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More news →John Abraham in talks to play boxing legend Captain Hawa Singh
A biopic on the legendary Indian boxer, Captain Hawa Singh, who had mentored Olympic champ Vijender Singh, is in the works, and as per TOI, John Abraham is likely to play him on screen. Hawa Singh’s is the latest name to emerge amid a spate of biopics to hit Indian cinema halls, and others which are in the works. After enrolling in the Indian army at the age of 19 in 1956, Hawa Singh had gone on to dominate the national circuit, winning eleven consecutive heavyweight championships from 1961 to 1972 – a record that stands to this day. He also won gold medals for India at the Asian games in Bangkok in 1972. Producer Sam Fernandez, who had previously worked with Vidhu Vinod Chopra and 20th Century Fox confirmed the news about the biopic saying, “Yes, I am making a biopic on Captain Hawa Singh. This is not the story of an underdog, but a champ, who was never defeated in the ring but lost to politics.” It was politics that had obstructed the champ’s road to the Olympics, and his dream of fighting Mohammad Ali remained just that, a dream. Despite these setbacks, Hawa Singh never turned his back on the sport and founded the Bhiwan iBoxing Club after retirement, which has produced Olympians like Jitender Kumar, Akhil Kumar, and bronze-medalist Vijender Singh. In another sad turn of events, Hawa did not live to see his student’s Olympic glory. The makers plan to approach Vijender if the script demands it. Given that Hawa Singh was a behemoth of a man at 6’1” tall and built of pure muscle, John seems the best choice to play him. Speaking about portraying the boxer on screen, John said, “We are both six-feet-one and weigh 94 kgs. His son, Sanjay Singh, daughter-in-law and two grandkids, came to see me. I've not signed it yet but the family, Sam, and I are all very excited about this project.”
Israel, Hamas strange bedfellows when it comes to reining in ISIS in Gaza
Bitter enemies Israel and Hamas finally agree on something: If the growing presence of ISIS within Gaza is not contained, the terrorist group could touch off a repeat of the 50-day war that devastated the Palestinian territory last summer. The black-clad jihadist group's tentacles have reached inside Gaza, and it has taken credit for a series of rocket attacks on Israel, as well as a coordinated series of car bombings on Sunday whose targets -- senior officials from Hamas and Islamic Jihad -- show ISIS in Gaza is at odds with fellow jihadists and infidels alike. Israel holds Hamas responsible for any and all attacks originating from the territory it controls, putting the onus on Hamas, itself a U.S.-recognized terrorist organization, responsible for putting the clamps on ISIS. "Even if those who fired on Israel are rebel factions from world jihad organizations trying to challenge Hamas by firing on us, we still see Hamas as the responsible party for what happens in Gaza, and we will not suffer attempts to harm our citizens," said Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon. Hamas has been cracking down on Gazans who sympathize with hard-core Salafist organizations, including ISIS, which want the Islamist enclave to go back on the offensive against Israel. In recent weeks around 100 Salafists have been arrested by Hamas in Gaza. Sunday's car bombings, which a statement released by a group sympathetic to ISIS indicated may have been in retaliation for the arrests, were the latest in a string of violent incidents. “The Salafists have decided to respond to these crimes and these blows dealt by Hamas by pointing rockets towards the occupation [Israel] and carrying out reprisals… The results will be catastrophic, will benefit no one, and it will be Hamas who shoulders the responsibility,” the statement read. Holding Hamas responsible for actions by ISIS is complicated for Israel, because return fire at essential Hamas infrastructure would likely weaken the governing regime, jeopardizing the cease-fire, and strengthening their even more radical Islamist opponents. Hillel Frisch, an expert on Palestinian and Islamic politics at Israel’s Begin Sadat Center for Strategic Studies, said Israel understands this and speculated that there is more than a little "bluff and double bluff" going on in this complex Israel-Hamas relationship. “Israel has been striking at ‘tin cans’ in retaliation; that’s what they’ve done so far,” Frisch told FoxNews.com. “They have not created any real damage. The name of the game between the two sides is basically that they will work together to maintain the cease-fire. The very fact that there are Salafists threatening to break the cease-fire shows to what extent Hamas is committed to it. “Clearly, Hamas can’t prevent every missile launch, but it certainly can prevent most," he continued. "Israeli retaliatory strikes on Gaza are basically addressed at [calming] the Israeli population, demonstrating that the military is protecting them. It also signals to Hamas that they have attacked ‘tin cans’ and now it is Hamas’ job to deal with those carrying out the firing.” While ISIS and other Salafists claim to have broad support in Gaza and elsewhere, recent indications suggest only 12 to 15 percent of the so-called "Arab street" backs them. “ISIS, almost everywhere, does not command broad popular support,” Frisch said. “Most people in this part of the world, from Lebanon down to Egypt, are not extremist Salafist. They might be very religious, but they are not that extreme. Whenever I look at videos of ISIS parades, including in places such as Mosul, one ingredient is always missing – popular support. You don’t see big numbers participating in their parades.”
First Israeli killed by Gaza rocket fire as Netanyahu vows to exert 'great force' against Hamas
An Israeli man delivering food to soldiers Tuesday at the border of the Gaza Strip was struck and killed by mortar fire, becoming the first Israeli death in more than a week of fighting between the country’s army and Hamas militants. Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld told The Associated Press that the man, in his 30s, was at the Erez Crossing with the Gaza Strip. The news of the death came around the same time Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to exert "great force" against Gaza's Hamas rulers after the Islamic militants rejected a truce agreement. In a televised address, Netanyahu said "Hamas chose to continue fighting and will pay the price for that decision." Gaza militants fired close to 100 rockets since the morning, when the truce was to have begun, the Israeli military said. In the evening, a quick barrage of 40 rockets fell over the course of a few minutes. Palestinian health officials say 194 Palestinians were killed and more than 1,400 over the past week. Israeli officials said that the truce proposed by Egypt's Foreign Ministry had been accepted by the cabinet shortly after it was due to take effect Tuesday at 9 a.m. local time (2 a.m. Eastern Time). Less than half an hour later, a senior Hamas official told The Associated Press that the group had rejected the proposal, claiming that Cairo had not consulted them. "We did not receive any official draft of this Egyptian proposal," Sami Abu Zuhri said, adding that the plan, as is, was "not acceptable." Israel’s military later said it resumed airstrikes on the Gaza Strip Tuesday after Hamas continued to fire rockets throughout the country. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon "directed the military to act with intensity against terror targets in Gaza," said an Israeli official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the decision with the media. A senior Israeli military official suggested the Egyptian plan hadn't collapsed entirely. He said that even though Israel resumed bombing Gaza, it would stop if Hamas accepts the truce and that the coming hours are critical. If not, the military has a plan in place to significantly amp up its offensive, including a possible ground operation, said the official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was discussing military strategy. On Tuesday evening, rocket sirens and blasts were heard in Tel Aviv, as Israel's "Iron Dome" missile defense system intercepted two rockets, according to the Israel Defense Forces Twitter account. In addition, the military said three rockets were fired at the southern city of Eilat. The military did not immediately know who was behind the rocket fire. Previous rocket attacks on the city have come from radical Islamic militants in the neighboring Sinai Peninsula. Under the Egyptian plan, proposed late Monday, a 12-hour period of de-escalation was to begin at mid-morning Tuesday. Once both sides agree to halt hostilities, they would negotiate the terms of a longer-term truce. But the armed wing of Hamas said the Egyptian plan "wasn't worth the ink it was written with." Reuters reported that a statement on the website of the al-Qassam Brigades called the proposal "an initiative of kneeling and submission" before vowing that "our battle with the enemy continues, and will increase in ferocity and intensity." Word of Hamas' rejection of the cease-fire came hours after State Department officials told The Associated Press that Secretary of State John Kerry had opted not to travel to the region on his way back to Washington from talks regarding Iran's nuclear program in Vienna. There was no immediate word of whether Kerry would reconsider his decision in light of the cease-fire's rejection. The militant group appeared to be holding out for better cease-fire conditions, with senior officials saying the current proposal offers no tangible achievements, particularly on easing a border blockade of Gaza enforced by Israel and Egypt. Osama Hamdan, a key aide to top Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal, told The Associated Press that Hamas has a series of demands, including the release of Hamas activists arrested by Israel in the West Bank in recent weeks. Hamas also wants to be recognized by Egypt as a partner in any truce efforts. Another Hamas official, Moussa Abu Marzouk, sounded more conciliatory, saying internal consultations on the cease-fire proposal are continuing. Hamas officials are weary of promises by Egypt and Israel to ease the border blockade. Such promises were also part of a truce that ended more than a week of fighting in 2012, but were quickly broken as violence flared again. An easing of the blockade of the coastal strip is key to the survival of Hamas. Before the outbreak of the latest round of fighting, the militant group found itself in a serious financial crisis because a particularly tight closure by Egypt had prevented cash and goods from coming into the strip through hundreds of smuggling tunnels under the Gaza-Egypt border. Israel launched an offensive July 8, saying it was a response to weeks of heavy rocket fire out of Hamas-ruled Gaza. Ahead of the Egyptian announcement, there appeared to be no slowdown in the fighting, with Hamas for the first time launching an unmanned drone into Israeli airspace that was shot down. The violence followed the kidnappings and killings of three Israeli teenagers in the West Bank last month, as well as the subsequent kidnapping and killing of a Palestinian teenager in an apparent revenge attack, along with Israeli raids against Hamas militants and infrastructure in the West Bank. Israeli officials have said the goal of the military campaign is to restore quiet to Israel's south, which has absorbed hundreds of rocket strikes, and that any cease-fire would have to include guarantees of an extended period of calm. Hamas officials say they will not accept "calm for calm." With the death toll mounting, both sides have come under increasing international pressure to halt the fighting.
Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu vows Israel will do 'whatever is necessary' in fight with Hamas
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday vowed to do "whatever is necessary" in the country's latest weeks-long battle with Islamic militant group Hamas. “Hamas has broken five cease-fires,” Netanyahu told "Fox News Sunday.” “They’ve violated their own cease-fires. They are firing on us now. … We’ll do whatever is necessary to achieve our goal of a sustained quiet.” Hamas announced earlier Sunday that it has agreed to a 24-hour holiday truce in Gaza, hours after Israel resumed its ground offensive and airstrikes against the militant group for firing a salvo of rockets at the southern part of the country. After Israel announced a 24-hour truce late Saturday, Palestinian militants fired rockets deep into Israel, prompting it to resume an offensive aimed at destroying rocket launchers and cross-border attack tunnels used by Hamas, the Islamic militant group ruling the coastal strip. But hours after the renewal of hostilities, Hamas said it would be willing to abide by a new 24-hour humanitarian truce ahead of the Eid al-Fitr holiday marking the end of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan. The three-day Eid al-Fitr holiday is expected to begin Monday or Tuesday, depending on the sighting of the new moon. Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said the truce would go into effect at 2 p.m. local time Sunday (7 a.m. ET). However, shortly after the truce was to have started, warning sirens wailed in southern Israel and the military said three rockets landed in the area, without causing casualties or damage. Lt. Col. Peter Lerner, an Israeli Army spokesman, did not say if Israel would hold its fire during the time requested by Hamas, but said troops would continue demolishing militant tunnels — the central goal of the Israeli ground operation in Gaza. Families in Gaza would ordinarily be busy now with preparations for the holiday, with children getting new clothes, shoes and haircuts, and families visiting each other. In the outdoor market of the Jebaliya refugee camp, vendors set up stands with clothes and shoes, but said business was slow. Hamed Abul Atta, 22, a shoe salesman, said he hadn't made a single sale in the first three hours after opening. Abul Atta said he had opened the shop Sunday to get away from the crowded apartment where he and his family were staying with relatives after fleeing an area of heavy fighting, the Shijaiyah district in Gaza City. He said his family house in Shijaiyah was badly damaged and that a cousin and three other relatives were among dozens of people killed in heavy fighting there last week. "We can't feel any joy right now," he said when asked if he would mark the holiday in some way. Israel had offered a 24-hour truce late Saturday, but Hamas -- which has demanded the lifting of the Israeli and Egyptian blockade on Gaza as well as the release of Palestinian prisoners -- rejected it. The 20-day war has killed more than 1,060 Palestinians, mainly civilians, according to Palestinian health officials. Israel has lost 43 soldiers, while two Israeli civilians and a Thai worker in Israel were killed by rocket and mortar attacks from Gaza. The military had earlier said about a dozen rockets were fired toward Israel since midnight -- without causing casualties or damage -- and that as a result it would "resume its aerial, naval and ground activity in the Gaza Strip." The Israeli military released a video showing a rocket being fired from what it said was a Gaza school. "The military is aiming its fire at terror sites, but if citizens are accidentally harmed Hamas is responsible for this since it once again violated an offer for a humanitarian lull that Israel accepted," Netanyahu's office said in a statement. The 12-hour lull on Saturday -- agreed to by both sides following intense U.S. and U.N. mediation efforts -- saw Palestinians return to neighborhoods reduced to rubble and allowed medics to collect close to 150 bodies, Palestinian health official Ashraf al-Kidra said. Shortly thereafter, clashes erupted between Israeli troops and Gaza militants and the sounds of explosions echoed across the coastal territory. The Islamic Jihad group said one of its field commanders was killed by tank fire near the southern Gaza town of Khan Younis. The military says it is doing its utmost to prevent civilian casualties, including by sending evacuation warnings to residents in targeted areas, and blames Hamas for putting civilians in harm's way. Hamas and other militants in Gaza have fired more than 2,400 rockets at Israel since hostilities began on July 8, many deep into the Israeli heartland and toward most of the country's major cities. Casualties in the Israeli side have stayed relatively low thanks to Israel's sophisticated Iron Dome missile defense system and because residents have been vigilant about seeking shelter quickly upon hearing the air raid sirens. Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said any truce must include a withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza, and that tens of thousands of displaced people must be allowed to return to their homes. Israel's current terms are "not acceptable," he said in a text message to journalists. Israel's acceptance of the cease-fire extension was premised on its soldiers remaining in Gaza to destroy the more than 30 tunnels the military says it has already found in the densely populated coastal strip. Israel says the tunnels represent a strategic threat because they allow Hamas fighters to carry out attacks on Israeli territory.
Obama tells Netanyahu US willing to negotiate cease-fire between Israel, Hamas
President Obama offered the help of the United States on Thursday in negotiating a cease-fire to end escalating violence between Israel and Hamas, as world leaders warned of an urgent need to avoid another Israeli-Palestinian war that could engulf the fragile region. In a phone call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Obama lent his support to Israel's efforts to defend itself against an onslaught of rocket fire from the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip, but he also called on both Israel and the Palestinians to protect civilians and restore calm. The White House said the U.S. was willing to "facilitate a cessation of hostilities," potentially along the lines of a 2012 cease-fire that the U.S. helped broker. Mounting casualties and the growing prospect of an Israeli ground incursion in Gaza drew alarm at the United Nations, where Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told an emergency Security Council meeting that it is more urgent than ever to avoid another Israeli-Palestinian war that could engulf the entire region. He called on both sides to agree to a cease-fire. "It is unacceptable for citizens on both sides to permanently live in fear of the next aerial attack," Ban said. More than 85 people have been killed, including dozens of civilians, since Israel began an offensive on Tuesday against the Hamas militant group in Gaza. The offensive aims to put an end to unrelenting rocket fire from Gaza that has reached ever deeper into the Jewish state and intensified amid spiraling tensions over the killing of three Israeli teenagers and the apparent revenge killing of a Palestinian teenager. The offer to help bring about a cease-fire could draw the U.S. deeper into a conflict the U.S. fears could destabilize the region, but precisely what role the U.S. would play remains unclear. The United States considers Hamas to be a terrorist organization and has a policy barring contact with its leaders. A senior Obama administration official said that policy hasn't changed but that other players in the Mideast could act as intermediaries, as was the case when Egypt and former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton worked to secure the November 2012 cease-fire. Egypt, Turkey or Qatar are all possibilities, said the official, who demanded anonymity to discuss sensitive diplomatic matters. In the phone call, Obama condemned the rockets and said Israel has the right to self-defense, the White House said. Pro-Israel lawmakers in the U.S. and the State Department have insisted that Hamas is to blame for the fresh round of conflict. Obama also raised his concerns about Tariq Abu Khdeir, a Palestinian-American teenager who was detained and apparently beaten by Israeli authorities. "The president expressed concern about the risk of further escalation and emphasized the need for all sides to do everything they can to protect the lives of civilians and restore calm. But he also urged both sides not to escalate the crisis," the White House said in a statement. In a moment of drama at the U.N., Israel's ambassador suddenly played the piercing 15-second siren that warns Israelis to run to bomb shelters to escape rocket attacks to highlight the threat his country faces. Ron Prosor told the council that Hamas is "intentionally and indiscriminately" threatening 3.5 million Israelis and "no nation, no people and no government could tolerate this." Palestinian U.N. envoy Riyad Mansour had no props for his appeal to the council "to stop the bleeding" and revive the Palestinians' "dying hopes" for an end to the conflict and peace with freedom. "I speak on behalf of the suffering and grieving Palestinian people, who are enduring yet another barrage of death, destruction, trauma and terror," he said. Yet he rejected Israel's "audacious claims" that Palestinians are being used as human shields "while it knowingly and intentionally strikes at densely populated civilian areas." The Palestinians also reject Israel's claims to self-defense while "it deliberately carries out reprisals and collective punishment" for the three Israeli teenagers' deaths, which the Palestinian leadership has condemned, he said. Diplomats said Jordan has circulated a press statement, which is not legally binding, for the Security Council's consideration that would call for a cease-fire. The secretary-general, who is engaged in intense global diplomacy over the crisis, called for "bold thinking and creative ideas" to end the violence. "Once again, Palestinian civilians are caught between Hamas' irresponsibility and Israel's tough response," Ban said.