No intention of playing for England after World Cup: Carragher

London, May 20 (ANI): Liverpool veteran Jamie Carragher, who is only making a World Cup comeback because England needs him, has no intention of carrying on with the team after the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

Carragher, 32, who quit England three years ago, said it will be South Africa and out again and that he only agreed to take part because of injuries.

Relaxing at England’s training camp high in the Austrian mountains, Carragher realised that his time as a player was fast running out, The Sun reports.

“I’ve been playing football since I was five years of age and in another five years I’ll probably never kick a football for the rest of my life.

“This is the chance to play at the highest level again plus, equally important, to work with this manager. Over the past 10 years Mr Capello has been the stand-out manager in world football,” The Sun quoted Carragher, as saying.

Carragher retired as an international because he was fed-up playing all over the globe as a member of the squad. It was time to concentrate on Liverpool.

He is again in the same position as he was at the last World Cup, behind John Terry and Rio Ferdinand for the central defensive positions and a reserve right back.

Carragher’s reincarnation is all the more surprising because he wrote in his autobiography how Liverpool was more important to him than England, The Sun reports.

He also told how his missed penalty in the 2006 World Cup quarter-final shootout against Portugal did not matter in the same way it would had he missed for his club.

“The stuff I mentioned in my book wasn’t so much a slight on England, it was more that Liverpool means that much to me. But I couldn’t complain if there wasn’t a great reaction against Mexico at Wembley on Monday,” he said. (ANI)

Oscar winner Resul Pookutty”s autobiography released

Mumbai, May 14 (ANI): An autobiography of Oscar winning Bollywood sound designer Resul Pookutty was released here on Thursday.

Maharashtra Governor K Sankaranarayanan launched the book with music maestro A. R. Rehman and acclaimed Bollywood lyricist Gulzar receiving the first copy of the book.

Written in Malyalam, ”Shabdatharampadam” (Way of Sound Track), is an oral narrative which is an interesting mix of music, technology, philosophy and humour.

The book is a travelogue of an ordinary person who confronts extraordinary situations.

Talking to mediapersons, Pookutty said that he wrote the book as he had a lot to say.

“I don”t think age has anything to do with stories that you want to tell, and as long as the story touches you, as long as it can touch people”s mind, it should be told. You can call it an autobiography or a biography, a short story or a novel, whatever it is. I think I had something to say and I put it down and it ran into pages; that”s because I had a lot to say,” he added.

He said though he is not sure whether to take up writing as a profession, but he would surely write in future if he feels something needs to be told.

“I do not know if I am going to continue writing as a profession but obviously if there are things that touches my heart and needs to be told, I will write again,” he added.

Pookutty won the Academy Award for Best Sound Mixing for ”Slumdog Millionaire”. He has worked for Hollywood, Bollywood and Malayalam film industries. (ANI)

Dannii Minogue having a girl, hints boyfriend

London, May 8 (ANI): Australian singer Dannii Minogue’s boyfriend Kris Smith has accidentally revealed that the couple is expecting a baby girl.

“There’s been a few sleepless nights but it will be all worth it to see her beautiful little face,” Kris said at a charity event Down Under.

Meanwhile, it has been reported that Minogue is all set to settle scores with archenemy Sharon Osbourne – through her autobiography, reports The Sun.

Osbourne fell out with Minogue when they were both judges on Britain”s X Factor talent show. (ANI)

Dannii Minogue ‘to take revenge on Sharon Osbourne in autobiography’

Melbourne, May 06 (ANI): Dannii Minogue is all set to settle scores with arch enemy Sharon Osbourne – through her autobiography.

Osbourne fell out with Minogue when they were both judges on Britain”s X Factor talent show.

According to the Herald Sun, the stunner will reportedly fire at Osbourne, who poked fun at her “appalling plastic surgery”, said she had “no sense of humour” and branded her “f—— useless” before she left the show.

Minogue was asked if judges Simon Cowell and Louis Walsh would want copy approval on what she was writing, and she told entertainment website TV Biz: “They won”t, but Sharon might.”

Minogue had suffered lot of scathing comments by the outspoken Osbourne during her tenure as a judge on the show.

“Dannii”s got the chance to tell the world exactly what she thinks of Sharon,” an insider said of the book.

The insider added: “She”s not going to hold back considering the abuse she”s received.” (ANI)

Sadie Frost’s tell-all tome won’t reveal Jude Law secrets

London, May 4 (ANI): Sadie Frost has denied rumours that her upcoming autobiography will reveal all about her marriage to Hollywood star Jude Law.

The actor was said to be livid over Frost’s plan to ‘lift the lid’ on their marriage and subsequent separation in her new book.

Reports also suggested that the ‘Alfie’ star was attempting to block the publication and was seeking legal advice for it.

Frost, however, has rubbished all such rumours of planning to publicise details of her relationship with Law or close friend and supermodel Kate Moss.

“It”s not going to lift the lid on people”s lives and be controversial. That”s rubbish. Jude”s the father of my kids and Kate”s one of my closest friends,” the Daily Express quoted her as saying. (ANI)

German hotel dismisses Laura Bush’s poisoning claim as ‘publicity stunt’

London, April 30(ANI): A German hotel has slammed former US First Lady Laura Bush’s claim of possible poisoning, stating its a publicity stunt to draw attention to her memoirs.

George W. Bush’s wife hints in her upcoming autobiography ‘Spoken from the Heart,’ that she, her husband and staff members may have been poisoned during their stay in Hotel Heiligendamm in northern Germany, in 2007.

The leader was visiting the country for a G8 summit.

Laura writes that the president had fallen ill, leading the Secret Service to speculate a case of possible poisoning. However, doctors had concluded that they had all contracted a virus.

She goes on to mention several high-profile poisonings, and adds, “we never learned if any other delegations became ill, or if ours, mysteriously, was the only one,” reports the New York Times, which has obtained the copy of the book.

However, Christian Ploeger, a spokesman for the Fundus Group, which owns the hotel, said there was no evidence of someone trying to poison the premier.

“We see absolutely no evidence to support (these allegations) at all. The food was checked by security staff,” the Telegraph quoted him as saying.

He added: “I suspect that this may be just to try and sell more copies of the book.”

The book will hit stores in May. (ANI)

I snorted cocaine while on Coronation Street, admits Denise Welch

London, April 27 (ANI): English actress and TV presenter Denise Welch has admitted that she snorted cocaine on the sets of the ITV soap opera Coronation Street.

Welch revealed that she battled with the deadly drug habit during her time Coronation Street days.

She admitted that she snorted cocaine between takes and drove under drug”s influence.

The confession is mentioned in the 51-year-old actress” autobiography ”Pulling Myself Together”, reports The Daily Express.

Welch has blamed chronic depression for her drug habit.

“I”d reached a point where I felt taking cocaine was the only way I could survive. I was suffering crippling depression and I”d made myself believe coke was the only thing that could make me cope. In fact, I was locked in a vicious circle because the more I took, the worse the comedowns would be. I was sinking deeper and deeper,” Welch wrote in her autobiography.

The ”Loose Women” panellist said that her situation got so messed up that she used to leave her shooting set in Manchester to go and buy stuff.

“The risks I took were incredible. I was a total wreck,” said Welch. (ANI)

Nobody scrutinised Humphrey Bogart: Hasselhoff says of his alcohol addiction

London, April 24 (ANI): David Hasselhoff is so tired of the attention being paid to his alcohol related problems that he said in the olden days getting drunk used to be “normal” in Hollywood.

Hasselhoff, 57, has endured a public battle with booze for years and has been taken to hospital on several occasions, including for alcohol poisoning in October 2007.

But he is so put off by the scrutiny he is getting that he said no one ever gave screen legend Humphrey Bogart any grief.

“Back then things were different,” the Sun quoted Hasselhoff, who is currently in Germany to promote his autobiography ‘Making Waves’, as telling Bunte magazine.

“Back then every star smoked and drank. Think of Richard Burton or Humphrey Bogart.

“But nobody scrutinised them. Every kind of consumption was normal,” he added. (ANI)

Ricky Martin confirms he’s gay

Singer Ricky Martin has confirmed rumours that he is gay.

In a statement on his website, Martin announced: “I am proud to say that I am a fortunate homosexual man. I am very blessed to be who I am.”

Speculation about the 38-year-old Latino singer’s sexuality has raged for years, but he has never directly addressed it and was usually seen with beautiful female partners.

The singer – a father of twins boys from a surrogate mother – says writing his memoirs helped him realise that he had to be free with himself and not keep any more secrets.

“Today is my day, this is my time and this is my moment,” he said.

Martin’s autobiography is yet to be published.

Jude Law ‘fumes over ex wife’s tell all book’

Melbourne, March 29 (ANI): Jude Law is reportedly fuming over his former wife Sadie Frost’s upcoming autobiography.

The Alfie actor, who was married to Frost from 1997 to 2003 and shares three children with her, is said to have taken advice from solicitors over her latest career move.

“Jude has told Sadie that he wants to know exactly what is written about him,” The Daily Telegraph quoted a source as telling The Mail newspaper in the UK.

“He is very worried that some of the revelations could be damaging to his career and upsetting for their children when they are old enough to read it,” the source added. (ANI)

Dannii Minogue to reveal “untold stories” in memoir

London, March 19 (ANI): Aussie pop star Dannii Minogue is set to put pen to paper for a new autobiography.

The 38-year-old singer rose to fame Down Under after appearing on a string of TV shows in the 1980s, before she made a foray into the world of music in the 1990s.

In 2007 she made a comeback to the small screen as a judge on Australia”s Got Talent and later that year joined the judges panel of The X Factor.

Minogue is currently pregnant with partner Kris Smith’s child and is ready to lift the lid about her life’s “untold stories”.

“I feel as though a whole life chapter is closing, and a new exciting one is unfolding. It feels like the right time to put pen to paper to account my first 38 years. It”s important to me that the book contains all the ups and downs of my life so far, with many stories untold,” the Daily Star quoted her, as saying.

The book is expected to be available later this year. (ANI)

Sampras, Agassi rivalry comes to fore during charity match

London, Mar 15 (ANI): Tennis legends Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi renewed their age old rivalry on the court during a charity match to raise money for the Haiti relief fund.

The tennis legends joined Roger Federer and Rafa Nadal in raising cash for Haiti earthquake victims.

They have been bickering since Agassi claimed in his autobiography that Sampras was a cheapskate – citing an occasion when he tipped just one dollar for valet parking.

The two greats cannot keep their simmering rivalry hidden, as it had been eight years since they last faced each other on a tennis court.

But within a matter of minutes of the Hit for Haiti night at the BNP Paribas Masters in California at the weekend, they were almost coming to blows.

Agassi was playing with Nadal and Sampras was teamed up with Federer for one set of doubles in front of a packed house of 16,000, the Daily Express reports.

All the players were wearing microphones, which gave Agassi the opportunity to crack a few gags and get the audience going.

As Sampras simply got on with the business of forehands and backhands, he was encouraged to lighten up a little. Sampras duly responded by imitating Agassi’s pigeon-toed walk and his fidgeting and fussing at the baseline.

Agassi hit back by showing off his impersonation of Sampras; turning out his pockets and claiming to have no money.

Sampras was clearly livid and served a thunderbolt directly at Agassi. “It’s OK, it’s OK,” Agassi said as he dodged the ball. “It’s better than being a valet driver and you pulling up.”

By this stage, Federer and Nadal were looking distinctly uneasy while the crowd was not Nadal was fortunate enough to miss most of the snide remarks and put-downs.

“I didn’t understand anything,” he said. “No, that’s the truth. They speak very fast for me. I was very happy I didn’t understand. I think they try to have fun there. ”

They were obviously having so much fun that neither Sampras nor Agassi spoke to the media after the fundraiser and both beat a hasty retreat from the venue. (ANI)

Shocking tapes reveal what MJ really thought about his family

London, September 20 (ANI): Michael Jackson had launched a string of verbal attacks on his family in secret taped interviews, it has emerged.

The King of Pop lashed out at his brothers Jackie, Tito, Jermaine, and Marlon in the Jackson 5, calling them lazy moaners and dubbing them, one by one, as dull, a copycat, a womaniser and argumentative.

The singer then went on to criticize sisters La Toya and Janet, and even called mum Katherine “disappointing” in the tapes recorded with the ghost writer of his autobiography Moonwalk, reports News of the World.

And after realising that he may have gone too far in his rants, Jackson snapped: “You can’t print that.”

He reportedly said: “The brothers didn’t give me support. We’d be working on a TV show or video and they’d be sitting around moaning and groaning but I’d be watching and learning. It takes a talent, but some people are lazy and don’t want to develop anything.”

On Tito: “Tito is into the anatomy of how a car is built. He is a grease monkey. He still goes to the hobby shop and buys airplanes and flys them. He loves putting them together – they’re on these plastic things and you glue them. That is so boring.”

On Marlon: “People used to call him ugly and make fun of him – and people would say, ‘Which brother is that one?’. He constantly imitates me on stage. Whatever I do he’ll do right after me. I hate when that happens because he looks too “doo woppy” and so old-fashioned.”

On Jermaine: “Jermaine would be either be looking for girls or going along with the jokes.”

On Jackie: “He approaches everything with so much negativity and doubting.”

On Randy: “He doesn’t listen and is real hard-headed. You say it’s dark – he’ll say it’s daylight. And he has to be macho. I’ll never forget the day we had a meeting with our producer who said you’ve got to stand up on your own. Randy stood up and said: “I’m a man’ – we are all started laughing.”

On his mum, whom he always insisted as “the closest person in his life, a great mother and provider”, he said: “She disappointed me. She did an interview (about him). I don’t like her to talk. It’s none of those people’s business.”

He added, “She wished she would have had all boys. She told my sisters that – and they agreed! That’s how my sisters are – they are prejudiced against other girls.”

On La Toya: “To me she is Mrs Nice and Nasty. I come in her room (and she says), ‘You can’t sit on her couch, sit on the bed or walk on the carpet’, She wants to keep everything fresh.

“If you cough at the table she covers her plate. If you sneeze forget it, she’s in another room. If you clear your throat, you can’t do that while she is eating. And forget about going to the movies. She doesn’t understand what I see in Star Wars, Close Encounters or Jaws.”

On Janet: “Janet is a tomboy. That is why it kills me to see her off and married. We did everything together and were just alike. We write a whole schedule for the day and follow it. It’s a terrible loss.”

On dad Joe: “I would suffer if I had to spend a whole day with him. He is a very jealous father. He isn’t gonna show you love, but anybody that gets closer to us than him he would tell them, ‘Leave my boys alone!’.”

“To tell you the truth, I never have felt close to him. He has always been like a mystery man.” (ANI)

Jimmy Page snubs autobiography plans

London, September 9 (ANI): Rock legend Jimmy Page has left many fans disappointed after snubbing plans to pen an autobiography.

The Led Zeppelin star recently made the revelation at friend Gary Kemp’s book launch.

“I’ve had so many offers over the years but I’m not interested,” the Daily Express quoted him as saying.

“I wouldn’t know how to go about it,” the 65-year-old guitarist added.

Page further tagged most books on the Seventies rock group as “a load of old rubbish”. (ANI)

Winehouse wants to settle down, says pal Osbourne

Washington, August 29 (ANI): Amy Winehouse’s pal Kelly Osbourne has claimed that the troubled pop star wants to “have a family, settle down and be left alone”.

Osbourne made the revelation about the singer, who battled drugs and alcohol demons and split from her druggie-jailbird husband earlier this year, in her autobiography, ‘Fierce’.

“I met Amy at the Brit Awards in 2007. She said, ‘Alright, Kel. You’ve got great t*ts.’ I instantly loved her,” Contactmusic quoted her as saying.

“The Amy I’m so privileged to know is not the Amy in the media. She gives the best advice. All talented people have troubles because they can’t come to terms with it.

“Deep down, all Amy wants to do is have a family, settle down and be left alone. That girl is not stupid,” she added. (ANI)

Ballet dancer turned stockbroker Li Cunxin named Australia’s top dad

Melbourne, Aug 28 (ANI): International ballet dancer turned stockbroker Li Cunxin has been named Australia’s top dad at 2009 Shepherd Centre Australian Father of the Year.

The man, who is famous for his bestselling autobiography Mao’s Last Dancer, received the award at a ceremony at NSW Parliament House in Sydney.

“This is indeed a great privilege. I regard this award as recognition of the important contribution all Australian fathers have made for the well-being of our children,” News.com.au quoted him as saying.

He added: I’m sure there are other fathers out there far more deserving than me.”

Li, whose father passed away earlier this year, said he was humbled to have received the award.

He said: “My values as a father and a family man have been passed down from generation to generation. My children are integral in my life.”is three boys, Joshua, Brandon and Cameron had nominated him for the award.

In his role as a father, Cunxin had helped his daughter Sophie overcome difficulties after she was diagnosed with profound hearing loss when she was just 18 months old.

She was one of the first Australian children to receive bilateral cochlear implants.

However, the brave girl went on to complete her Victorian Certificate of Education in 2008 and finished in the top five per cent of the state.

In his autobiography, Li has narrated his poverty stricken upbringing in Communist China.

He had fled from home when he was just 11 to become a ballet dancer.

Li was even locked up in the Chinese Consulate in Houston, causing a political standoff between Washington and Beijing before he was released.

He is married to Australian-born ballerina Mary McKendry. (ANI)

Ted Kennedy autobiography to hit shelves in September

Washington, Aug.27 (ANI): Senator Ted Kennedy’s autobiography, “True Compass,” will hit shelves next month, but the talking point is the publisher, who has announced a 1,000 price tag for a limited number of pre-signed books.

According to Politico, standard editions of “True Compass” will sell for 35 dollars and will hit stores on September 14.

The book, published by Twelve, will join the rarified ranks of posthumously published books written by political figures, such as Richard Nixon’s “Beyond Peace” and Ronald Reagan’s “The Reagan Diaries.”

Twelve’s publisher and editor-in-chief Jonathan Karp, who worked closely on the book for the past two years, said in a statement: Kennedy “worked valiantly to finish the book and make it the best it could be. As always, he was true to his word. The result is a great and inspiring legacy to readers everywhere, a case study in perseverance.” (ANI)

Holidaying Obama sets himself grueling reading schedule of 2,300 pages

Martha’s Vineyard (Virginia, US), Aug. 26 (ANI): US President Barack Obama has kicked off his vacation by revealing that, in addition to endless games of tennis and golf, he plans to read five books or an astonishing 2,300 pages.

His summer reading list, unveiled by a White House apparently keen to emphasise Obama’s highbrow credentials, contains two heavyweight works of non-fiction and three novels, The Independent reports.

On top of the pile stacked on Barack and Michelle’s bedside table at the 28-acre estate they have rented for 35,000 dollars is “Hot, Flat and Crowded”, the climate change polemic by New York Times columnist, Thomas Friedman. Subtitled “why we need a green revolution”, it makes a leftish call to arms regarding the future of the planet.

Obama’s second choice is historian David McCullough’s magisterial biography of John Adams, the often underrated second US president, who was the subject of an award-winning HBO docu-drama last year.

The novels include two crime thrillers: Richard Price’s Lush Life, and The Way Home, a novel by George Pelecanos set in Washington, DC – which, much like Obama’s best-selling autobiography, explores the relationship between a father and his son.

Completing the set is the novel Plainsong, by a little-known writer called Kent Haruf. Set in a small town on the Colorado plains, its existence on the reading list may reassure voters that their metropolitan commander-in-chief has not ignored Middle America.

The books were unveiled to reporters on Monday afternoon, at an official press briefing.

President Obama has already spent a portion of his week so far playing golf, beating Michelle at tennis, and visiting friends.

To finish all five books, he would have to manage more than 300 pages every day – quite an “ask” when a small portion of his time must also be spent running the country. (ANI)

Lockerbie bomber set to cash in from ‘tell all’ book

Tripoli (Libya), Aug 25(ANI): The Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al Megrahi, who was released on compassionate grounds by the Scottish Government, could cash in on his notoriety by publishing his ‘tell all’ autobiography.

According to reports, Megrahi has begun writing the memoir, despite his insistence that he is suffering from terminal prostate cancer and has only three months to live.

It is believed that the book could earn a fortune for his family and provide a final insult to his victims’ families.

Abdurrhman Swessi, Colonel Gaddafi’s envoy to Scotland, has said that Megrahi wanted to write the book to “proclaim his innocence”. Insha’Allah [God willing], he has his mind set on writing it,” The Daily Express quoted Swessi, as saying.

A former Libyan intelligence officer, head of security for Libyan Arab Airlines, and director of the Centre for Strategic Studies, Megrahi, was convicted of 270 counts of murder for his part in the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie in Scotland on December 21, 1988.

Now, the autobiography is expected to detail his life in jail and what he knew about the bombing, in which he claims he was made a scapegoat for the outrage. (ANI)