Karan Johar pushes Agneepath release to January 26, 2012

Every big filmmaker these days wishes to release his film during a festive / holiday weekend. Salman Khan starrer Bodyguard which recently released

during Eid / Ganpati raked in the moolah and now even SRK starrer Ra.One is expected to open huge this Diwali.

Reema Kagti’s untitled Aamir Khan starrer and Venus’ multi-starrer Tezz were supposed to release on Republic Day (Jan 26) weekend next year. However,

Aamir feels that the post-production may take some time and hence has decided to arrive at a later date.

With one slot open on the Republic Day weekend, Karan Johar has now shifted the release date of his magnum opus Agneepath from Jan 13 to Jan 26.

Karan tweeted, “AGNEEPATH is now releasing on the 26th of January, 2012″.

Meanwhile the makers of Priyadarshan directed Tezz, Venus Films, have confirmed that they are in no mood to change the release date of the film.

Tezz stars Ajay Devgn, Anil Kapoor, Zayed Khan, Kangna Ranaut and Sameera Reddy.

Also, Dibarkar Banerjee’s Shanghai which stars Abhay Deol and Emraan Hashmi is scheduled to release on the Republic Day next year as of now.

So, on the Republic Day next year, get ready to witness the big clash between Agneepath, Tezz and Shanghai.

Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra on 5 years of Rang De Basanti

The cast and crew of the momentous Rang De Basanti (RDB) watched the film exactly five years after its release on January 26.
And the best part of this retrospective experience was that the team watched exactly the same print that they had viewed five years ago when they first saw RDB.
After the screening, the entire retrospective team of RDB moved from the theatre to the film’s producer Ronnie Screwvala’s home.
Says Rakeysh, “Ronnie’s home was the nearest to the theatre. So we all moved there and kept chatting about the film till 5 in the morning. I got to know many things that I didn’t know about my film, things that the cast and crew had managed on its own while I was preoccupied with something else. It was an amazing experience to just sit and talk about a film that means so much to us.”
While Rakeysh is thrilled by the film’s lingering relevance to this day, he’s also deeply saddened by it. “As an artiste it is gratifying to know that the film still has a deep relevance to society and to cinema. But it’s also sad that the issues that RDB raised are today more relevant than they were five years ago. As a filmmaker I am happy that No One Killed Jessica used images from RDB. But as a citizen of India it is deeply saddening to know that issues of socio-political injustice that the film raised are more alive today than five years ago. I can only cross my fingers and hope that the issues in RDB are not relevant five years from now.”
Says Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra, “The happiest part of viewing RDB again with the entire team was that my daughter Bhairavi and her best-friend Tarni who were only 7 when RDB was first released, empathized with the film now. Some of the big names associated with the film couldn’t make it though. Madhavan and Soha Ali Khan were in London. Waheeda Rehmanji was in Bangalore. A R Rahman was away. But the one we missed the most was Lataji (Mangeshkar). When I called to invite her she regretfully said she had another Republic Day commitment. Besides, she argued, she had seen RDB just two days earlier.”

Kosovan president resigns, could hit Serbia talks

PRISTINA: Kosovo’s President Fatmir Sejdiu resigned on Monday, potentially destabilising the fragile political scene before talks with Belgrade which still refuses to recognise the former Serbian province’s independence.

Sejdiu bowed to a constitutional court ruling last week that he may not serve simultaneously as the largely ceremonial head of state and as leader of his political party, which is junior partner in the coalition government.

“I respect the constitutional court decision,” Sejdiu told a news conference in announcing his resignation as president, who is elected by parliament. “Over these years I have worked so that the Republic of Kosovo would have democratic institutions.”

A 58-year-old former law professor, Sejdiu was elected president for the second time in 2008 but remained at the helm of the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK), the second

Embassy of Turkey condoles plane crash

ISLAMABAD: The Embassy of the Republic of Turkey in Islamabad on Wednesday has expressed deep sorrow and grief over the plane crash in Islamabad and extend its condolences for the possible loss of lives,to Pakistan and its brotherly people.

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Embassy of Turkey condoles plane crash

UK makes spending cuts in emergency budget

LONDON: Britain’s Treasury chief says he’ll cut government borrowing from 10 percent of GDP to 1 percent within 5 years by means of spending cuts, including a freeze on financial support to the Queen.

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UK makes spending cuts in emergency budget

60 dead in Republic of Congo train crash

BRAZZAVILLE, Republic of Congo: At least 60 people are dead after a train accident in the southern part of Republic of Congo, a train official said Tuesday.

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60 dead in Republic of Congo train crash

Michael Bradley

Michael Bradley, the American team, which was held in a tie game in the United States of America. Slovenia game. At one point in the game, the United States fell 2-0 and Slovenia, and smaller than 32 countries competing in the World Cup soccer in 2010, and scored his first two goals in the match.

And Landon Donovan scored the first goal in about mid-way through the game of America. Register and Bradley works full speed just in front of goal, kicking the ball over the head of goalkeeper for the Slovenian. The United States almost forward only 6 minutes from the end of the game but was not allowed a goal by Maurice Edu due to an error irrelevant. “I swallowed a lot to be honest,” said Donovan. “I do not know how they stole this latter objective by us, and I’m not sure what was the call. He (the referee) will not tell us what has been called.” The United States can go home early if England win the match against Algeria (June 18).

Iran nuclear transfer deal a ”positive step”: Sarkozy

MADRID: French President Nicolas Sarkozy considers the deal under which Iran will ship much of its low enriched uranium to Turkey a “positive step,” a statement from his office said Tuesday.

“The president of the republic believes that the transfer of 1,200 kilogrammes of low enriched uranium from Iran is a positive step,” the statement said.

“It must be logically accompanied by a halt to (Iran”s) 20 percent enrichment” of nuclear fuel.

Sarkozy is in the Spanish capital on Tuesday to attend a summit between the European Union and countries of Latin America and the Caribbean.

The foreign ministers of Iran, Turkey and Brazil on Monday signed an agreement that commits Tehran to depositing 1,200 kilograms (2,640 pounds) of low enriched uranium (LEU) in Turkey in return for fuel for a research reactor.

Most Western powers have been sceptical of the deal, which was spearheaded by Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in a last-ditch effort to avoid a new round of UN sanctions against Iran.

NATO soldier killed in Afghanistan

KABUL: A NATO soldier fighting in Afghanistan to quell a Taliban-led insurgency was killed in clashes with insurgents in the south of the country Sunday, the military announced.

The soldier was killed in an “insurgent attack,” NATO”s International Security Assistance Force said in a statement without elaborating.

It did not give the soldier”s nationality, in keeping with ISAF policy.

The death brought to 197 the number of foreign troops to die this year in the Afghan war, which is in its ninth year, according to a tally based on that kept by an independent casualties website.

A total of 520 died in 2009.

NATO and the United States are set to boost their overall number of troops in Afghanistan to 150,000 by August.

Most of the new deployments are heading to the volatile south, where an operation against the Taliban in Kandahar province is building as part of plans to squeeze them out of their heartland.

US General Stanley McChrystal, the top NATO commander in Afghanistan, last week predicted “increased violence” but said that the strategy to surge troop numbers would succeed.

Cathay plane escorted to Vancouver after "bomb hoax"

VANCOUVER: A Cathay Pacific airliner from Hong Kong was escorted by military fighter jets to its destination in Vancouver, Canada, after what the airline called a “bomb hoax,” but no bomb was found, police said on Saturday.

Police searched the aircraft and luggage after the flight landed at Vancouver International Airport, but “nothing of concern” was found and there was no danger to passengers, according to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

Two Canadian CF-18 Hornets were scrambled from a military base on nearby Vancouver Island to escort the Cathay Pacific Airways plane in response to the threat, according to police and the Hong Kong-based airline.

“The Vancouver Airport Authority had earlier received an anonymous bomb threat,” Cathay said in a written statement.

“As a precaution, two military jets escorted the CX838 as it came into land. The jets did not land with CX838, but returned to their base,” it added.

“The Royal Canadian Mounted Police are conducting an investigation into the bomb hoax and at this stage it is inappropriate for us to comment any further,” Cathay added.

The flight had 272 passengers and 14 crew on board.

Police did not release details on the threat, but a spokeswoman for Hong Kong”s Civil Aviation Authority said the bomb threat had been made by phone.

No arrests have been made and passengers were allowed to leave the aircraft after it landed safely.

The A340 aircraft was parked at a secure area of the airport for a “thorough security search” and screening of baggage, before being cleared, the airline said.

“They told us there was some sort of terrorist problem and the baggage would be held up,” an unidentified male passenger told Canada”s CTV News after disembarking.

When asked if he was aware that the flight had been escorted by military jets into Vancouver, another male passenger said: “No, no idea. That”s news to me.”

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