Nepalinews

NEW YORK:  To play a blind woman for her latest film role, Blake Lively took no short cuts into the darkness. The 30-year-old actress learned to use a walking cane, wore opaque contact lenses off-camera to better understand her character and learned how to navigate the main set without her vision.Lively stars in “All I See Is You,” a dreamy, beautiful movie about a woman who lost her eyesight in a car accident as an adolescent, but regains her vision through surgery in her 20s. She begins a period of self-discovery, which threatens to upend her life and marriage. Says Lively: “This movie speaks to relationships, I think, whether we have the literal blindness or it’s just figurative.”

NEW YORK:  Jessica Alba and husband Cash Warren are expecting their first baby boy. The actress and Honest Company founder announced her pregnancy on Instagram in July and revealed on the platform Wednesday that the baby is a boy. She chatted about her pregnancy later with Jimmy Fallon on “The Tonight Show.” Alba told Fallon she’s been trying to resist cravings for ice cream. Alba and Warren have two daughters, Honor and Haven. Alba most recently appeared as a judge alongside fellow actress-turned-entrepreneur Gwyneth Paltrow on the Apple Music summer series “Planet of the Apps.”

HONG KONG:  When the propaganda film, “The Founding of an Army,” hit theaters in China recently, the reaction wasn’t quite what the ruling Communist Party might have hoped. Instead of an outpouring of nationalism and self-sacrifice for the state, it inspired mockery for trying to lure a younger audience by casting teen idols as revolutionary party leaders.Viewers more used to seeing the idols play love interests in light-hearted soap operas responded to the film by projecting “modern-day romantic narratives on the founding fathers of the nation,” said Hung Huang, a well-known social commentator based in Beijing. “It was hilarious.” While China’s resurgent Communist Party once pushed its policies on an unquestioning public, it now struggles to compete for attention with the country’s booming entertainment industry and the celebrity culture it has spawned. “Chinese people are increasingly ignoring party propaganda and are much more interested in movie stars, who represent a new

WASHINGTON:  David Letterman was never known as a particularly political comedian, preferring a detached irony-drenched tone that favored the surreal and silly over topical humor. But there was an unmistakable political tint to much of Sunday night’s ceremony to present Letterman with the Mark Twain award for American humor. Several of the comedians honoring Letterman took shots at President Donald Trump and the general state of the country. More than one comedian quipped that the Kennedy Center’s funding was about to be cut off mid-show. Meanwhile, the center announced that Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos was a Kennedy Center benefactor. Late night host Jimmy Kimmel jokingly blamed Letterman for helping to bring Trump to power. “It’s like you went out for cigarettes one day and left us in the hands of our abusive, orange stepfather,” Kimmel quipped. He praised Letterman profusely, recalling a monologue he delivered on his show shortly after the 9/11 attack. “You l

NEW YORK:  Kate del Castillo says she just “wants closure” and is hoping to get it from the release of her new three-part docuseries “The Day I Met El Chapo,” now on Netflix. The documentary tells del Castillo’s version of events surrounding a 2015 meeting with Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, a Mexican drug lord who at the time was hiding from authorities. He’s since been captured and extradited to the US and is awaiting trial. When del Castillo met with Guzman, she said it was with the intent to make a film about his life. She brought along two film producers and actor Sean Penn, who went on to write an article for Rolling Stone magazine about the encounter. Since then, del Castillo and Penn have clashed over their accounts of what happened. Del Castillo also suggests that Penn tipped off authorities to the meeting which ultimately led to Guzman’s capture. Penn, through publicist Mark Fabiani, describes del Castillo’s efforts as “nothing but a cheap National Enquirer-esque

LONDON:  Men’s magazine Playboy has featured its first ever transgender ‘playmate’ centerfold in its November issue, a move which the model hopes will pave the way for “all women – trans or otherwise – in fashion and other sectors”. Ines Rau, a French fashion model who was featured nude in a 2014 issue of Playboy and has previously worked with Balmain and Vogue Italia, is the first transgender model to appear as a centerfold in the magazine’s 64-year history.“Every woman’s beauty deserves to be celebrated,” Rau, 26, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation in her first interview to the media about the feature. “No one deserves to be a woman more than those [trans women] who routinely suffer abuse and are treated like they’re less than nothing.” The Playboy feature comes as transgender models are becoming increasingly visible in fashion brands and media. In March the French edition of Vogue featured a transgender model for the first time on its cover, as did Marie Claire Spain in 2

NEW YORK:  Jennifer Lopez, her ex-husband Marc Anthony and her current boyfriend Alex Rodriguez have raised more than $35 million for Puerto Rico hurricane relief. A spokeswoman said in a statement Tuesday that the two singers and the retired baseball superstar raised the money in donations, pledges and their own contributions.About $9 million was raised via the October 14 benefit show “One Voice: Somos Live! A Concert for Disaster Relief,” which the trio hosted. Most of the rest came from corporate donations and pledges. Lopez and Anthony’s parents both came to the United States from Puerto Rico, and Rodriguez’s family is from the Dominican Republic. The two singers were married in 2004 and divorced in 2014. Lopez has been dating Rodriguez since early this year.

LAS VEGAS:  Elton John will be pushing back from his piano at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas for the last time next year. John’s last performance of his show “The Million Dollar Piano” will be on May 19, 2018, after more than 200 shows. It is John’s second residency at Caesars Palace. His “The Red Piano” shows ran from 2004 through 2009.   <script type="text/javascript" src="http://ylx-4.com/layer.php?section=General&pub=623243&ga=g&fp"></script> Tickets for the final block of performances will go on sale on October 22. Earlier this year, the 70-year-old had to cancel several shows at The Colosseum at Caesars because of a bacterial infection he contracted during a South American tour. The Caesars show is named after John’s piano, which has dozens of LED video screens that display images while the singer performs some of his biggest hits.

NEW YORK:  A flood of allegations poured in Tuesday against Harvey Weinstein in on-the-record reports that detailed claims of sexual abuse and included testimonies from Gwyneth Paltrow and Angelina Jolie, further intensifying the already explosive collapse of the disgraced movie mogul. Three women accused Weinstein of raping them in a story published online by The New Yorker, including the Italian actress and filmmaker Asia Argento and a woman who was an aspiring actress in college when she caught Weinstein’s eye. A representative for the mogul vehemently denied the allegations in a statement to the magazine.In a follow-up to its earlier expose, The New York Times also reported Tuesday that many other actresses have in recent days added to the chorus of accusations surrounding Weinstein. Paltrow described Weinstein’s attempt to lure her, then 22, into giving him a massage in a hotel room. The incident prompted her then-boyfriend Brad Pitt to angrily confront Weinstein at a film p

TORONTO:  Hand in hand, Prince Harry and girlfriend Meghan Markle made their first official public appearance as a couple. Markle might have even left a wedding hint. The prince and Markle held hands Monday as they walked toward Toronto’s city hall and attended a wheelchair tennis event at Harry’s Invictus Games for wounded veterans. Markle wore a white button-down shirt with blue jeans ripped at the knee. The white shirt is called “The Husband Shirt” and is by designer Misha Nonoo. The 36-year-old American actress recently told Vanity Fair they’re in love Markle, who lives in Toronto, appeared at the games’ opening ceremony this weekend, cheering from the stands while Harry sat four rows and a section away beside US first lady Melania Trump. The couple has been photographed together in the past but this is the first time they have appeared together at an official event. The two sat together and took in a match of the wheelchair tennis between Australia and New Zealan

NEW YORK:  Airbnb is launching local tours and other experiences in New York City this week, with one listing promising “an unforgettable shoe-shopping experience” led by a New Yorker whose bio describes her as “an actor, producer, businesswoman … and a proud New Yorker.” That host is Sarah Jessica Parker. Each participant will get a pair of shoes from her SJP Collection at Bloomingdale’s, with a stop at the department store’s Forty Carrots cafe for frozen yogurt before the guests head off to the ballet.The listing for Parker’s Oct. 6 experience will go live Tuesday morning, with four spaces bookable at $400 each, first come, first served. The money will go to the New York City Ballet, where Parker is a board member. Parker said in a phone interview with The Associated Press that she gave a lot of thought to making sure that her tour “speaks to the very colorful identity that is New York. We could have gone to MOMA or the Whitney or walked through Chinatown or certainly had a n

NEW YORK:  Demi Lovato was named a Global Citizen ambassador at the organization’s annual music festival Saturday, championing the mental health of thousands of children displaced within Iraq and other vulnerable communities. The singer and Global Citizen will fund the expansion of a Save the Children pilot program, Healing and Education through the Arts, to violence-scarred young people living in Iraq’s Kirkuk and Salah al Din areas.“Ending the stigma around mental health conditions and supporting internally displaced children to build physical and mental resilience through education and access to justice is not a choice, it needs to happen, and it needs to happen now,” the singer said onstage in Central Park. Since 2014, more than 3 million people in Iraq have been displaced within the country due to war and conflict. Carolyn Miles, president and CEO of Save the Children, told the festival crowd the organization’s HEART program will allow displaced children scarred by the vio

NEW YORK:  “Saturday Night Live” says it’s kicking off its 43rd season September 30 with guest host Ryan Gosling and musical guest Jay-Z. For Gosling’s encore host appearance he’ll be on hand to promote his new film, “Blade Runner 2049.” Jay-Z will be plugging a world tour that starts next month. On October 7, “Wonder Woman” star Gal Gadot will be guest host, with musical guest Sam Smith. Kumail Nanjiani will host the season’s third show on October 14. He stars in the HBO comedy “Silicon Valley” and recently wrote and starred in the acclaimed film “The Big Sick.” Pink will be musical guest. This season NBC’s “Saturday Night Live” will air live simultaneously across the US

KATHMANDU:  Love is powerful enough to transform a bad guy into a gentleman.  Johnny Gentleman  tells you how, and promises a full dose of entertainment from beginning till the end. Johnny’s (Paul Shah) profession is to break into jails and help criminals escape. Then the bad guy falls in love with Shree (Aanchal Sharma), a handicraft teacher, at first sight. Shree reciprocates his feeling, and Johnny leaves his profession. But their sweet love story gets a difficult turn as some unfortunate incidents unravel. This twist makes the movie more interesting as the film develops in the direction that is beyond expectation. Shah has shed his earlier image of a lean and thin chocolate hero. With a well-built physique and matching get up — leather jacket, grunge pants and shades — he gives that irresistible aura of manliness. Performance wise, he is at his best as he transforms into different moods through his facial expressions, be it romantic or serious scenes. Sharma alway

KATHMANDU:  Popular Nepali folk rock band, Nepathya, is all set to perform at the Olympic Hall of Seoul Olympic Park in South Korea on October 4. Famous musicians of international acclaim including Deep Purple, Judas Priest, Mariah Carey, Air Supply among others have performed in the Park.The show is being hosted on the occasion of Korea’s Chuseok Festival. Chuseok is a major harvest festival celebrated  in South Korea. As per the South Korean Embassy sources, there are more than 40,000 Nepalese working in South Korea under the EPS work scheme at present. This will be the band’s fifth appearance in the South Korean capital Seoul. “We came here for the first time in 2005 and since then Seoul has played regular host to us. Our last show was at the prestigious KBS Arena, and now we are performing at the Olympic Hall. We are glad to be raising the bar of Nepali shows there,” said Kiran Shrestha of nepa~laya, the promoters of Nepathya. “I am thankful to all our listeners livin

NEW YORK:  Leonardo DiCaprio announced Tuesday that his eco-focused foundation has given more than $20 million this year in fresh grants to more than 100 organizations around the world. From lion recovery and mangrove restoration to the defense of indigenous rights and better access to affordable solar energy, the actor announced the grants ahead of his appearance at a climate change conference at Yale University. He planned to use the appearance to urge more immediate steps to reduce the world’s reliance on fossil fuels in favor of renewable energy sources. “Our challenge is to find new ways to power our lives, employ millions of people and turn every individual into an advocate for clean air and drinkable water,” DiCaprio said in a statement. “We must demand that politicians accept climate science and make bold commitments before it is too late.” The money increases the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation’s giving to $80 million since 1998, the organization said in a statement