At one house, Iraq’s national flag fluttered atop a building that Iraqi soldiers had captured from militants two days before.

At another, smashed household goods and furniture were scattered on the floor.

Outside a third, hosting a meeting of Iraqi security force commanders, a captain from Iraq’s national intelligence service pointed to the far side of a murky irrigation canal.

“Here it is safe now,” he said of Al-Daira. “But over there are more terrorists. That is where we will fight them next.”

The village of Al-Daira lies about 30 miles south of Baghdad and within sight of Iraq’s main highway, in an area the American military called the Triangle of Death.

A former militant stronghold, the area is a battleground again. The Qaeda splinter group now known as the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, or ISIS, has resumed a campaign that its predecessors started — and had appeared to lose — before the United States withdrew its troops in 2011.

The group’s tactics — a hybrid guerrilla-and-terrorist campaign of ambushes, bombings and sniper and mortar attacks, organized by fighters who blend among civilians — show that the militants are much more than a juggernaut, as lately portrayed. They are adaptive and alert to the lessons of Iraq’s insurgent past, and select different tactics for different places and situations.

While establishing themselves in Anbar, in the west, they methodically resumed the campaign south of Baghdad started by Al Qaeda in Iraq, the Sunni militant group that formed after the American invasion and swore allegiance to Osama bin Laden.

Six people died after one of the two towers of a 11-storey under-construction building collapsed near Chennai on Saturday. (See pics)

The incident occurred at Moulivakkam near Porur, about 20 km from Chennai.

23 people have been rescued so far and the injured are being admitted to the Ramachandra Medical College and Hospital for treatment. Around 22 people are still feared trapped under the debris of the residential building.

Chennai police Commissioner S George told NDTV, "The National Disaster Management team is conducting rescue work. Six workers who are trapped have been identified and we are trying to rescue them.The cause for the collapse is not clear but rescue operations will continue through the night."

Expressing grief over the incident, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa issued a statement saying that the Chennai Police Commissioner and other senior officials are on the spot and tough action would be taken against those responsible.

Bollywood actress Parineeti Chopra made heads turn by flaunting her back in a pretty white dress at an event held recently in Mumbai.  She made it a style statement when she constantly posed for the shutterbugs who were also impressed with her stylish dress.

 It must be noted that Sonam Kapoor who is considered as the fashionista of Bollywood once gave a statement about Parineeti Chopra on a TV show saying that she wears tight clothes. So, now what do you say Sonam?

Popular Indian cricketer Suresh Raina, who is playing for Chennai Super Kings in latest season of IPL, has denied his love affair with South Indian actress Shruti Hassan. His clarification is coming following the rumours that he is dating the actress. It was reported that Shruti often spotted cheering for CSK and Suresh considered her as a lucky mascot. There was said to be a mature relationship developing between the two.

Suresh Raina Denies His Love Affair With Shruti Hassan

Suresh Raina, who was shocked to read reports about his relationship, took to his Twitter page to clear the rumours. The left-handed batsman and off-spin bowler tweeted, "Too many media reports which no one even tries to confirm. This is to clear once & for all. I'm not dating ANYONE (sic)." However, this is not the first time, he has been linked with someone. He was rumoured to be dating Poorna Patel, Anushka Sharma and Rakhi Sawant in the past.

Meanwhile, Shruti Hassan has not made any comment on her secret relationship with Suresh Raina. The actress was also linked with actors like Dhanush, Siddharth, Girish Kumar, Rithvik Dhanjani and few others in the past, but none of them has come out true. People in Film Nagar feel that love affair with Suresh Raina must be mere rumour and there is no truth in the reports. Continue to see read more Suresh Raina and Shruti Hassan's Love Affairs.

To deal with water shortage in the city, the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) has announced water cuts for Pune. Starting Saturday, Pune will be getting water supply only once a day.

The city will face 12 per cent water cut from Saturday as the level of water in the four dams which provides water to the city is pretty low. Moreover, there has been no rainfall in the catchment near the dams.

The announcement was made by Pune mayor Chanchala Kodre on Thursday. She said, "The city gets 1,250 MLD water, but since there is a water shortage, we will be getting only 1,100 MLD water from the irrigation department from Saturday. Considering the acute shortage of water and with no rain, we have decided to supply water only once a day instead of twice a day for the city."
On Wednesday, the civic administration had held a meeting with irrigation department officials to take a review of the water situation in Khadakwasala, Temghar, Warasgaon and Panshet dams. The announcement of water cut was
made after party leaders in PMC held a meeting on Thursday.

Kodre said, "At present, 1.93 TMC water is available for the city compared to 5 TMC water that was there around this time last year. Since there is no rain, there will be 12 per cent water cut in the city. Considering the present water level and the imposed cut, the available water will fulfill the need of the city till August 15."
Pune city is divided in 76 wards. Out of these, 34 wards get water twice a day.
But now, all these wards will also be getting water only once a day from Saturday. The areas which get water from Parvati, Warje, Wadgaon pumping stations will face 20 per cent water cut.

The PMC administration is keeping a close eye on the India Meteorological Department (IMD) for their forecast regarding rain. "IMD experts have predicted that there is a possibility of good rains from second week of July and till that time we will be taking a review of the water situation," Kodre said.

The administration has claimed that it will be taking help of women self-help groups and school students to create awareness about water conservation. The civic administration has also made it clear that they will be keeping an eye on the private contractors who supply water to various areas by tankers.

 Bollywood actress Kareena Kapoor says in the past she has done a lot of films for the sake of friendship, but now, only a film with a “good story” will appeal to her.

“I have done a lot of films for friends. Now I want to do films for story. I don’t regret having done films for friends and for me it’s never a mistake. I am like that — I always think from the heart, so it’s fine,” Kareena said.

The actress, who has been part of commercial films like “Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham....”, “3 Idiots”, “Bodyguard” and “RA.One”, has also done offbeat roles in films like “Chameli” and “Talaash”.

“I did ‘Chameli’ and ‘Dev’ because I needed to balance myself. I come from a family where I needed to prove myself. I was 21 when I played a sex worker in ‘Chameli’ and I played it again in ‘Talaash’...both have been great films of my career,” she added.

Now that Kareena is to be seen in a commercial film such as “Singham Returns”, is she open to the idea of taking up an offbeat movie at this point of time in her career? “I will but I won’t do it just for the sake of it. I did ‘Dev’, ‘Chameli’ and ‘Omkara’ when I was the most successful commercial actress. At this stage, I will not do a film just for the heck of it, because I have done that,” Kareena said. “I don’t have to prove anything now. The script has to be good.”

The Academy Award-winning actress, who has sported a notable pixie cut since her turn as Fantine in the 2012 movie-musical "Les Miserables," was seen donning a shoulder-length wig on Tuesday, June 24, while filming a scene for her upcoming role in "The Intern."

The 31-year-old kept it classy in a black and white ensemble, as she knelt to talk to her adorable onscreen daughter.

The film is the latest from "It's Complicated" director Nancy Meyers, and stars Hathaway as a fashion professional who hires an older gentleman, played by Robert De Niro, to work as her intern. Hathaway was cast in the role after scheduling conflicts forced Reese Witherspoon to drop out earlier this year.

Hathaway was last seen with her short 'do while leaving her home in Brooklyn on June 18:

The Walking Dead is well into filming on season 5 of the apocalyptic zombie drama, so we figured it was time to check in and see how things were going down on the Georgia set. We dialed up our main man Norman Reedus to get a feel for the vibe down there, and Reedus is definitely pumped about what has transpired so far. “These scripts are the best scripts so far, and I’m really just excited to be back at it,” says the man who plays Daryl Dixon. “There are a lot of characters right now, so there are a lot of really different personalities on set. And it’s super interesting, everyone’s really bringing it. It’s going great. It’s so dynamic because it’s so fast-paced and so complicated. It’s great to be back.”

We asked Reedus about the reemergence of kick-ass-and-take-names Rick Grimes (after a prolonged visit from Super Duper Mopey Rick Grimes) and Reedus says that new attitude extends well beyond the former sheriff’s deputy. “Everybody on the whole team is so badass right now,” says Reedus. “It’s interesting, because a lot of personalities are clashing, or characters’ personalities are clashing. But yeah, we definitely have Rick back.”

Characters clashing? Who could that be? Lovers quarrel between Glenn and Maggie? Mullet quarrel between Abraham and Eugene? You-killed-my-girlfriend-and-then-burned-her-dead-body quarrel between Tyreese and Carol? We’ll have to wait to find out. But one thing we do know is that the show is actually enjoying a rare form of much-needed stability at the top spot, with Scott M. Gimple now enjoying his second full season as showrunner (after taking over for Glen Mazzara who took over for Frank Darabont). “Yeah, it’s great,” says Reedus of Gimple’s return. “Scott, he’s so good at his job, and he’s such a great storyteller and such a good writer. He has this thing planned out to the end, I think. He’s definitely very qualified for the job. I never felt like we weren’t stable, though. I feel like we’re as stable as we ever were, just we have the confidence that we have this team back. It’s such a well-oiled machine right now. It’s great, and everyone feels super confident.”

Selena Gomez posted a photo to her Instagram account June 23 along with the caption "soy valiente," which is Spanish for "I'm brave." Here, the act of bravery appears to be Selena taking a selfie in a teeny orange bikini top, long french braids and a pair of circular sunnies:

The 21-year-old has a tendency to upload cute bikini photos juxtaposed with perplexing, introspective captions. Just last month, Gomez shared a photo of herself in yet another orange bikini, writing, "Taking my power back... can't wait to show you where I've been. I love y'all."

If bikini selfies make celebrities brave, somebody hand Miley Cyrus a badge of courage.