Lisa Ling – whose sister, Laura Ling, and friend, Euna Lee – had been arrested by North Korean military on the Chinese border March 17 and faced trial on June 4 for alleged “hostile acts.” As Lisa tweeted on Friday, “Trying to believe that Laura and Euna have won some hearts over, hence the silence.”

But on Sunday, June 7, CNN reported that the Korean Central News Agency said the women had been sentenced to 12 years in labor camps “for the grave crime they committed against the Korean nation and their illegal border crossing.”

U.S. State Department spokesman Ian Kelley said in a statement, “We are deeply concerned by the reported sentencing of the two American citizen journalists by North Korean authorities, and we are engaged through all possible channels to secure their release. We once again urge North Korea to grant the immediate release of the two American citizen journalists on humanitarian grounds.”

The statement also read: “We aren’t certain of the details of what happened on March 17, but we can say with absolute certainty that when the girls left U.S. soil, they never intended to set foot onto North Korean territory. If at any point a transgression occurred, we sincerely apologize on their behalf.”

On Wednesday, June 3, Euna Lee’s husband Michael Saldate, Laura Ling’s husband Iain Clayton, Lisa Ling and their families attended a grassroots vigil in Santa Monica for the women, one of many around the country. An emotional Lisa told PEOPLE, “It is very surreal to be part of a story, especially when it is your little sister and your best friend. For me, my sister is an incredible journalist. She is a wife and an adult but she’s still my little sister and to feel this helpless has been the most debilitating experience of my life.”

Sad and terribly scary. Let’s hope she gets out safely and quickly.

source

Photo: the scandalist

Music Producer Phil Spector was charged today with 19 years in jail for the murder of Hollywood starlet Lana Clarkson.

The famed music producer who created ‘The Wall of Sound’ was found guilty of Clarkson’s murder last month.  Spector’s lawyers are appealing the sentence, considered by many to be a life sentence for a the 69 year old who is in frail health  “He’s adjusting to the circumstances and settling down to wait out an appeal with high hopes. He feels he will win the appeal.”

Prosecutors claimed that after meeting  Clarkson, 40, at the House of Blues club in Los Angeles in 2003 , the producer took her home to his Alhambra, California “castle,” where she was shot to death in the home’s front foyer. Spector had claimed that Clarkson killed herself by putting the gun in her mouth, but his chauffeur said he witnessed Spector emerge from the home holding a gun and heard him say, “I think I killed somebody.”

source

photo: Bauer-Griffin

Despite Nine Inch Nails aggressive sound, front man Trent Reznor is a softie deep down. He has managed to raise more than $200,000 to help fund a dying man’s heart transplant.

He began offering fans special incentives in exchange for donations to the fund on his website earlier this week (may 18) after seeing a the plight of 27 year old Eric De La Cruz on a news program.

De La Cruz needs to undergo the surgery to survive, but has not been able to secure insurance coverage for the procedure which will cost approximately $780,000. In less than two days Reznor and his fans have been able to contribute $260,000 to De La Cruz’s fund.

Wealthy fans with $1,000 to spare can donate the amount to the good cause and land themselves an invitation from the band to “hang out with us before the NIN /JA (Jane’s Addiction) show of your choice.”

Those less financially well-off can make a smaller donation of $300 to gain access to a soundcheck session and meet-and-greet with Nine Inch Nails.

source

NIN website 

Former footballer turned actor Vinnie Jones claims he was acting in self-defense during a bar brawl in Sioux Falls last December.

The alleged victim, Juan Trevino-Barrera, claims Jones was ‘very rude’ and punched him three times in the face.  The brawl allegedly began after Jones tried to join a pool game when witnesses then say Jones became offended when someone asked him if he was “that guy from X-Men” in reference to his role as Juggernaut in the franchise.

 Jones’ lawyer, however  says his client was acting in self-defence when he struck Mr Trevino-Barrera, while on his way to clean his facial injuries.

“Vinnie Jones used very reasonable force in an attempt to protect himself when he finally could,” Mr Wold claimed during opening statements.

However, Sioux Falls police officer Chris Treadway told the court Jones was arrested after admitting punching Mr Trevino-Barrera for heckling and taunting him over his accent.

source

photo:  Bauer-Griffin

After being named as ‘the other man’ in a recent divorce filing, Bruce Springsteen stands by his claims that he is an innocent man. The accusations first surfaced 3 years ago, when he also denied he had been unfaithful to his wife of 18 years, Patti Scialfa.

His rep claims that he stands behind the statements he made, which appeared on his website, back in 2006.

“We have built a beautiful family we love and want to protect and our commitment to one another remains as strong as the day we were married.”

source

photo: bauer-griffin

Jessica Seinfeld just came out with a cookbook. As previously reported, she even visited the Oprah show in order to promote the book and thanked Oprah with some extravagant gifts! Seinfeld’s new “Deceptively Delicious,” about hiding healthy ingredients in foods children will eat, is already the best-selling book in the country, with print runs of 2.5 million through January. But now there seems to be some controversy surrounding Jessica’s best selling book. Chef and baby-products mogul Missy Chase Lapine came out in April with a book, “The Sneaky Chef: Simple Strategies for Hiding Healthy Foods in Kids’ Favorite Meals.” Lapine baked her spinach brownies with Al Roker on the “Today” show; Seinfeld shared her spinach brownies with Oprah on that show last week. People are wondering if Jessica ripped of Missy Chase Lapine’s recipes from her book. There are striking similarities between a lot of the recipes.

Lapine, who founded the Baby Spa natural products line, writes: “If you want to hide something in macaroni and cheese, you have to match the color of the dish. You could easily introduce white bean puree in the mac and cheese.”

Seinfeld and Lapine both have recipes for mashed potatoes with hidden cauliflower, grilled cheese with secret sweet potatoes, green eggs made with pureed baby spinach, and carrot-laced tacos.

Lapine’s rep was unable to comment until next week he said. Jessica’s publisher said “Jessica Seinfeld’s work is completely and entirely original and stems from her own personal experience cooking for her own three children and husband. We all know children will see healthy food and run in the other direction. We have full confidence in the originality of Jessica’s recipes. We have been involved in creating the content of this book for almost two years.”

A spokesman for Seinfeld said, “She admits she didn’t invent pureeing. But she never saw the [Lapine] book. And she worked really hard on hers.”

According to a poll, Jamie Lee Curtis’ strip tease in True Lies has been voted the sexiest strip tease in movie history. I don’t know if anyone remembers that movie, but Jamie Lee danced around a bed post in undies. I have to say that she did do a good job.

Kim Basinger in 9 1/2 weeks earned the number 2 spot, while Salma Hayek from From Dusk Till Dawn got the 3rd spot, Elisha Cuthbert earned the number 4 spot for the movie The Girl Next Door.

To find out the rest of the countdown, check out current.com.