Avatar smashes $1bn box office speed record

Avatar has become the fastest movie ever to achieve $1bn (£625.6m) in ticket sales around the world.

Distributors 20th Century Fox say it has earned more than $350m (£217m) in the US and more than $670m (£415m) in the rest of the world in only 17 days.
The 3D science fiction blockbuster was directed by James Cameron, who also made Titanic, the best selling movie of all time.
The latest figures make Avatar already the fourth-biggest film ever made.

Ahead of it are Titanic ($1.8bn; £1.1bn), The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King ($1.12bn; £695m) and Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest ($1.07bn; £664m).
Avatar - about a disabled marine who infiltrates a race of giant blue aliens - combines live action with digitally-enhanced performances.
It was reportedly the most expensive film ever made, with a budget of at least $300m (£186m).
Expensive tickets
"This is like a freight train out of control," said 20th Century Fox distribution executive Bert Livingston. "It just keeps on going.
"I think everybody has to see Avatar once, even people who don't normally go to the movies, they've heard about it and are saying, 'I have to see it'," he said.
"Then there are those people seeing it multiple times."
Avatar has now reached most parts of the globe. It opened in China on Saturday and is due to reach Italy - its final market - on 15 January.
The huge box office takings are partly down to the higher cost of tickets for 3D performances, says the BBC's Peter Bowes in Los Angeles.
But as Hollywood enters its traditional slow season, with few big films due for release, Avatar is likely to dominate the box office for several more weeks, he adds.

Avatar smashes $1bn box office speed record

Avatar has become the fastest movie ever to achieve $1bn (£625.6m) in ticket sales around the world.

Distributors 20th Century Fox say it has earned more than $350m (£217m) in the US and more than $670m (£415m) in the rest of the world in only 17 days.

The 3D science fiction blockbuster was directed by James Cameron, who also made Titanic, the best selling movie of all time.

The latest figures make Avatar already the fourth-biggest film ever made.

Ahead of it are Titanic ($1.8bn; £1.1bn), The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King ($1.12bn; £695m) and Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest ($1.07bn; £664m).

Avatar - about a disabled marine who infiltrates a race of giant blue aliens - combines live action with digitally-enhanced performances.

It was reportedly the most expensive film ever made, with a budget of at least $300m (£186m).

Expensive tickets

"This is like a freight train out of control," said 20th Century Fox distribution executive Bert Livingston. "It just keeps on going.

"I think everybody has to see Avatar once, even people who don't normally go to the movies, they've heard about it and are saying, 'I have to see it'," he said.

"Then there are those people seeing it multiple times."

Avatar has now reached most parts of the globe. It opened in China on Saturday and is due to reach Italy - its final market - on 15 January.

The huge box office takings are partly down to the higher cost of tickets for 3D performances, says the BBC's Peter Bowes in Los Angeles.

But as Hollywood enters its traditional slow season, with few big films due for release, Avatar is likely to dominate the box office for several more weeks, he adds.

Japan Airlines shares fall 24% to hit a new record low

Japan Airlines shares touched a record low for the second day running, falling 24% from Tuesday's price to 67 yen.

The drop followed more reports that the carrier would file for bankruptcy as part of a revival plan.

Last week, Finance Minister Hirohisa Fujii said the state would not give the airline any more loans.

Japan Airlines has rival offers from American Airlines and Delta to buy a stake in the firm. A bankruptcy filing would make a deal more complicated.

The Enterprise Turnaround Initiative Corp - a state-backed fund - was asked in October to help out the debt-laden Japan Airlines.

A decision is due in January.

Japan Airlines is less efficient than its rival All Nippon Airways and is struggling with 1.5 trillion yen of debt ($16bn; £10bn). It has been bailed out by the government four times since 2001.

It has made a loss in four of the past five years.

Midwest US states face fresh blizzards

A severe winter storm in the US that has seen record amounts of snow fall is set to continue, forecasts say.

Blizzard warnings are still in place for parts of North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Wyoming, Minnesota, Iowa and Wisconsin.

The storm has already dumped 14in (35cm) in Oklahoma City - 11.5in more than the previous record snowfall.

Icy roads had been blamed for at least 21 deaths since the storm hit a few days ago.

Drivers in Minnesota reported brief white-out (zero visibility) conditions, and while some managed to continue to their destinations, others were stuck either in their cars or accommodation as the snow made roads impassable.

In Texas, volunteer fire-fighters and sheriff's deputies rescued hundreds of people stranded along Interstate 44 and Texas State Highway 287 near Wichita Falls.

Thirteen inches of snow fell in the area, a National Weather Service meteorologist said

"It's really been horrible," Wichita County Sheriff David Duke said.

"Although we live in north Texas and get a lot of cold weather, we weren't prepared for the significant amount of snow that we've received."

Interstate roads were also closed in North Dakota, Nebraska and Wyoming.

Snow drifts and strong winds could cause further whiteouts, meteorologists warned.

Flights were cancelled, including at Sioux Falls Regional Airport, Rapid City Regional Airport and Pierre Regional Airport.

The Will Rogers World Airport in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma's largest airport, was not expected to fully reopen for another two to three days.

National Weather Service meteorologist Kevin Kraujalis said the strong winds were producing snow drifts as deep as 5ft.

"It's awful, it's just awful," he told AP news agency.

"It's a big workout just walking outside to check my weather equipment."