Emma Watson beats Kristen Stewart on Forbes’ “Couples” list

On-screen couples appeared to be a thing of the past. Where Hollywood used to flock to see every Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn collaboration, those pairings are few and far between in the modern age of single-serving celebrities.

Which makes this list from Forbes Magazine all the more interesting. The editors decided to rank the “Top Grossing On-Screen Couples,” using as a criteria that the actors “had appeared on screen together more than once in the last 10 years.”

So who topped the list? Sorry, “Twi-hards,” but it was “Harry Potter” starlets Rupert Grint and Emma Watson who were named No. 1 on the chart. As Forbes pointed out, the duo’s contributions to the “Potter” franchise have helped the series earn “a whopping $6.3 billion so far,” and is on track to pass $7 billion when part two of “The Deathly Hallows” arrives this summer.

Next on the list were Viggo Mortensen and Liv Tyler for their work in Peter Jackson’s “Lord of the Rings” films. Orlando Bloom and Keira Knightley landed in the No. 3 slot for the “Pirates of the Caribbean” franchise. They might have moved even higher had they stuck around for the fourth “Pirates,” due in theaters this summer.

So where are Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart, power-couple extraordinaire of the beloved “Twilight” series? They’d be at No. 5, right behind “Titanic” twosome Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet.

60 candidates to compete for 22 PBC seats

Staff Report

ISLAMABAD: At least 60 candidates have come in front to compete on 22 seats in the up coming elections of Pakistan Bar Council (PBC).

The Secretary of PBC, Muhammad Irshad, informed through a statement on Tuesday (today) that the returning officer has received 113 nomination papers of 60 candidates for the up coming elections of the bar.

According to the list of the candidates, five candidates for one seat of Balochistan, 11 for 4 seats of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 32 for 11 seats of Punjab and 12 for six seats of Sindh have submitted nomination papers for the elections.

PBC elections’ polling will be held, in all four provincial capitals, on December 22. Trend Pk

ECP suspends membership of 141 parliamentarians

Staff Report

ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has suspended membership of 141 parliamentarians for not submitting financial details Monday.

The suspended members included Maulana Fazl-ur-Rehman, Engineer Amir Maqam, Atta-ur-Rehman, Noor Aalam, Sardar Asif Ahmed Ali, Syed Khursheed Ahmed, Kashmala Tariq and others.

ECP has suspended membership of 34 members of National Assembly, 69 of Punjab Assembly, 16 of Sindh Assembly, 10 of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly and 12 of Balochistan provincial assembly.

Four members of the Senate are also mentioned in the list released by ECP. SAMAA

More Taliban may be removed from UN blacklist: US

The United States indicated that it was open to the removal of more Taliban militants from a UN sanctions list in order to facilitate peace talks in Afghanistan.
State Department spokesman Philip Crowley told reporters the department had supported to the list changes in the past, and further adjustments were certainly possible.
He was responding to reports that a new Afghan peace council, newly set up to broker an end to the war with the Taliban, had proposed removing Taliban from a UN Security Council blacklist in order to promote reconciliation.
In August, the UN panel removed 10 Taliban along with 35 Al-Qaeda members and affiliates from its sanctions terror list after its first exhaustive review of 488 blacklisted names.
Individuals on the list are subject to asset freezes, a travel ban and an arms embargo. Crowley, meanwhile, poured cold water on reports that members of the peace council had also proposed that Washington release Taliban members detained at the Guantanamo Bay prison in a bid to facilitate reconciliation.
I would not connect our ongoing activity to work to close the facility at Guantanamo with the efforts at reconciliation and reintegration in Afghanistan, Crowley said.
Backed by Afghan President Hamid Karzai, the High Peace Council intends to open a dialogue with insurgents who have been trying to bring down his government since the US-led invasion overthrew their regime in late 2001.
As part of his efforts to promote national reconciliation, Karzai had asked the Security Council to remove names of some Taliban members who were not linked to Al-Qaeda from the terror blacklist.

Michelle Obama named as Worlds most powerful woman

The US First Lady rose 39 places and deposed Angela Merkel, the German Chancellor in the rankings compiled by Forbes, the business magazine, which praised her formidable combination of style and political nous.
A fashion icon and an athletic mother of two, she’s Jacqueline Kennedy with a law degree from Harvard and street sense from Chicago’s South Side, the magazine said, adding that Mrs Obama has made the office of First Lady her own.
Since her husband’s election, Mrs Obama has embarked upon several campaigns of her own, including women’s rights and improved school nutrition.France’s First Lady, Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, managed only 35th place in the list, which singled out her ability to brush off concerns about her past indiscretions with typical French aplomb.Ms Bruni-Sarkozy is, in fact, Italian, although she will doubtless be flattered by the magazine’s description. She once remarked that the gaffe-prone behaviour of Silvio Berlusconi, the Italian Prime Minister, made her pleased to have become French.The Queen was 41st one place higher than her 2009 ranking thanks to her address to the United Nations, which raised her profile in the US. Only three other Britons are included: Cynthia Carroll, chief executive of mining company Anglo American, at number 14; Marjorie Scardino chief executive of Pearson PLC, at 63; and Angela Ahrednts, chief executive of Burberry, at 97. The celebrities on the list include heads of state and first ladies, bankers and cultural icons, CEOs and entrepreneurial athletes. Renowned talk show queen Oprah Winfrey takes the third place. Young pop idols Lady Gaga and Beyonce Knowles occupy the 7th and 9th places.

List of 242 NRO beneficiaries sent to PM

NAB has sent list of 242 NRO-benefited officials to the Prime Minister which has been sent to the Law Ministry for scrutiny.
This list was sent to Establishment Division two days ago which has now reached the PM House. The list doesnt include the named of President Asif Ali Zardari whose name was included in an earlier list sent to the Supreme Court. Interior Minister Rehman Maliks name has been included in the new list. Besides, names of former MD OGDC Adnan Khawaja and Principal Secretary of President Zardari Salman Farooqi have also been included in the list. Other key figures whose names are included in the list include Javed Talat, Pakistans executive director in World Bank, and Siraj Shamsuddin, Pakistans executive in Asian Development Bank. Similarly, names of three ambassadors are also included in the list. These are Pakistans ambassador in Iran Maula Bakhsh Abbasi, ambassador in Britain Wajid Shamsul Hassan and ambassador in US Hussain Haqqani. Pir Mukarram Shah, ex-husband of Farzana Raja is also NRO beneficiary.
The PM told the Senate that this list has been sent to the Law Ministry for scrutiny.

Five Taliban taken off UN sanctions list: Austria

UNITED NATIONS: Five Taliban members, including a former Afghan ambassador to the United Nations, have been taken off a UN sanctions terrorism list, Austria”s UN mission said Friday.

The five were Abdul Satar Paktin; Abdul Hakim Mujahid Muhammad Awrang, a former Afghan envoy to the UN; Abdul Salam Zaeef, author of “My life with the Taliban;” and two officials who are now deceased.

Austria chairs the UN Security Council panel that maintains a blacklist of individuals and entities linked to al-Qaeda and the Taliban.

The panel is to complete its review of the blacklist, which until now included 137 Afghan nationals, Saturday and will unveil its full results on Monday.

Individuals on the list are subject to asset freezes, a travel ban and an arms embargo.

As part of his efforts to promote national reconciliation, Afghan President Hamid Karzai had asked the Security Council to remove the names of some Taliban members who were not linked to Al-Qaeda from the terror blacklist.

The Karzai government has set conditions for peace talks with Taliban insurgents, demanding militants renounce violence, accept the Afghan constitution and rescind ties with Al-Qaeda.

The Afghan reportedly sought the removal of up to 50 former Taliban officials from the blacklist, which contains nearly 500 names, including those of a number of persons now deceased.

Last January, the sanctions panel had already removed five top Taliban officials from its list.

The five then delisted were Abdul Wakil Mutawakil, who was foreign minister under the now ousted Taliban regime; Faiz Mohammad Faizan, a former deputy commerce minister; Shams-US-Safa, a former foreign ministry official; Mohammad Musa, a deputy planning minister; and Abdul Hakim, a former deputy frontier affairs minister.

The UN blacklist was established under UN Security Council Resolution 1267, adopted in October 1999 for the purpose of overseeing implementation of sanctions imposed on Taliban-controlled Afghanistan for its support of Osama bin Laden”s extremist network.

Under the resolution, UN member states are required to impose travel bans, an asset freeze and an arms embargo on any individual or entity associated with Al-Qaeda, bin Laden and/or the Taliban.

Removal from the list requires unanimous approval from all 15 members of the Security Council”s sanctions panel.

Small Towns Becoming Big for Bollywood

By Shilpa JamkhandikarIndore, Bijnor and Bhatinda may not high up on the list of tourist hotspots in India but Bollywood is slowly taking note, wooing these smaller towns and extending publicity budgets to include local audiences.

See the original post: 
Small Towns Becoming Big for Bollywood

London 2010 plans to recruit 70000 volunteers

LONDON: Olympic organizers are seeking 70,000 volunteers for the 2012 London Games.

Excerpt from: 
London 2010 plans to recruit 70000 volunteers

Germany: NATO to hand over 3-4 Afghan provinces

BERLIN: Germany says NATO hopes to hand over responsibility for three or four Afghan provinces to local forces next year.

See more here:
Germany: NATO to hand over 3-4 Afghan provinces

Next Page »