Leave Jonathan, face Boko Haram, CAN tells govs

The Christian Association of Nigeria has condemned recent resurgence of killings by the Boko Haram sect, asking the governors of states in the North to shift their focus from the 2015 presidency to halting the activities of the sect. The General Secretary of CAN, Dr. Musa Asake, who said this in a telephone interview withSUNDAY PUNCH, added that it was unfortunate that northern governors were spending much energy on stopping President Goodluck Jonathan from running for a second term, while thousands were dying in their states due to Boko Haram attacks. He said, “For us in CAN, we don’t understand why the attacks started again. We were still celebrating and thanking God that things are calming down, only for this kind of mad killings to occur. I don’t understand how a human being will walk into a school when students are sleeping and slaughter them. There is no justification for it. We condemn that killing in its totality. “After over 50 students were slaughtered, I expected northern governors not to sleep; to work day and night until they fished out the perpetrators of the crime. But they are only concerned about how they want the next President to come from the North. The whole of their energy is spent on 2015 and making sure that Jonathan does not get a second term. Is Jonathan our problem in the North? Is Jonathan the one killing our children?” Asake, who is a northerner, said CAN believes that the problem of insecurity could be solved if northern leaders held meetings and developed a strategy to tackle it. He also said the army should look into its ranks to fish out soldiers who might be aiding Boko Haram, noting that defeating the sect had been difficult because of some “enemies” within the army. “We applaud the army because they have really done their best to stop the killings. But with the recent attacks, army that is now in control in those states, should wake up and look within themselves. From what we hear, some of them wear army uniform. I know the military is trying its best but these people are outsmarting them in some areas,” he said. Asake added that though Boko Haram seems to have focused its recent attacks on schools, CAN still believed that the sect was fighting a religious war. He said CAN’s position was based on the initial mission statement of the sect, in which it said it wanted to Islamise Nigeria.

Miley Cyrus on 'SNL': 'Hannah Montana' is dead

By hosting "Saturday Night Live" this weekend, Miley Cyrus might have just had the last laugh. The 20-year-old pop star has eclipsed nearly every other figure in popular culture in the weeks following her salacious twerking-with-teddy-bears routine with Robin Thicke at the 2013 MTV Video Music Awards on August 25. There was no way "Saturday Night Live" was not going to address the subsequent tidal wave of reaction, and the sketch comedy series smartly attacked it right at the start of the cold open. With "SNL" cast member Kenan Thompson playing a wise old-timer in the year 2045, he recounts what led America to an apocalyptic state of destruction. "Most folks say it was the government shutdown. Others blame Obamacare. But I remember the exact day America ended: it was the 2013 Video Music Awards," Thompson said. Photos: Miley Cyrus wild child Cyrus was in on the joke from the start, as the camera cut to her being warned not to take the stage by "old Miley," as played by "SNL's" Miley impressionist, Vanessa Bayer. ("I think I'm hallucinating," Cyrus said in a winking joke. "I must've smoked too much ... cigarettes.") "Old Miley" was there to warn that the VMAs routine "might be too controversial" and hit all the references in the process: Cyrus' revealing costume that could potentially land her in prison; the constant tongue wagging ("I'm having tiny strokes, yo!" Cyrus explained); and the stuffed animals as stage props. (Cried one stuffed bear before going on stage, "We shouldn't be doing this! This is for kids!") But in the end, Cyrus told her old self that while she knows kids look up to her as a role model, she's still growing up herself. "I'm only 20 years old, I need some freedom to grow up and make mistakes," she said. "And no matter what happens, I promise I'll always be true to Miley Cyrus." Just don't expect her to feel the same way about her former Disney character, "Hannah Montana." As the 20-year-old said in her opening monologue, "I don't apologize for my VMAs performance. If I owe anybody an apology, it's the people who make the bottom half of shirts. There are a few subjects I'm not going to get into tonight: I'm not going to do Hannah Montana, but I can give you an update. She was murdered." And thus began an extremely Miley-heavy episode of "SNL," as she appeared in most of the night's sketches and gave two pared-down performances of her hits, "We Can't Stop" and "Wrecking Ball." While she's made headlines for both the music videos for those songs and her attire while performing them live, on "SNL" Cyrus turned in two tasteful sets that were focused less on her dance moves and more on her voice. She also provided impersonations of a few famous faces, including Scarlett Johansson and Hillary Clinton, but the favorite of the night was her take on Michele Bachmann in a parody of her "We Can't Stop" music video, "We Did Stop (The Government)." With Taran Killam playing Speaker John Boehner in a tight white tank and matching leggings, the parody was easily one of the night's best sketches. Sample lyrics: "To my government workers on the furlough, even though you're already paid low: Remember only God can judge us, forget the haters, because somebody elected us." One topic conspicuously missing from the broadcast was any mention of Sinead O'Connor, the singer Cyrus has been publicly battling with over social media. It all began when O'Connor wrote an open letter to Cyrus last week about her nudity and suggestiveness in the "Wrecking Ball" music video. Cyrus hit back with a tweeted dig at O'Connor's past mental health issues, as well as the infamous moment in 1992 when the "Nothing Compares 2 U" singer ripped up a photo of Pope John Paul II on "SNL." Yet for all those who waited patiently to see how "SNL" and Cyrus would tackle the back-and-forth -- which on Friday grew to threats of legal action -- they were left disappointed. Sinead O'Connor wasn't mentioned, nor was a photo dramatically torn in her honor. Overall, the episode was smooth, light on nudity and mainly twerk-free. "Hey, look at that," tweeted the Huffington Post's Mike Ryan. "Miley Cyrus didn't just play an exaggerated version of herself and she was really good." For The Hollywood Reporter, Cyrus' episode outshone last week's "SNL" premiere with veteran Tina Fey. Even Kirstie Alley weighed in with support. So why didn't Cyrus incorporate the one dance move that's been at the center of the insane amount of debate she's caused? Well, "I used to think twerking was cool," Cyrus explained during her monologue. "But now that white people are doing it it seems kinda lame."

Harry Potter' producer talks about upcoming spinoff

Three weeks ago, Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling conjured an Internet frenzy when she and Warner Bros. announced that a new adaptation of her book Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, a popular supplement to her Potter series was in the works. The announcement revealed that the film will be set in the same wizarding world as Harry Potter ? but follow magizoologist Newt Scamander, a professor of magical creatures, and take place 70 years before Harry's journey began. EW caught up with David Heyman, who produced all eight of the original Harry Potter films, on the red carpet of his latest spectacle, Gravity (which reunited him with Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban director Alfonso Cuaron), and asked him to dish about Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them ? or "Fantastic Beasts" as he called it for short. Heyman, who confirmed that he will be producing the film, said that Rowling hasn't turned in a finished script just yet, but that "Jo is at work" and tremendously excited about the project. "She's not doing it for any other reason other than she loves the world and she had a story that she wanted to tell," he said. "It's incredibly exciting," he continued. "She doesn't have to go back to this world, but something pulled her back. This is not Harry Potter. This is not Harry, Ron, and Hermione. This is a separate story within a universe related to the Potter universe." EW: J.K. Rowling and Warner Bros. announce new movie franchise set in wizarding world When asked about which creatures we might see in the film ? you better believe I brought up quintapeds and lethifolds ? Heyman demured. "We follow Newt on his adventures," he said, grinning. The producer said Rowling has no shortage of plot ideas for Fantastic Beasts because she knows Newt Scamander's history so thoroughly ? after all, she created him. "The fact that she's going to this world means there are stories to tell," he said. "When I was doing the Harry Potters, what was clear to me is that Jo's knowledge of this world is infinite. What you read in the books was just the surface of her knowledge. She had notebook upon notebook of stuff. I would call her and say, 'What's the sixth use of dragon's blood?' and she'd have it at her fingertips." "In the fifth film, I think it was, we had the Black family tree," he recalled. "I called her, and literally 20 minutes later I receive this family tree, via fax in those days, with a hundred names and about six generations with birthdays, death dates, marriages, all figured out. She knew it." So let's hope she's weaving all that knowledge into another truly magical tale ? or even (dare we dream?) a whole series of them.

Syria chemical arms removal begins

The destruction of Syria's chemical weapons has begun, international monitors have said. The operation is being overseen by a team from the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW). The mission was established under a United Nations resolution, which was passed after agreement between Russia and the US. The resolution followed international outrage at a chemical weapons attack near Damascus in August. In an interim report, UN chemical weapons inspectors confirmed that the nerve agent sarin had been used in the attack in Ghouta on the outskirts of the city on August 21. It was estimated to have killed hundreds of people and was blamed by the United States and other Western powers on the regime of Bashar al-Assad. But he accuses Syrian rebels of being behind it. "Today is the first day of destruction, in which heavy vehicles are going to run over and thus destroy missile warheads, aerial chemical bombs and mobile and static mixing and filling units," a source with the inspection operation told the French AFP news agency. It is not clear at which of the chemical weapons sites declared by the government, thought to number about 20, that Sunday's operation is taking place. The destruction of the stockpile, being carried out by the Syrians, is not expected to be straightforward, as some sites are in combat zones. It is the first time the OPCW - based in The Hague - has been asked to oversee the destruction of a chemical weapons armoury during a conflict. The Syrian government gave details of its chemical weapons arsenal last month to the OPCW under the Russia-US agreement which also provided for Damascus to join the Chemical Weapons Convention. That arsenal is thought to include more than 1,000 tonnes of sarin and the blister agent sulphur mustard among other banned chemicals. Peace conference Under the terms of the agreement between the US and Russia Syria's chemical weapons capability should be removed by the middle of 2014. The speed with which the team has been able to reach the sites and start the process of destruction underlines the urgency of the mission, says the BBC's Anna Holligan in the Hague. It was hoped that the new climate of co-operation would help bring about a wider conference in Geneva on ending the Syrian conflict. UN-Arab League peace envoy Lakhdar Brahimi was quoted on French media on Sunday as saying he was encouraging all parties to come to Geneva in the second half of November but that peace talks were not a certainty. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has meanwhile suggested Germany could mediate to try to end the 30-month-long civil war. Speaking to Germany's Der Spiegel magazine in an interview to be published on Monday, Mr Assad said he "would be delighted if envoys came from Germany". But he stressed that Damascus would not negotiate with rebels unless they laid down their weapons. Mr Assad again repeated his denial that his troops had used chemical weapons, blaming the rebels instead. More than 100,000 people have died since the uprising began in 2011 and millions more have fled Syria.

Davido has the money, Wizkid is the Starboy, But I’ll probably go with Dammy Krane - Chidinma

In a recent interview with Hiphop World, Chidinma addressed the issue of her rumoured love interests like Phyno & Dammy Krane If you must, who would you date amongst Iyanya, Wizkid, Dammykrane and Davido. Iyanya has the body. Davido has the money, Wizkid is the Starboy, DammyKrane is a sweet, cute guy. I’ll probably go with Dammy Krane. What’s up with you and DammyKrane Dammy Krane is my friend, he is everybody’s friend, and he’s funny and crazy. Before I shot the Video, I had a lot of options to play my love interest in the Video but I didn’t like any. Then someone said there was this new guy and then they played his song and I liked it. Sometime later, we were at Cool FM and I spotted him jumping about and being very playful. He was so energetic; I liked him instantly and wanted him as my loveinterest in the video. So my manager called him up, he was so nice, he came over, we talked and he told me the day we were going to shoot the Video was his birthday. Then I got scared that he might not make it. Unfortunately, on the day of the shoot, he got robbed that morning but he still made it to the shoot and then left after his part. We’ve been friends ever since Your Lovey-dovey Picture with Phyno went viral… It did! Less than 20 minutes after we put up the picture on Instagram, it just went crazy and we were not even in Lagos; we were in Abuja. We went for the Hennessy Artistry and we were at the airport before we went to the hotel, so we were just taking pictures then before we knew it, it was everywhere. It was kind of funny because we were just two people sitting somewhere and making the industry talk.

Miley Cyrus: latest ex-child star headed for a fall?

Miley Cyrus is grabbing headlines for the wrong reasons again. A public row with pop veteran Sinead O'Connor is raising questions over whether she may be the latest onetime child star heading for a fall. The former"Hannah Montana"actress turned pop princess burst into the wider public's mind with her sexually suggestive twerking performance at the MTV video music award show in August. Then came the video for her latest single"Wrecking Ball,"in which she swings naked on a demolition ball and licks a sledgehammer in an almost laughably suggestive manner. The 20-year-old has defended herself by saying she is merely growing up. And the publicity will certainly do no harm to sales of her records. But others warn she could be following in the footsteps of the likes of Lindsay Lohan, Britney Spears, and more recently Zac Efron, as she makes the transition to the grown-up world. "There is such a thing as bad publicity,"Robert Thompson, a professor of pop culture of Syracuse University, told AFP. "Especially these child stars in their transition years, some of the publicity turns them from people who actually had promising careers to... objects of mockery. "Lindsay Lohan really suffered that,"he said, while Miley is"well on that path... Whenever you hear Miley Cyrus mentioned in the last couple of weeks, it's always been in a form of mockery, and often disdain." In her latest publicity-fueling act, Cyrus has stoked a public row with Irish star O'Connor, who has threatened legal action. The tit-for-tat began with an interview in the latest issue of Rolling Stone -- with Cyrus on its cover, topless and tongue out again -- in which she said her"Wrecking Ball"video was inspired by O'Connor's"Nothing Compares 2 U." The Irish singer responded with an open letter saying she was glad to be a role model, but advising the young star against"allowing yourself to be pimped"by the music industry. Miley fired back with tweets referring to troubled ex-child star Amanda Bynes, as well as O'Connor's own mental health problems -- provoking the Irish singer's threat to sue. "How do you feel when your friend Britney Spears is mocked and humiliated for having had mental health problems?"O'Connor wrote. Celebrity was all well and good, the Irish singer said, but warned:"You will become the victim of it shortly. Soon it will be you the media 'crazy' .. and you will not enjoy it." Hollywood has a long tradition of child stars struggling to grow up. Michael Jackson and"Home Alone"actor Macaulay Culkin were followed by a generation of troubled teens including Demi Lovato and"High School Musical"star Efron, who admitted this summer that he had checked into rehab. Justin Bieber has also had missteps of late as he moves away from his teen idol image, including several brushes with the law -- a fact referred to by Cyrus in her Rolling Stone interview. "I do mentor him in a way. Because I've been doing this ... for a long time, and I already transitioned, and I don't think he's quite done it yet,"she told the magazine. It wasn't always thus. Thompson pointed to Annette Funicello, the US actress who died in April aged 70. She started out as a Disney star like Cyrus, Efron, Spears and others, but then went on to star in the 1960s clean-fun"Beach Party"films. "When she got older and grew up there was cultural space for that kind of innocent pretty virginal character, with all those 'Beach Blanket Bingo' movies,"said the pop culture academic, referring to a 1965 film starring Funicello. Nowadays"there's no equivalent any more... there are so few places for them to go, other than the 'tarting up young women' place,"he said. Unlike Lohan, Cyrus hasn't been convicted of a crime, and unlike Spears or Efron, she has had no public breakdowns or spells in drug or other rehab programs -- though she admits to experimenting with drugs. All she's done is raise eyebrows -- and draw scorn. But with today's ever more intense 24/7 media coverage and constant online comment and scrutiny, it's not going to get any easier. "I'm amazed this doesn't happen to every single solitary child star, when you are that young and you get all of that success, and all of that money, and the power that goes with it,"Thompson said. "That's hard enough for a seasoned rational adult to take. I don't know how any kid ever makes it through."

Breaking Down Miley Cyrus: Her Career in Very Impressive Numbers

In case you weren't sure, Miley Cyrus is indeed everywhere--the numbers prove it! Twitter informed E! News today that more than 900,000 tweets about the twerktastic pop star were posted over the past 24 hours. Before that, her name was mentioned 12-times' more than usual while the documentary Miley: The Movement was airing on MTV. But even though it seems as if all this Miley talk is a newish, post-VMAs thing, that isn't exactly the case according to USA Today's handy compilation of numerical Miley facts from various statisticians. For starters: Her Best of Both Worlds Tour--featuring Miley and "Hannah Montana"--in 2007 and 2008 grossed $54 million. Folks, many of them youngsters, were definitely interested in what the then-15-year-old Disney star was up to. The 2008 documentary Hannah Montana & Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert also benefited from that interest, grossing $65.3 million. The film remains perched at No. 9 on the all-time list of top-grossing U.S. documentaries, per IMDb. (Justin Bieber: Never Say Never landed at No. 6 in 2011 with $73 million, and 2004's Fahrenheit 9/11 continues to cling to the No. 1 spot with $119 million.) But that was then. Also per the reported stats, Miley is said to have drummed up roughly $79 million worth of free publicity from her 2013 MTV Video Music Awards performance, which was watched by an estimated 10 million people. Before that had even happened, it took only 37 days for her "We Can't Stop" video to rack up 100 million views on Vevo, a record for the site. After the VMAs, it took "Wrecking Ball" 24 hours to amass a record 19 million Vevo views on its way to a record-shattering 100 million views in six days. (Breaking the record previosly set by "We Can't Stop," natch.

Nigeria school killingscondemned by Amnesty

The rights group Amnesty International says the killings of schoolchildren in Nigeria show an absolute disregard for the right to life and education. In a report it says hundreds have been killed in attacks by militants and thousands have been forced from school. On Sunday up to 50 students died when militants attacked an agricultural college in northern Nigeria. The militant group Boko Haram, which means western education is forbidden, has targeted many schools recently. Many school buildings in northern Nigeria have been burnt or damaged in a wave of attacks Amnesty said this year the attacks had become more targeted and brutal Nigerian authorities were urged to "provide better protection" for schools. In the wake of the college attack earlier this week, officials told the BBC the government and military would work to increase protection in schools. On Thursday, the authorities said they had bombed Boko Haram camps in response to the latest attacks, killing "many" militants. An army spokesman said 15 people had been arrested. Catalogue of horror Amnesty has calculated that in 2013, scores of pupils and 70 teachers have been slaughtered. Some 50 schools have been also burnt or damaged and more than 60 others have been forced to close. In some cases students have been murdered in their sleep, and in others, burnt alive in locked dormitories. BBC World Service Africa Editor Richard Hamilton says the report represents a catalogue of horror. In May, Nigeria declared a state of emergency in three north-eastern states: Yobe, Borno and Adamawa. Authorities launched a military offensive aimed at crushing the Islamists. Casualty figures vary widely but reports suggest hundreds of people have been killed. Amnesty says it is not aware of anyone being prosecuted by the Nigerian authorities in connection with the school attacks. "Thousands of children have been forced out of schools across communities in northern Nigeria and many teachers have been forced to flee for their safety," Amnesty's deputy Africa director Lucy Freeman said. Some 15,000 students in Borno state have been stopped going to school because of the violence, Amnesty's report said.

ASUU strike may inflame insecurity, Anglicanchurch warns

The Anglican Church in Lagos has warned that the security challenges in the country may be compounded if the strike by university lecturers persists. The Bishop of Diocese of Lagos West, the Rt. Revd. James Odedeji, said this on Thursday while addressing a one-day synod of the church at Archbishop Vinning Memorial Church Cathedral in Ikeja, Lagos. The Bishop said there could be an explosion of sophisticated crimes as the students could become idle hands hired or enlisted by criminals for nefarious activities that could worsen the country’s security challenges. He wondered what had happened to the soul of the country with frequent attacks of innocent people by the Boko Haram sect in the North, the rising wave of kidnap and rape. While calling for a stiffer punishment for those involved in the crimes, Odedeji called on the politicians to be faithful to the mandates they obtained from the electorate. He said, “It is only in a country like this that teachers in our universities will embark on strike for as long as three months without a solution to the problem which led to the face-off.” The bishop berated politicians who had turned electioneering to permanent vocation, rather than service to the people who elected them. “A lot of events are now being revealed to convince Nigerians that our elected office holders have abandoned us to struggle for positions in far away 2015,” he said. Adedeji called on the Peoples Democratic Party that controls the Federal Government to shun undue bickering and face the task of developing the nation. On the Judiciary, Odedeji, who was addressing the first synod after he was enthroned in April, said the third arm of government had failed to play its part as the last hope of the common man. He hinged this on his observation that “the penalty for the big thief is light punishment, while the one for a pick-pocket is life punishment often times, depending on how the prosecutor is treated by the people concerned.”

Owoeye becomes SuperSports’ 1stpidgin-English commentator

Owoeye emerged on Friday to clinch the position out of more than 1,000 candidates who entered for the month-long maiden SuperSports ‘Follow Ya Mouth’, Pidgin-English commentator search. SuperSports said in a statement in Lagos on Friday that Owoeye was given one year contract with effect from Nov. 1. He would be expected to thrill followers of the Glo Premier League (GPL) via the Pidgin- English commentaries. The `Follow Ya Mouth search’ took the contestants from Lagos to Warri, Port Harcourt and Uyo in the quest to pick a lucky Nigerian. No fewer than 12 contestants emerged from the regional auditioning. At the end, three finalists: Babah Kay, Benedict Wakama and Owoeye were short listed. The Chairman of the League Management Company (LMC), Nduka Irabor, witnessed the event. The judges were veteran broadcaster, Deji Omotoyinbo, Tega Onojaife and Nedu Ani. Owoeye said, “winning the search is a golden opportunity that will have positive impact on me and I appreciate everyone who contributed to my emergence.’’ The General Manager of SuperSports, Felix Awogu said: “we are making available a new window of opportunity to young talented Nigerians to contribute to the development of our football.”

Pope says Church should rid itself of ‘worldliness’

Pope Francis on Friday called for the Catholic Church and its faithful to rid themselves of earthly concerns like St Francis of Assisi during a pilgrimage to the saint’s Italian hometown. Speaking in the hall where the medieval saint is said to have taken off his robes in a gesture of humility, Francis said the Church should also “divest” itself and return to spiritual basics. “The Church, all of us should divest ourselves of worldliness,” a visibly emotional pope said, adding: “Worldliness is a murderer because it kills souls, kills people, kills the Church.” “Without divesting ourselves, we would become pastry shop Christians, like beautiful cakes and sweet things but not real Christians,” he said. The Argentine pope also referred to the migrant shipwreck tragedy off the Italian island of Lampedusa on Thursday in which 111 people are confirmed to have died and scores more are missing. The world “does not care about the many people fleeing slavery, hunger, fleeing in search of freedom. And how many of them die as happened yesterday! Today is a day of tears,” he said. “Let us hear the cry of those who weep, suffer or die because of violence, terrorism or war in the holy land Saint Francis loved so much, in Syria, in the entire Middle East, in the world,” the pope said in his homily. The pope became the first to adopt the name of St Francis when he was elected in March, saying he was inspired by the saint’s humility and his teachings on peace and protecting God’s creation. On his visit, the pope met with many poor and disabled people being aided by Catholic charities. He told a group of handicapped children that their “wounds need to be listened to and recognised”. In an address to the poor, he said: “Many of you have been stripped down by this savage world that does not give jobs, that does not help, that does not care about children dying of hunger.” Some 100,000 pilgrims and over 1,000 journalists followed the pope as he visited the sites associated with the saint in the picturesque hill town of Assisi in Umbria in central Italy. The son of a wealthy cloth merchant, Francesco Bernardone grew up an arrogant and war- mongering young man before his spiritual enlightenment. The saint, who was born in 1182 and died in 1226, famously renounced earthly riches and donned a sackcloth to live like and for the poor. Francis has called for a “poor Church for the poor” and has said he wants to overhaul the 2,000- year-old institution, making it less “Vatican- centric” and closer to ordinary people. In a more light-hearted moment during his visit, the pope also had advice for married couples, urging them not to go to bed angry. “Argue as much as you like, even if the plates fly that is fine, but never end the day without making peace.” Francis was visiting Assisi with the eight cardinals from around the world he has handpicked to advise him on overhauling the scandal-hit Church government. The council of cardinals is an unprecedented instrument of Church government that could end up reforming the Vatican, giving more power to local churches and making the Church less hierarchical. The head of Italy’s crisis-hit government, Prime Minister Enrico Letta, was in the first row of the crowd attending Francis’ homily. St Francis, who is also the patron saint of Italy, was said to have heard God tell him: “Francis, go and repair my house which, as you can see, is falling into ruins” — a reference to the Church. That is the same message that cardinals expressed for the new pope at the dramatic conclave in which he was elected earlier this year, following a wave of financial scandals and child abuse cases. Francis’s visit to Assisi is different from that of his predecessors John Paul II and Benedict XVI because it is focused on the saint’s message of poverty rather than that of inter-religious peace. The trip is the pope’s third in Italy after he visited the southern island of Lampedusa in July where he called for more tolerance of immigrants and Cagliari in Sardinia in September when he denounced “an idol called money”

Miley Cyrus Addresses Pregnancy Rumors

Miley Cyrus recently confirmed her split with fiance Liam Hemsworth and has been busy promoting her upcoming album "Bangerz." Rumors surfaced over the weekend that Miley Cyrus is pregnant. She made a joke about it during an appearance onstage with Juicy J at the BET Hip Hop Awards in Atlanta, Georgia, on Saturday. The Three 6 Mafia star, who collaborated with Cyrus on new single "23," told the audience: "I assure you she's been doing a lot more than twerking!" Cyrus then announced: "No, I'm really pregnant!" On Monday morning, the singer/actress responded to the pregnancy reports, posting on Twitter: "waking up to the news that I'm now pregnant with @therealjuicyj baby." She then joked to her best friend Cheyne Thomas that she would be naming the infant "Juicy J Jr." She also tweeted: "it makes me laugh/ sad how the world is full of dumb asses." Cyrus recently confirmed her split with fiance Liam Hemsworth and has been busy promoting her upcoming album "Bangerz."

Lady Gaga, Eminem to Headline FirstYouTube Music Awards

The November 3 award show in New York, which will be live-streamed, honors the top songs and artists that were viewed on the website in the past year. Pop singer Lady Gaga and rapper Eminem will be headline performers at the first YouTube Music Awards, the Google Inc-owned online video steaming site said on Tuesday. The November 3 award show in New York, which will be live-streamed, honors the top songs and artists that were viewed on the website in the past year. Nominees will be announced later this month and voting by the public will determine winners, YouTube said. Canadian rock band Arcade Fire will also perform at the awards show. The show will be hosted by actor-musician Jason Schwartzman while film and music video director Spike Jonze will serve as creative director, YouTube said. The video streaming website has become a crucial way for musical acts to share music in recent years and has also helped launch the careers of little-known artists such as Justin Bieber, Carly Rae Jepsen and South Korean pop star Psy.

Canadian Rapper DrakeLands Third No.1 albumon Billboard Chart

The third studio album from the Canadian rapper, sold 658,000 copies in its first week, according to figures from Nielsen SoundScan. Rapper Drake vaulted straight to No. 1 on the weekly Billboard 200 album chart on Wednesday, as his latest album garnered the second-largest sales week of the year so far. "Nothing Was the Same," the third studio album from the Canadian rapper, sold 658,000 copies in its first week, according to figures from Nielsen SoundScan. Only Justin Timberlake's "The 20/20 Experience," which opened with 968,000 copies in March, outsold "Nothing Was the Same" in a one-week period. All three of Drake's studio albums have debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart, and "Nothing Was the Same" is the biggest opening week for a rap album since the September 2011 debut of Lil Wayne's "Tha Carter IV." Drake's latest came in ahead of six other new debuts in the top 10 of the album chart this week. Nashville rockers Kings of Leon entered the chart at No. 2 with their latest album "Mechanical Bull" selling 110,000 copies. Pop singers Cher and Elton John landed behind Kings of Leon, with the dance diva's latest album "Closer to the Truth" at No. 3 and the British pianist's "Diving Board" at No. 4. Other new debuts in the top 10 included heavy metal rockers Dream Theater at No. 7 with its self- titled album, electronic dance music group Krewella's "Get Wet" at No. 8 and heavy metal band Metallica's "Through the Never," a soundtrack album for their new film, at No. 9. On the digital songs chart, which measures song download sales, there was no change in the top three this week, as New Zealand artist Lorde continued her reign at No. 1 with "Royals." Katy Perry's "Roar" remained at No. 2 and Miley Cyrus' "Wrecking Ball" was No. 3. Overall album sales for the week ending September 29 totaled 5.2 million copies, down 10 percent compared to the same week in 2012, according to Billboard. -

miley cyrus the documentary

Miley Cyrus doesn't spend all her hours twerking. That was proven tonight during the singer's MTV special Miley: The Movement, an hour-long documentary that gave fans (and anyone who happened to land on the channel and continue to watch) a behind-the-scenes look at Cyrus' life and career. And it was pretty entertaining. Viewers forgot about the Twerk Queen (at least for a little bit) and were reunited with the girl who is quirky, funny, light-hearted and insanely talented but also takes her job very seriously and still gets nervous. With that said, here are five things we learned from Miley: The Movement. 1. How the Mike Will Made It Connection Began: The young singer admitted that she wasn't fully aware of what her sound was coming into this album, but reached out to the producer because she was a fan of his work. "I had known about him because I listen to a lot of hip-hop and i just fell in love with his beats and how young he was," Miley said in the special, "and no pop chicks were really messing with him like that. I got in the studio and we were bouncing off these ideas, kinda like singing with each other and the connection just started. Then it kept getting crazier and better." 2. She Second-Guessed "We Can't Stop": "Not everyone came to me and said, 'OK you have the first single.' I had to say, 'No, I know this is it,' and go to battle if I have to for whoever doesn't believe in it," Cyrus explained about choosing "We Can't Stop" as her first single, but when it didn't skyrocket to the top of the charts after premiering, she started to panic. "It's a 181 on iTunes. It needs to go 180 up before I'm like, smiling," she told Mike Will Made It on the phone. "Did we make the right decision? The right song? I get nervous you know I'm having a panic attack." 3. Reminder: Miley's Seriously Talented: The celeb may have become famous for a number of things now, but let's not forget--she's got some pipes on her. When telling the story of her first meeting with Pharrell, viewers heard Miley belt "Jolene" from a 2012 summer backyard session clip. It was amazing. And Pharrell thought so, too. "I said to my manager, 'I wanna work with her.' And he reached out," Pharrell said. "I was just like, 'Oh my God, you guys have no idea of how crazy this girl's voice is. You listen to her sing 'Jolene' and you just go, 'OK.' So when we sat down, I was like, 'Listen, go to Miami and all I wanna do is talk and if we make music, we make music. If we don't make music, we don't make music." 4. She's Also Pretty Hilarious: During a rehearsal, Miley was terribly sick, but that didn't stop her from bringing on the laughs when she could. While discussing how she should do her hair for the performance with will.i.am and her mother Tish, Cyrus asks, "Or am I gonna go Shakira-Shakira?" and then busts into the perfect impersonation of the Colombian crooner by singing her hit "Hips Don't Lie." Seriously, it's so addicting to watch. 5. Miley Has Her Moments: Cyrus was extremely nervous about her VMAs performance, and apparently ran into some trouble before even hitting the red carpet. The plan was to arrive in a police car with the famous teddy bear by her side, but when the car missed her vehicle parked to the side, plans changed. And Miley threw the F-bomb about 12 times. "This f--king...it's been ruined. So f--k it, let me just get out of the f--king car. No, I don't wanna now reverse and then everyone see me get in the car. That wasn't the point. The point was to show up in the f--king car. This is f--king lame. Stop f--king backing me the f--k up. This s--t looks lame. Are you kidding? Let's just get out. F--k it." OK, eight times. Our apologies. Regardless, fans would have never guessed what went down in that car, because the second Miley hit the carpet, it was all smiles, twerking and sticking her tongue out for the cameras