Actor Will Smith will be among the pall bearers at Muhammad Ali’s funeral on Friday. The actor has been a family friend since portraying Ali in the 2001 movie of the same name, which earned him an Oscar nomination. He will be joined by Lennox Lewis, a British boxer who is one of only three in history – along with Ali and Evander Holyfield – to have held the heavyweight title three times. The will join relatives and family friends in carrying the casket through Ali’s hometown of Louisville, Kentucky, on Friday. – Reuters
Bollywood stars tricked by con men
Varun Dhawan, Shraddha Kapoor and Tiger Shroff were conned by two impostors who posed as officers from the Income Tax department and Department of Revenue Intelligence. Murali Mundhera and Mahesh Khetwani had been extorting money from several Bollywood personalities by threatening to book them for income tax offences. Fearing raids, celebrities would pay up on the assurance that all imminent action against them would be dropped. Mundhera and Khetwani were apprehended by the Mumbai Crime Branch after a Bollywood producer lodged a complaint with the anti-extortion group. Dhawan, Kapoor and Shroff’s names were revealed when the accused were interrogated. The duo admitted that they had fleeced the actors of Rs35,000 to Rs75,000. (Dh1,923 to Dh4,122) – Sonali Kokra
Court dismisses case against SRK and Salman Khan
A Delhi court has dismissed advocate Gaurav Gulati's criminal complaint against actors Shah Rukh Khan and Salman Khan, entertainment channel Colors and the director and producer of the reality-TV show Bigg Boss Season 9 for hurting religious sentiments by allowing the two stars to wear footwear while filming on the set of a temple in the Bigg Boss house. The complaint claimed that an idol could be seen in the background, and so there had been a deliberate intent to hurt religious feelings. While the court dismissed the complaint yesterday on the basis of an report submitted by police which said that since it was a makeshift set in a studio and not an actual temple, there had been no intention to hurt religious sentiments, it has allowed the complainant to produce pre-summoning evidence on October 14 - Sonali Kokra
Modi oversees return of cultural objects by the United States
During a three-day visit to the United States, Indian prime minister Narendra Modi oversaw the safe return of more than 200 cultural objects to India. President Barack Obama began the process of returning the stolen Indian idols during a function in Washington DC. The Financial Times reported that the idols are worth an estimated US$100million (Dh367m) and Modi referred to them as treasures of the past. "For some, these artefacts may be measured in monetary terms but for us this is beyond that. It's a part of our culture and heritage," he said during the ceremony at the Blair House. The returned items included religious statues, bronzes and terra cotta pieces, some dating back 2,000 years, looted from some of India's most treasured religious sites. – IANS
Kanye fans go on the rampage in New York
Kanye West caused chaos in a Manhattan suburb after calling an impromptu concert at 2 o'clock in the morning. The rapper was set to perform a secret show at Webster Hall in Manhattan, New York, in the early hours of Monday, but after hundreds of fans descended on the venue, climbed on top of cars and scrambled over one another to get a glimpse of the rapper, he had to cancel the performance. Residents of the neighbourhood told the Daily Mail that they were furious at the damage and that the rapper should pay up. The hastily organised secret concert was a response to his headline slot at the Governors Ball earlier in the evening being called off due to bad weather. – The National
Snapchat horror movie breaks new ground
A horror movie shot entirely on Snapchat signifies the arrival of a new genre of film. It was posted over five days on the social-media site and later collected into a film, featuring choppy dialogue and unfinished scenes. However, the effect, according to a review on Vulture.com, is that it feels terrifyingly real. With echoes of the Blair Witch Project, Sickhouse was written and directed by Hannah Macpherson and uploaded onto lead actress Andrea Russett's Snapchat account. She has 2.5 million followers and the clips were viewed 100 million times before being turned into a 68-minute movie available for download on Vimeo. – The National
Sally Field to reprise Glass Menagerie role on Broadway
Oscar winning actress Sally Field will reprise her role in an upcoming Broadway revival of The Glass Menagerie. The Tennessee Williams play tells the story of Amanda Wingfield, played by Field, a single mother trying to raise two children in poor financial circumstances – one of whom is an aspiring poet and the other has mental difficulties. Field played the same role in 2004 in another New York production but says that she did not fulfil the depths of her character. "Amanda is such the quintessential character I'd love to know, to be able to really feel like I owned her in some way," she said. "I have always felt like I didn't really get enough of that at all." The play will be directed by Sam Gold and is set to open in February. – AP
