Ashton Kutcher, Mila Kunis tie the knot in private ceremony

Hollywood star couple Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis are reportedly married.

The stars tied the knot this weekend, reported People magazine.

However, neither the pair nor their representatives have confirmed the news.

The couple sparked wedding rumours back in January after Kutcher posted a cryptic snap on Facebook with the words Happy New Year Love The Kutchers written on the sand.

Later in March, Kunis was asked about her relationship status with Kutcher in an interview with James Corden.

Are you married? Did you get married? Have you gotten married? the late-night show host asked.

I dont know. Maybe. Maybe, Kunis replied, leaving fans wondering if she and Kutcher were actually a married couple.

37-year-old Kutcher and Kunis, 31, first met on the set of FOXs sitcom That 70s Show which ran from 1998 to 2006.

However, its not until 2012 their romance started blossoming. In February 2014, they got engaged and later in October, they welcomed their first daughter Wyatt Isabelle.

This is Kuniss first marriage and Kutchers second after his divorce from Demi Moore was finalised in November 2013.

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Source: http://www.thehindu.com/entertainment/ashton-kutcher-mila-kunis-tie-the-knot-in-private-ceremony/article7391483.ece

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Amazon Pushes Prime Service With Day of Deals

NEW YORK Amazon (AMZN) is trying to lure more subscribers to its $99 Prime loyalty program by pushing a day of discounts it calls "Prime Day" during the sleepier summer shopping season.

The e-commerce retailer plans to offer thousands of deals on July 15 in the nine countries that have the Prime loyalty program, including the U.S., U.K., Spain, Japan, Italy, Germany, France, Canada and Austria.

The Seattle company says the promotion is pegged to its 20th anniversary, which is July 16. Amazon says there will be more deals on July 15 than on Black Friday, the busy shopping day after Thanksgiving, and Cyber Monday, the Monday after Thanksgiving when many people go online to shop for deals.

Amazon doesn"t release the number of Prime members it has, but Michael Pachter, an analyst at Wedbush Securities, estimates there are 35 million to 40 million.

Pachter said he sees the move as an "experiment" by Amazon to see how shoppers will react to the sale.

"Black Friday is an event because it kicks off the holiday shopping season," he said. "I don"t think an event in mid-July will have much impact, and view it as more of a test by Amazon during a slow period to see how a special Prime shopping day is received by its customers."

Amazon.com Inc. has been expanding its Prime program"s offerings in an effort to add members, with additions such as grocery delivery, one-hour delivery in some cities, beefed up video streaming and the creation of a Bluetooth speaker called the Echo that syncs with Prime music.

Source: http://www.foxbusiness.com/technology/2015/07/06/amazon-pushes-prime-service-with-day-deals/

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Why GoPros Are the Only Camera Worth Buying Right Now

TIMETechWhy GoPros Are the Only Camera Worth Buying Right NowBloombergBloomberg via Getty ImagesA GoPro Inc. HERO3 camera is arranged for a photograph in Tiskilwa, Illinois, U.S., on Thursday, April 23, 2015.Your smartphone is fine for everything else

Apples latest ad campaign, Shot on iPhone 6, uses iPhone photographers gorgeous still images and video to ask one question: Do you really need a standalone camera anymore? For many, the answer is noand that shows in camera companies performance. Nikons camera sales were down 15% in 2014, Canons by 7.3%.

But that pain isnt being felt universally among camera makers. One in particular is doing just fine: GoPro, which in April posted a 54% year-over-year gain in revenue, though its stock price is floating at about half its all-time high Monday after going public last June.

GoPro is succeeding in selling cameras where its bigger, older rivals are failing because its taking advantage of a major shift in consumer tastes. For many people, smartphones are now good enough to replace typical compacts, like the Canon PowerShot line. Theres no reason to carry a comparatively bulky camera if your pocketable iPhone 6 or Samsung Galaxy S6 can take snapshots of your familys trip to the zoo just fine. That leaves Canon, Nikon and other brands catering to a far smaller crowd of hobbyist and professional photographers, hurting sales.

GoPro, meanwhile, has positioned itself as the go-to brand of choice for the so-called action cameras tiny box-shaped gadgets with ultra-wide lenses that can be attached to helmets or handlebars for hikers, bikers and climbers to get rad selfies for Facebook and Instagram. Since the introduction of the entry-level GoPro HERO, the companys cameras now start at $129.99 and go all the way up to $499.99, adding bells and whistles like 4K ultra-high resolution video, Wi-Fi communication for slicker smartphone uploading and quicker burst photography along the way. The companys newest entry, unveiled Monday, makes the whole package even smaller.

GoPros cameras are great because they offer something your smartphone doesnt. Sure, you could probably mount your precious iPhone 6 on your skateboard helmet before you go bomb that killer hill. But would you really want to? Thats whyfor most peopleGoPros are the only standalone cameras worth buying right now. For everything else, theres your phone in your pocket.

Source: http://time.com/3946741/gopro-cameras/?xid%3Dtcoshare

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NBA free agency: Lou Williams reportedly agrees to three-year, $21 million ...

The Lakers have made some quality base hits since whiffing on the top targets that defined their free-agent sweepstakes.

Lou Williams agreed to a three-year, $21 million deal on Sunday to join the Lakers, a move that shores up their backcourt depth and provides more secondary scoring. The Lakers also plan to sign free-agent forward Brandon Bass, adding to a bloated frontcourt that soon could dwindle to open up cap space.

Williams won the NBAs Sixth Man of the Year award last season after averaging a career-high 15.5 points with the Toronto Raptors. Williams has averaged 11.9 points and shot 34.1 percent from 3-point range in his 10-year NBA career, including stops with the Philadelphia 76ers (2005-12), Atlanta Hawks (2012-14) and Raptors (2014-15). Bass, a 10-year NBA veteran, averaged 10.6 points and 4.9 rebounds in 82 games with the Boston Celtics last season.

Williams deal has no player or team options, according to a league source familiar with his contract. But the terms of Bass deal were not immediately clear since the move may require the Lakers to trade players to free up cap space, with candidates including Nick Young, Ryan Kelly and/or Robert Sacre. Those players are the only ones with guaranteed contracts for the 2015-16 season besides Kobe Bryant, DAngelo Russell, Julius Randle Jordan Clarkson and Larry Nance Jr., all players the Lakers have no intentions of trading. The Lakers also have a room exception worth $2.8 million.

The most likeliest trade candidate appears to be Young, who has three years worth $16 million left on his contract.

The Lakers had visions of Young fulfilling a role Williams excelled in last season. But that dream turned into a nightmare. Young averaged 13.4 points on a career-low 36.6-percent shooting. He and Lakers coach Byron Scott clashed on issues surrounding his inconsistency, playing time and playful personality. Young also opened and ended the 2014-15 season with respective right thumb and left knee injuries that kept him out for a combined 40 games.

After missing out on LaMarcus Aldridge, Greg Monroe and DeAndre Jordan, the Lakers also filled their vacant center position by nearing an agreement with Indiana to acquire Roy Hibbert in a trade. The Pacers looked to unload Hibberts $15.5 million salary in the final year of his contract amid a reduced role under a fast-paced system. Hibbert has averaged 11.1 points and 6.8 rebounds in his seven-year NBA career. But Hibbert, a two-time All-Star center, has become a proven shot blocker.

Talks heating up

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Both Jeremy Lin and Wayne Ellington have had active conversations with numerous NBA teams that could lead to a deal soon, according to league sources familiar with the situation.

Ellington has sparked interest from the Lakers, Golden State, Cleveland, Washington, San Antonio, Atlanta and New York. Lin has heard from Dallas, Memphis, Indiana, Chicago, San Antonio, the Clippers and the Lakers.

It seems unlikely Lin will stay with the Lakers, however, after L.A. drafted point guard DAngelo Russell. Lin also felt uncomfortable in Scotts deliberate offense.

Source: http://www.dailynews.com/sports/20150705/nba-free-agency-lou-williams-reportedly-agrees-to-three-year-21-million-deal-with-lakers

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Greece After The No Vote: Four Options For Greek Banking

With Greek voters saying No to the reforms, the countrys most vital challenge is to keep its banks operating. That is manageableprobably, but just barely.

The bank problem is not insolvency, but illiquidity. Insolvency would occur if banks were holding many bad loans. The banks assets, at true value, would not be as great as their liabilities, which are deposits and other obligations. The Greek banking problem, though, is different. There are assets on the books that are probably good, but those assets are not liquid. When a customer comes to the bank to withdraw euros, the bank cannot call in a car loan or a home loan to gain the euros needed to cash out the depositor.

If all the depositors would simply wait, the Greek banks would have no troubles. Depositors, however, are worried that some morning the government will decree that all euro bank accounts are now drachma accounts. The government would turn on the printing presses and the drachma would quickly plummet, leaving Greek bank customers all the poorer. The smart thing to do has been to withdraw euros, and Greeks have been doing this in spades.

A man holds a Greek national flag as he celebrates in front of the parliament on July 5, 2015 .FP PHOTO /IAKOVOS HATZISTAVROU (Photo credit should read IAKOVOS HATZISTAVROU/AFP/Getty Images)

Most central banks, including Americas Federal Reserve, stand ready to provide banks with the liquidity needed to handle runs by depositors. The European Central Bank has provided Emergency Liquidity Assistance to Greece for all of this year. (They work through the Bank of Greece, which is like a middle central bank, between the European Central Bank and the individual banks of Greece.) When a central bank provides this help, it requires collateral. The Bank of Greece has been posting government bonds as collateral. This is the traditional policy. The central bank is typically worried that if private loans are used as collateral, the bank will use dicey deals rather than high quality notes. Thus, government bonds are demanded as collateral because of their safety. (This would be a good time to pause for a laugh.)

Todays problem is that Greek bonds are not considered suitable collateral, so the European Central Bank is about to stop providing liquidity assistance. There are four possible resolutions to the problem.

1. Alternative Collateral. One possible solution would be for the European Central Bank to accept other collateral. However, the liquidity program constitutes a large part of Europes bargaining power, so the ECB may not want to yield.

2. Other Sources of Liquidity. A second possible solutionone which seems unlikely but should be on the tableis for the Bank of Greece to try for a liquidity deal with other institutions. They might shop around for large private banks willing to make short-term loans. Banks around the world have deposits in excess of loan demand, so this approach just might work if the collateral is good enough.

Source: http://www.forbes.com/sites/billconerly/2015/07/05/greece-after-the-no-vote-four-options-for-greek-banking/

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Fight over American flag leaves Fort Collins man in hospital

FORT COLLINS, Colo. - Police say that a fight over proper American flag etiquette prompted a scuffle that left a man facing life-threatening injuries.

The Coloradoan reports that Fort Collins police are blaming an alcohol-fueled pool party fight for the Saturday afternoon incident.

Police told 7NEWS the scuffle followed an argument about the proper display of two American flags held by Hesser and another individual.

Someone punched 25-year-old Todd Hesser in the face, causing him to fall and hit the concrete.

Hesser was in critical condition Saturday night at the Medical Center of the Rockies. He has a severe head injury and has been unable to speak to officers about what happened.

At least seven patrol units from Fort Collins police responded to help with crowd control and interview witnesses. The party occurred atThe Grove apartments, on Centre Avenue and Rolland Moore Drive, just south of the Colorado State University campus.

As of Saturday evening, no arrests had been made, though police had identified a 20-year-old suspect.

An investigation is ongoing into who started the fight and whether charges will be filed.

Source: http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/front-range/fort-collins/fight-over-american-flag-leaves-fort-collins-man-in-hospital07052015

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IPSO upholds Nicola Sturgeon complaint

Following the publication of an article in The Daily Telegraph on 4 April 2015, headlined Sturgeons secret backing for Cameron, the Office of the First Minister of Scotland complained to the Independent Press Standards Organisation that The Daily Telegraph had breached Clause 1 (Accuracy) of the Editors Code of Practice.

IPSO established a breach of the Editors Code and has required The Daily Telegraph to publish this decision as a remedy.

The article reported the contents of a leaked Government memorandum which claimed that at a private meeting the First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon MSP, had told the French Ambassador that she would rather see David Cameron win the general election than Ed Miliband. The memorandum had been written by a senior British civil servant a week later, after a conversation with the French Consul-General.

The article said that these comments undermined Ms Sturgeons public support for a progressive alliance with Mr Miliband.

The complainant said that the claims were categorically untrue: Ms Sturgeon had not expressed a preference for a Conservative government or any views about Mr Milibands suitability as Prime Minister. The complainant regarded the newspapers decision not to contact Ms Sturgeon for comment prior to publication as a breach of Clause 1.

The newspaper said it had confirmed the authenticity of the document with two well-placed sources before publication. It was a contemporaneous note made by an experienced civil servant, and the newspaper had no reason to doubt its accuracy. It denied having any obligation to contact Ms Sturgeon for comment before publication: it was entitled to publish an accurate account of the document.

The Complaints Committee noted that the memorandum represented at best a second-hand account given a week after the meeting, which contained the serious implication that Ms Sturgeon had been disingenuous in her public statements.

The newspaper did not know whether the account contained in the memorandum was accurate. Nonetheless, it had published this as fact, without having taken additional steps prior to publication such as contacting the parties involved for their comment to verify its accuracy.

The committee established that the newspapers presentation of the account contained in the memorandum, in this context, represented a breach of the Editors Code.

Source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/11715880/IPSO-upholds-Nicola-Sturgeon-complaint.html

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