Hairtech deal, Paris Hilton in trouble

Paris Hilton is again in the news for all the wrong reasons – the star might have to shell out 70 million dollars for reneging on a deal with a company.

Hairtech International has claimed in its lawsuit against Hilton that she cost them 70 million dollars when she went back on her deal to promote and wear its hair extensions, reports TMZ.

Hairtech alleged that Hilton pocketed 3.5 million dollars from the company for endorsing the extensions, but then started wearing those of rival companies.

They also claim that when Hilton went to jail in 2007, she breached the deal by breaking the law.

Tennis: Somdev aims to be in top 50 in 2011

Chennai: After succeeding to break into top-100 and grab gold medals at Commonwealth Games and Asian Games in 2010, India's numero uno singles player Somdev Devvarman is eyeing a top-50 slot in season-2011, beginning with Chennai Open from Monday here.
Somdev, who was a finalist at India's only ATP event in 2009, said he would try to remain in top-100 in the new season and climb the ranking-ladder up.
Asked about his aim for the new season, Somdev on Thursday said he has set, "higher targets like (getting into) top 75 and top 50."

Currently ranked 108, Somdev said,"I'll try to get better and better every day."
Talking about the medal wins at CWG in New Delhi and at Asiad in Guangzhou, he said, "Obviously that was a great result and I've had a good pre-season. I am looking forward to the Chennai Open."
The US based Indian said he has been working hard on improving his game.
"My game is a bit passive, so I've been trying to retrieve balls more often. Against top players you don't get too many chances, (so) you'll have to take them," he said.
Asked who he considered the biggest challenge from among the players in the fray at the Chennai Open, Somdev said, "There are lots of talented players like Tomas Berdych, Marin Cilic and Janko Tipsarevic, but the most important thing to me is who I am playing first, as I'll only progress to the later rounds if I cross the first stage."
Somdev said more youngsters in India are taking to tennis after impressive results this season.
"We're always trying to bring in youngsters. The TNTA has been doing a lot to promote youth. I think we are a few years away before from bearing the fruit of all the hard work that is being put in," he said.
The qualifying rounds of the tournament will start on Saturday while the main draw is scheduled to begin on Monday.

Football: Wigan hold Arsenal to draw & Chelsea wins 1-0 against Bolton

London: Arsenal drew 2-2 at 10-man Wigan to miss the chance to draw level with joint Premier League leaders Manchester United and Manchester City, while Chelsea ended a run of six matches without a win by grinding out a 1-0 victory against Bolton on Wednesday.
France defender Sebastien Squillaci scored an own goal in the 81st minute to deny Arsenal all three points at DW Stadium. Ben Watson had put Wigan ahead from the penalty spot before the Gunners rallied through goals by Russia captain Andrey Arshavin and Denmark striker Nicklas Bendtner.
Florent Malouda scored Chelsea's winner in the 61st minute to lift his team above Tottenham into fourth place. The reigning champions are two points below Arsenal, which is another two off the pace.

In the other match, fallen giant Liverpool slumped to an embarrassing 1-0 home defeat to lowly Wolverhampton, which moved off the bottom of the standings. West Ham goes into 2011 as the division's last-place side.
Arsenal failed to back up its 3-1 win at home to Chelsea on Monday, lacking its usual fluency after manager Arsene Wenger made eight changes to his starting lineup. Wenger will be upset that his team conceded the equalizer when it had a man extra, Wigan midfielder Charles N'Zogbia having been sent off for pushing his head into substitute Jack Wilshere's face after an exchange of words.
N'Zogbia was brought down by Laurent Koscielny's trailing leg just inside the box, allowing Watson to convert from 12 yards (meters) to put Wigan — which is now fifth from bottom and a point above the relegation zone — ahead in the 18th.
Arshavin brought Arsenal level in the 39th with a lovely scissor-kick that flew past the Wigan goalkeeper Ali Al Habsi and the winger then set up Bendtner, who brushed off a couple of weak challenges before driving his shot home in the 44th.
Squillaci, however, headed into his own net in the 81st as he tried to thwart Gary Caldwell to leave Arsenal still trailing the two Manchester clubs.
Chelsea was booed off the pitch after a vapid first-half performance at Stamford Bridge but improved after the break, with Malouda tapping home from close range to score his eighth of the campaign.
The Blues' last victory had come on Nov. 10, since when they have blown a five-point lead as their confidence disappeared and their squad was hit by injuries to key players. But manager Carlo Ancelotti hopes the win will give his team more belief after its worst run in the league in 11 years.
"It was important to win and change the atmosphere, change the trend," Ancelotti said.
"It was a very important step ... The league is open for us again. We are not in the best condition, confidence or atmosphere. We have to improve."
Chelsea couldn't even muster a shot on target in a dire first half but Drogba hit the post in the 50th before providing the assist for Malouda's winner.
Liverpool's below-par season has seen it slip to a number of embarrassing defeats — notably at home to fourth-tier Northampton in the League Cup and promoted Blackpool in the league — and the loss to Wolves was a new low for under-pressure manager Roy Hodgson.
Wolves, which was bottom of the table when the game kicked off and was without an away league win all season, took the three points after striker Stephen Ward flicked the ball past Pepe Reina in the 56th.
Even fit-again England midfielder Steven Gerrard, back after six weeks out injured, could not rescue the 18-time champions, who are 12th heading into the new year.

Ind - SA battle: Sehwag out of South Africa ODIs

Virender Sehwag has been rested from the one-day series in South Africa due to shoulder trouble, but he will play in the deciding Test in Cape Town starting Sunday. Rohit Sharma has been named as his replacement for the one-dayers, and opener M Vijay has also been added as the squad's 17th member.

Sehwag has already missed the two previous World Twenty20s due to shoulder problems, and the rest from the one-day series seems to be more of a precautionary measure as he is still available for the third Test. The decision means India haven't fielded their full-strength one-day side since the New Zealand series in early 2009.

The absence of Sehwag leaves the Indian squad with only two regular openers, Sachin Tendulkar and Gautam Gambhir, prompting the decision to ask Vijay to stay on in South Africa for the one-dayers.

The five one-dayers against South Africa, starting January 12, are India's last chance to test themselves in the 50-over format before the World Cup begins next February.

Ashes 2010: Ponting replaced by Clarke to lead in final test

Michael Clarke is Australia's 43rd Test captain after succeeding the injured Ricky Ponting for Monday's fifth Ashes Test in Sydney. Clarke, who has been the deputy since 2008, takes the coveted job at a time when the team is at its nadir and the 29-year-old is in a severe batting rut.

Ponting's broken left pinky not only means he may never add to his 152 Tests, but it accelerates the transition to Clarke during a summer in which his performances have indicated he is not ready for the role. He now has no choice after his appointment - and the elevation of Brad Haddin to vice-captain - was approved in a unanimous decision by Cricket Australia's board on Thursday afternoon.

"Obviously I'm honoured, it's for this Test match and hopefully we can get Punter right as soon as possible and get him back into whichever team," Clarke said at the SCG. "The sooner we can get him back into the one dayers, the better for us."

Clarke is in charge of a 12-man squad as it attempts to draw the series with England, who retained the Ashes with their innings victory in Melbourne on Wednesday. Usman Khawaja has been included to make his debut at No. 3 while Doug Bollinger was recalled to replace Ryan Harris, who suffered a stress fracture in his left ankle at the MCG.

But the major focus is on how Clarke will deal with his switch from energetic lieutenant to the man who has to juggle his own game with all the extra commitments required to run a team. He has led Australia in 18 ODIs and another 18 Twenty20s and has usually enjoyed giving the captaincy back to Ponting.

In his dream Clarke would have taken the job in peak form, but he has experienced a poor campaign against England with 148 runs at 21.14 and only one half-century. Even that came with criticism after he tweeted an apology for not walking when he was dismissed late on the penultimate day in Adelaide.

"I make no bones about it, my form has not been good enough throughout this series," he said. "I've had a couple of innings where I've felt really good but I need to get out here and make sure I get some runs on the board, and that's my focus right now. I've had the chance to captain Australia in the Twenty20 form and a handful of one-dayers as well, and I don't think it's hurt my performance. Hopefully that's the same this week."

Clarke is a modern cricketer and his metrosexual tendencies and A-list activities have created lingering questions over his suitability for the leadership. His on-field moves will now be analysed intently as he hopes for a way out of such a dire period for Australia.

Ponting's fractured finger deteriorated during the fourth Test that finished with him failing to win the Ashes for a record third time. If the urn was still up for grabs he would have pushed to play but gave into medical advice.

"I'm devastated to tell you the truth, it was the news I was dreading," Ponting said after landing in Sydney. "During the game I didn't think I'd done too much more to it." When asked if he was considering retirement he said: "I'm not thinking about it at all."

Ponting, who scored only 113 runs in the first four games, could face surgery on his finger, but is expected to be fit to guide Australia in their push to win a fourth consecutive World Cup. He had an x-ray on the final day of the Melbourne defeat and it showed the fracture had moved during the match.

"What I need right at the moment is just as much time as I possibly can to let it heal and make sure that I'm 100% right for the start of the World Cup," he said. "That's really how the decision was made, so I've just got to do everything in my power over the next little bit to look after it as well as I can."

He will see a specialist again over the next day to decide on the best way forward. "Hopefully he will commence training in the later part of the Australian summer," Alex Kountouris, the team's physiotherapist, said. "He is expected to be fully fit for the World Cup."

Ponting's Test future is less clear as Australia's next five-day engagement is currently scheduled for Sri Lanka in August, although there is a talk of a series against Bangladesh after the World Cup. He is already 36 and Australia have realised during their poor Ashes performance that they have to start rebuilding through young players.

Australia squad Shane Watson, Phillip Hughes, Usman Khawaja, Michael Clarke (capt), Michael Hussey, Steven Smith, Brad Haddin (wk), Mitchell Johnson, Peter Siddle, Ben Hilfenhaus, Doug Bollinger, Michael Beer

ICC test rankings: Zaheer, laxman achieve career best positions

DUBAI: The match-winning 96-run knock in the Durban Test on Thursday catapulted VVS Laxman to a career-best ninth in the batting chart while paceman Zaheer Khan's good show also helped him touch his career-best mark of number four in the bowling list of latest ICC rankings.

Laxman's effort in the second innings played a pivotal role in India's 87-run win, which helped India level the three-match series 1-1, and also pushed him six places up.

It is for the first time that Laxman has entered into the top-10 zone.

The wristy Hyderabadi is now the third Indian batsman inside the top-10 with Sachin Tendulkar sitting in the second position and Virender Sehwag occupying the fourth spot.

Zaheer Khan recorded figures of 3/36 and 3/57 in India's win at Durban and has been rewarded with a jump of three places which puts him along side James Anderson of England.

Off-spinner Harbhajan Singh has also improved his ranking by two places and is now in eighth position after match figures of 6/80.

Paceman S Sreesanth jumped lifted six places to 27th position after match figures of 4/86. In contrast, South Africa's top four batsmen failed to retain their places.

Jacques Kallis slipped to fifth (down by two places), AB de Villiers to sixth (down by one place), Hashim Amla to 12th (down by three places) and Graeme Smith to 14th (down by three places).

For South Africa, the only consolation is that Dale Steyn has strengthened his number-one ranking by opening up 83 points advantage over his closest rival, Graeme Swann of England.

Steyn is now just three ratings points away from reaching the 900-point mark. Steyn took 6-50 and 2-60, for which he earned 21 ratings points giving him a career-best rating of 897.

If Steyn manages to earn three more ratings points in Cape Town, he will become only the second South Africa bowler after Shaun Pollock (November 1999) and 20th overall to reach the 900-point mark which, in rankings terms, is the benchmark for top bowlers.

Meanwhile England's Jonathan Trott, whose undefeated 168 helped England to take a 415-run first innings lead which eventually resulted in an innings and 157 runs victory over Australia, has climbed seven places to claim third position.

Trott is now just nine ratings points behind Tendulkar. The two can swap places depending on how they perform in the final Tests of the series which start in Sydney and Cape Town, respectively next week.

The other England batsmen moving in the right direction are Alastair Cook in 13th position (up by one place) and Kevin Pietersen in 21st spot (up by four places).

The news is not very good for Australia whose top-order batsmen have taken a dive in the rankings.

Mike Hussey has dropped four places to share 10th position with Sri Lanka's Thilan Samaraweera, Shane Watson has fallen two places to 15th spot. Michael Clarke has slipped three places to 24th position and Ricky Ponting has dropped to 29th place, one behind England captain Andrew Strauss.

Belly dance boomerangs at Mulayam

LUCKNOW: Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav, known for his anti-women reservation bill and anti-English medium schools stance, is drawing flak for an unlikely reason: enjoying, along with his clan and senior party leaders, a sizzling performance by Ukrainian belly dancers at Saifai Mahotsav on Sunday night.

The mahotsav -- an annual cultural extravaganza at Mulayam's native village Saifai in Etawah district -- which is supposed to showcase rural art and culture, took a paradigm shift on Sunday night when these foreign belles, duly aided by Mumbai bar dancers, made a jam-packed crowd gyrate to their tunes.

The SP chief, who was in attendance and stayed till the end, played a true sport. This encouraged some of his relatives and party workers, who couldn't resist the temptation of shaking a leg with the scantily-clad Ukranian dancers. It all ended with the SP's jamboree getting a thunderous applause from their boss and party workers.

Saifai Mahotsav was started in 2003 when the SP was in power in the state. Till last year, the show would be run by Mulayam's former blue-eyed boy Amar Singh. Thanks to his Bollywood connections, stars from tinsel town were in regular attendance. But, with Amar now out of the party, the Bollywood source has dried up.

Amar, expectedly, was the first to take a potshot at his former mentor. "I will have to see the video clips of the show to confirm that Mulayam was

watching an obscene dance at Saifai Mahotsav," he said, tongue-in-cheek, adding "but if what the media reports are saying is true then it is all about Mulayam's personal preferences."

He, however, did not forget to mention the standard of events during his tenure with the SP. "We used to have artistes like Asha Bhosle, Hema Malini and Jaya Prada. I feel sorry that things have reached such a pass," said Singh.

UP Congress Committee president Rita Bahuguna Joshi was equally critical. "It is good that a big party like SP is organising a programme for rural folks. But such performances are not required," Joshi said, adding: "When it started off, it was limited to the extent of Bollywood stars, but this is unacceptable."