New England Sun-Times

Rapper Rick Ross is under fire over the lyrics in his latest single “U.N.E.N.O.” – which appears to glorify committing date rape. Outraged groups across the country are calling on apparel giant Reebok to dump him as a spokesperson, pronto. Radio stations are already refusing to play the song. “Put Molly all in her champagne, she ain’t even know it,” read the controversial lyrics. “I took her home and I enjoyed that. She ain’t even know it.” “Molly” is slang for the crystal form of MDMA, often considered a “date rape” drug as it distorts reality and reduces inhibitions. “It is totally appalling that Reebok would be featuring and paying a spokesman like Rick Ross who is proudly rapping about raping women,” Nita Chaudhary, co-founder of the anti-sexism and women’s rights website Ultraviolet, which has launched a petition demanding Reebok axe Ross. “Reebok devotes a lot of time, energy and money to marketing to women – and now they’re paying a man who is literally br...

By Jethro Mullen and Catherine E. Shoichet , CNN   (CNN) -- North Korea's leader approved a plan to prepare standby rockets to hit U.S. targets, state media said Friday, after American stealth bombers carried out a practice mission over South Korea. In a meeting with military leaders early Friday, Kim Jong Un "said he has judged the time has come to settle accounts with the U.S. imperialists in view of the prevailing situation," the state-run KCNA news agency reported. The rockets are aimed at U.S. targets, including military bases in the Pacific and in South Korea, it said. "If they make a reckless provocation with huge strategic forces, (we) should mercilessly strike the U.S. mainland, their stronghold, their military bases in the operational theaters in the Pacific, including Hawaii and Guam, and those in South Korea," KCNA reported. North Korean state media carried a photo of Kim meeting with military officials Friday. In t...

By Lorenzo Ferrigno, CNN   (CNN) -- The New Jersey man who won $338 million in the Powerball lottery last weekend is wanted on charges of unpaid child support, according to the Passaic County Sheriff's Office. An arrest warrant was issued for Pedro Quezada in 2009, the sheriff's office said. He has five children ages 5-23 and owes a total of $29,000 in back child support, spokesman William Maer said. It is not clear which children the payments are for. Quezada's son, Casiano, said his father has hired an attorney and is "working through it." A child support warrant usually results in payment, an installment plan or arrest, Maer said. He declined to comment on the Quezada case because the investigation is ongoing. Every person who wins more than $600 in the New Jersey Lottery is checked for outstanding taxes, liens, child support payments and the like, lottery spokeswoman Judith Drucker said. The funds owed are deducted from the...

A couple is facing aggravated child abuse charges after allegedly putting their five-year-old son in an oven to punish him. Police said the boy was regularly pushed into the oven as a punishment by known sex offender Lavelldo Washington and the boy’s mother Corneisha Wilkerson. The alleged abuse was discovered after the couple took their two-month-old baby to Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital for a broken leg last year. The parents told hospital staff the child woke up one morning screaming, and they said they thought she had been bitten by an insect, according to police. Bruises were also found on both the child’s legs, and police said the couple then refused further interviews with hospital staff. Authorities later discovered that Washington,34, would allegedly discipline the couple’s five-year-old son by placing the child in a non-activated oven at their home in Nashville, Tennessee. ‘Certainly, I’m not an expert on child discipline, but most of the time, appro...

Former South African President Nelson Mandela was admitted to the hospital just before midnight Wednesday because of his recurring lung infection, the South African president’s office said today. “Doctors are attending to him, ensuring that he has the best possible expert medical treatment and comfort,” the government’s statement said. Mandela, 94, spent 18 days in the hospital in December for a lung infection and gallstones.     “We appeal to the people of South Africa and the world to pray for our beloved Madiba and his family and to keep them in their thoughts,” South African President Jacob Zuma said in the statement. “We have full confidence in the medical team and know that they will do everything possible to ensure recovery.” The anti-apartheid activist was admitted to a Pretoria hospital March 10 for routine medical tests and to “manage existing conditions in line with his age,” a spokesman for the South African president’s office said. Despite ...

By Dana Ford , CNN   (CNN) -- Colorado shooting suspect James Holmes has offered to plead guilty and spend the rest of his life behind bars in exchange for avoiding the death penalty, according to court documents filed Wednesday. Prosecutors have not accepted the offer. Previously, they had said they would make a decision on whether to seek the death penalty against the 25-year-old Holmes at a hearing April 1. "Prior to arraignment, Mr. Holmes made an offer to the prosecution to resolve this case by pleading guilty and spending the rest of his life in prison, without any opportunity for parole," the documents read. "If the prosecution elects not to pursue the death penalty, then it is Mr. Holmes' position that this case could be resolved on April 1." This month, a judge entered a standard plea of not guilty for Holmes, who is accused of opening fire at a Colorado movie theater that left 12 people dead and 58 injured on July 2...

For many music fans Jodeci were the defining sound of 90s R&B, but the band’s recent ill fated reunion gig in London ended ugly. The group were booed off stage as they performed on Saturday night at Wembley Arena as part of a 1990s gig entitled The Show. Starring alongside fellow music heavyweights Blackstreet, Dru Hill, SWV, Damage and Changing Faces, the former hit makers sounded horrible. It didn’t take long for the London crowd to let the faded stars know what they thought of them as they booed loudly. Jodeci then embarrassingly begged the audience to let them sing for just ten more minutes. News of the excruciatingly bad performance spread quickly through Twitter as many disgruntled fans mentioned how dreadful it was. Former Sugababe Keisha Buchanan tweeted: ‘Jodeci!!!!! ….Start off with a member jumping off stage and not being able to get back up !!!! I don’t meant to crack up laughing but….’ She continued: ‘People are booing #Jodeci I feel so bad ser...

New York Giants defensive tackle Shaun Rogers is the victim of an apparent burglary while he was staying at the Fontainebleau in Miami Beach. Rogers, 34, told police he left his room around 1 a.m. with some friends and headed to Club Liv. While at the club, Rogers and his group allegedly met a woman (NOT seen above) who the group would bring back to Rogers’ room, according to Miami Beach Police. Rogers said he put his valuables in the room safe when he returned around 7 a.m. and the party continued until the nose tackle fell asleep. According to police, Rogers said at 12:30 p.m., he awoke and found the woman the group had met the night before was no longer there. Once he realized the woman wasn’t there, Rogers told police he tried unsuccessfully to get into the room’s safe. Hotel security then came to the room and was able to pry open the safe and found Rogers’ valuables were missing. Among the items Rogers said were stolen were: diamond earrings worth $100,00...

A Jacksonville researcher has developed a way of sewing up patients after hysterectomies that stands to reduce the risk of complications and simplify the tricky procedure for less-seasoned surgeons. 14-year-old Tony Hansberry II is a ninth-grader who, as it happens, will be presenting his findings before an auditorium filled with doctors just like any of his board-certified – and decades older – colleagues would. He says his remarkable accomplishments are merely steps toward his ultimate goal of becoming a University of Florida-trained neurosurgeon. “I just want to help people and be respected, knowing that I can save lives,” said Tony, the son of a registered nurse mom and an African Methodist Episcopal church pastor dad. To be sure, he had some help along the way, but, then again, most researchers do. The seeds of his project were planted last summer during his internship at th...

Lee County, Florida deputies arrested a man for punching his pregnant ex-girlfriend in the stomach after she refused to abort the baby. Deputies said Louis Vickers, 27, punched the 21-year-old mother of his unborn child three times in the stomach after she refused to get an abortion. The victim told deputies that the two argued at a local restaurant that they both worked. Vickers told the victim to abort the unborn child and when she refused, he punched her in the stomach, knocking the wind out of her. He then punched her two more times. After the third punch, the victim told deputies she walked to the back of the restaurant to get away from Vickers. According to the arrest report, it wasn’t until she went to the restroom that she noticed blood coming from her vagina. She was treated at Lehigh Regional Medical Center but Vickers was not arrested until days later. Thankfully the child didn’t suffer any trauma from the ...

Police in northern New Jersey found an starving 4-year-old boy in an apartment Tuesday morning with the body of his mother, who appeared to have been dead about five days. The boy told police he tried to get food from the refrigerator but couldn’t open the door, Union Police Director Daniel Zieser said. The boy also had rubbed lotion on his mother in an apparent attempt to help her, leaving behind his handprints, Zieser said. “He made a statement to the officer that ‘There’s plenty of food in the refrigerator, but I couldn’t open the door,’” Zieser told New York radio station WCBS. “So that’s kind of sad that nobody checked on him, no family members. It’s sad, very sad.” The discovery was made Tuesday after a maintenance worker reported a bad odor coming from the apartment. The door was ajar but locked with a chain. Once police forced their way in, they found the woman’s body in a bedroom. The county medical examiner was conducting an autopsy to determine the time...

G ospel star Fred Hammond’s ex-girlfriend Nikke Sanni is spilling the beans on what she says happened in a private meeting two years ago. Nikke claims former NFL star Deion Sanders hooked up with Bishop TD Jakes for a meeting at Hammond’s home. What was the topic of the meeting? Deion’s nasty divorce with ex-wife Pilar and how he could keep her from getting access to his money. The divorce had gotten nasty, with allegations of infidelity being tossed around, as well as domestic violence. The greatest tragedy in this circus of love were the kids, who had to watch all this go down on Twitter. Sanni, seen below with Fred, says that during the meeting, Bishop Jakes gave Sanders some detailed information on how he could hide his money from his soon-to-be ex-wife, to protect himself from serious financial liability during the divorce. This kind of activity isn’t unusual. According to the National Endowment for Financial Edu...

President Obama will appoint Julia Pierson, a veteran U.S. Secret Service agent and senior official, as the first female director of the agency, White House officials said Tuesday. Pierson, 53, began her career in the Secret Service as an agent in Miami three decades ago. She serves as the service’s chief of staff. She does not need Senate confirmation for the post. Obama’s selection of Pierson comes after an extraordinarily difficult year at the service, and amid calls that the next director make internal changes at the agency whose masculine culture was exposed during an overseas trip last year. In April, in preparing for Obama’s visit to Cartagena, Colombia, for a summit of the hemisphere’s leaders, several Secret Service agents brought prostitutes to their hotel rooms, where an argument ensued. In all, 13 agents and officers were involved in a scandal that shadowed the president’s summit and exposed a culture within the service of macho behavior while on ...

CBS’ long-running syndicated court show Judge Joe Brown will end its 15-year run at the end of this season. “Judge Joe Brown will not be returning for another season. We would like to thank Joe for 15 great years, as well as executive producer John Terenzio and the entire staff for all their hard work and dedication to the show,” a CBS spokesperson said. The decision comes following a recent contract renegotiation dispute between CBS and Judge Brown. The departure will free up a half-hour on the stations that carry the court show. Word is Real Housewives of Atlanta star Phaedra Parks is in talks to take over the show…

T-Mobile is ditching a once-inescapable part of wireless life: the contract. T-Mobile became the latest major U.S. carrier to support the iPhone today. It will begin selling the phone in stores on April 12. But T-Mobile’s pricing plans for the iPhone are a bit different from the other three carriers. Instead of paying a flat $200 for the iPhone along with a two-year service contract, T-Mobile will charge you $100 up front for the phone plus an additional $20 per month over 24 months. So is it worth it? If all you care about is saving money over your two years with the iPhone 5, then yes. (At least for individuals). You’ll save $580 over two years compared to similar plans on Verizon, Sprint, and AT&T. Let’s break it down.   Cost Assuming your credit is good (yes, there’s now a credit check involved if you want to buy a new phone or plan from the carrier), T-Mobile will ask you to pay $100 for the iPhone 5 up front. You’re then obligated to pay $20 p...

    Kordell Stewart -- the former Pittsburgh Steelers star -- has filed for divorce from his reality star wife Porsha Williams According to Fulton County Superior Court in Georgia, the 40-year-old NFL alum -- who went by the nickname "Slash" during his playing days -- filed for divorce on March 22. Stewart and Williams were married on May 21, 2011 -- they have no children together. Stewart has a son from a previous relationship. Williams currently stars on "Real Housewives of Atlanta." The issue of children came up often on the reality show -- Porsha wanted to have kids AND a career in charity work ... but Kordell told her she had to choose.   Porsha says she was blindsided by Kordell's divorce filing, claiming she learned about it from a website. According to the divorce docs, obtained by TMZ, Kordell says the marriage is "irretrievably broken" ... and claims the two are currently separated. It seems Kordell also believes he shouldn...

by Toni Stephens   (AllHipHop News) The name of rapper Billboard Biggs’ label should have been a clue — CrimeScene Entertainment. Biggs and two other men are featured in a music video for “The Joy”. The clip features all of the trappings of most rap videos — a big body Mercedes, wads of cash, a robbery. Now, the NYPD says that the crimes depicted in the slick music video happened in real life. The actual crimes, prosecutors say, included a string of armed robberies in the Bronx and Westchester County, in which a group of men brandished guns and knives and stole thousands of dollars from bodega owners and deliverymen. In one 2011 robbery in Mount Vernon, N.Y., a man was shot and killed. Source: New York Times In total, five members of CrimeScene Entertainment have been found guilty. One of the men, Dwayne Barrett, 35, seen driving the car in the music video is suspected of driving the same car during the groups many robberies. ...