Thursday 18 December 2008

Iraqis Protest for Release of Bush Shoe Attacker

An Iraqi government official said on Tuesday the journalist who threw his shoes at US President George W. Bush has been handed over to the Iraqi military command in Baghdad.

A wave of support streamed in on Monday for the now famous "shoe thrower", Iraqi journalist Muntadar Al Zaidi who heaved both his shoes on Sunday at US President George W. Bush.

"I received a wave of support from human rights groups and journalist associations, such as Reporters Without Borders," Dr Abdul Hussain Sha'aban, managing director of Al Baghdadiya, told Gulf News.

His family told the AP that over time, he came to hate both the US military occupation and what he views as Iran's "moral" occupation too.

The Iraqi Journalists' Syndicate said Al Zaidi's "far from professional" and irresponsible conduct had placed it in an "embarrassing and critical" situation. Nevertheless, it called on Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki to release him for humanitarian reasons.

"It was the throw of the century. I believe Bush deserves what happened to him because he has not kept his promises to Iraqis," said Baghdad resident Abu Hussain, 48.

He would be tried on charges of insulting the Iraqi state, said the prime minister's media adviser, Yasin Majeed.

Arabs across the Middle East hailed the journalist as a hero and praised his insult as a proper send-off to the unpopular US president.

Also, Arab bloggers had a field day after the "shoe heard around the world" incident.

"Today is the day that 'Angry Arab' has been preparing itself for 3 years and finally it happened" remarked one blog.

It went on to joke, "please, please one shoe at a time"

Damascus was abuzz with the news; almost as if the entire city was watching a football match, and hurt that their favorite team, had missed a goal, a Gulf News correspondent reported.

"Al Zaidi did what Arab leaders failed to do," said Ghazi Abu Baker, a 55-year-old shopkeeper in the West Bank town of Jenin. "This journalist should be elected president of Iraq for what he has done."

On a more serious note, colleagues of the Iraqi journalist said they are worried about him as they have yet to hear news about him.

"They confiscated his mobile, I tried calling him but no answer. No one knows where he is now," Dr. Abdul Hussain Shaaban, managing director of Al Baghdadiya Satellite TV, told Gulf News.

Shaaban, who is also a human rights activists, said he was approached by several Arab laywers wanting to defend Al Zaidi and many journalist associations, like Reporters Without Borders have expressed concern.

Saddam Hussain's former lawyer, Khalil Al Dulaimi, said on Monday that he was forming a team to defend Al Zaidi.

"It was the least thing for an Iraqi to do to Bush, the tyrant criminal who has killed two million people in Iraq and Afghanistan," said Dulaimi. "Zaidi should be released immediately."

"This is a gift from the Iraqis, this is the farewell kiss, you dog!" Al Zaidi shouted just before he chucked his shoes at the US president during the live broadcast of the press conference.

"This is from the widows, the orphans and those who were killed in Iraq!" Al Zaidi shouted as he hurled his other shoe.

Al Maliki's security crowded in on him, beating him relentlessly. Mohammed Taher, reporter from Afaq, a TV station close to the ruling government of Al Maliki, described Al Zaidi "crying like a girl."

"All I can report is that it is a size 10," Bush joked, as other Iraqi journalists reportedly rushed to apologise for Al Zaidi's actions.

Al Zaidi's act was not spontaneous but planned, according to colleagues.

"Al Zaidi was kidnapped last year by an unknown militia and until now no one knows who was responsible. He was not only protesting from a general anti-US point of view, but a personal one," Al Shaaban said.

Al Shaaban declined to comment whether he supported Al Zaidi's actions. He simply emphasised that it symbolized the "catastrophe of the American government".

Al Shaaban said Al Zaidi has demonstrated what people around the world have been feeling for years about the Bush administration.

"Using shoes is just the Iraqi way," he joked.

Keywords : George W. Bush shoe attack;Zaidi attack on Bush;Shoe attack incident;Bush and the shoe;international day for shoes.

Sources : www.iraqupdates.com

Iraq Parliament clashes over fate of man who threw shoes at Bush

BAGHDAD: A session of the Iraqi Parliament erupted in an uproar on Wednesday as lawmakers clashed over how to respond to the continuing detention of an Iraqi television reporter who threw his shoes at President George W. Bush during a Baghdad news conference earlier this week, people attending the parliamentary meeting said.

As Parliament began to discuss legislation on the withdrawal from Iraq of armed forces from nations other than the United States, After Muntader al-Zaidi'shoes, narrowly missed Bush's head at the news conference on Sunday, Zaidi was subdued by a fellow journalist and then beaten by members of the prime minister's security detail.

The legislative session became so tumultuous that it prompted the speaker of Parliament, Mahmoud al-Mashhadani, to announce his resignation, according to The Associated Press. A spokesman for Mashhadani, Jabar al-Mashhadani, refused to confirm whether the speaker had tendered his resignation, although he would not deny it. Some in Parliament say the government should release Zaidi immediately, while others say the judiciary should decide his fate.

How badly injured Zaidi was by members of Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki's security detail is not clear. He has not appeared in public since his arrest, and his family members and his legal representatives say they have not been permitted to visit him. On Wednesday, Zaidi was scheduled to appear before a judge, but it was unclear whether that happened.

Dhiya al-Saadi, one of Zaidi's lawyers, said Wednesday that he was not sure whether Zaidi had appeared before a judge. As part of the Iraqi legal system, a judge typically determines whether bringing formal charges against a suspect is warranted, criminal lawyers in Iraq said. Zaidi faces up to seven years in prison if he is charged with and convicted of offending the head of a foreign state.

By : Timothy Williams and Atheer Kakan

Tuesday 16 December 2008

'I was arrogant'


Tom Cruise has confessed that he was "arrogant" to criticise the use of post-natal depression drugs and therapy.

The Valkyrie star famously declared that drugs should not be used to treat depression when he appeared as a guest on The Today Show in 2005.

However, he returned to the US chatshow yesterday and admitted to host Matt Lauer that he "didn't communicate" his feelings the way he wanted to.

"It's not what I had intended," said Cruise. "In looking at myself, you know, that came across as arrogant.

"That's one of those things you go, 'Okay, I could have absolutely handled that better'."

He added: "I didn't communicate it the way I wanted to communicate it. That's not who I am; that's not the person that I am."

Sources : by Lara Martin

MADONNA, GUY SETTLE UP FOR $76 MILLION



The megastar and Ritchie have reached a settlement in their divorce, with her former bloke set to receive a windfall payout of at least $76 million.

Per Rosenberg, also takes into account the value of the couple’s massive English country estate and could ring in as high as almost $92 million.

While the deal marks the conclusion of the duo’s ongoing financial negotiations, there is a problem left and has yet been reached over the custody of their two children together, 8-year-old Rocco and 3-year-old David.

Madonna filed for divorce from Ritchie back in October, citing “unreasonable behavior” from her hubby. A British court granted them a preliminary decree of divorce last month.

Source: E! Online

MADONNA AND RITCHIE STILL BATTLING OVER CHILDREN
The couple announced their split in October and finalized their divorce this month, with reports suggesting they had agreed to share custody of their sons, Rocco, 8, and David Banda, 3, with the boys splitting their time between their mother’s home in New York and Ritchie’s base in London.

Madonna’s 12-year-old daughter, Lourdes, from a previous relationship, is rumored to remain in the U.S. with the singer.

But new reports suggest the pair is still squabbling over custody rights, with the pop superstar allegedly determined to keep the family in America with her.

A source tells London newspaper The Evening Standard, “Both sets of lawyers have still got their heads down. It is very complicated.

“Ways need to be found to tie up claims both in New York and in London. I am sure they will both want to settle this amicably. They won’t want this aired in public.”

The publication goes on to suggest that Madonna wants to buy Ritchie an apartment in the Big Apple to keep him close to the children, while they are raised in the U.S.

A spokesperson for Madonna was unable to be reached for comment as WENN went to press.

MADONNA TO GET BRAZIL “STICKY & SWEET” AS TOUR WRAPS UP



Madonna arrived in Brazil on Friday ahead of the final concerts of her worldwide “Sticky & Sweet Tour” that showed that, at age 50, she can still sell out top-notch venues.

She is to perform two concerts in Rio, on Sunday and Monday, before going to Brazil’s biggest city of Sao Paulo for gigs next week on December 18, 20 and 21. The concerts are the last in her four-month tour across Europe, North America and Latin America, which kicked off August 23 in Wales, Britain. In all she will have played 58shows that raked in more than 200 million dollars, according to Billboard magazine.

During her spin around the globe, she has had to oversee divorce proceedings handled by her lawyers. On November 21, a London court granted a provisional “quickie” divorce to Madonna — full name Madonna Louise Veronica Ciccone — on the grounds her husband Ritchie had acted unreasonably. The court released a document in which Madonna stated that she and Ritchie, 40, had not lived together at the same address for six months.

A decree formally dissolving the marriage is expected by early January. Contradictory accounts in Britain’s tabloids over the bust-up said either that Madonna thought Ritchie was lazy, tight-fisted and preferred the pub to his family, or that Ritchie thought she was a control freak obsessed with her Kabbalah faith. It was also variously reported that Ritchie either received a lot of money from the split — or none at all.

Madonna is regarded as the world’s highest-earning female singer — Forbes.com put her at the top of its latest “cash queens of music” list with earnings of 72 million dollars between June 2006 and June 2007. The pair are reportedly fighting over whether their two sons should live in Britain or the United States — and over who gets them for Christmas.

Source: AFP.

Monday 15 December 2008

Shoes Fly at Bush



During a visit to Iraq the president dodges a pair of flying shoes.

Recently, President George W. Bush gets a shoe thrown by journalist at him while he was in a surprise conference in Iraq. Of course, I didn’t believe it when I heard so I had to see the video of a reporter throwing a shoe at Bush. Tell me it’s not funny?

All we can see Bush has some good reflexes. That is mean, damn, he actually managed to dodge two shoes thrown at him before his security team beat that guy to a pope.

Of course, the witty Bush came back with a funny response to the shoe attack. He states, “I’m okay… all I can report is it is a size 10.”

Sunday 14 December 2008

Angie Steps Out for Clint, Brad Steps Up for Jolie



After escorting Brad Pitt to his big movie premiere Monday, Angelina Jolie stepped out to support another man last night: Clint Eastwood.

The actress, whom Clint directed in Changeling, made a surprise appearance at the premiere of Gran Torino sans Brad.

But Pitt's still making headlines today while defending Angie in a new interview with Rolling Stone as he shoots down claims that she manipulates media, instead calling her "savvy."

"I get defensive," he tells RS. "[They're] talking about not only the woman I love, but one of the people on this planet who I have the greatest respect for. I think she's as honorable as anyone I've ever met."

And that's not all...

Brad is now echoing Angie's comment that she and Brad fell in love on the set of Mr. & Mrs. Smith (while he was still married to Jen Aniston).

When asked to name his favorite Angelina movie, he chose Mr. & Mrs. Smith. Why?

""Because you know...six kids," he told R.S. "Because I fell in love."

Michael Jackson is Selling "Billy Jean" Gloves



"The King of Pop" to Sell Famous Glittery Glove. Michael Jackson's glittery glove is going on the auction block. The glove, which inspired countless copycats, quips and Halloween costumes after it was unveiled in the 1983 video for Jackson's hit "Billie Jean," will be part of a five-day auction next year, Julien's Auctions announced Wednesday.

"The King of Pop" is also unloading the grandiose gates that once led to his Neverland Ranch, along with more than "two thousand" other personal items.

Michael Jackson's possessions will be on display before the auction begins on April 21. Bids will be accepted either in person and online. The sale is to be broadcast live on Auction Network.

Jackson plans to donate a portion of the proceeds to MusiCares, a charitable organization founded by the Recording Academy to help musicians in need.

The singer has been plagued by financial woes since he was acquitted of child-molestation charges in 2003. He went into default on his sprawling Neverland property earlier this year, before an investment company bought the loan. Last month, Jackson's lawyers reached a settlement in a $7 million breach-of-contract case brought by a Bahraini sheik.

Thursday 4 December 2008

Jennifer Aniston Talks Motherhood, Takes Aim At Vogue


LOS ANGELES, Calif. -- Jennifer Aniston has had enough of the tabloids - and apparently, she thinks Vogue magazine falls into the same category.

In a new interview with Entertainment Weekly for the magazine's December 12 issue, Aniston took aim at Vogue, over comments she made to the mag calling remarks made by Angelina Jolie "very uncool."

"I was just surprised that Vogue would go so tabloid," Jennifer said of the quote the fashion mag used on the cover, and one she says was taken out of context.

"I was bummed. But you almost expect it," she continued. "Big deal. Done. Next."
But the former "Friend" and star of the upcoming comedy, "Marley & Me," also took exception with various tabloids printing pregnancy rumors about her.

"It's almost going to take away the fun from actually being able to say one day, 'I'm pregnant!'" she told Entertainment Weekly. "Everyone will be like, 'Yeah, right.' It's the boy who cried wolf. Stop stealing my thunder, motherf***ers!"

And Aniston, who plays a mom in "Marley & Me," said babies could be in her future.

"I feel like that's in my future and I'm on the verge of it in some way," she said. "So it was great to sort of dip your toe in it."

Though her face - like it did for Vogue - helps sell magazines around the world, Jennifer said she feels different than the woman on the cover of the glossies.

"There's this character - it's like my Hannah Montana. That's how I feel. There's my Hannah Montana and then there's me," she said, referring to Miley Cyrus' television alter-ego - a pop star who can't live a normal life.

And while her life might not be normal, Jennifer admitted she's made mistakes like the rest of us.

"Not everyone's a winner," she said. "Not every episode of 'Friends' was great. Not every guy you choose is great."

These days though, things seem to be on an upswing.

"I don't know if I'm just a late bloomer, but I feel like everything is just beginning," she added.

And that new beginning may include stepping behind the camera.

"It's about schizophrenia, a woman who overcame the odds against her," she said of her in-the-works, as-yet-untitled directorial project - which she won't star in.

"Team Aniston" supporters would argue that she's seen enough craziness already, but as for Jennifer, she seems to be taking things in stride.

"It's my history," she said. "It's my memory. That's all it is to me: Something that happened, something that was really quite poignant and good in the long run."

Sources :By Access Hollywood

Wednesday 3 December 2008

President George W. Bush and Sylvester Stallone


They have same Date of Birth July 6, 1946

These two man have more in common than you might realize. Their oratorical skills have been criticized, but at their peaks, both were immensely popular. Their secret: people love a war… provided they win. They each have a past that they would rather forget. In the early 1970s, Bush had a drinking problem and multiple arrests; Stallone (as a struggling actor) was debasing himself in a skin flick. Bush has a history of failed business ventures; Stallone has had his own corporate disasters, like Planet Hollywood, his ill-fated co-venture with two of Bush’s friends, Bruce Willis and Arnold Schwarzenegger. Stallone’s two most famous roles also seem perfect for Bush. Like Rocky, Bush was an underdog, who triumphed (in the 2000 presidential election) without actually outscoring his opponent; and like Rambo, he has been keen to settle old military scores. Of course, neither Bush nor Stallone are as popular as they used to be, proving that celebrity is fickle business, however you achieve it.

Sources : yahoo.com

Alison Carroll is the New Lara Croft



Alison Carroll replace Angelina Jolie as Lara Croft.

With Angelina Jolie tending to her ever-growing brood of children, a new woman has stepped into the role of Lara Croft - British gymnast Alison Carroll.

Earlier today (August 11), Alison appeared before the media for the first time during a press conference at Pineapple Studios in London, England.

For the new Tomb Raider game, slated for a November release, Carroll will be the face of Croft, joining the long list of ladies who have held the title, such as Karima Adebibe, Lucy Clarkson, Jill de Jong, Lara Weller, Nell McAndrew, Rhona Mitra, Ellen Rocche and Vanessa Demouy.

The 23-year-old brunette babe is definitely fit for the part, with a stunning combination of beauty and athletic ability. She’s won multiple first place trophies in regional and national competitions and, well, she’s hot!

sources :www.celebrity-gossip.net

Tuesday 2 December 2008

Angelina Jolie: ‘I don't plan on acting very long’


LOS ANGELES - Angelina Jolie says her days on the big screen may be numbered.

In a new interview with the BBC to promote her film, “Changeling,” Angelina said she will soon be shifting her focus from film to family.

“I don’t plan on acting very long,” Angelina said. “I’m ready to do a few things now and fade away and get ready to be a grandma one day.”

The mother of six said she plans on spending less and less time on the set and more time at home raising her brood with partner Brad Pitt.

“I’m not so worried that I want to try to keep up this pace and try to be a celebrity and try to be a successful actress forever. I think it’s nice to tell stories and be successful enough to tell the ones I want to tell, and to earn some money at the same time is great,” she continued. “But everything comes in seasons and I hopefully won’t be needing to do that later in my life.”

Before she calls it quits and leaves the Hollywood spotlight behind, Angelina has a slew of projects lined up.

Among the films currently in development for the actress are the historical drama “The Mercenary,” the stylistic “Sin City 2,” “Lara Croft Tomb Raider: III” and even the 2011 project “Pandamonium” – the follow-up to the animated hit “Kung Fu Panda.”

And once she’s done working on those projects, and several others that are in the works, Angelina is ready to walk away – albeit maybe not for good.

“I don’t think I’ll ever say, ‘I’m never ever going to work.’ Because maybe there’s that interesting project where I feel creative,” Angelina conceded. “But now, I haven’t worked for a year. I’ll work a few months in February and won’t work again for another year. So maybe, it’ll be once a year and then maybe once every three years.”

“I like being home a lot these days,” she concluded

Sources : NBC

Pitt on family: ‘They’re driving me crazy — I’m proud’


He was in New Orleans’ 9th Ward, a place he loves, talking about the most important things in his life — his family and helping others.

“Now you see it. There’s actually families here who are home for the holidays. And it's really, really cool,” the actor/activist told TODAY’s Ann Curry in an exclusive interview that aired Tuesday.

Pitt and his girlfriend, Angelina Jolie, buy a home in New Orleans, which they call their adopted hometown. In the wake of Katrina, they organized an effort called “Make It Right” to not only rebuild the 9th Ward, but to do it in an environmentally friendly way, with housing that would not wash away in the next hurricane.

Off the grid
They raised millions bugs of dollars, and donated millions more to meet 150 affordable housing units. As Pitt spoke, more than 80 units were under construction or finished and the first eight families had already moved into their units.

“This time next year, you're going to see 100 homes here,” Pitt told Curry. “And not only that ... these homes, what you don't see is the way they work. It’s a sunny day. Those meters are running backward. They are off the grid. This is the road to affordable housing that you see right here.”

The houses are built on pilings, with carports underneath. In the event of catastrophic floods like those that accompanied Katrina, the homes will ride above the water — and survive.

“What I see is what I was talking about — quality of life,” Pitt told Curry. “I see the upbringing they're going to have there, the experiences and memories they're going to make in this place. And it's a good start, and it's a fair start. That's what I like about it.”

The 44-year-old star wore a scarf against the chill, and a stubby mustache nested on his upper lip. The facial hair is there for his role in the Quentin Tarantino World War II movie “Inglourious Basterds” that he is currently filming. His newest film, “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” whose title character is born old and gets younger as he grows up, is scheduled for a Christmas Day release.

Family man
As eager as Pitt was to talk about his dreams for New Orleans, he was reluctant to talk about Jolie and their six children, including twins Vivienne and Knox, who were born in France in July; biological daughter Shiloh, 2; and adopted children Maddox, 7, from Cambodia; Pax, 4, from Vietnam; and Zahara, 3, from Ethiopia. In a separate appearance on TODAY in October, Jolie told TODAY’s Matt Lauer that she and Pitt are thinking of adopting another child when the twins turn 6 months old.

“I'm really proud of this family,” Pitt said. “I look at my sons and my daughters, and one's from Vietnam and one's from Cambodia and one's from Ethiopia, and … they're all brothers and sisters. And they're fighting, they're laughing, they're going into hysterics and staying up late, and they're messing with their parents, and they're driving me crazy and I'm really proud.

“I truly feel rich being around them,” the actor added. “It's a rich home, and each one of 'em offers so much to the mix.” Then, with a smile, he deadpanned, “Surprising, though: Six kids is not as easy as you would think.”

Curry asked him why he’s reluctant to talk about Jolie and his children.

“It just gets cheapened somehow, as it goes through the filters in the airwaves,” he explained. “And some things you just want to keep close.”

Curry observed that a lot of people think about adopting children from Third World countries, as Pitt and Jolie have done, but are afraid they won’t be able to fully embrace and love the children.

“It’s automatic,” Pitt assured her. “It’s automatic.”

An avid photographer, Pitt took the cover shot of Jolie on the current issue of “W” as well as photos inside. The pictures, he said, “capture a side of Angie that’s so warm and big that you rarely see.”

Pitt and Jolie have been together three years. They’ve been asked many times whether they plan to marry and both have said they would when all people — gay and straight — can enter legal civil unions.

“Angie and I will consider tying the knot when everyone else in the country who wants to be married is legally able,” Pitt told Esquire magazine in 2006.

In New Orleans, Curry said she’d asked Jolie if they were going to get married. “Angie said I have to ask Brad,” Curry told Pitt.

Replied Pitt, “If we feel it’s important to our kids, we’ll do so.”

Sources: Mike Celizic