Lifestyle FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2014

Madonna (left) introduces Maria Alyokhina (center) and Nadezhda Tolokonnikova of Russian protest group Punk Riot as they speak onstage at the Amnesty International Concert presented by the CBGB Festival at Barclays Center on February 5, 2014 in New York City. (Right) (left) and Isaac Slade (right) of perform. — AP Madonna, Punk Riot speak at human rights concert

nstead of singing, Madonna and Punk Riot had a voice and I could sing more than songs shirts featuring cross designs Wednesday, Imagine Dragons were crowd favorites with spoke with passion about human rights about being a material girl or feeling like a thanked supporters for sending letters while their Grammy-winning hit, “Radioactive.” Iissues at a concert for Amnesty virgin. And I have definitely paid for and have they were in jail and Amnesty International Lauryn Hill and Blondie earned cheers as International. Madonna told the crowd of been punished for speaking my mind and for for its mission to protect human rights. they entered the stage. Hill kicked off her thousands Wednesday night that she sticking my neck out for this kind of discrimi- “Thank you to all of those who are bold set - each act roughly performed three received death threats for standing up for nation. But that’s OK.” enough and who care enough to speak out songs - with “Ready or Not” from her Punk Riot, a Russian protest punk band, when At the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, against injustice and speak the truth,” Fugees days, while Debbie Harry was a fire- two of its members were arrested for hooli- Madonna introduced Maria Alekhina and Alekhina said. cracker when she sang “One Way or ganism after staging a protest in a Russian Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, who were released The Moscow-based group, which features Another” and “Call Me.” church in 2012. from prison in December and made their first nearly a dozen female musicians, has been Amnesty International’s “Bringing Human “The right to be free, to speak our minds, public appearance in the US on Tuesday. critical of Russian President Vladimir Putin Rights Home” also included performances to have an opinion, to love who we want to They spoke through a translator at the and political conditions in their homeland. from Cake, the Fray, Bob Geldof, Tegan and love, to be who we are - do we have to fight “Bringing Human Rights Home” concert, “Russia will be free!” they yelled along with Sara, Colbie Caillat and Cold War Kids. It is the for that?” the pop icon said, answering her telling the audience they were grateful to be the crowd before they exited the stage. organization’s first concert since the “Human own question with an expletive. free, but have to continue to fight to save While Madonna and Punk Riot didn’t per- Rights Concerts” were held from 1986 to “I’ve always considered myself a freedom others who are imprisoned. form, the Flaming Lips and Yoko Ono closed 1998, and included , Bruce Springsteen, fighter since the early ‘80s when I realized I Alekhina and Tolokonnikova, who wore T- the more than four-hour event, while Sting and Peter Gabriel. — AP Cruise lawyer dismisses ‘bizarre’ $1bn lawsuit

lawyer for Tom Cruise poured scorn on a $1 billion lawsuit alleging that filmmakers stole a screen- Awriter’s work to create a blockbuster “Mission: Impossible” film, calling the legal action “bizarre.” Timothy Patrick McLanahan claims the 2011 film “Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol” was based on a script he wrote in 1998 called “Head On,” which he tried unsuccess- A Harley Davidson Dyna Super fully to get made in Hollywood. He pitched it initially to Glide offered to the Pope Francis the William Morris Agency, but “I was told that they could on the occasion of 110th not use the script as a movie,” McLanahan wrote in the anniversary of the brand in June lawsuit, filed in December and published this week by 2013, is displayed at the Grand celebrity news website Radar Online. Palais in Paris. — AFP He alleges agents there then passed the screenplay, without his permission, to Creative Artists Agency (CAA), which represents Cruise, leading to a project he claims Pope’s Harley sells to mystery became the 2011 “Mission: Impossible” movie. When McLanahan watched the film, “I immediately realized that the scripts for this movie had been illegally written and produced from Head On’s 1998 copywright,” he wrote in buyer for 241,500 euros the lawsuit, which names Cruise among 13 defendants. But Cruise’s lawyer Bert Fields dismissed the lawsuit. “Tom Cruise has never stolen anything from anyone,” he Harley-Davidson motorbike that briefly belonged to the charity’s hostel and soup kitchen based at Rome’s told AFP Wednesday. “This bizarre lawsuit against 13 peo- Pope Francis was sold for 241,500 euros ($326,000), 16 Termini railway station. A jacket that was also given to the ple... will be quickly dismissed by the court.” In his legal fil- Atimes its highest original valuation, at an auction in Paris pope by Harley-Davidson was snapped up for 57,500 euros. ing, McLanahan specified why he is seeking $1 billion. He yesterday. The US motorbike maker gave the 1,585cc Dyna The bike is on show at the Grand Palais in Paris-where the noted that “Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol” made over Super Glide to the pope in June to mark the brand’s 110th auction took place-among hundreds of other iconic vehicles $690 million at the box office, some $145 million in DVD and anniversary, and while the 77-year-old never rode it, he signed such as Rolls-Royces and Cadillacs. According to Bonhams, Blu-ray sales, and millions of dollars in film rentals.”Because it before donating it to Roman Catholic charity Caritas Roma. Pope Francis has another Harley-Davidson, although the the Ghost Protocol film generated close to $1 billion, I am “It’s a record for a post-vintage motorbike, from the 21st centu- famously humble pontiff is more of a fan of buses. He opted asking for this amount in damages,” he wrote in the lawsuit, ry,” said Bonhams France, the auction house, adding the bike to ride on the day after his election last year instead of taking filed in California on December 17. —AFP was purchased by an unidentified European buyer. a limousine, and regularly used them in his homeland The funds from the sale will go towards the restoration of Argentina instead of taxis. — AFP