Lake Buena Vista, Florida: James Harden scored 49 points and the Houston Rockets outlasted the Dallas Mavericks 153-149 in overtime Friday night in their first game in the NBA bubble.
Harden made 1 of 2 free throws before Trey Burke made a 3-pointer to get the Mavericks within 3 with about 15 seconds left in OT. Harden made 1 of 2 free throws after that, Burke missed a 3, and Harden got the rebound to secure the victory.
In regulation, Dallas led by 3 before Harden made the first of two free throws, and Robert Covington tipped in a miss on the second to tie it with 3.3 seconds left. Luka Doncic missed a shot at the buzzer to send it to overtime.
Russell Westbrook added 31 points for the Rockets after arriving to Florida late after testing positive for the coronavirus.
Kristaps Porzingis had 39 points and 16 rebounds for Dallas, and Doncic had a triple-double with 28 points 13 rebounds and 10 assists. Burke had 31 points, making eight of 10 3-pointers.
Harden, who had 23 points in the first quarter, passed Calvin Murphy to become the second-leading scorer in franchise history behind Hakeem Olajuwon.
The teams combined for the most first-half points in the NBA this season, with Dallas leading 85-75 to tie its franchise record.
BUCKS 119, CELTICS 112
Giannis Antetokounmpo converted a tiebreaking three-point play with 1:28 left on an overturned call that kept him in the game and helped Milwaukee beat Boston.
— Giannis Ugo Antetokounmpo (@Giannis_An34) August 1, 2020
Antetokounmpo had 36 points, 15 rebounds and seven assists in the Bucks' first game in the restart. Milwaukee improved the NBA's best record to 54-12 and moved within a victory of clinching the top seed in the Eastern Conference for the second straight year.
Boston overcame a poor start to tie it at 107. Antetokounmpo was then called for a charging foul, appearing to negate his basket and giving him a sixth foul. The call was changed to a blocking foul on Boston's Marcus Smart after review, and Antetokounmpo made the free throw to make it 110-107.
Khris Middleton then knocked down a 3-pointer for a six-point advantage.
Middleton added 18 points for the Bucks, who played without Eric Bledsoe and Pat Connaughton while they work on their conditioning after testing positive for the coronavirus. Marvin Williams sat out with a strained left groin.
Smart scored 23 points for the Celtics and Jaylen Brown had 22, but star forward Jayson Tatum had a nightmarish restart. He had five points on 2-for-18 shooting — though he actually only made one basket.
Kemba Walker scored 16 points but played just 19 minutes as the Celtics look to keep the All-Star guard healthy after he's been battling a sore knee.
CJ McCollum scored 33 points, teaming with Damian Lillard for 11 of Portland's 16 in overtime, and the Trail Blazers pulled out a desperately needed victory to resume their season by beating Memphis.
Lillard finished with 29 points and nine assists to help the Trail Blazers boost their hopes for a seventh consecutive playoff appearance. Carmelo Anthony added 21 points as Portland moved within 2 1/2 games of the Grizzlies for the No. 8 spot in the Western Conference.
McCollum started fast, scoring 19 points in the first half, and finished strong with two crucial 3-pointers in overtime. The first one to open the extra period gave Portland the lead for good, and he added six assists.
Jaren Jackson Jr. had 33 points and rookie Ja Morant added 22 points and 11 assists for Memphis.
Memphis rallied from a 13-point, third-quarter deficit to take an 11-point lead, then gave it away almost as quickly. When the Grizzlies recovered to take a 112-103 lead with 6:01 left in regulation, it appeared the Grizzlies might pad their lead in the standings. Instead, Anthony's 3 with 37.5 seconds left tied it at 124 and Morant fell on a last-second fast break, sending the game to overtime.
MAGIC 128, NETS 118
Evan Fournier scored 24 points, Nikola Vucevic had 22 and Orlando picked up where it left off before the NBA season was suspended, beating Brooklyn.
Playing as the designated road team not far from their arena, the Magic looked right at home at Disney — whose name they wear as their jersey patch. They extended their winning streak to four and moved back ahead of the Nets into seventh place in the Eastern Conference.
Brooklyn also won its last three before the stoppage, but the decimated team that returned is a shell of the one that beat the Lakers in Los Angeles in its final game. The Nets are missing Spencer Dinwiddie, DeAndre Jordan and Taurean Prince after they tested positive for the coronavirus. They are already playing without Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving, who had season-ending surgery.
Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot scored 24 points for the Nets.
DeMar DeRozan scored 17 of his 27 points in the fourth quarter to help San Antonio beat Sacramento.
Before the game, Spurs coach Gregg Popovich and assistant Becky Hammon stood for the national anthem while the remainder of the coaches and players for both teams knelt.
DeRozan shot 10 of 13 and had 10 assists, and the Spurs shot 53.3% from the field.
Derrick White matched a career high with 26 points in San Antonio's first game of the restart. The Spurs needed to find offense because LaMarcus Aldridge, the team's No. 2 scorer, had shoulder surgery in April and will not play in the restart.
De'Aaron Fox scored a career-high 39 points for the Kings.
SUNS 125, WIZARDS 112
Devin Booker scored 27 points, Deandre Ayton added 24 points and 12 rebounds and Phoenix beat Washington.
Booker made all nine of his free throws and the Suns hit 30 of 32 from the line. They shot 52% from the field, with Ayton hitting two of three 3-pointers and going 11 of 14 overall.
Rui Hachimura scored 21 points and Jerome Robinson added 20 for the Wizards on coach Scott Brooks' 55th birthday.
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Legendary England all-rounder Ian Botham has been made a member of the House of Lords of the British Parliament.
The 64-year-old Botham, a former captain, was among 36 new peers announced by the government to join the unelected House.
Botham, who played 102 Test matches for England between 1977 and 1992, is a prominent Brexit supporter. He was knighted in 2007 in recognition of his services to charity and cricket.
He will sit as a crossbench – independent – peer.
He is the first cricketer to be awarded a peerage since former England women's team captain Rachael Heyhoe-Flint in 2011. David Sheppard, Colin Cowdrey and Learie Constantine were the others who were honoured with House of Lords seats earlier.
Botham's most famous moment on the cricket field came in 1981 when he inspired England to a sensational win over Australia in the Ashes.
After retirement, he has been involved in charity campaigns, including raising funds for research into leukaemia, besides doing commentary of cricket matches.
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Lena Dunham says her body “revolted” in a debilitating month-long struggle with COVID-19.
The 34-year-old creator and star of Girls gave a detailed account on Instagram of what she said she experienced after testing positive for the coronavirus in mid-March, just as much of the nation was shutting down because of the pandemic.
(Click here to follow LIVE updates on coronavirus outbreak)
“It started with achy joints,” Dunham writes, “then the pain was joined by a crushing fatigue. Then a fever of 102. Suddenly my body simply revolted.”
She went into isolation and felt severe symptoms for three weeks, she said.
Dunham said she was treated by a doctor in her home and she did not have to be hospitalised, and said she knows she is lucky to have exceptional health care and flexible work.
She tested negative after a month and was able to see people in her inner circle again, but said she is having lingering problems.
Dunham is a native New Yorker, but did not say where she was when she contracted the disease and went into isolation. She was the lead writer and star of the HBO series Girls from 2012 to 2017 and is working on a film adaptation of the young adult novel, Catherine, Called Birdy.
Dunham said she was reluctant to tell her story, but felt compelled to after seeing the carelessness with which so many are treating social distancing and mask-wearing.
“When you take the appropriate measures to protect yourself and your neighbors,” she writes, “you save them a world of pain.”
For most people, the new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough that clear up in two to three weeks. For some — especially older adults and people with existing health problems — it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia, and death.
(With inputs from The Associated Press)
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Birmingham: Overnight leader Sebastian Garcia Rodriguez of Spain held off a spirited challenge from England's Sam Horsfield to retain a share of the lead at the Hero Open on Friday at the halfway mark of the European Tour's latest stop in England.
After setting a course record 10-under 62 in the opening round at the Forest of Arden Marriott Hotel and Country Club, Garcia Rodriguez cooled somewhat in the second with a 3-under 69 that included birdies on the last two holes.
"The key yesterday was the putter, today it was difficult with the irons to get it pin high because it was so windy, but I'm so happy with my round today," said Garcia Rodriguez. "It was very important to birdie the last two holes. It was in my mind to hit a good drive on 17, it wasn't perfect but a good line. I had an eagle in my mind with an eight iron in my hand, but it was a little right so it was a good birdie."
Horsfield, meanwhile, completed a sparkling 9-under 63 that included an eagle and seven birdies for a share of the lead with Garcia Rodriguez at 13 under.
"Holing a wedge from 110 yards on four (for an eagle) was an obvious highlight and I just got on a bit of a roll and ended up with a 9 under round," said Horsfield who has yet to win on the tour. "I'm just having fun, it's nice to be playing tournament golf again, it's been a while for everyone and I'm just thankful of that, to get some tournaments going. I've been looking forward to it for a while and I'm just enjoying it."
Thomas Detry was third after a 5-under 67 that matched his first-round score and leaves him three shots back of the leaders on 10-under.
Alexander Bjork of Sweden and Antoine Rozner of France share fourth place another stroke back after both shot 67s.
Miguel Angel Jimenez, making his record 707th European Tour appearance, shot an even-par 72 for a five-way share of sixth place on 8 under.
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English football's second-tier club Sheffield Wednesday will begin the 2020-21 Championship season with a 12-point deficit over their peers. The club have been sanctioned for breaching profit and sustainability rules, English Football League (EFL) announced.
Wednesday, one of the oldest clubs in English football, were charged with misconduct by EFL in November 2019 after the club sold the Hillsborough Stadium to their Thai owner Dejphon Chansiri in an effort to ensure they did not breach spending rules.
A hearing last month found Wednesday guilty of having included profits from the sale in the club’s financial statements for the period ending July 2018.
"Sheffield Wednesday will receive a 12 point deduction for breaching the League's Profitability and Sustainability Rules for the three-season reporting period ending with season 2017-18," the EFL said in a statement.
“The sporting sanction will take effect in season 2020-21.”
EFL went on to add that the club were not guilty of “deliberately concealing information” on the filings from the league.
Wednesday, in a statement, said they acknowledged the decision of the independent disciplinary commission and were “extremely disappointed” by the points deduction.
"The club will await the written reasons for the sanction and upon receipt will digest and consider the full detail with its legal advisers before making any further comment," Wednesday said in a statement.
Since the deduction applies next season, Sheffield Wednesday retain their 16th place in the Championship. Had the decision been applicable for 2019-20, The Owls would have dropped to the League One – having finished eight points above the relegation zone.
Charlton Athletic, who finished third from bottom, and were relegated to the third division, questioned the decision to punish Wednesday next season. The London based club have threatened a legal challenge.
"We fail to understand why the deduction will take place next season rather than the current season, which seems to be irrational, and are writing to the EFL to get an explanation of the justification," Charlton said in a statement.
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Days after television actor Anupam Shyam Ojha's family reached out to the entertainment industry seeking financial help for his medical treatment, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Friday asked the UP government officials to help the actor, the Chief Minister's Office said.
Besides providing financial aid, the Chief Minister is also praying for the Pratapgarh-based actor's speedy recovery.
Ojha is currently being treated for kidney infection in a Mumbai hospital. His family had earlier asked the film and television industry to come forward and provide financial aid to the family for Ojha's treatment.
Earlier this week, Bollywood actor Sonu Sood had also said that he will be extended support to the family for the actor's treatment.
Anupam Shyam Ojha is best known for his appearances on the small screen daily soaps.
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UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has instructed senior officers to extend all possible support to TV actor Anupam Shyam Ojha who is unwell & undergoing treatment at a hospital in Mumbai. Ojha is a native of Pratapgarh district: Chief Minister's Office
According to Variety, the shooting for the last, and the final season will begin soon in Spain, Denmark, and Portugal.
"We've spent almost a year thinking about how to break up the band," Variety quoted the creator and showrunner Alex Pina as saying.
"How to put the Professor on the ropes. How to get into situations that are irreversible for many characters. The result is the fifth part of La Casa de Papel. The war reaches its most extreme and savage levels, but it is also the most epic and exciting season," Pina added.
Narcos actor Miguel Angel Silvestre, and the 24-year-old actor Patrick Criado, will be joining the already running ensemble cast of the show, including Ursula Cobero, Alvaro Morte, Itziar Ituno and Pedro Alonso and others.
Alan Parker, a successful and sometimes surprising filmmaker whose diverse output includes Bugsy Malone, Midnight Express, and Evita, has died at 76, his family said.
A Briton who became a Hollywood heavyweight, Parker also directed Fame, The Commitments, and Mississippi Burning. Together his movies won 10 Academy Awards and 19 British Academy Film Awards.
The director’s family said he died Friday in London after a long illness.
Parker was born in London on 14 February, 1944, and, like many other aspiring British directors of his generation, including Ridley Scott and Adrian Lyne, began his career in advertising as a copywriter and director of commercials.
He moved into television with the critically acclaimed 1974 drama The Evacuees, which won an international Emmy Award.
The next year he wrote and directed his first feature, Bugsy Malone, an unusual, exuberant musical pastiche of gangster films with a cast of children, including a young Jodie Foster.
He followed that with the 1978 feature Midnight Express, the reality-based story of an American’s harrowing incarceration in a Turkish prison for alleged drug offenses. It won two Oscars — including one for Oliver Stone’s script — and gained Parker the first of two best-director nominations.
Parker ranged widely across subjects and genres. While Shoot the Moon (1982) and Angela’s Ashes (1999) were family dramas, Birdy (1984) was a tale of war and friendship, Angel Heart (1987) an occult thriller, and Mississippi Burning (1988) a powerful civil rights drama that was nominated for seven Academy Awards, including best director.
Parker was also a notable director of musicals, a genre he both embraced and expanded. Fame (1980) was a gritty but celebratory story of life at a performing arts high school; Pink Floyd — the Wall (1982) was a surreal rock opera; The Commitments (1991) charted the ups and downs of a ramshackle Dublin soul band; and Evita (1996) cast Madonna as Argentine first lady Eva Peron in a big-screen version of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical. His final film was death-row drama The Life of David Gale in 2003.
Parker also championed Britain’s film industry, serving as chairman of the British Film Institute and the UK Film Council. He was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 2002, and in 2013 received the British film academy’s highest honor, the BAFTA Fellowship.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences tweeted: “From Fame to Midnight Express, two-time Oscar nominee Alan Parker was a chameleon. His work entertained us, connected us, and gave us such a strong sense of time and place. An extraordinary talent, he will be greatly missed.”
Rocketman director Dexter Fletcher said Parker “inadvertently changed my life at the age of 9” by casting Fletcher as Babyface in Bugsy Malone. He said he still gets recognised from the film, 45 years later.
Fletcher said Parker “was one of the great, diverse, eclectic, and original British filmmakers of his generation and my personal directing hero.”
Fellow British filmmaker David Puttnam said Parker “was my oldest and closest friend — I was always in awe of his talent. My life, and those of many others who loved and respected him, will never be the same again.”
Barbara Broccoli, producer of the James Bond films, said Parker’s films “exhibited the elements of his personality that we so cherished; integrity, humanity, humor and irreverence and rebellion, and most certainly entertainment.”
Parker, she said, “never made the same film twice.”
Parker is survived by his wife Lisa Moran-Parker, children Lucy, Alexander, Jake, Nathan and Henry, and seven grandchildren.
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Palermo: More than 400 coronavirus tests were carried out on tennis players and staff members ahead of the Palermo Ladies Open and all of them came back negative.
The WTA tournament, with qualifying beginning Saturday, marks the return of tour-level tennis following a five-month break for the coronavirus pandemic.
It’s the first official event — for men or women — since early March.
“We carried out 190 nasal swab tests,” Dr. Antonio Cascio, an infectious disease specialist at the University of Palermo who is the tournament’s anti-virus coordinator, said Friday. “All of them came back negative. The exams will continue under strict protocols."
Another 220 serological tests that were carried out also came back negative.
After former French Open champions Simona Halep and Jelena Ostapenko withdrew, the main draw is headlined by last year’s Roland Garros finalist Markéta Vondrousova, No. 15 Petra Martić and No. 20 Maria Sakkari.
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Lake Buena Vista, Florida: Jonathan Isaac stood, and stood out. And later Friday, Gregg Popovich and Becky Hammon did the same.
Most players and coaches, but not all, are kneeling while pre-recorded versions of the national anthem are being played at the restarted NBA season. Isaac became the first player to not kneel when he stood before he and the Orlando Magic played the Brooklyn Nets.
In a later game, Popovich — a graduate of the United States Air Force Academy, and coach of USA Basketball's national team in addition to his longtime duties as head coach in San Antonio — stood with his arms at his sides before the Spurs played Sacramento.
Hammon, one of Popovich's assistant coaches, also stood. She draped one arm over the shoulders of Spurs assistant Will Hardy, kneeling to her right, and the other over veteran San Antonio guard Patty Mills, kneeling to her left. Popovich and Hammon both wore "Black Lives Matter" T-shirts, as almost all players and coaches have for warm-ups and the anthem.
"I'd prefer to keep that to myself," said Popovich, when asked what went into his decision. "Everybody has to make a personal decision. The league's been great about that; everybody has the freedom to react any way they want. For whatever reasons I have, I reacted the way I wanted to."
Isaac did not wear the shirt. He wore his white Orlando jersey instead, standing with his hands behind his back, the ordained minister praying silently as the song played.
"Kneeling while wearing a Black Lives Matter T-shirt doesn't go hand-in-hand with supporting Black lives," Isaac said.
Isaac's decision was not a surprise to his teammates; he revealed it in a team meeting earlier in the week. Isaac expected there would be some critical reaction, given how the kneeling is part of a statement against racial injustice and police brutality following the deaths of, among others, Breonna Taylor and George Floyd in recent months.
"That's a personal decision," Magic coach Steve Clifford said of Isaac's choice to stand. "We're all supporting each other in this. And if guys are not comfortable kneeling and they want to stand, nobody has a problem with that. I support him. His teammates support him. The organisation supports him. That's part of living in our country."
Isaac has a history of being active with various charities and churches.
"We all support him," Magic guard Evan Fournier said.
Players and teams at the restart at Disney have elected to kneel for the playing of the anthems, doing so along the sideline nearest their benches — which also happens to be the one where "Black Lives Matter" has been painted onto the playing surface.
Popovich, who often speaks out on political and racial matters, has been vocal in recent weeks about the opportunity that the platform of the NBA restart at Walt Disney World provides. Television ratings for the first two games Thursday night were massive; Turner Sports, which aired the doubleheader on TNT, said the average of 3.4 million total viewers "more than doubled the network's average viewership" for regular season games.
Popovich has said these games, and the eyeballs that will be on them, provides "a tremendous opportunity" to spark change. He said the NBA is committed to emphasising a need for change for the rest of the season, including the playoffs.
"We're hoping that we can keep everybody's mind on that," Popovich said. "A lot of things go on in this country day after day after day. ... Things get lost sometimes and we don't want this to be one of those things."
Isaac, in his first game since January because of a knee injury, played well. He had 16 points on 6-for-7 shooting in 16 minutes, helping the Magic to a 128-118 victory.
"I don't think that kneeling or putting on a T-shirt, for me personally, is the answer," Isaac said.
The NBA has had a rule since the early 1980s saying players must stand for the anthem. But Commissioner Adam Silver said Thursday night, when players from New Orleans, Utah, the Los Angeles Lakers and Los Angeles Clippers all knelt for the anthem, that he was relaxing that policy in these times when a desire for equality and social justice is at the forefront of many conversations in this country.
"Listen, the national anthem means different things to different people," TNT analyst Charles Barkley said in televised comments Thursday. "I'm glad these guys are all unified. But if people don't kneel, they're not a bad person. I want to make that perfectly clear. ... He should not be vilified."
The National Basketball Players Association did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Isaac's decision.
Isaac received the Magic's community service award last year. He has donated money to feed children affected by the coronavirus pandemic, led a Hurricane Dorian relief effort and has raised money to help organizations promote literacy for children in Central Florida.
"We all sin and the answers to all of the world's problems, not only racism, is the true Gospel of Jesus Christ," Isaac said.
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A well-crafted whodunit is a rarity, but ones that weave in nuances of feminism and disruption of the status quo are even harder to come by. Veteran casting-director-turned-filmmaker Honey Trehan undertakes this challenge in his debut directorial venture, Raat Akeli Hai, which premiered on Netflix on 31 July.
The film's stylisation has an evidently noir hangover, with Sneha Khanwalkar's steely atmospheric music to boot. The lavishly gritty visuals are justified with stirring performances by Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Radhika Apte in the lead, buttressed by equally convincing supporting acts featuring Sweta Tripathi, Aditya Srivastava (of CID-fame), Shivani Raghuvanshi, Nishant Dahiya, and Padmavati Rao.
The story is set in the badlands of modern-day Uttar Pradesh, which, quite expectedly, evokes the thrills and banalities associated with India's wild wild west. However, the titillating chemistry between Siddiqui's good cop and Apte's femme fatale lends colour to the arid landscapes, as the mysterious death of the patriarch of an influential family on the night of his wedding to his mistress plays out in the backdrop. The incident sets the wheels in motion, revealing characters and their meticulously stowed away secrets, sufferings and traumas born of gender and caste oppression.
In a Zoom conference with Firstpost, Honey Trehan and Nawazuddin Siddiqui open up about Raat Akeli Hai, its delicately hidden metaphors, and why the grand haveli in the film was more than just a regal piece of architecture.
Besides being a thriller and whodunit, what are the themes that Raat Akeli Hai tries to explore?
Honey Trehan: This film might come across as a whodunit, a murder mystery, or a crime drama, but I think that these are all backdrops for the film. What I mainly wanted to talk about through this film and its journey is patriarchy, which is a curse on society, and something we all are a part of and still continue to live with. Jatil Yadav (Nawazuddin Siddiqui) is also a big part of this patriarchal machine, and when you see the film, you understand that he does not inherit this from his mother (played by Ila Arun), because she is very progressive in her thought. He is seen carrying the burden of patriarchy, which he believes in. It is the journey of a man who behaves like a patriarch, and how, while solving a case, comes out on the other side ridding himself of patriarchy. You see, it is just another case in this cop's life, but while going through that case, he goes so deep into it that he emerges by discarding the patriarch in him. So this is what I essentially wanted to address through the journey of this film.
Nawazuddin Siddiqui: Honey and I had discussed how to approach the role of Jatil Yadav before we started shooting. And as Honey mentioned this rather interesting thing about the character — through his investigation of this one particular case, he begins to struggle with his inner self that is rooted in patriarchy, and his transformation begins thereafter. There are certain elements in the film that you can connect with through observations and experiences in your real life, which is when it becomes easier to gauge the character, because even I come from a similar patriarchal world, with identical hierarchies. So, one later realises how out of the myriad experiences one has, some are good, while others are bad. It is then up to you to decide how you want to perceive these experiences, learn from them, progress in life, and move on. I believe these are some of the issues the film tries to deal with.
Nawazuddin, you have played several 'intense' characters before in projects that belong to similar genres. How do you change your approach every time to ensure that your act does not seem repetitive?
You see, a lot of these factors depend on the director. When a 'hero' approaches a director, the latter usually makes him do exactly the things he is popular for, because that is what sells in his case. However, I believe there's one good thing associated with my name now, which is versatility. Filmmakers expect something new from me each time. Now, this brings with it a set of difficulties as well as room for innovation. In a lot of films, when you are put outside your comfort zone, you tend to feel insecure. But at the same time, it is an incredibly fascinating zone to inhabit. You do not have the chance to get bored easily. If I was always offered the role of the run-of-the-mill hero, I think I would have quit long back,= because I would be asked to do the exact same thing every single time. I am sure I would have quit in that case. Where is the scope to innovate there? In order to engage your mind, you have to innovate. I feel incredibly lucky that with each project I do — whether it's Thackeray, Manto, Ganesh Gaitonde in Sacred Games, or even Jatil Yadav in Raat Akeli Hai — I get to try something completely new every time. These characters have their own set of complexities and thoughts, and exploring them brings me a lot of satisfaction and joy.
The graph of his character is rather interesting, and is played out with a lot of nuance, through small, delicate gestures, instead of ones that are glaringly obvious. Was this approach taken deliberately right from the beginning? How were these nuances woven into the script?
Honey Trehan: We were very clear about this right from the beginning. We did a lot of homework, and I took my entire cast to the haveli two days before we began shooting. I wanted them to live there, and find out for themselves as to which room belongs to whom. I wanted them to figure out who lives where, and what is the kind of chemistry between each character. We also discussed the characters in depth, and did not just go by what was written in the script, because the script goes from one scene to the next, and then to another. We always liked to discuss — and this is a part of my process — what was happening in between the scenes, and what was happening in the moments that were not written in the script. We said, let's talk about those scenes, and let's discuss the journey of the characters in those moments. These things came in very handy in the process.
And then, one had to understand the needs of the characters when they were being performed. In Raat Akeli Hai, every character is complex. And it is not just Jatil Yadav's character that makes peace with himself; by the end of the film, every character comes out of their shells and makes peace with themselves. Whether it's Radha (Radhika Apte), Vasudha (Shivani Raghuvanshi), Karuna (Shweta Tripathi), or whether it's Padmavati Rao's character, everybody makes peace with themselves. So while directing such complex characters, you have to remind yourself again and again as to what is the need of a character, what does a character want in a particular moment, and what is the motivation behind it. These were the three main things I was focusing on majorly while directing the film.
Nawazuddin Siddiqui: It's amazing how a big change is often brought about quietly through smaller changes. For example, suppose you were a rich person once, and now you are completely devastated after an unfortunate incident, and are extremely troubled; your life has turned hellish. Then, when you are on the road one day, passing by pavements that often house poor children and their families, you spot them enjoying a bout of rain, perhaps. At this moment, a profound speech does not play in the back of your head, telling you about seeking pleasure from the little things in life. The thought quietly creeps into your head, rather instinctively, and brings about a subtle change in your outlook. One does not need words to express these changes. If the thought occurs to you, change is inevitable. I am really glad you noticed these nuances in the film, because that transformation in Jatil was brought about deliberately.
Honey: That transformation had to happen from within.
Nawazuddin: Absolutely. The transformation had to be a deeply internal one.
There was another intriguing detail in the film, where Jatil Yadav is seen using a beauty product that he ultimately discards by the end of the movie...
Nawazuddin Siddiqui: Yes! He decides it is absolutely pointless, and it is not worth using anymore (laughs).
Nawazuddin, this happens to be your fourth project with Radhika Apte...
Yes. We have been paired opposite each other in two of them — one in Raat Akeli Hai, and another in Manjhi - The Mountain Man. In Sacred Games and Badlapur, we did not have any scenes together.
From Manjhi to Raat Akeli Hai, have you noticed any changes in the way you or Radhika approach your craft, your methods, or your chemistry?
Nawazuddin Siddiqui: Of course, there have been a lot of changes. We go through several experiences in our everyday lives as well. So it's important that we change. If I said something about an issue in an interview three years ago, I am sure I will say something completely different about it today. And this change is very important, because back then, I was drawing from my experience at that moment.
Once, a student of Konstantin Stanislavski's had complained to him, saying that he seemed to have changed his views on a subject overnight, to which Stanislavski said that he was a fool the day before, but had now turned into a wise man. So this change is necessary. When Radhika and I are doing a scene together, we both lend each other a lot of support unknowingly. She brings in a lot of nuance to the scene instinctively, to which one has to respond. I absolutely love working with her; she is a brilliant actor. I wish the camera would just keep rolling, and we would keep acting, but alas! The director ends up saying cut.
Honey Trehan: What do I do? All the blame will fall on me at the end of the day (laughs).
Honey, this is your directorial debut, after you have spent so many years as a casting director, working with some of the biggest names in Hindi cinema. When you got to know that Raat Akeli Hai will not have a theatrical release, and instead, will be released on an OTT platform like Netflix, did your strategy of making or editing the film change in any way, considering certification and censorship stopped being a concern?
Yes, you're right. This film was originally made for the theatres, but because of the pandemic, Netflix was graceful enough to come on board. They even loved the film a lot, and chose to release it across the world. This makes me really happy, because now the film will reach 190 countries at the same time, and the film will be watched by a much larger audience. And the benefits of coming on-board with an OTT platform is that they have erased the lines between big films, small films, and star-driven films. Now, only films that have good content will do well. So in a way, OTT platforms have rescued filmmakers from discrimination.
So censorship and certification does have an impact on the work of directors, writers, and editors of cinema. But does it affect the craft of an actor, Nawazuddin? When you realise that your work will be exclusively released on an OTT platform, which is not governed by any rules of censorship, do you pursue your act any differently?
Not really. Just because OTT platforms are not governed by a censor board does not mean we can take undue advantage of that freedom. One should perform according to the demands of the script only. And while performing in front of the camera, I never think about whether the film will be released on an OTT platform or in the theatres. I approach my work the normal way; to me, the platform does not make a lot of difference to my craft. The work of an actor is to perform with honesty, and do justice to his/her character. That is literally all I think about. And if a platform like Netflix allows you to showcase your work to people in 190 countries, what more could you possibly ask for? If the film had a theatrical release, it would probably make it to 1,000-1,200 screens, because films starring 'heroes' or big stars are released on roughly 4,500 screens. Over here, it's a level playing field. So let's see who wins.
Honey, why did you think a story like Raat Akeli Hai, which is so pregnant with myriad themes and motifs, would be the best bet for your first film?
The thing is, I have been a huge fan of crime thrillers, so films by Alfred Hitchcock, stories by Agatha Christie and Cornell Woolrich, even Jewel Thief and Teesri Manzil by Vijay Anand are some of my favourites. I also love North by Northwest, Notorious, Gone Girl by David Fincher. So, when this story came to me and I read it, I felt like I knew these characters and I knew this world. My writer Smita Singh (of Sacred Games) also comes from this belt, Bundelkhand, and she too was very closely associated with these people and this kind of a world. I have spent a major part of my life in Allahabad, so picking up this script felt very natural to me. But being from Allahabad was not really the reason; it was the beauty of the script that moved me enough to make me want to debut with this film as a director.
What were the biggest challenges you faced as a first-time director?
In my head, I was feeling quite challenged thinking about how I had to make a film with all these actors who were playing such complex characters. But the kind of love and affection I got from everyone, especially from my cast...the kind of faith they showed in me was amazing. So the moment we went on set, it felt like cakewalk to me. Thanks to my actors and technicians for having such faith in me, and a special thanks to my producer, Ronnie Screwvala. He has been an incredible support through this journey.
Finally, Nawazuddin, what is your most favourite and least favourite thing about Jatil Yadav, and what have you learned from him?
The answer is hidden in your question itself. I especially love a person when he/she has equal amounts of qualities and flaws — that is what makes them human. I think the characters that are out-and-out evil are very flat and boring, like the yesteryear villains. Or even the heroes who were only pure and good, and had no flaws whatsoever. These characters are flat — they are not really human, they are either demons or gods. Human beings should be like themselves, which is what I enjoy about Jatil Yadav's character. His qualities and flaws go hand in hand, and that is how he progresses in life. His life transforms silently, and without him being aware of it, Jatil reaches a point of profound acceptance. We too should aim for such an attitude of flexibility and acceptance of circumstances in our lives, instead of being rigid about our morals. We should learn to let go, and in order to be progressive, we should be open to accepting the good things in life much like Jatil does. This is certainly something that I have learned from him.
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It's been nearly three years since the Pandora's box opened on Harvey Weinstein, and his downfall fuelled a worldwide reckoning on sexual violence against women. The #MeToo and Time's Up movements sparked a paradigm shift, bringing some hope to the stories of survivors. In this two-part series, we look at documentary and fiction films which foregrounded the narratives of survivors while raising questions about the pervasive complicity machines that protected the Weinsteins of the world.
In December 2017, a couple of months after the Weinstein scandal, Drew Dixon buys a copy of the New York Times at a Brooklyn coffee shop. Right on the front page is her story of surviving sexual assault — "Three Allege Music Mogul Raped Them" — and the black-and-white photo of the man responsible for it. She breaks down in tears but for the first time, it feels like she has finally reclaimed her narrative — a narrative that, for two decades, was buried. We see this moment two-thirds into On The Record, Kirby Dick and Amy Ziering's recent documentary on the sexual assault allegations against music mogul Russell Simmons. In their 2015 documentary The Hunting Ground, Dick and Ziering brought to light the culture of sexual assault on American college campuses. Now, they take aim at another institution which allowed sexual violence to reach epidemic proportions.
#MeToo is after all an intersectional, intergenerational and international movement — and 2017 was a watershed year for many survivors of sexual violence.
If fiction filmmakers craft a narrative into a convincing representation of reality, documentary filmmakers work the opposite way: they craft reality into a compelling narrative. Recognising the documentary's social currency in these times, Athlete A directors Bonni Cohen and Jon Shenk don't just build a powerful narrative around the Larry Nassar scandal, but take into account the system, the gatekeepers, the power dynamics and all the factors that played a part in the decades-long cover-up. It then attempts to decipher the mechanisms that allowed the USA Gymnastics (USAG) doctor to enjoy impunity for decades, before finally being sentenced to 60 years in prison in 2017.
The first complaint against Nassar was made two decades earlier in 1997. By the time he stood trial, 125 survivors came forward to testify and over 500 girls and women accused him of sexual abuse. Their testimonies reveal how their Olympic dream became a nightmare, how a competitive culture turned into an exploitative one. The young gymnasts were trained in controlled conditions at the Karolyi Ranch in Texas. Cut off from the rest of the world (away from their parents and phones), they were at the mercy of their coaches, Béla and Márta Károlyi. Notorious for their militaristic methods meant to harden and push these athletes to the limits, the Károlyis fostered a 'win-at-all-costs' ethos to build their assembly line of little Nadia Comănecis.
In these trying conditions, the gymnasts began to see Nassar as their only friend, the sole adult figure who treated them kindly and offered emotional support. Jamie Dantzscher, one of the gymnasts, even describes him as “the only nice adult”. Nassar used his sweet-talk to build a relationship of trust, taking advantage of the isolation and vulnerabilities of his young charges. Speaking out meant their Olympic dreams — what they had toiled and suffered for — were under threat. We see this in the case of Olympic hopeful Maggie Nicols, who informed USAG about Nassar only for USAG president Steve Penny to bury the report and deny her dream. This was hardly a one-off; the Indianapolis Star's investigation revealed that USAG had repeatedly suppressed complaints of systemic abuse.
Surviving R Kelly offers insight into another notorious serial predator’s MO. The R&B musician targeted young women (often minors) during concerts, promised to help them with their music careers, gradually separated them from their families, before brainwashing them to be a part of his harem. In six episodes, we hear accounts of decades of abuse in a chronological manner. Testimonies are collected from survivors, family members, former producers and peers. But Nigel Bellis and Astral Finnie also bring in activists like #MeToo founder Tarana Burke (who highlights how women of colour are at a higher risk of being abused and silenced), music critics like Ann Powers (who gives us a history of how sexual predation in popular music is not a fresh epidemic), clinical psychologists (who offer insight into the physical and psychological effects of abuse), and culture writers (who expose the framework that allows powerful men to victimise young women).
In its deep dive into the sexual assault allegations against Def Jam co-founder Russell Simmons, On The Record goes one step further to put the myth of the “sexually aggressive Black man” on trial. Here, Civil rights advocate Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw and music journalist Kierna Mayo provide a larger social context. They describe the Black community's reluctance to ruin the reputation of a powerful and beloved symbol of their culture out of some misplaced sense of solidarity — even if it comes at the cost of their girls and women's well-being. "For 22 years, I took it for the team. Russell Simmons is the king of hip-hop, and I was proud of him for that," Dixon, a former music executive who accused Simmons of rape, says in the documentary. "I didn't want to let the culture down."
Leaving Neverland deconstructs the mythology and paints a true picture of another beloved Black icon: Michael Jackson. Dan Reed gives the floor to two men who accuse Jackson of sexually abusing them as boys. Wade Robson suffered two nervous breakdowns, before he decided to break his silence to help other survivors. James Safechuck confesses, as a child, he was even ready to marry Jackson in a mock wedding, and still suffers from PTSD. They talk about their first meeting with Jackson, the pivotal moment the singer allegedly introduced them to masturbation before progressing to blowjobs and other sex acts while staying at his home, the Neverland Ranch. Jackson even had an emotional and financial grip on their families, who also offer testimonies in the film. They talk about the fear, shame and eventual cover-up. As the title of the documentary suggests, Robson and Safechuck "leave Neverland", a fantasy world of childish innocence but one seemingly hiding a monster in its shadows. But what they say happened at Neverland never leaves them.
After Robson told his wife Amanda about being sexually abused as a child, she recollects how she asked him if there was any ambiguity in the affection he showed towards his own son. This reflects a commonly held notion that victims of child sexual abuse go on to perpetuate the abuse as adults. Victimisation and perpetration have often been linked to contextualise the abuse in Jackson's case. It is widely believed, as Daniel Engber notes in a Slate article, that Jackson's childish obsessions — from having his own amusement park and petting zoo to inviting boys to slumber parties at his Neverland ranch — were manifestations of his own lost childhood. He was known to have suffered physical and psychological abuse at the hands of his father, Joe Jackson.
Similarly, Surviving R. Kelly also wonders if the answers to the musician's pathology lie in his own abuse as a child by a family member — which he recounts in a 2012 interview. But the science behind abuse being passed down from generation to generation is anything but clear. As Engber states, "Maybe it feels safer to assume that cruelty is predictable, and that something so disturbing as the mistreatment of a child could be circumscribed and contained, drawn into and kept inside a pattern. But the science is filled with too many nuances and caveats to allow such a clear-cut explanation."
Untouchable, like Athlete A, shadows the work of journalists who brought down Harvey Weinstein. It doesn't really dig deeper to present any major revelations that weren't already known from reading news reports, nor does it shed any new light on the careful and diabolical industry-wide efforts that went into hiding his history of abuse. What it does is it gives voice to the lesser-known survivors (like Hope d'Amore), because Weinstein didn't just prey on the stars.
The #MeToo movement gained momentum only when prominent white celebrities began to share their experiences of sexual harassment. What people forget is before it became a trending hashtag, it was a MySpace page set up 11 years earlier by Tarana Burke, who hoped to provide emotional support to women of colour from marginalised communities at a higher risk of being abused than their white counterparts. Only this didn't attract the attention of mainstream media.
This is why documentaries are so important as a tool of social change. Surviving R Kelly built up a level of cultural cachet, enough to cause real-world ripples. It didn't just stop at raising awareness, but helped mobilise public opinion against Kelly. Then, social media took care of the rest. After decades of screaming into a vacuum, the survivors were finally heard. Six months after the documentary aired, Kelly was arrested and charged on 13 counts of sexual abuse in multiple jurisdictions. Furthermore, the #MuteRKelly movement spurred Sony to drop him from the RCA label, Apple Music and Spotify to remove his music from their platforms, and former collaborators (from Lady Gaga to Chance the Rapper) to publicly denounce him.
With so many forces trying to obscure and bury the truth, clarity in the testimonies become all the more important to hold the powerful accountable. After having survived a traumatic event, expressing it openly can be a cathartic and empowering act. But when these documentaries go into the lurid details of their ordeal, there's a point where it begins to feel more exploitative than empowering. The emotional fallout is visible as they give their testimonies. Safechuck's hands tremble as he opens a box containing rings and other rewards Jackson reportedly gave him in exchange for sexual favours. Robson suffers from crippling anguish at having been manipulated by someone he trusted, and whom the whole world cherished. Jerhonda Pace was 16, and Lisa Van Allen just 14, when they were abused by Kelly — and as they remember their ordeal, they begin to have crying spells. It is harrowing to hear the testimony of the gymnasts at the Nassar trial. Listen to what Drew Dixon says in On The Record: "That’s one thing about being a victim of sexual abuse: the words are on your mouth. You’re the one that has to disgust the world by telling them what happened to you. So you, then, become associated with this vile, vile act." It also reflects why some survivors refuse to come forward.
Herein also lies the reasoning behind why the gymnasts in Athlete A prefer the term, "survivor", because it reclaims their agency. (Of course, there are those who believe the term "victim" needs to be reclaimed.) In a Harper's Bazaar column, Danielle Campoamor writes: "A rape culture that perpetuates victim-blaming has made the term more of an insult than an accurate identifier that indicates one person has endured a trauma at the hands of another person." Perhaps all this teaches us that there is no singular form, medium or language to discuss the pervasiveness of sexual violence.
If HBO's Paradise Lost inspired the campaign that helped free three innocent young men, documentaries like Surviving R Kelly led to the conviction of a serial predator. If An Inconvenient Truth helped start the conversation about climate change, documentaries like On The Record and Athlete A have helped continue our conversation about the pervasiveness of sexual violence. These documentaries are part of a larger cultural record, and drive the momentum of a movement that has collective implications larger than form, medium and language. Documenting the epidemic is essential but only the first step. Now, it is time to treat the cause, not the symptoms.
— Featured image: Still from Leaving Neverland
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Memphis: Brendon Todd's putter is more than making up for any lack of power off the tee at the World Golf Championship.
Todd shot a 5-under 65 Friday and grabbed a two-stroke lead through 36 holes of the FedEx St. Jude Invitational.
"I have not hit the ball as crisply the first two days and maybe some other tournaments this year, but I've probably putted the best of any tournament this year so far," Todd said. "I'm really excited about how I played and looking forward to the opportunity this weekend."
Todd trailed defending champion Brooks Koepka after the first round by two strokes. He quickly erased that deficit and took the lead to himself with a bogey-free, five-birdie round for a 129 total at the World Golf Championships event at TPC Southwind.
Rickie Fowler closed with birdies on his final two holes for a 67 and 131 total just behind Todd thanks to his own putter.
"I feel like I'm heading in the right direction," Fowler said. "I think that's been my main goal is go through some changes for the better. Sometimes you've got to take that step back to take two steps forward. I feel like we already made the step back. I feel like we've made a step forward. I'm looking for that next step."
Koepka had the lead to himself at 10 under before falling apart on his back nine with a double bogey and two bogeys. He finished with a 71, his first time over par at this course in seven rounds. He was four strokes back, tied with Byeong Hun An (65) and Chez Reavie (67).
But Koepka said he wasn't worried with 36 holes remaining.
"I just putted bad," Koepka said. "It wasn't really anything other than that. Felt stress-free other than just missing some short ones. On the back nine they felt good, they were just missing, and on the front they just weren't good putts."
Jon Rahm shot a 74 and now is 4 over in his first event as No. 1 in the world.
Justin Thomas, who could go back to No. 1 in the world with a win, was seven strokes back after a 70. Rory McIlroy's bid to be No. 1 again may have to wait until the PGA championship next week. He shot a 66, but is 10 strokes back.
This round started early Friday morning to avoid expected thunderstorms in the afternoon.
Todd won back-to-back tournaments last November for his first win on tour since winning the Byron Nelson in 2014. Since the return to play in June, Todd missed two cuts with his best finish a tie for 11th at the Travelers Championship.
On Friday, his putter worked well enough that he needed only 24 putts in a round that featured a 50-footer for birdie on the par-3 No. 14. Todd hit a 6-iron to the left side of the green, and he had to roll the ball over a mound breaking left at least 5 feet.
"My caddie really kind of set me up with a good spot there beyond the hole to aim at, and I just focused all on speed," Todd said. "It happened to just drift right there in the middle of the hole. Bonus birdie there, but that's what you've got to do to win golf tournaments sometimes, and that's how you shoot low rounds."
Todd sunk a 13-footer on the par-3 island green of No. 11 to go 9 under just as Koepka became the first to reach double digits under par.
Koepka then double-bogeyed No. 2 when he three-putted after missing a par putt from 3 feet. His putter cost him a birdie chance on the par-5 No. 3.
That put Todd atop the leaderboard at 9 under, and his putter helped him birdie consecutive holes including the big putt on No. 14. He sunk a 12-footer on No. 15 to go 11 under and a four-stroke lead until Fowler's birdie-birdie finish.
Fowler might've had a piece of the lead if not for hitting his tee shot into the water in front of the island green at No. 11. He rebounded by hitting his approach 175 yards on No. 17 to 3 feet for birdie, and he chipped in from just off the front of the green on No. 18.
"It's been nice to see some putts go in," Fowler said. "These greens are about as good as they get. It's been nice to kind of have them stay on the softer side and make it very playable when you're driving in the fairway."
DIVOTS: Todd made only five of 39 cuts combined in 2016, '17 and '18. He got his tour card back by finishing seventh in points on the Korn Ferry Tour Finals in 2019. Tommy Fleetwood holed out from 106 yards to wrap up his round with a 67.
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Saint-Denis: French champion Paris Saint-Germain edged out Lyon on penalty kicks to win a tightly contested last edition of the League Cup on Friday and complete a domestic treble, denying Lyon their first trophy since the French Cup in 2012.
The match finished 0-0 and Lyon were a save away from winning it, leading 5-4 in the shootout.
But Neymar held his nerve well, slotting the ball into the bottom corner to draw PSG level and Lyon winger Bertrand Traoré's subsequent penalty was saved by Keylor Navas.
Winger Pablo Sarabia confidently placed the next penalty past goalkeeper Anthony Lopes to give PSG the win to follow up on last Friday's 1-0 win against Saint-Étienne in the French Cup.
Lyon won the League Cup in 2001, losing four other finals in the competition.
Although Lyon played better in extra time, defender Rafael was shown a red card moments from the end for a clumsy foul on PSG winger Ángel Di María on the edge of the penalty area.
PSG were missing star striker Kylian Mbappé, who is recovering from ankle ligament damage sustained playing against Saint-Étienne, and now has other injury worries.
Striker Mauro Icardi, right back Layvin Kurzawa and veteran captain Thiago all went off during the game with what appeared to be leg-muscle injuries.
The match kicked shortly after 9 pm local time in exhausting heat of around 32 degrees Celsius (90 Fahrenheit).
An even contest saw chances for both sides before extra time, with Lyon goalkeeper Lopes making superb saves to keep out a long shot from midfielder Idrissa Gueye near the end of the first half and a point-blank header from Neymar in the 87th minute.
PSG goalie Navas was also sharp when it mattered, leaping to save a fine freekick from Maxwell Cornet in the 81st.
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The country is observing the 40th death anniversary of legendary singer Mohammed Rafi on Thursday. He died on 31 July 1980 at the age of 55, but his songs remain immortal.
He was known for singing different genres of songs ranging from sad to romantic, classical to patriotic numbers, as well as ghazals and bhajans. Rafi did playback singing for actors such as Amitabh Bachchan, Rajesh Khanna, and Dharmendra, among others.
Rafi was also the recipient of Padma Shri, a National Award and six Filmfare awards, Hindustan Timesreported.
As per a report by The Indian Express, Mohammed Rafi was born in Punjab in 1924. His family moved to Lahore where he attained formal music training from the Ustads. He moved to Bombay in 1944 and started singing in the chorus.
The report says that Rafi believed that singers could not be 'made' and it is the divine blessings that carved his destiny.
Almost all songs of Mohammed Rafi are evergreen and are often sung by contestants at reality shows. On the singer’s death anniversary, here are some of his most memorable numbers.
Jo Wada Kiya Woh Nibhana Padega
In this romantic song, a lover asks his partner to fulfil the promises made to each other in all circumstances. The song from the 1963 film Taj Mahal is picturised on Pradeep Kumar and Bina Rai. Apart from Rafi, Lata Mangeshkar also lent her voice to the song. The lyrics were penned by Sahir Ludhianvi.
Jhilmil Sitaron Ka Aangan Hoga
Picturised on Dharmendra and Rakhee, the song from the 1970 film Jeevan Mrityu is also sung by Rafi and Mangeshkar. The lyrics of this romantic hit were written by Anand Bakshi.
Kaun Hai Jo Sapnon Mein Aaya
The number from 1968 film Jhuk Gaya Aasman is picturised on Rajendra Kumar. The actor is seen singing while driving a jeep through a scenic background. The lyrics were by Hasrat Jaipuri and the music was by the well-known duo Shankar-Jaikishan.
Hum Kaale Hai To Kya Hua
This superhit song from the 1965 film Gumnaam is filmed on Mehmood and Helen. The vocals are Rafi and Mehmood while the lyrics were written by Shailendra.
Kya Hua Tera Wada
The 1977 film Hum Kisise Kum Nahi is a treat for music aficionados. The music by the legendary RD Burman is peppy and captivating. In this song, we see Tariq Khan, Rishi Kapoor and Kaajal Kiran. Rafi’s unique voice makes it one of those memorable songs.
Teri Bindiya Re
Picturised on Amitabh Bachchan and Jaya Bhaduri, this song from the 1973 film Abhimaan is sung by Rafi and Mangeshkar. The lyrics were written by Majrooh Sultanpuri. There were many beautiful numbers in this movie as music was an integral part of the storyline.
Kar Chale Hum Fida
This patriotic song is almost an indispensable part of Independence Day and Republic Day celebrations in India. The evergreen song is from the 1964 film Haqeeqat. The lyrics were by poet Kaifi Azmi and music was by the stalwart Madan Mohan.
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American actor Bryan Cranston recently took to Instagram to reveal that he'd donate his plasma after recovering from the coronavirus. The Breaking Bad actor talked about his symptoms, recovery, and future plan of action in a two-minute video.
He announced that he has decided to donate plasma for helping with the research procedure. “I wanted to announce that I had COVID-19 a little while ago. Very lucky, very mild symptoms,” he said in the clip.
Cranston was standing in front of the UCLA Blood and Platelet Center in Los Angeles, while recording the clip as he revealed that he was donating his plasma at the centre. "Hopefully the plasma donation can help some other people".
The actor then took his followers through the plasma donation process. In the footnotes of the video, he recalled his symptoms, which included a “slight headache, tightness of chest” and the loss of taste and smell. In order to create awareness, he also asked the medical professional what was going to happen to the plasma taken from him.
The nurse explained that the blood taken from Cranston will be sent to a centrifuge where the plasma will be separated from the blood. Then Cranston's platelets will be returned back to him. The whole process took about an hour, revealed the actor. He informed his followers that anybody who has had COVID-19 in the past will have the antibodies and hence can donate their plasma.
Calling himself lucky in the caption for recovering from the disease, Cranston urged everyone to “keep wearing the damn mask, keep washing hands, and stay socially distant”.
Cranston is best known for his role as Walter White in the hit series Breaking Bad, The New York Timesreported that he is a five-time Emmy winner and two-time Tony Award. In 2019, he won the Tony Award for his acting in Network.
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The national shooting federation has postponed the compulsory training camp for its Olympic core group planned from Saturday after taking into the account the situation arising out of the COVID-19 pandemic.
On Thursday, a shooting coach at the camp's venue – Dr. Karni Singh Range – tested positive for COVID-19 but the development will not force a closure of the facility. Delhi's COVID-19 case count is over one lakh.
Representational image. Reuters
"The camp stands postponed at the moment. We are trying to work out a few things and by next week we hope to have a clearer picture," the National Rifles Association of India (NRAI) secretary Rajiv Bhatia told PTI.
A handful of shooters, part of the core group, have been training at the facility since it was reopened for use on 8 July and they are likely to continue with their daily practice by adhering to the health and safety protocols.
But the latest development has come as a setback to the NRAI's quest to arrange the camp from Saturday.
"Maybe we can start in the second week of August depending on the situation," Bhatia said.
Shooters such as World Cup medallist Sanjeev Rajput, Manu Bhaker and Anish Bhanwala have been training at the facility for the last few days alongside shotgun marksmen like Sheeraz Sheikh and Mairaj Ahmad Khan.
While the shooters residing in places such as Delhi and Haryana went ahead with resuming their training at the range, those living outside the National Capital Region (NCR) are learnt to be apprehensive considering the threat travelling from their respective natives could pose.
Even as the likes of Rajput, Bhanwala and Bhaker are training, some shooters and coaches have questioned the urgency in resuming training and conducting the camp.
Both Bhaker and Rajput are quota holders for the Tokyo Olympics. Bhanwala also has a bright chance of making the Indian team for the Games.
The Sports Authority of India (SAI), in a press release, said the woman coach, who tested positive, intimated her result to it on Thursday but since she did not come in contact with any of the shooters, the facility will remain open for training.
A total of 15 Indian shooters have secured quota places for the Olympic Games, postponed to next year due to the raging pandemic.
The NRAI had appointed High-Performance Manager and former India shooter Ronak Pandit as the Nodal Officer in charge of overall coordination for hygiene and medical protocols of the camp.
The global pandemic has affected more than 16 lakh people so far in India while claiming over 35,000 lives.
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Christchurch: Setting aside initial concerns over travelling amid the COVID-19 pandemic, New Zealand spinner Mitchell Santner says he will take shelter in a corner of the airport lounge as he flies out into the Caribbean via mainland America.
He is excited at the prospect of playing in the upcoming Caribbean Premier League and IPL after the long coronavirus-enforced break.
The 28-year-old, who last played in an ODI series against Australia in March before the pandemic brought all sporting activities to a grinding halt, will turn up for Barbados Tridents when the CPL begins on 18 August.
"t's an interesting one. I'm going through America and I'll park up in the (airport) lounge in the corner somewhere. It's one of the risks we've got to think about,"Santner, who was scheduled to fly out on Thursday night, told stuff.co.nz.
"Tey've put an extensive booklet together about what happens in each circumstance which has been good, and a bit of clarity around where we're staying. It seems like they've got it under control.
"At this stage, we'll just fly straight across (from the Caribbean). I'm not sure what quarantine looks like yet, but there are some other big dogs like Dwayne Bravo and Brendon McCullum I can tag along with."
Santner, who has taken 52 wickets in 44 T20Is, will join his New Zealand colleagues Kane Williamson, Trent Boult, Lockie Ferguson and Jimmy Neesham in UAE for the IPL, which gets underway on 19 September, nine days after the end of CPL.
After CPL, Mitchell Santner would feature for Chennai Super Kings in IPL. Image: Sportzpics
Santner is looking forward to some competition after a long hiatus due to the pandemic.
"I'm used to bowling in the nets to them and they've been running down at every ball so it'd be nice to play some of these guys on some spinning wickets and see if they want to try that again," said the left-handed spinner, who was bought by Chennai Super Kings in the 2018 IPL auction.
"It'll be exciting to play some cricket again. It's been a slow winter but good to be at home for a bit and train and do all the fitness work. Chris put us through the wringer the last six weeks so it's nice to go away and not see him for a few months.'
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This weekend, Formula E will join the list of international sporting events to have resumed operations despite the ongoing pandemic. If anything, one assumes that the comeback would have been tougher for a Motorsport series that races on city circuits. Forget circuits, accessing cities has been a fundamental challenge in recent times and Formula E has done well to adapt and evolve over the last few months. In this post, we offer a summary of the key mid-season news, driver-team changes, and more.
Championship Challenge
Unlike the other premier Motorsport series that had a delayed start to their season in 2020, Formula E’s unique split-year format (the current season is 2019-20) meant that COVID-19 forced a mid-season pause.
The series hosted five races between November 2019 and February 2020 before being forced to rethink their plans for the remainder of 2020. Jamie Reigle, Chief Executive Officer of Formula E, said, “Since taking action to suspend our season in March, we have emphasised a revised calendar that places the health and safety of our community first, represents Formula E’s distinct brand of city centre racing and offers an exciting conclusion to the compelling season of racing we had seen so far.”
Like the previous seasons, the 2019-20 Formula E season has been an entertaining one, too - on-track and in the championship standings. Techeetah’s Antonio Felix da Costa leads the Drivers’ Championship with 67 points, 11 points ahead of Jaguar Racing’s Mitch Evans.
BMW’s Alexander Sims is third with 46 points - with a narrow margin of eight points to seventh place. Lucas di Grassi in the fifth is the highest placed former Formula E champion - with a 29 points gap to the leader whereas defending champion Jean-Eric Vergne is eighth with only 31 points. Moreover, no driver has won more than one race this season and ten drivers have stood on the podium in the first five races of the season.
In the Teams’ Championship, reigning champions Techeetah have an eight-point advantage to BMW. However, the gap widens with Jaguar Racing managing only 66 points in third place - 32 points away from the top. Indian-owned Mahindra Racing have suffered from their worst start to a season and are only 10th with 17 points. Teams from fourth to eighth place, which includes debutants Mercedes and Porsche, are separated by only 17 points - so expect a close battle in the mid-field when racing resumes this weekend.
Driver Changes
The biggest news story in the break was the series of driver changes despite the season still being in progression. Audi announced that Daniel Abt would be replaced by reigning DTM champion, Rene Rast. Abt was released after he controversially fielded a substitute in a virtual racing event - a move that was criticised by his fellow drivers. Abt, a former winner of the Berlin ePrix, will take Ma Qinghua’s seat at NIO given that the Chinese driver will be unable to travel due to COVID-19 travel restrictions.
The biggest winner of this merry-go-round is Rast, who drove one race for Super Aguri in the 2015-16 Formula E season - coincidentally at the 2016 Berlin ePrix. The 33-year-old’s career received a major fillip after dominating DTM for three seasons with Audi.
Rast said, “The demands on the drivers in Formula E are high. In addition to pure speed, it’s also a question of efficiency, battery management, and the perfect strategy – and all of this on tight city circuits, where things are usually quite turbulent.”
Mahindra Racing lost the services of the uber-talent Pascal Wehrlein and decided to replace him with Alex Lynn who has formerly raced in the series with Virgin Racing and Jaguar. Brendon Hartley, the two-time World Endurance Champion, was the other driver to be replaced mid-season. His seat at Dragon Racing has been taken by Red Bull Racing’s reserve driver in Formula 1, Sergio Sette Camara.
It will be interesting to see how the drivers making their series debut or returning to the series fare under the demanding schedule of the remaining six races. While simulator sessions with their teams would definitely help them prepare, adjusting to the fast-paced nature of the series where practice, qualifying, and race are all held on the same day will be a new challenge.
In these unprecedented times, Motorsport series has been forced to host multiple rounds at the same venue to ensure a sizable number of races in the season. In Formula E’s case, the series has decided to race six times around the Tempelhof Airport Street Circuit in Berlin using three different circuit layouts. The aim of the different layouts is to open up different strategies while keeping unpredictability high. And of course, the safest way to host a race is to do so behind closed doors - so just like all other Motorsport series, Formula E will be ‘fan-free’, too.
That apart, the races in Berlin will also follow the ‘10 rules for behind-closed-door-racing’ as announced by Formula E. This includes reducing the maximum capacity of personnel on-site to 1,000 - a fifth of the numbers followed before.
Furthermore, roles that can be managed remotely would be encouraged to do so as will be adherence to social distancing norms, wearing of PPE/surgical masks, and more. Formula E and the FIA have worked on plans to back-up key roles and responsibilities if the need arises.
The most-stressful part about the remaining six races would be that they will be hosted over only nine days as opposed to the regular five-month period. The compressed calendar will demand as few errors in the races from both teams and drivers as possible.
For the teams, it would mean preparing for six races in one go, instead of taking each race at a time. The focus would be on using their simulation tools to the maximum to ensure a good baseline for setup as well as energy management. Given the back-to-back nature of the races, catching up might not be as easy as before.
Likewise, for the drivers, the six races will be all to play for given that over 180 points are still available in the championship. While physical fitness wouldn’t be a concern, one must remember that this is probably one of the longest gaps these drivers would have had in their racing careers.
The drivers will be working hard to shed off the ‘rust’ and the one-day format of Formula E will further add to their challenge. For the drivers, keeping mistakes to a minimum and scoring points consistently would be the not-so-secret formula to succeed. “With so many points still available, it’s anybody’s championship to take,” summed up Evans, one of the season’s eight championship challengers.
from Firstpost Sports Latest News https://ift.tt/39JSItW
