Latest News from Sport360
News18
26 minutes ago
- Entertainment
- News18
Anurag Basu Remembers Irrfan, KK At Metro In Dino Song Launch: 'There Are So Many...'
Last Updated: Konkona Sen Sharma, Anurag Basu recall late Irrfan Khan during Dino shoot, as first song Zamaana Lage launches in Mumbai. At the Mumbai launch event for Metro…In Dino's first track, Zamaana Lage, the film's team was in high spirits—but they couldn't help remembering an integral part of the Metro franchise. The absence of late actor Irrfan Khan was deeply felt by everyone involved, especially Konkona Sen Sharma and director Anurag Basu. For those who recall, Konkona and Irrfan's pairing in the 2007 film Life In A Metro was widely loved. The new film is considered a spiritual sequel, making his absence all the more emotional. Reflecting on the shoot, Konkona shared, 'There were so many moments when I missed him during the shoot of the film. Zamaane lagenge unko bhulaane mein… It happened many times, but I don't want to say what and when, because when you watch the film, I think you'll know when. Today, we'll celebrate." Anurag Basu also opened up about the moment on set that brought back intense memories and made Konkona emotional. 'There were many moments during the shoot when we missed him. There was a scene we were shooting with Konkona, and right in the middle of the scene, she exchanged a look with me and she started crying…Let's not go there," he shared. The filmmaker went on to say the team missed more than just Irrfan. 'We miss Irrfan. We also miss KK very much. There were a lot of people whom we missed while shooting; the cameraman, my art director Rajat Poddar… There are so many who are not there in this room, sitting with us." About Life in a… Metro Life in a… Metro (2007), directed by Anurag Basu, told several stories about love and life in Mumbai. One of the most-loved tracks of the film was the sweet romance between Irrfan Khan and Konkona Sen Sharma. Irrfan played Monty, a kind and funny man, while Konkona played Shruti, a quiet and thoughtful woman, looking for love. Irrfan, KK death Both Irrfan Khan and singer KK (Krishnakumar Kunnath) passed away in 2020, leaving a deep impact on Indian cinema and music. Irrfan died on April 29 after battling a rare cancer. Just over a month later, on May 31, KK, who sang memorable songs in the film, passed away after a concert in Kolkata, shocking fans who grew up listening to his soulful voice. First Published: May 28, 2025, 22:00 IST
News18
26 minutes ago
- Entertainment
- News18
Italian Man After Eating Maggi For The First Time: ‘There Is No Taste'
Last Updated: After taking the first bite, the Italian man tried to decode the mysterious mix of flavours he had just tasted. Maggi isn't just a quick snack. For many Indians, it's an emotion and the ultimate comfort food. In fact, it's hard to find someone who doesn't love it. But a now-viral video has sparked curiosity online, showing an Italian man being served a plate of homemade Maggi. What caught everyone's attention wasn't the dish itself, but his reaction. Instead of the usual smile or words of approval, the man went silent after his first bite, clearly trying to process what he had just eaten. The video was shared on Instagram by a couple, Surbhi and Dario. In the clip, Surbhi serves a plate of homemade Maggi to Dario and records his first reaction as she asks him to take a bite. The overlay text on the video reads, 'POV – You served Maggi to an Italian man." As soon as he takes the bite, he makes a straight-faced expression. He then asks, 'What is this?" Surbhi replies, 'It's like spaghetti." But Dario isn't convinced. He says, 'I don't know how to describe what I have in my mouth. It's like something smashable and without consistency. Some spicy flavour. It's not textured, it's just melting in my mouth. Pasta doesn't melt. Pasta, you bite, you chew, you feel it, you taste. Here you don't taste." The video ends with the line: 'Rated: -1/10 for emotional damage." The caption shared along with the video reads, 'Not every cultural exchange is a success story, I guess. I made Mr. P try Maggi for the first time, fully expecting him to fall in love with it (because hello, childhood comfort food!!) But nope…it did not pass the Italian taste control check." Since being shared online, the video has garnered over six million views. In the comments section, desis came to defend Maggi and called it a comfort food. One user commented, 'Ha ha ha. No one outside India can understand this emotion called Maggie," while another added, 'Maggie is an emotion." An individual jokingly wrote, 'Don't try this in India publicly." Someone else remarked, 'He just offended every single Indian." 'No, you made a terrible mistake, you're not supposed to offer Maggie to an Italian. They are very specific about cooking, especially Italian foods. Don't even compare Italian food with other food items," a viewer pointed out. A person asked, 'Why on earth is he comparing instant noodles with pasta or spaghetti???" Paneer and Parmigiano is the name of Surbhi and Dario's Instagram page, where they share their cross-cultural adventures. The couple, based in the UK, has gathered over fifty thousand followers so far. First Published:
News24
33 minutes ago
- General
- News24
Kenyan author Ngugi wa Thiong'o has died
Kenyan author Ngugi wa Thiong'o, who championed African languages in literature, has died at 87. He famously vowed never to write in English again after his imprisonment in the 1970s. His bold shift to Kikuyu and Swahili reshaped African literature and challenged post-colonial norms. During his imprisonment, Kenyan author Ngugi wa Thiong'o decided he would never write in English again, a defiant move that helped put literature in African languages firmly on the map. Ngugi died at the age of 87 on Wednesday, his daughter announced on Facebook. 'It is with a heavy heart that we announce the passing of our dad, Ngugi wa Thiong'o this Wednesday morning,' wrote Wanjiku Wa Ngugi. 'He lived a full life, fought a good fight.' Widely regarded as east Africa's most influential writer, Ngugi sought to forge a body of literature reflecting the land and people from which he came, and not follow in the footsteps of Western tradition. 'I believe so much in equality of languages. I am completely horrified by the hierarchy of languages,' he told AFP in an interview in 2022 from California, where he lived in self-imposed exile. His decision in the 1970s to abandon English in favour of his native Kikuyu, as well as Kenya's national language Swahili, was met with widespread incomprehension at first. 'We all thought he was mad... and brave at the same time,' said Kenyan writer David Maillu. 'We asked ourselves who would buy the books.' Yet the bold choice built his reputation and turned him into an African literary landmark. The softly-spoken writer also lived a life as dramatic as his novels. His criticism of post-colonial Kenya - describing the violence of the political class and the newly rich as 'the death of hopes, the death of dreams and the death of beauty' - brought him into frequent conflict with the authorities. 'Decolonising the mind' Born James Ngugi into a large peasant family in Kenya's central Limuru region on 5 January 1938, he spent the first 25 years of his life in what was then a British settler colony. His early works were heavily influenced by his country's battle against colonial rule and the brutal Mau Mau war of 1952-1960. In his first collection of essays, 'Homecoming', he described himself as a 'stranger in his home country'. But his anger would later extend to the inequalities of post-colonial Kenyan society, incurring the wrath of the government. In 1977, Ngugi and fellow writer Ngugi wa Mirii were jailed without charge after the staging of their play 'Ngaahika Ndeenda' ('I Will Marry When I Want'). It was then that he decided to write his first novel in Kikuyu, 'Devil on the Cross', which was published in 1980. He had already abandoned his 'English' name to become Ngugi wa Thiong'o. 'I wrote it on the only paper available to me, which was toilet paper,' he told US radio broadcaster NPR. Amnesty International named him a prisoner of conscience, before a global campaign secured his release from Kamiti Maximum Security Prison in December 1978. As early as 1965, Ngugi's novel 'The River Between' embarked on a critical examination of the role of Christianity in an African setting. 'If the white man's religion made you abandon a custom and then did not give you something else of equal value, you became lost,' he wrote. He went into self-imposed exile in 1982 after a ban on theatre groups in Kenya, moving first to Britain then to the United States. In 1986, he published one of his best-known works, 'Decolonising the Mind', a collection of essays about the role of language in forging national culture, history and identity. 'A Kenyan Tolstoy' When Ngugi returned home on a visit in 2004, he was mobbed by supporters at Nairobi's airport. 'I have come back with an open mind, an open heart and open arms,' he declared. Days later, he and his wife were attacked by armed men: she was raped, and he was beaten up. It was not clear whether robbery was the sole motive or whether the assault was politically motivated. Margaretta wa Gacheru, a sociologist and former student of Ngugi, described him as a national icon. 'To me, he's like a Kenyan Tolstoy, in the sense of being a storyteller, in the sense of his love of the language and panoramic view of society, his description of the landscape of social relations, of class and class struggles,' she said. In addition to fiction, the father-of-three, who became a professor of comparative literature at the University of California Irvine, also published essays and three memoirs. His most recent book was the genre-defying novel-in-verse 'The Perfect Nine', which he translated into English in 2020. It recounted the founding of the Kikuyu people, blending folklore and allegory. From widening economic inequality to the lingering trauma of racism, the issues raised in the play still persist in Kenya and beyond, a fact not lost on its creator. 'I am an activist, I want to see change,' Ngugi told AFP. 'I hope we can continue striving for that world. We cannot give up.'
France 24
an hour ago
- Politics
- France 24
French court jails ex-Syria rebel for 10 years for war crimes
Majdi Nema, a former spokesman of the rebel group Jaish al-Islam, was found guilty by a Paris court of complicity in war crimes, specifically of conscription of minors aged 15 to 18, and helping to prepare war crimes. "We are relieved," Marc Bailly, a rights lawyer for Syrian civil groups. "Today justice was served first and foremost for Syrians," he said. Romain Ruiz, one of the defence lawyers, called the verdict "relatively incomprehensible", adding that defence was mulling whether to appeal. French authorities arrested Nema in the southern city of Marseille in 2020, after he travelled to the country on a student exchange programme. He was charged under the principle of universal jurisdiction, which allows states to prosecute suspects accused of serious crimes regardless of where they were committed. This was the first time that crimes committed during Syria's civil war were tried in France under universal jurisdiction. Nema -- better known by his nom-de-guerre of Islam Alloush -- told the Paris court there was no evidence to back charges against him. He has said he only had a "limited role" in the armed group that held sway in the rebel-held suburbs of Damascus between 2013 and 2016. Jaish al-Islam was one of the main opposition groups fighting Bashar al-Assad's government before Islamist-led fighters toppled him in December. It has also been accused of terrorising civilians in areas it controlled. Nema, who had faced a maximum of 20 years in prison, had in particular been accused of helping recruit children and teenagers to fight for the group. Universal jurisdiction His arrest came after rights groups, including the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), filed a criminal complaint in France in 2019 against members of Jaish al-Islam for their alleged crimes. It was the FIDH that discovered Nema was in France during research into Jaish al-Islam's hierarchy and informed the French authorities. Born in 1988, Nema was a captain in the Syrian armed forces before defecting in 2012 and joining the group that would in 2013 become known as Jaish al-Islam. He told investigators that he left Eastern Ghouta in May 2013 and crossed the border to Turkey, where he worked as the group's spokesman, before leaving the group in 2016. Nema travelled to France in November 2019 under a university exchange programme and was arrested in January 2020. France has since 2010 been able to try cases under the principle of universal jurisdiction, which argues some crimes are so serious that all states have the obligation to prosecute offenders. The country's highest court upheld this principle in 2023, allowing for the investigation into Nema to continue.
France 24
an hour ago
- Politics
- France 24
Thousands rally in Israel for Gaza hostages on 600th day of war
Signs reading "The people with the hostages" were held aloft the packed crowd in the plaza dubbed Hostages Square after darkness fell over the Israeli coastal city. The meeting point has held regular rallies for the release of hostages since they were seized during Hamas's attack on Israel that triggered the war on October 7, 2023. "It's been more than 100 days since I was forced to leave my brother behind. As long as Eitan and the other hostages are not back, I am still in captivity," said Yair Horn, who was freed in February but whose brother is still held in Gaza. "You brought me home, do it again, end this war and bring back the 58 hostages," he added in a plea to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whose government ended the truce in mid-March and has escalated the military offensive in Gaza vowing to destroy Hamas and free the hostages. Hundreds of people gathered at intersections and on the main highway running through Tel Aviv at 6:29 am, the exact time the unprecedented October 7 attack began. Signs bearing the number 600 were placed along roads and demonstrations were held throughout the day. 'Everything to bring us back' Several hundred people gathered at kibbutz Nir Oz in southern Israel, where nearly a quarter of residents were killed or taken hostage. "During the first days of captivity, I was convinced that (the army) and the State of Israel would do everything to bring us back in a few hours, at most a few days," said Karina Engel-Bart, whose husband was killed in the Hamas attack and is still in Gaza. "But I was wrong... there are still 58 of them in Gaza and they must be released now," she added. Engel-Bart was herself held hostage with her two daughters before all three were released during the first truce in the war at the end of November 2023. Situated near the border with Gaza, Nir Oz still has 14 of its residents held in the Palestinian territory, three of whom are believed to be alive. On the lawn of the kibbutz, former hostages, relatives of captives and residents mingled with people from across the country. While there were no placards, the yellow ribbons now associated with the hostages were seen on T-shirts and on the stage where speakers took turns addressing the crowd. Out of 251 hostages seized during the Hamas attack, 57 remain in Gaza including 34 the Israeli military says are dead. Hamas also holds the body of a soldier taken captive in a 2014 war.
