Kareena not a part of Singham 2?

Kareena Kapoor Khan

Kareena Kapoor Khan’s dream of working with Ajay Devgn in 'Singham 2' has been shattered.Rohit Shetty has decided to cast a newcomer opposite Devgn in the sequel. 

A source close to the development told TOI, “Rohit had offered Kareena 'Singham 2' even before 'Chennai Express' hit the theatres. Kareena was keen to do the film and had also consented in principle.”

So what prompted Rohit to change his mind? The source revealed, “Rohit felt that the role is too small for an established and talented actress like Kareena. He discussed this with the producers, Reliance Entertainment, who also subscribed to his view.”

TOI has it that a newbie from South will be roped in to play Ajay’s love interest in the film. Added the source, “There is no bad blood over this between Rohit and Kareena. They have worked in 'Golmaal Returns' and 'Golmaal 3', and will work together in future as well.”

A sequel to the 2011 Ajay Devgn and Kajal Aggarwal starrer 'Singham', the film is expected to go on floors early next year.

Rohit Shetty officially launches Singham 2

The highlight of the police function in Mumbai last night was the launch of Rohit Shetty's Singham 2, a film that brings together Ajay Devgn and Kareena Kapoor Khan. Just before the trio launched the sequel, a promo (made by Rohit) specially shot for the occasion played.

READ: Rohit Shetty postpones 'Singham 2' for 'Fear Factor'

Cops spoke about their sense of pride when Singham (2011) released. The short film showed many policemen and lady constables fighting back tears as they recounted how their families started respecting their jobs much more after watching the film. Slightly embarrassed at some of their team-members' emotional outbursts, senior officers seen in the film cleared the lump in their throats and spoke of how it felt good to wear khaki.

ALSO READ: Kareena not a part of Singham 2?

Says Kareena, "I'm looking forward to starting work on the film, which goes on floors in the first week of March. We will hit screens on August 15 (Independence Day) this year. Like our police force, Singham 2 is an emotional journey for me too, as it means I will join Rohit and Ajay with whom I did two of the Golmaal films. Not to forget, Singham is a franchise that one is privileged to be associated with. The earlier film had its heart in the right place and that's why it went on to become a calendar event for India."

Assad says quitting 'not under discussion'

"If we wanted to surrender, we would have surrendered from the start," Assad told Russian parliament members during a meeting in Damascus.

MOSCOW: A defiant Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Sunday said that he had no plans to stand down, stressing that only the Syrian peoplehad the right to determine the country's future. 

"If we wanted to surrender, we would have surrendered from the start," Assad told Russian parliament members during a meeting in Damascus, according to Russian news agency Interfax. 

"This issue is not under discussion," he said when asked to comment on Western and opposition calls for him to stand down and take part in elections. 

"Only the Syrian people can decide who should take part in elections," he said in remarks translated into Russian. 

The regime has repeatedly refused to countenance the possibility of Assad stepping aside, setting up a clash with Syria's opposition, which has made that its sole aim at peace talks in Switzerland beginning on Wednesday. 

These diametrically opposed positions cast a shadow over the so-called Geneva II conference aimed at setting up a transitional government to lead Syria out of a nearly three-year war estimated to have killed more than 130,000 people and forced millions from their homes.

'Diabolical' Arab countries behind Iraq strife: Maliki

The premier said suicide bombers were coming to Iraq from as far afield as Morocco, Libya and Yemen.

BAGHDAD: Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Malikiblamed "diabolical" and "treacherous" Arab countries for a protracted surge in nationwide violence in a speech on Sunday, but stopped short of naming individual countries.

The premier said suicide bombers were coming to Iraq from as far afield as Morocco, Libya and Yemen, but did not single out countries he described as "evil" which he said were supporting violent extremists in Iraq.

"Iraq is the target for some countries that are backing terrorism, and backing evil," Maliki said in a speech in the southern city of Nasiriyah.

"The world has united with us," he continued. "The (UN) security council, the European Union, and most Arab countries, except some diabolical treacherous countries."

The Iraqi leader warned countries that supported violence in Iraq would also suffer, arguing "this evil has started to expand, and it will reach those same countries, as it reached others previously."

Iraqi officials have alleged that Saudi Arabia and Qatar in particular have supported disaffected Sunni Arabs in western Iraq as they have staged anti-government protests in the past year.

More recently, Sunni-dominated western Iraq has erupted into a deadly standoff with security forces and their tribal allies facing off against anti-government militants and tribes.

A large section of Ramadi and all of Fallujah, both former insurgent bastions west of Baghdad, fell from government control late last month.

It was the first time anti-government fighters have exercised such open control in major cities since the height of the insurgency that followed the US-led invasion of 2003.

Fighting originally erupted in the Ramadi area on December 30, when security forces cleared a year-old Sunni Arab protest camp.

It spread to Fallujah, and militants moved in and seized the city and parts of Ramadi after security forces withdrew.

Diplomats including UN chief Ban Ki-moon have urged Iraqi authorities to pursue political reconciliation in a bid to end the standoff, and a months-long surge in nationwide violence, but Maliki has said the unrest is not due to domestic factors, and has blamed outside forces
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Iran invited to Syria peace conference: UN chief Ban Ki-moon

UNITED NATIONS: Iran will attend this week'sSyria peace conference after it pledged to play a "positive and constructive role" in efforts to end the three-year-old war, UN leader Ban Ki-moonsaid. 

Ban said on Sunday he made a late invitation to Iran after intensive talks with Iran's foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, who agreed to attend. 

Iran's involvement means that all the key countries linked to the worsening war will now be at the opening of the peace conference in Montreux, Switzerland on Wednesday. 

Talks between President Bashar al-Assad's government and the opposition are due to start in Geneva on Friday. 

"Foreign minister Zarif and I agree that the goal of the negotiations is to establish, by mutual consent, a transitional governing body with full executive powers," Ban said. 

"It was on that basis that foreign minister Zarif pledged that Iran would play a positive and constructive role in Montreux," the UN secretary-general added. 

The United States and other Western powers had opposed Iran's attendance at the meeting as long as it refused to accept a communique adopted by the major powers in Geneva on June 30, 2012 calling for a transition government in Syria. 

"I believe strongly that Iran needs to be part of the solution to the Syrian crisis," Ban said. 

Ban said that as convener of the peace conference he has also invited Australia, Bahrain, Belgium, Greece, Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherlands, South Korea and the Vatican. 

He said the extra countries would be "an important and useful show of solidarity in advance of the hard work that the Syrian government and opposition delegations will begin."

Strong 6.3-earthquake jolts New Zealand: US Geological Survey

WELLINGTON: A strong 6.3-magnitudeearthquake rattled New Zealand on Monday, halting train services and knocking merchandise off shelves, but there were no immediate reports of major damage or injuries. 

The quake, which struck at 3.52pm (0252 GMT), was centred in the North Island about 115 kilometres (71 miles) northeast of the capital city Wellington, the US Geological Survey said. 

The tremor hit at a depth of 27 kilometres and was widely felt throughout the North and South islands. It was followed by a series of smaller aftershocks. 

"I've seen the neighbours and they're a bit shaken up but apart from that no damage," Brian Smith of Eketahuna, near the centre of the quake, told Radio New Zealand, describing the tremor as as a sharp jolt. 

"My wife was outside in the garden and she said she couldn't stand up and had to sit down." 

Some houses in the small township of Eketahuna suffered broken windows and structural damage but police said there had been no reports of injuries. 

Pam Lochore, wife of All Blacks great Brian Lochore, said photographs had fallen off shelves and "a rugby ball went flying across the room" in their home at Masterton in the North Island's south. 

One casualty of the quake was a giant model eagle which fell to the ground from the roof of Wellington airport where it was being used to promote the "Hobbit" movie trilogy. 

All train services in the Wellington region were suspended due to the quake. 

New Zealand is on the boundary of the Australian and Pacific tectonic plates, forming part of the so-called "Ring of Fire", and experiences up to 15,000 tremors a year. 

A devastating 6.3-magnitude temblor in the South Island city of Christchurch in 2011 killed 185 people -- one of the nation's deadliest disasters of the modern era. 

Wellington was the scene of the country's most powerful earthquake in 1855. 

That devastating 8.2-magnitude quake caused four deaths and changed the city's entire geography, pushing the shoreline out 200 metres (660 feet) as it thrust the harbour floor upwards.

Prince William, heir to £400m estate, gets hefty discount on Cambridge fees

LONDON: Prince William has been given a hefty discount on his fees for a special course at Cambridge University, a media report said on Sunday. 

William, 31, is paying around £10,000 to study agricultural management but the Mirror quoted sources as saying that they had expected the cost to be higher because the crash course has been especially organized just for him. 

The 10-week study stint is to prepare him for when he inherits the Duchy Of Cornwall from Prince Charles. Student leaders on Saturday attacked the cut-price deal, which comes as ordinary undergraduates struggle with £9,000 annual tuition fees and leave university with an average £25,000 debt, the report said. 

"It's not as though the Queen has had to remortgage Buckingham Palace to help him through university," National Union of Students (NUS) vice president Dom Anderson said. "There are surely more deserving postgraduate students in Cambridge than the heir to the British throne who will inherit a £400 million estate. Many feel the royal family receives quite enough of a subsidy as it is," he was quoted as saying.