The veteran actor and Rajya Sabha member Jaya Bachchan railed against a parliamentarian after he urged the government to take steps to ban daily TV soaps. “TV serials show women to be scheming all the time. It is causing social damage,” said Satish Chandra Mishra, who is a member of the Bahujan Samaj Party. Bachchan responded, saying that TV soaps acted as a mirror to society. “I object to this. What you are saying is not true. These stories are written based on real-life experiences,”Bachchan said. Mishra then went on to attack the actor and producer Aamir Khan, without naming him. “An actor who claims to do a lot of social work met the prime minister recently. But today, his posters are everywhere without clothes. It is an offence, it is wrong. Obscene posters with nudity should not be allowed,” he said, alluding to the controversial poster for the forthcoming movie PK, in which Khan appears nude. – IANS
Justin Bieber agrees to guilty pleas in street-racing case
Justin Bieber will plead guilty to lesser charges stemming from his arrest in South Florida in what police initially described as an illegal street drag race. Two sources close to the case said the 20-year-old pop star would plead guilty to misdemeanour careless driving and resisting arrest without violence charges, rather than the original driving under the influence charge. He also will agree to take an anger-management course and make a US$50,000 (Dh183,000) charitable donation, in addition to paying court-ordered fines. The plea agreement does not call for jail time. The singer was arrested in January at Miami Beach after what police described as an illegal street race involving Bieber's rented Lamborghini and a Ferrari driven by the R&B singer Khalil Amir Sharieff. Bieber was also charged with resisting arrest after a foul-mouthed rant against police officers, as well as driving on an expired licence. – AP
Prakash Raj horrified as people take pictures of accident instead of helping
The actor and filmmaker Prakash Raj had a narrow escape on Tuesday when his car was rammed by a bus while waiting at a traffic signal in Hyderabad. Raj, who features in Akshay Kumar’s newly released comedy Entertainment, said that although he was “shaken” by the accident, he is fine. “Had a miraculous escape as a bus rammed into us from behind at a tragic signal. Cars jammed. Family thrown out of an auto,” Prakash Raj posted on his Twitter page. He said he was more “terrified” to see the reaction of youngsters to the accident. “It was terrifying to see the youngsters. Instead of saving people who were lying thrown around, they were busy taking pictures. Shame. More than the shock of a possible death. I’m shaken by this inhuman attitude of people. What’s happened to us? Where are we heading. “To one n all pouring concern n love to me. Was shaken for some time. I’m fine now. Thank you for your love. Smile be happy let me relax now,” he further posted. – IANS
The Inbetweeners 2 makes UK record
As well as scoring the biggest UK box office opening of 2014 so far, The Inbetweeners 2 made a comedy record with its takings for the first night. So far, the film has earned Dh77 million. The Inbetweeners films are a spin-off from the wildly popular TV series of the same name in which Will, Simon, Jay and Neil battle their way through the final years of high school. The Inbetweeners 2 sees the four friends reunite in Australia. – IANS
The National staff
Details of death of Robin Williams begin to emerge
Robin Williams hanged himself with a belt in a bedroom at his San Francisco Bay Area home, it has been revealed. Marin County assistant deputy chief coroner Lt Keith Boyd said Williams was last seen alive by his wife on Sunday night when she went to bed. She woke up the next morning and left, thinking he was still asleep in another room. Shortly after that, the actor’s personal assistant arrived and became concerned when he failed to respond to knocks at a door. The assistant found the 63-year-old’s clothed body in a bedroom. He had apparently been dead for several hours. A pocket knife was nearby and Williams had superficial cuts on his wrists. Boyd said all evidence indicated Williams killed himself, but he said a final ruling would be made once toxicology reports and interviews with witnesses are complete. He confirmed that Williams had been seeking treatment for depression but would not comment on whether the actor had left a suicide note. – AP
Terry Gilliam gets another chance to tilt at windmills with Don Quixote
The director Terry Gilliam may finally have the chance to make his long-cherished Don Quixote film. The Monty Python star told The Wrap that he finally has finance in place to start work on a new version of a film he has been trying to make for more than 20 years. He came close to bringing an earlier version of it to the screen in 1998 when he began work on The Man Who Killed Don Quixote, starring Johnny Depp, but the film collapsed after the actor Jean Rochefort, who was playing the title role, fell ill. The incredible story of the ill-fated production was the subject of an acclaimed documentary in 2002, Lost in La Mancha. "I've done it so many times – or not done it so many times – I'll believe it when I see it," said Gilliam. "However, I'm behaving as if it's all going to happen [after Christmas] as planned. I keep incorporating my own life into it and shifting it." – The National staff
