The British-Lebanese lawyer Amal Alamuddin, who is due to marry to Hollywood actor George Clooney next month, has turned down a United Nations offer to join the team investigating Israel for possible war crimes in Gaza. "I was contacted by the UN about this for the first time this morning," she said. "I am honoured to have received the offer, but given existing commitments – including eight ongoing cases – I unfortunately could not accept this role." The 36-year-old added that she was "horrified by the situation in the occupied Gaza Strip, particularly the civilian casualties that have been caused". The UN had asked her to be part of a three-person commission looking into whether Israel had deliberately targeted civilians during their military action in Gaza against Hamas. She has previously served as the legal adviser to the prosecutor of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, and has represented high-profile clients such as the WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and the former Ukrainian prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko. She was born in Lebanon but moved to England as a child. – The National staff
Emma Stone to portray Sally Bowles on Broadway
Spider-Man star Emma Stone, who last year abandoned plans to appear in the Broadway revival of the musical , might still be in need of fishnets and a bowler hat. Roundabout Theatre Company said that the actress was in negotiations to make her Broadway debut as Sally Bowles. She would take over from Michelle Williams, who has extended her run as Bowles, opposite the Scottish actor and The Good Wife star Alan Cumming, until November 9. The revival opened on Broadway in April. Williams stepped into the role, once played by Liza Minnelli, when Stone had to withdraw due to scheduling conflicts. Set in 1931 Berlin, Cabaret centres on the world of the indulgent Kit Kat Klub as it becomes intertwined with the world outside, which gets more precarious as Nazis take over. The songs by John Kander and Fred Ebb include Willkommen and Tomorrow Belongs to Me. – AP
Distinction between men and women ‘silly’, says SRK
Shah Rukh Khan, who was seen dancing with a female police officer at a recent event in Kolkata – for which she was later reprimanded – said the whole fuss wasn't about the uniform but about a "lady in a uniform". "It's strange … a few years ago, I was shooting for Veer Zaara. At that time, I had danced with jawans [infantrymen] in uniform. In the 1960s and 1970s, many actors performed on the border for the jawans to encourage them. This is not about the uniform, it's about a lady inspector in uniform. This distinction between men and women is rubbish and silly. It should not even be talked about," Khan said. Sub-inspector Sampa Haldar was criticised by politicians after she danced with the star to a popular song from Khan's 2012 film Jab Tak Hai Jaan while a host of top police officers and West Bengal's chief minister Mamata Banerjee watched from the gallery during the Kolkata Police's annual cultural programme at the Netaji Indoor Stadium on Saturday. – IANS
Pharrell teaming up with basketball video game NBA 2K15
Pharrell is teaming up with the world’s best-selling basketball video game franchise as a music curator.
2K Sports has announced that the Grammy-winning performer chose 27 tracks for the soundtrack of the upcoming NBA 2K15. He’s the second performer to select songs for the popular video game, following Jay Z who served as the executive producer in 2012.
LeBron James picked out songs for last year’s instalment, which sold seven million copies.
Pharrell said that he wanted to create an "eclectic mix" of songs. Three of his songs are featured on the soundtrack including Hunter, Can I Have It Like That and How Does It Feel?
Another song Pharrell will be featured on is Major Lazer's Aerosol Can. The soundtrack will also include songs from Lauryn Hill, One Republic, Snoop Dogg, Lorde, A Tribe Called Quest, Missy Elliott, Junior, Basement Jaxx, Afrika Bambaataa & Soulsonic Force, Clipse, Death from Above 1979, No Doubt, Public Enemy, Ratatat, Santigold, The Black Keys, The Rapture, The Strokes, Strafe, Depeche Mode and Red Hot Chili Peppers. The game is expected to go on sale on October 7, 2014. – AP
Salman Khan to host Bigg Boss Season 8
Colors TV confirmed, via Twitter, that Salman Khan will host the controversial Indian reality show Bigg Boss Season 8.
Big Boss is based on the premise of the UK's Big Brother series - a reality show where contestants live in a house together and are voted off week by week until a winner emerges. Other stars touted to appear on the show are Rashmi Desai, Poonam Pandey, Sunil Grover, Lulia Vantur, Alok Nath, Gurmeet Choudhary and Debina, Shanti Dynamite. – The National staff
Kings of Leon drummer cancels Fallon because of broken ribs
The Kings of Leon will be off the road for two weeks while drummer Nathan Followill recovers from broken ribs.
The family band from Nashville, Tennessee, will be off the road for two weeks while Followill recovers, a statement from the band says. But Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson is coming to the rescue for Tuesday night's appearance on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon.
Thompson, the house bandleader, will sit in for the 35-year-old Followill on the song Family Tree.
The band is cancelling nine shows, including Sunday’s missed gig in Saratoga Springs, New York.
Followill broke his ribs when the band’s tour bus driver was forced to stop short when a pedestrian crossed the street in front of the vehicle Saturday night after KOL’s show in Boston.
The Grammy Award-winning band will return to the stage on August 28 in Holmdel, New Jersey. The group's current tour is scheduled to run into October. – AP