J.K. Rowling gets top French award

September 30th, 2009 LONDON - Former US President George Bush's advisers believed that JK Rowling's books "encouraged witchcraft" and thus deprived the author from a top US honour, reveals a new book. The book, titled 'Speechless: Tales of a White House Survivor'-written by Matt Latimer, an ex-speechwriter for Bush-has revealed that the Scots-based Harry Potter author was nominated for a Presidential Medal of Freedom.

September 12th, 2009 Top French photographer Willy Ronis dead at 99PARIS — Willy Ronis, the last of the great French photographers best known for shots of the quirky corners of Paris, has died at age 99. The president of the Eyedea photo agency, Stephane Ledoux, says Ronis died early Saturday in a Paris hospital after being on dialysis for some time.

July 11th, 2009 Oregon WWII vets honored by FrancePORTLAND, Ore. — Three World War II veterans have been awarded the Legion of Honor by France for their military service.

June 15th, 2009 Correction: Carter award from Palestinian groupRAMALLAH, West Bank — In a June 13 story about Jimmy Carter's visit to the West Bank, The Associated Press reported erroneously that the former U.S. president was honored by the Palestinian government with an award.

May 5th, 2009 LONDON - Harry Potter author JK Rowling's mosaic has been constructed from 48,000 Lego bricks. The giant tribute was built after the novelist came top of a poll to find the "ultimate hero" of the last ten years.

April 22nd, 2009 LONDON - An anti-government Sri Lankan newspaper, whose editor was shot dead in January by unknown gunmen, has been named for a prestigious freedom of expression award in London. The Sunday Leader was given the top Guardian Journalism Award as part of the Index on Censorship Freedom of Expression awards Tuesday.

April 14th, 2009 LONDON - Queen of pop Madonna sacked her nanny just because she didn't know French. Australian nanny Angela Jacobsen was on holiday in Thailand when she was sacked by the 'Material Girl'.

April 8th, 2009 LONDON - Legendary director Martin Scorsese will be honored with the 'Humanitarian' award by the Multicultural Motion Picture Association (MPAA). The Oscar-winner will become the second recipient of the prestigious award, as Clint Eastwood was the first person to be honoured with it last year, reports the Daily express.

April 3rd, 2009 LONDON - US President Barack Obama has revealed that he is a huge fan of the Harry Potter series, and even told its author J K Rowling about it. Obama, 47, who was genuinely pleased to meet 43-year-old Rowling, told her at the end of the Downing Street G20 dinner that he had read all her books, and that he also read them to his daughters Sasha and Malia.

April 1st, 2009 LONDON - Film director Gurinder Chadha and Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling will attend the G20 summit dinner in London, an event for the spouses of those attending, including Michelle Obama.

March 27th, 2009 LONDON - Renowned 'Harry Potter' author J. K. Rowling, pop princess Britney Spears, and ace footballer David Beckham may check out their family trees on the Internet within seconds, for their ancestors have been found in London records.

March 12th, 2009 LONDON - Actor Patrick Stewart has bagged one of the biggest theatre honours, the Laurence Olivier award, for his role of Claudius in 'Hamlet'. Stewart has got the award for the third time, while his first Olivier dates back to 1979 for 'Anthony and Cleopatra'.

February 21st, 2009 NEW DELHI - Alifiya Khan, 24, has won the third Anupama Jayaraman Memorial journalism award for exposing loopholes in the country's healthcare system with a series of investigative articles. The award consists of a citation and a cash award of Rs.15,000.

January 31st, 2009 LONDON - Irish-British filmmaker Danny Boyle's underdog drama 'Slumdog Millionaire' has bagged the Directors Guild of America (DGA) award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Feature Film. The DGA is tipped as a barometer for the Academy Award for Best Director and only six times since the DGA awards began in 1948 has the winner not gone on to receive the Best Director Oscar, reports contactmusic.com.

January 29th, 2009 MUMBAI - Bollywood actress Kareena Kapoor will be honoured by the Rotary Club for being the youngest achiever of the film industry. She will be given the Vocational Excellence Award by Bansi Dhurandhar Feb 1 here at the Grand Hyatt, Santacruz.