stroe laura

Murdoch reported to be close to BSkyB deal

News Corporation is close to reaching an agreement with the Office of Fair Trading over its bid to acquire total ownership of BSkyB, reports the Financial Times.

Citing "people familiar with the process", the paper claims that Rupert Murdoch's company is "much nearer than previously reported to satisfying objections that combining full ownership of BSkyB with its other assets would reduce the diversity of news provision in Britain."

The report says details of the remedy - said to be "structural" rather than "behavioural" - could be announced as soon as next week.

In other words, it implies that News Corp will surrender control of Sky News.

If an agreement is accepted by the culture secretary Jeremy Hunt, a 15-day consultation will follow.

It would almost certainly mean News Corp avoiding a six-month review by the Competition �Commission.

There was a noticeable note of surprise from BBC2's Newsnight presenter, Gavin Esler, when he mentioned the BSkyB story when showing the FT's front page at the end of the show.

Source: FT

Roy Greenslade

guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2011 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

Source: http://feeds.guardian.co.uk/~r/theguardian/media/rss/~3/SRr1VqCTKmA/news-corporation-britishskybroadcastinggroup

Hugh Laurie Jada Pinkett-Smith Jamie Lynn Spears Jennifer Aniston Jennifer Garner

Marine Corps Marathon 2011

Registration for the Marine Corps Marathon 2011 opened today to 30,000 runners from Washington, DC and around the world. The 'People's Marathon' has no qualifying time but runners must be at least 14 years old.

Since 1976, runners have tackled 26.2 miles around the Nation's Capital on a path that winds past famous DC landmarks before finishing at the Marine Corps War Memorial in Virginia.

Last year, Air Force Lt. Jacob Bradosky won the marathon in 2:23:30; Kenyan Janet Cherobon won the women's division in 2:39:19.

Registration for the October 30 marathon is $90 and includes a running bib, tracking chip and t-shirt. An online marathon training plan and tickets to the pre-race Carbo Dining In meal are also available.

Top Searched Marathon Questions:
1. How can you run a faster marathon?
2. What is the world marathon record?
3. Where is the most beautiful marathon?
4. How do you train for a marathon?
5. How should you eat during a marathon?

Have you ever run a marathon? Do you want to?

For more on today's hottest stories, check out our top searched list. Also check out AOL News Search for breaking news around the world. What other big stories happened today? Let us know! Come back for tomorrow's Hot Searches and follow us on Twitter and Facebook for daily updates.

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Source: http://hot.aol.com/2011/02/23/marine-corps-marathon-2011/

Kendra Wilkinson Kevin Federline Kid Rock Kim Kardashian Kimora Lee Simmons

The Secret Sisters Sweep the U.K.

Filed under: Charts, Concert News

Stephen Lovekin, Getty Images

The secret is out across the pond. The debut album from Laura and Lydia Rogers -- better known as the Secret Sisters -- has made its U.K. debut at No. 1 on iTunes and the U.K. country charts.

The Alabama-bred siblings, whose sound is an ethereal throwback to 1940s and '50s country and folk music, will hit the road this year with some of their musical heroes.The pair have scored opening slots on shows with Loretta Lynn, Amos Lee, Ray LaMontagne and Brandi Carlile, the latter of whom is a dream come true for the girls.

"I'm obsessed, frighteningly crazy about Brandi Carlile," Laura admits to The Boot with a laugh. "Wherever she is, I need her to come and find me, because I love her. She is so inspiring to me on every level. Of all of the artists that I have loved throughout my life, nobody has moved me the way she does and nobody has inspired as far as performance, personality, crowd interaction, writing ability, vocal ability, nobody holds a candle to her in my book. And maybe I'm just a psycho, and she'll probably hear about me one day and say, 'Keep her at least 500 yards from me!' But I'm just so inspired by her. If we could work with her, that would be a huge thing."