Glee’ tops People’s Choice nominations

'Glee' tops the 2014 People's Choice Awards nominations.
The musical comedy series received eight nods, including Favourite Network TV Comedy, and star Darren Criss was overjoyed to receive a Favourite Comedic TV Actor nomination.
The 26-year-old actor tweeted: 'First off THANK YOU to all the @GLEEonFOX fans for the @peopleschoice nominations. #klaine #glee #blam
'I'm very proud to be part of the groundbreaking relationship that is #Klaine Thank u to @MrRPMurphy, the #Glee writers, and @chriscolfer (sic).'
He faces stiff competition from his co-star Chris Colfer, while Lea Michele and Jane Lynch will battle it out with a number of other actresses in the Favourite Comedic TV Actress category.
Katy Perry and Sandra Bullock were recognised in five categories each.
The 'Roar' hitmaker, 29, is up for Favourite Female Artist, Favourite Pop Artist, Favourite Song, Favourite Music Video and Favourite Fan Following.
'Gravity' star Sandra is up for Favourite Actress and features twice in the Favourite Duo category for her performance alongside George Clooney in the space drama and Melissa McCarthy in 'Heat'.
The annual U.S. event rewards the past year's films, TV shows and music artists in a huge number of categories, with the winners all voted for by members of the public.
The nominations were announced at The Paley Center for Media in Beverly Hills on Tuesday (05.11.13) by stars including Rachel Bilson, Darren Criss, Allison Janney and Ciara, as well as awards hosts and '2 Broke Girls' stars Kat Dennings and Beth Behrs.
Voting has opened on peopleschoice.com as well as on Facebook and Twitter until December 5.
The 40th Annual People's Choice Awards will air live on CBS on January 8 at 9 p.m.

Partial list of nominations for the People's Choice Awards 2014:
Favourite Movie
'Despicable Me 2'
'Fast Furious 6'
'Iron Man 3'
'Monsters University'
'Star Trek Into Darkness'

Favourite Movie Actor
Channing Tatum
Hugh Jackman
Johnny Depp
Leonardo DiCaprio
Robert Downey Jr.

Favourite Movie Actress
Gwyneth Paltrow
Jennifer Aniston
Melissa McCarthy
Sandra Bullock
Scarlett Johansson

Favourite Movie Duo
Chris Pine Zachary Quinto ('Star Trek Into Darkness')
Jennifer Aniston Jason Sudeikis ('We're the Millers')
Robert Downey Jr. Gwyneth Paltrow ('Iron Man 3')
Sandra Bullock George Clooney ('Gravity')
Sandra Bullock Melissa McCarthy ('The Heat')

Favourite Action Movie
'Fast Furious 6'
'Iron Man 3'
'Star Trek Into Darkness'
'The Wolverine'
'World War Z'

Favourite Action Movie Star
Brad Pitt
Channing Tatum
Hugh Jackman
Robert Downey Jr.
Vin Diesel

Favourite Comedic Movie
'Grown Ups 2'
'The Hangover Part III'
'The Heat'
'Instructions Not Included'
'We're the Millers'

Favourite Comedic Movie Actor
Adam Sandler
Bradley Cooper
Chris Rock
James Franco
Zach Galifianakis

Favourite Comedic Movie Actress
Emma Watson
Jennifer Aniston
Melissa McCarthy
Sandra Bullock
Scarlett Johansson

Favourite Dramatic Movie
'Captain Phillips'
'Gravity'
'The Great Gatsby'
'Lee Daniels' The Butler'
'Prisoners'

Favourite Dramatic Movie Actor
Channing Tatum
Chris Hemsworth
Hugh Jackman
Leonardo DiCaprio
Ryan Gosling

Favourite Dramatic Movie Actress
Amy Adams
Emma Stone
Halle Berry
Oprah Winfrey
Sandra Bullock

Favourite Family Movie
'Despicable Me 2'
'Monsters University'
'Oz the Great and Powerful'
'Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters'
'The Smurfs 2'

Favourite Horror Movie
'Carrie'
'The Conjuring'
'Hansel Gretel: Witch Hunters'
'Insidious: Chapter 2'
'Mama'

Favourite Thriller Movie
'A Good Day to Die Hard'
'The Call'
'Now You See Me'
'Red 2'
'White House Down'

Favourite Network TV Comedy
'2 Broke Girls'
'The Big Bang Theory'
'Glee'
'How I Met Your Mother'
'Modern Family'

Favourite Comedic TV Actor
Chris Colfer
Darren Criss
Jesse Tyler Ferguson
Jim Parsons
Neil Patrick Harris

Favourite Comedic TV Actress
Jane Lynch
Kaley Cuoco
Lea Michele
Melissa McCarthy
Zooey Deschanel

Favourite Network TV Drama
'Chicago Fire'
'The Good Wife'
'Grey's Anatomy'
'Nashville'
'Parenthood'

Favourite Dramatic TV Actor
Jim Caviezel
Josh Charles
Kevin Bacon
Mark Harmon
Patrick Dempsey

Favourite Dramatic TV Actress
Julianna Margulies
Mariska Hargitay
Pauley Perrette
Sandra Oh
Stana Katic

Favourite Actor in a New TV Series
Andy Samberg
Jonathan Rhys Meyers
Joseph Morgan
Michael J. Fox
Robin Williams

Favourite Actress in a New TV Series
Allison Janney
Anna Faris
Ming-Na Wen
Rebel Wilson
Sarah Michelle Gellar

Favourite TV Crime Drama
'Bones'
'Castle'
'Criminal Minds'
'The Mentalist'
'NCIS'

Favourite Competition TV Show
'America's Got Talent'
'Dancing with the Stars'
'MasterChef'
'The Voice'
'The X Factor'

Favourite TV Anti-Hero
Dexter Morgan ('Dexter')
Jaime Lannister ('Game of Thrones')
Norman Bates ('Bates Motel')
Rick Grimes ('The Walking Dead')
Walter White ('Breaking Bad')

Favourite Female Artist
Britney Spears
Demi Lovato
Katy Perry
P!nk
Selena Gomez

Favourite Breakout Artist
Ariana Grande
Austin Mahone
Icona Pop
Imagine Dragons
Lorde

Favourite Pop Artist
Britney Spears
Bruno Mars
Demi Lovato
Justin Timberlake
Katy Perry

Favourite Country Artist
The Band Perry
Blake Shelton
Carrie Underwood
Lady Antebellum
Taylor Swift

Favourite Hip-Hop Artist
Drake
Jay Z
Kanye West
Lil Wayne
Macklemore Ryan Lewis

Favourite RB Artist
Alicia Keys
Ciara
Justin Timberlake
Rihanna
Robin Thicke

Favourite Band
Imagine Dragons
Maroon 5
One Direction
OneRepublic
Paramore

Favourite Alternative Band
Fall Out Boy
Imagine Dragons
Mumford Sons
Muse
Paramore

Favourite Song
'Just Give Me A Reason' (P!nk feat. Nate Ruess)
'Mirrors' (Justin Timberlake)
'Radioactive' (Imagine Dragons)
'Roar' (Katy Perry)
'When I Was Your Man' (Bruno Mars)

German climate protection industry creates massive turnover

Germany's National Statistics Office, Destatis, reported Wednesday that revenues generated from business activities related to climate protection had seen a significant jump of late.

The Wiesbaden-based agency for the first time released relevant figures for 2011, saying domestic turnover in the sector amounted to 45.5 billion euros ($62.6 billion).

It thus by far exceeded results from the country's traditionally strong pharmaceutical industry, with only 39.8 billion euros in turnover, Destatis noted.

Solar outshines the rest

By definition, the climate protection sector embraces all business activities that go towards avoiding or reducing harmful greenhouse emissions.

According to the statistics made available on the basis of a poll among 9,000 German firms, the domestic solar industry accounted for the lion's share in the logged revenues, not least due to generous state subsidies.

Businesses focusing on higher energy efficiency, including the production and installation of heat insulation in buildings, came in second, followed by wind energy firms.

The Association of German Chambers of Industry and Commerce (DIHK) said the climate protection economy was of pivotal importance for future growth in a nation relying so much on high-tech exports. Spokesman Hermann Hüwels told EPD news agency even more business opportunities would open up once an internationally binding climate protection treaty was in place.

EU to recover at tepid pace, but strong euro a headache

Presenting its autumn outlook in Brussels, the EU executive on Tuesday warned economic recovery in the bloc would still be volatile while continuing into the second half of the current year.

The European Commission said it expected the region's economy to expand by 0.5 percent throughout the second half of 2013, but added that growth would be flat for the whole year.

It also predicted ongoing recovery from recession for the 17 nations using the euro. It added, though, that growth would be posted only in quarterly terms, while for 2013 as a whole the eurozone's economy would dip by 0.4 percent before gaining 1.1 percent in 2014.

Expensive exports

The EU executive statedthat growth would not be substantial enough to lead to fundamental changes in the euro area's employment situation, saying the zone's overall jobless rate would remain at a record-high 12.2 percent this year and next.

The outlook pointed out that France and Spain were unlikely to get on top of their public deficit problems. It expected Paris to miss an EU deadline to bring its deficit below 3 percent of gross domestic product by 2015. Madrid for its part could see its deficit fall to 5.9 percent next year, but a renewed rise to 6.6 percent would set in in 2015, the Commission predicted.

Brussels noted that the euro would appreciate at a fast pace in 2014, too, meaning the stronger currency would make exports more expensive and could dampen the bloc's aspirations to crank up the economy.

German carmaker BMW on track for new sales volume record

Munich based German carmaker BMW appeared confident of meeting full-year targets when presenting its third-quarter earnings report on Tuesday.

It said business had developed favorably in the three months to September, leaving the company with a 3.2-percent increase in net profit, amounting to 1.33 billion euros ($1.8 billion).

Underlying profit fell by 3.7 percent, though, with BMW attributing the drop to 'increased personnel costs and growing competition.' On top of that, the car maker continued to make heavy investments into new technologies such as those employed in its i3 electric vehicle.

Overseas sales in focus

'Figures for both the third quarter and the nine-month period have developed positively despite a higher level of expenditure on new technologies and a challenging market environment in Europe, CEO Norbert Reithofer said in a statement.

'We have recorded best-ever worldwide sales figures to date,' he said, adding that the company was continuing to target sales volume growth 'in the single-digit percentage range and hence a new sales record.'

The company stated growth forecasts applied to its three brands BMW, Mini and Rolls-Royce.

Aguero, Negredo fire Man City into last 16

Sergio Aguero claimed a brace and Alvaro Negredo a hat-trick as Manchester City outclassed CSKA Moscow 5-2 on Tuesday to book a place in the Champions League knockout phase.

City picked up where they had left off in their 7-0 demolition of Norwich City at the weekend, with Aguero scoring twice and Negredo adding another to put the home side 3-0 up inside 30 minutes at the Etihad Stadium.

Defensive inattention allowed Seydou Doumbia to twice reduce the arrears, but Negredo completed his treble in the second half to send City into the last 16 for the first time in the Champions League era.

Victory left Manuel Pellegrini's side six points clear of CSKA with two games to play in Group D, but they cannot be overtaken by the Russian champions due to a superior head-to-head record.

CSKA, who were hit with a partial stadium ban by UEFA for racist chanting aimed at City midfielder Yaya Toure in the reverse fixture, are left to scrap over a Europa League place with Czech side Viktoria Pilsen.

City manager Pellegrini kept faith with the team that had annihilated Norwich on Saturday, which meant that Joe Hart was once again on the bench with second-choice goalkeeper Costel Pantilimon in goal.

CSKA were missing a number of first-team players due to injury, including Alan Dzagoev, Vasili Berezutsky and Mario Fernandes, and there were less than three minutes on the clock when they fell behind.

Former Manchester United player Zoran Tosic was in the visitors' XI and will not have endeared himself to fans of his old club by sliding in on David Silva and conceding a penalty from which Aguero put City ahead.

Doumbia fired a warning shot over the bar for CSKA after Gael Clichy miscued an attempted clearance, but City were soon back on the front foot and saw Silva ripple the side-netting.

With Silva and Samir Nasri pulling the strings, some of City's approach play was delightful, and their second goal, in the 20th minute, was a fine effort.

Nasri clipped a penetrative pass down the inside-left channel and Aguero left Aleksei Berezutsky for dead with a superb, sharp turn before steering home his eighth goal in five games.

Pantilimon had an anxious moment when he flapped at a deflected free-kick, but after Toure had curled narrowly wide, Negredo touched in Aguero's low cross to make it 3-0.

There was further bad news for CSKA when Ahmed Musa had to go off with an injury, but Doumbia gave the visitors a glimmer of hope when he rounded Pantilimon to pull a goal back in first-half stoppage time.

City were quick to restore their three-goal advantage in the second half, however.

In the 51st minute Toure floated a delicate pass over the top of the CSKA defence and Nasri knocked a volleyed pass into the path of Negredo for the Spaniard to walk in his second goal.

Silva departed to a standing ovation with 25 minutes remaining, but once again City were guilty of presenting their opponents with a foothold in the game.

Clichy was at fault on this occasion, hauling Doumbia down after being nutmegged on the left-hand edge of the City area, and the Ivorian converted the resulting penalty to reduce the arrears.

Visiting goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev saved from Negredo, Aleksandar Kolarov and Aguero, before Negredo completed his first City hat-trick in injury time with a back-post header from a James Milner cross.

Van Persie misses penalty & Fellaini sent off as Red Devils stutter

Manchester United were left to rue a succession of individual errors after being held 0-0 by Real Sociedad on Tuesday.

Robin van Persie missed a penalty and Marourane Fellaini was sent off as United saw their four-game winless run away from home in the Champions League continue.

The point was Real Sociedad's first of this season's competition and keeps their slim hopes of qualifying for the knockout stages alive given Bayer Leverkusen and Shakhtar Donetsk also drew.

United remain top of Group A with eight points, but will feel they should have taken all three with Javier Hernandez also guilty of missing an open goal.

The hosts made four changes from their 5-0 victory over Osasuna on Saturday as Markel Bergara, Alberto de la Bella, Mikel Gonzalez and Imanol Agirretxe all started having been on the bench at the weekend.

David Moyes opted to field Hernandez up front with Wayne Rooney as opposed to Van Persie, the Dutchman named among the substitutes. Hernandez was one of six changes for United from their victory over Fulham in the Premier League.

The visitors started confidently and pressed Sociedad high up the pitch, creating the first chance of the match in the 10th minute.

Shinji Kagawa released Patrice Evra down the left-hand side, the Frenchman found Rooney inside the penalty area and he flicked the ball back to the Japan international to fire a deflected shot wide.

It took the best part of half an hour for Sociedad to create an opening that came after David Zurutuza broke down the right.

The midfielder pulled his cross back to Agirretxe on the penalty spot, but he skewed his effort well wide of David de Gea’s goal.

United should have taken the lead early in the second half, but Hernandez was guilty of missing an open goal in the 50th minute.

Kagawa shifted the ball past Carlos Martinez and delivered a low cross into the unmarked Mexican, but he ballooned his effort over the bar from six yards.

The visitors’ frustration continued just after the hour as Van Persie – introduced in place of Rooney – struck the post with his first touch after an excellent cross from fellow substitute Ashley Young.

The Netherlands international striker was given another opportunity to score four minutes later after Bergara was adjudged to have pulled back Young inside the penalty area.

Van Persie’s spot-kick beat Claudio Bravo but struck the post and was cleared to safety by the Sociedad defence.

Fellaini spoiled United's night with his late dismissal after a second yellow card following a challenge on Zurutuza.

Katy Perry crowned most popular Twitter user

Katy Perry is the most popular person on Twitter.
The 'Roar' hitmaker became the undisputed queen of the social network over the weekend, knocking teen idol Justin Bieber off the top spot when her followers crept up to 46.54 million, compared to Justin's 46.51 million.
Katy also has the edge over the 19-year-old 'Baby' singer on Facebook, boasting 59.26 million friends to Bieber's 57.28 million.
Justin originally took the crown from Katy's chart rival Lady Gaga in January. The 'Applause' singer, whose current Twitter tally stands at 40.40 million, had previously held top position for two years. 
According to website twittercounter.com, US President Barack Obama and country singer Taylor Swift round out the top five of the most followed people on the social media site.
Katy credits her popularity online with staying positive and ignoring her haters.
She previously said: 'I don't know they exist because I don't give them attention. If you tried to please everyone, you'd have no sense of self. You'd lose yourself in the process of being a people-pleaser and there'd be nothing unique left.'
The 28-year-old pop star also revealed her biggest tip is to never drink and tweet.
She joked: 'When you decide to have a glass of wine, put the phone down. Don't drink and tweet