JERUSALEM, June 17: Concerned over the security of its representatives in India, Israel has decided to upgrade the official residence of its defence attache in New Delhi to a luxury apartment.
The new residence is expected to cost between USD 15,000 to USD 20,000 per month, which is much higher than the apartment that has housed defence attaches in New Delhi in the past, a media report said.
“Unfortunately, the threats against Israeli envoys, as was evident in the latest attack in India, in which an envoy’s wife was injured, oblige us to pursue an extended security package, which includes overhead expenses that are intended to ensure the protection of the envoy and his or her family members”, Israel’s defence ministry said.
“All Israeli representatives are protected according to security instructions issued by the Shin Bet (Israel’s internal security agency), including military and defence ministry attaches all over the world.
“The military and defence ministry attaches in New Delhi play a critical role in the strategic relationship between Israel and India and in the defence and economic cooperation between the states,” the ministry said, as quoted by news website Ynet.
The chosen apartment will eventually have to receive budgetary and security authorisations.
The decision towards upgrade comes almost four months after an Israeli defence ministry official’s wife was injured in a terror attack in New Delhi, for which Israel blamed Iran.
The terrorist attack in February injured Tal Yeshohua Koren while she was on way to pick up her children from school.
India is Israel’s largest purchaser of military equipments, estimated to be around 50 per cent of Israeli defence industries’ total exports, highlighting the importance of such representatives. (PTI)

LONDON, June 17: “Twilight” star Robert Pattinson, who struggles to deal with the constant attention when out, says he clicks pictures of those over-zealous fans who try to capture him.
The 25-year-old actor said he has developed a confrontational method of deterring fans when he wants time for himself, reported Daily Express.
“I’m quite sensitive to people. You pick up on moods quicker, I think. I’m also really good at sensing if someone is around. It’s weird, it’s like a sixth sense.
“I always know if someone’s taking a picture as well… You see people just taking a picture casually at a different (restaurant) table. I’ve got into the habit now of going up to people with my phone with the flash on and just start taking pictures two inches away from their face,” he said. (PTI)

LONDON, June 17: Singer Kylie Minogue says it was her luck to be a famous pop star.
The 44-year-old ‘All The Lovers’ hitmaker, who recently celebrated 25 years in the showbiz industry, said her determination helped her achieve success, reported Contactmusic.
“I’ve survived with determination and a bit of luck. I feel that, what I was put here to do and it’s my destiny. So I just try to keep going and this experience has been beautiful.
“I don’t think many of us look back. Maybe once a year at Christmas the photo albums come out and you all go, ‘Oh remember when…?’ But I don’t spend too much time doing that,” she said.
Minogue, who shot to fame as a teenager playing Charlene Ramsay in Australian soap ‘Neighbours’, said looking back at her career is full of emotions.
“So this year we’ve gone through a lot of photos, a lot of footage, and yeah, it brought that back to me and when I saw images from when I did my first record and my first album, I was like, you are such a baby! It was a whole lot of mixed emotions for me,” she added. (PTI)

LOS ANGELES, June 17: Reality TV star Kim Kardashian says she is a changed person after her 72-day-old marriage to Krish Humphries failed.
In an interview with TV mogul Oprah Winfrey, Kardashian says that she is done with dating younger guys and wants to be with an older and wiser person, reported Aceshowbiz.
“I feel like I’ve had an epiphany. A lot of my friends, people that I love to just sit and talk to and spend time with, are wiser and a little bit older than me. Before, all my boyfriends were younger. I always dated five years younger. My whole thing was completely different.
“And now I just love that I’m with someone that’s a couple years older than me. I love that my friends are sometimes 20, 30 years older than me. That I can just enjoy their company and their experiences. For what I’ve been through I am that changed person, just from my own experiences,” she said.
The next episode of “Oprah’s Next Chapter” will air tomorrow. (PTI)

LONDON, June 17: Actress Ashley Greene says it will be tough for “The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2” cast to control their tears at the movie’s premiere.
The 25-year-old, who plays Alice Cullen in the film, said that fellow actors including Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart will find it difficult to overcome their emotions, reported Contactmusic.
“I think we’re all going to have wear waterproof mascara. It’s been such an exciting thing and I think none of us are quite dwelling on the end yet because we still have the press tours and all that stuff. So it’s still kind of exciting.
“It’s probably going to be a tearjerker when we all realize that it’s over.” she said. (PTI)

LONDON, June 17: Pop sensation Lady Gaga has been slammed by an official at Thailand’s Culture Ministry for parading with the country’s flag during a concert in Bangkok last month.
The ‘Poker Face’ hitmaker is accused of disrespecting the nation by tying the ensign to a motorbike and riding the vehicle across the stage while wearing a provocative outfit, reported Sun online.
“Not appropriate and hurt the feelings of the Thai people,” said the ministry.
The ministry’s Permanent Secretary Somchai Seanglai confirmed that they do not intend to seek legal action against the 26-year-old singer.
Gaga’s Asian tour has been marred with controversy, and a concert in Indonesia was axed following complaints that it breached obscenity laws. (PTI)

LONDON, June 17: “Scary Movie” star Anna Faris says she had to struggle to get acquainted with her “The Dictator” co-star Sacha Baron Cohen.
The 35-year-old actress, who plays the comedian’s leading lady Zoe in the outrageous comedy about Admiral General Aladeen, said she failed to develop a close relationship with Cohen because he kept himself shrouded in mystery, reported Daily star.
“He’s shrouded in mystery. He’s hard to just have a casual conversation with. He was always incredibly nice, and such a gentleman, but I still feel like, even having worked with him for four or five months, I still don’t really know who he is,” she said.
Cohen is known for his larger-than-life personas and very rarely comes out of character for interviews. (PTI)

LOS ANGELES, June 17: Courteney Cox, who filed for divorce from David Arquette recently, celebrated her 48th birthday having lunch with the actor and their daughter Coco.
The pair have remained close friends following their 20-month separation. Since parting ways in the fall of 2010, Cox and Arquette, 40 — who met on the set of the first “Scream” film and wed in 1999 — have both spoken out about how their friendship has never been stronger, reported Us magazine.
“Our relationship is probably better than it would be if we lived together. It’s definitely better than it used to be. We communicate better, we have much more respect for each other, we listen,” Cox said in an interview last year.
Though papers have been signed since March, the pair’s formal divorce filing occurred just before what would have been their thirteenth wedding anniversary.
Arquette filed papers first that day, and a source said the actor’s timing wasn’t meant as a cruel dig towards the “Cougar Town” star.
“He’s in love with Christina McLarty,” the insider explained of Arquette’s decision to officially end things now, adding that he is hoping to “build a life” with the TV reporter, whom he has been dating since the fall. (PTI)

LOS ANGELES, June 17: British actor Ashley Charles has been roped in to play the role of Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards in the Jimi Hendrix biopic “All Is By My Side.”
Directed by John Ridley, the film, starring Andre Benjamin as Hendrix, is shooting in Dublin.
Newcomer Charles joins an experienced cast including Imogen Poots (‘Fright Night’) and Hayley Atwell (‘Captain America: The First Avenger’).
Atwell plays Linda Keith, Keith Richards’ girlfriend, who discovered Hendrix performing in a nightclub and claimed to have given Hendrix Richards’ Fender Stratocaster and his demo of Tim Rose singing “Hey Joe,” which became Hendrix’s first hit.
“She went to New York and took up further with Jimi Hendrix, who may have broken her heart, as she broke mine,” wrote Richards in his memoir ‘Life’. (PTI)