NEW YORK — PepsiCo says it cutting ties with Lil Wayne after the rapper made a crude reference to civil rights martyr Emmett Till in a song.
Lil Wayne, one of the biggest stars in pop music, had a deal to promote the company's Mountain Dew soda.
The controversy erupted after Wayne referred to beating someone during a sexual act and said he wants to do as much damage as was done to Till.
The black teen was visiting family in Mississippi in 1955 when he was killed, allegedly for whistling at a white woman.
PepsiCo Inc., based in Purchase, N.Y., said in a statement Friday that Wayne's "offensive reference to a revered civil rights icon does not reflect the values of our brand."
Abraham Orellana, the hip-hop producer known as AraabMUZIK, has been shot and is hospitalized.
Orellana's publicist said in a statement late Thursday that he is "currently alive and well" after being shot Wednesday night, noting he was in the wrong place at the wrong time while hanging out with friends. Police are investigating.
The statement said he was in his neighborhood when he was shot, but didn't specify a city. Orellana's hometown is Providence, R.I.
The producer's manager, George Moore, a record label executive and producer known as DukeDaGod posted on Twitter a picture of Orellana in a hospital bed Thursday with the words: "Everyone wish my brother (at)araabmuzik a healthy & pleasant recovery!!!!"
The statement says Orellana appreciates fan support and "Araab is looking forward to a speedy recovery and returning to the stage as soon as he can."
BOSTON/WASHINGTON, May 2 (Reuters) - The two brothers suspected of carrying out the deadly attacks on the Boston Marathon had originally planned to set off their bombs on July 4, a law enforcement official said.
The source said the suspects, Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, advanced the date of their attack because they completed building bombs more quickly then they originally anticipated. The official declined to be identified and did not offer more details.
Police say the brothers detonated two bombs made with pressure-cookers in the April 15 attack on the Boston Marathon that killed three people and wounded 264.
An attack on Boston's packed July 4 celebrations would have carried the extra symbolism of disrupting the city's widely followed Independence Day celebrations.
News of the alleged July 4 attack plan was earlier reported by The New York Times.
Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 26, was killed in a shootout with police in Watertown, Massachusetts, on April 19. His brother was wounded in the shootout and captured later that day.
The remains of Tamerlan Tsarnaev were claimed on behalf of his family on Thursday. His body had been kept at a Boston facility for more than a week.
Terrel Harris, a spokesman for the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner of Massachusetts, said a funeral services company retained by the family had claimed the body. Harris declined to provide details including the cause of death or where the body had been taken.
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 19, has been charged with crimes in connection with the bombing that could carry the death penalty if he is convicted, and is being held at a prison medical facility in Devens, Massachusetts.
On Tuesday, Tamerlan Tsarnaev's widow, Katherine Russell, said through an attorney that she wished his remains to be released to the Tsarnaev family.
Russell's attorney could not immediately be reached on Thursday.
Investigators have questioned Russell as they seek clues about how the ethnic Chechen brothers allegedly built the two bombs used in the attack and whether they had help.
The suspects' parents previously lived in Cambridge, Massachusetts, but have since returned to Russia. Other relatives remain in the United States, including an uncle, Ruslan Tsarni of Montgomery Village, Maryland, who has been seen in Rhode Island in recent days.
Officials said on Thursday that three men who had been charged with interfering with the investigation of the bombing were in custody at a jail in Middleton, Massachusetts, a small town about 20 miles (30 km) North of Boston.
The three 19-year-olds - Azamat Tazhayakov, Dias Kadyrbayev and Robel Phillipos - had been transported to the Essex County Correctional Facility in Middleton on Wednesday after they were charged in Boston. Authorities have described them as college friends of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. (Additional reporting by Svea Herbst-Bayliss; Editing by Mohammad Zargham)
LOS ANGELES — A wildfire fanned by gusty Santa Ana winds raged along the fringes of Southern California communities on Thursday, forcing the evacuation of homes and a university while setting recreational vehicles ablaze.
The blaze erupted during morning rush hour along U.S. 101 in the Camarillo area about 50 miles northwest of Los Angeles. It was quickly spread by the winds, which also pushed other damaging blazes across the region.
Flames quickly moved down slopes toward subdivisions, according to the Ventura County Fire Department. More than 12 1/2 square miles were charred, and the fire was about 10 percent contained.
"We know the fire is bigger than that, but it's in some difficult terrain so it's hard to know," said fire spokesman Bill Nash.
A cluster of RVs in a parking lot was destroyed as flames moved close to a mobile home park.
About 2,000 homes were threatened by flames and 15 sustained damage, but none was destroyed, officials said.
No firefighter injuries were reported.
Fire officials said Thursday afternoon that a hazardous materials team will deal with a store of highly toxic pesticides that caught fire at a Laguna Farms property, according the Ventura County Star. Area residents were warned to stay out of the smoke as much as possible.
Evacuations orders were lifted in some neighborhoods Thursday evening, including the smoke-choked campus of California State University, Channel Islands, which has about 5,000 students. But the danger was far from over.
A more complete damage assessment will be done Friday, Nash said."The weather is mitigating a little bit, so we're taking every opportunity to improve our lines, but we're not off the hook," Nash said. "Tomorrow we expect the Santa Ana winds to quiet down, but it's still expected to be quite warm."
More than 925 firefighters and law enforcement officials from multiple agencies worked to protect homes around Camarillo Springs Golf Course and in a section of adjacent Thousand Oaks.
Air tankers were grounded for a time in the afternoon because of the winds, which gusted to 50 mph. Planes and helicopters dropped water and retardant until sunset.
The Santa Ana winds sent plumes of smoke and embers over the homes and strawberry fields to the south. At midday, farm sheds burst into flames in a clearing amid rows of crops.
The vegetation-withering dry winds out of the northeast caused humidity levels to plunge from 80 percent to single digits in less than an hour. Temperatures soared into the 90s in Camarillo.
The area is at the western edge of the Santa Monica Mountains, which abruptly descend to a coastal agricultural plain. It was possible the flames could burn all the way to the Pacific Ocean, about 10 miles from the start point.
For a while, the California Highway Patrol closed a 10-mile stretch of Pacific Coast Highway at Point Mugu. It was reopened at midafternoon around the time coastal weather stations recorded a localized return of moisture-bearing winds off the ocean, although hot Santa Anas kept blowing a few miles inland.
Mark Brewer, 52, was resting at an evacuation center Thursday afternoon after he and about 25 adults and children were evacuated from a county-run homeless shelter. Brewer could see flames coming down a hillside toward the building before he left.
"This is a part of being in Southern California, just like earthquakes," Brewer said.
Brewer, who lost his job in the mortgage industry a year and a half ago, managed to grab his laptop, some clothes and papers from the room he lives in before traveling to a Camarillo church, where evacuees were glued to televisions watching fire coverage.
About 100 miles to the east, two homes, a number of outbuildings and several vehicles were destroyed, and two other homes were damaged in a 5-acre grass fire that prompted the evacuation of an elementary school in Jurupa Valley, said Theresa Williams, a spokeswoman for CalFire.
The blazes could signal a difficult fire season ahead.
Officials with the National Interagency Fire Center in Boise said Wednesday in their first 2013 summer outlook that a dry winter and expected warming trend mean the potential for significant fire activity will be above normal on the West Coast, in the Southwest and portions of Idaho and Montana.
Meanwhile, the California Department of Water Resources found the water content in the snowpack was just 17 percent of normal. The snowmelt is a vital water source for the state.
Elsewhere in California, crews made progress on a 4 1/2-square-mile fire burning in the foothills of the San Bernardino Mountains north of Banning, Riverside County fire spokeswoman Jody Hagemann said.
The fire, which burned a home Wednesday, was 40 percent contained with only sporadic flames showing.
In Northern California, a fire in a remote area of brush and timber north of the town of Butte Meadows grew to more than 3 square miles, with 10 percent containment, state fire spokesman Daniel Berlant said. Several fires smaller than 200 acres burned in Sonoma, Glenn and Butte counties.
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Contributing to this report were Associated Press writers Raquel Maria Dillon in Banning, and Robert Jablon and Shaya Tayefe Mohajer in Los Angeles.
President Barack Obama extended support on Thursday for the FDA's decision to institute age 15 as the new limit for over-the-counter sales of Plan B.
Speaking to reporters at a press conference in Mexico, Obama said he finds science to be behind the decision as well.
"I'm very comfortable with the decision they’ve made right now based on solid, scientific evidence," Obama said.
Obama's comments come two days after the FDA lowered the age limit from 17 years old. Still looming in the background is a federal judge's order from early April, mandating the FDA lift age limits altogether.
The Justice Department announced Wednesday that it was appealing that court decision, drawing backlash from reproductive rights groups. Among the critics was Terry O'Neill, president of the National Organization for Women.
"The prevention of unwanted pregnancy, particularly in adolescents, should not be obstructed by politicians," she told the AP.
SEATTLE — Police used "flash bangs" and pepper spray against some protesters who pelted them with rocks and bottles late Wednesday, as violence erupted during May Day in Seattle.
Several dozen protesters, many using bandanas to cover their faces, began clashing with police in downtown Seattle hours after a peaceful immigrant-rights march ended.
Protesters threw rocks and bottles at police officers and news crews. As they moved through downtown Seattle to another nearby neighborhood, they flung construction street barriers, trash cans and newspaper bins on the streets in an attempt to block advancing police officers. Windows of local businesses were broken and vehicles with people in them were banged around.
"We're a bigger and better city than this. I look at this and I am disappointed that this is the picture the world sees of us," Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn said late Wednesday.
Police used their bikes to shield businesses and eventually began to use pepper spray and "flash bang' grenades – releasing a flash of light, smoke and a loud noise – to disperse the crowd. But that pushed the group to the Capitol Hill neighborhood, and they left a wake of overturned trash cans and debris on the street, as well as smashed windows on local businesses.
In the aftermath, 18 people were arrested, the Seattle Police Capt. Chris Fowler said.
Fowler said that eight officer were injured, mostly scrapes and bruises. One officer was hit by a rock on her knee.
The violence stemmed from a march that billed itself as an "anti-capitalism" protest. Initially, the protesters concentrated on a business sector of downtown Seattle.
Despite lacking a permit to march, Seattle police escorted them as through downtown.
"That first march came downtown. It was absolutely peaceful...it was almost a festive affair and they had some serious messages, too, that they wanted to express. No incidents whatsoever," McGinn said. "The second march was very different, and it wasn't just merely because it was unpermitted. I think it also had to do with the nature of the individuals in it and what they wanted to do."
There were no immediate cost estimates of the damage left.
This is the second year in a row violence has broken out during May Day in Seattle. Last year, anarchists broke windows of store fronts, including Niketown, and vehicles and used smoke bombs. Protesters also targeted a federal building, breaking windows and doors.
Olivia One Feather of Covington joined the crowd Wednesday night because she wanted to see how police handled the protest. She said she wasn't impressed, adding that she was pepper sprayed in the face while trying to video record officers.
Of the protesters, she said, "They're doing what we need to do to stand up to ourselves. These are our streets and we have the right to take them."
Many of the protesters are self-described anarchists. A local anarchist website said protesters would attempt to disrupt May Day.
After the clashes died down, local residents were seen cleaning up trash left by the protesters.
The violence marred a May Day that immigrant-rights activists hoped would put a focus back on immigration reform. Thousands of people marched about 2 1/2 miles from the Central District toward Seattle's downtown Jackson Federal Building after a May Day rally supporting immigrant rights and labor.
Many carried signs, with messages such as "We are America," and "There are no illegal humans." One sign suggested forgetting about marijuana and instead asking the United States to "Legalize my mom," a reference to Washington's recent legalization of marijuana.
Other demonstrations and rallies in Olympia, Mount Vernon, Spokane, Vancouver, Walla Walla, Wenatchee and Yakima went along peacefully.
Kelly, who was known as "Mac Daddy," and his partner Chris Smith (a.k.a. "Daddy Mac"), were only 13 years old in 1991 when they were discovered by music producer and rapper Jermaine Dupri while performing at the Greenbriar Mall in Atlanta. Dupri's label, So So Def, signed the boys and sent them into the studio to record their first album.
Kris Kross rocketed to stardom a year later with the release of the single "Jump." The songspent eight weeks on the Billboard Hot 100, became an aerobics anthem and helped their debut album "Totally Krossed Out" go multiplatinum, CNN reported.
Soon Kris Kross was touring with pop star Michael Jackson and appearing as guests onnumerous TV programs. They recorded the "Rugrats Rap" for Nickelodeon and were listed at number 90 on VH1's list of "The 100 Greatest Kid Stars."
Kris Kross became a force in fashion as well; the duo was known for wearing their clothes backward during performances and for a time many youths copied the trend. But it was the combination of their energy and mature rapping skills that earned Kris Kross a strong fan base.
Although future albums failed to match the success of "Totally Krossed Out," Kris Kross continued to make music for several years, releasing "Da Bomb" in 1993 and "Young, Rich and Dangerous" in 1996. The pair recently performed together in February for theSo-So Def 20th Anniversary All-Star Concert.
Earlier this evening, Kelly wasfound unresponsiveat his Atlanta home, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported. He was transported to Atlanta Medical Center and pronounced dead.
