Pinoy Meets World

MANILA, Philippines – Shane Mosley is suddenly back in the picture.

Manny Pacquiao’s lawyer, Franklin Gacal, yesterday said if Miguel Cotto insists on the catchweight of 145 lb, the Filipino boxing icon might be forced to consider Mosley as his next opponent.

“We will not agree to 145 pounds. And if Cotto insists, we’ll go for Mosley,” said Gacal from Davao City.

Top Rank president Bob Arum wants Pacquiao to face Cotto, the reigning WBO welterweight (147 lb) champion from Puerto Rico, on Nov. 14 in Las Vegas. But no deal has been forged yet, not on the date, weight or purse.  Read more... (201 words, estimated 48 secs reading time)

MICHAEL Jackson’s sister La Toya believes the King of Pop was effectively “murdered” for his money by a manipulative entourage, it emerged last night.
La Toya said of her brother’s sudden death: “We don’t think just one person was involved in the murder. It was a conspiracy to get Michael’s money.”

La Toya, 53, accused a “shadowy” group of hangers-on of cutting him off from his family and friends.

They also fed him drugs and saw him as a “cash cow”, she claimed. “He was surrounded by a bad circle,” she said. “Michael was a very meek, quiet, loving person. People took advantage of that.  Read more... (146 words, estimated 35 secs reading time)

We’ve just learned Michael Jackson has died. He was 50.

Michael suffered a cardiac arrest earlier this afternoon at his Holmby Hills home and paramedics were unable to revive him. We’re told when paramedics arrived Jackson had no pulse and they never got a pulse back.

A source tells us Jackson was dead when paramedics arrived. A cardiologist at UCLA tells TMZ Jackson died of cardiac arrest.

Once at the hospital, the staff tried to resuscitate him but he was completely unresponsive.

We’re told one of the staff members at Jackson’s home called 911.  Read more... (129 words, estimated 31 secs reading time)

MINNEAPOLIS, Minnesota (AFP) – – A US jury on Thursday ordered a 32-year-old woman to pay 1.92 million dollars in damages for illegally downloading 24 songs in a high-profile digital piracy case.

Jammie Thomas-Rasset, a single mother of four from the US state of Minnesota, was found liable for using the Kazaa peer-to-peer file-sharing network to download the songs over the Internet.

The jury took just under five hours to reach its verdict.

It ordered Thomas-Rasset to pay 1.92 million dollars — or 80,000 dollars per song — to six record companies: Capitol Records, Sony BMG Music, Arista Records, Interscope Records, Warner Bros. Records and UMG Recordings.  Read more... (181 words, estimated 43 secs reading time)

Right at the NAIA when she arrived with the three other Pussycat Dolls at noon last Monday, Nicole Scherzinger said she was overwhelmed by that “coming home” feeling.

“I felt the warmth as soon as I got off the plane,” recalled Nicole during a one-on-one with Funfare yesterday at the Executive Lounge of Sofitel Hotel (formerly Westin Philippine Plaza) where the Dolls are billeted until Friday when they fly back to the States after their concert at the Mall of Asia (MOA) Concert Grounds tomorrow night.  Read more... (232 words, estimated 56 secs reading time)

NEW YORK – Scott MacIntyre was sent packing from “American Idol” on Wednesday after his poorly received performance of “The Search Is Over,” leaving seven finalists in the hit talent show’s competition.

The 23-year-old man from Scottsdale, Arizona, who is legally blind, was eliminated after four judges split on whether to use their once-per-season veto power to keep him in the running.

“This is really tough,” Simon Cowell, one of the judges, said at the end of the live broadcast before finally declaring: “Someone’s got to make a decision here, and I’m going to say it’s the end of the competition. Sorry.”  Read more... (168 words, estimated 40 secs reading time)

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Francis Magalona, known as the king of Philippine rap music, has died of complications from leukemia, his colleagues said. He was 44.

A rapper, songwriter and producer, Magalona, who also went by the name FrancisM, shot to national fame with his 1990 album “Yo!” and the hit song “Mga Kababayan Ko” (My Countrymen), in which he urged fellow Filipinos to be proud of their heritage, work hard and strive for a better life.

His 1992 album “Rap Is FrancisM” tackled the Philippines’ many problems, including illegal drugs and political instability, making Magalona one of the most politically conscious voices of his generation.  Read more... (110 words, estimated 26 secs reading time)