As It Happens

Investors will cast a wary eye on the latest gauges of the United States' economic health this week, while troubled Europe shows early signs of turning the corner. As finance ministers and central bankers from the Group of 20 top economies gather in Washington, on the sidelines of the International Monetary Fund's Spring meeting, they view a subdued global landscape where even the United States' prospects seem tarnished. European Central Bank President Mario Draghi will be able to claim an early success in the bank's fledgling money printing program with figures on Friday set to confirm that falling prices throughout the 19-country euro zone are beginning to stabilize. Greece has until mid-week to improve a package of reforms required for the release of euro zone loans that it needs to stay afloat, and that will be a hot topic in Washington.

World oil markets will not see a significant rise in Iranian supplies for up to five years even if the OPEC member and world powers clinch a final nuclear deal by end-June, Fatih Birol chief economist and future head of International Energy Agency (IEA) said. While the likelihood of an immediate jump in Iranian supplies looks slim, the chance of a steep fall in deliveries from other regions is rising as IEA estimates companies will cut investments by as much as $100 billion in 2015 in oil exploration and production due to lower prices. Iran and six world powers reached a framework nuclear agreement on April 2, spurring hopes for a final deal by end-June that would lift economic sanctions imposed by the West against Tehran's disputed nuclear program. "In three to five years we may see stronger (oil production) growth coming from Iran assuming Iran and global powers strike a final deal in June," Fatih Birol, who will head the IEA from September, told Reuters in an interview in New Delhi.

Even if it survives the next three months teetering on the brink of bankruptcy, Greece may have blown its best chance of a long-term debt deal by alienating its euro zone partners when it most needed their support. Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras' leftist-led government has so thoroughly shattered creditors' trust that solutions which might have been on offer a few weeks ago now seem out of reach. With a public debt equivalent to 175 percent of economic output and an economy struggling to pull out of a six-year depression, Athens needs all the goodwill it can summon to ease the burden. Since outright debt forgiveness is politically impossible, the next best solution would be for Greece to pay off its expensive IMF loans early, redeem bonds held by the European Central Bank and extend the maturity of loans from euro zone governments to secure lower interest rates for years to come.

Volkswagen Chairman Ferdinand Piech is facing growing resistance within the supervisory board to his criticism of Chief Executive Martin Winterkorn, deepening a leadership crisis at a time when Europe's ...

Airbus (AIR.PA) will not abandon its A380 jumbo jet program despite slow sales, its chief executive told Les Echos newspaper, and needs more time to decide whether to redesign its engines as major customer Emirates Airline has requested. Airbus boss Fabrice Bregier appeared to rebuff the request in the interview with Les Echos published online on Sunday. "We are already working on ways to make the A380 more attractive economically by adding seats while preserving the amazing comfort of the plane," he said. The CEO added that the A380 program would break even by the end of the year, and that Airbus hoped to maintain its financial performance.

Germany's BDI industry association is more optimistic about the prospects for Europe's biggest economy than it was three months ago due to cheap oil, strong private consumption and a weak euro, its president said on Sunday. "For this year we expect gross domestic product (GDP) growth of about 2 percent," BDI President Ulrich Grillo told Handelsblatt business daily. While expressing concern about economic developments in Russia and Brazil, Grillo pointed to India, the United States, Spain and Britain as bright spots that could help Germany, traditionally strong on exports. "Europe is profiting from the stimulus of low interest rates, but in the long term structural reforms are required," he told the paper.

Three weeks before the Milan Expo opens on May 1, the site of the showpiece event is still a mass of trucks raising dust and workers in hard hats racing to finish building after delays, graft and cost ...

U.S. stocks advanced on Friday as blue-chip conglomerate General Electric posted its best day in six years. The broad S&P 500 ended the week up almost 2%.

A new patent filed by Facebook could change the way advertisers target ads online, and that could spell trouble for Google.

Getty Images Spotify founder and CEO Daniel Ek. … Continued The post Spotify may be raising a $400 million round that would value it at $8.4 billion appeared first on Business Insider.

Fast Company
Who Needs HBO Now? First 4 Episodes Of "Game Of Thrones" Season 5 Leak ...
Fast Company
HBO Now is already a day late: the first four episodes of hotly anticipated Game of Thrones, season five leaked online late yesterday. Reportedly, Reddit user sssteven first spotted the leak on private torrent tracker IPT, and the pirated episodes have since ...
First four Game of Thrones season five episodes leaked ahead of tv releaseDaily Mail
HBO Now delivers Game of Thrones on demandSydney Morning Herald
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Wall Street Journal
'Furious 7' Stays Ahead of the Pack
Wall Street Journal
The high-octane thriller “Furious 7” maintained speed in its second week, racing away with $60.6 million at North American theaters and bringing its box-office total to a robust $252.5 million, according to studio estimates on Sunday. Comcast Corp. CMCSA ...
These Charts Show How Furious 7's Second Weekend Is as Impressive as Its FirstTIME
Fast And Furious 7 Becomes SteadyMarket Journals
'Furious 7′ keeps speed, tops box office with $60.6 millionFOX CT

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E! Online
Jill Duggar and Derick Dillard Are "Settling in Back at Home" After Welcoming ...
E! Online
Welcome to parenthood, Jill Duggar and Derick Dillard. Less than a week after welcoming their first child together, the 19 Kids and Counting stars headed to Instagram Saturday night to alert fans they are back home and loving life as parents. "As Jill and I are ...
Jill Duggar Dillard and husband Derick Dillard post selfie of their return home ...Reality TV World
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Poughkeepsie Journal
Tax filing deadline is Wednesday
Poughkeepsie Journal
Wednesday is the deadline for filing personal income tax returns for both federal and state governments. Done already? Waiting for a refund? There's an app for that at the Internal Revenue Service, which says it pays nine out of 10 refunds within 21 days.
Long waits ahead for late tax filersMontgomery Advertiser
With tax-filing deadline coming right up, here are some tipsSacramento Bee
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mirror.co.uk
Angela Lansbury, Kinks' Davies Win at UK's Olivier Awards
New York Times
LONDON — An American classic directed by a Belgian and a musical about a very English rock band were the big winners at Britain's Olivier theater awards Sunday — but it was an 89-year old theatrical Dame who brought the house down. The Arthur Miller ...
Angela Lansbury wins first Olivier Award; 'Sunny Afternoon' is night's biggest ...Los Angeles Times
Kinks musical, Miller play are big winners at OliviersReuters
Angela Lansbury, The Kinks and Broadway-Bound 'Charles III' Win Olivier ...Variety
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Stuff.co.nz
China's 'Great Cannon'
Stuff.co.nz
China determination to censor information resulted in an internet assault known as the "Great Cannon". Late last month China attacked US servers in an attempt to block access to websites considered a threat by the Communist Party. Researchers are calling ...
Study: China cybercensors attack outside its borders with 'Great Cannon'CNN International
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The Australian Financial Review
Google re-inventing the humble battery
The Australian Financial Review
Google has a secret team of scientists working to solve one the greatest problems facing humanity: batteries. Or, to be more specific, batteries that don't last long enough to let you squeeze a midnight selfie into your daily routine. For, while everything else in ...
The Google X lab reportedly has a small, secretive team working to build long ...Observer Chronicle
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Extra
MTV Movie Awards 2015: Best of the Red Carpet
Extra
It's time to gear up for the 2015 MTV Movie Awards! Get ready for a rowdy night of celebrity pranks, roof-raising performances, shirtless men, kissing couples, and exclusive movie moments you won't see anywhere else. Check out the best red carpet looks ...
Kelly Obsourne Kicks Off the MTV Movie Awards 2015 Red CarpetJust Jared
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Modern Readers
Universe's expansion may not be accelerating as much as thought, say scientists
Christian Science Monitor
Researchers from the University of Arizona have detected variation in a kind of supernovae used as a standard measure of distance, suggesting that the acceleration of the expansion of the universe might be lower than previously thought.
TOTALLY COSMIC, man! Dark energy-hunting boffins say universe is expanding ...The Register
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New York Recorder
Robert pattinson & fka twigs not 'engaged' or 'married'
New York Recorder
Robert pattinson & fka twigs not 'engaged' or 'married'. Robert Pattinson and FKA Twigs are NOT “engaged” or “married,” despite a purely speculative and entirely wrong report from HollywoodLife. Gossip Cop can confirm that the webloid, which tries to ...
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