Popular host Ellen DeGeneres canceled Kim Burrell's appearance on "The Ellen Show" despite her scheduled performance after a video emerged last week, showing the singer suggested homosexuals will die in 2017 due to their sins.

"I came to tell you about sin. That sin nature. That perverted homosexual spirit, and the spirit of delusion and confusion, it has deceived many men and women, and it's caused us pain on the body of Christ," Burrell said, according to the video surfaced online.

DeGeneres, who publicly came out as lesbian in 1997, took to Twitter to announce the news.

"For those asking, Kim Burrell will not be appearing on my show," DeGeneres tweeted.

Burrell was scheduled to perform "I See Victory," a song from the film "Hidden Figures" with Pharrell Williams on "The Ellen Show".

President Barack Obama visited the Congress to ask Democratic legislators to remain firm against Republican efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA) health reform.

As Obama was meeting with Democratic lawmakers on Wednesday, Vice President-elect Mike Pence held a meeting with Republican legislators, also at the Capitol, to make clear to them that the first act of the newly-installed Congress must be "to repeal and replace Obamacare", as the health care reform is popularly known, Efe news reported.

Repealing the 2010 ACA has long been a goal of Republicans, who have passed several bills gutting the law only to see Obama veto those measures.

Once a Republican is in the White House, there will be little to stop the Republican from scrapping the ACA, though Trump has said he would like to retain some features of the programme, such as the ban on health insurers' denying coverage for pre-existing conditions.

Despite the insistence of reporters, Obama made no remarks upon leaving the Capitol and simply issued a curt message to Democrats to "Look out for the American people".

At his daily press conference, White House spokesman Josh Earnest said that Obama spoke with lawmakers about the tangible effects that would ensue if Obamacare is dismantled, including the impact on the approximately 22 million Americans who have acquired health care coverage thanks to the law.

Earnest said that repealing Obamacare will not be an "improvement," noting that Obama himself has acknowledged that the law is not perfect but he has never found any willingness among Republican lawmakers to try and correct or amend its weaker points.

Obama also advised Democrats on Wednesday to refuse to "rescue" Republicans by helping them approve measures to replace Obamacare, according to information from several of those present at the closed-door meeting.

After meeting with the president, top Democratic congressional leaders held a press conference to denounce the Republicans for having no concrete plan to replace Obamacare, a line taken also by the White House.

Democratic Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said that the result of repealing Obamacare will be to make the country "sick" again, not make it great again, paraphrasing Trump's campaign slogan.

The new Congress was inaugurated on Tuesday, with Republicans holding majorities in both chambers and launching an initiative to allow the health care law to be repealed in the Senate with just 50 votes in favour, rather than the 60 that would normally be necessary in a case like this.

That initiative also instructs congressional committees to have a bill ready to repeal Obamacare before January 27.

At a press conference with Pence and other Republican leaders, House Speaker Paul Ryan emphasized that, once Obamacare has been repealed, lawmakers must guarantee that there is a "stable transition" to a new health care system with more options and more freedom.

Ryan said the law promulgated in 2010 – which obliges people to purchase health insurance and is considered to be Obama's greatest legislative achievement – had failed.

Gut feeling and a sense of timing has always marked Mahendra Singh Dhoni's decision making process in his illustrious captaincy stint and he once again showed that when he 'stumped' one and all with his decision to step down as skipper of India's limited overs team.

No one knows whether Dhoni has read the poem 'Invictus' or watched Hollywood actor Morgan Freeman recite it in his deep baritone: "I am the Master of My fate, I am the Captain of My soul".

The context of the poem may have been different but in spirit somewhere, Dhoni may find it eerily similar to his thought process leading up to the decision last night.

No Indian cricketer since Sunil Gavaskar showed such poise, grace and sense of foresight as the flamboyant cricketer from Jharkhand stepped down from the limited overs captaincy via a BCCI announcement on Wednesday.

When Gavaskar announced his decision to quit captaincy, it was after winning Benson and Hedges World Championship in 1985 and after scoring that epic 96 on a Chinnaswamy minefield in 1987, he called time on his illustrious career with people craving for more.

The most cliched statement that we hear from sportspersons is that "we don't play for records" but then hardly a few believe in what they say.

But in Dhoni's case, two instances would sum up his philosophy that he does not play for records. When he retired from Test cricket, he was 10 short of completing 100 matches for the country but in his heart he knew Virat Kohli was ready for the job. Dhoni went with his gut feeling.

Similarly, the first ODI against England on January 15 in Pune would have been his 200th match as captain but he would not bother. 90 and 199 are two telling numbers that tell the story. So, Dhoni did not care for records.

His decision gives Kohli exactly 30 months time to get his team ready for the next World Cup, but more so it shows that Dhoni always had the best interest of Indian cricket in mind.

With two World Cups (one 50-over and one T20) India won under his leadership, Dhoni will remain India's greatest limited overs captain and perhaps among India's top five ODI players along with Sachin Tendulkar, Yuvraj Singh, Kapil Dev and Kohli.

Just like a film actor has some defining roles, Dhoni will be remembered for two decisions that made him the 'Captain Cool' for generations to come.

The first was giving Joginder Sharma the final over during inaugural T20 World Cup summit clash against Pakistan.

The second was promoting himself ahead of Yuvraj Singh and winning that 2011 World Cup final in Mumbai.

It was a man who had the guts and gumption to take decisions which could have gone awry and made him look silly.

There's a bit of gambler in many of us but MSD was a bigger 'Punter' than Ricky Ponting ever was.

It's not easy to express one's feelings explicitly when it comes to dropping legends but Dhoni knew that Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid could become liabilities on the field on big Australian grounds and hence he conveyed his feelings to the selection committee before 2008 CB series.

Both Gautam Gambhir and Rohit Sharma were revelations during that series, and that proved Dhoni's decision right.

Dhoni was not a technically gifted batsman but his temperament stood out and the 9110 ODI runs he has scored till now from 283 matches is a testimony of that. He has scored 1112 runs from 73 T20 International matches at an average of 35.87.

A player with a firm bottom hand grip, his signature 'helicopter' shot where he whipped the ball at the block hole straight into the stands earned him fans aplenty.

But then, how many players knew the value of converting one's into two's and two's into three's.

Once he became captain, he curbed his slam-bang approach pacing his innings to perfection.

On slow sub-continental pitches when others found it difficult to manoeuvre, he did that with elan.

If Tendulkar was the best judge of a single, Dhoni certainly was the best judge of a double.

His keeping was questioned at the beginning of his career but in his later years, he developed his own distinctive style. The back flick run-outs are treat to watch and he has been swift as anyone else on turning tracks.

Dhoni had an aggressive game but not in body language. He believed words like "revenge" are too strong to be used in sports.

And boy, he had a dry sense of humour, very distinctive and his own style.

Once David Warner and Ravindra Jadeja had a war of words and Dhoni was asked about it at end of the match. He smiled wryly and said: "That's what happens when schoolboys graduate to college."

And he invited an Australian journalist, who asked about his retirement, up on the dais after World T20 semifinal loss.

Some found it funny and some rude but then Dhoni is Dhoni.

There's an old YouTube video of Dhoni singing the iconic Mukesh song "Main pal do pal ka shayar hoon" from the Bollywood film "Kabhi Kabhi".

Well MSD is much more than a "Do pal ka shayar". He's an entertainer par excellence. He is now running the last lap of his fantastic career. We should all enjoy till it lasts.

The state-owned Cambodia Post will launch an online shopping platform in March in a move to tap the current rise in e-commerce activity, a media report said on Thursday.

Ork Bora, director-general of the Cambodia Post, said that after a year of studying e-commerce, the enterprise decided to launch the platform to allow all business owners to sell their products with the postal service.

Bora said that the enterprise had already served as an agent for China's biggest online shopping company Alibaba and has delivered their products to customers in Cambodia for four months, Xinhua news agency reported.

"We plan to launch in the first quarter of the year, maybe in March. I have been conducting a study and working on online shopping for about a year, so now we decided to launch an online shopping platform," Bora was quoted as saying.

"You see that online shopping is getting popular among our people now. If you look at the number of internet users with the Telecom Regulator of Cambodia, there were some seven million," he said.

He said that currently the Cambodia Post has a nationwide delivery and transport service, so an online shopping platform would be convenient for both sellers and customers.

Filmmaker Sanjay Gupta is not in favour of a biopic being made on his actor-friend Sanjay Dutt.

Director Rajkumar Hirani is busy working on the biopic, starring Ranbir Kapoor in the lead role.

"I don't think the biopic should be made. He is very much around and will be coming back as a hero to films. So, what is the need? He has had an interesting life and everyone knows about it," Gupta said in an interview here.

The "Shootout at Lokhandwala" director has ruled out an appearance in the film.

"There will be no character of mine in the film. I want to be the hero and not hero's friend," he said in a lighter vein.

Gupta, however, thinks Ranbir is apt to portray young Dutt.

"Ranbir will look the part at a certain level. Young Sanju had so much innocence on his face, which is there on Ranbir's face. And Ranbir is one of the best actors we have today who can pull off anything," he said.

Dutt and Gupta have collaborated on films like "Aatish", "Jung", "Khauff", "Kaante", "Zinda", "Plan", "Dus Kahaniyaan" and "Shootout at Lokhandwala".

"Once a script comes, we will work. I am dying to work with him again, we have had a fabulous association," he said.

As of now, Gupta is looking forward to the release of his film "Kaabil", starring Hrithik Roshan and Yami Gautam.

Produced by Rakesh Roshan, the film opens in theatres on January 25.

Researchers have spotted for the first time an extremely rare type of galaxy whose elliptical-like core is surrounded by two circular rings.

Approximately 359 million light years away from the Earth, the galaxy appears to belong to a class of rarely observed, Hoag-type galaxies, the researchers said.

"Less than 0.1 per cent of all observed galaxies are Hoag-type galaxies," said lead author Burcin Mutlu-Pakdil from the University of Minnesota at Duluth in the US.

Hoag-type galaxies are round cores surrounded by a circular ring, with nothing visibly connecting them. 

The majority of observed galaxies are disc-shaped like our own Milky Way. 

Galaxies with unusual appearances give astronomers unique insights into how galaxies are formed and change.

The researchers collected multi-waveband images of the galaxy, which is easily observable only in the Southern Hemisphere, using a large diameter telescope in the Chilean mountains. 

These images were used to determine the age of the two main features of the galaxy, the outer ring and the central body.

While the researchers found a blue and young (0.13 billion years) outer ring, surrounding a red and older (5.5 billion years) central core, they were surprised to uncover evidence for second inner ring around the central body. 

To document this second ring, researchers took their images and subtracted out a model of the core. 

This allowed them to observe and measure the obscured, second inner ring structure, according to a study published in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.

"We've observed galaxies with a blue ring around a central red body before, the most well-known of these is Hoag's object. However, the unique feature of this galaxy is what appears to be an older diffuse red inner ring," said the co-author of the study, Patrick Treuthardt, an astrophysicist at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences.

Galaxy rings are regions where stars have formed from colliding gas. 

"The different colours of the inner and outer ring suggest that this galaxy has experienced two different formation periods," Mutlu-Pakdil said.

 "Kaabil" and "Raees" may be ready for a showdown at the box office but actor Hrithik Roshan says it won't affect his friendship with superstar Shah Rukh Khan.

Hrithik's "Kaabil" and Shah Rukh's "Raees" will be locking horns at the box office on January 25.

"Business should be on one side and friendship on the other side. 'Raees' and 'Kaabil' can clash but the friendship shouldn't clash. So we have to have that understanding," Hrithik said in an interview here.

"They have to do the best for their film and we have to do what is best for our film. And the friendship stays," he said.

The "Jodha Akbar" actor said Khan and he spoke to each other after it became clear that their films will release on the same date.

Asked why the clash could not be avoided, the 42-year-old actor said, "They couldn't find a better date. It's not illegal." 

The Sanjay Gupta-directed "Kaabil" is the story of two blind lovers and a tragedy followed by revenge.

The Rahul Dholakia-helmed "Raees" is about a bootlegger, whose business is challenged and eventually thwarted by a tough cop, played by Nawazuddin Siddiqui.

Hrithik has seen the trailer of "Raees" and he thinks it is good.

To a query whether he thinks "Kaabil" has an edge over "Raees", Hrithik said, "No, I don't think either of the films need to have an edge over the other. Both films are to be judged by audience, I hope both will be loved." 

However, Hrithik believes due to the clash "numbers (box office collection) will be divided." 

Asked if this doesn't bother him, he said, "It's not in my control so how can it bother me."

India's limited overs cricket will usher in a new era with the national selectors expected to name Virat Kohli as the captain when they pick the squad for three ODIs and three T20 Internationals against England here on Thursday.

Test skipper Kohli is expected to be anointed captain of the limited overs teams also, after Mahendra Singh Dhoni decided to step down from the job in a surprise decision on Wednesday night.

While there should not be any doubt regarding Kohli taking over as skipper of the limited overs team, the selectors have the onerous task of choosing the two squads having a right balance as there has been a spate of injuries to top players recently.

Two key Mumbai batsmen — Rohit Sharma and Ajinkya Rahane — have been ruled out with injuries, which may give a chance to out-of-form Shikhar Dhawan, if he's declared fit, to open the innings with K L Rahul, unless the selectors spring a total surprise and bring in a newcomer.

Karnataka's Rahul missed the ODI series against New Zealand due to an injury while Delhi batsman Dhawan too got injured in the preceding Test rubber against the Kiwis.

The left-handed Dhawan last played in an ODI in Australia in January last. After flopping in the first two matches, he struck a purple patch in the remaining three games of that series to make a century and two half centuries.

Karun Nair, who scored a brilliant triple hundred in the fifth and final Test against England in Chennai, is expected to be chosen in place of Rahane whom he also replaced in the Test team.

A question mark, however, remains regarding key spinner Ravichandran Ashwin who cited an injury after the conclusion of the 4-0 Test drubbing of England and has not played in Ranji Trophy for his state team Tamil Nadu. He also missed the ODI series against New Zealand as he was rested to keep fresh for the subsequent Test rubber against England.

Second off-spinner Jayant Yadav was out ruled out of the last Test of the series against England due to an injury and it would be interesting to see whether the two slow bowling all-rounders will be chosen by the selectors without proving match fitness.

Although Dhoni has stepped down as captain of the limited overs team, he has made himself available to play under a new captain, which should be Kohli, and this has been conveyed to the selectors who, thus, will choose him over other claimants.

A hacker has claimed to have breached the US Federal Bureau of Investigation's website and leaked personal account information to a public site, media reported.

The hacker, known as CyberZeist, exploited a zero-day vulnerability in the highly-secured Plone Content Management System (CMS) of the FBI's website and leaked some of the information to Pastebin, an open source site that is often used by hackers to post stolen information and bits of code, RT.com reported on Thursday.

A zero-day fault is a vulnerability in the code that has not been detected, listed, or patched yet. Therefore, the FBI had zero days to respond to the attack.

This is not the first time the hacker claimed breaching the FBI site. In 2011, CyberZeist is believed to have hacked the FBI site as a member of a group known as Anonymous.

Authorities in the US have not yet responded to the recent hacking incident that was claimed to have occurred last month.

"fbi.gov CMS Exploited, files in view – PasswordResetTool.py, product permissions, setup file. More coming soon #FBI #PWNED," the hacker had tweeted on December 22.

"Don't blame the #hacker, blame the faulty #code!," CyberZeist had said in another tweet on December 27.

CyberZeist warned other agencies that are currently using the Plone CMS that they too are vulnerable to a similar attack. "Amnesty acknowledges to patch the Plone #vulnerability in their CMS, just in time!," CyberZeist said in a recent tweet.

All government publicity hoardings in the Uttar Pradesh capital were pulled down after the Model Code of Conduct came into force following the poll dates announcement, an official said on Thursday.

Most of these hoardings with Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav's pictures and describing various government schemes and projects were taken down late Wednesday night.

The state electoral officer's team has ensured that all of them would be removed over the next 24 hours, the official said.

With the Model Code of Conduct in place, the state government was also directed not to initiate any bureaucratic transfers and asked not to go ahead with any new launches, announcements and inaugurations.

Meanwhile, the Election Commission has also announced the schedule for polls of three Legislative Council seats in the state. 

Notification of these polls would be issued on January 10, nominations could be filed till January 17, and voting would take place on February 3.

Giving back to society encompasses a range of aspects. It involves working selflessly for humans or as the voice of the voiceless. Ranjana Rajpal, who has been working for the cause of stray animals since she was 14-years-old, has dedicated herself to the feeding, sterilisation and care of animals for the past 50 years. Over this period, she said, her hobbies took a back seat as did her own needs but she has absolutely no regrets. Her belief in a higher being gave her the strength to pursue this calling.

Siddharth Arora, a student of Class X, said he and his friends save food items and collect material like cardboard boxes or old clothes, especially for puppies born in winter. He stressed on the need for awareness drives, including preventive and protective measures both for animals and humans.

"True happiness" is the common response from most animal lovers, workers and activists, when asked what drives them. Suman Virwani, engaged in animal welfare for almost 30 years, agreed. She said each day is a new challenge and hopes the Animal Welfare Bill is passed in Parliament. She is one of the driving forces behind the "India Unites for Animals" movement, whose sole objective is to get this Bill passed. Her passion for the cause is reflected in a simple incident she cited. "Puchi, a rescued desi dog, stopped eating after my dad passed away in 2005, as a result of which she lost her life too. So deep was the affection that though we moved on, she just could not." Geeta Seshamani, vice-president, Friendicoes Seca, said her first inspiration was her father, who loved animals and thought that the best birthday gift for his five-year-old daughter was a new born pup, that had just lost its mother. Animals speak to her in the same way as humans communicate with one another. She added that attributes like patience, endurance, sensitivity and tolerance are the biggest lessons she learnt through her long association with animal care. All that matters to her, she added, is the unconditional love that the animals shower her with. That is the biggest reward. The milestones that have been achieved are many: enhancement of infrastructure and space for Friendicoes, launch of sterilisation/vaccination programmes, birth of Wildlife SOS and, most importantly, trying and saving each animal in need of care and love. This effort crosses borders too. Amanda Seth, who is Scottish, has been involved with Friendicoes for almost 30 years. Notwithstanding the challenges of space and finances, she applauded the fact that enhanced awareness, especially among the youth, has gone a long way to develop a win-win situation for both animals and humans.

Ranjana said every day is a milestone and offers a learning curve. She said earlier she would face aggression for her activities but now things have changed to a large extent. People have become more aware and accepting. That includes her family too. Sterilisation and vaccination drives have made her colony almost puppy-free and people are less worried about any untoward incidents. However, the loss of a beloved animal still hurts, though coming to terms with grief and letting go is an important lesson she has learnt in these years of service.

Of course, individuals cannot make as much of a difference as society jointly can. So, how can society contribute? Geeta’s advice is: "Try and keep an animal or help at a shelter. Save an animal from the street. Over the years, we have lost something very precious…a spontaneous familiarity and tolerance for animals in our landscape…the old rural partnering of man and animals…”

Ranjana suggested generation of more awareness through the media and stringent laws to prevent animal cruelty. Even small gestures like leaving a bowl of water outside the house during summer can go a long way, she said. In the words of Buddha, "All beings tremble before violence. All fear death, all love life. See yourself in others. Then whom can you hurt? What harm can you do?"

Delhi is witnessing a design of parks that is ecologically dead with no life forms.
By redesigning the parks we can bring back many bird species that are not seen frequently. A combination of native trees, bushes, climbers and local grass varieties can immensely help this process. Habitat ecology should be adopted by making even small green patches interactive. A complete overhaul of horticultural practices is needed. More than 25 per cent of the birds of Delhi are migratory.
As non-residents, they visit the city during specific times of the year, both to escape unsuitable weather and to ensure species survival. But trees in Delhi are heavily lopped at different times of the year, especially in winter, so that birds find no shelter from cold on denuded trees.

Of the total world bird species of 9956, India harbours around 1200-1300 of them. As a mega diversity centre India has a great responsibility in maintaining this diversity. It might come as a surprise that Delhi has nearly 250-300 species of birds. Sadly, the situation for birds in the Capital is deteriorating. There has been much concern regarding the dwindling number of sparrows in the national capital. So much so, that the house sparrow has been accorded the status of the State bird of Delhi. However, the fact is that many other birds that were regularly seen in Delhi are no longer found here. But this need not come as a surprise. Habitat modification accompanied by various other factors such as severe air pollution, highly polluted river, mobile towers and many other factors have affected the bird population in general. Wetlands have been lost almost completely and the natural drains feeding into the river have been altered drastically.

The number of migratory birds visiting Delhi has also shown a sharp decline. The Yellow vented bulbul and the White vented bulbul are no longer seen in Delhi. Bushes and creepers that are ideal nesting sites for them are not seen in any parks. Parks in Delhi are being planted almost exclusively with Ashoka trees and palm species. These are not suitable for most birds. Bush birds have to hide their nests in thick foliage so that prey birds do not notice them. Similarly ground nesting birds like partridges and peacocks need ground cover to conceal their eggs. But when the undergrowth is cleared and planted with exotic grass that is mowed regularly, the ground nesting birds are threatened. Nectar-feeding birds do not find nectar yielding flowers. Fruit and fig-feeding birds are also at great risk. Insects are found among wild grasses and reeds. In their absence birds like sparrows that are insect-eaters are at a disadvantage. Kingfishers need water bodies and perches to hunt fish. Water bodies in many parks have all been drained and planted with grasses. Instead fountains are installed that only waste water and are ideal grounds for breeding of mosquitoes. All birds need proper feeding, roosting and nesting habitats. These are to be provided by the natural and/or the built-up space in a city. The ridge and the parks and gardens of Delhi play a vital role in supporting bird diversity. Water bodies for water birds are equally important.

Unfortunately, over the years most parks and gardens in Delhi have lost their original form and have been heavily manicured with ornamental plantations. Huge budgets are allotted for the maintenance of these parks and gardens. They have been designed to provide the much needed space for rest and relaxation for the residents.Other life forms such as birds have not received any attention. If one takes a walk in these parks, there is hardly any bird call that is heard except for crows and mynahs. The blue rock pigeon has adapted to the constructed spaces of buildings.These three bird species dominate the city space. But this need not be so. By making small design modifications, these parks and gardens can be made more bird friendly.

(The writer is Principal, Zakir Husain Delhi College, Delhi University.)

Opposition parties on Thursday approached the Election Commission (EC) seeking that the Union Budget's presentation be deferred during the poll process for five states.

Led by the Congress, representatives from several opposition parties including the Trinamool Congress, Janata Dal-United, Samajwadi Party, Bahujan Samaj Party and the Rashtriya Janata Dal reached the poll panel to raise their objections over the budget scheduled to be presented on February 1 just days ahead of the polls in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Goa and Manipur scheduled between February 4 and March 8. 

"Over a dozen parties are meeting the Chief Election Commissioner to raise our objections regarding the union budget slated to be presented just three days before the assembly polls are to start. This not only gives an unfair advantage to the government to influence the voters, but, in fact, is a violation of model code of conduct," Janata Dal United leader KC Tyagi said before the meet with the poll panel. 

Congress leader Anand Sharma too said the presentation of the budget prior to the polls will vitiate the free and fair polls. 

"It is the mandate of the EC to ensure that no situation arises that may vitiate the free and fair polls. We have already informed President Pranab Mukherjee about the issue," said Sharma. 

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), however said it was a non-issue and slammed the opposition for politicising the government's constitutional duty. 

"The budget is a constitutional duty of the government and not related to any one state. The presentation of the budget is not a sudden decision rather it has been decided beforehand with prior information to the stake holders," said Union Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi 

"The opposition parties have gone bankrupt on issues that is why they are trying to create an issue from a non-issue. The government has decided February 1 for the budget presentation and irrespective of what the opposition says, it will be presented," added Naqvi. 

BJP national secretary Siddharth Nath Singh said the opposition to budget reflected the Congress' and the Samajwadi Party's nervousness. 

"The Congress which is ruling Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh's ruling Samajwadi Party have been opposing the budget because they know they haven't done any work in the five years of their government," he said 

"The budget is a constitutional mandate and has no bearing with elections. Every now and then we have polls, be it to the Lok Sabha or assembly or civic bodies or panchayat, you don't postponed a budget for that," Singh added. 

Actress Emma Stone wants to ditch her stage name for her real name – Emily Jean Stone.

The "La La Land" star was told she would have to change her title when she signed up to the Screen Actors Guild, as under SAG rules no two members can have the same name and there was already an Emily Stone listed, reports femalefirst.co.uk.

"Well, I was 16 when I found out at SAG I couldn't have my own name. So to ask a 16-year-old to pick a new name is really an interesting process because I was like, 'I'm going to be Riley. My name is going to be Riley Stone'," Stone told W magazine.

"And so my name was Riley Stone for about six months and I did a guest spot on 'Malcolm in the Middle' and one day they were like, 'Riley, Riley,' and I had no idea who they were talking to and they were like, 'Hey, hey come on we need you on set.' And I was like, 'Oh I'm not Riley, I can't be Riley'," she added.

The 28-year-old would like to go back to her own name, even though she has achieved worldwide fame as Emma Stone, but she isn't sure if it's possible.

"I had the option of Emily J. Stone and it's kind of like Michael J. Fox, and I love Michael J. Fox, but I don't think I could pull off the J. So then I changed it to Emma because you know it's closer to Emily, but most people call me 'M', that know me well. I would love to get her (Emily Stone) back," Stone said.
 

Four people were arrested in the alleged molestation of a young woman on New Year's day here, said a police officer on Thursday.

"The four accused, aged between 20-23, were arrested after their interrogation on Wednesday," Banaswadi Circle Inspector DH Munikrishna told IANS here.

The accused are said to be residents of the area (Kammanahalli) in the city's north-east suburb where the victim was molested and groped in the wee hours (2.41 a.m.) of Sunday by two of them when she was returning home with her friend after returning from a New Year's party.

The horrifying incident came to light on Tuesday night when a resident of the area gave the police video footage captured by a CCTV camera he had installed at his house.

"Our senior officials will give the case details after producing the accused in a local court for police custody for further interrogation and identification by the victim, who has been contacted by our police women," said Munikrishna. 

An FIR was filed suo moto against the culprits under sections 341 (wrongful restraint) and 354A and 354B (assault or criminal force on woman with intent to outrage her modesty) of the Indian Penal Code.

The footage showed the victim walking in the close residential area towards her rented accommodation and the scooter-borne duo turning around and one of them walking across to her.

The duo was then seen molesting and dragging her to the two-wheeler, even as she tried to wriggle out, slapping the molester.

The video clip also showed the victim falling on the road after escaping from her attackers even as some onlookers watched "the horror" from a distance.

 Debutante Megha Akash made her co-star Dhanush feel comfortable while filming some intimate scenes in upcoming Tamil action-thriller "Enai Nokki Paayum Thota", a source said.

"There are a few lip-lock scenes in the film. Although they have been shot aesthetically in a way that it doesn't look vulgar, Dhanush wasn't really comfortable doing these scenes. But it was Megha who made him feel comfortable," a source from the film's unit told IANS.

If not for Megha, the source said, these scenes would have been a pain to shoot.

"If Megha didn't make Dhanush feel comfortable, it would have been very challenging for the makers to make these scenes look authentic," he said.

In the film, Megha plays an actress who falls head over heels for Dhanush, to be seen as a college-goer.

Directed by Gautham Vasudev Menon, the film has music by Darbuka Siva, and is gearing up for February release.
 

 Popular host Jimmy Fallon said he is nervous about prepping for his Golden Globes hosting gig on January 7.

The 42-year-old TV personality has a lineup of A-list celebrities who are lending a helping hand to him, including "Deadpool" star Ryan Reynolds, reported People magazine.

"I'm always nervous. I always get butterflies in my stomach," Fallon said at the 74th Annual Golden Globe Awards preview day.

"I've been writing jokes and planning on what the opening is going to be. We've been shooting. It's the first time ever the Golden Globes is having a cold open like a filmed piece which I'm excited they let me do," he added.

Fallon said audiences can expect to see "a lot of big stars", doing the annual awards show opening.

"There's a lot of people who are going to be involved with the opening. I don't want to name names or spoil anything," he said before adding, "But Ryan Reynolds… Someone's going to be in there. Tina Fey. Uh, but it's going to be good. Justin Timberlake and Kit Harington."