Princess Beatrice graduates college

Britain's Princess Beatrice graduated from college this week and will embark on a series of internships, Buckingham Palace announced.

Beatrice took part in Friday's commencement exercises at the University of London's Goldsmiths College with hundreds of classmates and her proud parents, the duke of York and Sarah Ferguson, in the stands.

Beatrice, 23, earned a degree in history but her career path is being focused on future good works.

"Princess Beatrice will over the coming months broaden her knowledge and experience to complement her position as a member of the Royal Family," the palace said in a written statement. "This will involve undertaking a number of internships to develop her experience, particularly in business and philanthropy."

The Daily Telegraph said Saturday the princess is already active in the Teenage Cancer Trust and her mom's Children in Crisis charity.

New label to help people pick health insurance

Insurers and employers will have to spell out plainly the costs and benefits of the health plans they offer starting next year.

The rule announced by U.S. health officials on Wednesday is designed to better inform people about health insurance choices with a standard label, which the Department of Health and Human Services likens to the kind on a cereal box.

Among other things, the label will tell customers their premium, deductible and out-of-pocket costs, and the costs associated with medical events and procedures, such as doctor visits and breast cancer treatments. Insurers must provide the information before a customer purchases a plan and when there are any changes.

"Today, many consumers don't have easy access to information in plain English to help them understand the differences in the coverage and benefits provided by different health plans," said HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius.

The rule, part of President Barack Obama's 2010 health care overhaul, pleases consumer groups, who have complained that the pages of fine print accompanying insurance plans are often confusing.

"By making the terms of health insurance plans easier to understand, consumers are less likely to find themselves in health plans that don't meet their needs," said Consumer Union senior health policy analyst Lynn Quincy.

Insurers are concerned that the administrative costs associated with the new label will raise the price of the plans themselves.

"The benefits of providing a new summary of coverage document must be balanced against the increased administrative burden and higher costs to consumers and employers," said Robert Zirkelbach, the spokesman for America's Health Insurance Plans, the industry's trade group.

Kim Holland, executive director of state affairs at Blue Cross Blue Shield Association, said insurers support people knowing what they are getting, but echoed that concern.

"The concern is we already have a body of law that tells us what we need to have," Holland said before the rule's release.

The six-page label follows the recommendations of a group formed by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners that included insurance companies, consumer groups and academics.

"At the end of the day, what NAIC recommended wasn't what everybody wanted, but it was as close to a consensus as possible," said Sabrina Corlette, an NAIC consumer representative and Georgetown University research professor.

"You wouldn't be comparing apples to oranges anymore," she said. "So it would make it much easier for families to make those decisions."

Monkees cut concert tour short

American pop group The Monkees announced this week they have canceled the last nine dates on their concert tour.

Known for their songs "I'm a Believer" and "Daydream Believer," the band outsold The Beatles and The Rolling Stones in 1967.

Original Monkees members Micky Dolenz, Davy Jones and Peter Tork embarked on a 45th anniversary tour earlier this year, but announced Tuesday the rest of their scheduled gigs, including dates in the United States and United Kingdom, had been scrapped, the BBC said.

"I am disappointed but the situation was unavoidable and I want to apologize to all the fans," Dolenz said in a statement on his Facebook page. "The Monkee Tour has, indeed, been canceled but for reasons that I cannot discuss at this time. I can say that the reasons pertain to business and are internal matters."

"I can only say that it has to do with business matters," the BBC said Tork wrote in a statement on his Facebook page. "I sincerely regret that it is not possible to continue this wonderful tour. I especially regret the inconvenience to those of you whose plans have been disrupted. Thank you for all your love and support. I hope to see you on the road sometime."

Read more: http://www.upi.com/Entertainment_News/Music/2011/08/13/Monkees-cut-concert-tour-short/UPI-44121313218320/#ixzz1Uudmmz1J

Facebook Not Too Concerned With Google+ Games

Facebook is focusing on a range of updates to its gaming platform, part of which includes a set of changes announced Thursday, says Facebook's Sean Ryan, director of game partnerships. "We don't worry about them. We worry about us," Ryan says. He cited as a model McDonald's move a couple years ago into coffee, as a "bold effort," while Starbucks "just focused on how to drive its business." The implication being that Facebook is Starbucks.

Facebook has been working on a revamp of its app platform for the past year or so to improve distribution for games. After the changes announced yesterday, Facebook will soon be rolling out more new features for game apps, Ryan said in a meeting with reporters Friday at Facebook's Palo Alto, Calif. offices.

As far as Google's pitch to charge game developers on Google+ only 5% on transactions compared to Facebook's 30%, Ryan says revenue is not the main factor for developers. He said users will choose the best platform and developers will choose the one with the most users--currently Facebook has more than 200 million monthly users playing games and 85 games with more than 1 million monthly active users. "At the end of the day, (developers) go where the users are," Ryan says. "We're far and away the leader. It's not even close."

Would Facebook ever come down from the 30% fee? The 30% margin is a traditional industry number, Ryan says, at retail stores like GameStop. "Google's is (at) 5% because it doesn't have any users. It's pretty simple... It doesn't mean (30%) is set in stone. It means we think we deliver a lot of value."

Facebook has a delicate symbiotic relationship with game developers. It exploded in growth with its third party platform and early developers like RockYou and Slide. But in recent years Facebook made changes to its platform to improve user experience which also made developers' businesses more challenging. It clamped down on viral messaging--admittedly with a "blunt instrument" says Facebook's Carl Sjogreen--so that users would not get game spam, but that cut down on game developers' massive growth. Facebook also instituted Facebook Credits, its required virtual currency system for which it takes 30% of all transactions on games. It also has a special deal with Zynga parts of which were revealed in Zynga's recent S-1 filing.

One year ago, spam messages from social games was one of the top five reasons people were unhappy with Facebook, according to polling done by the company. Now it "doesn't even show up anymore," says Ryan. That was a major objective in Facebook's goal of ramping up growth.

Now that the company has solved the spam problem, Facebook is trying to help developers more and give them more ability to reach users. "We should do a better job catering to (developers)," Ryan says.

In the new changes, Facebook has revamped how it surfaces content from games into the News Feed. ("Your friend Joe just gave you a cow! Go thank them now") The game notifications that people will see in their News Feed will be more personalized, using an algorithm based on what games people have played in the past as well as what their friends have played. It also surfaces games based on which games get the most "Likes" and Comments on the News Feed.

People still have the ability to click 'X' next to content that appears in their News Feed that they don't like. Game players on Facebook can also select which friends they want to be able to see their gaming activity on a granular level. Ryan says this will attempt to strike a balance between more distribution for game developers and more content that users want to see.

Another change to Facebook apps is that users can now customize which apps appear on their main Facebook page on the left-hand side. They can select "favorites" that they constantly return to. These favorites will also appear as icons in the top right-hand side of all Facebook apps, so that people can quickly switch between games or apps. Some games also can now appear wider in more of a full-screen mode to enable more complex games.

Another big addition is real-time updates in a new "live ticker' inside of apps. This will give people live updates of their friend's activity in games. It can also do things like publish high scores, achievements and the like. Ryan believes these live updates will drive more game play as friends jump in to challenge their friends.

The real-time updates could also enable a whole new set of real-time games that have mostly not been possible. Up until now most games have been asynchronous like FarmVille where users make a few moves by themselves and their friends respond later. Some developers like Kabam have built their own real-time features for users to see when their friends are online and chat in real time. Now some of that type of functionality is built into the Facebook platform. More such features could be coming soon.

Marine to receive Medal off Honor

A former corporal is to be the first living Marine to receive the Medal of Honor for actions in Afghanistan or Iraq, the White House announced.

Dakota Meyer, now a sergeant in the inactive ready reserve, is to receive the highest U.S. military honor from President Barack Obama at a White House ceremony Sept. 15, the press officer announced Friday. Meyer was nominated for the honor after he retrieved the bodies of three Marines killed by insurgents in Kunar province Sept. 9, 2009.

Meyer was born in Columbia, Ky., and enlisted in the Marines after graduating from Green County High School in 2006. He was deployed to Iraq in 2007 and to Afghanistan in 2009 and completed his active duty service in 2010.

S.Africa approves national health insurance scheme

South Africa on Thursday announced it has approved a national health insurance proposal aimed at overhauling weak public facilities that serve more than 80 percent of the population.

"We are building a health system that will offer decent health care for all our people. This is a right that large numbers of South Africans, over many generations, have never known," said Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi.

Details of the National Health Insurance (NHI) scheme, which will be piloted in 10 areas next year and rolled out nationally over 14 years, will be published on Friday.

The ruling African National Congress last year estimated the fund would cost 128 billion rand ($18 billion, 12.5 billion euros) in 2012, rising to 267 billion rand in 2020.

Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan told a press briefing on Thursday that it will be funded through various sources including tax revenue, mandatory contributions from employers, and co-payments from individuals for services not covered by the scheme, and potential partnerships with the private sector.

South Africa's quality health services are currently heavily skewed toward the more expensive private sector.

Some 84 percent of the country's 50 million people depend on public hospitals and clinics, which are greatly overburdened and poorly staffed despite the state's health spending accounting for 8.5 percent of gross domestic product.

"It is true that the quality of care in public health institutions is often totally unacceptable and that radical measures are needed to put matters in order," said Motsoaledi.

The long-awaited proposal has drawn controversy over fears about costs and threats to the private health care industry.

But Motsoaledi said the scheme was not a war between the public and private sectors and that the government did not aim to abolish private health insurance. Individuals would still be able to enroll in private medical aid schemes, but would continue to have to pay NHI contributions.

The proposal was approved by the cabinet on Wednesday and will be gazetted for public comment on Friday before draft legislation is developed.

Kenny Ortega to helm 'Dancing' remake

Kenny Ortega, the choreographer of "Dirty Dancing," is to direct a remake of the iconic 1987 romance movie, Lionsgate announced.

Ortega's credits include "High School Musical 3: Senior Year" and "This Is It," starring Michael Jackson.

The original "Dirty Dancing" was set in 1963 and featured Jennifer Grey as a teen who falls in love with a dance teacher, played by the late Patrick Swayze, while on vacation with her parents.

Plans for a "Dirty Dancing" remake, which will incorporate classic songs from the 1960s, hits from the original film and brand new compositions, were announced Monday by Joe Drake, co-chief operational officer of Lionsgate and president of the Motion Picture Group.

The studio said it is in talks with Eleanor Bergstein, the writer and co-producer of the original film, regarding her involvement in the new film in a producing capacity.

"Amazingly, it has been almost 25 years since the original film was released, but the fans remain legion, and engaged more than ever with a brand that is special and vital to them. We believe that the timing couldn't be better to modernize this story on the big screen, and we are proud to have Kenny Ortega at the helm," Drake said in a statement.

"The opportunity to direct 'Dirty Dancing' is like returning home for me," Ortega added. "Growing up in the 60s on the dance floor helped define me as a person and as an artist. I am looking forward to assembling a great creative team and an exciting cast to bring 'Dirty Dancing' to the screen for a new generation. Patrick Swayze set the bar for men dancing in the movies as Gene Kelly and Fred Astaire did before him. I believe everywhere you look there is evidence that the talent is out there and I can't wait to begin the process of discovering the next breakout triple-threats."

Brazil announces scholarship program

Brazil has announced it will invest $2.02 billion by the end of 2014 in 75,000 science and technology scholarships that will send students abroad.

The commitment is part of the government's Science Without Borders program announced July 26, an article in Nature reported.

Brazil is one of the world's 10 largest economies and has a need for chemists, physicists, computer scientists and engineers, said Carlos Henrique de Brito Cruz, director of the Sao Paulo state research foundation.

"This will have a major impact in allowing Brazilian kids to take their ideas to the limit," he said.

There aren't enough students studying science and engineering to fill current demand, Aloizio Mercadante, the Brazilian minister of science and technology, said.

The scholarship program is intended to address the shortage by focusing on engineering, health sciences, life sciences and technology, he said.

The idea is to send students to top universities, mostly in the United States and United Kingdom. There are 238 foreign universities participating in the scholarship program, Mercadante said.

Brett Ratner to produce Oscars show

Brett Ratner and Don Mischer have been hired to produce the 84th Academy Awards telecast in Los Angeles, it was announced Thursday.

This will be Ratner's first involvement with the Oscar show. Mischer will for the second year in a row serve as a producer and as the telecast director.

"I was so impressed with Brett when I met with him to discuss the Oscar show," Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences President Tom Sherak said in a statement. "He has an incredible love of film and its history and is a true student of the business of movies. He's unbelievably creative and knows how to take risks that are both interesting and inspiring. Together with Don Mischer -- who, by the way, just earned an Emmy nomination for his work on the 83rd Academy Awards -- I think these two will give us a fantastic Oscar show that you won't want to miss."

"Making movies has been my dream since childhood, and I've been fortunate enough to have made several, but the Oscar show is in a league of its own," Ratner said. "It will be fantastic to work with a live television master like Don to meld the glamour of legendary Hollywood with the enormous talents who thrill moviegoers today."

"The Academy Awards are in a class by themselves, and I'm elated that the academy has asked me to return," Mischer said. "I hope to take the wealth of knowledge I now have about the Oscars, which is a completely unique kind of show, and work with Brett to create an evening that is fast-paced, fun, and memorable to movie fans and Oscar fans everywhere."

Ratner's work includes more than 100 music videos, the "Rush Hour" movies, "Family Man," "Red Dragon" and "X-Men: The Last Stand."

Mischer's producer/director credits include "We Are One: The Obama Inaugural Celebration at the Lincoln Memorial"; "The Kennedy Center Honors"; several Super Bowl halftime shows and the opening ceremonies of both Winter and Summer Olympic Games. He has produced specials with Bruce Springsteen, Beyonce, Bono, Barbra Streisand, Justin Timberlake and Yo Yo Ma.

Academy Awards for outstanding film achievements of 2011 are to be presented Feb. 26 at the Kodak Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center in Los Angeles, and televised live on the ABC Television Network.

Universal inks deal with Ferrell's company

Hollywood's Universal Media Studios says it has signed a deal with Gary Sanchez Productions Television, headed by producers Will Ferrell and Adam McKay.

Ferrell and McKay are the producers of "Step Brothers," "The Other Guys," "Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy," "Eastbound and Down." They also are the creators of the "Funny or Die" video Web site.

The deal between their production company and Universal was announced Monday by Robert Greenblatt, chairman of NBC Entertainment.

"This development deal with Will and Adam is a major step forward for our studio," Greenblatt said in a statement. "They know how to make people laugh, aren't afraid to take risks, and are among the elite of the entertainment industry's creative leaders."

Ferrell began his career on NBC's "Saturday Night Live" and recently appeared in a multiple-story arc on the network's comedy series "The Office."

McKay directed and wrote Ferrell's films "Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy," "Talledega Nights," "Step Brothers" and "The Other Guys."

Molly Parker lands role on 'The Firm'

Canadian actress Molly Parker has joined the ensemble of the upcoming legal drama series "The Firm," it was announced Friday.

NBC, Entertainment One, Sony Pictures Television Networks and Global Television confirmed the casting news Friday.

Parker is to play Abby McDeere in the network's small-screen adaptation of John Grisham's best-selling novel, which is being executive-produced by Grisham and Lukas Reiter.

"Ten years ago, Abby helped her husband Mitchell McDeere bring down a Memphis law firm that was a front for the Chicago mob. Her life was never the same," NBC said in a synopsis. "Abby's a true partner to Mitch -- a smart, resourceful woman who after a tumultuous decade is excited to start a new life in Washington, D.C., as a school teacher."

Parker, who is known for her work in TV's "Deadwood" and "Swingtown," joins a previously announced cast including Josh Lucas as Mitch; Juliette Lewis as Tammy, who is now Mitch's receptionist; and Callum Keith Rennie as Ray McDeere, Mitch's charming yet volatile older brother, NBC said.

Beyonce booked to sing on 'The View'

Pop star Beyonce has been booked to perform this week on the female-powered talk show "The View" in New York.

Bill Geddie, the show's executive producer, said Monday the recording artist will perform "Best Thing I Never Had" and "1+1" live on Thursday's edition of "The View."

The Texas-born singer, who turns 30 in September, is a 16-time Grammy Award winner. She released last month her fourth studio album "4," which debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200.

It was recently announced she will star in a remake of the classic film "A Star is Born," to be directed by Clint Eastwood. Previous versions starred Janet Gaynor (1937), Judy Garland (1954) and Barbra Streisand (1976).