Latest news with #13
Perth Now
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Perth Now
Zak Starkey reveals major Black Sabbath 'regret' after Ozzy Osbourne's death
Zak Starkey once turned down the chance to join Black Sabbath. The 59-year-old drummer - whose father is The Beatles legend Sir Ringo Starr - has revealed a message from late rock icon Ozzy Osbourne's wife and manager Sharon offering him a spot in the group for a festival run and some time in the studio. In the email shared on Instagram, Sharon wrote: "Zak, "Black Sabbath is headlining Download on June 10 and then Lollapalooza in August. "The guys need a drummer for their album, which will be recorded in September with Rick Rubin producing. We would probably need you for 2-3 weeks for the album. "Also, they need a drummer to play at Lollapalooza which is on August 3 in Chicago. "Also, Ozzy wants to have sex with you while he is singing Iron Man. "Big Kiss, Sharon." Zak has shared the note after Ozzy's tragic death on Tuesday (22.07.25) aged 76, and he described his decision to turn down the offer as a "regret". He captioned the post: "Regrets I've had a few -this is one - (not the sex part!) "Ozzy will always be one of the greatest, natural , brilliant singers of all time. I send much love and strength to his family at this sad sad time. "If u aren't familiar with the never say die record - get into it - it's so far out - X (sic)" At the time, Zak was with The Who as their drummer, although he was out of action from touring with the group due to a "tendon problem". He didn't confirm whether or not that was the reason for declining the offer. Instead, former Rob Zombie percussionist Tommy Clufetos - who previously worked on Ozzy's solo project - stepped in for the live performances. Rage Against The Machine drummer Brad Wilk joined Sabbath in the studio for their final album 13, which was released in June 2013.
Mint
a day ago
- Mint
OnePlus Nord 5: A solid mid-range phone held back by two missteps
I'd like to rephrase the famous phrase 'two steps forward, one step back" to 'many steps forward, two crucial steps back." That sums up OnePlus' latest mid-range beast, the Nord 5 ( ₹29,999). OnePlus has had a remarkable few years, launching powerful flagships like the OnePlus 12 and 13 series. Meanwhile, the Nord lineup has built a reputation for delivering solid value—often challenging even OnePlus' own cut-down flagships like the 13R. The Nord 2, 3 and 4 were all standout mid-range phones. With the Nord 4, OnePlus introduced a bold new all-metal design. With the Nord 5, however, they've reversed course—ditching the unique design and ceding some ground on specs to rivals like the Poco F7. These are the two crucial steps back that slightly mar an otherwise excellent device. Design: Safe, but still premium While the Nord 5 loses the all-metal construction of the Nord 4, its new glass-back design doesn't feel any less premium. It comes with a matte finish and in-glass pattern in the Marble Sands colourway. If you prefer a cleaner look, there are also Dry Ice (Blue) and Phantom Grey (Black) options. It's comfortable in the hand, but its 8.1mm thickness and 211g weight are noticeable—thanks to a massive 6,800mAh battery inside. Still, it fits well and feels like a performance-focused device. If you're coming from the OnePlus 13s, the size increase is apparent. But once again, OnePlus has ensured that 'battery anxiety" is a thing of the past. Unless you're heavily gaming, the Nord 5 easily lasts through the next day. A display made for bingeing The 6.83-inch flat 1.5K Swift AMOLED display (144Hz refresh rate, 1800 nits peak brightness) with slim bezels and Gorilla Glass 7i is perfect for content consumption. I watched Wimbledon, Tour de France, and several cricket matches, and the screen consistently delivered excellent colour reproduction and sharpness. Gaming benefits from the added real estate and 120fps support in titles like BGMI and Call of Duty: Mobile. The stereo speakers (with a down-firing main driver) get decently loud with minimal distortion—great for casual YouTube viewing, though not immersive enough for movie nights. New to the Nord 5 is the Plus Key—OnePlus' answer to Apple's Action Button—which adds a layer of customisation. However, I do miss the classic alert slider. OnePlus also adds its AI Mind Space (note-taking, screenshot search, and more), which feels more like a filler feature than a must-have. Biometrics—under-display fingerprint and face unlock—work quickly and reliably. Camera performance The Nord 5 sports a dual-camera setup: a 50MP Sony LYT-700 primary sensor and a basic 8MP ultra-wide, alongside a 50MP Samsung JN5 selfie shooter. The primary sensor (same as on the OnePlus 13R) is excellent in daylight, offering vivid, detailed images with accurate skin tones. It competes well with devices like the Nothing Phone 3(a) Pro and the Motorola Edge 60 Pro. Unfortunately, the ultra-wide camera is a letdown. It lacks detail, especially in dynamic range, and doesn't complement the primary sensor well. Surprisingly, the 50MP selfie shooter is the real standout. With mechanical autofocus and a physically larger sensor than most in this price range, it shines even in low-light conditions. Nord 5 vs Nord CE 5 The Nord CE 5, in contrast, feels like a compromise. I've never understood OnePlus' CE lineup—it cuts too many corners for the savings it offers. Let's look at a few comparisons: u Display: The Nord 5 offers a 6.83-inch AMOLED (144Hz) vs. the Nord CE 5's 6.77-inch AMOLED (120Hz). u Chipset: The Nord 5 has the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, a flagship-grade chip. The CE 5 settles for the MediaTek Dimensity 8350 Apex—capable, but clearly inferior. u Storage: Nord 5 goes up to 512GB UFS 3.1; CE 5 caps at 256GB. u Camera: Nord 5's main and selfie cameras outperform the CE 5's 50MP LYT-600 and 16MP selfie shooter, which produced flat, unimpressive photos. u Battery: The CE 5 does pull ahead slightly with a 7,100mAh cell versus Nord 5's 6,800mAh—but both perform admirably in real-world use. Verdict The Nord 5 may have lost its iconic all-metal identity and trails behind some rivals on raw specs, but it still leads the pack in software experience, battery life, camera performance (barring ultra-wide), and display quality. Yes, the Poco F7 is catching up—especially for gaming—but the Nord 5 is still one of the easiest smartphones to recommend in the ₹30K price range. Just make sure to get the 12GB/512GB variant. Avoid the CE 5 unless your budget is truly inflexible and you're committed to staying within the OnePlus ecosystem.
Hans India
a day ago
- Business
- Hans India
Silver soars to record high, crosses Rs 1.14 lakh per kg mark
New Delhi: Silver prices continued their upward march, scaling a new all-time high and crossing the Rs1.14 lakh per kg mark. This significant rally comes amid strong global cues and steady demand in the domestic market. The price of silver increased by Rs1,028 to Rs1,14,493 per kilogram on Tuesday, up from Rs1,13,465 the day before, according to the India Bullion and Jewellers Association (IBJA). With this, silver has broken its previous record high of Rs1,13,867 per kg, set on July 14. The futures market is also reflecting the steep increase in silver prices. The silver contract for September 5, delivery on the Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX), increased by 0.39 per cent to Rs1,15,500 per kg, demonstrating traders' and investors' ongoing optimism. 'Looking ahead, US Manufacturing and Services PMI data will be closely tracked for direction. In the near term, gold is expected to remain range-bound with MCX support at Rs98,500 and resistance near Rs1,00,500,' said Jateen Trivedi of LKP Securities. Gold price also saw a significant increase. According to IBJA, the price of 24-carat gold rose by Rs612 to Rs99,508 per 10 grams on Tuesday from Rs98,896 the day before. Similarly, the price of 18-carat gold reached Rs74,631 per 10 grams, while that of 22-carat gold increased to Rs91,149 per 10 grams. Global trends are also contributing to the surge. On the Comex exchange, silver prices rose by 0.27 per cent to $39.44 per ounce, while gold saw a 0.26 per cent increase, trading at $3,415.20 per ounce. Analysts attribute the rising prices to persistent global economic uncertainties, increased industrial demand for silver, and renewed investor interest in precious metals as safe-haven assets.
Time of India
2 days ago
- General
- Time of India
Towering temple of Gun Hill pays homage to gods of war
1 2 Chandigarh: A rugged temple cast in the style of a typical hill shrine and fashioned from Kargil's huge rock slabs stands sentinel atop Gun Hill (ex-Point 5140, 16,864 feet) on the Drass LoC. This is the daunting feature with a vertical cliff drop to the north and east which was assaulted by Bravo and Delta Companies of 13 JAK Rifles (Bravest of the Brave) during the night of June 19-20, 1999, thereby transforming then Lt. Vikram Batra's victory call sign over the radio set into an energising national slogan, 'Yeh Dil Maange More'. Twenty-six years later, Col Rajesh Adhau, Sena Medal, stood outside the temple, paying homage to Batra and satisfying his curiosity to view the daunting summit where Batra was commended for the first of his two-part citation for the posthumous award of the Param Vir Chakra. A panting and heaving Adhau uttered only one sentence as he cautiously peered upon Gun Hill's sheer drop: "Can you see this, Vikram (residing in the heavens above). ...this is what you off to Vikram, hats off to Sanju (Col. Sanjeev S. Jamwal, Vir Chakra) and my 13 JAK Rifles." At the time of the war, there was no temple. Gun Hill was an unoccupied feature, which was surreptitiously invaded by the 6 NLI (SIKKIS) and converted into bunkered Infantry defences and an Artillery Observation Post, code 'Iftikar'. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like You Won't Believe the Price of These Dubai Apartments Binghatti Developers FZE Get Offer Undo After the war when Indian troops commenced their LoC link patrols, the temple was constructed. Depending upon the faith of a regiment's troops, a small shrine is installed wherever they are posted, even at super-high altitudes such as those of the Kargil LOC, LAC and Siachen's Saltoro ridge. It is the prayers to his God or Goddess that lends the belief to the soldier that there is no enemy bullet or splinter in the coming hail of fire that will have his name written on it. As battalions change at those heights, the shrine is re-styled in accordance with the faiths, beliefs and cultural persuasions of freshly-inducted troops. Soldiers require a quiet place to pray and contemplate before they charge into a firestorm. They also pray for the peace of the souls of those comrades who might not return from battle. Whenever the Commanding Officer tours the alpine deployments, he first prays at the post's shrine and expresses gratitude to the Gods / Goddesses for protecting his soldiers and upholding the honour of the nation, regiment and battalion. Adhau was the RMO for the 13 JAK Rifles during the Kargil War . He was one of the very few doctors awarded a gallantry medal --- and not a service medal --- for his courage and battlefield initiative. He insisted on being just 50 m behind the assaulting troops and well within range of the enemy's small-arms fire. Batra, promoted after the fall of Gun Hill to a Captain, had literally died in Adhau's arms when he assaulted the Point 4875 Complex, Mashkoh, on July 7, 1999. Adhau, who is currently serving with a UN peace-keeping mission in Congo, flew down specially and virtually on a day's notice to make the pilgrimage to Gun Hill. Unlike the arduous climb from Drass to Gun Hill during the war, the Army has since constructed roads that facilitate speedy troop movements and logistics up the inclines to the LoC, slashing the human and animal load carrier effort. The road benefitted Adhau (who is now 53 and did not do the standard acclimatisation) with a vehicle drive till Rocky Knob and then the remaining part on foot to Gun Hill. "When I reached the top, I was left in disbelief. How did our soldiers climb such an altitude against an enemy perched on top, and who could kill them by just rolling down boulders? I saw the cliff face, which was so sharp that we were barred from going near it. This was the cliff upon which Pakistani soldiers had fixed ropes and retreated when they came under the assault of our Infantry and Artillery barrage that night. I reckon that our soldiers did not realise how daunting the terrain was because they climbed when the hour was the darkest, and only realised how precipitous their foothold was when dawn broke," Adhau told the TOI from Pune, after his extensive tour of the Drass and Batalik war sectors. The hardy doctor's annual pilgrimages to the wounded sites of the Kargil War never fails to trigger an outpouring of emotions and tears. "I feel that time has stood still over these 26 years and that I have no memories but I am re-living those moments again. I cannot control my tears, try as I might. I realise that the day my tears stop, I will be dead as a human being," added Adhau. Adhau's proximity to the fighting jawans along with his trusted nursing assistant, Sub. Shiv Raj Chouhan, during the war had ensured that he was five minutes away from a wounded soldier. Adhau would administer the vital first aid, stabilise the patient and administer morale-boosting pep talk so that the casualty would survive the arduous evacuation downhill by stretcher parties to an advanced medical facility. As many as 97 wounded officers and soldiers benefitted from Adhau and Chauhan's vigil over the proverbial "golden hour" of traumatic medical emergencies.
The National
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- The National
Ozzy Osbourne: When the Prince of Darkness lit up Abu Dhabi
It was on a sweltering May evening in 2014 when heavy metal's Prince of Darkness lit up Abu Dhabi. Ozzy Osbourne' s sole performance in the Middle East came when Black Sabbath took the stage at Etihad Park (then du Arena) as part of a world tour promoting the album 13. Everything about that period suggested a band rejuvenated. The album – their first with Osbourne in 35 years since 1978's Never Say Die! – was praised for pairing the group's monstrous riffs with sharper songwriting. And on stage, despite the well-documented tensions behind the scenes, the band delivered a spirited and muscular performance. Osbourne, who died on Tuesday at the age of 76, will be remembered by many for his final live appearance – an emotional hometown show in Birmingham earlier this month where he sang from a wheelchair. In Abu Dhabi, however, we remember him stalking the stage, clad in signature black, his circular shades masking what must have been a glint in his eye. The performance was greeted with a mix of awe and curiosity. While Black Sabbath's music had long permeated the region through record stores, radio stations and guitar tabs passed around in bedrooms, this was the first time many fans had experienced the sound live – direct, unrelenting and anchored by Osbourne's presence. As The National noted in its review, the evening was 'part event, part musical education'. From the band's maiden regional visit, fans got what they wanted. The 16-song setlist featured many vintage hits, from the stomping War Pigs with its anti-war message underscored by projected footage of military conflicts, followed by Into the Void and Iron Man, with Tony Iommi's sludgy and walloping riffs. 'Go … crazy!' Osbourne shouted before Paranoid, and the crowd obeyed. As our review noted, their time away from stage didn't diminish the band's ferocious sound: 'Osbourne sounded stronger than ever on the classics. The most pertinent case in point arrived after he announced that Sabbath were about to 'take you back', right to the very beginning, to the title track of the debut album Black Sabbath, heralded by a cascade of haunting church bells and a riff heavier than an overladen 16-wheeler lorry.' In a pre-show interview with The National, Osbourne described the tour as a kind of renewal. 'We have sold out every gig and had a No 1 album in 15 countries. It just feels like a regeneration for us,' he said, adding the Abu Dhabi show was part of a wider effort to reach new audiences. 'There is a whole market out there that we didn't know about,' he said. 'I have still never seen any of the Arab countries … and I understand that in India we have a lot of Black Sabbath fans. That's amazing!' The concert also reflected a quieter shift in the band's internal dynamics. 'We also don't do drugs and we don't do alcohol,' Osbourne said. 'The music is what we are about now. We have matured and we have families and responsibilities, and I am just having a great time playing with the boys all over again.' That maturity translated to a performance that was less about chaos and more about connection. The crowd was a mix of long-time fans, younger listeners and the kind of families Osbourne described as 'grandfathers coming in with their children and they are bringing their kids as well'. With Osbourne's death this week, the Abu Dhabi show feels more pointed than ever. While it never felt like a farewell, we knew how privileged it was to witness this most unexpected of reunions. Black Sabbath never returned to the region on future tours, but their sole gig is fondly remembered for all the right reasons: it was loud, unrelenting and oddly tender – exactly as it should have been.
