Shah Rukh honoured to be Dr Khan

Maybe I can keep the robes… ‘I’ve sweated in them’

Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan can now call himself “doctor” after being honoured in the United Kingdom for his contribution to arts and culture.

Bedfordshire University conferred the doctorate upon him at a ceremony in London on Friday night.

Khan said he aimed to use the award to help educate underprivileged children.

The actor, who has starred in dozens of films, already has his own waxwork at Madame Tussaud’s and has previously been honoured in France and Malaysia.

‘Top’ award

Khan was able to joke about becoming a doctor after frequent surgery in the past few years, most recently on his shoulder five months ago.

“Interestingly my kids don’t understand this doctorate and believe I will be awarded a stethoscope,” he joked at the degree ceremony.

The star was awarded the doctorate at a top London hotel instead of on university premises north of London because of the summer break.

The university received his nomination from Routes 2 Roots, an NGO that works towards people-to-people contact across the subcontinent, especially India and Pakistan.

Accepting the honour, Khan said he had received numerous awards as an actor but being given an honorary doctorate was the top achievement.

The actor left one of Delhi’s top schools with the best student award – but never finished a masters degree.

So how did he feel about receiving the honour?

“I get the feeling that I should further the cause of those underprivileged children who don’t get the opportunity to educate themselves,” he said, quickly adding that he should perhaps begin with his own children who are “highly uneducated as of now”.

The 43-year-old also added he was most scared of mathematics as a child, and intended to make sure his children were good at the subject.

Khan also joked that he might get to keep his university robes: “I have sweated in them – [they] can’t be returned unless I dry clean them.”

The ceremony was also attended by the famously barefoot Indian painter MF Hussain and British film maker Gurinder Chadha.

Other Indian stars to have been given honorary doctorates in the UK include Amitabh Bachchan, Shilpa Shetty, Akshay Kumar and AR Rahman.

India PM undergoes heart surgery

Mr Singh’s surgery comes just months before a general election in India

Doctors have begun heart bypass surgery on Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh after he was admitted to hospital in Delhi, Indian media report.

A team of six to eight surgeons was expected to operate on the 76-year-old leader, after two blockages were found in his arteries, officials said.

Mr Singh previously had bypass surgery in 1990 and an angioplasty in 2004.

The ruling Congress Party says he will still lead the party in the forthcoming general election which is due by May.

Mr Singh underwent tests earlier this week after he complained of chest pains.

He will have “coronary artery bypass graft surgery” performed by doctors from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, India’s top state-run hospital, and the Asian Heart Institute in Mumbai.

Doctors say that there is “very little risk” associated with Mr Singh’s surgery and that the prime minister should be fit to resume normal duties in three to four weeks.

Succession speculation

This is not a good time for the prime minister to be removed from the political fray, given the tense relations with Pakistan in the wake of the Mumbai attacks.

Will Rahul Gandhi emerge as a successor to Mr Singh?

Congress has so far dismissed concerns that Mr Singh’s health would interfere with its current election campaign.

But there has been widespread speculation that party chief Sonia Gandhi has been lining up her son, Rahul Gandhi, heir to India’s powerful Gandhi dynasty, as the country’s next prime minister.

Mr Singh has largely been in good health since he was sworn in as prime minister in May 2004, but he recently underwent prostate surgery and has also had cataract treatment.

Mr Singh, who studied economics at Cambridge and Oxford, became India’s finance minister in 1991 when the country was plunging into bankruptcy, and is widely regarded as the architect of the country’s economic reform programme.

The quietly spoken economist-politician is also seen as the cleanest politician in India, a subject dear to voters’ hearts.

Government officials said that Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee will take charge of cabinet meetings during the prime minister’s absence.

Nadal heads seedings for US Open

Nadal has won two Grand Slams this year

Rafael Nadal will be the top seed at a Grand Slam for the first time in his career at next week’s US Open following his elevation to world number one.

Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic follow him, with Scot Andy Murray seeded sixth. Ex-world number one Lleyton Hewitt has pulled out with injury.

Ana Ivanovic is women’s top seed, with Jelena Jankovic, Svetlana Kuznetsova and Serena Williams next.

The singles draws for the tournament will be announced on Thursday.

Nadal officially became the new world number one on Monday, ending Federer’s record reign of 237 successive weeks.

Federer was the top seed at the last 18 majors.

Murray will be looking to overcome his disappointing early exit from the Beijing Olympics and rediscover the form that took him to success at the Cincinnati Masters.

The British number one’s best effort in New York was in 2006 when he reached the fourth round.

Hewitt will miss the rest of the season after having arthroscopic surgery on a long-term hip problem.

“Surgery was always the last resort, but unfortunately that’s what it came down to,” the 27-year-old Australian said.

“I am also shattered that I can’t lead the Australian Davis Cup team in Chile (in Santiago from 19-21 September) in our bid to rejoin the world group, and hope that the boys can still come through with a great win.

“I am looking forward to playing again in January in my home country, and using that as a springboard to compete at my best again on the world stage for at least a couple of more years.”

The most notable absence on the women’s side is world number six and 2006 champion Maria Sharapova, who announced earlier this month that she is missing the event to recover from a shoulder injury.

Ronaldo saga over, says Ferguson

Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson says the Cristiano Ronaldo transfer saga is now “closed” and the winger will remain at the club.

Meanwhile, Real Madrid president Ramon Calderon hinted the Spanish side may have ended their pursuit of the winger.

Real have been linked with Ronaldo throughout the summer, but signed Rafael van der Vaart on Tuesday.

“Van der Vaart is the first and possibly the only signing of the summer for Real Madrid,” Calderon said.

The 25-year-old signing from Hamburg was unveiled at Real Madrid’s Bernabeu stadium on Tuesday and Calderon said he was unlikely to further add to his squad.

Calderon has repeatedly said he would like to sign Ronaldo, but his latest comments come amid signs that Real’s bid to recruit the Portugal international have stalled due to United’s refusal to sell the 23-year-old.

606: DEBATE Is the Ronaldo saga really over?

Ronaldo is under contract at Old Trafford until 2012 but has been heavily linked with a move to Madrid and the player appeared to be keen on a move.

But Ferguson has remained adamant that Ronaldo would stay at Old Trafford and has now moved to end the saga.

He said: “The matter is closed now. He is a Manchester United player – it’s finished. He’ll be playing here next season believe me. It’s finished.”

Real have been relatively quiet during this summer’s transfer window.

The Spanish champions signed Argentine defender Ezequiel Garay from Racing Santander at the end of last season but under the terms of the deal the player will only join the club in the 2009-10 season.

In addition, midfielders Javi Garcia and Ruben de la Red, who were in Spain’s triumphant Euro 2008 squad, have rejoined Real after a season with Osasuna and Getafe respectively.

“We believe that this squad is full of quality, of plenty of talent. It’s a team which is a great family, very close,” Calderon added.

Van der Vaart’s move to Madrid may scupper Ronaldo’s transfer

“We said that the new arrivals would be few but of great quality. That seemed logical after two successful seasons in which we’ve brought in 19 young, promising players.

“This [the low number of signings] was a request of the board of directors.”

Ronaldo is recovering from surgery on an ankle injury and is due to visit a specialist in Amsterdam to discover how successful the surgery has been.

He is likely to be sidelined until the end of September, missing their opening five Premier League matches.

United are on a pre-season tour of Nigeria United where they play four friendlies, including one against Community Shield opponents Portsmouth.

Morgan Freeman in ‘good spirits’

Courtesy BBC

Morgan Freeman received an Oscar for Million Dollar Baby in 2005

Oscar-winning actor Morgan Freeman is in “good spirits” after being injured in a serious car accident near his Mississippi home.

Mr Freeman’s spokeswoman says he has a broken arm, broken elbow and minor shoulder damage.

She said the 71-year-old Dark Knight star is expected to undergo surgery and to make a good recovery.

The accident happened shortly before midnight on Sunday outside Charleston in the Mississippi Delta.

Mr Freeman’s car ran off the side of the road and overturned several times, landing upright in a ditch.

Mr Freeman – who had been driving the car – and a female passenger were airlifted to Memphis’s Regional Medical Center, about 90 miles (145km) north of where the accident occurred in Tallahatchie County.

“He is having a little bit of surgery this afternoon or tomorrow to help correct the damage,” his spokeswoman Donna Lee said. “He says he’ll be OK and is looking forward to a full recovery,” she added.

Earlier a spokesman at the hospital said the actor was in a “serious” condition.

Neither Lee nor the hospital had information about the condition of the woman, Demaris Meter of Memphis.

‘No freebies’

Both passengers had been wearing seatbelts at the time of the accident, said Mississippi Highway Patrol Sergeant Ben Williams.

FREEMAN FACTS Born 1 June 1937, in Memphis, Tennessee He spent several years in the US Air Force as a mechanic Freeman started acting in the 1960s, appearing a couple of off-Broadway shows His first credited film appearance was in 1971’s Who Says I Can’t Ride a Rainbow! Freeman starred in some of the biggest films of the 1990s, including The Shawshank Redemption, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, Se7en, and Deep Impact He won an Oscar in 2005 for the film Million Dollar Baby Freeman plays Lucius Fox in this summer’s blockbuster, The Dark Knight (pictured)

“There’s no indication that either alcohol or drugs were involved,” he added. He said it was possible that the actor had fallen asleep at the wheel.

Mr Freeman was conscious and talking at the scene, he said.

There were “no other vehicles or pedestrians involved”, he added.

An investigation into the accident is currently under way.

Bill Rogers, who saw the accident happen and was first on the scene, told BBC 5 Live that driving conditions on Sunday night were difficult.

“We had a rain storm that had just passed and so the highway was wet,” he said. “We were standing in water in the ditch.”

“When he became conscious Mr Freeman began asking the same questions over and over again: ‘Was I speeding, can I lay on the ground? Is everybody okay?'” Mr Rogers added.

Clay McFerrin, editor of local newspaper the Sun-Sentinel, told the Associated Press news agency the actor later began “joking with some of the rescue workers.”

When one person tried to take a photo with a mobile phone, Mr Freeman joked, “no freebies, no freebies,” Mr McFerrin said.

Mechanic

Morgan Freeman is one of Hollywood’s best loved and busiest actors, says the BBC’s Rajesh Mirchandani in Los Angeles.