Actress Meghan Markle half-brother Thomas Markle’s fiancee Darlene Blount has been arrested for assaulting her partner.

Blount was arrested in Oregon on December 31 after a “booze-fueled altercation”, the police said, reports tmz.com.
Blount was booked for fourth-degree assault about four hours into 2018.

Meghan, who is set to marry Prince Harry in May, and Thomas have the same father but are not close to each other anymore. Thomas said he has not seen Meghan since 2011 when she moved to take her role in “Suits”.

South African pacer Dale Steyn grabbed his first Test wicket after returning to international cricket. On the first day of the opening Test match, Steyn sent Shikhar Dhawan (16) back to the pavilion. By taking Dhawan’s wicket, Steyn took his career tally to 418 wickets.

Steyn, who was absent from international cricket for a long time due to career-threatening shoulder injury, bowled out Indian wicket-keeper batsman Wriddhiman Saha on the second day for a duck, taking his tally to 419 wickets. Now, he is just two behind Proteas record-holder Shaun Pollock. If Steyn manages to take two more wickets in the opening Test, he would equal the record of Pollock.

While talking about Dale Steyn, Vernon Philander said, “Having him back after such a long time is special to a lot of us. He has been the spearhead of this attack for such a long time. We wanted to get close to 300, which I think is a lot of runs on this wicket,” he added.

Earlier, after winning the toss, South Africa chose to bat and scored 286 runs. Following the target, visitors lost three early wickets, including that of Indian opener Murali Vijay (1), Shikhar Dhawan (16) and Virat Kohli (5) as the day ended.

On the second day of first Test match, India started from 28 for three but soon Rohit Sharma (11) gifted his wicket to Kagiso Rabada. After Rohit, Cheteshwar Pujara lost his wicket for 26 runs and soon Ravichandran Ashwin (12) and Wriddhiman Saha (0) followed his steps.

Currently, Hardika Pandya (55) and Bhuvneshwar Kumar (1) is at the crease.

The indefinite strike by some transport unions in Tamil Nadu over wage-related issues, entered the third day today, even as the state government said “many” staff were returning to work and expressed confidence that normal operations would resume from Sunday

State transport Minister M R Vijayabaskar told a Tamil TV channel that despite the stir, 80 per cent buses were running.

“Many are getting back to work considering the wage revision offered by us, besides respecting the High Court directive in this regard yesterday,” he said.

The minister exuded confidence that more employees will return to work by tomorrow and “we believe full services could be operational from tomorrow” across Tamil Nadu.

The opposition DMK again urged the government to hold talks with the trade unions and bring an end to the impasse.

ALSO READ: Transport strike hits life in Tamil Nadu

DMK Working President and Leader of Opposition in Tamil Nadu Assembly M K Stalin spoke to Chief Minister K Palaniswami over the phone and urged the government to hold talks to end the stalemate.

Meanwhile, buses were being operated in some parts of the state with temporary drivers and conductors.

In Coimbatore, Tirupur, Nilgiris and Salem districts, a majority of the buses stayed off roads. Some government buses that were operated by staff affiliated to the ruling AIADMK were operational.

A similar situation prevailed in Erode district, where authorities appointed temporary drivers and operated some buses. The transport department had earlier invited those with valid driving license to approach the local depots for this purpose.

A majority of the people continued to rely on trains, autorickshaws and private buses for their daily commute.

Meanwhile, the Southern Railway, in an official release, said, “It is decided to operate weekday services instead of weekend reduced services in Chennai Beach-Tambaram and MRTS suburban sector to accommodate extra rush in view of the strike.”

Tomorrow, the frequency of local trains will be every 10 minutes on Chennai Beach-Tambaram section, instead of every 20 minutes, and a train every 15 minutes on MRTS section instead of every 20 minutes, it said.

Suburban services will also operate normally on Chennai Central (Moore Market Complex)-Gummidipundi/Sullurupetta, Chennai-Beach-Tambaram/Chengalpattu sections and Chennai Beach-Velachery MRTS, today and tomorrow, the release said.

As many as 17 trade unions had launched an indefinite strike since Thursday night, with scores of Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation (TNSTC) joining the protest.

The striking unions want the ‘factor’ for wage revision to be fixed at 2.57 times while government insisted it be 2.44.

Yesterday, the Madras High Court had issued an interim order restraining the employees from striking work. Later, the government also issued an ultimatum, asking the workers to return to work, else it will not hesitate to take action as per law.

The trade unions had, however, said their agitation would continue till their demands on wage revision were met by the state government.

The unions, including DMK-affiliated LPF and CITU, rejected the state government’s ultimatum to return to work or face ‘consequences’ and also claimed they had not received the court order

Bryan Singer has been removed from FX network’s Legion.

Showrunner Noah Hawley told reporters at the Television Critics Association’s press tour in Pasadena, California, that the producer-director requested his name be removed from the credits of the X-Men-inspired drama to not be a “distraction” moving forward, reported.

“I don’t really know anything more about it other than he asked to have his name removed from the show. I don’t really know any of the behind the scenes of why he asked or when he asked or anything,” Hawley said.

FX also confirmed Singer’s name was removed from the list of executive producers.

The X-Men director has been accused of sexual misconduct, including a lawsuit alleging sexual assault.

Representatives for Singer previously “categorically denies these allegations and will vehemently defend this lawsuit to the very end.

Filmmaker Neeraj Pandey and Manoj Bajpayee have worked together on 6 projects till now including their upcoming film ‘Aiyaary’.

Apart from Aiyaary, both have collaborated on projects like Naam Shabana ( 2017), Ouch ( short film), Missing (To be released), Saat Uchakkey( 2016 ), Special 26 (2013).

Their association dates back from the times of Special 26 which released in 2013.

Both of them have a very good rapport and share a great amount of respect for each other.

Manoj Bajpayee who has worked with Neeraj on several projects feels that he brings the best in him as an actor.

The National award-winning actor shared,” Through the making and promotion of Special 26, I discovered in Neeraj not only a director who could bring out the best in me as an actor but also a straightforward, no-nonsense man of few words whose “good” meant “fantastic”. It took us a while to open up to each other through conversations about cinema and more, but eventually, we realized how much in-sync we were.”

Manoj Bajpayee will be seen in Neeraj’s next Aiyaary playing the role of Abhay Singh a strong-minded army officer.

Aiyaary is a thriller film revolving around the relationship between a mentor and a protégé played by Manoj Bajpayee and Sidharth Malhotra respectively and is helmed by Neeraj Pandey.

Aiyaary stars an ensemble cast of Sidharth Malhotra, Manoj Bajpayee, Pooja Chopra, Rakulpreet, Anupam Kher and Naseeruddin Shah.

With Aiyaary, Neeraj Pandey is coming back with a Republic day release, a film that has a power-packed star cast and intriguing storyline.

Neeraj Pandey will return to direction two years after his last directorial ‘M.S. Dhoni’ which not only won accolades from the audience and critics but also emerged victorious at the box office.

The ace filmmaker won the hearts of the audience with his appealing films that have a realistic touch like ‘A Wednesday’, ‘Special 26′, M.S. Dhoni’ etc. The audience is keen on witnessing yet another mind-bending film by the filmmaker.

Plan C and Jayantilal Gada (Pen) presents ‘Aiyaary’ A Neeraj Pandey Film. Produced by Shital Bhatia, Dhaval Jayantilal Gada, Motion Picture Capital is slated to release on 26th January 2018.

The Congress party in the state demanded the resignation of Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on moral grounds for failing to prevent the violence that occurred at Bhima-Koregaon near Pune on January 1.

“The state government failed to prevent this incident.

We discussed the chain of events leading to the violence and how the government had failed to take precautionary steps,” Congress’ state chief Ashok Chavan said on Saturday.

Demanding Fadnavis’ resignation, Chavan added that all leaders of the Congress in the state were unanimous that the violence was a failure of the state machinery.

Chavan alleged that attempts to stoke caste tensions in the state have been going on for the past three years in connivance with the government. He claimed that the government was not taking action against those involved.

Informing about the party’s plan to have district-wise shibirs (camps), Chavan said that the party wanted newly-elected chief Rahul Gandhi to address meetings in the state. He added that Gandhi might visit Western Maharashtra soon.

Chavan also accused the government of “going soft” on investigations in the Kamala mill compound fire which claimed 14 lives.

Oscar winning filmmaker Paul Haggis has been accused of sexual misconduct by four women, including two allegations of rape. Haggis was originally the subject of a lawsuit in December 2017 from a publicist who claimed he raped her. Now, three other women have come forward with accusations, reports tmz.com.

The director, 64, denied his publicist Haleigh Breest’s allegations and counter-sued her. Haggis had previously said that he was used to defending himself against “false allegations” because he was a notable critic of Scientology.

Haggis is yet to reply to the three new accusations. His name has joined the likes of Harvey Weinstein and Kevin Spacey among various others, who have been accused of sexual misconduct in Hollywood.

Megastars Rajinikanth and Kamal Haasan were spotted together at the Natchathira Vizha’s charity event in Kuala Lumpur on Saturday.

The chairty event is for raising funds for the construction of a new building for the Nadigar Sangam, officially known as the South Indian Film Artistes Association.

The two-day event beginning today will start with a curtain-raiser featuring several shows followed by other events like a star-cricket match.

Organised by the South Indian Artistes Association, in collaboration with Malik Streams Corp and MyEvents International, the event will also includes performances by comedians, singers and actors as well a friendly sporting matches — cricket and football — between the Indian and Malaysian-Indian artistes.

The legends #Rajinikanth & #KamalHaasan at the #NatchathiraVizha2018!! #SuperStarRajinikanth #Ulaganayagan #Legend #NatchathiraVizha2018Malaysia

A post shared by Raaga.com (@raagacom) on Jan 6, 2018 at 1:52am PST

Joining Rajinikanth and Haasan at the event will be actors Vijay, Surya, Arya, Vishal, Dhanush, Vikram, Vijaysethupathy, Jayam Ravi, Siva Karthikeyan, Samantha, Amala Paul and Kushboo among others.

According to Datuk Abdul Malik Dasthigeer, CEO, Malik Streams Corp, Natchatira Vizha 2018 will see the attendance of around 250 artistes, reported The Star.

“About 200 experienced security personnel have been appointed to look into the matter including transporting the artistes, to ensure everyone arrives safely where they need to be. They have a tight schedule as it’s a full-day event,” Dasthigeer said.

The event will take place at the National Stadium in Bukit Jalil on Saturday (January 6).

A senior BJP leader has urged HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar to work on providing education on Hindu rituals in Sanskrit schools, saying it will boost agriculture and employment.

BJP’s Kisan Morcha (agriculture wing) chief Virendra Singh ‘Mast’ has written to Javadekar that ‘karmkand’ (ritualism) has a direct link with agricultural lifestyle and starting providing education on it will boost farm growth.

In his letter to Javadekar yesterday, Singh said, “You are requested to consider this policy which will take forward the tradition of ‘rishi-krishi’ and make arrangements for education in ritualism in Sanskrit schools.”

In a statement, the BJP leader said that he has contributed Rs 1 crore from his MP fund to open 10 ‘karmkand’ schools in his Lok Sabha constituency Bhadohi.

Education on ritualism will help check “erosion” of social values and empower society and boost agriculture, Singh said.

People trained in ritualism are in demand in India and abroad, he said, adding such education will boost employment.

American Horror Story creator Ryan Murphy has revealed the FX horror anthology’s next edition will be set in the future.

The announcement was made during the Television Critics Association’s semi-annual press tour in Pasadena, reported Entertainment Weekly.

“All I’ll say about it is I want to go to the future still topical, but the future, which I’ve never done,” Murphy said.

No casting announcements have been made yet.

Veteran actor Betty White said her secret to a long-lasting life is that she only focuses on enjoying every moment.

The six-time Emmy winner, who turns 96 on January 17, said she believes in ignoring negativity, reported Parade magazine.

“Accentuate the positive, not the negative. It sounds so trite, but a lot of people will pick out something to complain about, rather than say, ‘Hey, that was great!’ It’s not hard to find great stuff if you look,” she said.

White’s career has spanned over 70 years, starring in shows such as The Golden Girls and Hot in Cleveland, as well as movies like The Proposal with Sandra Bullock.

The actor still takes her craft seriously and advises anyone with Hollywood dreams to “do your work.”

“Learn your lines and come in prepared. Don’t think you can wing it, because you can’t. We’re in show business, which is fun, but take your business seriously, because it is a serious business,” she said.

Singer Shalmali Kholgade says she wants to prepare herself as a good and worthy musician before working with Oscar and Grammy-winning composer A.R. Rahman.

“Like many singers, even I want to work with Rahman sir. But for that, I want to prepare myself as a better musician. I work hard on myself and he keeps inspiring me, so that one day he will give me a chance to work with him. That is my sentiment about working with Rahman sir,” Shalmali said.

Shalmali feels the music by Rahman, who turned 50 on Saturday, has changed the perspective of Hindi film music globally.

“The music of Rahman has changed the perspective of Hindi film music to the global listeners and that is a big achievement. The sound of background music, songs in films has changed and he is one of the big contributors to why our music is looked up to now,” she said.

“My birthday is on January 2, and his on January 6; so I feel really cool about it,” added the “Pareshaan” hitmaker.

At the moment, Shalmali is excited about her episode on the seventh edition of Royal Stag Barrel Select MTV Unplugged. The show airs on MTV.

A special CBI court here is likely to pronounce its order on January 23 on a plea by two Intelligence Bureau officials challenging the summons issued to them by a magistrate in the Ishrat Jahan alleged fake encounter case.

Rajeev Wankhede and T S Mittal, assistant central intelligence officers at the time of the alleged fake encounter, have challenged the summons issued by a metropolitan magistrate’s court here.

CBI judge J K Pandya reserved his order on their pleas till January 23.

The lower court issued the summons to them and two others — Central IB’s special director Rajinder Kumar and officer M S Sinha — on the basis of a supplementary charge sheet filed against them by the CBI in the Ishrat case.

The CBI has charged them with murder, criminal conspiracy, illegal detention and kidnapping.

The lawyers of Wankhede and Mittal argued on Saturday that the summons was not maintainable, as the court has not taken cognisance of the CBI charge sheet.

No summons can be issued as the Union government has not given sanction for their prosecution as required under the Code of Criminal Procedure, the lawyers said.

The CBI, however, contended that a court can use its discretion to issue a summons even when the competent authority hasn’t given sanction.

The magistrate last month issued summons to the four IB officials after the CBI informed the court about denial of sanction by the Union government.

Ishrat Jahan, a 19-year-old college girl from Mumbra near Mumbai, her friend Javed Sheikh alias Pranesh, Amzad Ali Rana and Zeeshan Johar were killed in an alleged fake encounter by the Ahmedabad police on the outskirts of the city in June 2004. The police had then claimed that they were terrorists affiliated to the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba.

The first charge sheet filed by the CBI named seven Gujarat policemen, including IPS officers P P Pandey, D G Vanzara and G L Singhal, for carrying out a fake encounter.

All of them are out on bail.

A Naxal was gunned down in an encounter with security forces in Chhattisgarh’s Bijapur district On Saturday, police said.

The exchange of fire took place around 3 pm in the forests of Karka village under Gangaloor police station limits in which one ultra was killed, Bijapur Additional Superintendent of Police Mohit Garg told PTI.

A team of District Reserve Guard (DRG) was out on a counter-insurgency operation in the interiors of Gangaloor, around 450 km away from here, he said.

When the forces were cordoning off jungles near Karka, they came under heavy firing from a group of rebels, leading to a brief gunfight, he said.

After the guns fell silent, security forces searched the area and recovered the body of a Naxal clad in “uniform” along with one muzzleloading gun and a country-made pistol, Garg said.

The identity of the killed ultra was yet to be ascertained, he said.

The team of the upcoming movie Gayatri released another poster of Telegu cinema actress Shriya. After releasing the movie poster, they posted this still of the actress who will be starring beside Vishnu Manchu for the first time. She will play his love interest and fans are looking forward to seeing the pair on screen.

“Strong women are naturally graceful” @shriya1109 from #Gayatri pic.x.com/mfRnptT9JU

— Vishnu Manchu (@iVishnuManchu) January 6, 2018

The first poster that was revealed on the first day of the year had both the actors together. It caught the eyes of the audience and went on to get a quite good response. Director Madan is coming up with this action movie on 9th February 2018. Other than Shriya and Vishnu Manchu, the movie will feature Nikhila Vimal and Brahmanandam in the second lead.

The film Gayatri will be released by the big banner ‘Sree Lakshmi Prasanna Pictures’. It will be presented by Vidya Nirvana, Ariaana, and Viviana.