| Sunday, April 12th 2015, 20:13 GMT |
The new Lamborghini Huracan GT3 has been disqualified from its debut victory in the Monza Blancpain Endurance Series race, handing victory to the Rinaldi Ferrari
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| By Mark Glendenning | Sunday, April 12th 2015, 21:56 GMT |
A gamble on strategy rewarded James Hinchcliffe with victory for Schmidt Peterson in a damp, incident-filled incident-filled IndyCar race at NOLA on Sunday
You have viewed over 15 free stories this month. Why stop there? Click here to find out how to continue reading.
| Sunday, April 12th 2015, 20:54 GMT |
Honda rider Marc Marquez claimed the first victory of his 2015 MotoGP campaign in the Grand Prix of the Americas, maintaining his perfect Austin record in the process
You have viewed over 15 free stories this month. Why stop there? Click here to find out how to continue reading.
| By Edd Straw | Saturday, April 11th 2015, 19:01 GMT |
Olympic cycling legend Chris Hoy believes LMP3 is the ideal stepping stone towards the Le Mans 24 Hours after taking his first motorsport race win in the class' inaugural event
You have viewed over 15 free stories this month. Why stop there? Click here to find out how to continue reading.
| Saturday, April 11th 2015, 19:58 GMT |
Marc Marquez took one of the most extraordinary poles of his MotoGP career at Austin after sprinting down pitlane for his spare Honda with under three minutes to go
You have viewed over 15 free stories this month. Why stop there? Click here to find out how to continue reading.
| By Mark Glendenning | Saturday, April 11th 2015, 23:24 GMT |
Electrical storms forced the cancellation of qualifying for the IndyCar race at NOLA, meaning that Juan Pablo Montoya will start from pole position in a field set by entrant points
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"I'm obsessed with him, because he succeeded at three different things that were so different than one another," said Grazer. "He has such a unique brain and the brain of the future."
Musk is the visionary behind the Tesla (TSLA) electric car, SpaceX and PayPal.
One of Musk's biggest ambitions: To colonize Mars. That makes the venture a natural fit for Grazer and Howard, who produced the Oscar-winning movie Apollo 13, based on one of America's space missions to land on the moon.
When will it appear and where? Grazer declined to give more details.
Grazer and Howard also teamed up on a TV mini series called "From the Earth to the Moon" for HBO. The episodes focused on NASA's Apollo program, which resulted in 11 spaceflights, between 1969 and 1972, and a total of 12 astronauts walking on the moon, according to NASA's website.
Musk in January spoke about colonizing Mars in an "Ask Me Anything" session on Reddit, according to SpaceX's website. He said details of his Mars Colonial Transporter would be unveiled by the end of the year.
In addition, SpaceX, and Boeing will soon be transporting astronauts to the international space station, replacing the government's shuttle program. That operation was grounded in 2011. The government awarded contracts to the two companies last year, Musk told CNNMoney.
Grazer has a new book out, "A Curious Mind," in which he writes about what's he's learned from a series of conversations he's had with "everyone and anyone" from the doctor who developed the vaccine for Polio to Princess Diana - and yes, Elon Musk, which Grazer confirmed to us after this story was published.
Related: 5 stunning stats about Tesla
Elon Musk stars on The Simpsons
CNNMoney (New York) April 10, 2015: 6:17 PM ET
A group of undocumented New York City deli workers defy being arrested and deported to form a union and take on a corporation that had denied them benefits like a minimum wage, sick days and paid vacations. They overcome long odds to win recognition as a bargaining unit, only to see the store's owner close the store rather than bargain with them.
The workers have also told their story in a powerful new documentary called "The Hand That Feeds," which opened in New York this week.
The film had its theatrical debut in New York City's Cinema Village and will screen in Los Angeles' Laemmle Music Hall 3, beginning April 10.
Directed by Robin Blotnick and Rachel Lears, it puts a spotlight on the working conditions that many undocumented workers endure to earn a living in a city that depends on their work.
The film opens in the kitchen of a ubiquitous New York City Hot and Crusty sandwich shop. Mahoma Lopez, a soft-spoken sandwich maker from Mexico City, films his colleague counting his weekly wages: $260 -- way below minimum wage.
"You get settled in, and see the reality of how dollars are earned." Lopez says.
In January 2012, he convinces a small group of his co-workers to fight.
Related: More undocumented workers moving into management
In one of many poignant scenes, Margarito Lopez, a Hot and Crusty dishwasher, opens up about his fears, his dreams, and providing for his daughter, a university student in Mexico, that brought him to the United States. He also has strong opinions about undocumented immigrants' vulnerability of being preyed upon.
"We are undocumented. That doesn't mean they have to profit from our hunger," Lopez says.
'The Hand That Feeds,' beautifully shot and edited with New York's cacophony serving as its backdrop, recounts the tumultuous years the workers spend fighting for their rights in a David and Goliath battle against Hot and Crusty.
With the help of the advocacy group the Laundry Workers Center and Occupy Wall Street activists, the workers score their first victory: a settlement for back wages from Hot and Crusty.
Related: 5 immigration myths debunked
Emboldened, the workers seek more. They demand benefits commonly given to on-the-books employees: paid sick time, vacation time, respectful managers and a safe work environment. Hot and Crusty won't negotiate, arguing that the management is only required by law to bargain with a unionized workforce.
Undeterred, the workers go through the Federal National Labor Review Board's process, and after a tight, stressful vote, they become officially recognized as a union by the NLRB.
But it was a costly victory. Hot and Crusty decides that rather than negotiating with the newly formed union it would shutter the store.
The now unionized workers continue their fight. They march, sit-in, and struggle on, taking over and then picketing in front of the shuttered store risking arrest and deportation as their frayed nerves and their families' fears nearly tear the union apart.
Related: The activist nun reforming for profit prisons
The stories of the characters in "The Hand That Feeds" make for a powerfully emotional movie that moved the diverse audience of New Yorkers to tears at times.
The filmmakers say that Hot and Crusty refused to take part in the film. According to a person that answered the phone at one of the Manhattan locations, each store is independently owned now. Since the the documentary was shot, the store that was featured in it has closed and been re-branded. The union is still in place there and all the employees were rehired, according to the filmmakers.
CNNMoney (New York) April 10, 2015: 4:22 PM ET
The states' attorneys general are urging the government to forgive federal loans that these students and thousands of others borrowed to attend Corinthian College. They say the college preyed on low-income people with high-interest loans and misrepresented its job placement rate and what graduates earn.
The now defunct network of colleges is in a mess of trouble for its tactics and is facing lawsuits brought by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and attorneys general in California, Massachusetts and Wisconsin.
"Corinthian took advantage of students who were trying to build a better life for themselves and their families" said Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey.
At one point, Corinthian owned about 100 campuses across the country, with nearly 90,000 students. The "debt-strikers" started as a group of 15 former students refusing to pay their loans. In a month, the group has grown to more than 100.
Some of the 100 debt strikers met with the Deptartment of Education last month. Tuition and fees for some of its programs cost more than five times those at other public colleges, according to the CFPB. A bachelor's degree cost up to $75,000 and an associate's was as much as $43,000.
Corinthian was so expensive that many students needed to take out both federal loans and private loans to cover the cost. The college offered its own private loans, which came with interest rates sometimes twice as high as federal loans.
Related: 100 Corinthian students refuse to pay their loans
Former and current students who took out those private loans are already getting some relief. Earlier this year, the government struck a deal with the company acquiring some of Corinthian's campuses, forcing it to wipe out $480 million in debt. Ongoing lawsuits could increase that amount.
But Corinthian students are still on the hook for their federal loans, and that's what the attorneys general want the government to forgive.
They say the school "relentlessly pursued potential students," including veterans, single parents, and first generation college students by misrepresenting job placement numbers, what graduates earn, and the school's role in its private loan program.
Its marketing strategy was geared to prospective students who were "isolated," had "low self-esteem" and "few people in their lives that cared about them," according to a letter the attorneys general sent the Department of Education on Thursday.
The agency has yet to respond to the letter, but said it "shares the attorneys general's concern for the welfare of Corinthian students," said spokeswoman Denise Horn.
The Department of Education has the power to cancel any student's federal loans, and can do so for students who meet certain criteria and apply for relief.
One of those criteria is if a student's school closes. (About half of the Corinthian schools have done so.) The attorneys general are also asking the agency to clarify the grounds for debt cancellation.
Related: If I marry you, do I marry your student loans too?
CNNMoney (New York) April 10, 2015: 6:48 PM ET
This is because three of pop culture's biggest franchises are expanding their brands to new digital frontiers.
On Friday, Disney (DIS) and 20th Century Fox released all six of the popular "Star Wars" films for digital download -- the first time that the space saga has been available digitally.
At the same time, Netflix (NFLX, Tech30) will kick off its multiyear series deal with Marvel by premiering "Daredevil" exclusively on the service.
Then on Sunday, HBO's "Game of Thrones" returns for its fifth season. The fantasy series could reach even more viewers this season now that people can access HBO without a cable subscription via HBO NOW, which also debuted this week.
Soon fans will be able to watch "Star Wars," HBO's "Game of Thrones," and a Marvel series whenever and wherever they please. "'Game of Thrones' is the biggest show in our history, so of course it made sense to time the launch of HBO NOW to the new season," said Pam Levine, HBO's executive VP of marketing. "The opportunity to offer other platforms, and a new technology, as a way to give even more people access to 'Game of Thrones' was a natural decision."
The series was watched by 19.1 million U.S. viewers per episode last season, according to the network. This is across all platforms including original airings, replays, HBO GO, and on demand viewing. With HBO NOW, the series adds another platform for the show's avid audience.
"The 'Game of Thrones' audience is incredibly passionate," Levine said. "We're giving them now another way to [watch the show] if they didn't have access to it before. That's a great thing for the show and a great thing for the fans."
(HBO is owned by Time Warner (TWX), which also owns this website.)
For "Star Wars," this will be a weekend long remembered by fans who are looking forward to traveling to a galaxy far, far away on any device they please.
"'Star Wars' fans have been waiting for this for as long as streaming video has existed," said Eric Geller, writer for the "Star Wars" fan site, TheForce.net. "So much of fandom is about hosting big watch parties... but fans also want the ability to drop into the universe whenever they feel like it."
Geller, who is also an editor at The Daily Dot, added that making "Star Wars" digital also makes it ubiquitous, which is "incredibly valuable for Disney as it tries to keep the franchise at the top of people's minds."
Related: 'Star Wars' films available for digital download for first time ever
And it's in Disney's best interest to keep "Star Wars" on top of people's minds when its seventh episode, "The Force Awakens," debuts in December.
And Disney owns the superhero comic book brand Marvel, so it has another shot at streaming success this weekend.
On Friday, Netflix debuts "Daredevil," the company's first original series based on the blind superhero.
"Daredevil" kicks off Netflix's original Marvel content on Friday. And this is just the start for Netflix and Marvel which are also developing shows for "Luke Cage," "Jessica Jones," and "Iron Fist."
Related: 4 in 10 TV households also subscribe to Netflix, Amazon or Hulu
With 4 in 10 TV households subscribing to some form of streaming service, streaming companies already offer full network content directly to consumers. Specific branded content -- like Marvel superheroes -- is a logical next step.
This was hinted by Disney CEO Bob Iger in February when he mentioned that there could be "opportunities" with a Disney branded service in the future.
It makes sense since the move works toward two ends.
New services like HBO NOW and Netflix allow media companies to hedge their bets on the future of media consumption while fans get what they want and even expect.
"The 'Star Wars' films have been released so many times that the only option left was digital," Geller added. "It's what fans growing up in this era have come to expect."
CNNMoney (New York) April 10, 2015: 2:30 PM ET
