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ENTERTAINMENT NEWS

BOOKS/ ITS "CARTE BLANCHE" FOR BOND: The new James Bond book, written by thriller author Jeffery Deaver, will be called "Carte Blanche". The title and cover were just unveiled in Dubai where parts of the book are set. Deaver said the novel, to be published in May, posed "the looming question of what is acceptable" in security matters. Deaver, 60, said giving an agent carte blanche on a mission "comes with an enormous amount of trust and constantly tests both personal and professional judgement". "Are there lines that even James Bond should not cross?" he added. The publishers said in the book, Bond "spends a number of thrilling hours in Dubai both meeting up with an old friend and tracking a very disturbing villain". Sebastian Faulks and John Gardner are among other authors to have written officially-sanctioned Bond novels since creator Ian Fleming's death in 1964. Unlike Faulks' 2008 Bond period piece "Devil May Care," "Carte Blanche" will be set in the present day.

MUSIC/ NEW SINGLES POLICY FOR 2 UK COMPANIES: Starting next month, 2 of the UK's biggest record companies will make singles available for sale on the same day they're released to radio stations. Tracks are often heard on radio weeks before they can be officially bought. The new shake-up, called "On Air, On Sale", will be introduced by Universal and Sony from Tuesday February 1. The Universal Music UK chairman said the changes are being made because "we live in an immediate world". He said: "On Air, On Sale is good news for any music fan and exciting for our artists who can now go into the studio knowing they don't have to wait weeks, or sometimes months, to see the music they have created go on sale. I can only make the decision on behalf of our artists and our company, but I'm absolutely convinced that in the next few months everyone will have the same policy." The change is a big shift from established music industry practice. Previously, tracks would be played on radio for weeks before they were available to buy, a practice known as "setting up" a song.

TV/ XMAS SPECIAL FOR "DOWNTON": A special holiday episode of  "Downton Abbey" is set to air in December in the UK.  The popular drama, which has already been commissioned for a 2nd season, stars Dame Maggie Smith, Hugh Bonneville and Penelope Wilton. The Christmas special will continue where the 2nd season, due to air in the autumn, leaves off. The program follows the life of the Crawley family and their domestic staff at their country house. Written by Oscar winner Julian Fellowes, the last episode of the 1st series attracted 10 million viewers in the UK. "Julian has come up with a fantastic story that will give audiences the chance to enjoy the experience of the festive experience at Downton Abbey," said the director of drama at ITV. The 1st season of "Downton Abbey" had its US premiere on PBS on January 9.

FILM/ HALLE BERRY DISMISSES ARETHA ROLE: In a recent conversation, Aretha Franklin said she wants Halle Berry to play her in an upcoming movie about her life. But Berry isn't ready to sign on. "I can't sing!" she told E!'s Ryan Seacrest before Sunday's Golden Globes. "If I could carry a tune, I'd consider it. Someone should tell Aretha that I can't do her justice". As posted yesterday, Franklin is putting together a film based on her memoir "Aretha: From These Roots". The Queen of Soul called into the Wendy Williams show and discussed plans for the film. In addition to Berry, Franklin said she wanted Denzel Washington to star as Franklin's father and Terrence Howard as Smokey Robinson.

FILM & TV/ "SOCIAL" & "GLEE" TOP GOLDEN GLOBES

"The Social Network" was the big winner Sunday night at the 68th annual Golden Globe Awards, where it collected 4 trophies, including best dramatic picture. Its director David Fincher was hailed as best director, and the film also took home prizes for Aaron Sorkin's screenplay and its score by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross. However, the Globes distributed their top movie acting honors among a quintet of other films. And, on the TV side, "Glee" was the dominant force, with 3 prizes, including best comedy series, while "Boardwalk Empire" was named best dramatic series. This years winners were:
MOTION PICTURES:

Picture, Drama: "The Social Network."
Picture, Musical or Comedy: "The Kids Are All Right."
Actor, Drama: Colin Firth, "The King's Speech."
Actress, Drama: Natalie Portman, "Black Swan."
Director: David Fincher, "The Social Network."
Actress, Musical or Comedy: Annette Bening, "The Kids Are All Right."
Actor, Musical or Comedy: Paul Giamatti, "Barney's Version."
Supporting Actor: Christian Bale, "The Fighter."
Supporting Actress: Melissa Leo, "The Fighter."
Foreign Language: "In a Better World."
Animated Film:"Toy Story 3."
Screenplay: Aaron Sorkin, "The Social Network."
Original Score: "The Social Network."
Original Song: "You Haven't Seen the Last of Me," (written by Diane Warren), "Burlesque."

TELEVISION:
Series, Drama: "Boardwalk Empire," HBO.
Actor, Drama: Steve Buscemi, "Boardwalk Empire."
Actress, Drama: Katey Sagal, "Sons of Anarchy."
Series, Musical or Comedy: "Glee," Fox.
Actor, Musical or Comedy: Jim Parsons, "The Big Bang Theory."
Actress, Musical or Comedy: Laura Linney, "The Big C."
Miniseries or Movie: "Carlos," Sundance Channel.
Actress, Miniseries or Movie: Claire Danes, "Temple Grandin."
Actor, Miniseries or Movie: Al Pacino, "You Don't Know Jack."

Supporting Actress, Series, Miniseries or Movie: Jane Lynch, "Glee."
Supporting Actor, Series, Miniseries or Movie: Chris Colfer, "Glee."

PREVIOUSLY ANNOUNCED
Cecil B. DeMille Lifetime Achievement Award: Robert De Niro.

Host Ricky Gervais ruffled more than a couple of feathers. He rattled off a series of comedic zingers during the telecast, often targeting certain celebrities. And often, the one-liners elicited moans from the crowd. Robert Downey Jr, Charlie Sheen, Tom Hanks and Scientology were among his targets. In its review of the show, The Hollywood Reporter said: "Gervais was scathing and hilarious in a way that made for entertaining television but no doubt bruised some egos and all but killed any chance he'll host again". The British comedian even left the podium for nearly an hour, prompting viewers to question if he was being reprimanded for his jokes about the stars. But in a statement, Gervais, pictured above, said: "I did every single introduction I was meant to. There just happened to be a long gap. The atmosphere backstage and at the after show was great," he added. Gervais also said he doubted he would be asked back again, but if  he is invited back, he said, "I'll go fucking mental". Critics appeared divided, with The Los Angeles Times saying his jokes set "a corrosive tone" for the night. But Entertainment Weekly praised "the sort of funny rudeness and effrontery... that make an awards show such as the Golden Globes engaging to watch".

AVIATION/ AIRBUS TOPS BOEING IN 2010

A spurt of late orders for AIRBUS enabled it to leap-frog Boeing and end 2010 as top dog in the annual sales race. Airbus added a whopping 204 orders in December, taking its net order tally beyond Boeing's 530 aircraft, to 574.  Single-aisles made up the bulk of Airbus's big December deals, including 50 for CHINA EASTERN and 50 for LAN. The 2 rivals' combined order total is heading back towards the boom times of the last decade, but at 1104 units is still well short of 2007's peak when Airbus and Boeing's net sales exceeded 2700 aircraft. As expected, Airbus again out-produced its rival, for the 8th year in succession, delivering 510 aircraft. This breaks its previous all-time output record of 498, set the year before. Boeing's deliveries fell slightly from 481 in 2009 to 462, with the absence of 787 shipments beginning to tell on the airframer's output. As a result, the 2 airframers' combined delivery tally, at 972 aircraft, is down slightly on 2009, but is likely to exceed 1000 aircraft for the 1st time in 2011.

AVIATION/ SMELL PROMPTS CATHAY 777 TO RETURN TWICE

A CATHAY PACIFIC flight to New York, carrying 184 passengers and crew onboard, made an emergency return to Vancouver and landed on Saturday night after passengers smelled smoke. Then it did it again. Cathay Flight 888 was on International Boeing 777 Service from Vancouver to JFK and was on its initial climb out of Vancouver, when a smell of smoke onboard was detected. The crew leveled off at 9000 feet and landed back at Vancouver, about 10 minutes after their initial departure. The 777 was inspected and released to resume its flight. After 110 minutes on the ground, Flight 888 once again departed for JFK. However, once again, as the aircraft was on its initial climb, the smell of smoke returned. The crew leveled off at 10000 feet and circled back, as seen in the Flight Aware capture above. The aircraft landed back at Vancouver about 20 minutes after taking off. Emergency Services were on standby for both landings, however no smoke was observed and no injuries occurred. The 777 was then removed from service and the flight canceled. In a statement, Cathay confirmed the incidents and said the aircraft is currently undergoing inspection. The Canadian Transportation Safety Board said today that NAVCAN had sent out an alert about the incident and that the TSB would wait to find out more from Cathay’s inspection team later today.

AVIATION/ FLYBE JET "INCHES" AWAY FROM DISASTER

A FLYBE jet, packed with passengers, came within "inches" of disaster last week, when a private plane nearly landed on top of it in Birmingham, England. The UK AAIB opened an urgent investigation into the near-miss, which happened due to a runway mix-up. The Flybe jet, type not identified, was taxiing ahead of takeoff when the private Belgian TBM 700 light aircraft came in for a landing on the same runway and flew just overhead the Flybe flight. According to an official at the Birmingham Airport, the incident, which took place last Wednesday, January 12 at 3:35pm, had been highly dangerous for everyone involved. “The plane was packed, this could have been a disaster,” he said. According to one UK media report today, the Flybe Captain “had his head between his knees” bracing himself for a crash, adding: “He estimated the planes were inches apart.” A Civil Aviation Authority spokeswoman said the investigation was looking into why the private craft had landed on the same runway as the Flybe plane. Flybe refused to confirm where the plane involved was heading to, or how many passengers were onboard.

AVIATION/ KESTRAL CONVAIR OFF RUNWAY IN ST THOMAS

A KESTRAL Convair C131F departed the runway in St Thomas, US Virgin Islands, this morning, while making an emergency landing. The Convair had departed St Thomas on a Cargo Service with 2 Pilots onboard and was on its initial climb, when the tower notified the crew that they observed smoke from the left hand engine. The crew then declared an emergency reporting that the engine was on fire and that they had lost hydraulics. The crew turned around to return to St Thomas and according to ground witnesses, the landing gear did not deploy until the aircraft was about 100 feet above the runway. The Convair touched down on runway 10, however due to the loss of hydraulics, the crew could not slow the aircraft down. The aircraft veered right off the runway, broke thru an Airport fence and came to a stop on the Airport access road. No one onboard was injured. The Convair is currently undergoing a damage assessment. According to a Virgin Island Port Authority spokeswoman, this was the most extreme emergency landing the Airport had seen in over 15 years. An investigation into the incident has been launched.