Brad Pitt in Mumbai to attend War Machine screening, meets Shah Rukh Khan

The 53-year-old actor plays a US General posted in Afghanistan

Hollywood superstar Brad Pitt is in India to promote his latest film, the Netflix satire "War Machine".

Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan will be moderating a special chat session here with Pitt, in which the two actors will discuss the project.

In the movie, the 53-year-old actor plays a US General posted in Afghanistan.

Directed by David Michod, of "Animal Kingdom" fame, the Netflix Original film is inspired by the book "The Operators: The Wild & Terrifying Inside Story of America's War in Afghanistan" by late journalist Michael Hastings.

An investment in the range of $60 million also makes it Netflix's biggest-budget feature to date.

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Pitt's character is loosely based on General Stanley A McChrystal, a retired United States Army general best-known for his command of Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC).

His last assignment was as Commander, International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) and Commander, US Forces Afghanistan.

Hastings's blistering profile on McChrystal led to his firing by Obama.

Pitt's company Plan B is also one of the producers of the film.

The first big-budget Hollywood movie on Netflix will be released on May 26.

Cannes gets an added dose of drama as Netflix makes its festival debut

Opening the 2017 Festival is French director Arnaud Desplechin's Ismael's Ghosts

The red carpet has been rolled out and the stars are taking their photo calls as the aristocracy of the film industry gathers at the Palais des Festivals in Cannes for the 70th annual film festival. From Afghanistan to Zambia, film makers, buyers, screenwriters, distributors, critics, academics and cineastes bunker down together for 12 days of communal cinematic consumption in dark rooms interspersed with heady business and critical discussion in the glare of the Mediterranean sunlight.

Opening the 2017 Festival is French director Arnaud Desplechin’s Ismael’s Ghosts, which is screening out of competition and kicks off a line up that includes 49 films from 29 countries, 12 of them by female directors.

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The festival groups its selection (invited from more than 1,000 submitted films) into a number of strands: “the Competition”; “Un Certain Regard”; “Director’s Fortnight” and “Critic’s Week” all of which have their own programme of films. Complementing these strands are special events such as “Midnight Screenings”, “Cannes at 70” screenings, “Cannes Classics” and “Out of Competition” screenings – including, this year, a new thriller from Roman Polanski.

Thierry Frémaux, the Festival’s artistic director, is in charge of selection – and this year his choice is characterised by a lower number of Hollywood films than usual. He has also gone for a more pronounced political tone in the films, on themes such as migration, sex trafficking and the refugee crisis. Another feature of this year’s selection is the screening of films financed by media streaming platforms, including Netflix and Amazon, and the inclusion of “cinematic” television dramas. Read more

At least 14 Nepalese security guards dead in suicide bomb attack in Kabul

At least 14 Nepalese security guards dead in suicide bomb attack in Kabul

At least 14 Nepalese security guards were killed today when a Taliban suicide bombertargeted their minibus in the Afghan capital, a government official said.

Interior Minister spokesman Sediq Sediqqi said that eight others were wounded in the attack, and that police were working to identify the nationalities of the victims.

"The suicide bomber targeted a minibus of security guards of a foreign company, right now we are working to identify the nationalities of the victims," said Sediqqi.

But a police official told The Associated Press that the 14 dead were Nepalese citizens working as security guards for the private company that was attacked.

The official, who did not want to give his name as he was not authorised to speak to the media, said the wounded included four Afghan civilians.

Dozens of police and many ambulances rushed to the scene to take the victims to hospitals.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid claimed responsibility for the attack.

It is the first attack in Kabul since the start of holy fasting month of Ramadan on June 6. The last attack in the Afghan capital on April 19 left 64 dead and more than 340 wounded.Read more.

Taliban supremo Mansour killed in US drone attack in Pakistan

Afghan Taliban supremo Mullah Akhtar Mansour was killed in a rare US drone strike deep inside Pakistan, Afghanistan announced today, inflicting a body blow to the insurgents and a removing a major "threat" to the fragile peace process in war-torn Afghanistan.

Mansour and another militant were targeted in a precision air strike by multiple unmanned drones operated by US Special Operations forces yesterday as the duo rode in a vehicle in a remote area near Ahmad Wal town in the restive Baluchistan province close to the Afghan border, US officials said.

The drone strike, which US officials said was authorised by President Barack Obama, showed America was ready to target the Taliban leadership in Pakistan, which Afghanistan has repeatedly accused of sheltering the militants.

Afghanistan's main spy agency said Mansour, said to be in his early 50s, was killed in a US drone attack inside Pakistan.

"Mansour was being closely monitored for a while... Until he was targeted along with other fighters aboard a vehicle... in Balochistan," the National Directorate of Security said in a brief statement today.Read more.

46 days in India and counting...

Frequent foreign visits and increased engagement with the Indian Diaspora have defined Prime Minister Narendra Modi foreign policy initiatives in the first 20 months of his tenure. But Modi is unlikely to be as keen on travelling overseas in 2016.

The PM, given his busy domestic schedule, is yet to travel outside India in 2016. His last foreign visit was to Russia, Afghanistan and Pakistan (December 23-25, 2015). The PM, therefore, has spent an uninterrupted 46 days in India. This is the second longest unbroken stay of Modi in India since he took over as the PM on May 26, 2014.