World news or international news or even foreign coverage is the news media-jargon for news from abroad, about a foreign country or a global subject. For journalism, it is a branch that deals with news either sent by foreign correspondents or news agencies, or — more recently — information that is gathered or researched through distance communication technologies, such as telephone, satellite TV or the internet.

Although in most of the Anglophone world this field is not usually regarded as a specific specialization for journalists, it is so in nearly all the world. Particularly in the United States, there is a blurred distinction between world news and "national" news when they include directly the national government or national institutions, such as wars in which the US are involved or summits of multilateral organizations in which the US are a member.

Actually, at the birth of modern journalism, most news were actually foreign, as registered by the courants of the 17th century in West and Central Europe, such as the Daily Courant (England), the Nieuwe Tijudinger (Antwerp), the Relation (Strasbourg), the Avisa Relation oder Zeitung (Wolfenbüttel) and the Courante Uyt Italien, Duytsland & C. (Amsterdam). Since these papers were aimed at bankers and merchants, they brought mostly news from other markets, which usually meant other nations. In any case, it is worthy to remark that nation-states were still incipient in 17th-century Europe.

From the 19th century on, with newspapers already established in Europe, the United States and a few other countries, innovations in telecommunications such as the telegraph made news from abroad easier to be spread. The first news agencies were then founded, like AFP (France), Reuters (UK), Wolff (currently DPA, Germany) and the AP (USA).

War journalism is one of the best known subfields of world news (although war coverage can be national for the media of belligerent countries themselves).

Foreign Correspondents[link]

There are essentially two types of reporters who do foreign reporting: the foreign correspondent (full-time reporter employed by a news source) and the special envoy (sent abroad to cover a specific subject, temporarily stationed in a location).

The correspondent is a reporter based in a foreign city (often the capital of a country) covering a region, a country or sometimes even an entire continent. He or she regularly files stories to the news editor. He/she gathers materials for these stories from local officials, members of the community, and the local media, as well as from events he/she directly witnesses. Correspondents typically stay in touch with the local community and maintain contacts with other journalists and correspondents in order to identify strategic sources in the government, among diplomats, members of the military and other organizations on the ground who may provide important information.

The number of foreign correspondents has dropped significantly over the past 20 years or more. Often, a media company is either uninterested or unable to afford to support a single correspondent, such as in many developing countries. In some places, they cannot obtain visas due to political constraints, or otherwise dangerous conditions prohibit a media company from stationing a reporter there. In recent years, the drop in foreign correspondents has been due to cutbacks within media companies (often, but not always, a result of economics alone).[1]

When reporters working abroad have no permanent labor contract with media outlets, they are called stringers. Since they have no salary, stringers usually produce material for several different companies at once.

News Agencies[link]

A news agency is an organization of journalists established to supply news reports to news organizations: newspapers, magazines, and radio and television broadcasters. Such an agency may also be referred to as a wire service, newswire or news service. The bulk of major news agency services contains foreign news.

The major news agencies generally prepare hard news stories and feature articles that can be used by other news organizations with little or no modification, and then sell them to other news organizations. They provide these articles in bulk electronically through wire services (originally they used telegraphy; today they frequently use the Internet). Corporations, individuals, analysts and intelligence agencies may also subscribe.

Further reading[link]

• Clausen, L. (2003) Global news production. Copenhagen Business School Press DK
• Desmond, R.W. (1972) The press and world affairs. Arno Press
• Friedland, L.A. (1992) Covering the world: international television news services: essay. Twentieth Century Fund.
• Ginneken, J. (1998) Understanding global news: a critical introduction. SAGE
• Hachten, W.A.; Scotton, J.F. (2002) The world news prism: global media in an era of terrorism. Iowa State Press
• Malek, A.; Kavoori, A.P. (2000) The global dynamics of news: studies in international news coverage and news agenda. Greenwood
• Paterson, C.; Sreberny, A., ed. (2004) International news in the 21st century. John Libbey Pub. for University of Luton Press
• Richstad, J.; Anderson, M.H. (1981) Crisis in international news: policies and prospects. Columbia University Press
• Stanton, R. (2007) All news is local: the failure of the media to reflect world events in a globalized age. McFarland & Co.
• Stevenson, R.L.; Shaw, D.L. (1984) Foreign news and the new world information order. Iowa State University Press
• Wallis, R.; Baran, S.J. (1990) The known world of broadcast news: international news and the electronic media. Routledge

See also[link]

• World News (disambiguation)
• Afghanistanism

Christian Finnegan
Christian Finnegan, 2007
Birth name	Fletcher Christian Finnegan
Born	(1973-04-01) April 1, 1973 (age 39) Albany, New York, United States
Medium	Stand-up, television
Spouse	Kambri Crews
Website	http://www.christianfinnegan.com

Fletcher Christian Finnegan (born April 1, 1973), better known as Christian Finnegan, is an American stand-up comedian, writer and actor based in New York City.

Early life[link]

Finnegan was born in Albany, New York. He grew up in Acton, Massachusetts, and attended The Walnut Hill School, a boarding/day high school focused on programs in the performing, visual, and creative arts and located in Natick, Massachusetts.

Career[link]

Finnegan's television credits include VH1's Best Week Ever, his own half hour special Comedy Central Presents: Christian Finnegan, Premium Blend and regular appearances on The Today Show and Countdown with Keith Olbermann. He also appeared as "Chad," the only white roommate in the sketch, "'Mad' Real World" on Comedy Central's Chappelle's Show, in which he played the sole white person humiliated and abused on an imaginary season of the MTV reality show The Real World until his eventual breakdown. He is the host of TV Land's interstitial game show "Game Time", and was a writer for Tough Crowd with Colin Quinn, on which he also appeared as a guest. Christian Finnegan's stand up was also featured in Comedy Central's animated series Shorties Watchin' Shorties. ^[1]

In mid-2005, Finnegan played the supporting role of "Carl" in the film Eden Court.

In October 2006, Finnegan's debut stand up comedy CD titled Two For Flinching was released by Comedy Central Records, with a follow-up national tour of college campuses from January to April 2007.^[2]

In 2009, Finnegan recorded a Comedy Central Special entitled "Au Contraire." He also began appearing as a guest on the comedy podcast Keith and the Girl, his most recent appearance being on the August 24, 2011 show.

As of June 2010, Finnegan plays a supporting role in the TBS series Are We There Yet.

Personal life[link]

On August 12, 2006, Finnegan married his publicist Kambri Crews.^[3] and currently resides in New York City.

In 2006, he lost 88 pounds as he discussed on his blog, Tower of Hubris.^[4]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Christian Finnegan's official site
• Christian Finnegan on Twitter
• Christian Finnegan at the Internet Movie Database
• Christian Finnegan Interview - Penthouse
• Christian Finnegan Interview - CollegeHumor.com
• Christian Finnegan Interview - The DePaulia
• Christian Finnegan Interview - Cornell Daily Sun
• Christian Finnegan Interview - WickedInfo.com

Riya Sen
Riya Sen at a fashion show
Born	Riya Dev Varma (1981-01-24) 24 January 1981 (age 31) Kolkata, West Bengal, India
Occupation	Actor, model
Parents	Bharat Dev Varma Moon Moon Sen
Relatives	Raima Sen (sister) Suchitra Sen (grand mother)

Riya Sen (Bengali: রিয়া সেন [ˈrija ˈʃen]; born Riya Dev Varma on 24 January 1981) is an Indian film actress and model. Riya, who comes from a family of actors including her grandmother Suchitra Sen, mother Moon Moon Sen and sister Raima Sen, began her acting career in 1991 as a child actress in the film Vishkanya. Her first commercial success in her film career was with Style, a 2001 Hindi low-budget sex comedy directed by N. Chandra. Some of her other films include producer Pritish Nandy's musical film, Jhankaar Beats (2003) in Hinglish, Shaadi No. 1 (2005) Malayalam horror film Ananthabhadram (2005).

Riya was first recognised as a model when she performed in Falguni Pathak's music video Yaad Piya Ki Aane Lagi at the age of sixteen. Since then, she has appeared in music videos, television commercials, fashion shows, and on magazine covers. She has been a heartthrob sensation throughout India. Riya has worked as an activist and appeared in an AIDS awareness music video with the aim of dispelling popular myths about the disease. She also helped raise funds for pediatric eye-care. Riya has faced controversies such as a MMS clip with actor Ashmit Patel, her semi-nude photograph on photographer Dabboo Ratnani's annual calendar and her on-screen kisses in a conservative Indian film industry.

Acting career[link]

Riya first appeared as a child artist in the film Vishkanya in 1991, where she played the role of the young Pooja Bedi. At the age of 18, she did National Film Awards winning director Bharathiraja's Tamil film, Taj Mahal (2000), which did not achieve commercial success.^[1] She was scheduled to make her Bollywood film debut in Love You Hamesha, opposite actor Akshaye Khanna; however, the film was stalled, and she finally made her debut in N. Chandra's Style in 2001.^[2] This low-budget sex comedy^[3][4] was the first commercial success in over a decade for the director.^[5] A launch pad for Riya, cast in the female lead along with fellow-newcomers, Sharman Joshi, Sahil Khan and Shilpi Mudgal, the film pioneered a trend of commercial success for small budget films in India.^[6][7] Riya and the second female lead of the film were replaced by aspirant actresses Sunali Joshi and Jaya Seal in Xc'.^[8][9]

Her next success was Jhankaar Beats, a comedy revolving around the music of legendary composer R D Burman, which saw her playing a small and glamorous role^[10] alongside Shayan Munshi, Juhi Chawla, Rahul Bose, Rinke Khanna and Sanjay Suri. Produced by Pritish Nandy, publishing director of The Times of India,^[11] the film was made on a budget of Rs. 25 million (US$525,000),^[11] marking the sixth in a row of small to medium budget films made by Pritish Nandy Communications (PNC).^[12] Despite being part of a wave of offbeat films that mostly failed to make an impact at the box office,^[13][14] it drew public attention upon its release, which led to a commercial success among a restricted audience targeted by a selective release in twenty cities.^[12][15] It was one of the first films made in Hinglish, a mixture of Hindi and English.^[16][17] In 2005, she starred in Shaadi No. 1, which had no female lead.^[18] This comedy, based on the theme of modern marriage, was directed by David Dhawan, a renowned film director from this genre.^[19][20]

Although films like Style and Jhankar Beats succeeded commercially, most of her later films have generated less revenue.^[21][22] A number of them remained unfinished. While many of her appearances have been item numbers and cameos,^[23][24][25] few of her leading roles have been in low-budget films.^[26] Though she had small roles in Dil Vil Pyar Vyar (2002), Qayamat (2003) and Plan (2004), attention was drawn to her item numbers in all three, especially the one in Qayamat that featured her in a bubble-bath.^[21][27][28] Besides this, she performed another item number in James (2005) on director-producer Ram Gopal Varma's behest, who has a history of casting aspirant actress-models like Sameera Reddy, Isha Koppikar and Koena Mitra in similar roles.^[29] Furthermore, she took part in a dance number for Sajid Khan's Heyy Babyy (2007) that featured several mainstream Bollywood actresses.^[30]

Non-Hindi films[link]

Riya has, in addition to Bollywood films, appeared in Bengali, Tamil,Telugu, Malayalam and English films. Her film career began in the earnest with Tamil films such as Bharathi Raja's Taj Mahal, co-starring Manjoj Bharatiraja in the male lead, and Manoj Bhatnaghar's Good Luck, opposite Prasanth. Both of the films failed commercially, and she had a brief reappearance in Tamil cinema only to perform in a dance number for N. Maharajan's Arasatchi.^{[35][dead link]}

Her first English language movie was It Was Raining That Night, a remake of the Bengali film Hei Brishtir Raat, scripted by Sudeshna Roy and directed by Mahesh Manjrekar. In the film, she collaborated with mother Moon Moon Sen.^[36] Riya was slated to appear in Anjan Dutta's Bengali-English bilingual film The Bong Connection with her sister, but she was eventually dropped from the project and replaced by Peeya Rai Chaudhary.^[37] The two sisters were later cast together in director Ajai Sinha's The Bachelor, a Bengali film that, as of 2008, is yet to be finished.^[38]

Her most successful non-Hindi film has been director Santhosh Sivan's Ananthabhadram (2005). The first Malayalam venture for both Riya and Sivan,^[39][40] was both a critical and commercial success. It won five Kerala State Film Awards^[33] and surfaced as one of the biggest Malayalam successes that year.^[31][32] She played the role of Bhama in the film, a village girl who is lured by Digambaran, the evil magician portrayed by Manoj K. Jayan. In a song-and-dance sequence showing Digambaran turning Bhama into a medium for demonic rituals, the choreographer Aparna Sindoor made abundant use Kathakali movements.^[41] The use of Kathakali has been a high point in the resurgence of the classical dance form in other major Indian films as well,^[42] including Shaji Karun's Vanaprastham (1999) and Adoor Gopalakrishnan's Kalamandalam Ramankutty Nair (2005).^[43][44] She made her Telugu Debut with Nenu Meeku Telusa...?, in which she was paired opposite Manoj Manchu.

Modeling career[link]

Riya became a popular model when she appeared in numerous music videos for songs by popular singers, including Falguni Pathak's Yaad Piya Ki Aane Lagi (alternative title: Chudi Jo Khankayi), Asha Bhosle's Jhumka Gira Re, Jagjit Singh and Bhosle's Jab Samne Tum and Kahin Kahin Se, Lata Mangeshkar, Bhonsle and Singh's Dil Kahin Hosh Kahin, Sonu Nigam's Jeena Hai Tere Liye and Shaan's Sutta Maro. She shot for her first music video, Yaad Piya Ki Aane Lagi, at the age of sixteen.^[45][46] This led to her being identified primarily as a performer for music videos early in her career,^[47] an image she aimed to shed in 2005.^[48] Riya has appeared on several magazine covers, including Femina, Elaan,^[49] Man's World,^[50] Gladrags, Savvy and Indian versions of Elle, Maxim and Cosmopolitan,^[51] as well as on the ramp of major fashion shows like Lakmé Fashion Week (2005–07) and Wills Fashion Week (2006–2007). She participated in fashion shows along with her elder sister, Raima Sen.^[52] Besides modeling, Riya has ventured into the advertisement world as well. A high point of her modeling career came in 2006, when she became the soft drink, Limca's brand ambassador, replacing Deepika Padukone.^[53][54] Her other notable assignments include Colgate, Dabur Vatika, Reliance Industries, Cadbury Dairy Milk Chocolate, and Nirma.

In 2004, she was featured partially nude in leading Indian photographer Dabboo Ratnani's annual calendar, which is a major happening in the Indian glamor industry.^[55][56] According to Daboo, "Her mother saw it much later, after the calendar released. She thought it was too sexy, and Riya shouldn't have done it. But the response to the photograph was superb. Riya was so thrilled that for her next ad campaign, she asked me to light her up like I did in this."^[57] A career highlight for the model,^[58] it led to a three year contract with Ratnani to feature her on his annual calendar.^[59] She is the only female face to be featured on the calendar in five consecutive years (2003–07).^[60][61]

Personal life and family[link]

Born on 24 January 1981 in Kolkata, West Bengal, Riya is the daughter of Moon Moon Sen, a former actress,^[21][62] and granddaughter of Suchitra Sen, a legend in Bengali cinema.^[63] Before leaving for Mumbai, she lived in Kolkata with her parents and sister Raima Sen, also an actress. Her father Bharat Dev Varma is a member of the royal family of Tripura.^[64] Her paternal grandmother, Ila Devi, was the princess of Cooch Behar, whose younger sister Gayatri Devi was the Maharani of Jaipur.^[64] Her paternal great-grandmother Indira was the only daughter of Maharaja Sayajirao Gaekwad III of Baroda.^[65][66] Riya's maternal great-grandfather Adinath Sen was a prominent Kolkata businessman, whose father Dinanath Sen - a relative of former Union Law Minister Ashoke Kumar Sen- was the Diwan or a Minister of the Maharaja of Tripura.^[67] The sisters are credited on-screen under their mother's maiden name, although their official papers carry the surname Dev Varma.^[68]

Riya completed her schooling at Loreto House and Rani Birla Girls' College, both in Kolkata.^[64] Thereafter, she studied at the National Institute of Fashion Technology,^[69] and she took up jewellery-designing as a hobby.^[70] She designs most of the clothes that she wears in films and commercials.^[71] Riya is trained in Kathak and is still pursuing it under Vijayshree Chaudhury.^[72] She is taking kickboxing lessons and has completed Level I of the 5 levels in belly dancing.^[10][73] Riya entered the film industry through small-time modeling assignments, commuting between Mumbai and Kolkata and traveling by public transport during her early career.^[21][74][75] After breaking into the film industry, she shifted from her mother's house in Ballygunge Circular Road in south Kolkata to Mumbai.^[76] There she moved into the family house in Juhu, where she stays with her sister.^[75][77] During her stay in Mumbai, the media romantically linked her to model and actor John Abraham.^[78] In the Bollywood press, she was, in 2008, speculatively linked to the novelist Salman Rushdie, although both stated that they were simply good friends.^[79]

Riya has suffered a number of untimely incidents. During the filming of Shaadi No. 1 in France, she was knocked unconscious after being accidentally run over by a stuntman's motorbike, but she was not seriously injured.^[80] Shortly before the release of Silsiilay, in which she starred opposite her boyfriend Ashmit Patel, a 90-second video clip was circulated through Multimedia Messaging Services and the internet, showing the pair in compromising situations.^[52][81] This was one of a number of controversies that erupted when celebrities were caught in similar situations using cameraphones.^[82][83] Following this incident, the couple split up,^[84][85] although Riya denied that she was the girl in the MMS clip.^[83] One commentator claimed that the footage was an orchestrated publicity stunt.^[86] In 2007, she underwent a brief detoxification session in Bangkok for addiction to chocolate.^[87]

Public persona[link]

Riya's on-screen performances have established her as a sex symbol and youth icon in India.^[10][88][89] Since entering the film industry, she has gained attention for wearing a bikini in Shaadi No. 1^[90][91] and sharing on-screen kisses with co-stars Ashmit Patel in Silsiilay and Sharman Joshi in Style, respectively. Such performances garnered attention because of the relatively conservative outlook of Indian cinema and her own statements about such practises.^[24][92][93] Before becoming a film identity, she had a reputation for partying, which started at the age of fifteen.^[94][95] Riya's public persona is compared to her mother Moon Moon, who was seen as a sex symbol of her time,^[52][96] while her sister Raima is mostly compared their grandmother Suchitra.^[62][97]

Although her film career has yet to achieve large-scale success, Riya has generated considerable media attention. She was ranked ninth on Femina 50 Most Beautiful Women, published in the magazine's September 2007 issue. She was a jury member for the 2008 Final of the Mr. India contest.^[98] Along with Bollywood actors such as Waheeda Rehman, Shilpa Shetty, Dia Mirza, Raveena Tandon, Jackie Shroff, Naseeruddin Shah, Tabu and Lara Dutta, Riya appeared in Haath Se Haath Mila, an HIV/AIDS awareness music video.^[89][99] She made charity appearances at McDonald's India to raise money for paediatric eye-care during World Children's Week (14–20 November) in 2003.^[100]

Filmography[link]

See also[link]

Bollywood portal

This article contains Indic text. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks or boxes, misplaced vowels or missing conjuncts instead of Indic text.

• List of Indian film actresses
• List of Bollywood Clans: The Sens
• Sex in Indian entertainment

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Riya Sen

• Riya Sen at the Internet Movie Database
• Interview with Riya Sen in The Telegraph
• Riya and Raima compared in The Telegraph
• Riya Sen on her mother in Hindustan Times

This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (March 2012)

Arya Babbar
Born	Arya Babbar (1981-01-04) 4 January 1981 (age 31)
Other names	Gorky, sajjad, Aarya
Occupation	Film actor
Years active	2002–present
Parents	Raj Babbar Nadira Babbar

Arya Babbar born January 4, 1981 is an Indian actor who appears in Bollywood and Punjabi films.

Personal life[link]

Arya Babbar is the son of actor turned politician Raj Babbar and famous theatre personality Nadira Babbar, he is the younger brother of actress Juhi Babbar.

Career[link]

Arya Babbar started his career with Raj Kanwar's Ab Ke Baras alongside Amrita Rao but that flopped at the box office. He has worked with stalwarts of bollywood in his short career like mani ratnam, madhur bhandarkar, vikram bhatt etc. Also he is gaining success and popularity in Punjabi film industry.

Awards and nominations[link]

Babbar was nominated at the Star Screen Awards in Most Promising Newcomer - Male category for his film Ab Ke Baras.^[1]

Filmography[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Arya Babbar at the Internet Movie Database
• Arya Babbar at AllRovi

This article about an Indian actor or actress is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v t e

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (November 2009)

Gabriel Iglesias
Born	(1976-07-15) July 15, 1976 (age 35) San Diego, California, U.S.
Medium	Stand-up, television
Years active	1997–present
Genres	Comedy
Subject(s)	Mexican American culture, race relations, satire
Website	Official website

Gabriel J. Iglecias (born July 15, 1976), known professionally as Gabriel Iglesias, is an American standup comedian and actor, known for his shows I'm Not Fat… I’m Fluffy and Hot & Fluffy. He employs storytelling, effected voices and sound effects in his act, whose other trademarks include references to his weight and his use of Hawaiian shirts. He has been called a "comedy genius" by Hector Saldaña of the San Antonio Express-News.

Early life[link]

Gabriel Iglesias was born Gabriel J. Iglecias in San Diego, California. He is of Mexican-American heritage. His mother placed a letter "c" in his surname in retaliation for his father's absence during his birth, though he does not use this spelling in his every day life, preferring to use the one with the "s". He and his mother lived in Riverside, Corona, Santa Ana, Baldwin Park and Compton before settling in Long Beach, where Iglesias spent most of his life growing up.^[1]

Career[link]

Before going into comedy, Iglesias worked for a cell phone company in Los Angeles. Although his family urged him to remain in that job for its financial security, he insisted on trying his hand at comedy. When maintaining both occupations proved too difficult to handle, he decided to take the risk of doing comedy full time, against the advice of his mother, who cautioned him against such a move. Iglesias nonetheless left the phone company, which eventually resulted in his being evicted from his home and losing his car. Despite this, he persisted with comedy.^[2]

Iglesias often references his weight in his comedy, often saying, "Oh, I’m not fat, I’m fluffy", a term he says was popular among overweight people in the 1940s, which he decided to use in his act. He also references different "Levels of Fatness" in his act, having once described "Five Levels of Fatness", and eventually adding a sixth, called "Oh, Hell no!" in 2009.^[2] He also employs voices, sound effects and storytelling in his act, and his other trademark signatures include his Hawaiian shirts and a "nice-guy veneer".^[3]

In 2000, after Iglesias had turned 20, he appeared in season 6 of the Nickelodeon sketch comedy series All That in 2000, co-starring with Amanda Bynes and Nick Cannon.^[2]

Iglesias appeared on the Galavision TV show Que Locos!. He subsequently was guest-starred on the ABC sitcom My Wife and Kids.^{[episode needed]} His stand-up has been featured on Jimmy Kimmel Live!,^{[episode needed]} The Tonight Show with Jay Leno,^{[episode needed]} The Late Late Show,^{[episode needed]} Good Morning America,^{[episode needed]} Showtime at the Apollo^{[episode needed]} and BET'S Comic View.^{[episode needed]} On the big screen, he has appeared in the independent films El Matador and The Surfer King, in which he played the role of Aokee, a water park concession manager.

In 2007 Iglesias voiced an entire Mexican family in "Padre de Familia", a sixth season episode of the Fox TV animated comedy Family Guy. That same year, he began voicing a recurring set of identical twin characters on The Emperor's New School, a Disney animated series that he describes as his favorite voice work.^[2]

Iglesias was a contestant on the fourth season of reality TV series Last Comic Standing in 2006, surviving elimination to become one of the final eight comics. He was disqualified at that point for having used a smuggled BlackBerry to communicate with family and friends, which violated the rules of the show.^[2][4]

In November 2009 Comedy Central released the DVD of the show Gabriel Iglesias: I'm Not Fat... I'm Fluffy.^[5]