Nananananananana, nananananananana, Affleck!

Ben Affleck is set to take over from Christian Bale as Batman. The Oscar-winning director and actor will star alongside Henry Cavill in the sequel to the hit Superman flick Man of Steel, Warner Bros. announced this afternoon. 300 director Zack Snyder will helm the film, which will place Batman and Superman on the big screen together for the first time. Josh Brolin, Ryan Gosling, and Richard Armitage had been considered frontrunners for the Batman role. But that's not to be, because Affleck's their man now. Not a man, however, is Bradley Manning, or as he wants to be called now, Chelsea. With that proclamation, Manning immediately shifted public conversation away from the Army private's conviction on espionage charges, and resulting dishonorable discharge, to his/her gender identity. "As I transition into this next phase of my life, I want everyone to know the real me," Manning said in the statement. "I am Chelsea Manning. I am a female. Given the way that I feel, and have felt since childhood, I want to begin hormone therapy as soon as possible. I hope that you will support me in this transition." While supporters may back Manning, the Army said yesterday it won't. One Army official, who was not authorized to speak publicly about Manning's case, said the private remains a male in the eyes of the Army. Another said Manning would be treated like any other prisoner. "A lot of the inmates have issues they're dealing with," said the second official, who also was not authorized to speak publicly about Manning's case. "Even if you have gender identity disorder, you still serve your sentence." But enough about that because a 23-year-old photographer was gang-raped last night (Indian Standard Time) by five men in a deserted area of the Shakti Mills district in Mumbai, said the city's police commissioner, Satyapal Singh, adding that the victim is now in a stable condition in the city's Jaslok Hopsital. But as for the attackers, they need to be caught, and possibly hanged, before they rape again.