Executions

Friday marks a big day for BlackBerry, the struggling Canadian smartphone maker that is looking for a turnaround amid dwindling market share and intensifying competition from Apple and Samsung. Its prospects hinge on a successful launch of the Z10 touch-screen-only smartphone running the long-awaited BlackBerry 10 operating system. AT&T Inc. will be the first U.S. wireless carrier to start selling it Friday, followed by T-Mobile on Tuesday and Verizon on Thursday. Ahead of the all-important launch, The Times spoke with Richard Piasentin, BlackBerry's U.S. managing director.

Jon Fitzgerald, co-founder and former executive director of the Slamdance, AFI Fest, Santa Barbara and Abu Dhabi film festivals, was named executive director of the 17th Hollywood Film Festival. "Jon's experience in the online, film festival and worldwide film communities will be a great asset to the growth and new direction of our festival," said Carlos de Abreu, founder of the Hollywood Film Festival, in a statement Wednesday morning. Fitzgerald will be in charge of development, artistic direction, programming, marketing and overall festival management.

Two Los Angeles County supervisors, frustrated by what they see as a lack of progress in finding a plan to improve the county's troubled jail system, convinced their colleagues on Tuesday to approve hiring an outside consultant to help speed up the pace. The consultants would provide basic information, including a description of existing facilities, a profile of inmates and construction options, that could be compared to plans already submitted by county Chief Executive William T Fujioka.

BEIRUT -- The major Syrian opposition group early Tuesday elected a U.S.-educated Syrian activist to serve as prime minister of rebel-controlled areas of Syria, news agencies reported. Named to the post was Ghassan Hitto, a native of Damascus who has been living in the United States for decades, working recently as a technology executive, according to various news service reports. Hitto, little known outside Syrian exile circles, has been active in humanitarian efforts to aid Syrians during the nation's two-year conflict, reports indicated.

SACRAMENTO - Three years after a major influence-peddling scandal rocked California and the nation's largest public pension fund, a federal grand jury indicted two former top officials on fraud, conspiracy and obstruction charges. The indictment, unsealed Monday in San Francisco, names as defendants Federico Buenrostro Jr. of Sacramento, a former chief executive of the California Public Employees' Retirement System, and Alfred J.R. Villalobos of Reno, Nev., a former CalPERS board member and one-time deputy Los Angeles mayor.

Veteran TV producer Henry Bromell, a writer and executive producer for the acclaimed Showtime series "Homeland" and "Brotherhood," has died. He was 66. Bromell died at an undisclosed hospital after suffering a heart attack at home. He had worked on the producing staff of "Homeland" since the drama's premiere in 2011, and shared in the show's win in the Emmy for outstanding drama series last year. PHOTOS: Henry Bromell's career highlights "We are deeply saddened by our dear friend Henry Bromell, who has been part of the Showtime family for over a decade," Showtime executives said in a statement.

Robert E. Relyea, who began producing films with actor Steve McQueen in the 1960s and rose to president of production for MGM/UA in the late 1990s, has died. He was 82. The Hollywood veteran, who also worked with such actors as Elvis Presley and John Wayne and directors John Sturges, Robert Wise, Peter Yates, Stanley Donen and William Wyler, died March 12 at a Thousand Oaks hospital of natural causes, his family said. Born May 3, 1930, in Santa Monica, the UCLA graduate was the third generation of his family to work in the film industry.

How significant was Tim Leiweke to the deal between Anschutz Entertainment Group and Los Angeles for a football stadium? This is how significant: There is an escape clause in the agreement that makes the deal's closing contingent on either Leiweke's still being in place as chief executive officer or "a qualified replacement" having been named as his successor. The city gets to make that call, though it promises to "act reasonably" in determining whether the replacement is qualified. That language was placed in the agreement specifically because the city's trust in the deal was based largely on its faith in Leiweke.

Emanuel Pleitez, the long-shot Los Angeles mayoral candidate who received a scant 4% of the primary vote despite an inspiring personal story, endorsed former rival Eric Garcetti on Saturday afternoon. The former technology executive, who touted his humble beginnings as he courted the Latino vote during the primary campaign, said Garcetti, a city councilman, shared his passion for making sure all Angelenos had a voice. "I ran for mayor because I care deeply about this city, and you know this city is where my family came for opportunity like so many other families from other countries [and]

WASHINGTON - Ina Drew, the former JPMorgan Chase & Co. executive who oversaw the "London Whale" trades, admitted her unit made mistakes that led to at least $6.2 billion in losses but shifted blame to underlings for the scandal that damaged the bank's reputation. It also ended her 30-year career. "Clearly, mistakes were made," Drew told senators Friday in her first public comments on the episode. "The fact that these mistakes have happened on my watch has been the most disappointing and painful part of my professional career.