Saturday, January 24, 2015
Tuesday, January 20, 2015
Islamic State group threatens to kill 2 Japanese hostages
The Islamic State group threatened to kill two Japanese hostages Tuesday unless they receive $200 million in 72 hours, directly demanding the ransom from Japan's premier during his visit to the Middle East. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe vowed to save the men, saying: "Their lives are the top priority."
Abe and other Japanese officials declined to discuss whether they'd pay the ransom for captives Kenji Goto and Haruna Yukawa, though their armed forces generally only operate in a self-defense capacity at home. Their kidnapping also immediately recalled the 2004 beheading of a Japanese backpacker in Iraq, carried out by the Islamic State group's predecessor over Japan's involvement in the U.S.-led war there.
Tuesday's video, identified as being made by the Islamic State group's al-Furqan media arm and posted on militant websites associated with the extremist group, mirrored other hostage threats it has made. Japanese officials said they would analyze the tape to verify its authenticity, though Abe offered no hesitation as he pledged to free the men while speaking to journalists in Jerusalem.
"It is unforgivable," said Abe as he wrapped up a six-day visit to the Middle East. He added: "Extremism and Islam are completely different things."
In the video, the two men appear in orange jumpsuits with a rocky hill in the background, a masked militant dressed in black standing between them. The scene resembles others featuring the five hostages previously beheaded by the Islamic State group, which controls a third of Iraq and Syria.
"To the prime minister of Japan: Although you are more than 8,000 and 500 kilometers (5,280 miles) from the Islamic State, you willingly have volunteered to take part in this crusade," says the knife-brandishing militant, who resembles and sounds like a British militant involved in other filmed beheadings. "You have proudly donated $100 million to kill our women and children, to destroy the homes of the Muslims ... and in an attempt to stop the expansion of the Islamic State, you have also donated another $100 million to train the (apostates)."
Jennifer Lopez Wants You to Notice Her Bangs
Jennifer Lopez, 45, is many things. A multi-hyphenate performer. A diva. A mom of two. An astoundingly ageless human being. One thing she is not? A frequent bangs wearer. So her deliberate hairstyling choice on Monday got our attention.
We saw her hitting the streets with these center-parted, combed forward, super-long bangs on Monday morning, but chalked it up to the windy weather in N.Y.C. Then we saw her on Live With Kelly & Michael and the look was even more in-your-face. Or, rather, in her face.
She normally goes for one of two looks: A serious bombshell blowout (as seen above left) or a sleek and slicked ponytail (as seen here). So to comb forward, zhuzz up and tease out her bangs feels very deliberate — like, perhaps, she wantsus to have a discussion about them in the comments. So who are we to deny her?
JUSTIN BEIBER BIOGRAPHY
2006
Bieber Beginnings
At 12, Bieber – who teaches himself to play piano, trumpet and guitar in his native Stratford, Ontario – places second in a local talent competition. His single mom Patricia Mallette uploads the footage of his performance on YouTube for family and friends to watch, but the video attracts strangers as well.
2007
Ruling the 'Tube
Soon after, YouTubers request Bieber to sing songs, and his covers of Usher, Justin Timberlake and Chris Brown attract an online following. "People always say, 'Did you try to get famous off YouTube?' I'm like, 'Not at all,'" Bieber tells PEOPLE. "I was just doing it for fun." Meanwhile, Atlanta-based music exec Scooter Braun discovers Bieber's YouTube channel. "My gut was going crazy," Braun recalls. "So I tracked him down."
Ushered Through
Now Bieber's manager, Braun flies the young singer and his mom to Atlanta, where he records demos and more YouTube videos, grabbing the attention of both Usher and Timberlake who are interested in signing Bieber. Eventually, Usher prevails, signing Bieber to Island Def Jam records. "His voice was magical and his personality was so keen," says Usher, adding, "Sometimes he's like a little brother or a son to me."
2009
'Blast' Off
With "swagger coaching" by Usher and his online followers behind him, Bieber releases his first album,My World, which debuts at No. 6 on the Billboard charts on the strength of his single, "One Time." "What I have is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity," Bieber tells PEOPLE. "And I'm having a blast."
After opening for Taylor Swift, singing for the Obamas, and topping the albums charts with My World 2.0, Bieber makes his cover debut on PEOPLE. "I have so many things, but where'd this come from?" Bieber marvels of his stardom. "Out of nowhere. Someone, like, pinch me."
Bieber Fever!
Bieber amasses more than 5 million fans and counting on Facebook and Twitter, which is reminiscent of another fan-driven pop presence. "It's like Beatlemania," says Bieber's road manager and stylist Ryan Good. "Mass hysteria. Loud screaming, crying, passing out. It's amazing." The tween dream's fans are so fanatic that a Twitpic of Bieber with Kim Kardashian, garnered the reality star death threats. "Ladies calm down," he wrote. "No need 4 threats. Let's all be friends and hang out often."
2011
K-I-S-S-I-N-G
After playing coy about his romance with Selena Gomez, Bieber and the Disney star are caught kissingduring a Caribbean vacation in St. Lucia. "She's really cool. She's an amazing person," he told MTV News in December, adding, "I gotta keep some things to myself."
'Never Say Never'
Bieber makes his big screen debut (and takes himself 3D!) with his performance documentary, Never SayNever, which follows his Canadian beginnings to his sold-out concert at Madison Square Garden. "I wanted people to know that I'm not just some product, that I'm just a regular person, and I've been a musician my whole life," he tells The New York Times of his film, which takes in $30 million, just a million shy of topplingJennifer Aniston's No. 1 flick, Just Go With It.
2012
Boyfriend No More
After almost two years of dating, Bieber and Gomez part ways amid speculation about their rocky romance, which included cryptic Twitter posts, breakup rumorsand sightings of the Canadian pop star with other women in recent months. "I don't know really what's even going on in my life," he says as word of the split breaks. "To even assess that doesn't make sense."
2013
Second Try
Following months of on-again, off-again speculation, Bieber and Gomez reunite for the Billboard Music Awards, where they share a kiss and sit next to each other in the audience. But by fall, the reconciliation proves short-lived, and the couple parts ways again.
2014
January 23
Arrested Development
The latest in a series of troubling events for the singer, Bieber gets arrested for drag racing and DUI in Miami, with reports saying he was pulled over for speeding and failed a sobriety test. The incident comes shortly after his house is raided by the police in connection with an .
Justin Bieber Responds to Kate McKinnon's SNL Parody
Pop music's own King
Joffrey, Justin Bieber, has descended from his gilded sky-palace to proffer an opinion on the goings-on of the mortals beneath him.
Human comedy-treasure Kate McKinnon has been doing Bieber impressions on Saturday Night Live for a while, but she's never had a target as ripe for parody as Bieber's recent Calvin Klein ads.
So this past Saturday, she tried on Bieber's Calvins (and tattoos) for a clip that features everything from Razor scooters to basketball hoops. (Cecily Strongplays the underwhelmed female model.)
So this past Saturday, she tried on Bieber's Calvins (and tattoos) for a clip that features everything from Razor scooters to basketball hoops. (Cecily Strongplays the underwhelmed female model.)
25 about Aaliyah
Aaliyah is one of the most beloved artists of our time. A talented singer and dancer, she won our hearts when she arrived on the scene with her 1994 debut album, ‘Age Ain’t Nothing But a Number.’ With help from Missy Elliott and Timbaland, her sophomore LP, ‘One in a Million,’ ushered in a fresh, new sound for modern R&B. Girl-next-door sweetness, sensual dance moves and an undeniable cool made Aaliyah a veritable style icon and role model. Girls wanted to be just like her, while men swooned for her.
It was only a matter of time before Hollywood took notice. The multitalented singer starred in the action-romance film ‘Romeo Must Die’ in 2000. More roles followed, including playing a vampire in Anne Rice’s ‘Queen of the Damned.’
Just as the singer’s star was beginning to rise, tragedy struck. On Aug. 25, 2001, Aaliyah and eight others on her team were killed in a plane crash in the Bahamas following the filming of the music video for ‘Rock the Boat.’
Over a decade after her untimely death, the songstress continues to inspire artists in all genres. We remember and celebrate the woman known as “Baby Girl” with 25 Facts You Probably Didn’t Know About Aaliyah.
Aaliyah's name means "highest, most exalted one” in Arabic.
Talent runs in the family. The singer is the niece of veteran R&B chanteuse Gladys Knight. "She was a sweet, sweet girl. She would walk into a room, and you would feel her light. She'd hug everyone, and she meant it," Knight told Rosie magazine about her late relative.
The singer competed on 'Star Search' and sang 'My Funny Valentine' in 1989. The 11-year-old didn't end up winning and cried as a result.
She was rumored to have a fling with Jay Z. However, there's been no confirmation -- not even from Hov himself. During her rise to fame, she was photographed many times with the rapper's arms around her.
The pet lover grew up in a house with ducks, dogs and iguanas.
R. Kelly was her husband in August 1994. Vibe magazine would publicize the union by running a photo of their marriage certificate in its Dec/Jan '95 issue. The document incorrectly listed the singer's age as 18.
Famed songwriter Diane Warren wrote her hit song 'The One I Gave My Heart To,' which was one of the first commerically successful ballads of the singer's career. Warren said Aaliyah "rose to the occasion" considering she liked to challenge artists when she wrote songs for them.
At 11, she performed 'Home' with her aunt Gladys at Bally’s Las Vegas casino.
Aaliyah earned acceptance into the prestigious Detroit High School for the Fine and Performing Arts by singing 'Ave Maria' in Italian.
The video treatment for her song '4 Page Letter' was written by her brother Rashad. She was extremely close with him, even inviting him up onstage to accept the Best Female Video award for 'Try Again' at the 2000 MTV Video Music Awards.
She makes cameos in Notorious B.I.G.’s 'One More Chance' and Lil' Kim’s 'Crush On You' music videos.
The R&B darling was the youngest singer to perform at the Oscars with 1998’s 'Journey to the Past' from 'Anastasia.'
During her short career, she became the recipient of more than 30 awards, including Favorite Soul/R&B Female Artist at the 2002 American Music Awards, Best Actress for 'Queen of the Damned' at the 2002 BET Awards and Top Hip-Hop/R&B Artist of the Year (Female) at the 2000 Billboard Music Awards.
Although Aaliyah seemed like everyone's best friend, she was real-life BFFs with Quincy Jones’ daughter Kidada.
Always a style icon, the songstress posed for Tommy Hilfiger’s Tommy Jeans campaign in 1996. Her baggy but girlish look became immensely popular, setting trends amongst her female fans.
Aaliyah’s mother, Diana, inspired her trademark of covering one eye with some of her hair. Diana thought the look was mysterious, inspired after her favorite actress Veronica Lake.
Hollywood loved Aaliyah. She was considered for the role of “Alex” in 2000's 'Charlie’s Angels.' The role eventually went to Lucy Liu because the filmmakers thought the singer was too young.
Aaliyah was set to play the title character in 'Honey' but the role went to Jessica Alba after her passing.
Ever the studious one, she graduated with a perfect 4.0 GPA in high school.
One of the singer's career highlights was performing for President Bill Clinton at the White House for Christmas.
In her spare time, Aaliyah liked reading 'Harry Potter' books.
Another relationship that was headed towards marriage -- according to him -- was with rap mogul Damon Dash.
Her final interview was with BET's '106 & Park' on Aug. 21, 2001. She died tragically five days later.
Following Aaliyah's tragic death, the Central Park Conservancy and New York City dedicated a weeping willow tree in her honor in Central Park.
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