Google Doodle Honours Antoni Gaudí

The surreal, twisting architecture of Catalan master Antoni Gaudi forms the basis of Tuesday’s Google doodle.

Snippets of six of Gaudi’s iconic modernist buildings or mosaics spell out Google for his 161st birthday, although the actual letters get lost in the design.

Gaudi was struck and killed by a tram in Barcelona in 1926, leaving unfinished his most famous work, the Sagrada Familia church.

Seven of his designs, in and around Barcelona, have been designated World Heritage sites.

<iframe width="640" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/_L7iWZZxN7U?feature=player_embedded" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

George Lucas, Mellody Hobson Married: Filmmaker, Business Woman Wed In California

Star Wars creator George Lucas and his new wife Mellody Hobson have shared a romantic picture of their wedding day.

The 69-year-old director and producer tied the knot with the 44-year-old on Saturday at the Skywalker Ranch in Marin County, California, in front of 200 guests including Oprah Winfrey, Robert De Niro, Glenn Close, Harrison Ford, Calista Flockhart, Quincy Jones and his daughter Rashida.

The bride wore a white dress by Peter Soronen and carried brightly coloured roses as her 'something blue.

 

 

Lucas and Hobson became engaged back in January and have been dating since meeting at a business conference back in 2006.

Hobson heads the investment management firm Ariel Investments and is also chairman of the board at Dream Works Animation SKG Inc. It is her first marriage.

The Star Wars supremo was previously married to film editor Marcia Lucas from 1969 until their divorce in 1983.  He has three adopted children.

The couple discussed their relationship during a joint interview with Oprah Winfrey last year.

'I think it works because we are extraordinarily open-minded people and we're open to what the universe brings us,' Hobson told the talk show host. 'I think we didn't have preconceived ideas about what a partnership should be and so we allowed ourselves to discover something that was unexpected.'

Lucas will have plenty of time to spend with his new wife. He sold his Lucasfilm production company to Disney last October for $4.05 billion - most of which he donated to educational philanthropy. 

Michael Jackson Death Anniversary: The King Of Pop 4 Years After His Untimely Death

It's been four years since Michael Jackson died, on June 25, 2009, from cardiac arrest caused by a lethal combination of prescription drugs. His death, later ruled a homicide, shocked fans and musicians across the world.

Jackson rose to fame in 1964 as the youngest member of his family's Motown group, the "Jackson 5," and continued to dominate the music industry with best-selling hits such as "Thriller," "Billie Jean" and "Beat It."

Jackson is survived by his three children, Prince Michael Jackson II, Michael Joseph Jackson Jr. and Paris-Michael Katherine Jackson.

Wimbledon: Rafael Nadal Suffers Shock Defeat by Steve Darcis

In one of Wimbledon's greatest upsets, an ailing Rafael Nadal was knocked out in straight sets Monday by a player ranked 135th — the Spaniard's first loss in the opening round of a Grand Slam event. Steve Darcis of Belgium stunned the two-time champion 7-6 (4), 7-6 (8), 6-4. He ended Nadal's 22-match winning streak and eliminated one of the Big Four of men's tennis on the very first day of the grass-court Grand Slam.

Nadal was sidelined for seven months with a left knee injury after losing in the second round of Wimbledon last year. He seemed to be struggling physically. He was unable to turn on the speed or use his legs to spring into his groundstrokes, limping and failing to run for some shots. Darcis was as surprised as everyone else with the result.

"Rafa Nadal didn't play his best tennis today,'' the 29-year-old Belgian said. "The first match on grass is always difficult. It's his first one. Of course, it's a big win. I tried to come to the net as soon as I could, not play too far from the baseline. I think it worked pretty good today.''

Nadal was coming off his eighth championship at the French Open last month but, on this day, he never looked like the player who has won 12 Grand Slam titles and established himself as one of the greatest players of his generation. It's the second straight early Wimbledon exit for Nadal, who was ousted in the second round last year by 100th-ranked Lukas Rosol.

Infosys Plans Better Hikes For Performers

Infosys is drawing up plans to tilt the scales in favour of top performers, part of efforts to revitalise the workforce after NR Narayana Murthy returned as its chairman on June 1. 

According to company executives briefed about Murthy's thinking, the emphasis on employee performance as a vital differentiator is linked to a broader effort to revive a culture of meritocracy in the company that has underperformed the industry for two years. "The differential between high-performers and non-performers will increase. Variable pay will be one mechanism through which this will be achieved," said a person aware of Murthy's plans. 

Murthy, 66, returned as executive chairman of Infosys following a request from the company's board, which was under pressure from investors and analysts fretting about the company's troubles. Infosys grew at half the pace of the broader industry in 2012-13 and has admitted that it will lag rivals this year too.

At present, employees with the top ratings receive 50-90% of their variable salary while the lowest-rated ones get only up to 30%. Typically, 10-25% of an executive's compensation can be variable, depending on seniority. 

Besides individual performance, the relative performance of the business unit also becomes a key deciding factor. 

Champions Trophy: BCCI Announces Cash Prize of Rs.1 Crore Each to Players

The BCCI on Monday announced monetary incentives for the members of the Indian cricket team including the support staff for winning the ICC Champions Trophy.

Each player in the team will be awarded a cash prize of Rs.one crore while the each member of the support staff will be richer by Rs.30 lakh, according to a BCCI media release.

India clinched the ICC Champions Trophy, in its last edition, with a nerve-wracking five-run victory over hosts England in a rain-hit final, giving their captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni the unique record of being the first captain to win three world titles.

-->
After frustrating showers reduced the contest to a T20 affair, India first scored 129 for seven and then restricted England to 124 for eight in a topsy-turvy game that went down to the wire. Ravindra Jadeja (33 no and 2/24) made another all-round contribution which proved to be telling in the context of the match.

Confederations Cup: Spain Top Group With 3-0 Win Over Nigeria

Two excellent goals from defender Jordi Alba, one of eight Barcelona players in the starting lineup, and a fifth of the tournament from Fernando Torres gave Spain a third successive win and top spot in Group B.

 World and European champions Spain stayed on course for the title they have never won when they beat African champions Nigeria 3-0 to reach the Confederations Cup semi-finals on Sunday.

Two excellent goals from defender Jordi Alba, one of eight Barcelona players in the starting lineup, and a fifth of the tournament from Fernando Torres gave Spain a third successive win and top spot in Group B.

-->

They stretched their unbeaten run in competitive games to 28, going back to their 1-0 defeat to Switzerland at the 2010 World Cup, and have not lost at all since England beat them in a friendly in November 2011.

They will face Italy, who they beat 4-0 to win the European title in Kiev a year ago, at Fortaleza's Castelao in Thursday's semi-final. A young and largely experimental Nigeria team, after beating Tahiti 6-1, finished third after defeats to Uruguay and Spain and must now concentrate of qualifying for the World Cup. They need a draw against Malawi in September to top their African qualifying group and will then have to play off over two legs with another group winner to earn a return trip to Brazil next year.