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Arundhati Roy awarded 2004 Sydney Peace Prize (Go To Top)

          Sydney: Famous Indian author Arundhati Roy has been honored with the 2004 Sydney Peace Prize. Alan Cameron, the chairman of the Sydney Peace Foundation, announced the winner last night. The author of 'God of Small Things', who won the 1997 Booker Prize for her work, has been an active political and human rights activist. "Arundhati Roy has been recognized for her courage in campaigns for human rights and for her advocacy of non-violence, as expressed in her demands for justice for the poor, for the victims of communal violence, for the millions displaced by the Narmada dam projects and for her opposition to nuclear weapons," the Sydney Morning Herald quoted the jury's citation , as saying. "Today, in a world convulsed by violence and unbelievable brutality the lines between 'us' and 'the terrorists' have been completely blurred. We don't have to choose between imperialism and terrorism; we have to choose what form of resistance will rid us of both," Roy was quoted as saying.

           "What shall we choose? Violence or non-violence? We have to choose knowing that when we are violent to our enemies, we do violence to ourselves. When we brutalize others, we brutalize ourselves. And eventually we run the risk of becoming our oppressors," she added. Roy follows the 2003 winner, the Palestinian academic and human rights campaigner Hanan Ashrawi whose selection drew controversy and hostility from sections of the Jewish community. "Arundhati Roy is a distinguished world citizen. She is an outstanding communicator who writes with great clarity and grace.At a time of terrible disregard for human life, we need to hear from citizens like Arundhati Roy," The director of the Sydney Peace Foundation, Professor Stuart Rees, said. Arundhati Roy will deliver the City of Sydney Peace Prize Lecture on November 3.

Cameron Diaz's lingerie gets extra security (Go To Top)

          New York: It seems more than Cameron Diaz, it's her lingerie that attracts attention. According to the London Evening Standard, on the sets of 'In Her Shoes', the actress recently spotted one of the crew members emerging out of her dressing room with a pair of her skivvies, reports the New York Post. The culprit, according to page six, has been fired and a guard has reportedly been assigned the task of guarding Cameron's lingerie. However, Diaz's representative has denied the reports of security for her underwears.

Paul Burrell to pay tribute to Diana at London's West End (Go To Top)

          London: Paul Burrell is ready to dish out something new. But this time it is not a predictable gastronomic delight from Diana's former butler. He is instead all set for a one-man stage tribute to Princess Diana in London's West End. According to the Mirror, the event, called 'Paul Burrell: In His Own Words', is sponsored by Penguin the publisher of his book, A Royal Duty. The London show will be held at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, on June 20.Burrell, 46, would then fly to New York to perform the show for three nights on Broadway. "I have been quoted the world over, and my intentions have been misrepresented by many. I'm looking forward to sharing my experiences so the public can hear my own words and then make up its own mind. The stage show is for all those people out there who still adore the princess and remember her as vividly as I do," Burell was quoted as saying. The show begins with Burrell's memoirs and anecdotes from inside Buckingham Palace, Highgrove and Kensington Palace. He will even share handy royal household tips about dining, etiquette and upper crust manners. "The book has been a huge hit with the public, and the stage show now gives people a rare opportunity to ask questions of the one man who knows Princess Diana's private world better than anyone," a spokeswoman was quoted as saying.

Oasis pips Beatles for the Best Brit Album Ever title (Go To Top)

          London: The Beatles might be the musical pride of Britain, but, it seems that the Mancunian band, Oasis has beaten its idols to emerge as the favourite of the Brits. According to Ananova, Oasis' 10-year-old creation, Definitely Maybe, has topped a staff poll of 50 best albums conducted by music magazine Q. The album became the fastest-selling album of all time giving The Gallagher brothers their share of success. The poll comes after the band signed Zak Starkey, the son of former Beatle Ringo Starr as their drummer. The Fab Four's Revolver, released in 1966, almost 30 years before the Oasis debut came a close second. The Sex Pistols' Never Mind The B******s Here's the Sex Pistols was third on the list, followed by Radiohead's OK Computer. The seventh slot was occupied by Rolling Stones' Beggars Banquet, with The Smiths' The Queen at eighth, Led Zeppelin's Led Zeppelin III at ninth, and Massive Attack's Blue Lines tenth.

Posh gives the snub to the footballers' wives club (Go To Top)

          London: It seems Victoria Beckham has no plans to get pally with the female partners of England footballers' at their training camp in Sardinia. According to the Daily Mail she rather prefers to stay in her hotel room with her two sons. This is reason enough for the soccer players wives to feel aggrieved since they had wanted to be friendly to her, given her recent alleged marital problems. "Victoria's behaviour is causing problems. All of the wives and girlfriends are nagging their men to ask David why she is being so unfriendly," a source was quoted as saying. "It is the first time she has really spent any time with them, as she often doesn't accompany David to the tournaments for long periods. They have invited her on several of their shopping trips and tried to involve her in all their activities, but she has rejected them all - saying she is busy," the source added.

Shrek 2 might outdo 'The Day after Tomorrow' (Go To Top)

          Washington: The ogre seems to be giving tough competition to Roland Emmerich's The Day After Tomorrow so much so that box office analysts have forecasted that DreamWorks' Shrek 2, will repeat its success yet again in its the second week. According to Imdb, even 20th Century Fox, the distributor of The Day After Tomorrow is sceptic about the movie's win. Analysts speculate that Shrek 2 would wind up with about 80 million dollars and Tomorrow with about 50 million but those figures could very well become reversed. Tomorrow has performed well beyond expectations in overseas markets, outperforming the openings of Troy and Van Helsing in France, Belgium and Australia.

Sony TV's India Creative Director calls it quits (Go To Top)

         Washington: Saurabh M. Vanzara, the creative director of Sony Entertainment Television India (SET), has resigned after a stint of nearly eight years citing that the job left him feeling frustated. "Since the past one and half years, one feels that there hasn't been much freedom to do anything." the website IndianTelevision.com quoted him as saying. Vanzara, who was responsible for launching numerous popular programs on SET, indicated that his sense of frustration reached a peak during the past four or five months. "The channel has undergone quite a few changes. And different looks means different outlook, so I thought I needed to change," he said.

Johansson's lingering lip lock with blonde bombshell (Go To Top)

          London: It seems Scarlett Johansson has a penchant for cheap sensationalism. The 19-year old Lost in Translation actress left onlookers at New York's ultra-hip bar Hiro venue stunned by sharing a snog with blonde beauty Tara Subkoff. "Tara took Scarlett to a dark corner of the bar, where she proceeded to administer a very long and lingering kiss. People who saw it were shocked. Then she did it again. Maybe she just thinks Scarlett's hot," the Sun quoted onlookers as saying.

It's love's labour lost for Charles and Camilla (Go To Top)

          Sydney: She might have been the reason behind the rift between Charles and Diana, but it seems Camilla Parker Bowles will not be the Queen of England. According to News.com, Mark Bolland, Prince Charles most trusted confidant at St James's Palace in a rare interview in The Times has expressed fears that the controversy over the trial of Paul Burrell, Diana's butler, has ruined Prince Charles's marital prospects. Asked if the prince would ever marry Parker Bowles, Bolland said, "I think there was a window within the year or so after the Queen Mother died ... when all the indications of opinion were in the right place. I don't think it is like that now. He is more cloaked in controversy." "One of the things he was always worried about was being pushed into it. Every now and then, newspapers would run a poll about whether they should get married, and a couple of editors said we should start a campaign," he added. "He would always say, 'Just please do everything you can to stop them doing that. I don't want to be pushed into a corner. I will know if the time is right'," he further said. Bolland said the public defamation of Parker Bowles had hurt her. "Camilla's a lovely woman - kind and patient. She has no desire to be famous or popular. What she does not want is to be hated. The period when she was demonised and traduced by newspapers was very upsetting for her, and it upset him enormously, too, because he felt responsible for it. I don't think she will be anxious about being more in the background," he said.

McQueen's `great escape' voted greatest action scene of all time (Go To Top)

          London: Action film buffs are not impressed by techno savvy film's like Matrix and X-men, instead they prefer classic action films like "The Great Escape," it was revealed in a survey by Choices Video of the greatest action scenes of all time. According to the Sun, Steve McQueen's motorcycle jump over a barbed wire fence in "The Great Escape" was voted the best action scene ever, while Bond films also scored with those surveyed.

          The top ten action scenes were: 1. Steve McQueen's motorbike stunt in The Great Escape 2. The corkscrew jump in the Bond flick Man With The Golden Gun 3. Pierce Brosnan's 750 ft bungee jump from a dam in The Golden Eye 4. Paul Newman and Robert Redford jump off a cliff edge in Butch Cassidy And The Sundance Kid 5. Jackie Chan's leap from a casino in Rush Hour 2 6. Roger Moore's skiing off a ledge and then opening the parachute in The Spy Who Loved Me 7. Indian leaping on to speeding horses only to fall beneath the hooves in Stagecoach 8. Building falls around Buster Keaton in Steamboat Bill 9. Burt Reynold's 232ft jump without a parachute in Hooper 10. Roger Moore runs across crocodile backs in Live and Let Die

Britney too does a 'Nipplegate' (Go To Top)

          London: Britney Spears almost did a repeat of Janet Jackson's daring boob-exposing act. According to the Sun, in a recent performance, fans of the singer watched in awe as Britney's neckline plunged to reveal all. But one person who was not at all affected by this show off was the singer herself who carried on with her performance absolutely unaware and without a blush. "It was difficult to figure out if Britney knew how much of her chest was on display. She just continued like nothing was wrong. Maybe she didn't notice, even if everyone else did," an onlooker was quoted as saying.

Sharon Stone vows never to marry again (Go To Top)

          London: Sharon Stone seems to have learned her lessons the hard way. The actress has vowed not to marry again after her second marriage failed, reports the Sun. "You either commit or you don't, and no piece of paper will make it otherwise," she was quoted as saying. However, the actress admitted that she would continue to date. "It would be intimidating for guys to go out with the woman on the screen but not me," she added.