More from Fast & Furious: Fast Five

 " Before ex-con and ace racer Dom Toretto (Vin Diesel) can be sent to prison, he is rescued by his sister Mia (Jordana Brewster) and her boyfriend, ex-cop Brian O'Conner (Paul Walker) and whisked off to Rio de Janeiro. But before the family can begin a new life, they must pull off a last heist and race unto hell once again. Needless to say, the ride gets rough, with dogged cop Luke Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson) in hot pursuit. "

fast and furious 5

Movie Review: The franchise which began on a high note with Fast and Furious and then went off course with the last two sequels (Tokyo Drift, 2 Fast 2 Furious) seems to be back on track in it's fifth version. And there are three reasons why this one works so well.

First, the film has been shot against the picturesque backdrop of Rio, with most of the planning by the glitzy gang being done in the dingy, overcrowded favelas (slums) of the sprawling city. The shoot-outs and the brazen chases are a treat to watch as Diesel and his gang leapfrog across the tenement skyline in gravity-defying splendour.

Secondly, the film has two action giants pitted against each other, which means you are going to get total value for money in the kick-butt department. As if Vin Diesel's bald and brawny machismo wasn't enough, there's hard-rock Dwayne Johnson standing tall as his worthy opponent. The eye-ball to eye-ball confrontations and the gritty physical encounters between the two are the stuff dream AXN cuts are made of. Add to this all that guy bonding between the two (they end up as frenemies) and you have a cops-and-robbers duo that grabs eyeballs from their very first encounter.

And finally, the Fast and Furious franchise works only when its cars revv up furiously and the daredevils drive off to hell....There are enough brazen races here to send your testosterone into a tizzy and keep you glued to your seats, seat belts on. Yes, these guys can do anything with their cars and the cars are archetypal dream machines. Keep guessing the names and go gung-ho on the vroom quotient

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We will get justice: Shiney's wife

"Bollywood actor Shiney Ahuja''s wife Anupam has said that she has faith in Indian judiciary and believes that her husband will get justice in the alleged rape case. "


The ''Woh Lamhe'' star, who was accused of raping his 18-year-old maid in June 2009, is currently on bail and has appealed against the verdict at a higher court.

Despite calling the three-year ordeal ''horrific'', Anupam said that their spirits have not been broken.

While speaking exclusively to tabloid! the economics graduate said she is determined to support her husband until the end.

"I feel as if I have landed in the woods and it''s a long walk to get out of there. I cannot afford to focus on how hard the walk is or if an animal is going to bite me or focus on how tired I am... At such a time, there''s only one thing to do and that''s to keep walking," the Gulf News quoted Anupam as saying.

When asked that what made her decide to support her husband and how was the ordeal, she said, "It was the right thing to do. It wasn''t a choice or a decision to be made. It was the most obvious decision to make.

"You don''t abandon a man who is innocent and you don''t abandon the truth either. It was horrific... this whole thing. But when you know this thing is absolutely false - you don''t walk away. You don''t walk away from people you love. You stand by them when they have been wronged.

"It was that which kept me going and it was that which kept the entire family going. We believe in our judiciary and have faith that we will get justice," she added.

Anupam also said that due to his celebrity status, the actor has been made a soft target and has been framed for some motif.

"Definitely, he was a soft target. With films like Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi and Gangster, he had fame but did not have the clout or a network in Bollywood. If anybody were to target him, he is a perfect target - completely soft.

"There was no network beneath that fame. And Shiney being Shiney - he is the kind of guy who has always believed that talent will speak for itself. He kept saying people will buy talent. It was something of a debate between us and I often said that it may make a huge difference if you go out there and meet people.

"The motive could be greed or the motive could be jealousy because of his rising fame. I am not at liberty to speculate now. The fact is that it is a frame up - 100 per cent. At this point, all I can tell you is that there were forces at work to bring him down. I can reveal more after the court case comes to a close," she added. 

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Microsoft buys Skype for $8.5bn

NEW YORK: US software giant Microsoft will buy Internet phone service company Skype for $8.5 billion dollars, the companies announced.

"Skype is a phenomenal service that is loved by millions of people around the world," Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer said in a statement.

"Together we will create the future of real-time communications so people can easily stay connected to family, friends, clients and colleagues anywhere in the world."

Microsoft said Skype will become a new business division within Microsoft, and that Skype CEO Tony Bates will assume the title of president of the Microsoft Skype Division, reporting directly to Ballmer.

Microsoft and Skype said the deal has been approved by the boards of directors of both the Redmond, Washington-based Microsoft and the Luxembourg-based Skype, which is owned by investor group Silver Lake.

Bates said Microsoft and Skype "share the vision of bringing software innovation and products to our customers.

"Together, we will be able to accelerate Skype's plans to extend our global community and introduce new ways for everyone to communicate and collaborate," Bates said.

Silver Lake managing director Egon Durban said he is "excited about Skype's long-term future with Microsoft, as it is poised to become one of the world's most dynamic and comprehensive communications platforms."

The companies said Skype will support Microsoft devices like the Xbox game console and Kinect motion controller, Windows Phone and a wide array of Windows devices.

Microsoft will also support Skype clients on non-Microsoft platforms, they said.

Skype was founded in 2003 and acquired by online auction giant eBay in September 2005. It was sold to the investment group led by Silver Lake in November 2009.

Millions of people use Skype to make low cost or free phone calls over the Internet using their computers or smartphones. Skype bypasses the standard telephone network by channeling voice and video calls over the Web.

Buying Skype could be a way for Microsoft to shed some of its business software image and gain momentum in a hot smartphone market at a time when Internet lifestyles are going mobile.

Skype last year announced plans for an initial public offering of stock and appeared on its way to profitability, but investors are evidently eager for a payoff.
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British Parliament could soon host wedding receptions

LONDON: The buildings housing the British Parliament could host wedding receptions and open their restaurants to the public under plans unveiled on Tuesday to cut the annual catering bill.

A cross-party committee of lawmakers even suggested that the historic Westminster Hall, where king Charles I was tried and Winston Churchill was laid in state, could be hired out for private functions at £25,000 (28,400 euros, $41,000).

The dining terrace alongside the River Thames may also be opened to the public.

The catering operation at the Palace of Westminster -- as the complex of buildings is officially known -- makes an annual loss of £5.7 million.

The proposals are aimed at cutting the costs by half.

The lawmakers said the catering operation's losses were growing because of lawmakers' changing habits.

Healthier lifestyles and stricter working practices have reduced the number of formal lunches and left parliament's four main dining rooms under-occupied.

The House of Lords, the upper house of Parliament, and Queen Elizabeth II would have approve any proposals to open up the facilities to the public.

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US was ready for firefight with Pakistan during Abbottabad raid

osama bin laden killed

WASHINGTON: US President Barack Obamainsisted American commandos raiding deep inside Pakistan on the Osama bin Laden mission have enough firepower to shoot their way out in case of a confrontation with Pakistani forces it has been revealed, even as Washington continued to get tough with Islamabad over its dodgy policy on terrorism.

Amid worsening ties with its one-time ally, the Obama administration also signaled on Monday that it was not worried about Pakistan's ability to interdict the American supply route to Afghanistan because the US was ready with alternate plans. Washington also unleashed another Drone strike inside Pakistan on Tuesday, the second since it killed bin Laden, amid continued rants from Islamabad about violation of its sovereignty.

The White House capped the blunt, no-holds-barred American response to Islamabad's tirade by asserting that it will not apologize for its raid to nail bin Laden even as the public mood in the US turned sour on Pakistan, with demands that the Obama administration cease or suspend all aid to a country seen as fostering terrorism.

But the most surprising development is the disclosure by US officials, through two news outlets, that President Obama was willing to risk a confrontation with Pakistan by ordering an increase in force size to protect the core group of Navy Seals who went in to get bin Laden. Two dozen Navy Seals in two choppers were said to be involved in the raid on bin Laden's lair, but two addition choppers with more than 50 personnel provided perimeter cover in case of a Pakistani reaction.

"Their instructions were to avoid any confrontation if at all possible. But if they had to return fire to get out, they were authorized to do it," one US official was quoted as saying in the New York Times. A Time magazine blog had earlier quoted the President as telling operational planners, "I don't want you to plan for an option that doesn't allow you to fight your way out."

The US has gotten into occasional firefights with Pakistani troops -- many of whose officer corps are US-trained -- on the Afghan border, but Washington's directive during the raid is illustrative of how much the rift between the two sides has widened. US military personnel who have served in the Af-Pak theatre often speak of Pakistani perfidy in fostering militants who attack American and Nato forces in Afghanistan even as Islamabad claims to be an ally in the war on terror.

The gradual realization in Washington of this "two-faced" Pakistani policy has led to calls for suspension of aid to Islamabad from a range of US lawmakers and analysts. On Monday, SenatorDiane Feinstein, who chairs the Senate Intelligence Committee, broke ranks with her colleaguesJohn Kerry and Richard Lugar, in questioning aid to Pakistan. "Either we're going to be allies in fighting terror, or the relationship makes less and less sense to me," Feinstein told reporters, adding, "...to enable him(bin Laden) to live in Pakistan in a military community for six years, I just don't believe it was done without some form of complicity."

Asked about the support Pakistan was getting from Kerry and Lugar, who are inclined to give Pakistan the benefit of doubt and whose eponymous bill funnels $ 1.5 billion annually to Islamabad, Feinstein said, "I understand that. I feel a little differently."

Kerry and Lugar are among a small group of lawmakers who are concerned with, among other things, Pakistan's ability to choke US supply route to its 140,000 troops in Afghanistan. But Obama administration officials indicated on Monday that they had factored in that possibility as they turned the heat on Pakistan to change course.

"We're confident that we're not dependent upon any particular single thread, and we can continue to supply the Afghanistan effort," US undersecretary of defense for acquisition, technology and logistics Ashton Carter told a wire service.

The Obama administration's tough posture towards Pakistan, a shifty ally that was mollycoddled by previous administrations despite its fostering of terrorism, has sent the country rushing to seek solace from China, its "all-weather friend." After a defiant speech in Parliament on Monday in which lavished praise on Beijing while twitting Washington, Pakistan's Prime Minister Yousef Raza Gilani scheduled a four-day visit to China starting May 17.

Some US analysts were not impressed. Tom Ricks, a foreign policy expert who writes the "Best Defense" blog, suggested that Washington needs to have "a short-term plan that temporarily keeps us close to Pakistan, followed by a much different long-run strategy that cuts us loose from this wreck of a state." 

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