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London, September 13 (ANI): Actor Michael Douglas has said that he no longer gets offers to play romantic-lead in movies.
“No love-interest stuff for me now,” the Telegraph quoted him as saying.
The ‘Basic Instinct’ star spoke about his character in new courtroom drama ‘Beyond a Reasonable Doubt.’
He said: “I play the bad guy, the rough old villain. My character is that duplicitous meanie I somehow specialise in.”
Douglas and wife/actress Catherine Zeta Jones recently moved from Bermuda to an apartment in New York, to make it easier to pursue his film career. (ANI)
Washington, July 6 (ANI): Michael Jackson had hired two renowned firms while handling child-molestation charges in the early 2000s, so that he could have insights into how the public viewed him.
The late King of Pop’s attorneys had roped in The Polling Company, a well-known Washington firm, to learn about the public impressions of the star.
Jackson’s legal team had also teamed up with Dezenhall Resources, a secretive crisis communications firm, in the months before the allegations of molestation were made public to prepare defense strategies against lines of media inquiry and attacks.
“The crisis-management objective was acquittal through reasonable doubt, and it was achieved. Restoring the iconic status of his name was never on the table,” the Politico quoted Eric Dezenhall, co-founder of the firm, as saying.
Kellyanne Conway, president and CEO of The Polling Company, also said that her poll results found that the claims made during the child-molestation trial were barely affecting the public’s perception of the singer who had become a national celebrity as early as at the age of five. (ANI)
Two Malaysian police officers have been sentenced to death for the murder of a Mongolian model in a case the opposition has tried to link to new premier Najib Razak.
Abdul Razak Baginda, a close associate of Mr Najib, was accused of ordering police to kill his former lover after she came to his home asking for money.
But he was acquitted last year of abetting 28-year-old Altantuya Shaariibuu’s murder in 2006.
With its ingredients of sex, politics and violence, the case has gripped the nation.
Miss Altantuya’s body was blown up with military-grade explosives in a jungle clearing, leaving only shattered bone fragments as evidence.
The two officers found guilty of the murder, Chief Inspector Azilah Hadri and Corporal Sirul Azhar Umar, are from an elite unit that guards top ministers.
The men have blamed each other and failed to “raise reasonable doubt against the prosecution’s case”, the court heard during their trial.
“I sentence both of you to death,” said Shah Alam High Court judge Zaki Mohamad Yasin. “You will be taken to a place of execution where you will be hanged.”
Sirul has claimed he is a “scapegoat” and lawyers for both men said they will file an appeal.
Malaysia’s top blogger, Raja Petra Kamaruddin, has been charged with sedition after repeatedly linking Mr Najib and his wife to the murder on his popular website Malaysia Today.
Prime Minister Najib has vehemently denied any involvement in the killing, insisting he never met Altantuya.
But despite any evidence linking him to the case, the allegations persist and the opposition has called for an official inquiry.
Karpal Singh, an opposition politician and leading lawyer representing Miss Altantuya’s family, said the verdict would not quell speculation over the case.
“You must satisfy the international community. The international community does not accept that only these two are responsible for the murder. It goes beyond these two,” he said.
Kuala Lumpur – A Malaysian court sentenced two policemen to death Thursday on charges of murdering a Mongolian woman who was blown up with military-grade explosives in 2006.
The murder of Altantuya Shaariibuu, 28, created great controversy after her lover Abdul Razak Baginda, who was a political advisor to Prime Minister Najib Razak, was jointly charged along with the two police officers with her murder.
Abdul Razak was acquitted in October of abetting the murder.
On Thursday, High Court judge Mohamad Zaki Yasin said the prosecution had proven the case against Chief Inspector Azilah Hadri and Corporal Sirul Azhar Umarm beyond reasonable doubt.
“They have failed to raise any reasonable doubt in the prosecution’s case which I find to be irresistibly conclusive on account of the physical and circumstantial evidence adduced before me.
“I therefore now sentence you, Azilah and Sirul Azhar, to death and both of you will henceforth be kept in lawful custody until you are brought to a lawful place where you will be hung by the neck until you are dead,” Mohamad Zaki was quoted as saying by the official Bernama news agency.
Opposition leaders have tried to link Najib to the case, with an opposition lawmaker even demanding in Parliament recently that Najib answer to allegations that he was involved in the murder and even knew the victim. Najib has repeatedly denied any role in the murder.
The defence team has said it would appeal against the conviction.(dpa)
George town, Mar 17 (ANI): A Malaysian Islamic Court has upheld an earlier order made by the High Court here to allow a Muslim convert, Siti Fatimah Abdullah, to revert to Buddhism.
A three-member panel who presided over the case found that the respondent did not practise Islam from the start of her conversion, which began after she took an oath of allegiance and recited holy words in Arabic.
After hearing arguments from the plaintiff, which is the state Islamic Religious Council, and the respondent’s lawyer Ahmad Jailani Abdul Ghani, Justice Ibrahim Lembut said it was proven beyond reasonable doubt that Fatimah whose birth name is Ean Huang did not practice Islam and had not embraced the religion sincerely.
“Islam was sacred so its followers must adopt its teachings faithfully. We cannot impose its teachings on non-believers nor force people to embrace Islam,” he added.
The judges took into account two main aspects before making a decision on the appeal by the ouncil to set aside the state Syariah High Court’s decision.
Fatimah who is a hawker, testified that she converted to Islam in July 1998 for the sake of marrying an Iranian named Ferdoun Ashanian. He left her a few months into the marriage.
Consequently, Fatimah maintained her Buddhist leanings.
Malaysia has a dual court system with civil courts for non-Muslims and Shariah courts for Muslims. In interfaith disputes involving Islam, the Shariah courts typically get the last word, which has upset non-Muslims who fear they cannot get justice in such courts, The Star reports. (ANI)