Salman Khan appeal on hold until July 1

Also, Bond author to attend Emirates lit fest; 5SOS star fine after burning face on stage; The Rock owns up to crashing into truck; Jurassic World smashes another record; Poet wins free-speech prize; Prince rocks White House at ‘secret’ gig; and Depardieu ‘persuaded’ Cannes to screen controversial Fifa film.

Bollywood actor Salman Khan. AFP

Bollywood star Salman Khan’s appeal against his conviction by a lower court for killing a man sleeping on a pavement when he crashed his vehicle into a Mumbai bakery in September 2002 has been adjourned until July 1. His lawyer, Amit Desai, told the Bombay High Court that the evidence and documents were still being compiled by the court. Justice A R Joshi ordered the swift completion of the paperwork before a formal hearing could take place. The actor was sentenced to five years in jail on May 6 after being found guilty of several charges, including culpable homicide not amounting to murder, and drink driving. The 49-year-old appealed against the conviction to the high court, which suspended his sentence and granted him bail. – IANS

Bond author to attend Emirates lit fest

New James Bond author Anthony Horowitz, veteran American journalist Dan Rather and popular philosopher A C Grayling will return to the Emirates Airline Festival of Literature next year. They are among the first authors confirmed for the event, which runs from March 8 to 12 at the InterContinental Dubai Festival City. Others include British crime author Ian Rankin, British poet laureate Carol Ann Duffy and Emirati counsellor and life coach Hala Kazim. Literary discussions will be on the festival's theme of time. For details, go to www.emirateslitfest.com. – The National staff

5SOS star fine after burning face on stage

5 Seconds of Summer guitarist Michael Clifford has reassured fans that he is fine after his face was burnt during an onstage pyrotechnic mishap. Horrified fans saw the 19-year-old’s hair catch fire as bursts of flame shot from the stage during the Australian band’s concert at Wembley Arena in London on Saturday. Clifford quickly put a towel over his head and the concert was cut short. He later tweeted a picture of his face half-covered in bandages, with a message saying he was “doing OK”. Clifford was back on stage at Wembley on Sunday for the final show of the band’s European tour, which went ahead without pyrotechnics. The accident happened a day after Dave Grohl of Foo Fighters fell from the stage and broke his leg during a concert in Gothenburg, Sweden. – AP

The Rock owns up to crashing into truck

Furious 7 star Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson crashed into a truck while filming his latest movie in Massachusetts. The action star – whose latest film, the earthquake adventure San Andreas is in cinemas now – took to Instagram on Monday to say he hit a parked vehicle and damaged its side mirror while driving to the set of the film Central Intelligence, an action comedy also starring Kevin Hart. Johnson said the owner, Audie Bridges, recognised him and refused to accept any money for the damage. He thanked the Wakefield resident for "being so cool about the whole thing" before posing for a picture with him by the damaged truck. The Boston Globe reported that Bridges confirmed on Monday that the incident happened about a month ago and he was able to fix the damage himself. – AP

Jurassic World smashes another record

Dinosaurs rule the world once more – in cinema terms, at least – after official box-office figures confirmed Jurassic World had the best global opening weekend in movie history and revealed that it had beaten The Avengers record in North America. Initial estimates had put the film, starring Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard, at US$204.6 million (Dh749.3) in the United States and Canada, just behind the 2012 Marvel movie's $207.4m – but when the final totals were revealed on Monday by Exhibitor Relations, the total was $208.8m. The final global total was $511m, which included $100m in China. That smashed the previous record of $483m, held by Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2. – AFP

Poet wins free-speech prize

Poet James Fenton has won the PEN Pinter Prize, a writing award that celebrates champions of free speech. Fenton is a former Oxford University professor of poetry and war correspondent. Many of his poems deal with conflict and its aftermath, including those in the collections The Memory of War and Children in Exile. Maureen Freely, president of the writers' group English PEN, said Fenton "has spoken truth to power – forcefully, fearlessly and beautifully". The award was established in 2009 in memory of Nobel Prize-winning playwright Harold Pinter. It is given jointly to a British writer who shares Pinter's "unflinching, unswerving" social gaze and to an international writer who has faced persecution, chosen by the British winner and PEN. The joint winner will be announced on October 6 – AP

Prince rocks White House at ‘secret’ gig

Prince and other musicians, including Stevie Wonder, performed some of his greatest hits at a weekend White House party for the American president, Barack Obama, and his wife Michelle. But although guests shared the details on social media, White House spokesman Josh Earnest refused to confirm the gig, saying he had no details about the private event. About 500 lobbyists, corporate executives, celebrities and other guests reportedly attended. Earnest said the Obamas threw the party “on their own dime” but did not say how much it cost or what they paid. The reverend Al Sharpton tweeted on Sunday after leaving the White House that it was “awesome” to see Prince and Stevie Wonder together on the keyboards. Prince also performed in Washington on Saturday at the Warner Theater. – AP

Depardieu ‘persuaded’ Cannes to screen controversial Fifa film

Actor Gerard Depardieu personally intervened to persuade the Cannes Film Festival to show the widely ridiculed Fifa-funded movie United Passions that sank almost without trace at the box office after being panned by critics. Cannes director Thierry Fremaux said he rejected the movie, thinking it unworthy of the festival. But Depardieu, who plays World Cup creator Jules Rimet in the film, pressured 2014 festival organisers to rethink. They agreed to show it in the open air on a beach, which was enough for producers to attach the prestigious Cannes palm-leaf logo and the words "official selection, festival de Cannes" to trailers and posters. "Gerard Depardieu was very insistent. He really wanted us to show it," said Fremaux. "I'm not saying we did it to keep him happy, but let's say that he insisted a lot." Fremaux attended the beach showing with Fifa president Sepp Blatter and Depardieu at last year's festival. Fifa did not pay Cannes to show the movie, Fremaux said. The movie bombed on its release this month in the United States, taking only about US$900 (Dh3,300) in an opening weekend at 10 theatres. In France, it went straight to DVD and was released in only a handful of countries. According to box-office data firm Rentrak, it made only $178,639 in theatres before opening in the US, most of that in Russia. Fifa largely bankrolled the $30-million movie about soccer's governing body, the growth of the World Cup and Blatter's rise to power as Fifa president. Played by Reservoir Dogs star Tim Roth, Blatter is portrayed sympathetically in the movie as a hard worker who toiled to make Fifa financially successful and spoke out against corruption. In real life, Fifa is embroiled in anti-corruption investigations and Blatter is on his way out, with his 17-year presidency widely criticised. Critics savaged the film: "Pure cinematic excrement" wrote the London's Guardian. "Cringe-worthy, self-aggrandising" said the Hollywood Reporter." – AP