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Salaam, America

Saavn partners (left to right) Vin Bhat, Paramdeep Singh and Neal Shenoy, all Americans of Indian descent, formed their company in 2006. The letters in the firm's name are an acronym for South Asian audiovisual network.

In Step
Saavn has enjoyed a burst in business on the heels of the Oscar-nominated film, Slumdog Millionaire, above. Though they only control the distribution of one Mumbai-produced song from the film, its soundtrack has been a great conduit for new customers. "Slumdog's soundtrack has elevated the entire Bollywood genre and brought us a new customer base wanting to explore similar music," says co-founder Bhat.

Snoop
In 2008 rap star Snoop Dogg created a song for the Bollywood movie Singh Is Kinng, further "helping put the film and its music on the map in the U.S.," according to Bhat.

Star
Shahrukh Khan, right, with Deepika Padukone, in Om Shanti Om, is one of Bollywood's top stars, famous for his onscreen charm and off-screen work ethic. The 2007 film is one of Bollywood's most popular recent releases and one of many starring Khan that Saavn distributes outside India.

"Chandni Chowk to China"
The 2009 action musical is Warner Bros.' first Bollywood release. Saavn distributes the film's soundtrack.

Face Off
Shahrukh Khan plays a mustachioed everyman in Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi. The wealth and education level of South Asian consumers in the U.S. make them a desirable target.

Action
A 16th century battle is recreated in Jodhaa Akbar, directed by the Oscar-nominated Ashutosh Gowarikar. Last year Saavn posted revenues in the low seven figures — five times its 2007 numbers — with the largest spurt coming from its music enterprise.

New Directions
Irrfan Khan stars in Billu Barber, a 2009 release which demonstrates Bollywood's move towards a kind of independent cinema, where so-called "character actors" like Kahn play leads, while matinee idols like Shahrukh Khan make guest appearances to keep films marketable. Irrfan Khan has also forged a career for himself in Hollywood, where he has appeared in films like The Namesake, The Darjeeling Limited, A Mighty Heart, and Slumdog Millionaire.

Live, All the Time
Because of Saavn, Bollywood fans can now access ringtones and wallpapers to personalize their wireless phones. According to company co-founder Shenoy, "future media collaborations will inject Bollywood further into the mainstream. And when fans want to experience the real Bollywood genre, they'll come to us."

What's Killing the Animals at Ukraine's Biggest Zoo?

Samka the rhino looks sad. When her longtime companion, Boy the elephant, died in April, she watched over his body for an entire day until it was taken away. Today, the elephant's pen sits empty. Boy is just one of several animals at Kiev Zoo — including a camel, a bison and a zebra — that have died in recent months, some in mysterious circumstances. As the city carries out an official investigation, the deaths have prompted outrage and denial, with activists accusing the zoo of negligence and corruption and authorities pointing to an anonymous killer as the culprit.

Boy's death has brought fresh attention to a scandal that has been running for months. Serhiy Hryhoryev, a former zoo worker who runs a site campaigning for the rights of the zoo's animals, says the Indian elephant was underfed, kept in poor conditions and stressed by constant changes to the staff of handlers. "By the end, you could see his ribs," says Hryhoryev.

According to animal rights activists, the number of animals at Kiev Zoo has almost halved in the last two years; they accuse the zoo's authorities of shoddy management, corruption and neglect. The claims stretch into city hall, with critics charging city officials of carrying out shady schemes to privatize the land the zoo is located on in the center of the Ukrainian capital. The zoo's management denies the allegations, as do city officials.

Many of the complaints focus on zoo director Svitlana Berzina, with critics accusing her and her associates of taking kickbacks and leaving the animals uncared for. Andriy Kapustin, head of the Expert Council, a civic organization chronicling the animal-welfare violations at Kiev Zoo, described it as a "concentration camp" in a May 26 article he wrote for the weekly Levy Bereg. Berzina denies all accusations of corruption and states that she has been exonerated by numerous investigations.

When questioned by TIME about the mysterious deaths at the zoo, Berzina claims that some of the animals could have been poisoned by "opponents" battling for control of the zoo. Boiled eggs, which are not part of Boy's diet but were found in the elephant's enclosure after his death, could have been used to deliver poison, she says, as could a potato found with the camels. She even has a suspect: a man in his forties with an earring. The Kiev police say they have no evidence of poisoning in Boy's case.

The zoo's troubles reach back to before Berzina took over in 2008. The previous year, the zoo — once the largest and one of the best regarded in the Soviet Union — was thrown out of the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria because of concerns over animal welfare. A visit earlier this month reveals a zoo that has barely moved on from Soviet times, with its creaking, old rides and small, rundown pens and buildings. For years, Hryhoryev says, the zoo has drained huge sums of money from the city budget, "enough to build several zoos." But improvements have been thin and incomplete.

In May, city authorities finally responded to activists' calls for action, suspending Berzina and forming an investigative committee to look into the mysterious zoo deaths. Meanwhile, city hall has already washed its hands of any wrongdoing. In a statement, mayor Leonid Chernovetskiy appealed to "anyone involved in the animals' deaths in any way" to stop using "our innocent little brothers" as "a stake in your cruel games."

But activists and opposition politicians say the mayor — who appointed Berzina to run the zoo — is a big part of the problem. In his Levy Bereg article, Kapustin suggests the animal's deaths may be a ploy by city authorities, in cahoots with the zoo's management, to reduce the zoo's animal stock as an excuse to move it from the "gold mine" that is the 84 acres of land the zoo sits on.

Opponents have long accused Chernovetskiy and his team of giving away tracts of land to family and associates in sweetheart deals. The council offices were raided in early July by the state security service as part of an investigation into irregular land deals. City hall declined to comment to TIME on the claims, although officials have publicly denied allegations of improper land privatizations.

Opposition lawmaker Kyrylo Kulykov says an investigative committee in Ukraine's parliament has been set up to look into the broader problem of land corruption in Kiev, but it hasn't started working yet because of "political games." "We are fighting with the whole state apparatus," says Hryhoryev, the activist. "None of this would have happened if there had been some kind of financial control [over zoo management]." Only when the rule of law is firmly established in Ukraine will the zoo's troubles end, he adds.

Until then, Ukrainians can only hope that the animals stop dying. On a sunny day in early July, a young boy visiting the zoo runs off toward Boy's enclosure shouting: "The elephant's this way!" But when he gets there all he sees is Samka the rhino lying still and lonely in the neighboring pen.

Will Europe's Bank Stress Tests Bring Calm or Fear?

European Union policymakers might like to think their emergency measures over recent weeks have calmed market concerns about shaky public finances in vulnerable euro-zone countries. But investors are still jittery, thanks to their niggling anxieties about the bad debts held in Europe's financial institutions. Market fears that banks are hiding their losses are hindering interbank lending, choking credit and stifling economic growth.

In a bid to reassure investors, the E.U. will publish on Friday the results of its so-called stress tests on banks. These much-anticipated tests open banks' books, examine bad losses, and check whether they have enough capital to absorb a new financial crisis. They should reveal whether Europe's banking sector really is solvent and, if there are pockets of capital weakness, force investors or governments to plug the gaps.

The tests offer the promise of restoring confidence in Europe's banks and boosting the economy as a whole — E.U. regulators point out that when the U.S. published public stress tests on its banks in 2009, the move helped halt the Wall Street panic. But the tests also carry a risk: if clumsily handled, instead of allaying anxieties, they could simply sow more fear.

So how can the stress tests ensure that markets are assuaged? The answer lies in the depth and transparency of the exercise, and the response by authorities to what the test reveals.

The tests were carried out by national banking supervisors and overseen by the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the Committee of European Banking Supervisors, a London-based umbrella group. The results will cover 91 banks accounting for 65% of the European banking system.

But the tests can only do the trick if they are rigorous enough, says Nicolas Véron, a senior fellow at Bruegel, a Brussels-based economic think tank. That means some banks will have to fail, or the whole exercise will look like a charade. "If the outcome is to be credible, the stress tests will necessarily reveal significant capital shortfalls in a number of banks. Otherwise, they will increase market distrust and volatility," he says. Véron warns that national authorities across Europe have incentives to protect "their" banks and sugarcoat the results: "Transparency is the key if the stress tests are to convince investors."

Observers expect that the tests will show most of the 91 banks can survive potential economic turbulence. But there are three areas that are considered particularly exposed: Greek banks, many of which hold significant sovereign debt; Spanish Cajas, or regional banks, which have been burned by the collapse in the country's real-estate market; and the German regional banks, the Landesbanks, which took heavy losses in the American mortgage markets. At Barclays Capital, analysts estimate that, when the test results are released, they will show that the Cajas may need $46 billion of extra funding, the Landesbanks $44 billion and Greek banks $11 billion.

Many analysts are also concerned that the tests may further damage confidence if they neglect to cover the risk of large losses on sovereign defaults by Greece and other susceptible euro-zone states. Understandably, E.U. governments are reluctant to entertain default scenarios, but a "sovereign shock" is precisely the sort of test investors will be looking for. According to a leak reported by Bloomberg, the E.U.'s tests assume some defaults and apply a discount, or "haircut", to some European bonds: a 17% loss on Greek bonds and 3% on Spanish bonds. This is far less than what investors expect, at least according to recovery swaps — hedges against defaults — which imply 50% losses in a Greek default or debt restructuring, and around 30% for Spain.
But perhaps the most important question surrounding the stress tests is how governments and the banks will respond. Investors will want to know how banks that fail will raise the extra capital they need. "Indentifying clearly the timing and source of funding — either via the market or the public sector — will be a key part of the exercise and fundamental to restoring confidence," says Silvio Peruzzo, a London-based economist with the Royal Bank of Scotland.

Governments prefer banks to rely on private means, such as asset sales and stock issues, to raise any extra capital. U.S. banks largely relied on their own means to reinforce reserves after their 2009 stress tests found 10 of the 19 scrutinized banks needed additional capital. But if European banks can't find the funds themselves, government intervention may be necessary, and ECB officials have urged countries to have financial safety nets in place to prevent any disorderly failures of banks. E.U. Economics and Monetary Affairs Commissioner Olli Rehn says, as a last resort, states could turn to the $950-billion loan package the E.U. set up in May to aid indebted nations.

Rehn, like many E.U. officials, says the tests should allow the eurozone to move beyond the current crisis. But the markets are still skeptical. "It is potentially a useful exercise," says Beat Siegenthaler, an analyst at UBS in Zurich. "But what we have seen so far is that the tests are not severe enough and everybody is looking out for their own banks. If things are being glossed over, then the mistrust among banks will remain and the stress tests will do nothing to soothe the markets." In other words, if the tests fail to convince, then Europe can bank on yet more stress.

Million dollar mistakes: Movie roles that stars turned down

Million dollar mistakes: Movie roles that stars turned down

These career-making roles could have been another notch on these A-lister's belts. Take a look at the hugely popular movie roles these stars decided to pass on. Before Angelina Jolie stepped foot on the set of 'Salt,' the title character of the spy thriller had to undergo a gender change. Tom Cruise was originally slated to play the role of Edwin A. Salt, a CIA officer who's accused of being a Russian sleeper spy. However when Jolie caught wind of the script, she took a liking to it which prompted the studio to rewrite the lead role. In the end, the role of Evelyn Salt was born.

He showed off his fancy footwork in "Risky Business," but Tom Cruise apparently declined the lead role (which went to Kevin Bacon) in "Footloose." The actor has also passed on parts in "The Talented Mr. Ripley," "Enemy of the State" and "Cold Mountain

Though Will Smith has had his fair share of acting in sci-fi thrillers, he turned down the role of Neo in the box office hit “The Matrix.” The actor, who opted to star in the movie flop, “Wild Wild West,” admits he couldn't have pulled off the lead role. He says, “You know, 'The Matrix' is a difficult concept to pitch. In the pitch, I just didn’t see it. I watched Keanu’s performance – and very rarely do I say this – but I would have messed it up

Daniel Day-Lewis' role as Guido Contini in the musical "Nine" could have been Penelope Cruz's beau, Javier Bardem, according to Variety. The "No Country for Old Men' star was originally offered the role of the famous film director, who experiences personal and creative crisis while trying to balance all the women in his life, but dropped out of the project stating he was exhausted from work and awards season.

Just one day before shooting was set to begin, Ryan Gosling stepped down from the role of Jack Salmon in Peter Jackson’s film adaptation of "The Lovely Bones." Luckily, with only a few days notice, Mark Wahlberg was able to step in and replace Gosling, who had already gained 20 pounds and grown a beard for the part. According to Variety.com, sources attribute Gosling's exit to creative differences.

Anne Hathaway may play the White Queen in Tim Burton's "Alice in Wonderland," but she could have starred as Alice if she had wanted to. Despite being offered the leading role, Hathaway turned it down because she was sick of playing a "pretty girl in a fairy dress."The actress told Britain's GQ magazine, "The studio had the Alice script a long time ago and I was approached back then for the part of Alice. I considered it, but felt, what with The Princess Diaries, that I had been there, done that sort of pretty-girl-in-a-fairy-dress role. I told the studio, however, that if they found a director eventually, that I would be interested at a later date in playing the White Queen

Academy Award-winning actress Helen Mirren was originally offered the role of social worker Mrs. Weiss in Lee Daniel’s "Precious." But when Mirren had to pull out of the project for unknown reasons, it was Mariah Carey who took her place just days before shooting began.The performance gave new life to Carey's acting career. The singer, once deemed a horrible actress for her disastrous film "Glitter," wowed critics with her powerful performance in "Precious."

"The Blind Side" star Sandra Bullock has been having the best year of her life, winning the award for Best Actress as the SAG Awards, the Golden Globes and the Oscars. But Bullock's amazing year almost didn't happen. Julia Robert was initially eyed to star in the film, but luckily for Sandra, the actress turned down the role.

Matt Damon could have had the lead role in the highest-grossing movie ever. But he turned down going blue for James Cameron's "Avatar" due to scheduling conflicts with "The Bourne Ultimatum." "Clearly my not participating cost the film a lot," Damon joked. While the role went to unknown Aussie actor Sam Worthington, it could also have been played by

Jake Gyllenhaal, who was another one of Cameron's top picks for the role of Jake Sully. Ah, what might have been ...

Talk about a huge regret! Lindsay Lohan surprisingly turned down Heather Graham's role in the blockbuster hit, 'The Hangover.' Despite having her agent reportedly campaign for her to get the role, the rehabbed actress ultimately passed on the offer because she thought the script 'had no potential.' Sadly, the same can be said for LiLo's film career.

While most guys drooled over the sight of Scarlett Johannson kicking butt in a skin-tight body suit in 'Iron Man 2,' the role of Black Widow originally belonged to Emily Blunt. Due to scheduling conflicts with her film 'Gulliver's Travels,' the British actress had to opt out of the superhero film.

Anna Chapman Reportedly Sought Princes William And Harry, Enjoyed Kinky Sex

New revelations about the private life of Anna Kushchenko Chapman, the 28-year-old New York real estate entrepreneur accused of being a deep-cover Russian spy, continue to ignite sensational media coverage on both sides of the Atlantic.

On Sunday, Britain's Daily Mirror reported that Chapman had long been fixated on Britain's royal princes William and Harry. According to sources, the Russian-born Chapman had frequented high-end London restaurants and swanky nightclubs in an effort to meet the princes before she left the U.K. in 2007.

The article quotes an unnamed pal as saying, "I remember her talking about Prince William and Prince Harry, but she was very careful not to be seen as the sort of girl who hangs around waiting for them, even though that's exactly what she was doing. As a regular at these places, Anna would have found it easy to get near the princes and was certainly pretty friendly with people in their world."

As it turns out, the British royals were hardly the most sordid of Anna's interests. Her ex-husband Alex Chapman, 30, told the British media that his wife had a penchant for kinky sex, including whips and nipple clamps.

"Anna was great in bed and she knew exactly what to do," said Alex, noting that the pair had once enjoyed a steamy rendezvous aboard a Moscow-bound flight. "The sex was great and she had this incredible body." Along with the interview, various media outlets also published racy photos -- some rumored to have been taken from the accused spy's Facebook page -- which show her cavorting in lingerie in bed. Pals of Anna say she is "humiliated" by her ex-husband's remarks and the photos.

As details of Anna's life seem to resemble a Cold War-era spy film more and more each day, it's no surprise that Hollywood may soon beckon. Singer-actress Kelly Osbourne, the daughter of rocker Ozzy who previously appeared in films such as "The Town That Boars Me," said she hopes to play the accused spy in a big-screen adaptation of the scandal if one is made.

"I am absolutely intrigued by the Russian spy story in the news at the moment," Osbourne, 25, told Closer magazine. "I want to play the glamorous red-haired one, Anna Chapman, who everyone's talking about."

Owner of Dubai's 'little Britain' jailed for non-payment of cheques

Safi Qurashi has been jailed for seven years in Dubai prison over cheques his lawyers say should not have been cashed. Above, the Balham-born developer with Piers Morgan, right, on his Great Britain in the Gulf. Photograph: Daryl Visscher/ITV
A British property tycoon hailed as one of Dubai's most successful entrepreneurs after buying a £43m island in the shape of Great Britain has been jailed for seven years for bouncing cheques and withholding payments.

Safi Qurashi, from Balham, south London, was convicted last month in the United Arab Emirates of signing cheques worth more than £50m without sufficient funds and cancelling another cheque as he moved to complete three property deals.

His imprisonment comes two years after he bought the 11-acre island that is part of the World, a man-made archipelago of 300 reclaimed sandbanks in the Gulf, fashioned into the shape of the globe's landmasses.

The islands, praised by some as an architectural miracle and condemned by others as an environmental disaster, were built in 2003 two miles off Dubai and can be seen from space.
They have become a symbol of Dubai's fading economic power in the global economic downturn. Built during the boom to be used as secluded playgrounds for the super-rich, they remain largely unused.

Qurashi is appealing to the emirate's royal ruler, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, claiming that his convictions are the result of a miscarriage of justice.

He is one of a growing number of Britons caught out in Dubai by laws that hand down jail sentences for cheque fraud, which have been strictly enforced in the midst of collapsing house prices, negative equity and reduced credit.

Radha Stirling, the founder of Detained In Dubai, a British-based pressure group that fights injustices in the United Arab Emirates, is backing Qurashi's claims that he has been jailed by a dogmatic court which failed to take his circumstances into account.

She said: "Security cheques are commonly used in Dubai in business and private agreements as collateral. The law states that bouncing a cheque is illegal and can be punished with a sentence of three years in prison. But the legal system in Dubai does not take into account any circumstances or evidence surrounding the bounced cheques, leaving the law open to abuse or misuse."

Qurashi, 41, the son of a Pakistan-born travel agent, was a successful businessman in London, developing one of the first internet cafes in Soho. In 2004 he moved to Dubai, where he flourished, friends say. Four years later, his company, Premier Real Estate Bureau, turned over £400m and employed 80 staff.

He came to international prominence after buying the island in 2008. In an interview for the ITV show Piers Morgan On Dubai, he told the journalist that he planned to build a glitzy resort that would be a homage to his home city. "I am proud of my British heritage and not a day goes past when I don't miss London. It's home at the end of the day and who doesn't miss home?" he said.

Friends say Qurashi was arrested alongside his business partner in January after a Russian investor attempted to cash two multimillion-pound cheques, which both bounced.

Qurashi's legal team claimed that the cheques were presented after a property deal between the two parties had been completed and that the money was not owed.

He and his business partner were convicted on both charges in May and June this year. He has also been convicted of a third offence – this time for stopping a cheque – and is due to appear before a court next month to appeal against three years of his seven-year sentence.

Qurashi is being held in Dubai's central prison. His wife and three young children are permitted to visit him once a week. The British consulate is aware of his case.

A friend of Qurashi said he had the funds to pay out on the cheques but the courts did not take this into account. "The cheques were cashed by an investor … The cheques were a security deposit and should never have been cashed because Safi did not owe him money," he said. "Safi wants to develop the island into a resort and plans to do so when he gets out of prison. But right now, he can't do anything."

Dubai's World archipelagoWhen the World project was launched in 2003, it was hoped celebrities and the super-rich would snap up the islands. Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt were reported to have considered buying Ethiopia. David Beckham, Rod Stewart, Michael Jackson and Prince Albert of Monaco were also rumoured to be interested.

None bought into the project. Most of the islands remain undeveloped, although it has been reported that the owner of the unpartitioned Ireland transported an Irish castle stone-by-stone to the Gulf.

Nakheel Properties created the foundations within five years, from 11bn cubic feet of sand and 47m tonnes of rock. But the development was criticised by environmental activists, who said the construction of artificial islands damaged coral reefs and shifts water currents.

Nakheel, which is in talks with creditors on restructuring $10.5bn of bank debt, has asked lenders to respond to the proposal by the end of next month, according to reports.

The developer met its creditor banks on Wednesday to present the proposed recapitalisation and restructuring plan

The spy Anna Chapman ago tiene muñeca

The spy rusa Anna Chapman of expulsada recientemente por Estados Unidos y que ello fue primera página en los por su belleza tabloids neoyorquinos y su melena roja, ya tiene una con su muñeca effigy that sells hoy por Internet.

La firma Herobuilders.com, tiene su sede that in Oxford (Connecticut), comercializa una muñeca Barbie tipo en dos versiones, "The Predator (depredadora)" y "The Spy I Could Love (The spy that has pude amar)" por 29.95 dólares.

In the sexy officer una rusa that Cabella luce su roja that the dio tanta fama in EE.UU. como una nueva Mata Hari, aparecer muy musculoskeletal, ataviada con una camiseta y azules pants blanca, dispuesta has acción.

La otra muñeca por la firma comercializada Estadounidense will ataviada con una falda Unicamente tableada tipo de cuadros colegiales in topless y con una pistola in mano.

A principios de julio las autoridades Estadounidense desarticularon una red de oz spies in favor de Rusia Moscú that has deportaron luego y desde entonces tienen entrada prohibida in the territorio of este país.

De ellos, más popular fue the Anna Chapman, una joven 28 años, propietaria one negocio de ventas inmobiliarias por internet y que divorcio is one Britanico, su Apellido del that conservó unas fotos y que el ex marido the Estando semidesnuda hizo y that circularon después por la web.

El presidente of Homebuilders.com Emil Vitale, suma así belleza rusa has a list of Muñecos populares personajes su empresa that sells, among los que están Governess to the former ex candidata Sarah Palin Republicana o el Consejero delegado of Petrolera BP Tony Haywards, that al anuncian como "el hombre más y que EE.UU. odiado of estar pronto in paro".

In the galería de figurines de acción están también of Homebuilders of el presidente EE.UU., Barack Obama y su esposa, Michelle, así como la presidenta of the Cámara de Representantes, Nancy Pelosi, Joe Biden Vicepresidente el, ahora el financiero convicto Bernie Madoff y el presidente of Irán, Mahmud Ahmadineyad.