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ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistan’s Supreme Court ordered the release Thursday of a Pakistani-British man convicted & later acquitted in the beheading of American journalist Daniel Pearl in 2002.

The court also dismissed an appeal of Ahmad Saeed Omar Sheikh’s acquittal filed by Pearl’s family & the Pakistani government.

A minister in the Sindh province where Sheikh is being held said the government had exhausted all options to keep him locked up. The “Supreme Court is the court of last resort,” said Murtaza Wahab, Sindh’s law minister.

“The Pearl family is in complete shock by the majority decision of the Supreme Court of Pakistan to acquit & release Ahmed Omer Sheikh and the other accused persons who kidnapped & killed Daniel Pearl,” the Pearl family said in a statement.

The brutality of Wall Street Journal reporter's killing shocked many in 2002, years before the Islamic State group began releasing videos of their beheadings of journalists.

Sheikh was convicted of helping lure Pearl to a meeting in the southern Pakistani port city of Karachi, during which he was kidnapped. Pearl had been investigating the link between Pakistani militants & Richard C. Reid, dubbed the “shoe bomber” after his attempt to blow up a flight from Paris to Miami with explosives hidden in his shoes.

Sheikh long denied any involvement in Pearl’s death, but the Supreme Court on Wednesday heard that he acknowledged writing a letter in 2019 admitting a minor role — raising hopes for some that he might remain behind bars.

Sheikh has been on death row since his conviction — even after his subsequent acquittal & is currently being held in a Karachi jail. A 3-judge Supreme Court ruled 2 to 1 to uphold Sheikh’s acquittal & ordered him released. 

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The murder of Run-DMC DJ Jam Master Jay has remained a mystery for almost 18 years, with few witnesses and no motive to explain the shooting death of the acclaimed musician inside a Queens studio in 2002.

On Monday, federal officials and members of the New York City Police Department will announce charges for two suspects connected to the unsolved murder, NBC New York has learned. Law enforcement sources identified the alleged suspects as Ronald Washington and Karl Jordan; the former already in prison and latter arrested by ATF and the NYPD Sunday.

A 2:30 p.m. ET press conference has been scheduled between Chief Rodney Harrison and the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York.

Jam Master Jay was the one-man band for Run-DMC -- a DJ with scratches and beats that kept the party going while the Rev. Run and DMC unloaded rhymes. Yet the pioneering rapper encountered the same fate as the greats after him like Tupac Shakur and the Notorious B.I.G.

Jay's studio has been converted into the Hall of Fame studio owned by a new company that has kept Jay's legacy alive with painted murals and several RUN DMC memorabilia that decorate the walls.

Source: NBC New York

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Tim Westwood has a vault full of classic freestyles that have never been released. Today, he drops one from 2002 with Brooklyn, New York rapper Talib Kweli in the booth.

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Video After The Jump

The Jay-Z and Nas beef has long been put to rest, but in the summer of 2002 it was in full swing. Nas planned to lynch Hov on the Summer Jam stage that year. Hot 97 wouldn't approve the act and ultimately Nas refused to perform.

MONTREALITY got their hands on some footage of what we would have seen. Was Nas taking the beef way too far?

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Video After The Jump

Maybe I've been under a rock or something, but I'd never seen this footage.

Lil Wayne and his "daddy" Birdman expressing their love in only a way they understand

It's just a thowback so take it for what is. I am surprised more rappers didn't take shots at them.

Video After The Jump

Beanie Sigel never ran, never will.

Flashback to 2001, Brooklyn's Jay-Z and Queen's Nas are embroiled in a legendary rap beef. Nas let off the shot heard round the world with "Ether", but the battle between Hov and Nas was far from over.  It got even more personal as Jigga would claim that he had slept with Nas' baby's mom.

They continued to beef well into 2002. By that time the boroughs had chosen sides, QB was firmly behind Nas just as BK was for Jigga.

Either assuming he would be ok in Queens, or just not giving a f*ck, Beanie Sigel and Young Chris of the Young Gunz decided to perform at a club in Queens.

In the eyes of some in the Queens crowd though, being that Beans and Chris were signed to Roc-A-Fella Records at the time, they were seen as the enemy.

As Beanie & Chris perform someone throws something at them, prompting Beanie to throw his mic into the crowd.

While not everything was caught on tape. There's enough footage to show that both Beanie and Chris were lucky to get out of there alive that night.

Reportedly someone was shout outside of the venue and later died.

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