Danny Puff

NEW YORK (AP) Online games company Zynga said its loss narrowed in the latest quarter even though revenue was largely unchanged as the company cut expenses by laying off workers, closing offices and shutting down poorly performing games.

The results exceeded Wall Street's muted expectations, and Zynga Inc.'s battered shares increased nearly 7 percent in after-hours trading after the release of the results. After a difficult 2012 in which Zynga saw its stock price decline by 75 percent, CEO Mark Pincus called 2013 a "pivotal transition year" for the company as it seeks to cut costs further and broaden revenue sources, especially from mobile games.

Zynga went public in December 2011 with a lot of promise. Games such as "FarmVille" and "CityVille" were popular on Facebook, as the social media company was itself preparing for a highly anticipated initial public offering of stock.

But Facebook's stock stumbled, and Zynga's tumbled with it. Demand for Zynga's games weakened, and investors were worried both about Zynga's overreliance on Facebook for its revenue and signs that the two were growing apart. Zynga's stock ended 2012 at $2.36, well below the IPO price of $10.

Zynga responded by announcing in October that it was cutting about 5 percent of its full-time workforce of roughly 3,200 employees. The San Francisco company also killed 13 older games and closed development studios in Boston and elsewhere.

Those cuts helped.

Zynga said Tuesday that it lost $48.6 million, or 6 cents per share, in the October-December period. That compares with a loss of $435 million, or $1.22 per share, in the same period a year earlier. Zynga began trading publicly on Dec. 16, 2011, and was privately held for most of the 2011 quarter.

Zynga's revenue was largely unchanged at about $311 million. But it was well above analysts' average estimate of $250 million, as polled by FactSet.

Zynga cut fourth-quarter expenses by two-thirds, to $274 million from $798 million.

Though its fortunes have faded, Zynga is still the most popular maker of games on Facebook. As of the end of the year, it had five of the top 10 games played on the world's largest social networking site.

Zynga said it had 298 million active users each month on average in the fourth quarter, up 24 percent from 240 million a year earlier. But that's down 4 percent from 311 million in the third quarter of 2012.

Like Facebook, Zynga is trying to position itself as a mobile company as people spend more time on smartphones and tablet computers. The company said it had 72 million monthly players on mobile devices.

"Mobile, however, remains a more fragmented experience. Despite the incredible growth in mobile gaming, it's still hard for any of us to find people to actually play with," Pincus said in a conference call with analysts. "We're amazed that the number one way our 'Words With Friends' players find new opponents in their games is through the 'random' button. We know we can offer them something more compelling than that."

For the current quarter, Zynga said it expects an adjusted loss of 5 cents to 4 cents per share and revenue of $255 million to $265 million. Analysts were predicting a loss of 1 cent per share and revenue of $268 million.

Shares climbed 18 cents, or 6.6 percent, to $2.92 in after-hours trading after gaining 18 cents to close at $2.74 during the regular session. Zynga's stock has traded from $2.09 to $15.91 in the past 52 weeks.

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LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) - Kiefer Sutherland has gained his share of accolades throughout his acting career, but none quite like this.

The "24" star has been named 2013's Man of the Year by Harvard University's Hasty Pudding Theatricals student society, succeeding "The Muppets" actor Jason Segel, who received the honors last year.

Sutherland will be feted with a roast on Friday at Harvard's Farkas Hall, where he will receive his ceremonial Pudding Pot. If Hasty Pudding tradition is any indication, Sutherland will also dress at least partially in women's clothes at some point during the event. Which is presumably a rare event for the actor.

"Inception" actress Marion Cotillard, who was named 2013's Woman of the Year by the theatrical society, was honored at a January 13 ceremony, during which she led a parade through the streets of Cambridge, Mass.

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NEW YORK (Reuters) - Cuban-American singer Gloria Estefan and her music entrepreneur husband, Emilio, are developing a new Broadway show based on their lives, the show's producer said on Tuesday.

The couple is working with the Nederlander Organization on the show that will trace their lives from leaving Cuba to international stardom.

"The Estefans' journey of success, led by raw talent and passion, is captivating as it drove them from relative obscurity to global sensations," Jimmy Nederlander, the organization's president, said in a statement announcing the deal.

Estefan, one of the most successful Latin crossover stars, fled Cuba with her family as a toddler. She met her husband in Miami and became the lead singer of his band, which was renamed the Miami Sound Machine. The couple married in 1978.

She has sold more than 100 million albums worldwide, won seven Grammy Awards and produced a list of hits including "Conga," "The Rhythm is Going to Get You," and "1,2,3."

Emilio, a music, television and film director, was instrument in his wife's career, and helped to develop stars such as Shakira, Ricky Martin and Jennifer Lopez.

"Sharing our life story through music will give us a new opportunity to honor our roots and, hopefully, to be able to inspire generations to come," the couple said in a statement.

The Nederlander Organization said no creative team has been announced yet.

(Reporting by Noreen O'Donnell; Editing by Patricia Reaney and Eric Walsh)

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LOS ANGELES (AP) When Oscar nominees such as Steven Spielberg, Hugh Jackman and Helen Hunt want to take a break backstage during the Academy Awards show, they'll step back in time.

Their off-camera Oscar hangout, the Architectural Digest Greenroom, was inspired by art director Cedric Gibbons, who won 11 Academy Awards and was nominated another 28 times for his work on classic films including "The Wizard of Oz," ''Singin' in the Rain" and "Annie Get Your Gun." He even designed the Oscar statuette.

"He really created, almost singlehandedly, the look of the Hollywood films of the 1930s and '40s," said Madeline Stuart, designer of this year's Oscar green room. "His body of work is so impressive, and as a designer who prides herself on being able to work in so many different architectural styles, he's my idol because he, in order to create the sets and the environments and the worlds of these different films, had to be conversant in all these different (aesthetic) languages."

Stuart's green room will boast a sunny palette, spare decor, black lacquer floors and the upholstered banquettes Gibbons favored.

"This is not a room for flip-flops," Stuart said. "This is a room that conveys the high style and sophisticated glamor of the 1930s and '40s, and how fabulous that the people who are spending time in the room that night will have dressed the part."

Stuart typically decorates and remodels the high-end homes of entertainers and business leaders. The Oscar backstage retreat is her most transient project yet: The entire room is being built off-site and will be moved into the backstage area of the Dolby Theatre a few days before the Academy Awards. And it'll be gone just as quickly.

"This is like a military maneuver and everything is plotted and planned to within an inch of its life," Stuart said, adding that the green room closes after the Oscar show, and two days later, "they come and my little world is broken down and carted away."

Still, she's honored to create a space for stars to steal away during one of Hollywood's biggest nights and pay homage to one of the industry's most legendary art directors.

But can her green room quell celebrity nerves?

"There's nothing we can do in this room that can make them feel calm and relaxed," she said, "but we do want to make them feel comfortable and provide a respite from the madness that must be going on backstage."

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AP Entertainment Writer Sandy Cohen is on Twitter: www.twitter.com/APSandy .

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Online:

http://www.architecturaldigest.com/go/Oscars

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RENO, Nev. (AP) Stewie the Cat, the longest domestic cat in the world at more than 4 feet long from nose to tail, has died.

Stewie was surrounded by family when he succumbed to a yearlong battle with cancer Monday evening at his Reno home, owner Robin Hendrickson said Tuesday. He was 8.

Guinness World Records declared Stewie the record-holder in August 2010, measuring 48.5 inches from the tip of his nose to the tip of his tail.

Hundreds of fans flooded Stewie's Facebook site with memories and condolences Tuesday. The Maine Coon cat was a certified therapy animal that frequently visited a Reno senior center and helped promote animal welfare awareness with the Nevada Humane Society.

"Stewie was always very social and loved meeting new people," Hendrickson said. "He has touched many lives, and for that I am grateful."

Stewie's full name was Mymains Stewart Gilligan. Hendrickson bought him from a breeder in Hermiston, Ore., in 2005. Last month, he attended the International Cat Show in Portland, Ore.

"He did really well at the show, even though he wasn't feeling totally perfect," said Valerie Horton, the show's entry clerk. "He loved being there because he loved the public. He always did."

Officials for Guinness World Records did not immediately respond to inquiries about a successor to Stewie's record. The previous record-holder, Leo, a 48-inch-long Maine Coon owned by Frieda Ireland of Chicago, died several years ago.

Stewie was diagnosed in early 2012 with Lymphosarcoma, a malignant disease of the lymphoid tissues. He responded successfully to chemotherapy and was declared cancer-free, but the remission period was brief and a vet recently found another, more aggressive tumor on his kidneys, Hendrickson said.

"I knew that although we could fight it, the end was near and so I wanted to simply make him comfortable and let him enjoy the time he did have," she said.

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Associated Press writer Steven DuBois contributed to this report from Portland, Ore.

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STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - Sweden coach Erik Hamren compared his captain Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Argentina's Lionel Messi to their video game counterparts as the teams prepare to meet in a friendly on Wednesday.

"Both of them are like players you see in those video games," Hamren told a news conference at the Friends arena where Sweden meet Argentina on Wednesday in front of a sell-out crowd.

"They do things you don't think it's possible to do. Two extremely talented and really, really good football players."

As both teams held training sessions under the closed roof of the new stadium, there was little to suggest that the rumored rift between Ibra and Messi during their time together at Barcelona still existed.

"Leo is a fantastic player, he's probably the best player in the world," Ibrahimovic told reporters. "He is winning all the prizes, he's winning as an individual and I think it will be a great game."

Three-times world player of the year Messi did not speak to the press and has kept a low profile since arriving in the Swedish capital.

Fans and photographers alike have had as much luck as most defenders when trying to pin him down and security around the arena was tight as locals tried to get a glimpse of him during Argentina's training session on Tuesday.

But the Swedes are hugely proud of their own captain too and they are hoping he will repay their faith with a display similar to that which he produced against England in November.

In the first game at the new stadium, Ibra hauled Sweden from behind with a stunning four-goal salvo to beat England 4-2, rounding it off with an outrageous scissor kick from well outside the penalty area.

The Friends Arena, named after an anti-bullying campaign, is an apt title for the new 50,000-capacity stadium, and there was plenty of mutual respect on display as Argentina coach Alejandro Sabella praised Ibrahimovic.

"He's a great player because he has physical strength, is tall, good in the air he makes the most of rebounds, he has all the skills to complicate (things)," he told a news conference.

"He can score in all kinds of ways, even with free kicks as against England, which he did from 35 meters."

But Sabella said his side would not be changing their defensive game-plan to combat the Swedish captain.

"We have to be especially careful faced by the quality of a player like Zlatan, but the fact that he's playing doesn't change my idea of how to defend."

The friendly marks Sweden's final outing before their first competitive game in the new stadium against Ireland in a World Cup qualifier on March 22.

Ranked third in the world, Argentina will face Venezuela at home in their next match.

(editing by Ed Osmond)

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TRENTON, N.J. (AP) New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and David Letterman have shared some laughs about the many fat jokes the comedian has made about the lawmaker's ample girth.

Christie has termed his plumpness "fair game" for comedians. And during his first appearance on "Late Show with David Letterman" on Monday, the outspoken Republican and potential 2016 presidential contender read two of Letterman's jokes that he said were "some of my personal favorites."

The governor also drew loud laughs when he pulled out a doughnut and started eating it while Letterman asked him if he was bothered by the digs that have been made about his weight. Christie said he wasn't, noting that he laughs at the jokes if he finds them funny.

"Late Show" airs on CBS at 11:35 p.m. Eastern time.

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CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (AP) Golden Globe-winning actor Kiefer Sutherland has been named Man of the Year by Harvard University's Hasty Pudding Theatricals.

Sutherland will be roasted and receive his ceremonial pudding pot at a ceremony scheduled for Friday.

The 46-year-old Sutherland has been in dozens of films but is perhaps best known for his role as Jack Bauer in the television series "24," for which he won Golden Globe and Primetime Emmy awards. He is currently starring in the television show "Touch."

Last year's Man of the Year was Jason Segel.

The 2013 Woman of the Year, Marion Cotillard (koh-tee-YAR'), was honored last week.

Hasty Pudding Theatricals is the nation's oldest undergraduate drama troupe.

The awards are presented annually to performers who have made a lasting and impressive contribution to entertainment.

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CAIRO (AP) President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad arrived in Egypt on Tuesday for the first visit by an Iranian leader in more than three decades, marking a historic departure from years of frigid ties between the two regional heavyweights.

Egypt's Islamist President Mohammed Morsi gave Ahmadinejad a red-carpet welcome on the tarmac at Cairo airport, shaking the Iranian's hand and exchanging a kiss on each cheek as a military honor guard stood at attention.

Ahmadinejad's three-day visit, which is centered around an Islamic summit, is the latest sign of improved relations between the countries since the 2011 uprising ousted Egypt's longtime ruler President Hosni Mubarak and brought an Islamist government to power in Cairo. Such a visit would have been unthinkable under Mubarak, who was a close ally of the U.S. and shared Washington's deep suspicions of Tehran.

Shortly after his arrival, Ahmadinejad and Morsi held a 20-minute talk that focused on the civil war in Syria, security officials said on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief the media. Iran is Damascus' closes regional ally, while Egypt is among those that have called on Syrian President Bashar Assad to step down.

In September, Morsi offered a package of incentives to Tehran to end its support for Assad. The proposal included the restoration of full diplomatic ties, which would be a significant prize for Iran given that Egypt is the most populous Arab nation and a regional Sunni powerhouse.

Such diplomatic overtures have raised concerns among Sunni Gulf nations, who are keeping a close eye on the Iranian leader's visit. The Gulf states, who are opposed to Iran's regional policies and wary of the Shiite nation, accuse Iran of supporting Shiite minorities in the Gulf, and harbor concerns about Tehran's disputed nuclear program.

Morsi and the fundamentalist Muslim Brotherhood group from which he hails have sought to ease Gulf concerns about its improved ties with Iran, and have stressed that the security of the Gulf nations which Egypt has relied upon for financial aid to help prop up its faltering economy is directly linked to Cairo's own.

Foreign Minister Mohammed Amr Kamel reiterated Tuesday that "Egypt's relationship with Iran will never come at the expense of Gulf nations."

During his visit to Egypt, Ahmadinejad is scheduled to meet with Grand Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayeb, the head of Al-Azhar, the Sunni Muslim world's premier Islamic institution. He is also scheduled to attend the summit of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation in Cairo, which starts Wednesday.

Security officials said Ahmadinejad is also going to tour the Pyramids in Giza.

Once close, Egypt and Iran severed their relations after the 1979 Islamic Revolution when Cairo offered exile to Iran's deposed shah. Relations further deteriorated after Egypt's peace treaty with Israel.

Morsi's rise to power out of Egypt's own revolution complicates his ability to pursue better ties with Iran when it is seen as suppressing a revolution in Syria. Cairo is home to the offices of the main Syrian opposition council, which has a strong presence of members of the Brotherhood's Syrian chapter.

The Egyptian president also faces pressure on the home front not to cozy up to Tehran.

On Tuesday, Egypt's hardline Daawa Salafiya, which is the foundation of the main Salafi political Al-Nour Party, released a statement calling on Morsi to confront Ahmadinejad on Tehran's support for the Syrian regime and make clear that "Egypt is committed to the protection of all Sunni nations."

Mohammed Abbas Nagi, an Egyptian expert on Iran, said Morsi may be trying to restore some level of diplomatic ties with Tehran in order to show that Cairo is pursuing a more independent foreign policy than that of his predecessor and to keep the door open to the Islamic Republic in case the Gulf states' support dwindles.

"Despite the fact that restoring relations is a sovereign decision fully belonging to Egypt, I don't see that Egypt will make a decision separate from the course of its relationship with the U.S. and Israel, for whom Iran is now the main issue," Nagi said.

Morsi visited Tehran last year to attend an international summit in the first visit by an Egyptian leader to Iran in years. He held a brief one-on-one talk with Ahmadinejad then and discussed Syria's civil war. But Morsi also used the opportunity in Tehran to lash out at Iran's ally, calling the Damascus regime "oppressive."

Egypt's leader has spearheaded an "Islamic quartet" of nations to try and resolve the Syrian crisis that includes Iran, as well as Turkey and Saudi Arabia, which are two of the most vocal critics of the Syrian president.

While Saudi Arabia has largely abstained from the group's meetings in an apparent snub to Iran's Syria policies, Egyptian officials say they will try to revive those talks on the sidelines of this week's OIC summit.

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Associated Press writer Amir Makar contributed to this report.

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LONDON (AP) The structure is simple, the guitar riffs basic, the lyrics at best inane, but the Troggs' "Wild Thing" remains a garage rock classic more than 45 years after its release made The Troggs and lead singer Reg Presley international stars.

Presley, whose raunchy, suggestive voice powers this paean to teenage lust, died Monday after a year-long struggle with lung cancer that had forced him and the band into reluctant retirement, his agent Keith Altham announced on Facebook late Monday night. He was 71.

"My dear old pal Reg Presley of The Troggs died today," he said, calling Presley "one very real person in a sometimes very unreal world." He said the singer had suffered a number of strokes recently and died at his home in Andover (70 miles west of London) surrounded by his family and friends.

The Troggs, part of the British invasion spurred by the Beatles and the Rolling Stones, perfected a simple, hard-driving approach to the three-minute rock song that was miles away from the lyrical art-rock of the Beatles or the poetic songs of Bob Dylan.

This was rock music at its "boy meets girl" basics, with a caveman's approach to romance and it created such a powerful image that Presley and the band played these songs to appreciative (if smaller) audiences until illness intervened.

"Wild Thing," written by American songwriter Chip Taylor, was originally recorded by Jordan Christopher & The Wild Ones in 1965, and quickly forgotten. It took the Troggs' cover a year later to make it a classic.

With its basic three-chord approach and driving beat, "Wild Thing" became a hit on both sides of the Atlantic and has been covered by literally hundreds of bands since its 1966 release.

The song was picked up not only by semi-skilled garage bands the world over the lead guitar lines were easily copied but also by masters like Jimi Hendrix and Bruce Springsteen who treasured the tune's raw energy.

It even led to a successful novelty song, with a singer pretending to be Sen. Robert Kennedy "singing" the lyrics in Kennedy's distinctive voice.

The Troggs, all from the Andover area, had several other big hits, including "Love is All Around" and "With a Girl Like You."

They faded in the 1970s but their songs were revived in the 1990s when REM and Wet Wet Wet released covers of the Troggs' "Love Is All Around."

Presley, also a prolific songwriter, helped found the Troggs in the 1960s while he was working as a bricklayer.

Born Reg Ball, he took the stage name "Presley" at his manager's suggestion.

He announced his retirement in January, 2012 in an open letter to his fans thanking them for their support. He said at the time that he was receiving chemotherapy and not feeling "too bad."

He had a strong interest in crop circles, paranormal activity, and UFOs.

His daughter Karen told the music website WENN that she, her brother and her mother were with Presley when he died.

"We're absolutely heartbroken," she said.

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