Director hits back at critics of Taylor Swift’s African video

The director of Taylor Swift's new music video set in Africa struck back on Wednesday at mounting criticism of the scarcity of black people in the mini-film and its romanticized portrayal of the continent. “Wildest Dreams,” a love story filmed against a backdrop of giraffes, lions, waterfalls and stunning sunsets, has been viewed more than 15 million times since it was released on Monday to accompany the American pop superstar's latest single.

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Website linked to Tennessee shooting denies it sells guns

“We'd like to make it clear that Armslist does not sell guns,” Jonathan Gibbon, owner of the website, said in the video. The statement appeared on the website a day after the FBI said it knew where the suspect, Mohammod Youssuf Abdulazeez, obtained his guns but would withhold the information for now

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HBO offers premiere episodes of two series on Facebook

(Reuters) – Television network HBO said it would offer the premiere episodes of two new comedy series on Facebook, underlining the growing popularity of the social networking site as a video platform. With about 1.44 billion monthly active users, Facebook has become a sough-after outlet for companies looking to market their products via online videos, the fastest growing category of Internet ads

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Spotify to start offering videos

Streaming music service Spotify will soon provide video content from musicians, news organizations and TV networks in a bid to sign up more subscribers, the company said on Wednesday. A new recommendation function, similar to what rival Pandora Media Inc offers, will let people pick channels based on lifestyle activities, like “songs to sing to in the shower,” or “100 plus hits form the 1980s,” the Stockholm-based company said

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Netflix in talks with Jack Ma-backed Wasu to enter China: Bloomberg

(Reuters) – Video streaming company Netflix Inc is in talks with Jack Ma-backed Wasu Media Holding Co and other potential partners to enter China's booming online video market, Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the matter. Netflix is seeking a partner that has licenses for content on all devices, including mobile phones, computers and set-top boxes, the report said.

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California ACLU group launches app to record possible police misconduct

By Alex Dobuzinskis LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – A California civil liberties group launched a mobile application on Thursday that will let bystanders record cell phone videos of possible cases of police misconduct and then quickly save the footage to the organization’s computer servers.

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Microsoft Xbox Live back up, Sony PlayStation Network still down

(Reuters) – Microsoft Corp's Xbox Live was back up on Friday while Sony Corp's PlayStation Network remained offline for a second day after a hacker group claimed responsibility for attacking the two Internet gaming services. Gamers on Xbox Live and PlayStation Network experienced connection problems and delays on Christmas Day, one of the busiest times of the year for the video game industry

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