Messi marries childhood sweetheart in Argentina hometown

Author:  HERNAN ALVAREZ | AP Sat, 2017-07-01 07:30 ID:  1498869803661676000 ROSARIO, Argentina: Lionel Messi and his childhood sweetheart married Friday night at a ceremony in his Argentine hometown attended by some of the biggest names in soccer. About 250 guests attended the marriage of Messi and Antonella Roccuzzo at a luxury hotel. They included Messi’s Barcelona teammates Neymar, Luis Suarez and Gerard Pique, who was...

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Indian minister mocked for urinating in public

Author:  AFP Fri, 2017-06-30 10:18 ID:  1498807885364353100 NEW DELHI: A government minister was mocked on social media for urinating in public despite the prime minister’s flagship public hygiene drive as pictures of the embarrassing incident were splashed over front pages Friday. The Times of India said agriculture minister Radha Mohan Singh relieved himself against a school wall “flanked by his security guards carrying...

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Hello and then goodbye: Adele hints ‘25’ tour is her last

Author:  AP Fri, 2017-06-30 03:00 ID:  1498764987659828000 LONDON: Pop superstar Adele has hinted that her current tour for Grammy-winning album “25” will be her last. The 29-year-old included a signed, handwritten note in the program for her Wednesday night show at Wembley Stadium in London stating, “I don’t know if I’ll ever tour again and so I want my last time to be at home.” Her announcement comes at the end of a 15-month...

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Football, showbiz stars set for Messi’s wedding

Author:  AFP Fri, 2017-06-30 03:00 ID:  1498764987639827700 ROSARIO: Football and showbiz stars gather in northern Argentina on Friday for Latin America’s celebrity wedding bash of the decade when Barcelona superstar Lionel Messi marries his childhood sweetheart Antonella Roccuzzo. Pop star Shakira and her husband, Messi’s teammate Gerard Pique, are expected among the 260 guests, according to media and locals close to the...

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Michael Moore donates $10K to Trump-as-Caesar theater

Author:  AFP Fri, 2017-06-30 03:00 ID:  1498764987629827400 NEW YORK: American filmmaker Michael Moore has donated $10,000 to a New York theater that staged a controversial production of Julius Caesar in which the Roman emperor bears a striking resemblance to US President Donald Trump. The play, in which Caesar appears as a blond businessman who tweets from his bathroom and is married to a woman with a thick Slavic accent...

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‘What about Palestine, Mariah?’ Fans slam pop diva’s Israel visit

Author:  ARAB NEWS Fri, 2017-06-30 03:00 ID:  1498764987599827100 DAMMAM: Pop diva Mariah Carey is in Israel to promote her new partnership with an Israeli skincare line, and that has not gone down well with many of her fans. ramoosh221 wrote on Instagram: “Welcome to Palestine P.S. it was never Israel.” Carey posted a short video in which she appears to be saying: “I am so happy to be in Israel with Premiere (skincare brand).” Commenting...

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World fashion brands, unions agree to extend Bangladesh deal

Author:  Associated Press Thu, 2017-06-29 03:00 ID:  1498751266508381200 DHAKA, Bangladesh: Leading global fashion brands and trade unions agreed Thursday to continue a safety program involving thousands of garment factories in Bangladesh for another three years. Two Switzerland-based global trade unions — IndustriALL Global Union and UNIGlobal Union — and brand representatives announced the agreement in Paris. The current...

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Mariah Carey’s cameo for ‘The House’ proved no laughing matter

Author:  Reuters Thu, 2017-06-29 03:00 ID:  1498687538872507100 LOS ANGELES: Will Ferrell and Amy Poehler take up gambling to pay for their daughter’s college education in new comedy “The House,” but one person the movie decided not to take a risk on was singer Mariah Carey. Carey filmed a cameo for the film, but it ended up on the cutting room floor, writer and director Andrew Jay Cohen said at the red-carpet premiere on...

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Bollywood’s ‘Dangal’ sets new benchmarks for success abroad

Author:  AFP Thu, 2017-06-29 03:00 ID:  1498687538852506800 MUMBAI: Bollywood star Aamir Khan’s hit wrestling movie “Dangal” has become the first Indian film to make 20 billion rupees, ($309.8 million) analysts said Wednesday, as it takes China’s cinemas by storm. The Hindi movie’s record-breaking run has set a new and previously unthought of box office benchmark for Bollywood films abroad while also highlighting the value...

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‘John Wick,’ ‘Dragon Tattoo’ star Michael Nyqvist dies at 56

Author:  AP Thu, 2017-06-29 03:00 ID:  1498687538822506500 LOS ANGELES: Swedish actor Michael Nyqvist, who starred in the original “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo” films and often played villains in Hollywood movies like “John Wick” has died. Nyqvist’s representative Jenny Tversky said Tuesday that he died after a year-long battle with lung cancer. He was 56. “It is with deep sadness that I can confirm that our beloved Michael,...

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‘Melodrama’ scores Lorde her first chart-topping Billboard album

Author:  Reuters Wed, 2017-06-28 03:00 ID:  1498590412938318500 LOS ANGELES: New Zealand pop singer Lorde landed her first US chart-topping album on Monday as her latest record debuted at the top of the weekly Billboard 200 chart. “Melodrama,” the second album from 20-year-old Lorde, sold 82,000 albums, 40,000 songs and was streamed nearly 35 million times, totaling 109,000 album units according to figures from Nielsen SoundScan. The...

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Depp may face perjury charges in Australia over ‘dog gate’

Author:  AFP Wed, 2017-06-28 03:00 ID:  1498590412848318200 SYDNEY: Johnny Depp could face perjury charges in Australia after the deputy prime minister threatened Tuesday to unleash a new chapter in a pet dog case dubbed the “war on terrier.” The “Pirates of the Caribbean” star and his then-wife Amber Heard fell foul of Australia’s strict quarantine laws when they failed to declare her canines, Pistol and Boo, on arrival...

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U2 bassist thanks band for helping him through addiction

Author:  AP Wed, 2017-06-28 03:00 ID:  1498590412828317900 NEW YORK: In a frank and heartfelt speech, U2 bassist Adam Clayton thanked his bandmates of four decades for their support during his treatment and recovery for alcohol abuse years ago, and then joined them for a rollicking rendition of a few hits. “We have a pact with each other,” said Clayton, 57, who was receiving an award from MusiCares, the charity arm of the...

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Remy Ma beats Nicki Minaj at BET Awards

Author:  AP Tue, 2017-06-27 03:00 ID:  1498510184741688500 LOS ANGELES: Remy Ma has ended rival Nicki Minaj’s seven-year winning streak at the 2017 BET Awards, a show highlighted by ’90s R&B and groups popular in that decade, as well as five wins for Beyonce. Ma, who was released from prison in 2014, won best female hip hop artist Sunday in Los Angeles, an award Minaj has won since 2010. Ma last won the prize in 2005,...

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First female captain a real change of guard in London

Author:  AFP Tue, 2017-06-27 02:39 ID:  1498510184701687900 LONDON: Megan Couto on Monday became the first female officer to command the troops protecting Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace, as a Canadian battalion took over guard duties. Captain Couto, 24, has been given the prestigious role of Captain of The Queen’s Guard, responsible for guarding the London palace. Based in the central province of Manitoba, The Second...

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Glastonbury getaway after Ed Sheeran closes festival

Author:  AFP Tue, 2017-06-27 03:00 ID:  1498510184731688200 PILTON, England: Tens of thousands of revelers were making the great getaway from Glastonbury on Monday after Ed Sheeran closed the world’s biggest greenfield music festival. The 26-year-old singer-songwriter’s performance on Sunday ended three days of music from some of the world’s biggest acts at the celebrated fest, which drew an estimated 175,000 people this...

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Social media giants step up joint fight against extremist content

Author:  Reuters Mon, 2017-06-26 22:01 ID:  1498504982571369500 BRUSSELS: Social media giants Facebook, Google’s YouTube, Twitter and Microsoft said on Monday they were forming a global working group to combine their efforts to remove terrorist content from their platforms. Responding to pressure from governments in Europe and the United States after a spate of militant attacks, the companies said they would share technical...

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Epic struggle of film about Cairo on eve of revolution

Author:  AFP Mon, 2017-06-26 13:20 ID:  1498472864248790800 PARIS: Everyone thought Tamer El Said had gone mad in the decade it took him to make his film “In the Last Days of the City.” “My friends would look at me with a mixture of pity and sarcasm when they asked how it was going,” he told AFP. “And then after a while they stopped asking...” El Said soldiered on even as the Egyptian revolution and counter-revolution seemed...

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Trumps attend Treasury chief wedding in glitzy DC affair

Author:  AFP Sun, 2017-06-25 04:22 ID:  1498412231703244000 WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania stepped out of the White House Saturday to toast newlyweds US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Scottish actress Louise Linton at their glitzy Washington nuptials. The wedding, held in a historic auditorium near the National Mall, had been a closely held secret until a friend of the couple, US Commerce...

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Prince Harry ‘wanted out’ of royal role

Author:  AFP Sun, 2017-06-25 16:08 ID:  1498412183213233000 LONDON: Britain’s Prince Harry once “wanted out” of the Royal Family, but instead decided to “stay in and work out a role” for himself, according to an interview with the Mail on Sunday. The prince, 32, caused a stir earlier this week when he said that he didn’t think any member of the royal family wanted to become monarch, and revealed doubts about his own role...

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Whisper it, but is it time to ax ‘Despicable Me’ Minions?

Author:  Frankie TAGGART | AFP Sun, 2017-06-25 04:09 ID:  1498412145453221400 LOS ANGELES: Reformed super-villain Gru adds to his burgeoning family this weekend with the release of “Despicable Me 3,” which will likely push the gargantuan franchise past $3 billion at the box office. But critics have warned that the seemingly unstoppable cash cow risks becoming “Predictable Me” unless its creators ring the changes for future...

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Harry Potter turns 20: Business empire with humble start

Author:  AFP Sun, 2017-06-25 14:45 ID:  1498393014761096300 LONDON: After years of rejection letters, British author J.K. Rowling finally published the first volume of the Harry Potter saga 20 years ago, on June 26, 1997. “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone” was the first of seven novels that spawned an empire comprising eight movies, a play, theme parks in the United States and Japan, a sightseeing tour in Scotland...

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Ramadan, Eid earn prime spots on Gulf fashion calendar

Author:  AFP Sun, 2017-06-25 03:00 ID:  1498335371606057900 DUBAI: From Dolce & Gabbana to Michael Kors, major brands are catering to lucrative Gulf markets during the festive season of Ramadan and Eid, which is earning its own slot on the global fashion calendar. With Muslim spending on clothing on the rise, mainstream labels are courting the dirham, dinar and riyal in a region home to some of the world’s biggest buyers...

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Mira Sorvino urges support for trafficking victims

Author:  AP Sun, 2017-06-25 03:00 ID:  1498335371586057600 UNITED NATIONS: Oscar-winning actress Mira Sorvino is urging all nations and the business community to ramp up financial support for victims of human trafficking, saying the services such funds provide “mean the difference between life and death.” Sorvino has been a UN goodwill ambassador for the global fight against human trafficking, and she told a UN meeting Friday...

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Stanford University economist predicts demise of fossil fuel cars

Author:  Arab News Sun, 2017-06-25 03:00 ID:  1498335032526002500 Production of cars powered by fossil fuel will diminish and will be replaced by electric vehicles in the coming eight years as the entire market of land transportation switches to electrification. These are the predictions of Professor Tony Seba, an economist with Stanford University, which he included in a report titled “Rethinking Transportation 2020-2030.”...

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Audi R8 driven by lucky winner

Author:  Arab News Sun, 2017-06-25 03:00 ID:  1498335032506002000 • Audi Middle East embraced the spirit of giving by providing one lucky customer with the chance to enjoy their most powerful sports car, the Audi R8 V10 Plus, for two days. Zaid Kilani from Abu Dhabi was chosen at random as the lucky customer to enjoy the Audi R8 V10 Plus and Audi Middle East was on hand to film the moment he was presented with the car. Collecting...

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