Hollywood talent agency William Morris votes to merge with rival Endeavor amid recession

September 24th, 2009 Union election tests actors' will to fightLOS ANGELES — The Screen Actors Guild's next president is expected to be revealed Thursday, after ballots are counted from union members. The choice could indicate whether actors are ready for another fight over Internet compensation or would rather merge with a smaller union for better bargaining leverage.

July 9th, 2009 Verizon Wireless lays off 50 former Alltel workersLITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Verizon Wireless has laid off 50 workers in Arkansas who were part of the former Alltel Corp., which Verizon acquired in January.

May 16th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Congress candidate Sandeep Dikshit Saturday won from the East Delhi Lok Sabha constituency by a margin of over 200,000 votes. Delhi Chief Minister Shiela Dikshit's son got 517,992 votes, defeating rival Bharatiya Janata Party's Chetan Chauhan by 241,051 votes.

May 16th, 2009 SRINAGAR - The National Conference (NC)-Congress combine won five of the six Jammu and Kashmir Lok Sabha constituencies while an independent was leading in Ladakh. NC president Farooq Abdullah was declared winner from Srinagar constituency after he defeated his closest rival Iftikhar Hussain Ansari, of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), by a margin of nearly 32,000 votes.

May 16th, 2009 JAIPUR - The Congress party took early leads in 20 seats out of 25 Lok Sabha constituencies in Rajasthan Saturday, while the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was leading in the other five. The Congress that had won only four seats in the 2004 Lok Sabha polls while the BJP had bagged 21.

May 16th, 2009 SRINAGAR - The National Conference-Congress combine was leading in four of the six Lok Sabha seats in Jammu and Kashmir till 2 p.m. Saturday. NC leader Farooq Abdullah is leading in the Srinagar seat over his Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) rival Moulvi Ifftekhar Ansari by more than 32,000 votes.

May 16th, 2009 JAIPUR - The Congress party seemed headed to sweep Rajasthan with the party bagging two seats of the 25 so far and leading in another 18 constituencies by 1.30 p.m. Saturday. In the 2004 elections, the Congress had managed to win only four seats.

May 14th, 2009 Former agent gets probation for Hollywood wiretapsWASHINGTON — A former FBI agent has been sentenced to one year of probation for using the bureau's computers to dig up information on Hollywood executives involved in a prominent wiretapping case. The former agent, Mark Rossini, was not working on the wiretapping case against Hollywood private eye Anthony Pellicano and was not authorized to look up the files.

May 8th, 2009 Show-biz talent agent Sam Cohn dies at 79NEW YORK — Sam Cohn, a powerful talent agent for some of Hollywood and Broadway's biggest stars as well as a pantheon of directors, writers and playwrights, has died. He was 79. Family friend David Richenthal said Cohn died Wednesday at New York Presbyterian Hospital after a brief illness.

April 28th, 2009 Talent agencies William Morris, Endeavor mergerLOS ANGELES — Two of Hollywood's biggest talent agencies announced plans to merge Monday in a power play that attempts to shift leverage from movie studios and record labels back to artists, actors, writers and directors. The 111-year-old William Morris Agency said it will join with upstart Endeavor, a 14-year-old agency cofounded by Ari Emanuel, brother to White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel and the inspiration behind the character Ari Gold on HBO's "Entourage." The combined entity will be called William Morris Endeavor Entertainment.

April 28th, 2009 Talent agencies William Morris, Endeavor mergeLOS ANGELES — Two of Hollywood's biggest talent agencies have announced plans to merge in a power play that attempts to shift leverage from movie studios and record labels back to artists, actors, writers and directors. The 111-year-old William Morris Agency said Monday it will join with upstart Endeavor, a 14-year-old agency cofounded by Ari Emanuel, brother to White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel and the inspiration behind the character Ari Gold on HBO's "Entourage." The combined entity will be called William Morris Endeavor Entertainment and have revenue in the range of $250 million to $300 million a year.

April 25th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Imagine a candidate whose wife always votes for his rival! That's the case with Ajit Kumar Jain 'Patwa' of Madhya Pradesh. Jain, 55, is contesting from Indore as an independent for a record 27th time and is busy campaigning.

April 22nd, 2009 NYC comptroller bans agents in pension investmentsNEW YORK — New York City's comptroller has joined state officials in saying he wants to ban lobbyists known as placement agents from soliciting business from government pension funds. Wednesday's prohibition responds to a scandal in which two aides to a former state comptroller have been charged with collecting millions of dollars in kickbacks through payments to placement agents.

February 1st, 2009 LONDON - Hollywood actress Julia Roberts struggled to get noticed by Hollywood agents because they labelled her 'too trailer park' when she first started out as an actress. The 41-year-old star shot to fame in the early 1990s playing a prostitute in 'Pretty Woman', opposite Richard Gere but according to tell-all social phenomenon The Cult of Celebrity, Roberts' promising talent was lost on some of Hollywood's biggest bookers, contactmusic.com.

January 17th, 2009 LONDON - Italian denim label Fornarina has signed Hollywood actress-singer Lindsay Lohan as the face of their new range. 'Lindsay is the Hollywood celebrity testimonial of the brand.