportation industry consultant.

He compared the regional companies to RPS, which was acquired by FedEx in the mid-1990s and became FedEx Ground. "Now it's an $11 billion company."

In response, a UPS spokesman said the company "continually monitors and watches the marketplace." A FedEx spokesman declined to comment.

While the regional shippers' total market share is only about 3%—total estimated revenues are expected to reach $1 billion in 2013, compared with a total ground package market of about $32 billion—their revenues have more than doubled since 2009, according to SJ Consulting Group, Inc. These companies separately now serve approximately 90% of all U.S. ZIP Codes, buoyed by the increase in parcel volumes from big customers like Amazon.

Many of these companies started as local couriers or express package delivery companies 20 or 30 years ago—some catering in transporting checks for clearing, movie reels or other largely obsolete business areas. But the companies experienced rapid growth after DHL, considered the low-cost alternative to UPS and FedEx, retrenched in the U.S. market about five years ago. The surge in e-commerce and subsequent increase in small package deliveries also helped.

Because they operate in smaller market areas, the regionals can offer later pickup times for next-day delivery to more areas, compared with national carriers who often have to drive, then fly the packages through complicated hub networks.

"It's not just the pricing, it's the fact that we can get it there the next day," said Ted Kauffman, chairman of Eastern Connection, based in Woburn, Mass.

Amazon has turned to the regionals for many of its Prime two-day deliveries, industry analysts say. Amazon has distribution centers across the country, allowing it to ship more quickly to its customers, and regionals can often take the package directly from the warehouse. Amazon also can negotiate a good price in a ZIP Code with lots of deliveries.

"With Amazon, it's about speed. I think you do see them shipping a lot with regionals because of the speed and flexibility," says Rick Jones, CEO of Dallas-based Lone Star Holdings LLC, known as LSO.

On Wednesday, FedEx CEO Frederick W. Smith acknowledged the regionals' bigger role. "For the vast majority of products moved, it's almost certain that they will…be moved by one of those three large networks and then some of the smaller regional players for as far as the eye can see," he said during an earnings conference call.

Write to Laura Stevens at laura.stevens@wsj.com

Summary: "Super regional" shipping companies are forming networks that can handle fast, and often cheaper, deliveries for e-commerce, posing a threat to the UPS-FedEx duopoly.


Anheuser-Busch holds the top two selling beer brands in the world. In order to produce the large amount of beer demanded by consumers Anheuser-Busch has an extensive bottling plant that runs as a well oiled machine manufacturing 1,350 bottles of beer per a minute.American Originals: Budweiser

Source: Katie Bryan / Kurtis ProductionsPosted 03 July 2008

Summary: To produce the large amount of beer demanded by consumers, Anheuser-Busch has an extensive bottling plant that runs as a well-oiled machine manufacturing 1,350 bottles of beer per a minute.


The Blackstone Group’s pursuit of Dynegy DYN has come to an end.

The troubled power company just sent out a statement that said, in part:

At this time, Dynegy anticipates that the proposal will not receive the necessary votes to be adopted. Blackstone and Dynegy therefore intend to terminate the merger agreement.

It adds that it “intends to immediately commence an open strategic alternatives process to solicit proposals from potentially interested parties and carefully review its standalone restructuring alternatives.”

Dynegy originally agreed to be acquired by Blackstone BX for $4.50 per share, after which Blackstone would have sold four natural gas-fueled power plants to NRG Energy for $1.36 billion. Certain activist shareholders objected — with Seneca Partners promising a proxy fight and Carl Icahn offering a $2 billion line of credit to stem liquidity woes.

Blackstone responded by raising its bid to $5 per share, but insisted that it was a “final” offer. Last week’s shareholder vote was postponed until today.

Dynegy now says it will contact a “broad group of strategic and financial buyers,” including Seneca and Icahn. The company had not received a superior offer to Blackstone’s during a recent “go-shop” period, so the real question now is if Icahn will step up with the pledged credit (and, if so, at what terms).

For its part, Blackstone is just sitting back and (unofficially) hoping for the bankruptcy that Dynegy management argued was inevitable without the private equity firm’s intervention. Then Blackstone can just step in and scoop up the pieces at an even cheaper price…

Summary: The Blackstone Group's pursuit of Dynegy has come to an end. The troubled power company just sent out a statement that said, in part: At this time, Dynegy anticipates that the proposal will not receive the necessary votes to be adopted. Blackstone and Dynegy therefore intend to terminate the merger agreement. It adds that it…


bruary 28, 2016 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Pascal Le Segretain/Getty

05/16/2016 AT 11:00 PM EDT

have put allegations of sexual assault against both directors back into the spotlight.

, who has worked with both filmmakers, spoke out about the allegations on

Monday, and offered his take on whether the director's personal lives can be separated from their art.

"Life is very complicated," Brody, 43, said. "I look to collaborate with artistic people and to go into an endeavor without judgment and to hopefully be treated with the same. It's an artistic pursuit, and Polanski for instance had a very complicated and difficult life. It would be unfair of me to delve into something as complicated as the past that was brought up in the media."

Polanski fled the United States in 1977 after pleading guilty to unlawful sex with a minor in a case involving a 13-year-old girl, and has continued to directing films abroad. Lafitte made reference to the situation during the

opening ceremony, in a joke many initially assumed was aimed at Allen. Brody, meanwhile, won an Oscar working with the director on 2002's

As for Allen, the comedian has

his daughter, Dylan Farrow's, claims that he sexually assaulted her as a child. He has also responded to a

column in which his son, Ronan Farrow, defended his sister's accusations, and blamed the media for giving Allen a free pass. Allen told reporters at Cannes, "I've said everything I have to say about the whole situation in

." He added, "I have so moved on. I never think about it. I work and do my movies." Brody last worked with the director on 2011's

. In 2014, Allen told

denied molesting Dylan Farrow saying that he "found the idea so ludicrous" that he initially "didn't give it a second thought."

Asked if he thinks private lives should be separated from work, the actor replied, "Well, to a certain extent. I mean, again, people make mistakes in lives."

Brody also addressed the apparent difference between the treatment of

, who has come under media fire for

, and Allen, who continues to draw A-list star talent to his films.

"I don't even read about these things, to be honest," Brody said. "I choose not to indulge this kind of fodder."

He added, "I think there's a lot of catastrophe in this world and a lot of cruelty and a lot of carelessness. Of course it's horrible what comes out sometimes, and people have done things in their lives that may be inexcusable, but it's not something to focus on."

Summary: Adrien Brody addressed allegations of sexual assault against Roman Polanski and Woody Allen


Chinese investment in the U.S. real estate market has surpassed $300 billion and is growing despite China’s economic weakness and increased currency controls, the authors of a new report said on Monday.

Between 2010 and 2015 Chinese buyers bought $93 billion in residential real estate, nearly $208 billion of mortgage-backed securities, and roughly $17 billion of commercial real estate, including office towers and hotels, according to the report by the Rosen Consulting Group and the Asia Society.

Despite those eye-popping numbers, foreign direct investment from China still only makes up 10 percent of all foreign direct investment put into the United States.

However, the report is significant as the first independent study to prove Chinese investors rank among the top in every real estate sector. It also shows Chinese investors have stamina and can withstand short-term market events, said Arthur Margon, a co-author of the report and a partner at Rosen Consulting Group, which specializes in real estate.

“There are strong signals that there will be continued, maybe even increasing appetite,” said Margon, during an event at New York’s Asia Society.

How long the good times will last depends on both the U.S. and Chinese economies. Rosen’s team projects the United States will move out of its economic recovery and into a minor slowdown within 18 to 24 months, during which time China’s slowdown may worsen.

China’s President Xi Jinping said Monday that he will push supply-side reforms and focus on increasing the middle-class, underscoring the pressure the country faces to reverse growth rates that are the lowest in 25 years.

Interest from some Chinese home buyers may wane, but overall they tend to have bigger budgets for home purchases than other international buyers, the report found.

The average home price for Chinese buyers in 2015 was $831,800, compared with $499,600 for all other international buyers. In terms of the total dollar amount spent on U.S. homes, China surpassed every other country from 2013 to 2015, the report found.

In 2015, Chinese investors for the first time bought more homes than buyers from Canada, formerly the leading purchasers of U.S. homes, according to the report.

One reason Chinese buyers spend more, the report found, is their tendency to buy in expensive property markets. In 2015, 35 percent of Chinese house purchases were in California, followed by 8 percent in Washington, and 7 percent in New York.

Summary: Despite slowing growth, study says Chinese investors are still buying.


"Dear Juliet," the letters all begin.

"Dear Juliet ... You are my last hope. The woman I love more than anything in the world has left me. ..."

"Dear Juliet, I live on the third floor. My parents don't allow my boyfriend to come to my house. So I have to sneak him in. ..."

"Dear Juliet, my name is Riccardo. I am 10 years old." Riccardo is in love with an older woman, 14. He saw her in Verona the summer before. Does Juliet have news of her?

Every week, hundreds of letters pour into the office of the Club di Giulietta, in Verona, Italy, the city that is the setting for Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet." Some are addressed simply "To Juliet, Verona," but the postman always knows to deliver them to the club's Via Galilei headquarters. Every letter is answered by the club's group of volunteers, no matter what the language, sometimes with the assistance of outside translators. (In the past, the owner of a local Chinese restaurant helped.)

"Help me! Save me!" wrote an Italian woman whose husband had left her. "I feel suspended on a precipice. I am afraid of going mad."

Her answer came from Ettore Solimani, who was the custodian of Juliet's tomb for nearly 20 years, beginning in the 1930's. "Men have moments when they are unable to control themselves," he wrote.

"Have faith ...," Mr. Solimani added later in the letter. "The day of humiliation will come for the intruder, and your husband will come back to you."

Now two American sisters, Lise and Ceil Friedman, have put some of the letters and a few of the responses into a book, "Letters to Juliet," along with the story of the club and the play's historical background. It is being published in November by Stewart, Tabori & Chang. But on Wednesday, Lise Friedman, an adjunct professor at New York University, will read from it at the university's Bronfman Center for Jewish Student Life.

And what is the real history of the play? The theme of tragic love between two young people from feuding families goes back at least to Ovid. Luigi da Porto, in "Newly Discovered Story of Two Noble Lovers" (1530), set the tale in Verona with rival families, the Montecchis and Cappellettis. There is no evidence that Shakespeare ever visited Italy, and some scholars think he based "Romeo and Juliet" on a poem by Arthur Brooke published some three decades before. But the myth of Romeo and Juliet  and it is something of a myth  has become vital to the tourism industry in Verona, where Juliet's house and tomb are supposedly located. Giulio Tamassia, president of the Club di Giulietta, has said that the house on Via Cappello has been called "Juliet's" only since the 19th century. And the balcony on its front dates from the first half of the 20th century. (Shakespeare mentions no balcony in the play. For her famous Act II, Scene 2 speech, Juliet comes from "above.")

Outside stands a bronze statue of Juliet. Tourists rub the right breast for good luck. It is now considerably shinier than the left.

For years, tourists stuck notes to Juliet on the walls of the house with bubblegum. Last year the gum was removed, and white plasterboard put up for those who feel they must write. There is also a letterbox at the house, and its missives are collected and answered by the club. These days you can even send an e-mail to Juliet at info@julietclub.com. Very few letters, oddly enough, are sent to Romeo.

"There are hundreds of letters from U.S. teenagers," said Elena Marchi, the assistant to Mr. Tamassia, in a telephone interview from Verona. One reason is that "Romeo and Juliet" is part of many American high school curriculums.

"It's easier to talk to someone you don't know," said Ms. Marchi, a professional translator when she is not answering letters. "There are things you wouldn't say to your mother."

Ms. Marchi goes to the club every day, she said. "Once you start," she said, "you never give up, it's so interesting."

At least since the turn of the last century, messages have been left at Juliet's tomb in a former monastery on the Via del Pontiere, about a 15-minute walk from Juliet's house. But the letters really began flowing in 1937, the year after George Cukor's film "Romeo and Juliet" was released. That same year, Mr. Solimani was hired as the custodian of the tomb, which was probably originally an animal trough. (There are no bones there. Although the two lovers are supposedly buried together, over the years Romeo seems to have vanished from the picture, and it is now usually called just Juliet's tomb.)

Mr. Solimani planted rose bushes and a willow tree, trained two dozen turtledoves to fly around the cloister and to land on the shoulders of female visitors, and took it upon himself to answer the letters.

In the late 1980's, the club began to answer them. It receives money from the city for stationery and postage, but is otherwise run by volunteers.

Summary: Two American sisters have compiled a new book of some of the letters written to Juliet of Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet."


Controversial FIFA president Sepp Blatter, whose tenure atop world soccer’s governing body has been pockmarked by scandal, recently called himself “a godfather” of women’s soccer. That’s particularly amusing, considering that a group of top women’s players recently sued FIFA for gender discrimination. And that U.S. star Alex Morgan–who has nearly 1.7 million Twitter followers, tops among women soccer players–says she once went unrecognized by Blatter at an event honoring the world’s top players.

In an interview with TIME, Morgan was asked if she’s had to deal with sexism and misogyny.

“I have experienced sexism multiple times, and I’m sure I will a lot more,” she said. “I feel like I’m fighting for female athletes. At the FIFA World Player of the Year event [in 2012], FIFA executives and FIFA president Sepp Blatter didn’t know who I was. And I was being honored as top three in the world. That was pretty shocking.”

The women sued FIFA and the Canadian Soccer Association because the upcoming World Cup, which kicks off June 6, is being contested on artificial turf. Many players detest this surface, saying it leads to more injuries, and disrupts the tempo of the game. No men’s World Cup has even been played on turf. The players dropped the complaint in January. Their attorney said they wanted to shift the focus from the controversy to World Cup preparation.

Morgan’s full interview — 10 Questions With Alex Morgan — appears in the June 1 edition of TIME, on newsstands now. Subscribers can read it here. Subscribe to TIME here.

FIFA’s presidential election is May 29; Blatter is running for a fifth term. Two rivals just pulled out of the contest.

Summary: Morgan calls Blatter's failure to recognize her at FIFA World Player of the Year event "shocking"


Would you like Mario with that Big Mac?

Nintendo of America is expected to announce today that it will offer free wireless Internet access for its Nintendo DS portable game system at McDonald's restaurants. Customers will be able to play select DS games with other players around the world.

McDonald's offers wireless Internet, or Wi-Fi, access to laptop users for a fee in 6,000 restaurants nationwide, but the free Nintendo arrangement will permit the DS machines to play without a laptop.

The DS is the latest game system to offer online play. Both Sony and Microsoft have long promoted the online game-playing features of their game consoles.

Sony's PlayStation Portable, the main competitor to the Nintendo DS, also offers wireless online play.

"This is such an interesting direction for McDonald's," said Anita Frazier, an entertainment industry analyst with the NPD Group, a research firm. "This could encourage kids to go to McDonald's to play games. It is like the kids' version of Starbucks' wireless hot spots." As with the toys that have long been packaged with McDonald's food, the relationship will help draw customers to the restaurants, she said.

Released in November, the Nintendo DS has sold 2.2 million units in the United States, NPD says. Sony's PlayStation Portable, available since March, has sold two million.

Wireless access for the DS will be provided by Wayport of Austin, Tex., which supplies Wi-Fi to McDonald's. Nintendo will pay Wayport an undisclosed fee for the service.

Wayport expects to have Wi-Fi in around 7,000 McDonald's outlets in America by June, said Dan Lowden, Wayport's vice president for business development and marketing.

The online game service will begin next month with two titles: Mario Kart DS and Tony Hawk's American SK8Land. Two other games, Animal Crossing: Wild World and Metroid Prime Hunters, will be available by the end of the year.

While DS users can now send text messages and pictures wirelessly to other users, "we have no plans to move that into Wi-Fi," said Perrin Kaplan, a vice president at Nintendo of America . "There are so many other ways that people can chat."

Summary: Nintendo of America is expected to offer free wireless Internet access for its Nintendo DS portable game system at McDonald's restaurants; customers will be able to play select DS games with other players around world (S)


AS the Whitney Museum's live benefit auction got under way this month, the artist Marilyn Minter was nervous. It was a Tuesday night and a crowd of 500  including Martha Stewart, Vera Wang, Donald and Melania Trump, and the Whitney's chairman, Leonard Lauder  gathered at Le Cirque to celebrate the museum's 75th anniversary. Bidding was about to open on a Coach python clutch that Ms. Minter had cannily reworked with splashes of brown acrylic to suggest one of the mud-splattered fashion accessories in her hyperrealist paintings.

Up for auction: A portrait of Keith Richards by Elizabeth Peyton.

Adam D. Weinberg, the Whitney's director, introduced the evening's celebrity auctioneer: James G. Niven, a vice chairman of Sotheby's, who grabbed the cordless mike, strolled into the crowd like a nightclub chanteur, and opened the bidding at $2,500. "All the money is going to the Whitney," he sang out, "so don't be shy." After a few frenzied minutes, he finally let the bag go for $20,000 to Amy Phelan, the wife of a Whitney trustee.

Ms. Minter, who had never seen her work auctioned before, breathed a sigh of relief. "I thought it was going to be $3,000 or $4,000," she cried. "They saved me from humiliation."

Yes, it's that nerve-racking time of year again: benefit-auction season. For the last three months New York has been awash in raffles, auctions and other fund-raisers where donated artworks go on the block to benefit all manner of causes. For the institution, the money can be a significant source of funds. For attendees, it can be a chance to acquire a work under market price, or, in the case of higher-ticket baubles like Ms. Minter's purse, a chance to demonstrate your generosity before hundreds of your closest friends.

But for artists, many of whom spend the season fielding requests, it is not exactly a win-win proposition. "We're the last of the real soft touches," said Chuck Close, whose name has appeared on countless benefit programs. "Everybody who wants to raise money for anything comes to us, and of course we get no income-tax deduction." (Artists who donate their own work, for either sale or exhibition, may deduct only the cost of materials.)

"The problem is that they recognize the individual who writes the check," said the sculptor Joel Shapiro, "not the individual who gives the work. You're a go-between, a lure, a honey pot. You feel somewhat used." Usually, if the buyer later resells the work, neither the artist nor the charity shares in any profit.

Refusing isn't a happy option. As the painter Inka Essenhigh put it, "It's not fun to say, 'No, I really don't want to give to the homeless.' "

It isn't that artists are particularly reluctant to give. Many routinely donate to the nonprofit exhibition spaces that supported them early in their careers. "A lot of artists come up through nonprofits," said the painter Bruce Pearson, who has given to help Momenta, White Columns and Exit Art, among others, "and it's kind of nice to give back to that system."

Many also give readily to social causes. "Friends with health problems, that's like a no-brainer," said the painter and performance artist Delia Brown. "And then things like Katrina or really serious political issues." Popular causes cited by artists included Downtown for Democracy, Planned Parenthood, Hillary Rodham Clinton's senatorial campaigns and anything, as Ms. Minter put it, to do with "getting rid of Bush."

Yet as the art market has heated up, more benefit auctions are being held, by a growing number of organizations. In April, in New York City alone, one could attend sales for the New Museum of Contemporary Art, Bomb magazine, White Columns, Momenta and the Sculpture Center, among others. May brought auctions for the Tel Aviv Museum of Art, the Studio Museum, the Noguchi Museum, White Box, Katrina Survivors and the Brooklyn Academy of Music, to name only a few.

"It's become the new fund-raising panacea," said the dealer Lea Freid, a partner in the Chelsea gallery Lombard-Freid Projects. During high season her staff fields two to three benefit requests a week, she said, and many come from nonprofits outside the art world. "There are so many people in the art world who are philanthropic, but we have to think twice these days," she said. Some of those making the requests seem unaware that Ms. Freid's gallery is known for political art and large-scale installations, not work easy to auction. "These institutions and organizations need to do more target marketing," she said. (She acknowledged, however, organizing an auction for her daughter's school.)

Summary: For those who donate their work, benefit auctions aren't exactly a win-win proposition.


Related: Australian surfers stay out of the sea as great whites torment town

Beaches in northern NSW will have “smart” drum lines installed off the coast this summer, which will be used to hook and tag sharks before releasing them further out to sea.

Drones will also be trialled and surveillance boosted to better protect swimmers and surfers from sharks as part of a $16m state government shark strategy.

The state minister for primary industries, Niall Blair, is due to announce the strategy in Coffs Harbour on Wednesday.

Ballina will be the first beach in the state to get the “smart” drum lines, which have been used in the shark-infested waters off Reunion in the Indian Ocean.

The drum lines have a GPS-enabled buoy attached that sends an alert as soon as a shark is caught on the line. NSW fisheries contractors then visit the site to tag and release the shark away from swimmers and surfers.

In trials in Reunion, the majority of sharks have been released without harm.

The state government has also promised a series of 4G “listening stations” along the north coast to provide real-time tracking of tagged sharks.

Related: There is deep unease about sharks in northern New South Wales. Here are some facts to keep in mind

The first field tests of drones will begin on Wednesday at Coffs Harbour.

Blair said there was no easy way to reduce shark attacks, with the government’s approach drawing on both available science and emerging technologies.

“These are the first of several trials that will get under way across the state’s beaches this summer as we take an integrated approach to working out a long-term solution,” he said in a statement on Wednesday.

Helicopter surveillance will also be beefed up on the north coast.

Shark-spotting choppers will fly between Byron Bay and Evans head for at least three hours a day between 1 December and 26 January.

Summary: Ballina becomes first beach to get ‘smart’ drum lines, previously used in Reunion to hook sharks before they are released further out at sea