Zardari’s daughters launch ‘pro-father’ campaign

 

Slain former Pakistan premier Benazir Bhutto s children are using the social networking website Twitter to defend their father President Asif Ali Zardari and to settle scores with their cousin Fatima Bhutto.

 

“For the first time in the history of this country, a democratically elected President has voluntarily given up his power…”
Bakhtawar tweeted when Zardari signed into law a landmark constitution reforms package which stripped the President of his sweeping powers.

 

Bakhtawar s brother Bilawal, who is co-chairman of the ruling Pakistan People s Party, is also doing his best to popularize the party.

 

“I wish Zia (Gen Zia-ul-Haq) had lived. I wish he had lived to witness our revenge,” Bilawal, 21, tweeted some hours ago.
Bilawal tweeted a famous Zia quote “men are in charge of women because Allah has made one superior to the other… good women are obedient” and said that he wished the military dictator who died in 1988 had lived to see the new Pakistan.

 

“I wish he had lived despite the fact that he murdered members of my family. I wish he had lived to see the day we elected the Muslim world s first female PM. I wish he had lived to see us elect the first female speaker of our National Assembly,” Bilawal tweeted.

 

The Bhutto-Zardari siblings have also been tweeting about their pet peeve ‘cousin Fatima Bhutto’ who recently released her tell-all book on the Bhutto dynasty.

 

In another tweet she told Bilawal, “I know, you never tweet love me. Sigh. I ll accept all the other mediums of love though so it s okay.”

 

Bakhtawar, a student at Edinburgh, discloses her location and also her webpage. She introduces herself as lyricist, enthusiast and nationalist.

 

Benazir s youngest daughter Asifa, who is Pakistan s polio ambassador, has protected her tweets. She is also doing her bit to promote her dead mother.

 

Aseefa is studying at Edinburgh and is a fan of vampires.

 

“Hey I like vampires. I watched Angel and Buffy the Vampire Slayer, I am addicted to Twilight and watch Vampire Diaries as well,” reads Aseefa s intro on Twitter.

 

Bilawal, a student at Christ Church College in Oxford, has 298 followers.

 

All the three Bhutto children have their mother s pictures as backdrops for their homepages. The three siblings keep in touch tweeting about missing each other or planning get-togethers. They also send links about news stories related to their parents.

 

Bilawal, Bakhtawar and Aseefa seem to be taking their education seriously.

 

“Did not like the SPT paper, probably should have watched less cricket and studied more…,” tweeted Bakhtawar.
In another tweet, she promised not to “indulge” in distractions or be “tempted” by current affairs.
 

Arnold, Rambo team up for action thriller "The Tomb"

LOS ANGELES: Arnold Schwarzenegger will join fellow muscle man Sylvester Stallone starring in Summit’s action thriller “The Tomb,” Summit said Wednesday.

Schwarzenegger will play Church, a prison inmate who fights to keep other prisoners from losing their humanity. Stallone plays Ray Breslin, the world’s foremost expert on security — who, framed for a murder he didn’t commit — has to escape from a prison he designed.

Swedish filmmaker Mikael Hafstrom, who directed New Line’s 2011 “The Rite” and The Weinstein Company’s 2010 “Shanghai,” is directing.

Miles Chapman wrote the script, which was rewritten by Jason Keller. Brenner originally set up “The Tomb” as a spec script at Summit. The movie is scheduled to begin filming in Louisiana this spring.

The movie is an Emmett-Furla Films/Mark Canton production. Mark Canton, Randall Emmett, George Furla, Robbie Brenner and Kevin King-Templeton are producing. Emmett/Furla Films is financing.

Summit has worldwide distribution rights.

Schwarzenegger and Stallone’s next movie, “The Expendables 2,” is now in post-production and will be released this summer by Lionsgate.

Schwarzenegger, the movie star-turned California governor-turned movie actor, just wrapped “The Last Stand,” produced by Lorenzo di Bonaventura.

Lara Dutta and Mahesh Bhupathi get married

Post the Imran- Avantika wedding earlier this year, if there is one other couple whose wedding plans have been making news its Lara Dutta and Mahesh Bhupathi. The couple, who announced quite a while back that they would be getting married this Feb, have finally tied the knot.

The couple registered their marriage earlier today. It was private affair attended only by Mahesh and Lara’s family at the groom’s Bandra residence. Talking about their marriage, Mahesh tweeted, “Meet Mr and Mrs Bhupathi folks!”

The couple leaves for Goa tonight to have their church wedding on the 19th. The Sangeet is on February 18 at Club Fresh, a beach resort in Candolim beach.

trendpk.com wishes Lara and Mahesh a happy married life. You too can wish Lara and Mahesh by posting your congratulatory messages in the comments section below:

Egypt: Deadly Car Bomb Blast Outside a Church Claims 9 lives

At least nine people were killed when a car bomb exploded outside a church in the northern Egyptian city of Alexandria.

The bomb went off as worshipers were gathering to mark the New Year. More than 20 others were reported to be injured in this incident. The attack triggered clashes between Christians and Muslims who pelted each other with rocks. Some cars were also set ablaze as a result of these clashes. Authorities stepped up security after a group linked to Al-Qaeda in Iraq threatened the church in Egypt. The Egyptian Interior Ministry says an investigation into the bombing is underway.

Baghdad: All attackers killed in church operation

In Baghdad, Iraq on Monday all the gunmen who stormed a church, seizing dozens of Iraqi and threatening to kill them were killed when the Iraqi police raided the church and ended the stand-off.
Minister of Defence Abdul Qader al-Obeidi who supervised the operation with Baghdad security spokesman Major General Qassim al-Moussawi and a number of Iraqi military commanders said that most of the hostages were rescued and all the attackers were killed, but he stopped short of giving numbers. The US military said between seven and 10 hostages and seven members of the Iraqi security forces, as well as seven attackers, were killed in the rescue operation. Most of the people who were attending the mass were rescued and the operation was carried out with high efficiency. Witnesses reported seeing many bodies inside the church after the gunmen wearing suicide vests threw grenades or blew themselves up as Iraqi forces stormed the building. The insurgents laid siege to one of Baghdad’s biggest churches as more than 100 parishioners attended Sunday mass in a central district near the heavily fortified Green Zone, home to embassies and the Iraqi government. US military officials watched the rescue operation from cameras in hovering helicopters. Violence has fallen sharply in Iraq since the height of sectarian bloodshed in 2006-07 but attacks by Sunni insurgents linked to al Qaeda and Shi’ite militia continue daily. Some police sources said they believed the initial target was the nearby Iraqi stock exchange, a bourse that lists a couple dozen local companies.

Arbaaz Khan’s office raided by IT

Uneasy lies the head that wears the crown. In this case it’s Arbaaz Khan whose film Dabangg stunned one and all with its phenomenal success. Just yesterday the entire cast and crew of the film was present at the grand DVD launch of the film while back at his office, the Income Tax department were busy checking the accounts.

The raid in question by the IT department was conducted in connection with the utilisation of money earned at the box office from movie Dabangg. Around 10 officers raided Khan’s office Sohail Khan Productions, near St Andrew’s Church in Bandra. The officers reached Khan’s office at 3 pm yesterday and continued the raid till 3 am.

However, Arbaaz maintained that the search was not a raid by the IT department but in fact, a usual assessment check that is carried out by them. Further updates on the same are awaited.

Pope faces protesters ahead of Catholic school address

Pope Benedict reminded his Church on Friday that its first priority was to provide a safe environment for children as the pontiff was met by the first substantial protest of his delicate visit to Britain. Several hundred people whistled and shouted as the papal motorcade entered a Catholic school complex in Twickenham, southwest London.
We are appealing to the pope to open up the Vatican sex abuse files and hand them over to the relevant police forces worldwide. The fact that the pope is refusing to do so calls into question the sincerity of his apology. In fact, he hasn’t apologise for his own personal failings. He always apologises for others and we think it is time the pope himself apologised for his failure, said human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell.
The shouting of the protesters duelled with the singing of hymns from inside the school, where the pope held what was dubbed the big assembly of several thousand Catholic school children from throughout Britain. The sex abuse scandal, in which priests who abused children were moved from parish to parish instead of being defrocked to turned over to police, has hounded Benedict’s five-year papacy even though most of the abuse took place decades ago.
Advocates for victims have long been calling for Church leaders to assume more legal and moral responsibility for allowing the sexual abuse scandals to get out of hand in the United States and several countries in Europe. Some accused the pope of being part of a system that turned a blind eye to abuse for decades when he held other Church offices.
British bishops have dealt with the problem of child sex abuse earlier, more quickly and more decisively than in other countries such as Ireland or the United States. The Catholic Church in Britain runs some 2,800 schools, including 22 universities and the pope defended the work of schools, which are attending by many non-Catholics.

Petraeus bashes plan to burn Qurans

WASHINGTON: Top US military commander in Afghanistan has denounced a Florida church’s plans to burn Qurans on September 11, saying it would put the lives of American troops overseas in danger.

General David Petraeus said that the move will be used by the Taliban to boost their image and will drum up anger against US troops.

“It could endanger troops and it could endanger the overall effort,” Petraeus told The Wall Street Journal.

“It is precisely the kind of action the Taliban uses and could cause significant problems,” Petraeus added.

The Dove World Outreach Center in Gainesville, Florida, says it will burn copies of the holy Quran on church grounds to mark the ninth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.

There have been daily demonstrations against the church’s plan in Afghanistan since Friday.

The pastor of the church, Terry

US church to burn Quran on Sept 11: report

NEW YORK: A church in Florida, US, is reportedly planning to host an “International Burn a Quran Day” on the anniversary of the Sep 11, 2001, terror attack, a move that has been condemned by many Christians and Muslims.

The Dove World Outreach Centre in Gainesville, Florida, would host the event to remember 9/11 victims and take a stand against Islam, which it calls a “deceptive religion” and “of the devil”.

The church is promoting the event on its website and Facebook page and has invited Christians to burn the Muslim holy book at its premises from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.

“We believe that Islam is of the devil, that it”s causing billions of people to go to hell, it is a deceptive religion, it is a violent religion and that is proven many, many times,” church pastor Terry Jones was quoted as saying by the US news channel.

The Facebook page has more than 1,600 fans. “Eternal fire is the only destination the Quran can lead people to, so we want to put the Quran in its place – the fire!” the page says.

Jones also said he has written a book titled “Islam is of the Devil”, and that the church sells coffee mugs and shirts featuring the phrase.

Muslim and Christian groups have, meanwhile, launched a protest against the event.

mcdonalds

McDonald’s recalls 12 million toxic Shrek glasses
McDonald’s is recalling 12 million drinking glasses it is selling to promote the new “Shrek” movie because painted designs on the cheap collectables contain the toxic metal cadmium.
The US Consumer Product Safety Commission warned consumers to immediately stop using the glasses; McDonald’s said it would post instructions on its website next week regarding refunds.

The glasses, which are being sold for about $2 (£1.30) each as part of a promotional campaign for the movie Shrek Forever After, were available in four designs depicting the characters Shrek, Princess Fiona, Puss in Boots and Donkey. The animated comedy, featuring the voices of Mike Myers and Cameron Diaz, has been number one at the box office since it opened on May 21.

The CPSC noted in its recall notice that “long-term exposure to cadmium can cause adverse health effects.” Research has shown it can cause problems to the kidneys and can cause bone softening.

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