BREAKING AND STILL DEVELOPING NEWS: Sydney CBD Terrorist and Hostage siege: hostages forced to hold black and white Islamic flag
Terrorist attack feared after a man, reportedly armed with a gun, walked into cafe in Martin Place and took a number of staff and customers hostage
Customers and staff were taken hostage in a cafe in the heart of Sydney’s CBD on Monday morning by at least one man reportedly armed with a gun.
Chilling early images showed some hostages apparently forced to hold a black and white flag against the window bearing the Islamic creed, raising fears that a terrorist attack was under way.
Other hostages inside the Lindt Chocolate Cafe in bustling Martin Place could be seen with their hands pressed against the glass.
The number being given for hostages inside the building varied wildly, with the CEO of Lindt Australia suggesting up to 40 people could be held inside.
At least one gunman reportedly entered the cafe around 9:45am on Monday morning, and a siege situation quickly developed, with heavily armed police surrounding the cafe and closing off the streets of the central area of Australia’s biggest city.
Police evacuated offices in the immediate vicinity of the cafe and directed workers in nearby building to remain indoors and away from open windows.
Negotiators were attempting to make contact with the hostage takers, police said.
Witnesses reported that the hostage situation began when a man with a sports bag was seen near the cafe. The man was seen to walk into the cafe and police were called.
Within minutes hostages were being pressed up against the large glass windows of the cafe, which is overlooked by the studios of the TV station, Channel Seven.
The channel’s breakfast show The Morning Show was on air when news of the siege broke.
The black flag in the window of the cafe appeared to bear the shahada, an Islamic affirmation of the oneness of God, reading: “There is no god but the God, Muhammad is the messenger of God.”
The creed is common in the Islamic world and appears on the Saudi Arabian flag, but has been embraced by Islamist groups such as Jabhat al-Nusra and Hizb ut-Tahrir.
One Lindt employee, Nathan Grivas, arrived for work just after the siege began and found the glass sliding door of the cafe disabled.
“It was already locked [when he arrived]. I didn’t get a good look at them, as soon as I saw the gun all I wanted to do was get out,” he said.
Staff and tourists around Sydney Opera House were also reported to have been evacuated after a suspicious package was seen. Helicopters were seen hovering above the tourist attraction.
The New South Wales police commissioner, Andrew Scipione, said law enforcement was “on a footing consistent with a terrorist act” but there was no evidence the incident was connected to an arrest on Monday morning of a 25-year-old Sydney man for alleged terrorism financing.
Scipione said police had not been in contact with the offender and that his origins were still unknown.
He would not confirm claims by a Sydney radio personality, Ray Hadley, that his station had been called by one or more of the hostages inside the cafe.
“We are being tested today in Sydney. The police are being tested; the public is being tested, but whatever the test, we will face it head on. We will remain a strong, democratic, civil society,” he said.
The prime minister, Tony Abbott, made a short statement to journalists on Monday, urging people not to be deterred by the siege.
“We don’t yet know the motivation of the perpetrator, we don’t know whether this is politically motivated although obviously there are some indications that it could be,” Abbott said.
“We have to appreciate that even in a society such as ours, there are people who would wish to do us harm, that’s why we have police and security organisations of the utmost professionalism that are ready and able to respond to a whole range of situations and contingencies including this situation that we are now seeing in Sydney.”
Abbott would not be drawn on the details of the siege, including how many hostages were being held, instead referring queries to NSW police, who are leading the operation.
“The whole point of politically motivated violence is to scare people out of being themselves. Australia is a peaceful, open and generous society. Nothing should ever change that and that’s why I would urge all Australians today to go about their business as usual.”
Abbott confirmed in a carefully worded statement that the national security committee was briefed on the siege this morning. Stay Tune for more updates on this story!
Taylor Swift is joined by Jay Z, Beyoncé and Justin Timberlake as she celebrates her 25th birthday
As well as having a golden knack for writing chart-topping hits, it would also appear that Taylor Swift is unbeatable when it comes to throwing memorable parties.
In the early hours of Saturday morning, the singer celebrated her 25th birthday with a huge pizza party at her New York City apartment, and the guest list read like a who's who of the music industry.
Check out the pics!
As well as having a golden knack for writing chart-topping hits, it would also appear that Taylor Swift is unbeatable when it comes to throwing memorable parties.
In the early hours of Saturday morning, the singer celebrated her 25th birthday with a huge pizza party at her New York City apartment, and the guest list read like a who's who of the music industry.
Check out the pics!
Taylor posted the above pics saying, "So this is being 25..... #WHAT #bestbirthdayEVER". And reportedly she had about 20 pizzas delivered to feed all of her friends.
The house party was filled with folks like Justin Timberlake and Sam Smith as well. Also Emma Roberts, Charli XCX, Kelly Osbourne, Chrissy Teigen, Jaime King and Nick Jonas and his girlfriend Olivia Culpo.
Cute Happy Birthday Taylor!
CONGRATS! Zoe Saldana & Husband Marco Perego Welcome Twin Boys!
Recently, the Daily Mirror reported that Zoe Saldana welcomed twin baby boys on December 8th. There has been no confirmation from Zoe's camp or a more credible source...until now.
E! News reports that a source confirmed "...she had her twins" and she and Marco "are both so excited."
The source says, "They are surrounded by family and friends. All that matters now to Zoe and her husband is that the babies are healthy."
The Guardians of the Galaxy star worked throughout her pregnancy promoting Guardians of the Galaxy and The Book of Life all over the world.
And her hubby was by her side every step of the way. Her good friend and designer Prabal Gurung sent out congrats as well:
"Congratulations to my dearest darling friend and my muse @zoesaldana (and her husband ) on the arrival of their twins. xPG #fbf #PGred #firstdressidrapedfromthefirstcollection #fall2009 #wwdcover #startrek #premier #pgmuse #femininitywithabite #zoesaldana #consistentshoes."
Sweet!
So Keyshawn Johnson is accused of creeping with Model AFTER he just got MARRIED?
We're used to seeing this the other way around, but now the husbands are fighting back against their alleged cheating wives. First Demarco Murray, was accused, then Russell Wilson...now a former NFL baller.
New husband Brian Holloway (above) is pissed he caught his new wife, model Alicia Tarry (above), allegedly DM’ing it up on Twitter with ex-NFL star/ESPN analyst Keyshawn Johnson (who also is newly married). So pissed that he has filed court documents to have their marriage annulled after six months, based on fraud!
So what did he find exactly? Well, it appears he got a hold of his wife’s cellphone and began checking her direct messages on Twitter. He reportedly found vulgar messages between his wife and the ex-NFLer.
TMZ got a hold of the court documents, and in it Brian says he found numerous messages between the two. One in particular, was a message he stumbled upon where one party asked the other for a nude photo. The alleged messages read:
“Send me a p**** shot."
"I'll get one in a few sorry have a guest over."
OH MAN!
These rumors come just months after Keyshawn married his longtime girlfriend Jennifer Conrad (above) over the summer.
According to Alicia, she did not cheat with Keyshawn and said the DMs in question only "appear suspicious" and were illegally obtained. People from Keyshawn's camp allegedly told TMZ he has "no idea what the guy's [the husband's] talking about."
Do we believe it?!
Tis The Season: Dr. Dre Gives His Entire Legal Team $10,000 Christmas Bonuses
Veteran hip hop producer & west coast rap pioneer Dr. Dre is spreading some holiday cheer around to the people who help keep his legal affairs in order.
Dre recently surprised his entire legal staff with a massive holiday bonuses and a source close to the situation said with these details on his grand gesture to his employees
“Dr. Dre just paid the holiday bonuses for his entire legal firm, including attorneys and assistants not working on his project. The assistants not even associated with his project each received $10K.
It was such a wonderful surprise for all of them!” Kudos to Dr. Dre for rewarding his employees for their hard work in a huge way.
K. Michelle Leaks Nicki Minaj Meek Mill Romance Rumors?
Earlier this week news leaked that Nicki Minaj rebounded from her break-up with Safaree Samuels into the arms of rapper Meek Mill [click here if you missed that].
Was a bitter K. Michelle behind the leak…? Sources tell Baller Alert
Meek Mill has been consoling Nicki as she went through her roller coaster of a relationship with Safaree. Meek Mill had a song K. Michelle liked, used, and then he kind of snatched it back and gave it to Nicki so she could use it as a bonus track on her album that drops Monday. Got it? Well, there's more...
K. Michelle's "Anybody Wanna Buy A heart" album dropped this past Tuesday. Do you know what else dropped? Nicki's new song with Meek Mill titled "Big Daddy". At this point K. Michelle took Nicki releasing the song as subliminal a shot towards her and ends up allegedly leaking to blogs that Meek and Nicki are an item.
So now the secret is out. Yes, Nicki and Meek are whatever they are and he even bought her a very expensive piece of jewelry for her birthday. As far as Safaree, he recently followed both K. Michelle and Iggy Azalea on Instagram but likely unfollowed when he realized Nicki didn't really care.
Look At Me Now? Drake Spotted Scar-Less After Diddy Fight
Young Money’s Drake has people scratching their heads this week after being spotted in public following an alleged physical attack from music mogul Diddy last weekend. A new picture of Drizzy scar-less has started to make its rounds across the Internet.
Reports Sohh: Drake finally surfaced after the Diddy fight looking no worse for wear — of course he waited almost 4 days to show his face in public. Drake went on a shopping trip in Miami Thursday — the first time we’ve seen his whole face since Diddy took a shot at him early Monday morning outside LIV Nightclub.
According to reports, Puffy’s issues with Drake came from him using their alleged joint instrumental and creating “0 to 100″ last summer.
The beat was produced by Boi-1da and was sent to both rappers earlier this year. While Diddy sat on the beat for months, Drake turned it into the “0 to 100″ which later became a hit and even earned him two Grammy nominations, Best Rap Performance and Best Rap Song.
Porsha Williams Launches ‘Naked’ Lingerie For ‘David Tutera’s Celebrations’
Porsha Williams’ entrepreneurial hustle continues. Over the weekend The Real Housewives of Atlanta cast member held a private launch for her new lingerie line, Naked.
Held at Atlanta’s Biltmore, the reality TV cameras were rolling. The event that will be filmed for WE tv’s hit series “David Tutera’s Celebrations.”
Check Out The Pics
Check Out The Pics
While no RHOA cast members were present (maybe since the show is for a different network), we did spot celebrity guests Christina Johnson (Atlanta Exes), Sean Garret, Meelah Williams (R&B Divas Atlanta) and Bobby Valentino.
This IS Dawn Richard....And she says F*CK YOU for Talking about her new face!
Dawn Richard, of the recently disbanded group Danity Kane, was spotted heading into the Wild Style clothing store on Melrose Avenue for a Karl Kani launch party over the weekend. First things first...Chick looked fab in a fly mink vest, leather pants, midriff top and her looooong flowing locs.
Once inside, Dawn hit the red carpet with gorgeous model Shaun Ross, whose also known for his "face." So let's address the elephant in the room.
Is this the same Dawn From "Making The Band"? Danity Kane? Dirty Money? Of course it is...but clearly she's had some work done. And while she's not bothered that you've noticed, she's pissed that you care. Folks on social media have dragged Dawn for years about her looks and now that she's done something about them, the Twitter trolls still talk -ish.
She popped off on Instagram saying, "Same people saying this "she was prettier before " crap are the people that said I was a tranny in 2009. Make up your mind lawd."
Thankfully, Dawn sees the humor in all of this and she even poked fun at herself, posting a pic of a cyborg with an interchangeable face!
And for those of you still interested in Dawn's music, and not her trips to the surgeon, she's dropping her new album, B L A C K H E A R T on January 15, 2015.
Look Who JUST GOT MARRIED! Memphis Bleek Weds Ashley (Coombs) Cox!
He's married now! 36-year-old Memphis Bleek, government name Malik Cox, married girlfriend Ashley Coombs last night at The Merion in New Jersey. It was put together by Allure One event planning company and all of the couple's friends were there to support the lovely night.
We're told one of his best friends Jay Z was there with Beyoncé and so was Eddie Levert and others.
Awww. Ashley snapped some pics with a few of her friends.
And the couple's cake looked amazing:
More Pics
Congrats to them!
Celebs Attend Rihanna’s 1st Annual Diamond Ball
Rihanna‘s first annual Diamond Ball, a black tie fundraising event benefiting The Clara Lionel Foundation (hosted by Jimmy Kimmel), was held at The Vineyard in Beverly Hills.
Founded in 2012 – in honor of her grandparents, Clara and Lionel Brathwaite – the CLF “works to improve the quality of life for communities globally in the areas of health, education, arts, and culture.”
“One of the greatest benefits of my job was being able to start the Clara Lionel Foundation in honor of my grandparents,” said Rihanna. “There is truly nothing I’m more proud of and we’ve just gotten started. I’m excited to continue my work and thrilled to be able to host the Diamond Ball – a night that promises to be elegant and inspirational.”
The Bajan beauty stunned in a red off-the-shoulder Zac Posen gown as she enjoyed the evening with family, and a host of celebs who came out to show support – including Tia Mowry, Tyrese, Brad Pitt, Kim Kardashian, Fabolous, Big Sean, Monyetta Shaw, Adrienne Bailon, Terrence J and more.
Following the event, RiRi thanked all those who stepped out for the occasion; posting the following message on Instagram:
THANK YOU to all the beautiful people that came out to the first EVER #DiamondBall ! You all made it such a success and helped me raise a lot of funds that will save and change the lives of so many! We at the #ClaraLionelFoundation can’t wait to spread your love globally to the ones who truly are in need of it!
Her grandfather Bravo was amongst her family that accompanied her, and she posted a snap of them, showing off the good time they were having.
Catch some candids
NICE and all for a good cause!
AND FINALLY FROM THE CRAZY PEOPLE SHOPPING AT WALMART FILES
‘B-HOLE BLUES’
Well at some point deep down we all knew this day would come when sagging literally and figuratively hit an all time low. Can’t argue with fashion trends I suppose so “Who Wears it Better?
HAVE A GREAT WEEK AHEAD EVERYBODY!!!
EFREM
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