Indian film producers ban Pakistani actors "for ever" over Kashmir crisis

Pakistan rubbishes India"s claim of surgical strikes across LoC

The Indian Motion Picture Producers Association has banned Pakistani actors, singers and technicians from working on Indian films.

The organisations president, TP Aggarwal, said: No Pakistani will be hired by their producer members for ever. However, as a crisis between Indian and Pakistan over attacks in the disputed territory of Kashmir escalates, other reports stated that the ban would last only until normal relations resume between the two countries.

The IMPPAs decision, carried at the organisations annual general meeting on Friday, comes in the wake of the deaths on 18 September of 19 Indian soldiers in the Uri region, part of the disputed territory of Kashmir. India blamed the assault on Pakistan-sponsored militants and this week launched strikes across the 1972 ceasefire line that divides the Himalayan region.

Ashoke Pandit, a producer and IMPPA member, said: IMPPA paid homage to the martyrs who were killed in Uri. It therefore felt its responsibility towards the nation and passed a resolution banning Pakistani actors and technicians in India till normalcy returns. For IMPPA, nation comes first.

Separately, far-right political party Maharashtra Navnirman Sena has led a call for all film industry workers of Pakistani origin to leave India, as well as for their films to be banned. The party, led by Raj Thackeray, issued a 48-hour ultimatum to Pakistani movie workers to leave India by 25 September or risk being pushed out.

Reports allege that Pakistani singer Rahat Fateh Ali Khan has been dropped from forthcoming film Laali Ki Shaadi Mein Laddoo Deewana. A number of films scheduled for release during the Diwali holiday in October may also be affected, including Ae Dil Hai Mushkil, which co-stars Pakistani pin-up Fawad Khan alongside Indian stars Aishwarya Rai and Ranbir Kapoor.

Dear Zindagi, due to hit cinemas in November, may also be affected. The film co-stars Pakistans Ali Zafar and Indias Shah Rukh Khan.

Source: http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&fd=R&ct2=us&usg=AFQjCNGanfScNo2yxLhVTwYNTJ5WhR-yGg&clid=c3a7d30bb8a4878e06b80cf16b898331&cid=52779227613017&ei=Ko_uV4j_NszM3gHdor-YDA&url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2016/sep/30/indian-film-producers-motion-pictures-association-imppa-ban-pakistani-actors-crew-kashmir-crisis-escalates

Continue Reading ..

Marco Rubio "Deeply Concerned" About Possible Donald Trump Cuba Business

Donald Trump"s Campaign Manager Kellyanne Conway Talks Sniffles, Cuba, More | The View

Florida Sen. Marco Rubio said Donald Trump will have to answer some questions about a Newsweek story reporting that a Trump-owned company allegedly violated the United States" trade embargo with Cuba in the late 1990s.

This is something theyre going to have to give a response to. I mean, it was a violation of American law, if thats how it happened, Rubio said on the ESPN/ABC Capital Games podcast.

The report says the Trump-owned company secretly conducted business on the island under Fidel Castros communist regime.

According to Newsweek, Trump Hotels and Casino Resorts paid a consulting firm to help the company in the event the U.S. loosened trade restrictions. The consulting firm and the Trump company later attempted to cover up the transaction by making it look like legal spending for a charity.

Rubio, a former presidential candidate, insisted he would reserve judgment until he had learned all the facts.

I hope the Trump campaign is going to come forward and answer some questions about this, because if what the article says is true and Im not saying that it is, we dont know with a hundred percent certainty Id be deeply concerned about it. I would, he said.

Rubio has long been a strong supporter of the embargo of Cuba. He endorsed Trump in late May, after a competitive primary season that saw Trump win by a landslide in Rubios home state.

Source: http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/marco-rubio-deeply-concerned-donald-trump-cuba-business/story?id%3D42447807

Continue Reading ..

Luke Cage"s Not-so-Secret Weapon? Misty Knight | E! News

Luke Cage | Featurette: Who Is Luke Cage? | Netflix

Your new favorite Marvel TV hero has a badge. Yes, the show is called Luke Cage, but come tomorrow you"re also going to be talking about Misty Knight.

Simone Missick plays the detective in Marvel"s Luke Cage and she"s more than ready for a close-up.

"It"s really exciting" Missick told E! News at the premiere of Luke Cage. "I haven"t seen any episodesbut it feels like I am watching this woman who people have loved for years finally get a voice."

Created by Tony Isabella and Arvell Jones in 1975, Misty Knight has deep ties to several different comic book camps, including Luke Cage, Iron Fist and X-Men. In the comics, the former cop is a skilled martial artist and gets a bionic arm by none other than Iron Man. The arm gives her super strength, but does that famous enhancement make it to the show?

"I can neither confirm nor deny whether or not I already have a bionic arm," Missick said.

At the end of the day, Missick said her favorite part about Misty Knight is simple.

"Her sense of humor. She is snarky and sarcastic and witty and still sexy and I love it," she said.

Jones, Misty Knight"s co-creator, was on-hand for the premiere and said he got into comics because he wanted to be a director and producer, but didn"t see people like him on screen in the 1960s. Now? "It"s good to see all of that," he said. "So I"m excited." Regarding Missick, Jones said he"s excited to see her take on the character, especially because she"s from Detroit as well and she has a "Midwestern attitude" that"s "not necessarily exaggerated."

Marvel"s Luke Cage is being heralded as incredibly timely with its bullet-proof black superhero, but it"s not just your typical superhero show.

"It"s not only that the show is timely socially, culturally, but it"s also just great television. I mean, it"s not just your typical superhero show. It is a great drama, it"s got amazing music, it"s got well-rounded characters where people really thought about the details, culturally and for women," Missick said. "It"s just an amazing show to be part of. I think people are ready for it."

Marvel"s Luke Cage, starring Missick, Mike Colter, Theo Rossi, Alfre Woodard, Mahershala Ali and Rosario Dawson, drops its 13-episode season one on Friday, Sept. 30 on Netflix.

Source: http://www.eonline.com/news/798650/luke-cage-s-not-so-secret-weapon-misty-knight

Continue Reading ..

Syrian army, rebels wage fierce battles north of Aleppo city

Gary Johnson Makes Another "Aleppo" Gaffe | The View

BEIRUT Syrian government forces and rebels waged fierce battles north of Aleppo on Friday, a week into a Russian-backed offensive by the Syrian army to take the entire city.

Syrian government forces made a significant advance on Thursday north of Aleppo, capturing the Handarat refugee camp, a few kilometers (miles) from the city. There were conflicting accounts on the outcome of the fighting.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based monitoring group, said government forces had built on the Handarat advance and captured the adjacent Kindi Hospital area on Friday morning, edging closer to the city.

A television station operated by Lebanon"s Hezbollah, which is fighting in support of the government, also said the Kindi Hospital area had been captured.

But rebel sources denied that the government had captured the Kindi Hospital area, saying fighting was still going on.

A senior rebel official also said that government forces were shelling the rebel-held districts with artillery from a hilltop to the east of the city.

(Reporting by Ellen Francis and Tom Perry; Editing by Tom Perry and Richard Balmforth)

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-syria-aleppo-idUSKCN1200Q9

Continue Reading ..

The rise of Pepe the Frog is another sign of white nationalism building online

"Pepe the Frog" designated hate symbol by ADL

The ubiquitous green internet amphibian known as Pepe the Frog has been added to the Anti-Defamation League"s database of hate symbols. It"s yet another sign that neo-n**i and white nationalist propaganda is proliferating online.

The Anti-Defamation League"s hate symbols database is crowded with acronyms and photos of tattooed hate symbols, but the group has recently decided to look to the internet to more accurately track the spread of hate messages.

"Our hate symbol database has sort of traditionally dealt with hate symbols that people might come in contact with in the street or on the ground," Oren Segal, director of Anti-Defamation League"s Center on Extremism, told Mashable. "We realize this year that more people are likely to come across hate symbols every day on their phones or online than necessarily in their neighborhood."

The addition of Pepe the Frog to the hate database is somewhat new for the Anti-Defamation League, but not without precedent.

Earlier this year, the group added the (((echo))) symbol, which is used by anti-Semites to identify others as Jewish.

The echo"s origins come from a podcast aired in 2014 in which the hosts dub Jewish names with an echo-effect. The translation of this echo to text took off earlier this year, so much that many Twitter users who are not anti-Semites began to use parentheses as a way to counter the anti-Semitic message.

The proliferation of Pepe and the echo symbol in many ways mirrors the recent proliferation of white nationalist and neo-n**i activity on social media.

Pepe the Frog didn"t start out as an anti-Semitic meme, but internet users in certain corners of sites such as 4chan, 8chan and Reddit warped the frog into a symbol that promotes "anti-Jewish, bigoted and offensive ideas," according to the Anti-Defamation League"s news release. Those ideas took off on Twitter as well as other social networks.

The Southern Poverty Law Center describes the growth of the modern American white nationalist movement often referred to as the loosely-defined and Pepe-loving "alt-right" in much the same way.

"The general population of the alt-right is composed, by and large, of anonymous youths who were exposed to the movements ideas through online message boards like 4chan and 8chans /pol/ and Internet platforms like Reddit and Twitter," the The Southern Poverty Law Center says.

In this April 23 photo, members of the Ku Klux Klan participate in a "white pride" rally in Rome, Georgia.

Image: AP Photo/John Bazemore

And, like the emergence of Pepe as racist/anti-Semitic meme, the online emergence of the alt-right is also recent. Since 2012, "major American white nationalist movements on Twitter" have gained 22,000 followers, "an increase of about 600 percent," according to a recent study of white nationalism online.

That boost in numbers comes partially due to "organized social media activism" and "organic growth in the adoption of social media by people interested in white nationalism," according to the study.

In addition to Pepe the Frog, one of the alt-right"s favorite topics of conversation is Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump. In alt-right circles of the internet, talk of Trump has become as ubiquitous as their favorite amphibian.

BONUS VIDEO:

Source: http://mashable.com/2016/09/28/pepe-the-frog-hate-symbol-online/

Continue Reading ..

Emotional crowd says Olango killed for being black, mentally ill

El Cajon Cops KILL UNARMED, MENTALLY DISABLED Black Man Having SEIZURE After His Sister Called 911!!

A large and emotional crowd gathered in front of the El Cajon Police Department Wednesday morning to decry the fatal officer-involved shooting of a black man family members said was mentally unstable.

Under a blazing hot sun that seemed to matchthe temperature of the crowd, speaker after speaker stepped forward saying that the killing of Alfred Olango was a miscarriage of justice that should not have happened.

Mr. Olango was killed for three strikes, said Christopher Rice-Wilson, the Associate Director of the Alliance for San Diego. His first strike was for being black. His second strike was being mentally ill. And his third strike was not following orders, he said. How can you expect a man who cant understand your orders to follow your orders?

Rice-Wilson said the department should have dispatched a team that deals with the mentally ill when it dispatched the call to the officers.

El Cajon shooting

He also questioned the officersresponse once they arrived and confronted Olango. He said one deployed his Taser while the other, instead, fired his weapon. What was the difference? he asked.Why did one officer use lethal force while the other did not?

Mallory Webb, with the NAACP, said she was angry and hurt.

That mans life was priceless, she said. He wasnt doing anything. In an emotional speech that was punctuated at one point with people yelling the names of other black men killed by law enforcement, Webb said

that the shooting could have happened toher little brother or her twin sister.

Im scared to walk the streets every single day, she said. Why do I feel like I have to look behind bushes and hide behind trees because I could get shot and killed anytime? Its not fair at all.

Bishop Cornelius Bowser of the Charity Apostolic Church said Olango was not treated with dignity and respect. He said his sister was calling for help, not to have him killed.

He also questioned the release of the still shot from video released by police that showed Olango with his hands together pointing at the two officers. He called it propaganda on the part of the department that is trying to frame a narrative. Lets see everything, he said referring to the cell phone video taken by a witness.

Dont think for a minute this is over, declared Rev. Shane Harris, the President of the San Diego chapter of the National Action Network. The countrys eyes are on this city.

We are not going to stop until we get justice for Alfred Olango.

Source: http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/whats-now/sd-me-protest-olango-20160928-story.html

Continue Reading ..

Hilary Duff Says She"s More Focused on Being a "Soccer Mom" Than Making Music: "My Life Is So Full"

Hilary Duff - Come Clean (Official Music Video)

There"s a whole lot to love when it comes toHilary Duff.

Perhaps it"s her unforgettable hit singles including "Come Clean" and "So Yesterday." Maybe it"s her hit TV Land series Younger that returns with new episodes this week. Or could it be all the love and admiration she has for her growing son Luca?

"All of a sudden, he is real sassy. He"s very dramatic like his mom and he definitely can put on a show," Hilary gushed to E! News in New York City. "But he"s also very coordinated but I just don"t know if he has the competitive factor for sports, but he"s also four. He"s driven but he"s not competitive."

She continued, "Honestly, I"m so pumped to be soccer mom and making lunches to pack to school and not being on anybody else"s schedule for a minute."

As Luca continues to grow up right in front of mom"s eyes, Hilary also has her ex-husband Mike Comrie along for the ride. While they may no longer be together romantically, both parties have found a way to co-parent without any drama.

"I think we both feel lucky that we"re dealing with each other and we have a great kid so that makes it all the better," Hilary explained while supporting Visine"s new #ScreenOn campaign. "That we both enjoy him to the fullest and it"s great."

As she prepares for a new season of Younger, Hilary remains focused on her acting career. And while she knows that many fans still love and adore her timeless hits, music just isn"t the biggest priority right now.

"I"ve also been very honest about this that I don"t know how much time I have to put into [music]. I don"t have dreams to go on a world tour anymore," she admitted. "Maybe somebody, but right now, my life is so full and busy enough with the show. I love music, it"s in me, it"s a part of me but I look at my kid and go you"re a teenager alreadyIt"s scary to think time is going by so fast and I want to be present for all of that."

And yes, she"s also making some time to date. After photos surfaced of the actress holding hands with her personal trainer Jason Walsh, Hilary almost confirmed they were a thing.

"We"ve known each other for a really long time and he"s a great guy and we have a lot of fun together," she said on Good Day New York earlier today. "It"s nice to have that excitement in my life."

Season three of Youngerpremieres Wednesday at 10 p.m. only on TV Land.

Source: http://www.eonline.com/news/797722/hilary-duff-says-she-s-more-focused-on-being-a-soccer-mom-than-making-music-my-life-is-so-full

Continue Reading ..