Late-night talk-show host Jimmy Kimmel will host the 68th Primetime Emmy Awards in September. The event, television's equivalent of the Oscars rotates among the four main TV networks – ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox – and Kimmel has presented it once before, when it was last aired on ABC in 2012. "I am excited to be hosting the Emmys again. I have a feeling I'm going to be great," the 48-year-old New Yorker said. Jimmy Kimmel Live, now in its 14th season, is ABC's longest-running late-night talk show. The Emmy Awards will be broadcast live from Los Angeles on September 18. The nominations will be announced July 14. – AFP
New album due from Bob Dylan At nearly 75 years old, Bob Dylan has announced the release of a new album and a tour to accompany it. Dylan said that his 37th studio album, Fallen Angels, would be released on May 20 but revealed little else about it. The icon of 1960s counterculture revealed the album only in passing as he announced a summer tour, announcing on Facebook that each pair of tickets would include a copy of the CD as a bonus. Fallen Angels comes barely a year after Dylan's previous album, Shadows in the Night, a collection of pop standards that had been performed by Frank Sinatra. Dylan said his latest US tour would begin on June 4 near Seattle. Dylan has also announced a 15-date tour of Japan in April. – AFP
Akhtar’s song for Women’s Day
Actor and filmmaker Farhan Akhtar has released a new song, We Are All on the Goodside, in honour of International Women’s Day. He said, “The song talks about an equal world – seeing every person beyond gender, colour of skin, caste, creed, economic definition and race. It talks about celebrating equality as opposed to challenging it.” The actor says he cannot dedicate this song to just one person and that it is for all who are “a part of struggle”. He said a painting by his younger daughter Akira inspired him to write the song. “She created a drawing which had this written: ‘We are all on the good side’,” says Akhtar. “I was inspired by that because I found that, in its childlike way, a great way to look at the world. Hopefully everyone could see it like that – that everyone is on the same side in one team of wanting to live happily and peacefully with each other.” Akhtar is a supporter of empowering women and contributes to the organisation MARD (Men Against Rape and Discrimination). He is also the male ambassador for UN Women in South Asia. – IANS
AC/DC postpones US tour dates
Rock group AC/DC has postponed the remaining dates on the band’s US tour after singer Brian Johnson was warned he risked going deaf. Johnson, 68, “has been advised by doctors to stop touring immediately or risk total hearing loss”, the band said. AC/DC, famous for their high-decibel live shows, will reschedule the 10 remaining United States shows, “likely with a guest vocalist”. Johnson joined the band in 1980 after original singer Bon Scott died. – AP
JK Rowling’s Harry Potter chair for sale
The chair JK Rowling sat on while writing the first two books in the Harry Potter series is up for auction in New York City, with an opening price of US$45,000 (Dh165,282). Rowling placed “this unassuming 1930s-era oak chair with a replacement burlap seat decorated with a red thistle ... in front of her typewriter and went about writing two of the most important books of the modern era”, says James Gannon, director of rare books at Heritage Auctions. It was one of four mismatched chairs given to the impoversished artist for her flat in Edinburgh, Scotland, and which she used while writing Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. Fans can get a look at the Harry Potter memorabilia in the window of Heritage’s Park Avenue gallery from Friday. Potential buyers can bid online from March 18. The live auction will take place on April 6. – AP
9/11 film to star Sheen and Goldberg
Charlie Sheen and Whoopi Goldberg are starring in a film about the September 11, 2001 attacks on the US that began filming on Monday. The action-drama, titled Nine Eleven, tells the story of five people trapped an elevators at the World Trade Center. "It's a project eight years in the making – a miracle it's come together," said Argentine director Martin Guigui. The cast also includes Puerto Rican actor Luis Guzman and Wood Harris, who played the role of drug baron Avon Barksdale in The Wire. The movie is scheduled for release this year. – AFP
Brazilian musician Gilberto Gil in hospital
Brazilian music legend Gilberto Gil has been hospitalised in Sao Paulo for nearly two weeks with high blood pressure, raising fears for the long-term health of the 73-year-old. Gil and Caetano Veloso shook the foundations of Brazilian music in the 1960s with Bossa Nova, a fusion of samba and jazz. Gil, who once served as Brazil’s culture minister, is one of the most respected musicians in the country and is also internationally renowned. The duo is scheduled to return to the stage in April with performances in Chile, Peru, the US and Europe. – AFP
Wife of ex-Eagles member dies in accidental shooting
The wife of former Eagles band member Randy Meisner was killed when a rifle she was handling accidentally discharged and shot her in the head. Police officers found 63-year-old Lana Rae Meisner dead on Sunday from a single gunshot wound at the couple's home in the San Fernando Valley. Investigators say she had lifted the rifle from a storage case when another item inside moved and hit the trigger, causing the gun to fire. Police say Randy Meisner was cooperative throughout the investigation. Earlier on Sunday, police had responded to the address and took a domestic-violence incident report. Randy Meisner cofounded the Eagles, played bass and guitar, and co-wrote and sang the hit Take It To the Limit. He left the band in 1977. – AP
Wife of ex-Eagles member dies in accidental shooting
Body: The wife of former Eagles band member Randy Meisner was killed when a rifle she was handling accidentally discharged and shot her in the head. Police officers found 63-year-old Lana Rae Meisner dead on Sunday from a single gunshot wound at the couple’s home in the San Fernando Valley. Investigators say she had lifted the rifle from a storage case when another item inside moved and hit the trigger, causing the gun to fire. Police say Randy Meisner was cooperative throughout the investigation. Earlier on Sunday, police had responded to the address and took a domestic-violence incident report. Randy Meisner cofounded the Eagles, played bass and guitar, and co-wrote and sang the hit Take It To the Limit. He left the band in 1977. – AP