Recommendations binding on president: Supreme Court (Pakistan)

Updated at: 1427 PST,  Monday, January 18, 2010  ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Sunday night clarified categorically that recommendations of the SC chief justice are binding on the president and any deviation would be tantamount to a subversion of the constitution. The remarks were made by the registrar of the SC following a concerted campaign on different media channels on Sunday against the recommendations of chief justice of Pakistan regarding appointment of new judges. Registrar Dr Faqir Hussain, told The News: “The constitution clearly states that appointment in Supreme Court is made by the president after consultation with the chief justice of Pakistan. The word consultation has been interpreted in the judges-appointment case of 1996. It is clearly laid down in this judgment that consultation has to be purposive, meaningful and that ordinarily the recommendations of the chief justice of Pakistan have primacy and binding on the executive.” Dr Faqir further said: “Chief justice is better placed to know the qualifications, calibre and professional standing of a candidate for the position of the judge in Supreme Court. So his recommendation ordinarily is binding on the president and will have to be accepted, will have to be approved except for sound and valid reasons to be communicated to the chief justice which is justiciable. These reasons are open to scrutiny to the court of law and court can give judgement on validity of the reasons given by the president. So, far all practical purposes, the recommendations are binding on the president. Any deviation from it would be contravention of the constitution and subversion of the constitution.” Dr Faqir concluded with the word, “This is the legal position.” Former Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Saeeduz Zaman Siddiqui told The News late Sunday night that the president could differ with the recommendations sent by the chief justice of Pakistan regarding appointment of some judges in the apex court by giving valid reasons which could later be examined the Chief Justice. “But under the law and the constitution neither the president nor the prime minister or any other executive authority has any power to recommend any new name,” said the former chief justice. He said that a name could only be recommended by the chief justice for the appointment in Supreme Court. A full-fledged campaign, apparently backed by the law ministry’s top guns, reached its peak Sunday night when it was continuously repeated that the prime minister had changed the recommendations of the chief justice and had sent to the president the name of Justice Khawaja Sharif as judge of the Supreme Court and recommendation of the Justice Saqib Nisar as Chief Justice of the Lahore High Court. While the chief justice had sent the recommendation of elevation of Lahore High Court judge Justice Saqib Nisar as the judge of the Supreme Court and recommended appointment of the retiring judge Justice Khalil-ur-Rehman Ramday as an ad-hoc judge of the Supreme Court. However, certain top guns of the law ministry started a malicious campaign in the media against the recommendation of the chief justice giving wrong references of the Al-Jihad Trust Case. These references were even rebutted by the petitioner in the Al-Jihad Trust case and chairman of this trust senior advocate Habib Wahab-ul-Khairi and other top constitutional experts of the country including former Chief Justice Siddiqui. According to sources, by sending Justice Khawaja Sharif to the Supreme Court, some hawkish legal advisors of President Zardari were planning to avoid the recommendations of Justice Khawaja Sharif, which he gave for the appointment of new judges in Lahore High Court. New names of judges may then be sent for the LHC. However, senior lawyer and former judge of the Balochistan High Court, Justice Tariq Mehmood told The News that recommendations regarding appointment of new judges given by any high court chief justice always remain intact even if that chief justice retires or is transferred from his position. Spokesman of the president Farhatullah Babar told this scribe that the news being run on different TV channels regarding some final decision by presidency were wrong.

Avatar' wins two Golden Globes

By Alan Duke, CNN

January 18, 2010 7:55 a.m. EST

James Cameron's "Avatar" won the Golden Globe award for best movie drama

Los Angeles, California (CNN) -- James Cameron carried home two Golden Globes on Sunday night for his 3-D blockbuster, "Avatar."
"Avatar," which has sold $1.6 billion in tickets worldwide in just a month, was chosen best movie drama, while Cameron won for best movie director.
"We have the best job in the world," Cameron said.
Many of the winners and presenters at the 67th Golden Globes wore red and yellow ribbons, a reminder of Tuesday's devastating earthquake in Haiti.
"It does feel strange to dress up and play fantasy, but I'm glad we are talking about it," actress Kyra Sedgwick told CNN on the red carpet.
Globe producers included several appeals in the awards broadcast for viewers to donate to Haitian relief efforts.

 

Video: 67th annual Golden Globes

 

 

Video: Golden Globes fashion

 

As "Crazy Heart" star Jeff Bridges accepted the best actor in a movie drama award -- the first Golden Globe of his career -- he joked about his lack of awards.
"Wow, you're really screwing up my under-appreciated status here," Bridges said.
The best actress in a movie drama went to Sandra Bullock for her work in "The Blind Side."
Robert Downey Jr. won the Globe for best actor in a movie comedy or musical for his role in "Sherlock Holmes."
Downey joked that he didn't have an acceptance speech because his wife told him Matt Damon would win the category for "The Informant!"
"The Hangover," a comedy about misadventures in Las Vegas, won the Golden Globe for best comedy or musical movie.
Former boxing champ Mike Tyson, who played himself in the film, stood onstage as a movie director Todd Phillips accepted the award.
Austrian actor Christoph Waltz won the Golden Globe for best supporting actor in a movie for "Inglourious Basterds."
The role of Nazi Colonel Hans Landa -- the villain in Quentin Tarantino's film -- required Waltz to speak four languages fluently.
The Golden Globe for best TV drama was awarded to AMC's "Mad Men" for the third straight year.
Alec Baldwin repeated his Emmy success at the Globes, winning the best actor in a TV comedy or musical series award.
Meryl Streep took home her seventh Golden Globe, one for best actress in a comedy or musical movie, for "Julie & Julia."
Streep, referring to last week's earthquake in Haiti, said it was hard for her to put on her "happy movie self, in face of everything I am aware of in the real world."
Streep had two chances to win the category, because she was also nominated for "It's Complicated."
Kevin Bacon won the Golden Globe for best actor in a made-for-TV miniseries or movie for his acting in HBO's "Taking Chance." It was his first Globe.
Bacon, in a CNN interview before the show, asked fans to donate to the Haitian relief through his personal Web site.
"Honestly, I've never seen anything like it," Bacon said. "The images are so devastating. I am hopeful and inspired by the way most people are coming together and rallying around it."
The Globe for best actress in a made-for-TV miniseries or movie went to Drew Barrymore for HBO's "Gray Gardens." It was her first Globe win after three nominations.
Chloe Sevigny, who plays the second wife in HBO's "Big Love," took the best supporting actress Globe for a made-for-TV miniseries or movie.
"Up in the Air," which was up for Globes in six categories, won the best screenplay award.
Showtime's "Dexter" grabbed Golden Globes for best actor -- Michael C. Hall -- and best supporting actor -- John Lithgow -- in a TV series, miniseries or movie.
The best actress in a TV drama series went to Julianna Margulies for her work in "The Good Wife" on CBS.
Comedian Mo'Nique won the Golden Globe for best supporting actress in a movie for her role as an abusive mother in "Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire."
"I'm shaking when I tell y'all I'm in the midst of my dream," Mo'Nique said.
Toni Collette won the best actress in a TV comedy or musical TV series for Showtime's "United States of Tara." It was Collette's first Globe win, though she has been nominated four times.
The Disney-Pixar blockbuster "Up" won the Golden Globe for best animated movie. Pixar has won the category every year since it was started four years ago.
"Up" was also honored for best original movie score, which was composed by Michael Giacchino.
The award for best original song for a movie went to T Bone Burnett's "The Weary Kind," the theme for "Crazy Heart."
The Golden Globe for best foreign language film was given to Germany's "The White Ribbon." Film legend Sophia Loren presented the award.
On the red carpet, the earthquake in Haiti and rain over Los Angeles dampened the Golden Globes Sunday evening.
Dresses were as glamorous as ever, but the talk was less about the competition and more about the relief efforts under way in Haiti.
"It does feel strange to dress up and play fantasy, but I'm glad we are talking about it," said Kyra Sedgwick, nominated for a fifth time as best actress in a TV drama for "The Closer."
British comic Ricky Gervais, who is hosting the 67th Golden Globes show, said "someone much more important than me" will address the Haiti tragedy during the NBC telecast.
Actress Olivia Wilde, who was already involved in supporting an orphanage and three schools in Haiti, said her Golden Globe dress and several others will be auctioned off with "100 percent of the money going to a local program in Haiti."
"It's my way of turning all this fashion madness into something positive," Wilde said.
George Clooney, up for a best actor award for his film "Up in the Air," will host a telethon on Friday to raise money for the devastated island nation. "Up in the Air" has six Golden Globe nominated, the most of any other movie.
The Golden Globes, produced by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, is the opening act in the 2010 awards season.
Umbrellas were out as a rare rain fell Sunday evening. The first section of the red carpet leading into the Beverly Hilton Hotel was not covered.

Profile: IMF and World Bank

IMF headquarters in Washington D

The International Monetary Fund, or IMF, and the World Bank's forerunner were set up to manage the post-World War II global economy.
They were conceived in 1944 at a conference in Bretton Woods, in the US state of New Hampshire.
By fostering economic cooperation and helping countries with balance of payments problems the founders hoped to avoid a repeat of the 1930s Great Depression.

OVERVIEW

OVERVIEW | FACTS | LEADERS | ISSUES

The IMF aims to preserve economic stability and to tackle - or ideally prevent - financial crises. Over time, its focus has switched to the developing world.

IMF's role in the developing world has been scrutinised 2005: IMF stresses developing country role

The World Bank's predecessor - the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development - was set up to drive post-war recovery. Now, it is the world's leading development organisation, working for growth and poverty reduction.
Owned by the governments of its 185 member states, the Bank channels loans and grants and advises low and middle-income countries.
The IMF is funded by a charge - known as a "quota" - paid by member nations. The quota is based on a country's wealth and it determines voting power within the organisation; those making higher contributions have greater voting rights.
The Fund acts as a lender of last resort, disbursing its foreign exchange reserves for short periods to any member in difficulties.

Crisis response
The IMF and World Bank attempt to help countries or regions in economic turmoil.
In October 2008 the IMF activated an emergency funding scheme for countries facing economic distress resulting from the ongoing global financial crisis. As of February 2009, it had committed around $50 billion in lending to a number of economies affected by the crisis, including Belarus, Hungary, Iceland, Latvia, Pakistan, Serbia, and Ukraine. A number of other countries were in talks with the Fund.
Past interventions by the IMF have included providing funds for countries caught up in the 1997 Asian financial crisis.
After Argentina's financial crisis, and its record debt default in 2001, the IMF negotiated a new loan package. The Fund extended a record $30bn loan to Brazil to stave off a debt default.
The IMF can also grant emergency loans following natural disasters; these have included the 2004 Asian tsunami.

Developing countries
The IMF and World Bank set up the Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility in 1999. The scheme grants loans with conditions attached.

A strategy paper - called a Letter of Intent - specifies the elements of a country's recovery plan. In return, loans are agreed as and when the targets laid down in the letter are met.
The IMF may demand reforms to promote good governance and to tackle corruption. The Fund maintains that a good climate for business is essential for growth and poverty reduction.
The World Bank funds specific infrastructure projects. One of its agencies, the International Development Association, focuses on the world's poorest nations. The Bank is pledged to UN-backed Millenium Development Goals to reduce key indicators of poverty by 2015.
Debt relief
The Highly Indebted Poor Countries Initiative (HIPC), launched by the IMF and the World Bank in 1996, aims to reduce the debt owed by the world's poorest countries in return for economic reform.
States are eligible if their debt is unsustainable and cannot be tackled by traditional methods. The reforms they have to undertake often include privatisations.
By 2005 nearly 40 countries had started programmes under the HIPC. Debt relief kicks in when a country meets what is called the "decision point". Around half of the HIPC countries have reached the end of the process, known as the "completion point".
These states stand to have their debts written off under a proposals drawn up in 2005 by the finance ministers of the G8 group.

FACTS

OVERVIEW | FACTS | LEADERS | ISSUES

• Conceived: Bretton Woods, New Hampshire, USA in 1944
• Headquarters: Washington DC
• IMF-World Bank membership: 185 countries
• World Bank staff: 9,300
• IMF staff: 2,700

LEADERS

OVERVIEW | FACTS | LEADERS | ISSUES

IMF managing director: Dominique Strauss-Kahn
Dominique Strauss-Kahn became head of the Fund in November 2007, taking over from Spain's Rodrigo Rato.

Dominique Strauss-Kahn

Under an unwritten convention, the European Union nominates the head of the IMF, while the US appoints the World Bank head. Mr Strauss-Kahn served as France's finance and economy minister between 1997-1999. He is also a former professor of economics at the prestigious Institut d'Etudes Politiques de Paris.
During his time in government, Mr Strauss-Kahn cut the public deficit to qualify France for the euro and took steps that paved the way for the privatization of a number of state-owned firms. In 2006, he sought the Socialist Party's nomination for the French presidential election, but was not successful.
He has pledged to pursue reforms to make the IMF more relevant to developing countries.
Day-to-day, the IMF is overseen by a board of 24 executive directors. These are appointed or elected by member governments, or groups of member governments.
The board is headed by the managing director, assisted by three deputies.
World Bank president: Robert Zoellick

Robert Zoellick

The US nominated Robert Zoellick to replace former US deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, who stepped down in June 2007 after becoming embroiled in a scandal over alleged favouritism. Mr Zoellick is a former US trade negotiator and senior executive at Wall Street investment bank Goldman Sachs.

ISSUES

OVERVIEW | FACTS | LEADERS | ISSUES

The Fund and the Bank serve as a rallying point for a disparate causes - from environmentalists to anarchists - and sometimes-violent street protests have accompanied meetings.
Protesters and critics are largely united in their distaste for globalisation; broadly speaking, the integration of world economies. They cite the exploitation of the poor and the environment and argue that freer trade threatens the livelihoods of millions of people.

IMF and World Bank policies have stoked opposition

The IMF has admitted that forcing developing countries to open their markets to foreign investors can increase the risk of financial crises.
Its former managing director Horst Koehler said in 2002 that the benefits of globalisation had not been equally shared. But he added that "the objective should not be less globalisation but more and better globalisation."
Campaigners also argue that loans and long-term agreements can lock countries into aid dependency.
Representation
Developing countries - as well as some of Asia's rapidly-growing economies - have voiced dissatisfaction with what they say is their lack of influence in the IMF and World Bank.
They have called for changes to the system in which votes in the IMF are weighted in line with member nations' financial contributions.
Under the system the US has 17% of the vote in the Fund, whereas India, with more than three times the population of the US, has less than one third. And because constitutional changes in the IMF require 85% of the vote, the US has a veto.

Haiti quake: Death toll may be 200,000, US general says

Pockets of looting and disorder have broken out in parts of Port-au-Prince

The leading US general in Haiti has said it is a "reasonable assumption" that up to 200,000 people may have died in last Tuesday's earthquake.

Lt Gen Ken Keen said the disaster was of "epic proportions", but it was "too early to know" the full human cost.
Rescuers pulled more people alive from the rubble at the weekend, but at least 70,000 people have already had burials.
Relief efforts are being slowed by bottlenecks, and many thousands of survivors are fending for themselves.
Many Haitians are trying to leave the devastated capital city of Port-au-Prince, and there are security concerns amid reports of looting and violence.

Satellite and close-up images of Port-au-Prince devastation

More than 2,000 US Marines were expected to arrive in the region on Monday to bolster US troops and UN peacekeepers already on the ground.
On Sunday, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon appealed to frustrated Haitians to be patient over efforts to bring them relief.
Gen Keen, running the US military relief effort, when asked about death toll estimates between 150,000 and 200,000 people, said: "I think the international community is looking at those figures, and I think that's a start point.
"Clearly, this is a disaster of epic proportions, and we've got a lot of work ahead of us," he said.
Hope for more rescues
Amid the chaos and destruction, a number of people were rescued from collapsed buildings at the weekend.
Among the lucky ones was a seven-year-old girl pulled alive from the ruins of a supermarket.
At the UN headquarters destroyed in the earthquake, rescuers lifted a Danish staff member alive from the ruins, just 15 minutes after the secretary general visited the site.

Aid is slowly getting through, but many Haitians are still fending for themselves

And US teams with search dogs also found and rescued a 16-year-old Dominican girl trapped for five days in a small, three-storey hotel.
While hopes dim with every passing day, a South African rescue official, Colin Diner, told the BBC he hoped there would be more.
"What we are seeing is that the buildings have a whole lot of openings, collapsed voids and things, and that always gives you a better opportunity.
"We've got so many people killed and so many people trapped, the chances of some of them still being alive is pretty good."
Homeless throng streets
Correspondents say there is a sense of movement at last with the relief effort, although the amount of supplies getting through is still small.

Ban Ki-moon: 'For a small country like Haiti, this is a tsunami-like disaster.'

The BBC's David Loyn says the streets of the capital are thronged with homeless people, sleeping in the open and walking for hours for what food and water is available.
Most of the food and water being given out is being distributed informally by local people, correspondents say.
Several agencies complained about not being able to get aid through at the airport, which is heavily congested and has been taken over by the US military.
Medecins Sans Frontieres urged commanders to speed up the landing of aeroplanes carrying medical supplies, after one carrying an inflatable field hospital was turned away on Saturday night.
The head of the US operation at the airport, Col Buck Elton, said there had been 600 take-offs and landings since the US took control on Wednesday, and 50 flights had been diverted.
US troops also said they had set up their first foothold outside the airport to deliver aid carried in by helicopters.
Feeding 'challenge'

Speaking in Port-au-Prince on Sunday, Mr Ban called the situation in Haiti "one of the worst humanitarian crises in decades".

UN LOSSES IN HAITI 37 UN staff confirmed dead, more than 300 missing Includes Special Representative Hedi Annabi, deputy Luiz Carlos da Costa and acting police commissioner Doug Coates UN HQ in the Christopher Hotel and other buildings collapsed in the quake Believed to be the biggest single loss of life in the UN's history Haiti spirit strained but intact In pictures: Aid effort begins

Mr Ban said he understood people's frustration, but that he did not want to see violence among desperate survivors.

"I appeal to the Haitian people to be more patient," Mr Ban said.

He said providing daily food to two million people, as the UN has pledged, would be a "huge challenge".

"We need to make sure our help is getting to people who need it as fast as possible," he added.

The UN has launched an appeal for $562m (£346m) intended to help three million people for six months, most of whom are thought to need emergency relief.

The British government is to treble its aid to Haiti to £20m ($37m). The move is to be formally announced at an emergency meeting of EU development ministers in Brussels on Monday.

Guantanamo 'hub'

The city's port is badly damaged, and many roads still blocked by corpses and debris.
The Haitian and Dominican Republic governments are planning an alternative 130km (80 mile) humanitarian road corridor to deliver relief supplies from the southern Dominican town of Barahona, the UN said.

We need fuel to bring in supplies and carry the wounded Elisabeth Byrs UN spokeswoman How survivors are found Haiti quake appeal nets £12m

The UN has warned about fuel shortages, which it says could affect humanitarian operations.
It has also emerged that the US naval base at Guantanamo, Cuba - synonymous with the war on terror - is being used as a staging post for personnel and relief supplies heading to Haiti.
The BBC's Steve Kingstone, at the base, says it has capacity to house up to 10,000 people in tents. While there are no firm plans for that, US commanders say such an evacuation is feasible should it become necessary.
The US and Dutch authorities have said they are speeding up the process of flying orphaned children away from Haiti to adoptive parents abroad.
Six Haitian children adopted by Dutch families arrived in the Netherlands on Sunday and the justice ministry said it was expediting the adoption process and paperwork for about 100 others.

UK meeting aims for new global biodiversity deal

Environment correspondent, BBC News website

Conserving biodiversity benefits humanity, says the UN

Ingredients of a new deal on protecting global biodiversity are likely to be decided this week at a London meeting.

About 55 nations are sending delegates to the meeting, which will be chaired by UK and Brazilian ministers.
A key aim is to agree what sort of targets should be set at October's UN biodiversity summit for curbing the loss of species and ecosystems.
Governments are keen to avoid the kind of fundamental divisions that dogged last month's climate summit.
Writing on the BBC News website, UK Environment Secretary Hilary Benn argues that humanity's exploitation of the natural world may be approaching a "point of no return".
"The action we take in the next couple of decades will determine whether the stable environment on which human civilisation has depended since the last Ice Age, 10,000 years ago, will continue," he writes.
Smart targets
In 2002, governments set a target of reducing significantly the rate of biodiversity loss by 2010.
There is general agreement that the target will not be met; but at this year's summit of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), held in October in Japan, it is likely that governments will adopt a new set of targets.
According to UN documents prepared following consultations with governments, these could include:

• stopping the rate of biodiversity loss by 2020
• ending subsidies that harm biodiversity
• ending destructive fishing practices
• controlling the unintentional transfer of species from place to place
• placing at least 15% of land and sea area under protection

This week's meeting will see these options narrowed down, and its conclusions will form the basis of a draft agreement for the October CBD summit.
The UK hosts believe that discussing these ideas in advance among a wide group of nations will help avoid the wide divisions and acrimony evident during last month's climate summit in Copenhagen.

Green Room: Hilary Benn

Delegates will also discuss what resources will be needed to ensure that developing countries can meet new targets.
Speaking at a scientific meeting last week, CBD executive secretary Ahmed Djoghlaf acknowledged that the 2010 target had been "a mistake", partly because many governments did not have the capacity to turn them into reality.
Mr Djoghlaf also pointed to a lack of awareness and knowledge about the natural world among the public and politicians, citing a study published last September showing that nearly 40% of British children between five and 10 did not know the difference between a bee and a wasp.
The UN holds that conserving biodiversity is important not just for itself, but for the benefits nature brings to humanity.
Investing in conservation, it argues, is of vital importance to human health and wealth, particularly in poor countries.
"Restoration of our ecosystems must be seen as a sensible and cost-effective investment in this planet's economic survival and growth," writes Mr Benn.

Burma's Supreme Court hears final Suu Kyi appeal

Aung San Suu Kyi has been detained for 14 of the last 20 yea

Burma's Supreme Court is hearing a final appeal against the extended house arrest of pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

Her sentence was extended by 18 months last year after a US man swam uninvited to her lakeside home in Rangoon.
An earlier appeal was rejected by a lower court.
The hearing comes days after the latest in a series of meetings between Ms Suu Kyi and a member of the military government.
Her lawyers are basing their appeal on a legal technicality rather than the facts of the case, says the BBC's South-East Asia correspondent, Rachel Harvey.
They will argue that the charges against their client were brought using a law from a constitution which is now defunct.
Speaking to the BBC just before the hearing, one of Ms Suu Kyi's lawyers, sounded confident.
"From a purely legal point of view," he said, "we should win".
But Western diplomats based in Rangoon believe that confidence may be grounded more in hope than expectation, our correspondent reports.
A decision is not expected for at least a week.
Election plans
The appeal comes just days after another meeting between Aung San Suu Kyi and the minister appointed to act as liaison between the pro-democracy leader and the government.
No details of what was discussed have been released.
Ms Suu Kyi has asked for direct talks with the head of the military government, General Than Shwe, and has offered to to help try to get international sanctions eased.
The suggestion was first made four months ago, and repeated in November but so far there has been no official response.
The government is planning elections for later this year, the first since 1990 when the military refused to recognise the landslide victory of the opposition National League for Democracy.
The extension of Ms Suu Kyi's house arrest means she will be unable to compete in this year's elections.
The 64-year-old Nobel peace laureate has spent 14 of the past 20 years in detention.

Stolen Monet painting recovered in Poland

The painting, which shows the sea lapping against a beach, dates from 1882

A Monet painting, which was stolen from a Polish museum and replaced with a copy painted on cardboard, has been recovered almost a decade later.

Police said they found Beach in Pourville, valued at $1m (£613,586) when it was taken in September 2000, in the southern Polish city of Olkusz.
Police have also arrested a 41-year-old man in connection with the theft of the Impressionist work.
He faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted.
Authenticity
Poznan police spokesman Romuald Piecuch said the recovered painting had been taken to the National Museum in Poznan, where experts intend to verify its authenticity.
"We have great hope that it is our stolen painting," museum spokeswoman Aleksandra Sobocinska said.
Ms Sobocinska said she did not have an estimate of its current value, but added that "to us it was a priceless masterpiece".
The 1882 oil study of a beach in northern France was the only Monet on public display in Poland.
The theft was discovered on 19 September 2000. It had been cut from its frame and replaced it with a copy.
Investigators have long been trying to trace a man who was seen making sketches of paintings in the museum two days earlier.

Glory for Avatar at Golden Globes

Golden Globe Award Clips provided by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association and Dick Clark Productions, Inc.

Blockbuster sci-fi epic Avatar has been named best film drama at the Golden Globe awards, boosting its chances of further glory at the Oscars in March.

Its director James Cameron was also honoured at the event, held at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Los Angeles.
Sandra Bullock and Meryl Streep won the best actress prizes, with Jeff Bridges and Robert Downey Jr taking home their male equivalents.
Ricky Gervais hosted the event, the first of 2010's major Hollywood awards.
Presented each year by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, the Globes often indicate who and what will go on to receive Academy Awards.

MAIN WINNERS Best film (drama) Avatar Best film (musical or comedy) The Hangover Best director James Cameron (Avatar) Best actor (drama) Jeff Bridges (Crazy Heart) Best actress (drama) Sandra Bullock (The Blind Side) Best actor (musical or comedy) Robert Downey Jr (Sherlock Holmes) Best actress (musical or comedy) Meryl Streep (Julie & Julia) Full list of 2010 winners

Television shows are also celebrated at the gala, where prizes are divided between dramas and comedies or musicals.
Cameron's double victory was a vindication of the 55-year-old's faith in his ambitious and costly computer-generated fantasy.
His best director prize also saw him triumph over his ex-wife Kathryn Bigelow, nominated in the same category for Iraq drama The Hurt Locker.
"This is the best job in the world," he said as Avatar was named best film. "What we do is make entertainment for a global audience."
The Canadian film-maker previously won a Golden Globe for directing Titanic, which went on to win 11 Academy Awards in 1998.
But he steered clear of the self-aggrandising language of his "king of the world" Oscar acceptance speech, heaping praise upon Bigelow, and addressing his actors in Na'vi, the language created for his blockbuster film.
As Cameron accepted his prizes, it was revealed that Avatar had remained top of the US box office for a fifth week.
Worldwide takings for the film now stand at $1.6 bn (£979m), setting it on course to top Titanic's $1.8 bn (£1.1bn) haul this week - which would make it the top-grossing film of all time.
Empty-handed
Streep's win for best actress in a musical or comedy came for her role as TV chef Julia Child in Julia & Julia.
"In my long career I've played so many extraordinary women I'm being mistaken for one," said the 60-year-old, who was nominated against herself in the category.
Bullock, meanwhile, received the best actress in a drama prize for her role in The Blind Side as a Southern mother who adopts a homeless black teenager.

Golden Globe stars talk about the situation in Haiti

Her victory was a blow to British hopes, coming at the expense of Emily Blunt, Carey Mulligan and Dame Helen Mirren.
British star Colin Firth also went home empty-handed thanks to Jeff Bridges' popular win in the best dramatic actor category.
"You're really screwing up my underappreciated status here," joked the 60-year-old as he received his award for country music drama Crazy Heart.
Earlier Robert Downey Jr feigned petulance as he picked up the best comedy actor prize for his title role in Sherlock Holmes.
"If you start playing violins I will tear this place apart," he warned, describing the Hollywood Foreign Press as a "strange bunch" for recognising his work in Guy Ritchie's film.
'Dizzying'
As expected, comedian and talk show host Mo'Nique was named best supporting actress for her role in hard-hitting drama Precious.
"Thank you God for this amazing ride," she told the audience. "I am in the midst of my dream."
The little-known Christoph Waltz was another expected winner, picking up best supporting actor for his work in Quentin Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds.

Streep paid tribute to her mother as she collected her award

The Austrian actor thanked the Pulp Fiction director for giving him a "dizzying experience".
One surprise recipient was raucous farce The Hangover, which took home the Golden Globe for best musical or comedy.
Pixar film Up, meanwhile, was named best animated feature, winning an additional prize for its original score.
Its success contrasted with that of Up in the Air, which had been expected to win a number of the six awards it was up for.
In the end, though, the George Clooney film only won a single prize for its screenplay.
In the best television actor (mini-series) category, Kevin Bacon beat a quartet of British and Irish nominees - Kenneth Branagh, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Brendan Gleeson and Jeremy Irons - for his role in Taking Chances, a drama about a Marine who escorts a fallen gulf war soldier home.
Other recipients of TV included Dexter star Michael C Hall, who was a popular winner of the best actor in a drama prize.
The 38-year-old recently announced he has been diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma and is in remission from the disease.
'Humbling'
While Dexter won an additional prize for supporting actor John Lithgow, it lost the best drama series award to Mad Men.
The comedy or musical prize was won by Glee, which had been up for more awards than any other TV show.

A touch of Hollywood glamour on the red carpet

Elsewhere actors Robert De Niro and Leonardo DiCaprio joined forces to present director Martin Scorsese with a special award for his outstanding contribution to entertainment.
The 67-year-old said it was "humbling" to receive a prize named after Hollywood great Cecil B DeMille.
His rapturous reception contrasted with the lukewarm one given to host Gervais, whose jokes at the expense of Sir Paul McCartney and others did not always find favour with the star-studded audience.
Film trade paper The Hollywood Reporter gave the star a thumbs down, saying he "flew through" his quips "so fast he didn't land a blow, let alone draw blood".
Celebrities were greeted with a heavy downpour as they arrived at the Beverly Hilton, forcing them to seek shelter under umbrellas.
Inside Nicole Kidman was one of several stars to pay tribute to victims of the Haiti earthquake, urging viewers to donate to relief efforts.

Afghan capital Kabul hit by co-ordinated Taliban attack

Kabul was rocked by blasts as the sound of gunfire filled the streets

Suspected Taliban militants have launched an attack in the Afghan capital Kabul, setting off explosions and sparking a gun battle.

The fighting erupted near the Serena Hotel and presidential palace, although Afghan President Hamid Karzai says security has now been restored.
The Taliban said 20 fighters were involved. A number of people have been killed and dozens hurt, officials say.
This is the latest in a series of increasingly brazen attacks on Kabul.
A statement on a Taliban website said the raid had specifically targeted government buildings and the hotel.
'Under control'
A spokesman for the interior ministry told the BBC it believed seven suicide attackers were involved.
Four attacked a shopping centre near the Serena Hotel and presidential palace. All were now dead and fighting there had ceased, the spokesman said.
Three militants attacked a cinema about 400m away. Two were killed there but one is believed to still be alive. At least two explosions were reported earlier.

US envoy Richard Holbrooke: "We can expect this sort of thing on a regular basis"

A statement from the president's office said: "The Afghan president wants to assure the inhabitants of Kabul that the security situation is under control and order has once again been restored."
It added: "The president condemns these terrorist attacks and has instructed the security entities to intensify security in the city and take action to arrest those responsible for these brutal and unpatriotic attacks."
The BBC's Mark Dummett, who had been in the basement of the Serena Hotel during the attack, said he could now hear no gunfire, but the city was in lockdown, with hundreds of security officers patrolling the streets and a helicopter flying overhead.
He said although the city appeared quiet, the discrepancy between the number of insurgents the Taliban said had taken part and the number given by officials suggested there could still be militants at large, and everyone remained on guard.
Speaking to BBC News from inside the ministry of finance, civil servant Emal Masood said he could see the Feroshgah e Afghan shopping centre was burned out.

He said: "One of my friends has a shop there. He told me two men entered - insurgents, yes - and were yelling at people to get out of the building. He said he left his shop open and ran away. Police were coming in as he ran out."
Casualties cannot yet be confirmed, but there have been reports of a number of civilian deaths, with wounded people being ferried away in ambulances.
'Deplorable'
The US condemned the attack. Special representative to Afghanistan and Pakistan Richard Holbrooke said: "It's not surprising that the Taliban do this sort of thing. They are desperate people, they are ruthless."
The US embassy in Kabul said the Taliban's disregard for Afghan lives was "deplorable".

RECENT KABUL ATTACKS 15 Dec 09: Six killed in suicide attack near hotel in Wazir Akbar Khan district 24 Oct 09: Six UN staff and three Afghans killed in attack on UN guesthouse 8 Oct 09: Suicide bomber attacks Indian embassy, killing at least 17 17 Sept 09: Six Italian soldiers and 10 Afghans die in military convoy blast 18 Aug 09: Suicide blast kills 10 in attack on convoy of Western troops 11 Feb 09: Assault on three government buildings kills 27, including eight attackers In pictures: Kabul attack

Taliban militants have launched a number of recent attacks on Kabul.
In October, five UN staff were killed in a raid on a UN guesthouse. The Serena Hotel was also targeted in the attack.
The BBC's Mark Dummett in Kabul says there will be huge concern that the militants have again broken through to the most protected part of the city, although security forces say they do prevent many other attacks.
Nato spokesman US Navy Lt Nico Melendez told the BBC innocent civilians had been the target of Monday's attack.
"We don't see a lot of attacks like this in Kabul. We do know that there are forces throughout the city providing protection for the innocent Afghan citizens and we're doing everything we can to help the Afghan police and the Afghan army.
"You can't protect all the people, all the time, all the places."
Monday's attack comes amid continuing political uncertainty in Afghanistan.
Mr Karzai was swearing in new members of his cabinet at the time of the raid.

Afghan commandos took part in quashing the Taliban operation

Afghan MP Daoud Sultanzoy told the BBC it was not a coincidence that the attack started at 1000 local time, "almost exactly the same time that part of the cabinet would have been sworn in only 100m away".
A large number of cabinet posts remain vacant.
Parliament has twice rejected many of Mr Karzai's nominations for a new cabinet, forcing the president to direct deputy ministers or other caretaker figures to run their ministries.
The uncertainty comes ahead of a key conference on Afghanistan in London later this month.
Mr Karzai was re-elected last August in a vote marred by fraud.
Since then, the US and Nato have launched an overhaul of Afghan policy, with a large number of additional troops pledged.

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