Sister Sledge star Joni Sledge dies aged 60

JONI SLEDGE (of Sister Sledge) 2009 solo album "Tru"

Joni Sledge, who recorded the dance anthem We Are Family with her three sisters, has died aged 60.

Sledge was discovered dead at her home in Phoenix, Arizona, by a friend on Friday.

The band"s publicist, Biff Warren, said a cause of death has not been established and that Sledge had not been ill.

The family said in a statement: "On yesterday, numbness fell upon our family. We welcome your prayers as we weep the loss of our sister, mother, aunt, niece and cousin."

Sledge and her sisters Debbie, Kim and Kathy formed Sister Sledge in 1971, and had their breakout success with the album We Are Family in 1979.

The title track was an infectious song that celebrated their familial connection with the refrain: "We are family, I got all my sisters with me."

The song, which sold more than a million copies, was nominated for a Grammy and became an anthem of unity and women"s empowerment.

Other hits on the album included Lost In Music, Thinking Of You and He"s The Greatest Dancer.

The songs were co-written and produced by Chic star Nile Rodgers, who paid tribute to Joni.

He tweeted his condolences to the family and added: "We did something pretty amazing together."

La Toya Jackson also paid tribute on Twitter while TV Star Ru Paul tweeted "Sister Sledge Forever".

Although Sister Sledge reached their peak in the US in the late 1970s their biggest UK hit came in 1985.

Frankie stayed at number one for four weeks and was one of the biggest selling songs of the year.

When sister Kathy left for a solo career in 1989, the remaining members continued to perform and record.

Several of their songs were re-released in the UK in the early 1990s and became hits all over again and, in 2015, they performed for Pope Francis.

They last performed together in concert in october.

joni Sledge is survived by a son.

Source: http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&fd=R&ct2=us&usg=AFQjCNE8U1GxI90PDh28qp0relWzJgEgeg&clid=c3a7d30bb8a4878e06b80cf16b898331&ei=uzbFWMCmCJXRpweV1p64AQ&url=https://www.964eagle.co.uk/news/showbiz/2244136/sister-sledge-star-joni-sledge-dies-aged-60/

Continue Reading ..

What"s Next For South Korea After Ousting Its President

South Korea police clash with protesters - BBC News

South Korean demonstrators shoot off firecrackers in Seoul on March 11, 2017 to celebrate the impeachment of Park Geun-Hye during a candlelit rally demanding the arrest of the ousted president. Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Images

South Korean demonstrators shoot off firecrackers in Seoul on March 11, 2017 to celebrate the impeachment of Park Geun-Hye during a candlelit rally demanding the arrest of the ousted president.

Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Images

For so many Saturdays, throngs of South Koreans showed up on the streets of central Seoul to rally for the removal of their president, Park Geun-hye. This Saturday evening, they showed up to celebrate: the nation"s highest court upheld the National Assembly"s impeachment of the president, removing her from office and immediately stripping her of power.

Jubilant Koreans sang patriotic songs and fireworks went off in the skies. The nation"s placeholder government leaders are calling for calm, unity and a smooth transition.

"The Korean Government has been carrying out state affairs stably, with all ministries and agencies functioning as usual under the leadership of the acting president," said government spokesman Song Sookeun, in a statement.

But not everyone in South Korea is pleased. While public opinion polls showed three out of four South Koreans supported the president"s ouster over her alleged involvement in the nation"s largest-ever political corruption scandal, there remains a vocal minority of Park"s supporters who want to "impeach the impeachment" and reacted violently to the court"s decision. Three senior citizens have died in post-impeachment demonstrations this weekend, one of them after a speaker fell off the top of a bus and onto his head.

Park remains in the presidential Blue House, and has yet to make a statement about her removal. Her critics worry her silence so far is emboldening supporters who are refusing to accept the impeachment decision by the court. A spokesman for Park says part of the reason she hasn"t moved out is because her private residence "is currently under construction for security and other matters."

But the next steps for South Korea are clear. The country will hold a snap election in two months, as mandated by law, and a compressed contest for leadership will soon get under way. After nearly a decade of conservatives in charge here, "It"s really the liberals race to lose," says John Delury, an international relations professor at Seoul"s Yonsei University.

One of the biggest differences between conservatives and liberals in South Korea is how they approach North Korea, a particularly big question of late following the assassination by nerve gas of regime family member Kim Jong Nam, and the test-firing of four missiles toward Japan, on Monday.

Traditionally, South Korea"s liberals are more interested in engagement with the North and drawing them out, a fundamentally different approach than what the conservatives have been doing, which has increasingly frozen out Pyongyang.

But North Korea isn"t the only challenge ahead. There"s uncertainty in the overall region, as relations with Japan aren"t great over history and territorial issues, relations with China are tense because Korea is installing a controversial U.S. missile defense system. And there"s unease about where Northeast Asia stands with Washington. Despite all the questions, Delury argues the real turmoil was avoided: Things would have been far more unstable had Park gotten re-instated by the court.

"People were truly concerned about chaos, martial law, these kinds of scenarios given that an overwhelming majority of south koreans wanted this president to go and the Assembly had decided she should go," Delury says.

Park will go. But so far, she has yet to leave the building.

Jihye Lee contributed to this story.

Source: http://www.npr.org/2017/03/11/519807707/what-s-next-for-south-korea-after-it-ousted-its-president

Continue Reading ..

Amal Clooney"s Baby Bump Isn"t Really as Exciting as Her Badass Job

Amal Clooney Urges The U.N. To Investigate ISIS | TIME

Ron Asadorian/Splash NewsIn today"s installment of "Stars: They"re just like us!" Even celebrities have a hard time being taken seriously at work when they"re pregnant, as Amal Clooney recently discovered. The extremely successful and accomplished human rights lawyer gave a stirring and importantspeech at the UN about ISIS, and all anybody seemed to care about was her baby bump. Sigh.

Joined by her client,ISIS survivor and Nobel Peace Prize nominee Nadia Murad,Clooney delivered an impassioned plea to the UN to investigate the horrifying crimes committed by ISIS, including rape, murder and forced conversions.

"Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen: what is shocking here is not just the brutality of ISIS but how long those who know about it can remain passive," she said. "If we do not change course, history will judge us, and there will be no excuse for our failure to act. We cannot say that ISIS crimes were not serious enough; we cannot say that the interests of powerful states stood in the way; or that these crimes are too hard to prove. Thats why I am asking you today: to stand up for justice."

More from CafeMom: Amal Clooney Is Taking ISIS to Court for Genocide & She Needs You to Pay Attention

Powerful words. (The full transcript of her speech can be read here.)

Unfortunately, her message was overshadowed by the fact that she happens to be carrying her husband George Clooney"s twins, and that she"s beginning to physically display that fact. Just check out this tweet from Time:

Twitter/TIME

Ouch, seriously?! Talk about missing the point. This ridiculously reductive treatment of life-or-death issues would be laughable if it wasn"t actually sad. I can only imagine the epic face palm Amal Clooney did when she saw this headline. And it"s especially insulting that they used the term "show off" -- as if this very significant professional moment was somehow nothing more than a display of expecting exhibitionism. Not that she merely showed her bump off, of course -- according to the headline of the Motto article Time linked to in its tweet, she also "rocked" it: "amal clooney rocks the Baby Bump Ahead of U.N. Speech."

Ron Asadorian/Splash News

It should be noted here that Time did update its headline to Amal Clooney Addresses United Nations on ISIS, but not before a whole lot of people saw the original and got understandably extremely irritated. Aren"t we past this kind of thing yet? Will we ever be?!

More from CafeMom: Amal & George Clooney Are Expecting Twins This Summer

The fact that this is the reaction Clooney got to one of her first public appearances since announcing her pregnancy isn"t surprising, but ... come on. Yes, Clooney is a celebrity, but not for the reasons most celebrities are. She"s not a performer; she"s married to one. Her fame, before her famous marriage, was because of her humanitarian work, not her red carpet savvy or love life. Is it really fair to give this woman and soon-to-be-mother the tabloid treatment just because she married into the Hollywood scene?

It would have been one thing if Clooney had been out shopping for baby clothes or having lunch with a friend or taking a yoga class. Then, sure, talk about how much her baby bump rocks all you want. I"m sure that"s the kind of thing you brace yourself for when you marry a huge star. But the woman was talking to the U.N. about ISIS and genocide.

At the very least, people are now paying attention to the fact that the speech happened at all. But let"s hope the next time Amal Clooney speaks, there"s a lot more listening ... and a lot less bump-watching.

Source: http://thestir.cafemom.com/celebrity_moms/203541/Amal_Clooney_baby_bump_UN?ct%3Dpiping_hot_7

Continue Reading ..

Patriots lose cornerback Logan Ryan to Titans

Logan Ryan Reportedly Agrees To Sign With Titans

The New England Patriots continued to remake their roster Friday, acquiring wide receiver Brandin Cooks and defensive end Kony Ealy in a pair of trades while losing four players to free agency.

The Patriots gave up their first- and third-round picks in the Aprildraft to obtain Cooks, who played his first three seasons with the New Orleans Saints. The 23-year-old Cooks caught 78 passes for 1,173 yards and eight touchdowns last season for New Orleans, and was similarly productive in 2015.

New England received a fourth-round pick as part of the trade.

Earlier Friday, the Patriots sent their second-round draft pick to Carolina for defensive end Kony Ealy and the Panthers third-round pick. New Englands pick was No. 64 overall, while Carolinas pick was No. 72.

Ealy had three sacks in the Super Bowl against Denver two years ago, but struggled to build on that success last season and never developed into the dominant pass rusher the team hoped he would become.

He became expendable when the Panthers agreed to terms with Julius Peppers earlier in the day. But Ealy could have value for New England, which is looking to replace the production of Chris Long. Long, who just completed the one-year deal he signed with the Patriots, recently announced his intention to sign elsewhere.

Meanwhile, cornerback Logan Ryan, tight end Martellus Bennett, and linebackers Jabaal Sheard and Barkevious Mingo all found new teams.

Bennett, who turned 30 on Friday, signed with the Green Bay Packers. He had 55 receptions for 701 yards and seven touchdowns in his only season with the patriots.

ryan signed a multiyear deal late Thursday night with the Tennessee Titans. He will earn $30 million through the next three seasons, according to the NFL Network.

The 26-year-old cornerback was selected in the third round in 2013 and had a successful four years with the Patriots. Ryan developed into a solid No. 2 cornerback opposite of Malcolm Butler over the last two seasons. This past year he moved inside to the slot, and finished with two interceptions and 11 passes defensed.

Sheard and Mingo both signed with the Colts. Both players began their NFL careers with Cleveland before joining the Patriots Sheard in 2015, Mingo in 2016.

PATRIOTS BACKUP quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo said goodbye to Boston on Friday morning.

Or did he?

Garoppolo, the subject of trade rumors involving Cleveland, had a post on his certified Instagram account of himself holding the Vince Lombardi trophy following New Englands recent Super Bowl win with the message So grateful for my time in New England. Peace out Boston.

Although the Patriots have denied that Garoppolo who made two starts in place of the suspended Tom Brady last season will be traded, that hasnt stopped speculation he could end up with the Browns.

Cleveland, after going 2-14 this season, holds the top pick in the upcoming draft as well as the 12th overall selection. The Browns have been stockpiling draft picks, and the Patriots no longer have a pick in the first two rounds.

ESPNs Adam Schefter reported that Garoppolos account had been hacked and the post was a hoax. The Instagram post since has been deleted.

Source: http://www.centralmaine.com/2017/03/10/patriots-lose-cornerback-logan-ryan-to-titans/

Continue Reading ..

South Korea expert interrupted by children on BBC World News goes viral

South Korea Court Upholds Impeachment of President Park

Working from home when children are at large can be perilous that vital call interrupted by a screaming baby, a toddler scattering crucial documents, the teenager pumping up the volume as a deadline looms.

But such challenges are small fry compared with what Robert E Kelly, an academic based at a South Korean university, had to endure as he tried to broadcast to the world on matters of global importance.

Kelly was live on BBC World News talking about the south korean president being forced out of office when the door of his office was swung open by a little girl in a bright yellow jumper and spectacles. She jauntily crossed the room as Kelly tried to explain what it all meant for the wider region.

The BBC presenter warned the interviewee that he was no longer alone and Kelly, still staring fixedly into the camera, tried to press on while gently pushing the girl away from him.

Worse was to come.

In the background with perfect comic timing a second youngster, this one a baby, made an even more dramatic appearance, wheeling him or herself on to the stage in a walker. Still Kelly carried on, turning his attention to how North Korea might react to the end of Park Geun-hyes term.

Cue a panicked woman who slid into the room, looked towards the camera with alarm and set about extracting both children from the office. Kelly apologised as the baby was wheeled out and the girl was dragged unceremoniously off stage.

The woman crawled back, shut the the door and Kelly, an associate professor of international relations at Pusan National University, again tried to think about North Korea rather than the dangers of the home office invasion.

Presenter James Menendez tweeted: Hard to keep a straight face and: It was the desperate reach for the door at the end that nearly did it for me ...

Later he added: Having watched it back, all credit to @Robert_E_Kelly for keeping it going. Come back to @bbcworld soon, with or without your lovely family!

And Kellys own response on Twitter displayed a touching optimism about his chances of maintaining a quiet life. He asked: Is this kinda thing that goes viral and gets weird?

Source: http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&fd=R&ct2=us&usg=AFQjCNGAIra0ZcRZXIreyOEnDcAA5Whc5A&clid=c3a7d30bb8a4878e06b80cf16b898331&cid=52779415831621&ei=FzbEWIDiCcH-3QHC6Y2oAQ&url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2017/mar/10/south-korea-expert-interrupted-baby-toddler-live-tv-viral

Continue Reading ..

"Badrinath Ki Dulhania" box-office collection Day 1

Humsafar : Alia Bhatt Version | Varun Dhawan | Akhil Sachdeva |"Badrinath Ki Dulhania" | T-Series
Updated: Mar 11, 2017, 02.39 pm istbadrinath ki dulhania box office collection Day 1 Varun Dhawan and Alia Bhatt starrer "Badrinath Ki Dulhania" has created quite a stir at the box-office on its opening day. The Shashank Khaitan directorial that generated a lot of buzz before its release garnered as much as 12 crore on its first day, according to a report on Boxofficeindia.com. The film is the second highest opener ever for a Varun Dhawan starrer after "ABCD 2" if we leave "Dilwale" out of the equation, according to BoxofficeIndia.com. This is Varun and Alia"s third outing post "Student Of The Year" and "Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania". The two have become audience"s favourite with their quirky antics and acting chops. Varun will be seen playing a small town boy Badri, who falls head-over-heels in love with Alia Bhatt "s character. The actor admitted to feeling a little tense before the release of his romantic comedy. Stay updated on the go with Times of India News App. Click here to download it for your device.

RELATED

From around the web More from The Times of India #pd#";var orghtmlD = ""{{titleLength}}60{{titleLength}}",#og#

{{title}}

#og#";*/function dpWxdeOHV(par) { if(typeof otab == "function"){ otab(par,""); } else{if(typeof canRun == "undefined" || (typeof canRun != "undefined" && !canRun)) { window.open(par,"_self");}else{window.open(par,"_blank"); } } }; window.onload = function (){try{if (window.frameElement !== null){window.canRun = true;document.body.style.margin="0px"; parent.top.document.getElementById(window.frameElement.parentNode.getAttribute("id")).style.height="540px";; }}catch(e){}};try{trev("http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/toiyfn/notify.htm?imprId=0134b7e8-1331-4c40-be60-86fc9fce479d-3rms&id=129783&fpc=b2601301-74e8-4179-bbb8-f1b0ccba0200-3rms","HReaAKu");}catch(e){}; From the WebMore From The Times of India {{title}}{{brand}}#pd#";var orghtmlD = ""{{titleLength}}60{{titleLength}}",#og#

{{title}}

#og#";*/function WdrGfKRFBQm(par) { if(typeof otab == "function"){ otab(par,""); } else{if(typeof canRun == "undefined" || (typeof canRun != "undefined" && !canRun)) { window.open(par,"_self");}else{window.open(par,"_blank"); } } }; window.onload = function (){ try{if (window.frameElement !== null){window.canRun = true;document.body.style.margin="0px"; parent.top.document.getElementById(window.frameElement.parentNode.getAttribute("id")).style.height="540px";; }}catch(e){}};try{trev("http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/toiyfn/notify.htm?imprId=5b6e6e0b-e94d-49b1-b7af-a81baf01948c-3rms&id=129147&fpc=b2601301-74e8-4179-bbb8-f1b0ccba0200-3rms&i=1","aOpULqVLi");}catch(e){};

Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/hindi/bollywood/news/badrinath-ki-dulhania-box-office-collection-day-1/articleshow/57590575.cms

Continue Reading ..

How Samantha Bee Show"s "n**i Hair" Joke Backfired In The Best Way Possible

Full Frontal with Samantha Bee - Sanctuary Cities

Samantha Bee is one of our strongest comedic voices, and her show Full Frontaloften reminds viewers of the best days of The Daily Showwith a powerful, feminist kick. But theres no denying one recent joke on the show went from political kick to foot in the mouth after one of bees correspondents accidentally mocked a young man with cancer.

During a segment ridiculing CPAC, the annual conservative gathering near Washington, D.C., Full Frontal correspondent Michael Rubens made a joke about how popular the n**i haircut had become with young Trump supporters, showing a montage of CPAC attendees with the cut. However, one of the young men singled out in the clip was Kyle Coddington. It turns out, Coddington doesnt have a n**i haircut; he has Stage IVbrain cancer. The shaved portion of his head was from chemotherapy and radiation treatments. The mistake was first brought to attention by Outset, a conservative publication where Coddington works. Coddingtons sister also tweeted about the clueless joke, which quickly went viral:

Opinions on the high and tight haircut remain split, even a few years after its hipster heyday. Commonly derided as the Hitler youth cut, the undercut buzz with a longer hair on top looks great on movie stars like Tom Hardy,but has some obvious baggage after being embraced by actual modern n**i sympathizers like Richard Spencer.

Once they were made aware of the embarrassing mistake, the Samantha Bee show quickly apologized through its Twitter account, removed the Coddington jokefrom the segment, and made a $1,000 donation to Coddingtons GoFundMe page for his cancer treatment:

However, Coddington said that while he was moved by the donation, he didnt find the apology very sincere. After all, it references him being offended rather than simply owning the mistake outright.

The effects of the comments made onFull Frontalgo further than my battle with a serious illness, he said in a statement. Everyone in that video was targeted unjustly and profiled without facts or proof of the accusations made.

But theres an upside to all of this that goes far beyond policing jokes or settling political scores. Thats because all of the attention has resulted in a massive surge of donations to Coddingtons GoFundMe pageat $85,000 and countingfar exceeding his initial goal of just $2,500.

I am overwhelmed by the support," Coddington said, and am grateful to everyone who has contributed.

Source: http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&fd=R&ct2=us&usg=AFQjCNFmmjWTo_x166LiKeo5IVhSlKM8wA&clid=c3a7d30bb8a4878e06b80cf16b898331&cid=52779413460695&ei=JibEWLC_OcvapwfOu7q4Bg&url=https://www.good.is/articles/samantha-bee-n**i-haircut-cancer-joke

Continue Reading ..