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Curfew guard
07/28 | 23:19 GMT
©AFP / Tauseef Mustafa
Indian paramilitary soldiers stand guard during an undeclared curfew in downtown Srinagar, as part of a week-long calender of protests and strikes called by Muslim separatists.
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Hughes set for Fulham job: reports
07/29 | 11:16 GMT
©AFP/File / Andrew Yates
Reports said that former Manchester City manager Mark Hughes, seen here in 2009, is set to be appointed as Fulham boss within the next 48 hours.
©AFP/File / Andrew Yates
Hughes is understood to have reached an agreement over a three-year contract worth two million pounds
LONDON (AFP) - Former Manchester City manager Mark Hughes is set to be appointed as Fulham boss within the next 48 hours, according to reports in England on Thursday.
Hughes was said to have been contacted by Fulham after the west London club were unable to lure Ajax coach Martin Jol to Craven Cottage.
With the new Premier League season starting in just over two weeks, Fulham officials have been desperate to find a replacement for Roy Hodgson, who left earlier in pre-season to take over at Liverpool.
Hughes is understood to have reached an agreement over a three-year contract worth two million pounds a year after talks with Fulham and his family, who are currently based in the north of England.
An announcement is expected soon and the 46-year-old will bring in his own backroom staff that includes Mark Bowen, Kevin Hitchcock and Eddie Niedzwiecki.
Hughes is likely to be given around 15 million pounds to spend by Fulham chairman Mohamed Al-Fayed and he will link-up again with chief executive Alistair Mackintosh, who he worked closely with during his time at Manchester City.
One of his first jobs will be to consider a mooted deal for Steve Sidwell from Aston Villa as well as attempting to persuade goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer to stay at the club if Arsenal decide to increase their bid for the Australian.
The former Manchester United and Chelsea striker first came into management with the Wales national team and was close to guiding them to Euro 2004 but lost out in a play-off to Russia.
Hughes moved to Blackburn in 2004 and led Rovers to an FA Cup semi-final and UEFA Cup qualification.
Four years later he joined City but despite pushing the club into the top six, expectations changed when the Abu Dhabi United Group took charge and he was dismissed midway through last season.
Football
Hughes set for Fulham job: ...Venice film festival to showcase young directors
07/29 | 15:57 GMT
©AFP/Getty Images/File / Theo Wargo
The new generation of filmmakers will come into its own at this year's Venice film festival, where 41-year-old US director Darren Aronofsky, seen here in June 2010, will raise the curtain with "Black Swan", organisers said Thursday.
©AFP/Getty Images/File / Theo Wargo
Darren Aronofsky's new movie is scheduled to open the Venice Film Fest
ROME (AFP) - The new generation of filmmakers will come into its own at this year's Venice film festival, where 41-year-old US director Darren Aronofsky will raise the curtain with "Black Swan", organisers said Thursday.
"Venice is getting younger," said director Marco Mueller as he presented the selection for the world's oldest moviefest, set for September 1-11.
The average age of the directors in the 23 films in competition is 47, Mueller noted, joking that "if we retired (78-year-old US director) Monte Hellman, it would go down to 45."
Others in the under-50 crowd who will compete for the Golden Lion are Oscar-winner Sofia Coppola, 39, and Vincent Gallo, 49, both of the United States, and 43-year-old Francois Ozon of France.
Aronofsky, who won in Venice in 2008 with "The Wrestler" starring Mickey Rourke, has the honour of opening this year's Mostra with "Black Swan," a psychological thriller about the cutthroat New York ballet world.
Coppola, who won a best screenplay Oscar for "Lost in Translation" (2003), offers a dramatic comedy "Somewhere," set in Hollywood and produced by her serial Oscar-winning father Francis Ford Coppola.
Gallo's "Promises Written on Water" is a sombre tale about a girl with a terminal illness.
Perhaps compensating for his youth, Ozon has tapped mature talent in veteran French actors Catherine Deneuve and Gerard Depardieu in his comedy "Potiche".
Two other US directors are in the running for the Golden Lion: Kelly Reichardt with "Meek's Cutoff" and Julian Schnabel with "Miral" starring Willem Dafoe.
Another five US films including Ben Affleck's "The Town" and Martin Scorsese and Kent Jones' "A Letter to Elia" will screen out of competition as American films return in force to the lagoon city after a few lower-profile years.
Italy has four films in competition including Saverio Costanzo's adaptation of the best-selling Paolo Giordano novel "The Solitude of Prime Numbers".
Among the three French candidates is "Black Venus" by Tunisian-born Abdellatif Kechiche, whose "The Secret of the Grain" won the special jury prize in Venice in 2007.
"Black Venus" relates the story of a southern African slave of Dutch farmers who was exhibited as a freak show attraction in Europe in the early 19th century, forced to gyrate her large buttocks.
Only three Asian films are in the running.
Two are from Japan: "13 Assassins" by Miike Takashi and "Norwegian Wood" by Tran Anh Hung; and from China "Detective Dee and the Mystery of Phantom Flame" by Tsui Hark.
Organisers will announce a surprise contender on September 6.
The event will screen 79 full-length world premieres from 34 countries including a work from the Dominican Republic for the first time, about its neighbour Haiti.
Quentin Tarantino heads the jury of the 67th edition of the event, which will also include fellow directors Arnaud Desplechin of France, Guillermo Arriaga of Mexico and Italian Gabriele Salvatores.
They will choose winners for the top prize Golden Lion for best film, Volpi Cups for best actor and actress and a special jury prize, among other awards.
The Mostra, which began in 1932, now has a budget of 12 million euros (15.7 million dollars) including seven million from the Italian government.
Entertainment
Venice film festival to showcase young ...Morgan sparks England revival
07/29 | 14:57 GMT
©AFP / Ian Kington
Mohammad Aamer of Pakistan (left) reacts after dismissing England captain Andrew Strauss at Trent Bridge in Nottingham. Eoin Morgan led England to 190 for four at tea after Pakistan took two wickets in quick succession on the first day of the first Test at Trent Bridge.
©AFP / Ian Kington
Aamer took two wickets for 19 runs in eight overs
NOTTINGHAM, England (AFP) - Eoin Morgan led England to 190 for four at tea after Pakistan took two wickets in quick succession on the first day of the first Test at Trent Bridge here on Thursday.
England, who won the toss, were in trouble at 118 for four shortly after lunch, with Kevin Pietersen out for nine in his first match since injuring his thigh in a one-day international against Australia at Lord's on July 3.
But former Ireland left-hander Morgan hit back with 44 not out featuring nine boundaries and together with Paul Collingwood (27 not out) had so far shared an unbroken stand of 72.
In a series where the Decision Review System (DRS) was being used in England for the first time, Pakistan wasted both their two permitted unsuccessful challenges on appeals by Mohammad Asif for lbw and caught behind against Pietersen on one and five.
But Asif then bowled Pietersen, leaving a gap between bat and pad, off the inside edge.
England's other South Africa-born batsman, Jonathan Trott, had added just three to his lunchtime 35 when he padded up to an inswinger from Aamer.
Trott, succcessful with a previous referral, asked for New Zealand umpire Tony Hill's lbw verdict to be reviewed.
But replays suggested the ball was clipping the top of the stumps and Trott was out, with England 118 for four.
And there was a fresh flashpoint when wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal appealed for a catch against Morgan, on five, off the bowling of left-arm fast bowler Mohammad Aamer.
But even before the third umpire ruled in Morgan's favour, crowd jeers were ringing round Trent Bridge as replays on the giant screen showed the ball had clearly bounced into Kamran Akmal's gloves.
It took Collingwood 30 balls to score his first four but then two came in as many Umar Gul deliveries, courtesy of a couple of square cuts.
©AFP / Ian Kington
Strauss (R) was caught behind for 45
Morgan then cover-drove and glanced off-spinner Shoaib Malik for fours.
Both batsmen cashed in against Pakistan's slow bowlers and Morgan made it six boundaries for England in 12 deliveries with a trademark reverse sweep off leg-spinner Danish Kaneria.
Before lunch Aamer, who took seven wickets in Pakistan's dramatic three-wicket second Test win over Australia at Headingley last week, had Alastair Cook caught at first slip and had England captain Andrew Strauss caught behind for 45.
Earlier, Strauss had a huge reprieve when, on 15, he edged an outswinger from the 18-year-old Aamer only for Kamran Akmal to drop the routine chance.
Cook struggled in overcast conditions similar to those in which Pakistan bowled Australia out for just 88 in the first innings at Headingley and on eight edged Aamer to first slip Imran Farhat.
Trott then became the first batsman to use DRS in England when, on 13, he given out, lbw to Kaneria, by de Silva. As replays showed Trott had got an inside edge, de Silva reversed his original verdict.
But Aamer did have Strauss, playing loosely outside off-stump, eventually caught behind by Kamran Akmal to end a second-wicket stand of 51.
Pakistan players wore black armbands in memory of the 152 people killed in after an airplane crashed near the capital city of Islamabad on Wednesday.
Cricket
Morgan sparks England ...Blockaded Gaza takes to tuk-tuks
07/28 | 09:12 GMT
©AFP
- Gaza's ubiquitous donkey carts are facing stiff competition after an influx of South Asia's iconic tuk-tuks, powered by ultra-cheap smuggled fuel, have hit the roads of the besieged coastal strip. The auto-rickshaws, in which the front half of a motorcycle is welded onto a two-wheel trailer, are well-adapted to the four-year blockade that has transformed the local economy and daily life in the Palestinian territory.
Duration: 02:02
Lifestyle
Blockaded Gaza takes to ...Churchill's false teeth go on sale
07/29 | 14:46 GMT
©Churchill Archives Centre
A set of dentures made for Britain's war-time prime minister Winston Churchill went under the hammer on Thursday as auctioneers expected to fetch up to £5,000 for "the teeth that saved the world".
©Churchill Archives Centre
An archive of Churchill's personal papers is to be made available on the Internet for the first time
LONDON (AFP) - A set of dentures made for Britain's war-time prime minister Winston Churchill went under the hammer Thursday as auctioneers expected to fetch up to £5,000 for "the teeth that saved the world".
The false teeth were specially designed to preserve Churchill's natural lisp which can still be heard on the morale-boosting radio broadcasts he made to the nation during World War II.
Churchill also used them to vent his frustration when the 1939-45 conflict was not going well by dramatically flicking them out of his mouth, according to Nigel Cudlipp, whose father made the dentures and who is now selling them.
"My father recounted many stories of Churchill putting his thumb behind the front of the teeth and just flicking them," Cudlipp told BBC radio.
"My father used to say he could tell that he could tell how well the war effort was going by how far they went across the room and whether they hit the opposite wall.
"Churchill was not a man who was renowned for his patience."
It is thought that only four sets of the teeth were made. One is thought to have gone to the grave with him, another is in a London museum labelled "the teeth that saved the world" and a third was melted down.
The dentures are going on sale at auctioneers Keys in Aylsham, Norfolk, eastern England, who have issued a guide price of between £4,000 and 5,000 (6,000 euros, 7,800 dollars).
Meanwhile, it was announced Thursday that a huge archive of Churchill's personal papers is to be made available on the Internet for the first time within two years.
This includes around a million pages of material such as annotated drafts of his most famous speeches, school reports and even information about his cat, dogs and pet budgerigar Toby.
"Churchill was someone who lived by his pen so this is an incredibly rich written archive and it must be one of the largest personal archives of its kind in the country," Allen Packwood, director of the Churchill Archives Centre in Cambridge, told AFP.
