LOS ANGELES, June 20: The family of the late R&B singer Aaliyah have reportedly vowed to stop production on an upcoming Lifetime biopic. Aaliyah’s family are angry that the network did not contact them about the film, TMZ reports. The family are said to have hired a lawyer to fight production of the TV movie that is slated to begin shooting this summer. Disney actress Zendaya is to play the role of Aaliyah. R&B singer Aaliyah died in a plane crash at the age of just 22 years old in 2001. The biopic is slated to explore the performer’s rise to stardom. A posthumous Aaliyah tribute album was put on hold back in January after Drake producer and collaborator Noah ’40’ Shebib left the project behind. (PTI)

LOS ANGELES, June 20: Veteran actor Martin Sheen will star opposite Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin in the Netflix comedy series ‘Grace and Frankie’.
The sitcom comes from ‘Friends’ co-creator Marta Kauffman, and is about two long-time rivals who are stunned when their husbands declare their love for each other, reported to The Hollywood Reporter.
Sheen has been cast as Fonda’s on-screen husband in ‘Grace and Frankie’.
The 73-year-old actor won a Golden Globe Award for his portrayal of President Josiah Bartlet in ‘The West Wing’.
He has also recently appeared in his son Charlie Sheen’s comedy series ‘Anger Management’.
‘Grace and Frankie’ has been granted a 13-episode first season by Netflix. (PTI)

WASHINGTON, June 20: Lauding Pakistan’s all-out offencive against Taliban in its restive tribal region, a group of US scholars have called on the country’s military and intelligence services to focus their attention over those who carry out acts of violence.
“At a time when Pakistan’s internal security challenges have never been greater, as evidenced by the attacks on Karachi’s International Airport, and when Pakistan’s armed forces are undertaking Operation Zarb-e-Azb, we commend and support efforts by Pakistani authorities to combat violent extremism,” the scholars belonging to several US think tanks said in a joint statement.
“During this period in which national cohesion has become even more important, we call on Pakistan’s military and intelligence services to focus all of their attention against those who carry out violent acts against Pakistani citizens and property,” they said.
Among the signatories to the joint statement were Michael Krepon from Stimson Center, George Perkovich (Carnegie Endowment), Anatol Lieven (King’s College), Stephen P. Cohen (Brookings Institution), Toby Dalton (Carnegie Endowment) Daniel Markey (Council on Foreign Relations), Marvin Weinbaum (Middle East Institute), Scott Sagan (Stanford University), Lisa Curtis (The Heritage Foundation) and Walter C Ladwig (King’s College). (PTI)

WASHINGTON, June 20: The major focus of the initial tranche of US military advisers to be sent to Iraq would be in and around Baghdad, a senior official has said.
He, however, did not rule out that they were being sent to other parts of the strife-torn country as well.
“The major focus of this initial tranche will be in and around Baghdad, but can’t rule out that they would be sent to higher headquarters at several other places,” the Obama Administration official said.
Several teams of a dozen each would be sent to Iraq to assist the Iraqi forces against expanding influence of Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (which is also translated as the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria or Islamic State in Iraq and al-Sham), the official said.
“We are going to start with several teams of a dozen each, .. The initial estimate would be in the several dozen in the initial tranche here that are going in to assess the situation.
“Most of these teams will come from units that are already in the Central Command area of responsibility. They’re already in the region,” the official said, without announcing an exact date when they’ll get there.
President Barack Obama at the White House said, “we are prepared to send a small number of additional American military advisers – up to 300 – to assess how we can best train, advise and support Iraqi security forces going forward.”
“American forces will not be returning to combat in Iraq, but will help Iraqis as they take the fight to terrorists who threaten the Iraqi people, the region and American interests as well,” he said.
The President, said another administration official, is focused on a number of potential contingencies that may demand US direct military action.
“One of those is the threat from ISIL and the threat that that could pose not only to Iraq’s stability but to US personnel and to US interests more broadly, certainly including our homeland,” he said.
According to another senior official, the US currently has some military advisory personnel in Iraq based out of its embassy in Baghdad.
“They have the protections that are necessary for them to be there, and we are confident that these additional forces would have the necessary protections and authorities to be there, particularly as Iraq has requested them,” the official said. (PTI)