Monthly Archives: August 2013

From football to films: David Beckham set to break into acting as he ‘considers role’ in spy film

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David BeckhamHe’s yet to confirm his next move after retiring from professional football earlier this year.

But it seems that David Beckham could be launching a career as an actor as he is reportedly considering a role in new spy thriller The Secret Service.

According to sources, he has been written a part in Matthew Vaughn’s new film and is on the brink of signing up to play a villain.

‘Becks was asked by Colin Firth if he’d like to be in the movie but he is yet to fully commit,’ a source told The Sun.

The footballer has reportedly been bombarded with scripts since he announced his retirement from football, but is yet to make any firm decisions.

But while he seems uncertain about the move, industry professionals are behind him, realising that his star status could be a big audience draw.

And it seems that David’s other half Victoria is also on baord with her husband breaking into the film industry, telling Glamour: ‘Sure, why not… I’ve been in Spice World and that was a great performance.’

 

President Serzh Sargsyan sent a letter of condolences on the death of Azat Gasparian

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Серж Саргсян

Серж Саргсян

President Serzh Sargsyan sent today a letter of condolences to the family of the RA People’s Artist, beloved actor Azat Gasparian.

“His impressive and brilliant characters created in the Armenian cinema and theater will always remain in the memory of our art-loving audiences. The untimely demise of the patriot and intellectual is a great loss for us all.
I express deep condolences to the family, friends, colleagues, and numerous admirers of Azat Gasparian,” the letter of condolences of the President of Armenia reads.

Judge Dismisses $100M Lawsuit Filed by Shakira’s Ex-Boyfriend

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ShakiraA California judge has granted Shakira her legal request to dismiss a lawsuit filed against her by her ex-boyfriend Antonio de la Rua. The son of former Argentine President Fernando de la Rua was seeking $100 million in compensation for contributing to her image and success.
“I am very grateful that the courts are not allowing these groundless lawsuits to proceed,” the Colombian chart-topping singer says in a statement. “I have moved on in my life and could not be happier now. I hope this harassment will now come to an end.”
In her motion to dismiss the lawsuit, Shakira said the court did not have jurisdiction because the couple was not American citizens.
It’s only one of the three lawsuits filed against Shakira by her former beau. The other two were filed in New York and Geneva. Both were also tossed out by judges. She has repeatedly denied owing her success to him.
In the New York proceedings in which he’s seeking $250 million, Shakira said she was already famous when they met. She also insisted he was not her business partner or strategist, claiming that she hired him to do “some matters relating to the business” in 2005 out of pity when he became jobless after his father was forced to resign as president in 2001.
Shakira and Antonio announced their split in 2011 after almost 11 years of being together. She is now dating center back of FC Barcelona Gerard Pique.

 

Is this Jesus’s true cross? Archaeologists in Turkey may have uncovered a relic from the crucifixion

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Professor Gülgün KorogluArchaeologists in Turkey believe they have found a small piece of the cross used to crucify Jesus.

It was discovered in a stone chest on the site of seventh-century Balatlar Church in Sinop and tests are now being carried out to try to determine its authenticity.

Legend has it that the cross was discovered in 325 AD and parts were sent to religious leaders around the world and this may explain how the piece ended up in Turkey.

Professor Gülgün Koroglu who headed up the excavation told the Hurriyet Daily News: ‘We have found a holy thing in a chest. It is a piece of a cross, and we think it was [part of the cross on which Jesus was crucified]. This stone chest is very important to us. It has a history and is the most important artifact we have unearthed so far.’

Professor Koroglu believes the relics inside the chest are holy because crosses were carved into the sides.

According to religious legend, Helene Augustus, the mother of Constantine travelled to Jerusalem in around 325 AD to learn more about the crucifixion and try to find the True Cross.

The cross was said to have been divided – part of it is believed to have remained in Jerusalem while other parts were sent to religious leaders in Rome and Constantinople, the modern-day Istanbul in Turkey.

A number of relics purported to be parts of the True Cross, or nails used during the crucifixion have been found by churches, including a 2,000-year-old chest discovered in 1981.

French archaeologist Charles Rohault de Fleury supposedly said in the 19th-century that if all of these catalogued relics were put together they would still only make up less than a third of the cross, which is thought to have been around 12ft high.

This suggests that there may still be parts of the cross that are yet to be uncovered.

Koroglu and her team began working on the site at the Balatlar Church, built in 660 AD, site in 2009.

The excavation has already uncovered more than 1,000 skeletons.

 

France’s Top Cop Assures Tourists Paris Is Safe

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Paris-Eiffeli-tornVisitors to Paris take note: Interior Minister Manuel Valls assures you that the City of Light is dealing with the pickpockets and petty criminals that have recently targeted tourists.

France’s top cop toured some major sites Friday, from the Louvre Museum to the Eiffel Tower, to check on his tourist-friendly plan and put out the word that “Paris is a safe city.”

The French capital has been getting a bad rep recently because of a rise in the number of small-scale crimes on tourists. The Louvre Museum even closed for a day in April when employees angered by pickpockets walked off the job.

In response, Valls has added 200 police to survey major tourist sites and put out a stay-safe guide in six languages.

 

Government bans U.S. singer Kelly Clarkson from taking £150,000 gold ring once owned by Jane Austen out of Britain

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Kelly ClarksonThe Government has stepped in to stop U.S. singer Kelly Clarkson taking a gold and turquoise ring once owned by Jane Austen out of the country. The star, who shot to fame when she won the American Idol show, bought the jewellery at auction last year for more than £150,000, but culture minister Ed Vaizey has put a temporary export bar on the piece in a bid to keep it in the UK. The ring is one of only three surviving pieces of jewellery known to have belonged to the Pride and Prejudice author, having been given to her sister Cassandra and then passed down through the family before it was sold. Mr Vaizey said: ‘Jane Austen’s modest lifestyle and her early death mean that objects associated with her of any kind are extremely rare, so I hope that a UK buyer comes forward so this simple but elegant ring can be saved for the nation.’ The decision on the export licence will be deferred until September 30 and can be extended to December 30 if proof emerges of “a serious intention to raise funds” to match its six-figure price tag.

A load of hot air: More than 400 balloons take to the skies in French bid to break the world record for a mass take off

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Lorraine Mondial international hot air balloon festival (1)Filling the sky with a mass of colour, these extraordinary pictures show hundreds of balloons taking off during a new world record attempt.

A total of 408 hot air balloons took off from a former Nato base in Chambley, France, in the hope of setting a new record for a mass take-off.

The balloonists are taking part in the Lorraine Mondial international hot air balloon festival, which is held at the Chambley-Bussieres Aerodrome.

They were attempting to beat the previous record, which was only set on Saturday at the same festival when 343 balloons successfully took to the air.

This broke the previous record of 329 balloons, set in 2009.

The popular festival has been taking place in France since 1989 and attracts balloonists from around the world.

Previous record attempts at the festival have been hampered by bad weather. In 2011, hundreds of balloonists had to postpone their attempt while poor conditions cleared.

Hot air balloon festivals are held annually around the world every year.

 

Russian lawmaker admits any gay athletes or spectators at the 2014 Winter Olympics will be arrested for ‘promoting homosexuality’

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The Russian parliament issued a ban on spreading gay 'propaganda'Openly gay athletes and supporters at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympic Games may face arrest, according to a Russian lawmaker.

Politician Vitaly Milonov said the terms of the law could not be suspended or selectively enforced during the Olympic Games.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) previously claimed Russia had assured the safety of athletes and supporters.

The IOC told the Windy City Times earlier this month: ‘The International Olympic Committee is clear that sport is a human right and should be available to all regardless of race, sex or sexual orientation.

The Games themselves should be open to all, free of discrimination, and that applies to spectators, officials, media and of course athletes.

‘We would oppose in the strongest terms any move that would jeopardise this principle.’

The controversial ‘gay propaganda’ law bans displays of ‘non-traditional sexual behaviour’ in public or in front of under-18s.

The law allows the government to detain homosexual or sympathetic foreigners for up to 14 days.

They could then face expulsion from the country.

 

Cuba: 7 Dead After Drinking Illicit Methyl Alcohol

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AlcoholCuban state television says at least seven people have died of poisoning after consuming methyl alcohol and 41 others remain hospitalized.

A Health Ministry report read out on the afternoon news says numerous people began showing up at Havana emergency rooms Monday exhibiting symptoms of “serious poisoning.”

It was determined that they had consumed illegal methyl alcohol, also called methanol or “wood alcohol,” which is used in labs and research centers. Methanol is highly toxic for humans and can result in death or permanent health problems, including blindness.

The health ministry said Wednesday that the victims bought the deadly booze from a black-market merchant who procured it from two pharmaceutical employees.

Eight of the 41 people hospitalized are in serious condition.

 

Spread-eagled against the wall and marched off single-file: How Russia deals with illegal immigrants

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Immigration officers and police yesterday raided Tyoply Stan market in Moscow looking for illegal immigrants4Captured and humiliated, these pictures show how Russia is cracking down on its illegal immigrants.

Police officers raided Moscow’s Tyoply Stan market yesterday to detain dozens of suspected illegal immigrants.

Russian authorities are currently holding a number of large scale operations to identify those staying in the country illegally so they can be expelled.

After rounding up the men, the police and immigration officers then displayed their no-nonsense approach in front of the cameras.

The men were spreadeagled against a large police bus, with their clothing searched by a police officer.

Others were made to wait, standing with their hands behind their necks as officers looked on.

Eventually, when they were all processed, they were frog-marched single-file onto the bus, each made to hold onto the man in front’s shoulders.
It is believed that out of 11 million migrants currently living in Russia, four million do so illegally.

Speaking at the beginning of this month, Dmitry Demidenko, from Russian Federal Migration Service, said:

‘As of June 28, 2013, 11,193,289 immigrants are living in Russia. And 3.76 million out of the whole number live here illegally.

‘We are searching for them and expel from the country as we find them.’

 

UK ‘Open’ to Better Relations With Iran

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William HagueForeign Secretary William Hague says Britain is open to better relations with Iran on a “step-by-step” basis and he is willing to meet with Tehran’s foreign minister.

The Foreign Office says Hague stressed the need for “urgent progress” to resolve the West’s concerns about Iran’s nuclear program in a phone call with Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi.

It said Thursday that Hague “made clear that the U.K. was open to improvements in the bilateral relationship with Iran, on a step-by-step and reciprocal basis” and is willing to meet in New York in September during the United Nations General Assembly.

The call comes after Hasan Rouhani won Iran’s June 14 presidential election.

Rouhani has pledged to follow a “path of moderation,” reviving hopes for easing tensions with the West.