Bollywood stars Johar and Mirza to host SAIFTA

Plus: The Civil Wars top Billboard's album chart; Chris Brown sentenced to 1,000 hours community labour; Philippines snag Emmy nods; Nadine Coyle of Girls Aloud expecting a baby.

The Bollywood actress Dia Mirza will be hosting the SAIFTA ceremony next month in Durban. Mahesh Kumar A / AP

The Bollywood filmmaker Karan Johar and the actress Dia Mirza will host the first edition of the South Africa India Film and Television Awards (SAIFTA), which will also feature performances by the actresses Madhuri Dixit and Priyanka Chopra. The event will be held on September 6 in Durban. Also scheduled to perform are Ranveer Singh, Siddharth Malhotra, Manish Paul, Mona Singh, Apurva Agnihotri and Shilpa Agnihotri. More than 150 Indian film and TV personalities are expected to attend the show. – IANS

The Civil Wars top Billboard chart

The country music duo The Civil Wars have scored their first No. 1 on the Billboard 200 album chart with their second album, knocking off last week's chart-topper, Robin Thicke. The latest compilation of the Now That's What I Call Music! series, Now 47, featuring hits from Justin Timberlake, Selena Gomez and Bruno Mars, landed at No. 2, while Thicke's Blurred Lines album dropped to third place. Thicke held onto the top position on Billboard's digital songs chart with his single Blurred Lines. – Reuters

Chris Brown sentenced to 1,000 hours community labour

A judge reinstated Chris Brown's revoked probation on Friday and gave the singer a new sentence to perform 1,000 hours of community labour, such as cleaning beaches and removing graffiti. Brown's current legal troubles are the latest repercussions of his arrest four years ago for assaulting his former girlfriend Rihanna. The court withdrew a request to rescind Brown's probation because of a hit-and-run charge that was dismissed in another court on Thursday. Brown, 24, didn't speak during Friday's hearing, other than to agree to the deal worked out while he waited in the courtroom with his mother. The singer has been in and out of court since pleading guilty to the 2009 assault on Rihanna. Besides making reports on fulfilling the requirements of an earlier order for community labour, he has had subsequent run-ins with the law for assault and traffic accidents. – AP

Philippines snag Emmy nods

The Philippine television network GMA has received two International Emmy nominations in the Current Affairs and News categories. GMA's documentary programme I-Witness was nominated in the Current Affairs category for a feature about a boy in a remote province who earns a living catching fish, collecting seashells and diving for sea cucumbers. The network's nightly news programme 24 Oras (24 Hours) was nominated in the News category for its reporting on Typhoon Pablo, which hit the country in December. The international winners will be announced in New York on October 1 as part of the ceremony presenting the News and Documentary Emmy Awards to their American counterparts. – AP

Girls Aloud’s Coyle expecting a baby

The former Girls Aloud member Nadine Coyle says she is pregnant with her first child. The 28-year-old British pop star posted a snapshot of herself on her Instagram account, with the caption: "I am having a baby." Girls Aloud came together a decade ago on the UK reality show Popstars: The Rivals and went on to have a string of hits. The members – Cheryl Cole, Nicola Roberts, Kimberley Walsh, Sarah Harding and Coyle – later pursued solo projects with varying degrees of success. – AP

Follow us

And follow us on Facebook for discussions, entertainment, reviews, wellness and news.