Toronto film festival unveils line-up

Plus: George Harrison memorial tree killed by beetles; Preity Zinta files new complaints against Ness Wadia; and Salman Khan fans aim 'kick' at Raj Kundra.

Benedict Cumberbatch in The Imitation Game. Courtesy TIFF

The National staff with agencies

Benedict Cumberbatch, Jon Stewart and Alan Rickman will all bring films to the 39th Toronto International Film Festival. The annual film festival is the largest launching pad to Hollywood's awards season. It announced its line-up on Tuesday. While festival programmers have yet to name an opening night film, Rickman's A Little Chaos, starring Kate Winslet and Stanley Tucci, will close the festival. The festival will feature Stewart's directorial ­debut, Rosewater, about the imprisonment of the Iranian journalist Maziar Bahari. Cumberbatch's Second World War drama The Imitation Game will be screened, too. The Indian biopic Mary Kom, starring Priyanka Chopra, will also premiere at the festival, which runs from September 4-14. – AP

George Harrison memorial tree killed by beetles

A tree planted in Los Angeles to honour the former Beatle George Harrison has been killed – by beetles. Councilman Tom LaBonge says the pine grew to more than 12 feet tall before succumbing to a bark beetle infestation. The tree was removed last month. LaBonge says it will be replanted in the autumn and that several trees at Griffith Park have been killed by the beetles. – AP

Preity Zinta files new complaints against Ness Wadia

The Bollywood actress Preity Zinta has levelled fresh accusations against her ex-boyfriend, the industrialist Ness Wadia. In a letter to the Mumbai Police, Zinta said Wadia, with whom she co-owns an Indian Premier League (IPL) cricket team, threw burning cigarettes at her face and had locked her up in a room. Zinta claims this happened before the incident on May 30 at a city stadium during an IPL game, where Wadia reportedly molested her. Police are still investigating the case. – The National staff

Salman Khan fans aim ‘kick’ at Raj Kundra

The Indian businessman Raj Kundra, the husband of the Bollywood star Shilpa Shetty, is facing flak from Salman Khan’s fans on Twitter after an interview in which he compared his earnings with Khan’s. “I don’t see any fun in being like him. I can bet Salman doesn’t earn that much ... well, at least nowhere near me,” Kundra said in The Times of India article published on Tuesday, which immediately went viral online. After Sallu’s fans expressed outrage, Kundra took to Twitter on Wednesday to say that his words had been “tweaked”: “I’m disappointed at today’s journalism, words r twekd frm interviews 4 sellable articles. I’d like to clarify I’m a businessman, not an actor!” – The National staff