Japanese airlines ground Dreamliners

Japan's two leading airlines grounded their fleets of Boeing 787s on Wednesday after one of the Dreamliner passenger jets made an emergency landing, the latest in a series of incidents to heighten safety concerns over a plane many see as the future of commercial aviation.

Shares in the Chicago-based Boeing Co. were down 4.4 percent in premarket trading on the news.

All Nippon Airways Co. said instruments aboard a domestic flight indicated a battery error, triggering emergency warnings to the pilots. Shigeru Takano, a senior safety official at the Civil Aviation Bureau, said a second warning light indicated smoke.

Wednesday's incident, described by a transport ministry official as "highly serious" - language used in international safety circles as indicating there could have been an accident -- is the latest in a line of mishaps -- fuel leaks, a battery fire, wiring problem, brake computer glitch and cracked cockpit window - to hit the world's first mainly carbon-composite airliner in recent days.

"I think you're nearing the tipping point where they need to regard this as a serious crisis," said Richard Aboulafia, a senior analyst with the Teal Group inFairfax, Virginia. "This is going to change people's perception of the aircraft if they don't act quickly."

ANA, which said the battery in the forward cargo hold was the same lithium-ion type as one involved in a fire on another Dreamliner at a U.S. airport last week, grounded all 17 of its 787s, and Japan Airlines Co suspended its 787 flights scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday.

The two airlines, which operate around half of the 50 Dreamliners delivered to date, said they would decide on Thursday whether to resume Dreamliner flights the following day.

COMPREHENSIVE REVIEW

The 787, which has a list price of $207 million, represents a leap in the way planes are designed and built, but the project has been plagued by cost overruns and years of delays. Some have suggested Boeing's rush to get planes built after those delays resulted in the recent problems, a charge the company strenuously denies.

Both the U.S.Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said they were monitoring the latest incident as part of a comprehensive review of the Dreamliner announced late last week.

ALARM TRIGGERED

ANA flight 692 left Yamaguchi in western Japan shortly after 8 a.m. local time (2300 GMT Tuesday) bound for Haneda Airport near Tokyo, a 65-minute flight. About 18 minutes into the flight, the plane descended and made an emergency landing 16 minutes later, according to flight-tracking website Flightaware.com.

A spokesman for Osaka airport authority said the plane landed at Takamatsu at 8:45 a.m. All 129 passengers and eight crew evacuated via the plane's inflatable chutes. Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said five people were slightly injured.

At a news conference - where ANA's vice-president Osamu Shinobe bowed deeply in apology - the carrier said a battery in the forward cargo hold triggered emergency warnings to the pilots, who decided on the emergency action. "There was a battery alert in the cockpit and there was an odd smell detected in the cockpit and cabin, and (the pilot) decided to make an emergency landing," Shinobe said.

In a statement later, ANA said the main battery in the forward electrical equipment bay was discolored and there were signs of leakage.

Passengers leaving the flight told local TV there was an odor like burning plastic on the plane as soon as it took off. "There was a bad smell as soon as we started and before we made the emergency landing there was an announcement and the stewardess' voice was shaking, so I thought this was serious," one passenger toldTBS TV.

Another man told a local broadcaster: "There was a strong, burning smell, but the smoke appeared after they opened the emergency doors, after we landed."

Marc Birtel, a Boeing spokesman, told Reuters: "We've seen the reports, we're aware of the events and are working with our customer."

Robert Stallard, analyst at RBC Capital Markets, said lost revenue at the Japanese airlines could prompt compensation from Boeing. "What started as a series of relatively minor, isolated incidents now threatens to overhang Boeing until it can return confidence, and this looks to be a near-term challenge given the media's draw to all things 787," he said.

UNDER REVIEW

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Facebook adding search feature

Facebook Inc. CEO Mark Zuckerberg unveiled on Tuesday a feature to help its users search for people and places within the social network, in the company's first major product launch event since its May initial public offering.

Speaking to reporters at its Menlo Park, Calif. headquarters, Zuckerberg described what he called "graph search," which allows users to sort through only content that has been shared with them - addressing potential privacy concerns.

Available as a "beta" or early version now, the new feature -- dubbed "graph search" because Facebook refers to its growing content, data and membership as the "social graph" -- will initially let users browse mainly photographs, people, places and members' interests, he added.

Zuckerberg promised users will be able to tailor their searches, such as by specifying music and restaurants that their friends like, or their favorite dentist.

The news drove shares in Yelp Inc., which focuses on customer reviews of restaurants and other popular services, about 7.1 percent lower.

"You need to be able to ask the query, like, who are my friends in San Francisco," Zuckerberg said. "Graph search is a really big product. It's going to take years and years to index the whole map of the graph and everything we have out there."

"We'll start rolling it out very slowly. We're looking forward to getting into more people hands over coming weeks and months."

Critics have long deemed the social network's current search capabilities inadequate. Zuckerberg stressed that Facebook was not getting into Internet searches, Google Inc's specialty.

The world's largest online social network, with more than one billion users, Facebook is moving to regain Wall Street's confidence in the wake of a rocky IPO and concerns about its long-term money-making prospects.

Speculation had approached fever pitch over the past week about what Facebook planned to reveal in its highest-profile news briefing since its market debut. Guesses had ranged from a long-rumored smartphone to a full Web-search product.

That anticipation, as well as expectations of strong fourth-quarter financial results, have helped boost Facebook's stock. Its shares are up more than 15 percent since the start of the year.

On Tuesday, its stock was off 0.3 percent at $30.84.

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Facebook's big revelation: new search tool

MENLO PARK, California (Reuters) - Facebook Inc CEO Mark Zuckerberg unveiled on Tuesday a feature to help its users search for people and places within the social network, in the company's first major product launch event since its May initial public offering.

Speaking to reporters at its Menlo Park, California headquarters, Zuckerberg described what he called "graph search," which allows users to sort through only content that has been shared with them - addressing potential privacy concerns.

Available as a "beta" or early version now, the new feature - dubbed "graph search" because Facebook refers to its growing content, data and membership as the "social graph" - will initially let users browse mainly photographs, people, places and members' interests, he added.

Zuckerberg promised users will be able to tailor their searches, such as by specifying music and restaurants that their friends like, or their favorite dentist.

The news drove shares in Yelp Inc, which focuses on customer reviews of restaurants and other popular services, about 7.1 percent lower.

"You need to be able to ask the query, like, who are my friends in San Francisco," Zuckerberg said. "Graph search is a really big product. It's going to take years and years to index the whole map of the graph and everything we have out there."

"We'll start rolling it out very slowly. We're looking forward to getting into more people hands over coming weeks and months."

Critics have long deemed the social network's current search capabilities inadequate. Zuckerberg stressed that Facebook was not getting into Internet searches, Google Inc's specialty.

The world's largest online social network, with more than one billion users, Facebook is moving to regain Wall Street's confidence in the wake of a rocky IPO and concerns about its long-term money-making prospects.

Speculation had approached fever pitch over the past week about what Facebook planned to reveal in its highest-profile news briefing since its market debut. Guesses had ranged from a long-rumored smartphone to a full Web-search product.

That anticipation, as well as expectations of strong fourth-quarter financial results, have helped boost Facebook's stock. Its shares are up more than 15 percent since the start of the year.

On Tuesday, its stock was off 0.3 percent at $30.84.

(Reporting by Alexei Oreskovic; Editing by Phil Berlowitz)

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Winfrey says Armstrong interview 'intense'

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — "Emotional" doesn't come close to describing Lance Armstrong's conversation with Oprah Winfrey — an interview that included his confession about using performance-enhancing drugs to win seven Tour de France titles, Winfrey said Tuesday.

She recounted her session with Armstrong on "CBS This Morning" and promoted what has become a two-part special on her OWN network, even while international doping officials said it wouldn't be enough to save the disgraced cyclist's career.

"I don't think 'emotional' begins to describe the intensity or the difficulty he experienced in talking about some of these things," Winfrey said.

Armstrong admitted during the interview at an Austin hotel that he used drugs to help him win the titles.

"It was surprising to me," she said. "I would say that for myself, my team, all of us in the room, we were mesmerized and riveted by some of his answers."

Winfrey said she went right at Armstrong with tough questions and, during a break, he asked if they would lighten up at some point. Still, Winfrey said she did not have to dig and that he was "pretty forthcoming."

"I felt that he was thoughtful. I thought that he was serious," she said. "I thought that he certainly had prepared for this moment. I would say that he met the moment."

The session was to be broadcast in a single special Thursday but Winfrey said it will now run in two parts on consecutive nights — Thursday and Friday — because there is so much material. Winfrey would not characterize whether Armstrong seemed contrite, saying she'll leave that to viewers.

As stunning as Armstrong's confession was for someone who relentlessly denied using PEDs, the World Anti-Doping Agency said he must confess under oath if he wants to reduce his lifetime ban from sports.

The cyclist was stripped of his Tour titles, lost most of his endorsements and was forced to leave his cancer charity, Livestrong, last year after the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency issued a 1,000-page report that accused him of masterminding a long-running doping scheme.

WADA's statement said: "Only when Mr. Armstrong makes a full confession under oath — and tells the anti-doping authorities all he knows about doping activities — can any legal and proper process for him to seek any reopening or reconsideration of his lifetime ban commence."

The International Cycling Union, or UCI, also issued a statement, urging Armstrong to tell his story to an independent commission it has set up to examine claims that cycling's governing body hid suspicious samples from the cyclist, accepted financial donations from him and helped him avoid detection in doping tests.

Before the Winfrey interview, Armstrong visited the headquarters of Livestrong, the charity he founded in 1997 and turned into a global force on the strength of his athletic dominance and personal story of surviving testicular cancer that had spread to his lungs and brain.

"I'm sorry," Armstrong told about 100 staff members gathered in a conference. He choked up during the 20-minute talk, expressed regret for the long-running controversy tied to performance-enhancers, but stopped short of admitting he used them.

"Heartfelt and sincere," is how Livestrong spokeswoman Katherine McLane described his speech.

Winfrey has promoted her interview, one of the biggest for OWN since she launched the network in 2011, as a "no-holds barred" session and said she was ready to go with 112 questions. Not all of them were asked, she said, but many were.

USADA chief executive Travis Tygart, a longtime critic of Armstrong's, called the drug regimen practiced while Armstrong led the U.S. Postal Service team "the most sophisticated, professionalized and successful doping program that sport has ever seen." USADA did not respond to requests for comment about Armstrong's confession.

Armstrong often went after his critics during his long reign as cycling champion. He scolded some in public and didn't hesitate to punish outspoken riders during the race itself. He waged legal battles against still others in court.

At least one of his opponents, the London-based Sunday Times, has already filed a lawsuit to recover about $500,000 it paid him to settle a libel case, and Dallas-based SCA Promotions, which tried to deny Armstrong a promised bonus for a Tour de France win, has threatened to bring another lawsuit seeking to recover more than $7.5 million awarded by an arbitration panel.

In Australia, the government of South Australia state said it will seek the repayment of several million dollars in appearance fees paid to Armstrong for competing in the Tour Down Under in 2009, 2010 and 2011.

"We'd be more than happy for Mr. Armstrong to make any repayment of monies to us," South Australia Premier Jay Weatherill said.

Betsy Andreu, the wife of former Armstrong teammate Frankie Andreu, was one of the first to publicly accuse Armstrong of using performance-enhancing drugs. She called news of Armstrong's confession "very emotional and very sad," and choked up when asked to comment.

"He used to be one of my husband's best friends and because he wouldn't go along with the doping, he got kicked to the side," she said. "Lance could have a positive impact if he tells the truth on everything. He's got to be completely honest."

Betsy Andreu testified in SCA's arbitration case challenging the bonus in 2005, saying Armstrong admitted in an Indiana hospital room in 1996 that he had taken many performance-enhancing drugs, a claim Armstrong vehemently denied.

"It would be nice if he would come out and say the hospital room happened," Andreu said. "That's where it all started."

Former teammate Floyd Landis, who was stripped of the 2006 Tour de France title for doping, has filed a federal whistle-blower lawsuit that accused Armstrong of defrauding the U.S. Postal Service. An attorney familiar with Armstrong's legal problems told the AP that the Justice Department is highly likely to join the lawsuit. The False Claims Act lawsuit could result in Armstrong paying a substantial amount of money to the U.S. government. The deadline for the department to join the case is Thursday, though the department could seek an extension if necessary.

According to the attorney, who works outside the government, the lawsuit alleges that Armstrong defrauded the U.S. government based on his years of denying use of performance-enhancing drugs. The attorney spoke on condition of anonymity because the source was not authorized to speak on the record about the matter.

The lawsuit most likely to be influenced by a confession might be the Sunday Times case. Potential perjury charges stemming from Armstrong's sworn testimony in the 2005 arbitration fight would not apply because of the statute of limitations. Armstrong was not deposed during the federal investigation that was closed last year.

Armstrong is said to be worth around $100 million. But most sponsors dropped him after USADA's scathing report — at the cost of tens of millions of dollars — and soon after, he left the board of Livestrong.

After the USADA findings, he was also barred from competing in the elite triathlon or running events he participated in after his cycling career. WADA Code rules state his lifetime ban cannot be reduced to less than eight years. WADA and U.S. Anti-Doping officials could agree to reduce the ban further depending on what information Armstrong provides and his level of cooperation.

___

Litke reported from Chicago. Pete Yost in Washington also contributed to this report.

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Netflix to carry more Time Warner shows

(Reuters) – Netflix Inc will carry more shows from Time Warner Inc, intensifying efforts by the video streaming company to attract more subscribers and beat back competition.

Netflix signed licensing deals with Warner Bros Television (WBTVG) and Turner Broadcasting System Inc for previous seasons of shows from Cartoon Network, Warner Bros Animation and Adult Swim for U.S. subscribers.

Shows such as Cartoon Network’s “Adventure Time”, “Ben 10″ and “Johnny Bravo”, and WBTVG’s “Childrens Hospital” will be available from March 30.

Adult Swim shows “Robot Chicken”, “Aqua Teen Hunger Force”, and Sony Pictures Television‘s “The Boondocks” will also be available on Netflix.

The first two seasons of Warner Horizon Television-produced TNT series “Dallas” will be exclusively available on Netflix in January 2014.

Netflix said last week that it would carry previous seasons of popular shows such as “Revolution” and “Political Animals” produced by Warner Bros Television.

It also won a deal in December to stream movies from Walt Disney Co’s live action and animation studios, including those from Pixar, Marvel, and the recently acquired Lucasfilms.

Netflix shares were trading up 3 percent at $ 103.92 on Monday afternoon on the Nasdaq.

(Reporting by Sruthi Ramakrishnan in Bangalore; Editing by Roshni Menon)

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Experts: Proposed NY gun law might hinder therapy

NEW YORK (AP) — Mental health experts say a new tougher New York state gun control law might interfere with treatment of potentially dangerous people and even discourage them from seeking help.

The law would require therapists, doctors, nurses and social workers to tell government authorities if they believe a patient is likely to harm himself or others. That could lead to revoking the patient's gun permit and seizing any guns.

In interviews Tuesday, one expert called the new law meaningless and said he expects mental health providers to ignore it, while others said they worry about its impact on patients.

Dr. Paul Appelbaum at Columbia University said the prospect of being reported to local mental health authorities and maybe the police might discourage people from revealing thoughts of harm to a therapist, or even from seeking treatment at all.

"The people who arguably most need to be in treatment and most need to feel free to talk about these disturbing impulses, may be the ones we make least likely to do so," said the director of law, ethics and psychiatry at Columbia. "They will either simply not come, or not report the thoughts that they have."

"If people with suicidal or homicidal impulses avoid treatment for fear of being reported in this way, they may be more likely to act on those impulses," he said.

Currently a mental health professional has a duty to protect potential victims of a patient, but there are several ways to do that, he said. The patient can be committed to an institution, voluntarily or not, or his medication can be changed to reduce the risk, or the intended victim can be warned, he said.

The patient's family can be asked to lock up any guns in the house, or to keep an eye on the patient to see if he's doing something that could bring on violence, like drinking or skipping his medications, Appelbaum said. The family could then notify the mental health professional.

This flexibility allows a therapist to deal with a risk of violence without breaching confidentiality in all cases, he said. And even if those steps are enough to blunt the danger, the proposed law would still require that the patient be reported to mental health authorities, he noted.

"It undercuts the clinical approach to treating these impulses, and instead turns it into a public safety issue," Appelbaum said.

He also noted that in many mass shootings in the past, the gunman had not been under treatment and so would not have been deterred by a law like the proposed measure.

Dr. Steven Dubovsky, chairman of the psychiatry department at the University at Buffalo, called the new measure meaningless. "It's pure political posturing" and a deceptive attempt to reassure the public, he said.

The intent seems to be to turn mental health professionals into detectives and policemen, he said, but "no patient is going to tell you anything if they think you're going to report them."

A therapist who took the measure seriously would have to warn patients about revealing anything incriminating, which would destroy the doctor-patient relationship, he said.

At the same time, he said the law can't be taken seriously because therapists won't be held liable if they don't report a patient they think is dangerous.

He thinks most therapists will ignore the law and continue to handle cases as they do now.

Dr. Mark Olfson, a psychiatry professor at Columbia, said that if the new law is "crudely applied," it could "erode patient trust in mental health care professionals," essential for effective care. Yet, he said, "if the law is implemented in a clinically well-informed manner, it holds the promise of helping to protect patients and the general public."

Eric Neblung, president of the New York State Psychological Association and a psychologist in Nyack, NY, called the new measure "a helpful step" but said it doesn't address a more fundamental need — improved access to mental health services.

---

Medical writer Lindsey Tanner reported from Chicago.

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'American Idol' returns betting big on new judges

LOS ANGELES (AP) — "American Idol" is facing a $36 million-plus question: Will that combined paycheck lavished on superstar judges Mariah Carey, Nicki Minaj and Keith Urban pay off in ratings?

The newcomers have their work cut out for them whether they earn it with colorful feuding — ladies, you know who we're talking about — or by discovering a singer who can charm America.

The talent show, a TV groundbreaker when it debuted in 2002 despite a starless panel with Simon Cowell, Randy Jackson and Paula Abdul, needs every edge as its audience erodes and other contests emerge as challengers.

"I think it's actually a renewal (of 'Idol') every couple of years, and what you're seeing now is this panel has reinvigorated the show," said Mike Darnell, Fox president of alternative entertainment.

NBC's "The Voice," one of the newcomers, enjoyed immediate success with brand-name panelists Christina Aguilera, Blake Shelton, Cee Lo Green and Adam Levine. But famous faces don't guarantee a return, as Cowell's "The X Factor" most recently proved.

Britney Spears, whose lackluster performance failed to capitalize on buzz about her intriguing foray into live TV, split from the show last week. It was a $15 million lesson for all interested parties.

But "American Idol," returning Wednesday (8 p.m. EST) with host Ryan Seacrest, has to make noise as it hits relative old age for a TV series, with its ratings still hefty but on a steady downward spiral.

Last season, "Idol" lost its status as the most-watched TV program for the first time since 2003, eclipsed by NBC's "Sunday Night Football," and pegged its lowest-rated season since it debuted in summer 2002.

An open-wallet approach worked for "Idol" before, with Jennifer Lopez validating her $12 million paycheck by helping (with Steven Tyler) to boost the show's ratings in 2011. That allowed Ellen DeGeneres' short-lived and genially unimpressive judging stint that ended in 2010 to fade into memory.

The result: Carey is raking in close to $18 million, Minaj is getting $12 million and Urban's take is a reported $6 million for the season.

Add in mainstay Jackson's share (in the reported single-digit millions) and that's a platinum-plated group. But it's potentially money well spent for a show that, en route to living up to its title of finding new pop stars, has to keep viewers firmly engaged.

Finding a breakout star like Kelly Clarkson or Carrie Underwood or Jennifer Hudson is one way to do it, but the odds are long. So it's up to the professionals to step in.

"It's more of an entertainment show than anything else, and if judges can supply the entertainment that's an ingredient for success," said analyst Brad Adgate of Horizon Media. "With 'X Factor' that didn't happen and the show didn't get into the fabric of pop culture."

Carey and Minaj already are demonstrating their potential. Their feud, whether real or fabricated, has produced such head-shaking, headline-making moments as Carey alleging that Minaj threatened to shoot her after a taping. The rapper responded with dismissive tweets.

At a news conference, Minaj tried to downplay the squabble.

"We're professionals. Have you ever had an argument with someone you've worked with?" she said after repeated questions about her working relationship with Carey.

"This was sort of one-sided," interjected Carey.

"No, it wasn't," snapped back Minaj.

Executive producer Nigel Lythgoe said the judges won't disappoint, including Urban, whom he calls a sweetheart who "sticks up for himself." The singer is expected to reinforce the show's country fan base that has boosted the fortunes of contestants including Southern crooner Scotty McCreey.

Jackson is proving tougher on contestants than in the past, Lythgoe said.

Then there are the divas.

"Nicki can get into it with anybody. She's one of the best judges ever. ... She finds an angle and drives it home," Lythgoe said. As for Carey, she's a "true legand" who is the first "to put her arms out if someone's not going through or she's happy with someone."

In an interview, Minaj described giving the show her all.

"I didn't expect to cry on 'American Idol.' I always said, 'Why do they (judges) cry on those shows? That's so stupid. Get a life.' But now I take that back," Minaj said. "When you're looking into someone's eyes and they gave their all and you know their journey ends here, it's a tough pill to swallow.

"Then you have to join the machine again and keep on judging," she added.

Fox executive Darnell expressed optimism that "Idol," an especially critical part of the network's schedule after a rough start to the season for Fox, remains TV royalty.

He conceded the talent show marketplace is overcrowded and "they're all taking each other down a little bit," each losing up to 20 percent in viewers.

But "American Idol" remains "the king of the shows. This is the one and the only one that makes stars, period," Darnell said. "And I think people will keep coming back to it for that reason."

___

Online:

http://www.fox.com

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Facebook to add search

Facebook Inc. CEO Mark Zuckerberg unveiled on Tuesday a feature to help its users search for people and places within the social network, in the company's first major product launch event since its May initial public offering.

Speaking to reporters at its Menlo Park, Calif. headquarters, Zuckerberg described what he called "graph search," which allows users to sort through only content that has been shared with them - addressing potential privacy concerns.

Available as a "beta" or early version now, the new feature -- dubbed "graph search" because Facebook refers to its growing content, data and membership as the "social graph" -- will initially let users browse mainly photographs, people, places and members' interests, he added.

Zuckerberg promised users will be able to tailor their searches, such as by specifying music and restaurants that their friends like, or their favorite dentist.

The news drove shares in Yelp Inc., which focuses on customer reviews of restaurants and other popular services, about 7.1 percent lower.

"You need to be able to ask the query, like, who are my friends in San Francisco," Zuckerberg said. "Graph search is a really big product. It's going to take years and years to index the whole map of the graph and everything we have out there."

"We'll start rolling it out very slowly. We're looking forward to getting into more people hands over coming weeks and months."

Critics have long deemed the social network's current search capabilities inadequate. Zuckerberg stressed that Facebook was not getting into Internet searches, Google Inc's specialty.

The world's largest online social network, with more than one billion users, Facebook is moving to regain Wall Street's confidence in the wake of a rocky IPO and concerns about its long-term money-making prospects.

Speculation had approached fever pitch over the past week about what Facebook planned to reveal in its highest-profile news briefing since its market debut. Guesses had ranged from a long-rumored smartphone to a full Web-search product.

That anticipation, as well as expectations of strong fourth-quarter financial results, have helped boost Facebook's stock. Its shares are up more than 15 percent since the start of the year.

On Tuesday, its stock was off 0.3 percent at $30.84.

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Golden Globes: Fey, Poehler shine; 'Les Miz,' 'Argo' win big

Chicago Tribune film critic Michael Phillips on the 2013 Golden Globes. (Posted Jan. 14th, 2013)

Hosting the 70th Golden Globes Sunday in Beverly Hills, Tina Fey and Amy Poehler proved it was possible to skewer their Hollywood colleagues without entirely alienating the crowd, as distinct from previous host Ricky Gervais.

Some 20 years after Fey and Poehler first met as improvisers at the Chicago comedy hub i.O. Theater, the pair were relaxed, funny and fully in control as they took in a room filled with the biggest stars of films “that have only been in theaters for two days,” and “the rat-faced people of television.”

Aside from their opening monologue, however, Fey and Poehler popped up only intermittently throughout the NBC broadcast.

The show — which included a rambling and unwieldy speech by lifetime achievement award winner Jodie Foster and a surpise win for “Argo” as best picture and Ben Affleck as best director — could have used their spikey interjections to give a discombobulated night a stronger throughline.

But the co-hosts' bits right at the top were pure gold. Referring to the controversy surrounding the depiction of torture in “Zero Dark Thirty,” Poehler teed up a joke that probably came closest to Gervais-level comedic bite, noting of director Kathryn Bigelow: “I haven't been following the controversy … but when it comes to torture, I trust the lady who spent three years married to James Cameron,” a line that prompted a shocked laugh from “Zero Dark” star (and best actress winner) Jessica Chastain.

Fey aimed her own zinger toward “Django Unchained” filmmaker Quentin Tarantino (a winner for best screenplay), whom she called “the star of all my sexual nightmares,” and then looked over at “Les Miserables” co-star Anne Hathaway (best actress in a film comedy or musical) and remarked, “I have not seen someone totally alone and abandoned (as Hathaway's ‘Miserables' character, Fantine) since you were onstage with James Franco hosting the Oscars.” Poehler noted a significant absence in the audience Sunday: “Meryl Streep is not here tonight because she has the flu — and I hear she's amazing in it.”

On the red carpet earlier in the night, Fey and Poehler stressed that their own nominations were the least of their concerns, and when their names were announced as nominess, Fey jokingly gritted her teeth with Jennifer Lopez by her side, while Poehler snuggled up to George Clooney. Neither won. The honor went to “Girls” creator and star Lena Dunham, who thanked her fellow nominees “for getting me through middle school.” (“Girls” also won for best comedy television series.) As a follow-up, Fey and Poehler appeared on stage, drinks in hand, disconsolate. “Glad we got you through middle school, Lena,” said Fey, who then directed her attention towards singer Taylor Swift: “You stay away from Michael J. Fox's son,” she instructed. “Or go for it,” added Poehler.

In TV, the big winner was “Homeland,” which was named best drama. The Showtime drama also notched acting wins for stars Damian Lewis and Claire Danes, echoing their Emmy wins. That came as no surprise — unlike Don Cheadle's win (over the likes of Alec Baldwin, Jim Parsons and Louis C.K.) for his role in “House of Lies,” also on Showtime.

In the movie categories, Jennifer Lawrence (“Silver Linings Playbook”) toppled Streep, Maggie Smith and Judi Dench in winning best actress in a comedy or musical, accepting her award with a sly wink at noted awards-season campaigner and movie mogul Harvey Weinstein: “Harvey, thank you for killing whoever you had to kill to get me up here today.” Best supporting actor honors went to Christoph Waltz as the German bounty hunter in “Django Unchained.”

Former President Bill Clinton made an unexpected appearance to introduce the clips from “Lincoln,” a film that depicts a commander in chief pushing a bill through Congress with the help of some unsavory deal-making. “I wouldn't know anything about that,” joked Clinton. Poehler then followed him onstage and exclaimed, “Oh my God, that's Hillary Clinton's husband!” Daniel Day-Lewis won best actor for his performance in “Lincoln,” as well.

Some lighter moments shone: Hilariously, presenters Kristen Wiig and Will Ferrell pretended to have seen each of the movies nominated, when clearly they hadn't, a bit that amused most in the audience — with the exception of a stone-faced Tommy Lee Jones. Upon her win, Hathaway clutched her Golden Globe and said, “Thank you for this lovely, blunt object” that she would forevermore use “as a weapon against self-doubt.” (Previous Golden Globe winner Richard Dreyfuss later Tweeted: “Lovely blunt objects make only OK weapons against self-doubt. #goldenglobes #trustme.”)

Michael Haneke, the Austrian filmmaker whose “Amour” won for Best Foreign Film, was awarded the prize by Arnold Schwarzenegger. “I never thought I would get an award in Hollywood from an Austrian,” he said.

Smith (not in attendance) won for best supporting actress in a TV series as the droll dowager countess on the PBS hit “Downton Abbey.”

The best surprise reaction early on had to be from pop star Adele. Winning best original song for the theme to the James Bond film “Skyfall,” she admitted she'd come to the awards with a fellow new mom, both eager for a night out: “We've been (wetting) ourselves laughing,” she said. Wrapping up the night, Poehler announced: “We're going home with Jodie Foster.”

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Samsung urges U.S. court to keep allowing Galaxy phone sales

(Reuters) - Samsung Electronics Co Ltd has urged a U.S. appeals court to stand by its denial of Apple Inc's request to ban sales of the Galaxy Nexus smartphone while Apple challenges its patent, according to a document filed late last week.

In October, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit blocked Apple's bid for a pretrial sales ban. Apple has asked all nine active Federal Circuit judges to reconsider that decision, a process known as "en banc" review.

The October ruling by the Washington D.C.-based appeals court raised the bar for potentially market crippling injunctions on product sales based on narrow patents for phone features. The legal precedent puts Samsung in a much stronger position by allowing its products to remain on store shelves while it fights a global patent battle against Apple over smartphone technology.

Several legal experts believe Apple faces long odds in trying to persuade the appeals court to revisit its decision.

Samsung's hot-selling Galaxy smartphones and tablets phones run on Google Inc's Android operating system, so Apple's litigation against Samsung has been viewed as a proxy for Apple's fight with Google. The appeals court decision involves patented search technology which Apple argues is critical to the iPhone's commercial success.

In its court filing last Friday, Samsung argued that en banc review was unnecessary because Apple did not have enough evidence to show a "causal nexus" between its patented search capability and iPhone sales to justify a ban on sales of the Galaxy Nexus.

The Federal Circuit's panel ruling against Apple used "well established" reasoning that does not conflict with U.S. Supreme Court precedent, Samsung argued.

Representatives for Apple and Samsung did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Monday.

The two companies are scheduled to go to trial in federal court in San Jose, California in March 2014.

In a related patent lawsuit last year, Apple scored a huge legal victory over Samsung when a U.S. jury found Samsung had copied critical features of Apple's iPhone and iPad and awarded Apple $1.05 billion in damages.

But U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh in San Jose, California -- who has presided over much of the Apple/Samsung litigation in the United States -- in December rejected Apple's request for permanent sales bans on several other Samsung phones.

Koh cited the Federal Circuit panel's October opinion as a key precedent in her ruling, which Apple said it would also appeal.

The Nexus case in the Federal Circuit is Apple Inc. vs Samsung Electronics Co Ltd et al, 12-1507.

(Reporting By Erin Geiger Smith)

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