Daily Mail Reports
Seemingly on a mission to upstage her rapper boyfriend Kanye West, Amber Rose made sure it was all eyes on her by wearing freakish-looking blue contact lenses to a Las Vegas beach club.
The former stripper, who was recently pictured frolicking with Kanye in an iridescent orange thong bikini on a Barcelona beach, was hosting an event at popular Vegas club Tao Beach when she stunned everyone with her new look.
Bisexual Amber turned up wearing a rather demure black knee length skirt and white tank top. But in typical style, the 26-year-old eventually stripped down to a skimpy bikini to show off her now famous curves
In her skimpy bikini she showed off her various tattoos, including a garland of roses on her right arm and a fairy on her ankle.
Amber seems intent on carving out a career and becoming a star independent of her famous boyfriend.
A few months ago she was signed by top model agency Ford Models and has started hosting events on her own.
She and Kanye started dating in February after originally meeting last year when he was engaged to designer Alexis Phifer.
The 32-year-old wanted Amber to star in his Robocop video, but the couple insisted their relationship was purely professional at this stage.
'Well, my intentions when I met Kanye were to keep it very professional and we really started to like each other,' Amber recently revealed.
'He wanted me for his Robocop video and he had the utmost respect for me.
'I was always a huge fan of his but he had a fiancee, it wasn't like, 'Ah, I'm gonna get with Kanye.
'Kanye knew my life, so when it was, 'Oh, Kanye do you know she was a stripper, and that she used to date girls?' he was like, 'Tell me something I don't know.'
HipHopWired Reports
West coast rap icon, Dr. Dre and the head of the record label that signed him, Interscope's Jimmy Iovine are collaborating with Hewlett Packard to save digital music. The two music moguls are working with the computer giant to improve digital music's sound quality. Hewlett Packard will release laptops, high-end headsets and software under a special edition “Beats By Dre" brand. “Beats By Dre” products will all feature improved sound quality technology. Iovine confirmed to CNET News that they were working to improve the “digital music ecosystem” from the sound file to the computer to the headphones.
While Dre preps for his collaboration with HP and Iovine, his fans are still prepping for his Detox album. Detox has been pushed back for years. Originally set to drop in the early 2000s, the album has a tentative release date for the end of this year. The icon's highly-anticipated album is said to be complete with 18 songs completed and ghost writing from none other than DTP front-man, Ludacris. Ludacris made headlines last month confirming to fans via Twitter that he was a ghost-writer for a song on the album titled, “O.G.'s Theme”.
In the meantime his fans will be pleased to know that a newly revised version of his classic album, The Chronic entitled The Chronic Re-Lit will hit stores September 1st. The Chronic Re-Lit features the sixteen original tracks from the album digitally re-mastered and also includes a DVD collection entitled The Vault.
Read more…
ESPN Reports
Brett Favre, who three weeks ago had told coach Brad Childress that he would remain retired, signed a deal Tuesday with the Minnesota Vikings.
The deal is worth between $10 million to $12 million, according to ESPN senior NFL analyst Chris Mortensen.
The Vikings made it official with a news release early Tuesday afternoon. A news conference to introduce Favre is scheduled for 6 p.m. ET.
The first inkling that something was afoot came early Tuesday, when two television stations in Hattiesburg, Miss., and Minneapolis reported that the Vikings had sent a private plane to Hattiesburg to pick up Favre.
Coach Brad Childress, who greeted the Favres at the airport, had confirmed the planned meeting in an e-mail to The Associated Press. Asked if the plan was to sign Favre, Childress replied: "In a perfect world."
Favre, 39, and his wife, Deanna, arrived in Minnesota in the early afternoon, getting off a team plane at a small St. Paul airport and getting into an SUV after shaking hands with the ground crew.
Childress' wish for a perfect world came true shortly afterward, when the Vikings announced the signing. The deal had been pending a physical. By 2 p.m. ET, he was observed at Vikings practice in Eden Prairie, Minn., wearing a No. 4 jersey and a helmet, while stretching and warming up.
A throng of fans who somehow already had learned of Favre's arrival ran alongside the SUV as it arrived at the Vikings' practice site from the airport, according to the Minneapolis Star Tribune, with a lone police officer trying to herd them.
Favre's mother, Bonita, told the Biloxi Sun Herald that her son would be working out with the Vikings on Wednesday. ESPN analyst Cris Carter reported Tuesday that Childress already has told the Vikings that Favre will be starting in Friday night's preseason game against the Kansas City Chiefs.
"I have mixed emotions, but I have always loved to watch him play," she told the Sun Herald. "This time, however, I thought he would stay retired and stay home. I guess he could not do it.
"They [Minnesota] seem to have a good team in place, and he liked that. I guess I need to get a Vikings jersey now."
John David Booty, who had been wearing No. 4, was assigned No. 9.
Favre, a longtime star in Green Bay, came out of retirement last season to play for the New York Jets. He retired again, only to then entertain the idea of joining the Vikings. Three weeks ago, Childress said the quarterback would stay retired.
The pronouncement now appears to be premature.
Two television stations first reported that Favre was seen boarding a plane Tuesday morning that was headed to Minneapolis.
Sources told Hattiesburg television station WDAM, which initially broke the story, that Favre had said: "We may know something by dinner."
A high-level source first told Minneapolis TV station WCCO that Favre was expected to sign a deal with the Vikings on Tuesday.
ESPN's Ed Werder reported that according to a source, Favre told close friends and family members before boarding the plane Tuesday: "I'm going to play football.''
The decision to do so comes even though Favre has informed the team that Dr. James Andrews detected a slight tear in his right rotator cuff in May while performing arthroscopic surgery on the quarterback's passing shoulder in May, according to a source.
It was concern about that injury, and the pain in both of his ankles and left knee, that discouraged Favre from signing with the Vikings before training camp.
Favre, who holds almost all of the NFL's career passing records, has never been much of a fan of offseason practices, though. Last summer, he ended his retirement with the Packers and forced a trade to the Jets, where he faded down the stretch amid problems with his throwing arm.
But Favre remained in regular communication with the Vikings' coaching staff the past three weeks, and a source said that owner Zygi Wilf had to do very little convincing when the two met this week near Favre's home in Hattiesburg.
"He had a lot of aches and pains and they basically needed a commitment from him before he felt he was ready to play,'' a source told Werder. "He wants to be able to do the best he can do and doesn't want to disappoint them.''
The Vikings are aware of the small tear in Favre's rotator cuff.
"The tear is still there and there's always a possibility something could happen with it later on,'' a source told Werder. "He wanted to give it the best chance he could before he made a commitment. But the last three weeks, it hasn't gotten any worse and he's been working hard. Hell, who knows? It could flare up again if they make him throw 50 or 60 balls a day.
"Three weeks ago, he wasn't ready to go play and didn't feel physically he could do what they needed him to do. But three more weeks of working out and now he's feeling that he's able to throw the football and he's going to give it a try.''
Favre has been working out regularly with Oak Grove High school players in Hattiesburg, according to WDAM-TV, and has not missed a practice even after telling the Vikings he would remain retired.
The Vikings finished training camp last week and beat Indianapolis 13-3 in their preseason opener Friday. They got a strong performance from quarterback Sage Rosenfels, who has been competing with Tarvaris Jackson for the starting job since Favre jilted the team July 28.
The Vikings are expected to challenge for the NFC North title this season, with whomever is behind center.
Rosenfels and Jackson have had some rough moments during practice. Jackson hurt his knee, missed a few workouts and then returned, but he was out of sync last week against the Colts.
Rosenfels did well, but preseason games are tough to evaluate and Indianapolis held out all four starting defensive backs.
On Monday, Jackson, responding to the day's scuttlebutt that Favre was predicted to play in Minnesota this season, said he was not paying attention to any of the talk.
"I pretty much have said [Favre] probably will follow me even when I retire. I'll probably have to hear about it. I'm just trying to take care of my business, and I can't worry about that stuff," Jackson said, according to the Minneapolis Star Tribune. "If I let that stuff get to me, ain't no telling where I'd be right now. I just let it roll off my shoulder and just keep going. Just keep trying to get better."
Packers coach Mike McCarthy said after practice Tuesday he was not surprised by Favre's return.
"I don't think anybody should be surprised by it," McCarthy told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Aaron Rodgers, who inherited the starting quarterback position after Favre retired -- then unretired -- said, "I don't have a reaction," the Journal Sentinel reported. "It doesn't pertain to me. It has absolutely nothing to do with me. It doesn't change anything. It has nothing to do with the Green Bay Packers."
Packers linebacker Nick Barnett told the newspaper: "Ater all those years of not being able to hit him, do I want to hit him? Of course I want to hit him. He's an awesome guy. I wish him the best."
Read more…
Times Online Reports
An armed gang who took a woman hostage as they stole £40 million worth of rings, necklaces and bracelets from an exclusive store are thought to have escaped with Britain’s biggest ever haul of jewellery.
Two smartly dressed men arrived by black taxi at Graff's jewellers in Bond Street, Central London last week and were buzzed through the airlock into the store, which caters for stars including Mike Tyson, the Beckhams and Naomi Campbell.
Once inside they both produced handguns and forced the staff onto the floor, apart from one woman who was told to open a display cabinet.
Within a matter of minutes they had grabbed 43 items and thrown them into a holdall before briefly taking the female worker hostage as they left the building.
Police believe this was to make sure they were not locked between the two security doors.
As they left they fired a warning shot into the ground before escaping in a blue BMW which was later abandoned nearby after crashing into a taxi.
A second shot was then fired into the ground as members of the public began to give chase to the gang who clambered into a silver Mercedes.
The men then got into a black car, described as a Ford Galaxy or VW Sharan.
The same store lost jewellery worth £23 million in a robbery in 2003 when two Serbians armed with a wig, a revolver and a scooter held up staff.
In 2007, jewellery worth several million pounds was stolen from a branch of Graff's Diamonds in London’s Sloane Street by two men posing as customers.
Detectives from the Flying Squad believe they are looking for at least five men, including a motorbike rider who was given a package by the two men when they were in the BMW.
Detective Chief Inspector Pam Mace from the Flying Squad said: "This was a well planned robbery with a number of vehicles used to help the robbers escape. These men are extremely dangerous and fired at least two shots in busy London streets as they made their getaway.
"As far as the UK is concerned we do not know of a bigger raid.
“Someone knows who these men are, they would undoubtedly have spoken about it beforehand or boasted about it afterwards. I would urge anyone who recognises them, knows the whereabouts of the jewellery or has any other information to contact us."
The first suspect is described as white, approximately 30 years old, with a slim build, dark hair with a well-combed side parting, light stubble on his face and is 5 ft 10 - 6 ft tall. He was wearing a grey suit, white shirt and tie.
His accomplice is black, described as being in his 30s, 6 ft tall, more well built than the first suspect, with very short Afro hair. He was also wearing a grey suit, white shirt and tie.
It is believed both men spoke with London accents
Read more…
Prostitution ring suspect Antonio Rivera was in police custody Monday
NYDailyNews Reports
Three Long Island bar bosses were charged Monday with forcing dozens of illegal aliens as young as 17 into prostitution at seedy taverns.
A brother-and-sister team and a manager are accused of luring the women, most of whom are Central American, to work in their bars, then ordering them to perform sex acts on customers.
"They lured innocent young women with promises of legitimate jobs and the American Dream," said John Morton, an Immigration and Customs Enforcement official. "Once the victims arrived, their dreams turned to nightmares."
Antonio Rivera, 34, of Patchogue, and his sister Jasmin Rivera, 31, of Medford, were arrested along with bar manager John Whaley, 29, of Bellport.
They were charged in federal court with sex trafficking and forced labor and could face life in prison. The three were held without bail.
The three bar bosses run La Hija Del Mariachi in Farmingville and Sonidos de la Frontera in Ronkonkoma. Both cater to Mexican and Central American workers.
Rivera, his sister Jasmin, and John Whaley were arrested and charged in federal court with sex trafficking and forced labor.
The women were recruited in their home countries and told they would be working as waitresses or "cantina girls."
Once they got to Long Island and started work, they were told to perform stripteases and lap dances for clients. They also allegedly had to turn tricks - and hand over half the profits to the bar owners.
Women who objected were beaten or raped, the complaint said, and were also threatened with deportation.
Miriam Velazquez, who emigrated from El Salvador many years ago and now owns Velazquez Deli in the same shopping center as La Hija Del Mariachi, said she felt bad for the women.
"They work and live in fear and they have no one to help them," said Velazquez, 40.
Kathy Perrino, 55, who works at the neighboring Family Dollar, said the nearby businesses are happy to see the bars closed.
"I hope they are gone for good," she said. "There were bottles everywhere and drunk men lingering every morning."
Sonidos de la Frontera raised suspicions with drawings of two sexy women emblazoned on the entrance.
"They were up to no good," said Ann Nguy, 37, who works at a nail salon next door.
Read more…
Action figure-turned-movie star G.I. Joe stormed his way to the top of the box office this week, crushing rivals on the first weekend in his big screen debut.
"G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra" raked in $56.2 million in North America and $100.3 million worldwide.
The globetrotting adventure starring Dennis Quaid, Channing Tatum, Sienna Miller and Marlon Wayans enjoyed wide appeal in surprising places.
"One of the best markets on the movie was Russia," said Rob Moore of Paramount Pictures. "How far G.I. Joe has come. He was incredibly popular in Russia."
"Julie & Julia," featuring Meryl Streep as iconic female chef Julia Child, opened a solid No. 2 as an alternative for adult crowds with $20.1 million.
"G-Force," the guinea pig animated action movie and former box-office winner, earned $9.8 million and third place at the box office, and "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" dropped to No. 4 with $8.9 million.
Last week's top movie, Adam Sandler and Seth Rogen's "Funny People," tumbled to No. 5 with $7.9 million, while the newest slasher thriller, "A Perfect Getaway," opened at No. 7 with $5.8 million.
"G.I. Joe" pulled Hollywood out of a month-long box-office swoon.
The downturn was particularly noticeable compared with last summer, when Batman blockbuster "The Dark Knight" remained No. 1 for four weeks and sent ticket sales soaring, box-office watchers said.
"'Joe' kind of saved the day," said Paul Dergarabedian, box-office analyst for Hollywood.com. "We needed a box-office hero to turn things around, and we certainly got it."
Source : NY Daily NewsRead more…
Scholar Henry Louis Gates Jr. (left), and Police Sgt. James Crowley talk race at the White House.
Atlanta Journal Constitution Reports
With mugs of beer and a calm conversation, President Barack Obama tried to push himself and the nation beyond a political uproar Thursday, hailing a "friendly, thoughtful" conversation with the black professor and white policeman whose dispute had ignited a fierce debate over race in America.
"I have always believed that what brings us together is stronger than what pulls us apart," the nation's first black president said after the highly anticipated meeting ended. "I am confident that has happened here tonight, and I am hopeful that all of us are able to draw this positive lesson from this episode."
Under the canopy of a magnolia tree in the early evening, Obama joined the other players in a story that had knocked the White House off stride: Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. and Cambridge, Mass., police Sgt. James Crowley. Vice President Joe Biden was with them on a Rose Garden patio.
"We agreed to move forward," Crowley said later when asked if anything was solved. "I think what you had today was two gentlemen agreeing to disagree on a particular issue. I don't think that we spent too much time dwelling on the past. We spent a lot of time discussing the future."
President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden have a beer with Harvard scholar Henry Louis Gates Jr., left, and Cambridge, Mass., police Sgt. James Crowley, right, in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington, Thursday, July 30, 2009. (AP Photo/Ron Edmonds)
The issue in question began when Crowley investigated a potential burglary at Gates' house and ended up arresting the protesting professor for disorderly conduct. The matter mushroomed into a debate on racial profiling, fueled when Obama said in a prime-time news conference that the police "acted stupidly." He later expressed regret.
Gates said after Thursday's White House gathering that he hoped the entire experience would prove to be an "occasion for education, not recrimination." He said the burden now rests with him and Crowley to use the opportunity to foster wider awareness of the dangers facing police officers and the fears that some blacks have about racial profiling.
Read more…
Singer Chris Brown may have scared off some women by beating up his ex, Rihanna, but Kanye West's on-and-off girlfriend, Amber Rose, apparently isn't one of them.
Brown and Rose locked lips at the July 4 White Party thrown by Sean (Diddy) Combs and Ashton Kutcher in Beverly Hills, spies tell the Daily News.
Brown, 20, arrived at the party with singer Teyana Taylor, an 18-year-old Rihanna look-alike, but is said to have hooked up quickly with Rose.
"Diddy announced the deejay would do a tribute to Michael Jackson," said a guest. "Chris did an amazing impression of Michael's moonwalk. It wasn't long before he was dancing with Amber."
Later, as the party wound down, the pair nestled on a couch in the backyard of the Beverly Hills mansion.
"They were holding hands and making out in the shadows," said a witness. "She had her hand on his leg."
Taylor is said to have been irked by the amount of time Brown spent with Rose, but still accompanied him to an after-party at the club Guys.
There, Brown again got upclose and personal with Rose, who is 26.
"They were kissing on the dance floor in front of Teyana," said a witness. "But he and Amber left separately."
Some wondered whether the flagrant display was a defiant message both to Rihanna and West. Rihanna dumped Brown, who last month pleaded guilty to assaulting the Grammy winner.
West, who has said he was "devastated" by Brown's attack on a woman who was like "my little sister," has run hot and cold on Rose lately. Although he reportedly broke up with her last month, they came together at last week's BET Awards show.
A rep for Brown had no comment. Reps for Rose and West couldn't be reached.
Source: NewYorkDailyNewsRead more…
The wife of slain quarterback Steve McNair may have only learned about the gridiron star's affair with a gorgeous young woman after the clandestine couple's grisly deaths, sources close to the football player said Sunday.
"She's blindsided by this," one source said of Mechelle McNair, who was holed up in her family's home just 6 miles from the condo her husband used to bed his mistress. "She's crushed. Her whole world is shattered."
Nashville cops confirmed that Steve McNair, 36, was killed by four bullets fired at close range, two of which hit him in the head, and ruled his death a homicide.
His lover, Sahel Kazemi, 20, died of a single gunshot from the same semiautomatic found on the floor under her body, police also said.
They stopped short of calling the slayings a murder-suicide carried out by Kazemi, but said they are not looking for any suspects.
Cops ruled McNair's death a homicide and have not ruled on Kazemi's death, citing the need for more tests.
Kazemi and McNair, a dad of four boys, were dating for several months, friends told cops; McNair apparently kept the affair a secret from his wife.
Photos obtained by TMZ.com show a smiling McNair parasailing on a recent tropical vacation with the curvy Kazemi, whom he met as she waitressed at a Dave & Buster's sports bar.
"He started to talk to her a little," Kazemi's aunt Sepideh Salmani told The Tennessean newspaper. "They exchanged phone numbers, and started dating from there."
Salmani said her beautiful, raven-haired niece believed that McNair was in the process of getting a divorce.
Kazemi's sister told The Florida Times-Union of Jacksonville that Kazemi had expected to wed McNair.
"She said they were planning to get married," Soheyla Kazemi told the paper."
County records do not indicate that a divorce is pending, but the McNair family home is up for sale for $3 million.
Investigators said McNair had been drinking at a pair of Nashville bars - Blue Moon Lagoon Bar and Loser's Bar - into the early-morning hours of Saturday and then returned to the downtown condo he shared with a pal.
Although neighbors have not reported hearing gunshots, cops believe McNair and Kazemi died about 2 a.m., nearly 12 hours before their bodies were found.
There was no sign of forced entry at the condo, and investigators are checking whether the couple had been having a "lovers' quarrel," cops said.
It was not immediately known whom the pistol belonged to, although McNair did have a permit to carry a gun, police said.
Kazemi, who was raised by an aunt in Florida after her parents were killed in Iran, moved to Nashville with her ex-boyfriend, Keith Norfleet.
Norfleet, whom investigators want to interview, had a "volatile" relationship with Kazemi but was trying to win her back from McNair, Norfleet's stepmother said.
"They had a lot of jealousy in their relationship and they'd fight and break up a lot," said Trudie Norfleet. "He loved her. ... He's awful torn up about it."
The quarterback, renowned in Nashville for his extensive work in the community, rented the condo overlooking the Titans stadium with sporting goods dealer Wayne Neeley, who called McNair's best friend after seeing the bodies sprawled on a couch.
"It's a picture I'll never get out of my head," a weeping Robert Gaddy told the Daily News. "It's the most terrible sight I've ever seen."
"This was a great man, a man who'd do anything for you," said Gaddy, who had been friends with the Heisman finalist since meeting him at Alcorn State University.
Source :NEWYORKDAILYNEWSRead more…
}