Jules Dassin, 96

ATHENS — Jules Dassin was an American director who turned his back on Hollywood to make films in Europe with his Greek wife and star, Melina Mercouri.

Together they made the 1960 hit movie Never on Sunday and six other titles.

Mr. Dassin, a leftist activist whose 20-plus films also included Topkapi, abandoned Hollywood in 1950 during the anti-communist blacklisting era. Five years later, he won wide acclaim for Rififi, famous for a long heist sequence that was free of dialogue. The movie won him the best director prize at the Cannes Film Festival.

One of eight brothers and sisters, he was the son of a Jewish barber who emigrated from Russia. Young Jules grew up in working-class neighbourhoods in the New York area and took an early interest in going on the stage. In 1936, he joined New York’s Yiddish theatre as an actor, and later wrote adaptations of theatre plays for radio.

Nepal police break up Tibet protests, 284 held

(Adds byline, new figures of detained protesters and quotes)

By Gopal Sharma

KATHMANDU, March 31 (Reuters) – Nepali police beat pro-Tibet protesters with sticks in Kathmandu on Monday and detained more than 280 people for demonstrating against China, police and officials said, hinting at a bigger crackdown on protesters.

Hundreds of Tibetans split up into small groups and tried to storm a Chinese consular office from different directions in the Nepali capital.

George Clooney plays two roles in screwball comedy

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. — Leatherheads is a project close to George Clooney’s heart. But by the time he had completed this fast-talking period comedy about the birth of pro-football in the United States, he had learned one firm lesson about his double career as actor and director.

“I would never, by design, do a picture that I would play the lead in ever again,” he says. “It was a dumb move in some ways. It was a little too much to take on.”

With his earlier outings as a director, Clooney had taken supporting parts, but with this one he was determined to play the lead role of Dodge Connelly, a brash and charming jock who is determined to bring respectability to a primitive sport which back in the 1920s tended to degenerate into brawling free-for-alls.

Instrument chaos led to fatal Alta. crash: TSB

An investigation into an air crash that killed five people in Alberta reveals the plane experienced instrument failure before spiralling downwards at such a high speed the wings and tail ripped from the fuselage in mid-air.

“The aircraft deviated from altitude and then, from its heading, rolled to the right and spiralled down,” Wray Tsuji of the Transportation Safety Board of Canada told reporters on Monday.

Mugabe Foes Claim Win Amid Slow Tally

HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) — Zimbabwe’s opposition claimed victory Monday in the elections, while a slow trickle in official results raised fears that supporters of longtime President Robert Mugabe were rigging the count.

Mugabe has been accused of stealing previous elections, but that was before Zimbabwe’s once thriving farm economy nearly collapsed and before leading members of the ruling party openly defied him.

Independent observers said trends supported the main opposition party’s contention that it was leading in the presidential race, but the monitors said the edge would not be enough to avoid a runoff.

Palm sells one-millionth Centro

SAN FRANCISCO, March 31 (Reuters) – Smartphone maker Palm Inc (PALM.O: Quote, Profile, Research) said on Monday it has sold the one-millionth unit of its inexpensive Centro phone since the smartphone’s launch last September.

Priced at $99, the Centro sells in 10 countries, including Germany, Spain, Singapore and India. In the United States, the Centro is available with carriers Sprint Nextel Corp (S.N: Quote, Profile, Research) and AT&T Inc (T.N: Quote, Profile, Research).

Neal Hubbard On Shatner’s Commercial WOW

Neal Hubbard On Shatner’s Commercial WOW