Jamaica, June 04: Chris Gayle, the West Indies captain, has said his team didn’t know how to “finish them off” after losing the fifth ODI to South Africa during a tense finish in Trinidad. West Indies had South Africa at 246 for 9, chasing 253, and eventually lost with two balls to spare, consigning them to their second 5-0 whitewash at home against Graeme Smith’s team.
Johannesburg, June 04: Sidelined for the past six months, pacer Makhaya Ntini is upset with the South African selection committee but the panel’s convener Andrew Hudson feels the veteran cannot expect “special treatment” on the basis of his past performance.
Hudson said Ntini, who has played 101 Tests for South Africa, would remain a contender for a place in the side as long as he proves his worth.
“There are also other players who have performed well and we have not spoken to them either,” Hudson told the Afrikaans daily ‘Beeld’.
Mumbai, June 04: Pakistani Ajmal Amir Kasab, convicted for the 26/11 Mumbai terror strike, has challenged the death sentence awarded to him by a Mumbai special court, an official said Friday.
He did so even before the special court could send its judgement to the high court for confirmation of the sentence.
Kasab, awarded the death penalty by special judge M.L. Tahaliyani May 6 on various counts, approached the Bombay High Court through authorities at the Arthur Road Central Jail last week, it is learnt.
Los Angeles, June 04: “Harry Potter” star Emma Watson’s nude picture creator is facing jail after pleading guilty to 19 counts of morphing a child’s photograph.
John Cavanagh, 39, a Briton, created eight digitally-altered naked photos of Watson and posted them on the internet. He digitally placed her head onto an underage girl’s body before uploading them, says aceshowbiz.com.
Officials discovered Watson’s images along with the inappropriate snaps of minors on Cavanagh’s computer from his home in Manchester, England.
Washington, June 04: Canine lovers were in mourning Thursday at the news that a bug-eyed Chinese crested hairless pooch, who was officially crowned the “World’s Ugliest Dog,” has died at age 17.
The lovable Miss Ellie, whose lopsided tongue always stuck out of the side of her mouth, died on Tuesday in her Tennessee home, the local Mountain Press daily newspaper said.
Mumbai, June 04: The bold and beautiful Telugu actress Anushka Shetty will be seen as a prostitute in her upcoming movie ‘Vedam”. It is an action-drama film directed by Radhakrishna Jagarlamudi alias Krish of Gamyam fame and is produced by Yarlagadda Shobhu and Devineni Prasad for Arka Entertainment.
Apart from Anushka the film has a star cast of Allu Arjun, Manoj Manchu, Manoj Bajpai, VJ turned actress Lekha Washington, Siya Gautham, Diksha Seth, Raghu Babu and others.
Mumbai, June 04: Till about a year back, if someone would have stated that a Prakash Jha film would possibly revive an ailing Bollywood, he would have been scoffed at.
However, given the current situation when the film promises a solid content coupled with a very strong cast (comprising of both stars as well as talent), ‘Rajneeti’ is pretty much being looked as a saviour here.
‘Rajneeti’ has become really hot over last two months and with every passing day, there has been huge curiosity build up around this political drama.
Mumbai, June 04: She’s married with a kid, yet Sonali Bendre can put the leading Bollywood ladies to shame. The trouble though, with our industry, is that once an actress steps into motherhood, she can no longer figure in the wish list of producers.
Actors like Bendre then look for a career in television. The pretty Marathi girl has been a regular figure on the small screen right from her Indian Idol days. Presently, she’s back to adjudicating the second season of India’s Got Talent – Khoj 2.
Mumbai, June 04: Many incidents happening in the real life leave a deep impact on us and the creative minds in the Bollywood are inspired to make movies based on them.
Earlier, the filmmakers used to make films based on the incidents of freedom fighting. These real life incidents during pre-independent period have inspired lots of filmmakers. But now, since the last few years, the inspiration has been the recent incidents that happened to common people who weren’t known to all.
Mumbai, June 04: Mandira Bedi, who became popular after playing the title role in the 1990s’ TV serial “Shanti”, says she is still remembered by the character’s name in Sri Lanka.
“Have been to Sri Lanka more than 40 times over the last 10 years. The people are so hospitable and incredibly warm. They still call me Shanti, ” Mandira, who is currently in Colombo for the International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) awards, posted on micro-blogging site Twitter.
Mumbai, June 04: Sucheta Khanna a.k.a Indumati of SAB TV’s ‘Lapataganj’ is getting ready to enter the Bollywood Industry once again after the movie Sandwich and has already had a great B-town ride. Every television actor has a dream to get into the Bollywood but there are few who succeed. Sucheta is one of the lucky ones to get her ticket to Bollywood.
In a recent conversation, Sucheta says, “I will be seen in the movie Yamla Pagla Deewana as a girl who wants to marry a Canadian, in short an NRI. She is so crazy that she can marry anyone who is not from India.
Malkangiri, June 04: A minor physically challenged Dalit girl was allegedly gangraped by two boys at a remote village in Orissa’s Malkangiri district, police said on Tuesday.
The 13-year-old girl, student of class sixth, was allegedly raped by two boys, aged around 15 years, at MPV-65 village under MV-79 area when she was returning home after giving food to her father, working in the fields.
Jerusalem, June 04: Police on Friday restricted access to Jerusalem’s flashpoint Al-Aqsa mosque compound amid tension over Israel’s deadly commando raid on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla.
Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld also said police “are on high alert across the country and particularly in Jerusalem,” adding that hundreds of officers are deployed around the Old City.
Only women and men over 40 will be allowed to attend Friday prayers at the mosque compound, he said.
Mumbai, June 04: Believe it or not, but Ranbir has actually not gotten over ex-flame Deepika yet! In his most evident attempt to patch up with Dips, the Kapoor scion apparently approached the actress at a plush hotel during the late hours in the capital, according to reports.
Kabul, June 04: Hundreds of Afghan tribal elders and notables were set to make a formal call for peace with the Taliban on Friday, the final day of a traditional assembly that they said was a last chance to end a nine-year war.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai called the “peace jirga” to win national support for a peace plan consisting of offering an amnesty, cash and job incentives to Taliban foot soldiers while arranging asylum for top figures in a second country.
Kuala Lumpur, June 04: A Malaysian man has been found guilty and sentenced to nine years jail and two strokes of the rotan after it was revealed that he forced his 5-year-old daughter perform oral sex on him.
The 28-year-old labourer’s despicable acts were exposed after his daughter told her grandparents that she had a sore throat from committing the act several times.
Her grandparents then lodged a police report against their son who was subsequently arrested by the police.
Mumbai, June 04: Kamal Haasan is back on humour track. His next film ‘Manmadhan Ambu’ will retain the flavours of the actor’s blockbuster romantic comedies sparkling with wit and humour and yet will be different from his other projects in more ways than one.
Kamal Haasan, who is pairing up with Trisha in the film, said the cast, including Madhavan and Sangeetha, was a strong support for the movie and they promptly turn up for rehearsals.
Oman, June 04: Tropical Cyclone Phet roared toward the coast of Oman and was expected to make landfall late on Thursday at the earliest before barrelling toward the oil-exporting Gulf Arab state’s LNG facilities.
But Phet, a Category 4 storm with winds of over 130 mph (210 kph), would weaken substantially before brushing Oman’s sparsely populated southeast coastline, according to storm risk forecasts shown on website www.tropicalstormrisk.com.
Dhaka, June 04: The father of a girl who was stalked by a youth in Bangladesh died of a heart attack as he feared media attention.
Saiful Islam Munna, a resident of Bogra town, died outside the police station moments after pleading with journalists not to click photographs and run the story of his daughter being stalked.
The tension proved too much for Munna who feared it would make it very difficult for him to marry off his daughter, a Class 8 student, The Daily Star said.
New Delhi, June 04: Four years after its opinion was sought by the Centre, the file pertaining to the mercy petition of Parliament attack case convict Afzal Guru, who is in the death row, has been sent to the Union Home Ministry by the Delhi Government.
The file was sent to the Home Ministry by Lieutenant Governor Tejinder Khanna after the Delhi Government had referred it to him recently for his comments while backing the sentence with a rider that the implications of law and order situation should be closely examined while carrying out the execution.
New Delhi, June 04: Agriculture Minister and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar Friday said no member of his family was part of any Indian Premier League (IPL) team nor had they had taken part in the bidding process.
“No member of my family is involved in any IPL team or in the bidding process or has taken interest in bidding,” Pawar told reporters here following a media report that he and and his family held 16 percent stake in one of the bidders for the Pune IPL team.
Would you believe it? As a nation, we are over 63 years old! Who would have thought that India, with all its complexities and its myriad contradictions, would not only survive but even flourish to become today the world’s largest democracy? To see in perspective the enormous difficulties we went through and the manner in which they were tackled, you have only to read Ramchandra Guha’s “India after Gandhi”.
As two of the blurbs say, it makes for “racy reading” and is one of those few books which, in spite of being 775 pages, leaves you wishing for more.
Jerusalem, June 04: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has threatened to halt a boat which is trying to reach the Gaza Strip after Israeli troops attacked an aid convoy earlier this week.
An Irish aid boat, the MV Rachel Corrie, was on course to dock in Gaza at the weekend.
Speaking to top Israeli officials on Thursday, Netanyahu said, “We shall not allow the ships to reach Gaza. Not now and not later on,” Israel’s Ynet reported.
He also warned that the Israeli forces would direct the Rachel Corrie ship to the Ashdod port.
New Delhi, June 04: Agriculture Minister and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar Friday said no member of his family was part of any Indian Premier League (IPL) team nor had they had taken part in the bidding process.
“No member of my family is involved in any IPL team or in the bidding process or has taken interest in bidding,” Pawar told reporters here following a media report that he and and his family held 16 percent stake in one of the bidders for the Pune IPL team.
London, June 04: Sean Penn says he is completely out of touch with his ex-wife Robin Wright since they filed for divorce last year.
“She is a ghost to me now. We spent all those years together…. Now she’s just gone,” said Penn.
The “Milk” star says his split has helped him become more of an activist and humanitarian, reports usmagazine.com.
“I was for 20 years in a relationship with Robin and 18 years with children. I didn’t have time to commit to anything – for real – in places like Iraq, except to denounce the war. But now I’m single. I can lend a hand,” he said.