Vin Diesel begins principal photography on “Riddick”

By Sean O’Connell
TrendPK.com: Anyone following Vin Diesel’s Facebook page knows that the “Fast Five” star has been hard at work prepping for the third Riddick film. Now, we’ve received word from the studio that principal photography has begin on the sci-fi thriller, with the crew working toward a 2013 release date.

Universal Pictures, One Race Films and Radar Pictures announced that “Riddick” will film in Montreal, with Diesel in the lead. He’ll reunite with writer/director David Twohy (“A Perfect Getaway”), and pick up where “The Chronicles of Riddick” left off.

From the release:

The infamous Riddick (Diesel) has been left for dead on a sun-scorched planet that appears to be lifeless. Soon, however, he finds himself fighting for survival against alien predators more lethal than any human he’s encountered. The only way off is for Riddick to activate an emergency beacon and alert mercenaries who rapidly descend to the planet in search of their bounty.

The first ship to arrive carries a new breed of merc, more lethal and violent, while the second is captained by a man whose pursuit of Riddick is more personal. With time running out and a storm on the horizon that no one could survive, his hunters won’t leave the planet without Riddick’s head as their trophy.

“Riddick” also sees the return of Karl Urban (“Star Trek,” “The Bourne Supremacy”) as Vaako and introduces to the series Jordi Molla (“Bad Boys II,” “Colombiana”) as Santana, the arrogant captain of the mercenary ship; Matt Nable (“Killer Elite”) as Boss Johns, a man looking for answers; Katee Sackhoff (TV’s “Battlestar Galactica”) as the Nordic mercenary Dahl; and Bokeem Woodbine (upcoming “Total Recall”) as bounty hunter Moss.

Rounding out the cast are Dave Bautista (“The Scorpion King 3: Battle for Redemption”), Conrad Pla (“Immortals”), Raoul Trujillo (“Apocalypto”), Nolan Funk (TV’s “Aliens in America”) and two-time Grammy Award-nominated singer Keri Hilson.

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Singer Madonna to build 10 schools in Malawi

LOS ANGELES: Madonna announced plans to build 10 new schools in Malawi with a new partner after mismanagement forced the pop star to scrap her first project there last year.

The singer, who has adopted two children from the impoverished southern African nation, said she hoped the 10 new schools would educate at least 1,000 children a year, half of them girls.

That is double the number of children she hoped to help with her previously planned academy for girls, which was scrapped in March 2011 because of mismanagement and cost overruns.

Madonna said her Raising Malawi charity was teaming up this time with the non-profit group buildOn, which has constructed 54 primary schools in Malawi in the last 19 years.

“I am excited that with the help of buildOn, we can maintain our ongoing commitment to move forward efficiently. We now will be able to serve twice as many children as we would have served with our old approach,” Madonna said in a statement.

“I have learned a great deal over the last few years and feel confident that we can reach our goals to educate children in Malawi, especially young girls, in a much more practical way. Constructing smaller schools in partnership with buildOn has restored my faith that we can accomplish what we promised we would,” she added.

Madonna’s earlier plan to build a state of the art girls school for about 400 girls just outside the Malawi capital Lilongwe collapsed last year, and the board of her Raising Malawi charity was fired. The New York Times said at the time that $3.8 million had been spent on the school with little to show for it.

The singer has lent $11 million to the organization which she co-founded in 2006.

Malawi has more than half a million children orphaned by the AIDS epidemic and is ranked by the United Nations as one of the world’s 20 least developed countries.

Madonna’s plans for new schools came at the start of a busy week for the singer, actress and director. Her new movie “W.E”, which she wrote and directed, opens in U.S. movie theaters on Friday, she is performing at Sunday’s halftime show at the 2012 Super Bowl, and will release the first single from her upcoming new album on Feb 3. AGENCIES

Australian wicketkeeper Haddin dropped from 1-day squad

SYDNEY: Australian wicketkeeper Brad Haddin said Tuesday he has been dropped, not rested, from the one-day squad to face India and Sri Lanka and conceded it will be tough for him to win back his place.

Selectors said they had left Haddin out of the 14-man squad for the first three games of the tri-nation series to give him a rest after the 4-0 Test whitewash of India, but the 34-year-old had a different take.

“I think any time you’re out of the Australian cricket team I think you’re dropped,” he told Sky Sports Radio.

“You give another guy an opportunity to take your spot and you’ve got to look if they do well, you could find it hard to get back in the team.

“But that’s the way it is and I’ve just got to deal with that and make sure I’m ready to play.”

Haddin’s place has been taken by Matthew Wade, who is 10 years younger and says he plans to make the most of it.

“I’m looking to take my chance and see what happens from there,” Wade told reporters.

“I’m just hoping to do my best, I’m not sure what the selectors have got in mind after these three games but I’ll be doing my best to make it a hard decision to remove me.”

Haddin has been under pressure all summer over his performances at Test level and Wade has been touted as his likely replacement should selectors decide to make a change.

Australia and India start the one-day series on February 5 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. AGENCIES

Yemen air strike kill 11 militants: residents

ADEN: At least 11 al Qaeda militants, including a number of local leaders, were killed in an overnight air strike in southern Yemen, local residents said on Tuesday.

They said an unidentified drone attacked the militants while they were travelling in two vehicles east of the city of Lawdar in Abyan province in southern Yemen.

A tribal leader said at least four of those killed were local al Qaeda leaders. Residents said no civilians were hurt in the air strike.

The United States has used drones repeatedly to attack al Qaeda militants in Yemen. Last September, a U.S. drone killed U.S.-born cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, described by U.S. officials as “chief of external operations” for al Qaeda in Yemen.

The latest attack could deal a blow to al Qaeda which has exploited unrest and protests against President Ali Abdullah Saleh to strengthen its hold on remote areas in southern Yemen in recent months.

An opposition-led government has been set up in Yemen after Saleh agreed in November to transfer authority to his deputy ahead of presidential elections in February.

But protests have continued and activists are pressing on with demands that Saleh be tried for alleged killings of demonstrators and that the government is purged of members of his family. AGENCIES

Ajmal Kasab death penalty appeal adjourned

NEW DELHI: India’s Supreme Court adjourned an appeal hearing on Tuesday into the death sentence handed down to Ajmal Kasab, the lone surviving gunman from the 2008 Mumbai attacks.

Kasab, one of 10 gunmen who laid siege to Mumbai in attacks which lasted nearly three days and killed 166 people, has appealed for his sentence to be overturned after he was convicted in May 2010.

The 24-year-old was found guilty of a series of crimes, including waging war against India, murder and terror acts.

The November 2008 attacks saw 10 heavily-armed gunmen storm targets including luxury hotels, a Jewish centre and a train station.

One of the two Supreme Court judges due to hear the appeal was unavailable on Tuesday, forcing the adjournment, officials said. No date was immediately set for the next hearing.

Kasab’s court-appointed lawyer Raju Ramachandran told AFP that his job was “a call of duty”, but declined to talk further about the case.

Kasab’s death sentence was confirmed by a state high court in Mumbai last year. If he loses his Supreme Court appeal, he will be able to appeal for clemency from the president.

Ujjwal Nikam, who prosecuted the case in Mumbai on behalf of the Maharashtra state, is seeking to push through the death sentence. “This is the rarest of rare cases,” Nikam told AFP. “He should not be entitled to any mercy.”

At the trial, the prosecution produced fingerprint, DNA, eyewitness and television evidence showing him opening fire and throwing grenades at Mumbai’s main railway station in the bloodiest episode of the attacks.

Kasab — who is in jail in Mumbai — initially pleaded not guilty but later made a confession, admitting to being one of the gunmen allegedly sent by the banned militant group.

He then reverted back to his initial denial and said he was framed by the police.

Pakistan has indicted seven alleged perpetrators over the attacks but they have not been brought to trial, triggering Indian accusations that the process is a sham.

Pakistani investigators and lawyers will visit India next month to gather more evidence ahead of any trial in Islamabad.

Most death sentences in India are commuted to life imprisonment, and convicts can sit on death row for years awaiting a final decision. AGENCIES

Salala attack was accidental, says US envoy Munter

TrendPK.com
ISLAMABAD: U.S. Ambassador to Pakistan Cameron Munter Tuesday said the US want people to people contacts with its ally Pakistan.

Commenting on November 26 attack on two Pak security check posts located in Mohmand Agency launched by the US forces stationed in Afghanistan which killed 24 Pakistani troops, the US ambassador said the Salalah attack was not pre-meditated one and not launched intentionally.

He said his country is making efforts for the rehabilitation of the flood-displaced people. TrendPK

Ban lifted: Hussain Haqqani arrives in Abu Dhabi

TrendPK.com

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s former ambassador to US, Husain Haqqani has arrived in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday after Supreme Court lifted on Monday travel restrictions imposed on him in controversial memo case, TrendPK reports.

Sources said the Haqqani, who is a key character in memogate scandal, would then fly to Washington to meet his family.

He arrived at Islamabad airport at 4:10 am amid tight security and went to the lounge sans talking to media persons, sources said. Haqqani had arrived in Abu Dhabi from where he would fly to UK and USA, they said.

He submitted to the SC information about his foreign engagements before leaving the country, which include details of stays in abroad and some contact numbers.

His wife, Farah Naz Isfahani, is already in US, sources said, and added that the former ambassador during his stay would also collect evidences in the memo case besides consulting with his lawyers.

Haqqani also called on PM Gilani on Tuesday before flying out from Pakistan. TrendPK

Iran’s actress banned for posing topless gathers support

LOS ANGELES: A fleshy rebellion is spreading hot and fast across the cybersphere, as a growing number of activists are stripping down in support of Iranian actress Golshifteh Farahani, who was reportedly banned from her homeland after posing topless for French magazine Madame Le Figaro.

Farahani — who had earlier been banned from leaving her country for appearing in the 2008 Leonardo DiCaprio/Russell Crowe film “Body of Lies” — appeared (see above) without a shirt, but with her hands covering her breasts, to protest Iran’s restrictive policies toward women. The actress, who’s now based in Paris, told the press that she was subsequently advised by the Iranian government that she is no longer welcome within her former country’s borders.

But there might be a happy — or at least sexy — ending to the sad tale of gender oppression. Since world of Farahani’s predicament broke, a movement has sprung up,

with supporters encouraging others to post Farahani’s topless photo as a “PicBadge” of the actress’ photo-shoot to their Facebook profiles.

Other, more daring, supporters have gone so far as to post their own skin-baring portraits as a show of solidarity for the banished thespian. A Facebook page in support of Farahani has so far amassed 3,422 “likes,” and boasts numerous photos of pro-Farahani-partisans posing in the buff.

“This page has been formed, in order to support Golshifteh’s move, in order to say NO to relegion sic, tradition, culture and anti women’s law,” a statement on the Facebook page reads. “Viva freedom !!!”

A similar protest occurred in November, when supporters of controversial Chinese artist Ai Weiwei tweeted naked images of themselves in response to authorities detaining the artist and his assistant for distributing a photo of four naked women.

It’s unclear what, if any, effect the movement will have on the infamously rigid Iranian government’s decision.

If you happen to be surfing Facebook and come across a photo of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in the buff with the words “Support Golshifteh” scrawled across his form, however, you can be pretty sure that the war has been won. AGENCIES

Julian Assange takes rape case to UK top court

LONDON: WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange’s two-day hearing at England’s Supreme Court gets underway Wednesday, in the latest stage of his lengthy battle against extradition to Sweden to face rape allegations.

If the court rejects his case, the 40-year-old Australian will have exhausted all his options in Britain but he could still make a last-ditch appeal to the European Court of Human Rights, prosecutors have said.

The Supreme Court, England’s highest, granted Assange permission to appeal in December.

It said his case raised an issue of “great public importance”, namely whether Sweden’s state prosecutor had the right to sign the European arrest warrant under which he was held.

The case will be considered by seven judges, rather than the usual five.

The Supreme Court usually takes about 10 weeks to deliver a judgement but the parties have requested that this case be speeded up.

Wednesday marks 421 days since the arrest of the former computer hacker, who has been living under tight bail conditions at the country mansion of a wealthy supporter in Norfolk, eastern England.

Assange was arrested in Britain in December 2010 after two women made allegations of sexual molestation and an accusation of rape in Sweden, which he strongly denies.

He says the sex was consensual and claims the allegations are politically motivated, linked to WikiLeaks’ release of hundreds of thousands of classified US files about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as diplomatic cables.

Assange’s extradition to Sweden was initially approved by a lower court in February. An appeal to the High Court was rejected in November, but it subsequently granted him permission to appeal to the Supreme Court.

If this appeal fails, the WikiLeaks founder will have only one other option to stop his extradition — an appeal to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.

“If the ECHR takes the case then his current bail conditions would remain in force and he would remain in the UK until the proceedings at the ECHR have concluded,” the Crown Prosecution Service said in a commentary on the case.

“If the ECHR declines to take the case then he will be extradited to Sweden as soon as arrangements can be made,” England’s state prosecutor said. AGENCIES

Missile strikes against Pak sovereignty: FO

TrendPK.com
ISLAMABAD: Foreign Office Spokesman Abdul Basit Tuesday said the missile strikes on Pakistani soil stands in contradiction with the country’s sovereignty.

Talking to TrendPK TV, the FO spokesman said the Parliament is re-visiting the terms of engagement with the US and NATO after the US attack on Salalah’s security check posts in Mohmand Agency on November 26, which left 24 Pak troops dead. TrendPK

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