From the past few days, there have been strong reports about Akshay Kumar collaborating with the producers of his movie Airlift, Emmay Entertainment, once again. And well, the reports have turned out to be true.
The actor recently took to Twitter to announce Bell Bottom. Along with the first look of the film, Akshay tweeted, “Get ready to go back to the 80’s and hop onto a roller-coaster spy ride, #BELLBOTTOM! Releasing on 22nd January, 2021. @ranjit_tiwari @vashubhagnani @jackkybhagnani @honeybhagnani @monishaadvani @madhubhojwani @nikkhiladvani @EmmayEntertain @poojafilms.”
— (@)
Along with Emmay Entertainment, the movie will also be produced by Pooja Films. Set in the 80s, it was said that the movie is a remake of a Kannada film with the same name. However, Akshay took to Twitter to clarify that it is not a remake.
When a fan asked him if it’s a remake of the Kannada film, the actor replied, “#BellBottom is not a remake of any film, it is an original screenplay inspired by true events.”
— (@)
This is not the first time Akshay will be seen in a period drama; earlier also he has been a part period films like Airlift, Rustom, Once Upon Ay Time In Mumbaai Dobara, and more. Well, now we are keen to know which true incidents Bell Bottom is inspired from.
Directed by Ranjit Tiwari, Bell Bottom is slated to hit the screens on 22nd January 2021. It will be a Republic Day weekend release, so we are sure the movie will have a patriotic angle in it. While we know that Akshay plays the lead role in the film, we wait to see who will be seen opposite the actor in the film.
CHINA has officially defended the construction of a massive hydropower dam on the Brahmaputra River in the sensitive ecological region of Tibet, insisting the project will not negatively affect downstream countries such as India and Bangladesh.
The ambitious initiative, announced last Saturday (19) by Chinese premier Li Qiang, marks the start of what is expected to be the world’s largest hydropower dam, located near Nyingchi City in the Tibetan autonomous region close to the disputed Line of Actual Control with India in Arunachal Pradesh.
The Brahmaputra River, known in Tibet as the Yarlung Zangbo, flows from this high plateau across northeastern India and Bangladesh, providing vital water for irrigation, drinking, and hydropower to millions. Given the river’s critical role, concerns have rapidly mounted in India and Bangladesh about the impact of this colossal Chinese project on water flows and the environment.
At a press briefing on Wednesday (23), Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun asserted that the dam construction “will not have any negative impact on the downstream regions.”
Guo said China has engaged in communication with India and Bangladesh, sharing hydrological data and cooperating on flood prevention and disaster mitigation. He stressed that the project is a sovereign matter of China aimed at generating clean energy, improving local livelihoods, and combatting climate change, with all phases—from planning to design and construction—adhering to strict ecological and industrial standards.
Chinese authorities also highlighted that water releases will be managed carefully to prevent disasters along the entire river. Guo added that the project supports regional cooperation to benefit communities along the river basin.
However, the dam’s scale and proximity to the border have alarmed Indian officials and environmental experts. Arunachal Pradesh chief minister Pema Khandu termed the dam a “ticking water bomb” and an existential threat surpassing even military risks.
In a recent interview, Khandu expressed deep mistrust of Chinese intentions, noting Beijing is not a party to any international water treaties that would legally bind it to share data or regulate river use. “No one knows what they might do,” he warned.
Environmentalists observe that the dam will halt the natural flow of sediments vital for sustaining fertile floodplains downstream, potentially disrupting agriculture and ecosystems in India’s Assam state and further south in Bangladesh.
Columbia University geophysics professor Michael Steckler pointed out that upstream detention of sediment could reduce soil nutrients critical for millions who depend on the Brahmaputra basin.
Furthermore, some experts caution that the dam site sits amid tectonically unstable terrain on the edge of the Himalayan seismic belt, making the construction prone to earthquake and landslide risks. The region already experiences glacial lake outburst floods and severe weather events that could compromise dam safety.
Historically, water sharing on the Brahmaputra has been contentious yet relatively cooperative. Since 2006, India and China have operated the Expert Level Mechanism (ELM) to discuss transboundary river issues, with China providing hydrological data during monsoon seasons.
However, data exchange stalled following the 2020 border conflict in eastern Ladakh, complicating bilateral water management discussions. Hydrological data sharing was raised last December during talks between India's National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi.
Contrary to fears of water diversion, experts stress that most Brahmaputra water comes from monsoon rains in India and Bangladesh, not from Tibetan glaciers. The project is reportedly a “run-of-the-river” scheme, implying that water is used primarily for power generation without significant storage or diversion.
Indian hydrologist Sayanangshu Modak noted that India’s own dam proposals on the Siang River—the Brahmaputra’s name in Arunachal Pradesh—are part of efforts to assert upstream use rights and prevent unilateral Chinese diversion.
In Bangladesh, Chinese envoy Yao Wen reinforced Beijing’s assurance that the dam’s purpose is solely electricity generation and will not reduce water flow downstream, during talks with the country’s foreign affairs adviser Md Touhid Hossain on Monday (21). “China will not withdraw or use any water from the project,” Yao said, aiming to allay Dhaka’s concerns.
The dam plan dwarfs the existing Three Gorges Dam, currently the world’s largest, with an estimated cost of $170 billion and generating more electricity annually than Britain’s consumption. The project is designed to generate over 300 billion kilowatt-hours each year, enough to power more than 300 million people, and to provide stimulus to China’s slowing economy.
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Chinese singer Zhang Yiyang executed for murdering teenage girlfriend, public backlash grows over film released after death
Chinese singer-actor Zhang Yiyang was executed by firing squad in December 2024.
He was convicted of murdering his 16-year-old girlfriend in 2022.
Authorities confirmed he lured her to a remote forest and fatally stabbed her.
Public anger continues over the release of his posthumous film in March 2025.
Zhang Yiyang, a 33-year-old Chinese singer and television actor, was executed by firing squad in December 2024 after being convicted of the brutal murder of his 16-year-old girlfriend. The Xianyang Intermediate People’s Court in Shaanxi province confirmed the execution, making Zhang the first known figure from China’s entertainment industry to receive the death penalty.
The crime, which occurred in February 2022, involved a premeditated attack that left the nation stunned. The court found Zhang guilty of luring the teenager, identified only by her surname Zhang, to a secluded forest in Xingping City under the pretext of celebrating his birthday. There, following an argument, he fatally stabbed her in the neck with a folding knife.
Chinese singer Zhang Yiyang executed for murdering teenage girlfriend, public backlash grows over film released after death Screengrab/K-Sélection
Why was Zhang Yiyang sentenced to death?
According to court documents and multiple Chinese media reports, Zhang reacted violently when the teenage girl tried to end their relationship. He had reportedly displayed signs of emotional instability, including threatening suicide to manipulate her into staying with him. On the day of the murder, after stabbing her, Zhang attempted to disguise the crime as a suicide.
Authorities later discovered that he returned home, disposed of her mobile phone and his bloodstained clothes in a nearby reservoir, and checked into a hotel. There, he attempted to end his own life but was found by hotel staff and taken to hospital. His arrest soon followed.
The autopsy confirmed that the victim died from mechanical asphyxiation caused by deep neck wounds. The severity and planning behind the act led prosecutors to pursue a charge of intentional homicide, which carries the maximum penalty under Chinese law.
What made Zhang’s case stand out in China?
Zhang’s execution has been viewed as unprecedented in the context of China’s entertainment industry. While capital punishment is still enforced in China for violent crimes, it is rare for a public figure to receive such a sentence.
At the time of his arrest, Zhang had a modest but growing presence in Chinese pop culture. He had appeared in web dramas and music shows and was seen as an emerging talent. The trial became a subject of intense public debate, not only for its gruesome details but also for what it revealed about toxic relationships, mental health, and manipulation.
Chinese singer Zhang Yiyang executed for murdering teenage girlfriend, public backlash grows over film released after death Screengrab/KBIZoom
Why are people upset about Zhang Yiyang’s posthumous film?
The controversy intensified in March 2025 when Jieyou Sound Hall (also referred to as The Sound of Music), a film starring Zhang, was released after his execution. Critics have questioned the decision to distribute the film despite his criminal conviction and public outrage. Social media users expressed anger that Zhang was still being “memorialised” on screen, while the victim's identity and memory remained largely protected due to Chinese legal protocols around underage victims.
Calls have grown for stricter industry regulations and moral vetting of performers, particularly in the wake of criminal charges. Some argue that streaming platforms and production companies must be held accountable for promoting or releasing work involving convicted individuals, regardless of their status.
What does this mean for the Chinese entertainment industry?
The case has triggered a wider conversation about celebrity conduct, justice, and the limits of forgiveness in public life. Legal analysts note that Zhang’s execution reinforces China's zero-tolerance approach to crimes involving minors and premeditated violence. The case may also influence how the entertainment industry handles posthumous releases and addresses the mental wellbeing of its artists.
As the debate continues, Zhang Yiyang’s name remains a grim reminder of the dangers of unchecked aggression and manipulation, and the ultimate consequences under Chinese law.
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The company said the move comes during its 50th anniversary year and is intended to help retailers manage cost pressures and improve margins.
BESTWAY WHOLESALE has announced a £10 million investment to reduce prices on more than 2,000 core lines.
The price cuts, which are not part of any promotion, will take immediate effect and are aimed at supporting independent retailers across the UK.
The company said the move comes during its 50th anniversary year and is intended to help retailers manage cost pressures and improve margins.
Dawood Pervez, managing director at Bestway Wholesale, said: “We know our customers are under pressure – and we’re taking decisive, long-term action. This isn’t a one-off deal. It’s a real investment in the day-to-day success of the independent retail sector. By lowering our core prices, we’re helping retailers strengthen their margins and stay competitive where it really matters.”
The £10 million investment will cover all categories, focusing on everyday essentials. Bestway said the changes will be communicated through depot signage, digital platforms, newsletters, and leaflets.
Pervez added: “At Bestway, our success is built on our customers’ success. This investment shows we’re listening… we’re acting … and we’re standing shoulder to shoulder with independents across the country.”
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10 iconic Ozzy Osbourne songs that prove legends never really die
Ozzy Osbourne didn’t come into music to chase fame or play safe. He arrived like a storm, scraping his voice against the sky, dragging darkness and vulnerability into sound, and setting fire to what rock thought it was. He was messy, wild, broken, brilliant, and in that chaos, he changed everything.
With Ozzy, it wasn’t just the bat bite or the reality show or the outrageous headlines. It was the sound, the howl in your chest when War Pigs starts. The goosebumps from the first haunted notes of Mr. Crowley. The punch of recognition when Crazy Train hits the chorus. His songs crawled into your head, grabbed your guts, and shook you. It was the sound of being lost, pissed off, scared, high, in love, and staring into the damn void, sometimes all at once. He gave misfits an anthem, outcasts a home, and music a pulse that refused to die.
This isn’t just a list of songs. It’s a map of what made Ozzy Ozzy. Here are 10 recordings that turned a Birmingham dropout into a goddamn legend.
1.Black Sabbath (1970)
The day metal was born.
That first unholy riff. Church bells. Thunder. And Ozzy’s voice, terrified and terrifying. “What is this that stands before me?” he asked, and no one had heard anything like it before. This was heavy metal being born, screaming into the Birmingham gloom. And it marked the start of something new and unstoppable.
Forget subtlety. Ozzy spat venom at the suits sending kids to die: "Politicians hide themselves away! They only started the war!". It was a scream against war, greed, and lies. Every time this plays at a protest or blares through headphones, it reminds us that metal could tear down empires.
Kids who never listened to Sabbath still know that riff. The story of a time-travelling metal outcast? Bizarre. Genius. Ozzy narrated it like a tragic ghost story. But underneath it all is Ozzy, telling the story of someone broken by time and turned into steel. It crawled out of the metal dungeon and infected everything. Pop culture never stood a chance. Sad, scary, unforgettable.
He got kicked out of Sabbath. He could’ve disappeared. Instead, he teamed up with Randy Rhoads and came back louder, faster, and fully unhinged. Ozzy’s "All Aboard!" wasn't an invitation; it was a threat. "I'm going off the rails!" Cold War dread met a chorus that punched you in the chest. His solo roar back. The sound of a madman finding his power.
That creepy organ. Ozzy whispering about dead talk and dark arts. Then Randy Rhoads… oh, man, RANDY. That first solo was pure mournful beauty. Then the second one? Like demons shredding through the ceiling. Pure dark magic. He’s not mocking the dark; in fact, he’s inviting it in for tea.
This is Ozzy at his most raw. A drug song that doesn’t glamorise anything. It’s bleak, slow, and numb. When he says, “I feel the snowflakes freezing me,” it’s not poetry; it’s what addiction felt like. Ozzy admitted the drug didn’t set him free; it froze him. That honesty hit hard then and still does now. You’re not dancing to this; you’re sinking with it.
He was the Prince of Darkness, sure. But this ballad, co-written with Lemmy, stripped away the theatrics. Ozzy got personal. A soft acoustic start leads into a powerful, aching ballad about love, loss, and coming back. When Ozzy sang it in Birmingham weeks before he died, seated and fragile, there wasn’t a dry eye in the crowd. Hits harder now, doesn't it?
Before Slayer or Metallica, there was this. Raw speed, wild drumming, and Ozzy pushing every boundary. He wasn’t trying to invent a genre. He just did. Ozzy’s voice is chaos controlled, shouting about cosmic love while the band races like it’s chasing the end of the world.
The original version was about divorce. The re-recorded one, done with his daughter, was about something bigger. Time. Ageing. Loss. This wasn’t just a duet; it was a father and daughter grappling with growing up and letting go. The original was sad. The re-recording was devastating. And it gave Ozzy his only UK #1. Ozzy’s voice cracks, Kelly tries to hold it together, and the result is oddly pure. It’s not perfect. And maybe that’s why it works.
10.Take What You Want (Post Malone feat. Ozzy, 2019)
The voice that wouldn’t quit.
At 70, Ozzy landed on the rap charts. Ozzy jumped on a trap-metal track and made it his own. He sounded ghostly, powerful, and weirdly perfect: "I’m the nightmare you won’t forget!". Teenagers who’d never heard Paranoid suddenly wanted more Ozzy. That says everything.
Ozzy didn’t leave this world quietly. He left it the way he lived: loud, raw, and unforgettable. His music was the sound of someone staring into darkness, chaos, and the terrifying beauty of life and screaming back with everything he had.
When Ozzy sang Mama, I’m Coming Home one last time in Birmingham, he wasn’t just saying goodbye to a crowd; he was saying goodbye to his own story.
Ozzy Osbourne, the godfather of heavy metal, redefined rock with his haunting vocals, wild persona, and anthems that shaped generations.Getty Images
The thing is, he didn’t play by this world’s rules. But for 50 years, he gave us everything he had.
Now he’s gone.
But the music?
That stays. Forever.
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Keir Starmer (left) and Narendra Modi will sign the UK-India trade deal during the latter's two-day visit to UK
PRIME MINISTER Keir Starmer has been more sure-footed on the world stage than at home in his first year in office, but is sensitive to the wrong-headed charge that he spends too much time abroad.
So, this will be a week when world leaders come to him, with fleeting visits from both Indian prime minister Narendra Modi and US president Donald Trump, touring his golf courses in Scotland before his formal state visit in September. The main purpose of Modi’s two-day stopover is to sign the India-UK trade deal, agreed in May, but overshadowed then by the escalation of conflict between India and Pakistan.
This is Modi’s fourth visit to the UK since taking office – with a change of Monarch and a new prime minister or three since he was last here. Beyond a trip to the Palace, this working visit may lack the razzmatazz of his earlier visits, with no public engagements on anything like the scale of his addressing a Wembley stadium full of the British Indian diaspora alongside David Cameron a decade ago.
It would seem a missed opportunity if the prime ministerial schedules do not allow them to make it to the India versus England Test match at Old Trafford in Manchester. Modi did once take Anthony Albanese, the rather Starmeresque Australian prime minister – to see Australia play India in Ahmedabad, at the Narendra Modi Stadium, no less. Keir Starmer could hardly match that. A trip to watch the cricket would be an instrumental chance to communicate the trade deal. It would exemplify the unique depth of cultural connections and people-to-people links central to today’s post-imperial relationship. And it would be a chance to find out what happens next in a brilliant sporting contest.
This series does not have what we might intuitively think is the key ingredient of a sporting classic: the best teams in the world competing at their peak. These England and India sides are teams in transition – yet their competing talents and flaws are evenly matched enough to produce an epic drama, filled with compelling swings of the pendulum. So, India head to Old Trafford for the fourth Test bemused to somehow find themselves twoone behind, having been the better team on most days, but not in the decisive moments. If India could level the series before the final Oval Test, this could have a good claim to be the most memorable series that England and India have ever played.
Yet Old Trafford has not been a happy hunting ground for India – with four defeats and five draws in the past nine Tests. Yet young Indian Shubman Gill has already given the first ever win at Edgbaston in his first season as captain, between the narrow defeats at Headingley and Lords, so is unlikely to be daunted by the shadow of history.
Yet Old Trafford was also the scene of one of the greatest ever Indian performances – fully 129 summers ago, long before India had a Test team, as the swashbuckling prince Ranjitsinhji scored 154 not out for England in the Ashes test. Ranji had been left out at Lords, regarded as a ‘mere bird of passage’ by MCC selector but the Old Trafford selectors responded to the press and public clamour for Ranji’s selection, and his swashbuckling innings becoming the stuff of Victorian cricketing legend. Ranji’s history of 1896 makes it even more remarkable that Wisden Cricket monthly was to disgrace itself a century later with an article headlined “Is it all in the blood?” by Robert Henderson, which called for ‘a rigorously racially and culturally determined selection policy’. The explicit argument was that those without ancestral ethnic connections could never feel ‘a deep, unquestioning commitment to England’ but would risk instead gaining a conscious or subconscious satisfaction in seeing England humiliated. Wisden settled legal claims from Devon Malcolm and Phil Defraitas out of court for describing them as not ‘unequivocal Englishmen’ who should be excluded on these grounds.
The Wisden Affair exemplifies that there was a strong common sense consensus that ethnic minorities could be English at least 30 years ago. England’s black footballers had clearly settled this question by the early 1990s too. In doing so, they made the black English rather more culturally familiar than the Asian English.
Cricket did more to complicate questions of national identity and sporting allegiance. Most fans saw the Tebbit test as outside the spirit of cricket – it does not apply to Australians here, or the English down under. British Asians are only likely to play for England, not India or Pakistan, but still more likely to support the Asian teams at cricket while cheering for England at football. Norman Tebbit died the week before the Lord’s Test, where Shoaib Bashir took the final Indian wicket for England. It may have been a sign from above that the argument has moved on.
Sunder Katwala is the director of thinktank British Future and the author of the book How to Be a Patriot: The must-read book on British national identity and immigration.