Katy Perry is 2015's highest paid woman in music

Katy Perry is roaring loudly on top of Forbes' 2015 list of the highest earning women in music.

Thanks to her Prismatic World Tour and deals with Coty, Claire's and CoverGirl, the "Roar" songstress, 31, earned an estimated $135 million from June 1, 2014, to June 1, 2015, to clinch the No. 1 spot, the financial magazine said.

Perry's tour, which concluded its run last month, is said to have grossed more than $2 million in each city. Multiply that by 126 shows during Forbes' scoring period and that adds up to a whole lot of moolah.

Landing in the No. 2 position is the quirky pop vixen's purported "frenemy," Taylor Swift, who reportedly wrote her chart-topper "Bad Blood" about the beef between them. The "Shake It Off" singer, 25, earned an estimated $80 million following the launch of her widely successful pop album "1989" in October 2014. The album sold more than 3.6 million copies and has churned out hit after hit, including "Style" and "Wildest Dreams."

But much of Swift's revenue came from her massive world tour that saw a celebrity guest (or two or three) grace the stage with her on any given night. The tour kicked off in Tokyo last May and will wind down in Melbourne in December.

The iconic band Fleetwood Mac, with Stevie Nicks and Christine McVie, whose return this year made the group eligible for the list despite having three male members, hit the road with its On With the Show tour and earned an estimated $59.5 million, clinching the No. 3 spot on the list, Forbes said.

Mother Monster and "American Horror Story: Hotel" star Lady Gaga landed in the No. 4 spot with $59 million comprised of her 66 shows during the scoring period and deals with fashion house Versace, Mac cosmetics and profits from her Fame fragrance.

"Drunk in Love" diva Beyonce rounded out the top five with $54.5 million, courtesy of her On the Run Tour with hubby Jay Z. That tour grossed over $100 million during 19 show show dates in North America.

The A-listers nearly topped the magazine's list of highest-paid celebrity couples for the second time last June, garnering an estimated $110.5 million. In the No. 1 spot were Swift and her DJ beau Calvin Harris, who earned an estimated $146 million.

Facebook 'Music Stories' preview Apple Music and Spotify tracks

In its on-going quest to make the sharing of things easier, Facebook has a new way to tell others what your listening to. The new feature, or post format, is called Music Stories. Instead of posting a link to the song or album you're listening to, Music Stories offer a 30-second clip from either Apple Music or Spotify. 

There's an option to continue listening via the streaming service the song or album was shared from, too. And you'll have the choice of making a purchase from iTunes (for Apple Music) or saving the tracks for listening later as well. While only two streaming options are supported right now, Facebook says its looking to add more services in the future. Based on rumblings about the social network's audio aspirations, we surmise this is only the start of having more music in your News Feed. 

Music Stories are only available on the Facebook iPhone app starting today, and there's no word on when/if they'll arrive on Android and other versions of the software.

Africa's biggest telecom in nasty battle with powerful Nigeria over $5.2 billion fine

Africa's biggest telecommunications company is locked in a nasty battle in powerful Nigeria, with billions of dollars at stake.

MTN Nigeria, MTN Group's subsidiary here, was fined $5.2 billion for failing to meet an August deadline to deactivate 5.2 million unregistered cellphone SIM cards — considered a security threat with Nigeria confronted by an Islamic uprising and rampant kidnappings and armed robberies.

The fine amounts to nearly two years' profits for MTN Nigeria, by far the company's most profitable subsidiary. It also equals nearly a quarter the national budget of Nigeria, which has been hammered by the global plunge in oil prices. Nigeria is Africa's biggest oil producer and President Muhammadu Buhari, who was elected this year, says he inherited depleted coffers as he struggles to create jobs and fulfill other campaign promises.

In a telephone interview Thursday with The Associated Press, Tony Ojobo, the spokesman for the Nigerian Communications Commission, said the regulator won't buckle to pressure from MTN shareholders to reduce the fine levied against the South African-based telecommunications giant.

Underscoring the perceived reliance on mobile phones by Islamic extremists in Nigeria's war, the military regularly cuts cellphone service in areas under attack by Boko Haram. Unregistered mobile phones can also be used by criminals to hide their tracks.

Ojobo said unregistered MTN SIM cards were used to make calls demanding ransom in the September kidnapping of former Finance Minister Olu Falae.

Institutional shareholders in MTN, the biggest telecommunications company in Africa, have complained that the huge fine is punitive, and warned it could hurt investor confidence in Nigeria, Africa's most populous nation of about 170 million people.

South Africa's Public Investment Corporation, MTN's biggest shareholder with more than 15 percent of shares, said Tuesday it is concerned about the fine and allegations that MTN did not immediately disclose it to shareholders, according to Daniel Matjila, CEO of Public Investment Corporation. The Johannesburg Stock Exchange is investigating.

Ojobo said Nigeria's four cellphone service providers signed an agreement that set the fine at 200,000 naira (about $1,000) for each unregulated SIM card in 2011. He said MTN was the only company not to comply and that the 5.2 million cards were actually deactivated by the regulator. Until a couple of years ago, people could buy SIM cards without producing identity documents. The regulations are aimed at helping law enforcement and security forces to track criminals.

Ojobo even said "there is an orchestration to try to blackmail the regulator," without offering details. "MTN should operate in the rule of law — the same rule of law that protects ... investment," he told AP. He added that in South Africa, MTN has ensured 98 percent compliance in registering its SIM card holders. In Johannesburg, MTN spokesman Chris Maroleng said the company is above board in its dealings with Nigeria. 

"MTN is committed to engaging with authorities in Nigeria ... (adhering) to the highest principles of sound corporate governance and transparency," Maroleng said. Nigerian Vice President Yemi Osinbajo late Thursday denied that he is heading the Nigerian team negotiating with MTN executives from South Africa, as the AP erroneously reported. His spokesman Laolu Akande said local reports to that effect were planted. South Africa needs to intervene diplomatically, said Azwimpheleli Langalanga, a researcher at the South African Institute of International Affairs.

"MTN is a big player. It's a strategic company in South Africa, and it's big in Nigeria," he said. "It's an embarrassment to South Africa that MTN was found wanting in Nigeria."

South Africa's Minister in the Presidency Jeff Radebe told journalists the issue is between MTN and the Nigerian authority. Nigerian Vice President Yemi Osinbajo late Thursday denied that he is heading the Nigerian team negotiating with MTN executives from South Africa, as the AP erroneously reported. His spokesman Laolu Akande said local reports to that effect were planted. South Africa needs to intervene diplomatically, said Azwimpheleli Langalanga, a researcher at the South African Institute of International Affairs.

"MTN is a big player. It's a strategic company in South Africa, and it's big in Nigeria," he said. "It's an embarrassment to South Africa that MTN was found wanting in Nigeria. South Africa's Minister in the Presidency Jeff Radebe told journalists the issue is between MTN and the Nigerian authority.

Nigerian Vice President Yemi Osinbajo late Thursday denied that he is heading the Nigerian team negotiating with MTN executives from South Africa, as the AP erroneously reported. His spokesman Laolu Akande said local reports to that effect were planted. South Africa needs to intervene diplomatically, said Azwimpheleli Langalanga, a researcher at the South African Institute of International Affairs.

"MTN is a big player. It's a strategic company in South Africa, and it's big in Nigeria," he said. "It's an embarrassment to South Africa that MTN was found wanting in Nigeria." South Africa's Minister in the Presidency Jeff Radebe told journalists the issue is between MTN and the Nigerian authority.

Exxon Probed by New York in Toughest U.S. Climate Crackdown

New York’s decision to probe climate change disclosures by Exxon Mobil Corp. marks the most aggressive state action yet on the financial effects of burning fossil fuels.

New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman issued a subpoena to the company on Wednesday seeking a lengthy list of documents and disclosures, including communications with trade associations and industry groups, according to a person familiar with the matter, who asked not to be identified because the probe isn’t public. The request seeks information dating from the 1970s to the present, the person said.

The investigation is seeking information on whether the world’s biggest oil explorer lied to investors and the public for almost 40 years about the impact of climate change on profits, the person said. As a manufacturer of 10 million gallons of gasoline and other fuels every hour of every day, Exxon is one of the world’s largest sources of carbon-heavy energy. Environmental activists cheered New York’s action, calling for more agencies to join the probe.

Schneiderman “is leading the charge to further expose the hypocrisy of fossil fuel companies like Exxon Mobil and hold them accountable for denying climate change to the public and blocking necessary action for decades,” Greenpeace spokesman Rodrigo Estrada said in an e-mailed statement. “New York has taken the first step, now other attorneys general should follow suit to protect the rights of the American people against big polluters from lying to them about climate change and its impacts on our communities.”

The probe follows a series of investigative articles by Inside Climate News and the Los Angeles Times newspaper during the past two months alleging Exxon’s scientists discovered evidence that man-made emissions were damaging the climate as far back as 1977.

The reports spurred calls for investigations by a panoply of politicians and activists from Democratic presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders to Al Gore and U.S. Representative Peter Welch, a Vermont Democrat on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.

‘Reject’ Allegations

Scott Silvestri, an Exxon spokesman, said Thursday in a statement, “We unequivocally reject allegations that Exxon Mobil suppressed climate change research contained in media reports that are inaccurate distortions of Exxon Mobil’s nearly 40-year history of climate research.”

Long a hard-line opponent to climate-friendly carbon limits, Exxon began to soften its outlook and embrace the need to curb greenhouse gases in 2006 when Rex Tillerson succeeded Lee Raymond as chairman and CEO. Since 2009, the Irving, Texas-based company has advocated a revenue-neutral carbon tax as the fairest way to cap harmful emissions.

The company’s $35 billion takeover of XTO Energy in 2010 was inspired in part by expectations that stricter climate rules would spur natural gas demand as a replacement for dirtier coal.

Exxon Mobil General Counsel Kenneth Cohen has been waging a public-relations battle since mid-September against the accusations. In a series of blog posts on a website known as “ExxonMobil Perspectives,” Cohen said “anti-oil and gas activists” had “cherry-picked documents” to distort the company’s role in climate research.

Exxon Research

“Our scientists have been involved in climate research and related policy analysis for more than 30 years, yielding more than 50 papers in peer-reviewed publications,” Cohen wrote in a Sept. 16 post on the site. “They’ve participated in the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change since its inception and were involved in the National Academy of Sciences review of the third U.S. National Climate Assessment Report.”

Damien LaVera, a spokesman for Schneiderman, declined to comment on whether a subpoena was issued.

New York is examining whether the company may have violated state consumer protection law or the Martin Act, a state law that gives the New York attorney general broad powers to combat financial fraud, the person familiar with the matter said.

“We are proud of our record of disclosing to investors and the investment community material facts applicable to our business,” Cohen said during a conference call with reporters on Thursday. He declined to disclose the nature of the documents being sought because the company is still assessing the subpoena.

Tillerson, a University of Texas-trained engineer who’s spent his entire career at Exxon, told the company’s annual shareholder meeting in May that technology will provide solutions to any impacts that result from climate change, such as higher sea levels.

Climate models that seek to predict the outcome of rising temperatures “just aren’t that good,” Tillerson said during the May 27 gathering in a Dallas symphony hall. Exxon is wary of making efforts to reduce emissions that may not work or that will be deemed unnecessary if the modeling is flawed, Tillerson said.

Bill McKibben, the environmental activist who founded 350.org, called for more jurisdictions and agencies to probe what he called a “truly serious” scandal. “We hope that other state attorney generals and the federal Department of Justice, and the Securities Exchange Commission will show similar fortitude” as Schneiderman and launch investigations.

Bomb Is ‘Possibility’ in Loss of Russian Jet Over Egypt, Obama Says

WASHINGTON —  President Obamasaid Thursday evening that there was “a possibility” that a terrorist bomb was responsible for the destruction of a Russian passenger plane that broke apart last Saturday over the Sinai Peninsula in Egypt.

Mr. Obama said in a radio interview that there may have been a bomb on the plane, but he did not go as far as his counterparts in Britain, who have suggested that the destruction of the plane, and the death of all on board, was most likely the result of a terrorist explosion.

“I don’t think we know yet,” Mr. Obama told the Seattle radio station KIROduring an interview broadcast Thursday afternoon. “Whenever you’ve got a plane crash, first of all you’ve got the tragedy, you’ve got making sure there’s an investigation on site. I think there is a possibility that there was a bomb on board. And we are taking that very seriously.”

“We are going to spend a lot of time making sure our own investigators and our own intelligence community figures out exactly what’s going on before we make any definitive pronouncements,” Mr. Obama added. “But it is certainly possible that there was a bomb on board.” At the White House earlier in the day, administration officials said that the United States had not yet made a determination about the cause of the crash, which occurred after takeoff from the Egyptian resort city of Sharm el Sheikh. But they added that the government had not excluded the possibility of a bomb.

“We can’t rule anything out, including the possibility of terrorism,” Josh Earnest, the White House press secretary, told reporters in Washington.

In London on Thursday, Prime Minister David Cameron said that “more likely than not a terrorist bomb” had brought down the plane as he announced plans to bring British citizens back from Sharm el Sheikh.

Mr. Obama’s comments were the first direct indication by the president that the downing of the Russian airliner might have been something other than a technical malfunction. American officials have repeatedly cautioned that the cause of the crash is still under investigation.

Officials have noted that no American airlines fly to or from the airport in Egypt where the Russian plane began its flight. And they said before the crash, the Federal Aviation Administration had already issued guidance to airlines to fly higher above the region.

Mr. Obama’s comments came during a series of short interviews with five radio stations across the country in which the president urged people to sign up at HealthCare.gov for health insurance during the current open enrollment period. During one of the interviews, Mr. Obama was asked about the Russian plane.

In recent days, administration officials have noted the differences between the crash of the Russian plane and other airline disasters. In this case, unlike the case last year of the missing  

Malaysian jetliner, the United States does not have F.B.I. agents working directly on the crash.

“Right now there are not,” Mr. Earnest said Wednesday afternoon. “Right now this is an Egyptian investigation. The Russians are involved in it.”

Officials have said American investigators were “in touch” with their counterparts in other countries who are looking into the crash. But without an American known to be on the flight — a presence that often gives officials a reason to participate in the investigation of a crash — there has been no reason for direct United States involvement, they said.

The Russians and the Egyptians have also not asked for help from the United States in the investigation, officials said.

Mr. Cameron made his remarks about the crash in an appearance at No. 10 Downing Street with President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi of Egypt.

“My role is to act in the right way to keep British citizens safe and secure,” Mr. Cameron said. He did not cite what specific intelligence he had suggesting that the explosion that destroyed the Russian plane about a half-hour after it took off from Sharm el Sheikh was deliberate.

Mr. Sisi, who has counseled against jumping to premature conclusions, did not criticize Mr. Cameron’s decision to temporarily suspend flights between Britain and Sharm el Sheikh, but Egyptian officials in Cairo did just that.

Hossam Kamal, the Egyptian minister of civil aviation, said that the suggestion of a bomb was not based on facts — and that there was as yet no evidence for that theory. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the British government had made the decision to halt flights unilaterally.

In a telephone conversation on Thursday with Mr. Cameron, President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia also took exception to his comments, saying that any “assessment of the causes of the crash should be based on the data” from the investigation, the Kremlin said in a statement.

While there has been much speculation about what brought down the jet, the cause largely remains a mystery. American military officials said this week that satellite surveillance had detected a flash of light as the plane was ripped apart, suggesting that it had been blown up by a bomb, an explosion caused by a mechanical failure or the ignition of fuel.

Mr. Sisi, standing next to Mr. Cameron, acknowledged that Britain had previously raised safety concerns. “Ten months ago, we were asked by our British friends to send teams to Sharm el Sheikh airport to make sure that all our security procedures there were good enough, and to provide adequate safety and security for our passengers,” he said, adding that the Egyptian authorities were ready to address any outstanding concerns.

The prime minister’s office announced later Thursday that British and Egyptian officials had “agreed on a package of additional security measures that is being put in place rapidly,” and that flights to Britain from Sharm el Sheikh would resume Friday. Two British airlines, Monarch and EasyJet, said they were ready to run flights to bring stranded tourists back to Britain from the Red Sea resort, where there are an estimated 20,000 British citizens.

Flights to Sharm el Sheikh from Britain remained suspended.

Two subsidiaries of the German airline Lufthansa, the Düsseldorf-based Eurowings and Edelweiss Air, which operates out of Zurich, suspended their Sharm el Sheikh flights on Thursday. Lufthansa said the group was working out a plan to help passengers return home.

Aleksandr Neradko, head of the Federal Air Transport Agency in Russia, said investigators in Egypt looking into the crash would be examining the wreckage of the airplane, including the hand baggage and victims’ bodies to see if there were traces of explosive substances.

Also on Thursday, the first two funerals were held for victims of the crash. The funeral for Nina Lushchenko, 60, who ran a school canteen, was a traditional Orthodox service at a 16th-century church in Veliky Novgorod, about 125 miles south of St. Petersburg.

The funeral for another victim, Aleksei Alekseev, 31, took place in St. Petersburg.

Facebook’s reportedly working on a standalone app for breaking news

Facebook, if it wasn’t already abundantly clear, wants us to spend more time on its network and by extension more time with its ads. One way it’s attempting to carve out a disproportionate amount our collective attention is by streamlining elements of the user experience. Another is by aggregating content, specifically news content, that’s up-to-the-minute, easy to access, and somewhat exclusive. It’s the latter effort that’s reportedly getting attention next week: according to the Financial Times, Facebook’s poised to reveal Notify, an app which serves breaking from around the globe.

The Times report describes Notify as an aggregation of “a range of print, digital and video” news stories from “professional media outlets,” and that seems apt; the service is launching with “a dozen” partners including Vogue, Mashable, CNN, the Washington Post, CBS, Comedy Central, and Billboard magazine, and will work, apparently, by alerting users to breaking news stories to publishers to which they’ve subscribed. It’s in effect a digital portal for developing stories.

Notify follows on the heels of Facebook’s first news project, Instant Articles, which the social media behemoth debuted in May in a bid to encourage partner outlets (among them The New York Times, The Guardian, BBC News, and BuzzFeed) to host articles on its servers.

The impetus for Facebook’s mobile push is encroachment from Twitter, Snapchat, and other companies which increasingly perceive news as a means to drive engagement. Snapchat’s enormously popular Discover feature serves video from a host of publications. Twitter’s Moments provides a curated feed of pictures, videos, and tweets organized around top news topics. Google and a host of partner companies (including Twitter, incidentally) recently launched Accelerated Mobile Pages, an initiative to “dramatically improve performance” of webpages with rich content. And 

Apple debuted its own news aggregator app, News, with the release of iOS 9.1.

The competition may be fierce, but Facebook has a decided advantage: meteoric growth. In its third quarter earnings report on Wednesday, the company reported that 1.01 billion people now use Facebook every day on average. Meanwhile, videos hosted on Facebook now attract more than 9 billion views daily — about double the average view count from eight months ago.

Google Maps adds spoken traffic alerts on iOS

Google Maps has been updated on iOS to send spoken traffic alerts to drivers. It is a significant update that should let drivers know well in advance what is happening on the road, letting them choose an alternate route before entering into what could be large congestion or a traffic accident.

Users will receive a spoken summary of the upcoming traffic, which could be a minor crash or major congestion, along with a delay estimate. Google will be able to provide detailed reports of the entire route, which means you can change the route before you even step into the car.

Traffic alerts have played a big part in Waze’s success — the mapping app that Google acquired for $1.1 billion in 2013 — and Google Maps is finally receiving the feature. Though, instead of user generated traffic alerts, Google will use data from other Google Maps users and traffic services to make sure information is accurate.

“While you’re on the road, Google Maps will give you a heads up if congestion lies ahead, and how long you’ll be stuck in a jam,” said Google. “You’ll also get the option to take alternate routes, including explanations for why one is recommended — whether it’s the fastest or avoids an incident.”

Google Maps added spoken traffic alerts earlier in the year on Android, and it has finally arrived on iOS. Apple Maps currently doesn’t offer traffic alerts, neither does Nokia Maps, which was recently sold to a consortium of German car manufacturers.

The Google Maps update comes a few weeks after a major overhaul to Waze, adding a ton of new features to Israeli-based mapping service. Both mapping services continue to receive regular updates, which is odd considering they compete for users.