BlackBerry rolls out BBM to Android, iPhone users

(Reuters) - BlackBerry Ltd said on Monday it has begun to roll out its BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) service to users of Android and iPhone devices.

The long-awaited cross-platform offering, which was delayed after issues arose following the initial launch last month, is now being rolled out in a phased manner.

"To help manage this unprecedented pent-up demand for BBM, we are implementing a simple line-up system to ensure a smooth rollout," Andrew Bocking, who heads the BlackBerry's BBM business, said in a blog post on the company's website.

BlackBerry said last week that 6 million Android and iPhone customers had pre-registered for the launch.

The company said those that had already signed up for the service at BBM.com are being allowed to use the platform right away, while others will be signed on as fast as possible.

Mark Zuckerberg is highest-paid CEO

By: Salma Tantawi

A survey by corporate governance firm GMI Ratings takes a look on the US highest paid CEOs, and it’s no surprise it’s Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg, whose 2012 total earning added up to $2.3 billion, while  Facebook second-in-command Sheryl Sandberg cashed out $822 million.

The reason behind his whopping fortune was mainly Facebook IPO, helping Zuckerberg in joining the highest paid CEOs global club, besides his $500,000 base salary and more than $266,000 bonus last year.

Other high paid CEOs on the list are Apple boss Tim Cook with $143.8 million and Liberty Media Corp’s Gregory Maffei with $254.8 million, and Sirius XM Radio’s Mel Karmazin at $255 million

Pakistan secretly endorsed drone strikes: report

Pakistan for years secretly approved of US drone attacks on its territory despite public denunciations, The Washington Post reported Wednesday, citing secret documents.
The purported evidence of Islamabad's involvement came as Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif visited the White House and urged an end to the attacks, which are widely unpopular with the Pakistani public.
Pakistani support for drone attacks has long been widely suspected, although strikes reported by the Post involved several years up to 2011 -- before a slowdown in strikes and Sharif's election in May.
The newspaper said that top-secret documents and Pakistani diplomatic memos showed that the Central Intelligence Agency had drafted documents to share information on drone attacks with Pakistan.
At least 65 drone strikes were marked for discussion with Pakistan, including through briefings at its embassy in Washington and in materials sent physically to senior officials in Islamabad.
In one case in 2010, a document describes hitting a location "at the request of your government." Another file referred to a joint effort at picking targets.
The article -- co-written by Bob Woodward, one of the two journalists who broke the Watergate scandal in the 1970s -- said that the documents also showed that the United States raised concerns that extremists were linked to Pakistan's powerful intelligence service.
In one incident, then secretary of state Hillary Clinton confronted Pakistan about cell phones and written materials from dead bodies of militants that showed links to the Inter-Services Intelligence agency.
In turn, a Pakistani memo gave the names of 36 US citizens believed to be CIA agents and urged the embassy in Washington not to issue visas to them, the newspaper said.
The report came a day after Amnesty International said that the United States may have broken international law by killing civilians with drones.
It pointed to an October 2012 attack that killed a 68-year-old grandmother as she picked vegetables.
For the first six months of 2011, 152 combatants were killed, according to a table cited by the Post that did not list any civilian casualties.
The Obama administration has defended drone strikes as a better way to avoid civilian casualties, saying that it carefully selects Al-Qaeda-linked extremists in lawless parts of Pakistan.

Michael Jackson top earning dead celebrity

Michael Jackson has been named the highest-earning dead celebrity of the year.
The estate of the late 'Thriller' singer, who died from acute Propofol intoxication in 2009, amassed $160 million in 12 months, as a result of the two successful Cirque du Soleil shows, 'Michael Jackson ONE' and 'Michael Jackson THE IMMORTAL World Tour,' based on his back catalogue of hits.
The earnings put him at the top of Forbes magazine's annual list of Top-Earning Dead Celebrities.
The King of Pop took the crown back from his close friend Dame Elizabeth Taylor, who slipped to fourth place as her estate earned $25 million.
According to the publication, Elvis Presley's estate brought in an estimated $55 million in posthumous earnings, putting him in second place.
Cartoonist Charles Schulz, who created the 'Peanuts' comic strip, moved up one spot to third place on the Forbes list - which analyses dead celebrities' earnings between June 2012 and June 2013 - after amassing $37 million.
Reggae star Bob Marley rounded out to top five with $18 million.
Others in the top 12 include Albert Einstein, Marilyn Monroe and Bruce Lee, as well as newcomer Jenni Rivera.
The estate of the late Mexican singer, who died in a plane crash in 2012, earned $7 million.

Full list of Forbes magazine's Top-Earning Dead Celebrities:

1. Michael Jackson ($160 million)
2. Elvis Presley ($55 million)
3. Charles Schulz ($37 million)
4. Dame Elizabeth Taylor ($25 million)
5. Bob Marley ($18 million)
6. Marilyn Monroe ($15 million)
7. John Lennon ($12 million)
8. Albert Einstein ($10 million)
9. Bettie Page ($10 million)
10. Theodor Geisel ($9 million)
11. Steve McQueen ($9 million)
12. Bruce Lee ($7 million)
12. Jenni Rivera ($7 million)

Rooney grateful for Ferguson transfer row U-turn

Wayne Rooney says he is 'thankful' that former manager Sir Alex Ferguson has corrected suggestions that the Manchester United striker handed in a formal transfer request.

Speculation was rife over the summer that Rooney would be heading out of Old Trafford, possibly leaving for rivals Chelsea, after the Scot revealed that the 27-year-old had asked to leave the club.

Though Ferguson describes the former Everton man as 'wanting away' in his autobiography, he later clarified that Rooney had not put in a transfer request - a move which would have seen him waive all contractual signing on fees.

'I'm thankful that he's gone back and corrected that I put a transfer request in,' Rooney told Sky Sports after Manchester United's 1-0 over Real Sociedad.

'I haven't seen him since I retired and the other stuff doesn't concern me.'

When asked if he would respond, Rooney replied: 'No not at all, I'm just enjoying my football.

'I'm really enjoying working for David Moyes, the results haven't been what we've wanted but we're working to put that right.'

David Moyes' men face Stoke at Old Trafford at the weekend, with the Red Devils currently in eighth, one place below the Scot's former club Everton.

Ibrahimovic: PSG can win Champions League

Paris Saint-Germain can win the Champions League this season, according to four-goal hero Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

The Sweden international became only the 10th player in the history of the competition to net four times in one match as the French champions beat Anderlecht 5-0.

Ibrahimovic believes PSG have improved since last season, where they reached the quarter-finals, and is convinced the side can win the competition.

'I feel good,' the 32-year-old striker told BeIn Sport after the win in Belgium. 'This year, we are stronger, we have stronger players.

'We could win the competition but remember that the further you go, the harder it is. My first year in Paris was fantastic, but this year is even better!'

Laurent Blanc's men top Group C with nine points from their opening three clashes, and a goal difference of +11, and face Anderlecht in the return fixture in Paris on November 5.

‘Ozil is crucial to Arsenal’ – Aubameyang

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has pinpointed Mesut Ozil and Olivier Giroud as major threats when Borussia Dortmund face Arsenal on Tuesday.The Schwarzgelben have picked up three points from two games in the Champions League this season, following May's final defeat to Bayern Munich with a 2-1 loss to Napoli in September before bouncing back with a 3-0 win over Olympique de Marseille.Arsenal, on the other hand, have a 100 per cent record in the European competition, including two wins over Fenerbahce in the play-off to reach the group stage and Aubameyang is under no illusions that the Gunners' squad is packed with quality.'Ozil is in great form and is crucial to Arsenal's game but they're a quality side anyway,' Aubameyang told Bundesliga.com.

'Olivier Giroud, for example, is also a very good player, I know him well from my time in France, he's a dangerous striker.'Playing Arsenal won't be easy at all and we'll have to do better than we did on Saturday.'Jurgen Klopp's men peppered Hannover's goal with 18 shots on Saturday but won just 1-0, thanks to an early Marco Reus penalty, with the Gabon international suggesting that the international break took affected BVB's sharpness.'We'll have further recovered by then and we'll be in better form,' Aubameyang added. 'Having a big game in the Champions League should give us extra motivation.'I had the impression some of us were already tired going into the game and it got worse as the match proceeded.'We didn't have our usual rhythm and didn't play the high tempo football we normally do. But a second goal would've killed the game.'Following the continental tussle with Arsenal, Dortmund face arch-rivals Schalke this coming weekend