Two American men – a high-profile dancer and a teenage musician – have been arrested by police investigating the murder of an Irish student apparently strangled to death in a luxury Tokyo hotel.

Nicola Furlong, 21, was found dead in the early hours of Thursday morning after she attended a Nicki Minaj concert with a female friend, also a 21-year-old Irish student.

Dancer James Blackston, 23, and a 19-year-old male musician, who has not been identified by police, have been arrested on suspicion of sexually assaulting Ms Furlong’s friend in a taxi on the way to the hotel.

Police are investigating whether the two men plied the two women with alcohol or spiked their drinks before taking them to the Keio Plaza Hotel in the Shinjuku district of Tokyo after the concert.

Ms Furlong was found unconscious in a room after another guest alerted staff to a loud noise. The two men were arrested at the shortly afterwards by officers.

Facebook Money Shot Triggers Robbery

A Bundanoon family have been robbed at knifepoint after a girl posted a photo of her grandmother’s life savings on Facebook.

The 17-year-old was helping her 72-year-old grandmother count her personal savings at a Sydney home last Thursday when she took a photo of a pile of cash and posted it on her Facebook page.

About 11.30 that night, two men armed with a knife and a wooden club broke into the Bundanoon home of the teen’s family and threatened the girl’s mother, demanding to know where the cash was being kept.

A 58-year-old man and 14-year-old boy were also home at the time of the home invasion, but no one was hurt.When the girl’s mother told the intruders the girl no longer lived there, the pair searched the house and took a small amount of cash and other personal property before leaving.

Police were called the next morning and a crime scene was established.

The men were wearing dark-coloured clothing, gloves and had their faces covered.

Anyone with relevent information is urged to contact Bowral police on 4862 9299 or Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.

The robbery has prompted police to warn social media users to be careful about the kinds of information they post online.

Almost half of all Americans live in a household where at least one member received government benefits in the first quarter of 2011, according to a new report.

Data from the Census Bureau revealed that 49.1 per cent of the population live in a household which gets at least one kind of government benefit with many likely to receive more than one.

The figure marks a steep rise in the amount of people claiming benefits, in the early 1980s only 30 per cent of the population were in a household that got government hand-outs, reported the WSJ.

While he was a member of B2K Raz B claims that he was molested and raped by music producer Chris Stokes and at times he claims that singer Marques Houston would take advantage of him too.

Raz B has spoken out about the alleged sexual assault that he suffered behind the scenes of the spotlight, and he is claiming that other young R&B artists are engaging in similar homosexual behavior, willingly.  Raz B first made his own homosexual activities public back in 2007, and he has since been ousted by the music community for his outrageous claims.  His is apparently working on a comeback in the music industry and some may feel as though his upcoming book is just a ploy to thrust him back into the spotlight.

Raz B’s book is set to be released this fall.

READ THE OFFICIAL PRESS RELEASE HERE: http://www.prlog.org/11876891-rb-singer-raz-to-release-earth-shattering-biography.html

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Police found the bike early this morning under a bridge at Whiskey Bay on the Atchafalaya River, after being tipped off by the fishermen.

Shunick’s family members were brought to the scene and confirmed that the bike is Shunick’s black and gold Schwinn. Police are not releasing details on the bike’s condition.

Police are planning to perform a grid search of the area where the bike was found on ATVs. Officers are searching the Atchafalaya River by boat, but the river’s current was too strong to allow for divers this afternoon, police said.

The discovery comes two days after investigators said they found surveillance video showing Shunick on a bicycle the night she disappeared, and they are trying to track down information about a white pickup truck seen on the same video.

The surveillance images appear to corroborate elements of the timeline surrounding Shunick’s last known whereabouts because it is believed they show her riding her bicycle home from a friend’s house at 1:47 and 1:48 a.m. on Saturday, May 19, as the friend had described.

The images show the bicyclist believed to be Shunick, a senior anthropology major at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, on St. John Street and St. Landry Street in Lafayette, La.

According to a news release from the Lafayette Police Department, “Investigators are seeking information regarding a white newer model four door pickup truck, which was captured on video after Mickey Shunick traveled on both streets.”

Investigators earlier had found other surveillance video showing a glimpse of someone riding a bicycle who they believed could be Shunick, but police said that video was too blurry to tell for sure if it was her.

Shunick left friend Brettly Wilson’s house on her bike last week after a night out, and hasn’t been heard from since.

Before the newest surveillance video, investigators searching for any clues have found no cell phone, purse or virtually any trace of Shunick after she left Wilson’s house on her bicycle.

As investigators and the woman’s family expanded the search, even sending out a recorded plea for help mentioning a $25,000 reward for information, some people in the area where she vanished have begun to wonder whether Shunick was abducted at all.

“What concerns us is, where is her bicycle?” Det. Stephen Bajat of the Lafayette police department said. “If it is some kind of abduction, most people would snatch and go on and not concern themselves with the bicycle.”

Past instances of what were first thought to be abductions have eventually been discovered to be entirely different criminal situations. In 2003, a Texas woman was convicted of hitting a man while intoxicated, and then in a panic left his body in a park to cover the crime. A friend ultimately tipped off police, leading to her arrest.

“The only way to solve this is if someone comes forward with a tip — and [investigators] need the public,” former FBI profiler and ABC News consultant Brad Garrett said.

Hundreds of people from the community and beyond have come to aid in the search for Shunick. So many are coming to help that the volunteer headquarters had to be moved to the nearby university to accommodate them all.

Now Equusearch, the well-known search and recovery group, has turned out in force.

“We’re hoping for the best,” Tim Miller of Equusearch said. “We don’t sugarcoat anything. It does not look good, doesn’t look good at all, but we believe in miracles.”

Wilson, the last person to see her the night she vanished, has turned to the Web with his plea for assistance in the search. He has posted a YouTube clip seeking help via social media.

Beryl was still well offshore, but officials in Georgia and Florida were bracing for drenching rains and driving winds.

The National Hurricane Center in Miami said late Sunday afternoon that Beryl would make landfall in several hours, and that tropical storm conditions were already near the coasts of northeastern Florida and southeastern Georgia. Gusts are possible late Sunday and early Monday.

Beryl is expected to bring 4 to 8 inches of rain to parts, with some areas getting as much as 12 inches. Forecasters predict the storm surge and tide will cause some coastal flooding in northeastern Florida, Georgia and southern South Carolina.

Campers at Cumberland Island, Fla., which is reachable only by boat, were told to leave by 4:45 p.m. The island has a number of undeveloped beaches and forests popular with campers.

However, many people seemed determined to make the best of the soggy forecast.

At Greyfield Inn, a 19th-century mansion and the only private inn on Cumberland Island, the rooms were nearly full Sunday and everyone was planning to stay put through the wet weather, said Dawn Drake, who answered the phone at the inn’s office on the Florida coast.

In Jacksonville, Fla., Sunday’s jazz festival and Memorial Day ceremony were canceled. Workers were also out clearing tree limbs and debris that could be tossed about by the storm’s winds, which had reached 65 mph (105 kph) late Sunday afternoon. Winds had already knocked down tree limbs and power lines in parts of coastal Georgia, leaving hundreds without electricity.

But business was booming at the Red Dog Surf Shop in New Smyrna Beach, Fla., where customers flocked to buy boards and wax in anticipation of the storm’s high waves. Officials all along the coast warned of rip currents, waves and high tides — all of which can be dangerous but also tend to attract adventurous surfers. The waters had already become dangerous in South Carolina, where rescuers were searching for a missing swimmer.

In Jacksonville Beach, Fernando Sola said business was booming at his Happy Faces Ice Cream truck. A bus- full of tourists from South Carolina had stopped to buy some ice cream and watch the storm waters churn.

“There are actually more people than on a normal day. It’s working out great,” said Sola, taking a few moments away from scooping ice cream to people lined up in front of his truck.

Steady, heavy winds kicked up sand across the area, forcing onlookers to shield themselves with towels.

Jessica Smith and Chester Jaheeb decided to brave the waters despite many warnings for people to stay out. Jaheeb, who was born in India but lives in Jacksonville, said he had never experienced a tropical storm before.

“We were at a certain part that started pulling us out, like the rip current, so we decided to come to shore,” said Smith, 17.

Taylor Anderson, captain of Jacksonville Beach’s American Red Cross Volunteer Lifesaving Corps., said his lifeguards went body-surfing early Sunday to get acclimated with the surf conditions for what looked to be a long day. They also reviewed methods to determine where there might be riptides.

“They look for discoloration, the water moving paradoxically back to sea, and our lifeguards are trained to spot that, to keep people away from that, especially when the surf is this high. It makes those run-outs very dangerous. People can get sucked into those very fast, especially with the high surf and the high wind,” he said.

Though the weather was calm earlier Sunday, Anderson’s lifeguards began preparing other equipment in the morning. They packed sandbags in front of the entrances to the oceanfront Red Cross lifeguard station and pulled lifeguard stands off the beach.

As the winds picked up, officials hung two red flags, one warning of dangerous ocean conditions and the other notifying beachgoers that swimming was prohibited. But a lot of people ignored the warnings. By 3:30 p.m., Anderson said, lifeguards had made 150 “preventions,” meaning lifeguards ordered 150 people out of the water, though no rescues were necessary.

One of the people ordered out the water was Christian Siciliano, 14, of Jacksonville Beach. The surfer said the waves were too rough for surfing so he, his brother and a friend decided to go boogey-boarding.

“We just went out to, like, mess around,” Christian said. “It was really rough. I didn’t make it out too far, about 10 feet.”

He said the waves were so powerful it was difficult to paddle against them. Then lifeguards raced to the area and ordered him and the two other youths from the water.

Joe Murphy, a spokesman for the Ritz Carlton in Amelia Island, Fla., said he was not seeing a flood of checkouts or people trying to get off the island. Outdoor dining had been moved inside and the hotel set up movies and family game activities, but the hotel had no plans to board up or move patio furniture inside.

As of 5 p.m. EDT, Beryl was centered about 85 miles (137 kilometers) east-southeast of Jacksonville, and about 110 miles (177 kilometers) southeast of Brunswick, Ga. It was moving westward at 10 mph (16 kph). Current forecasts have it making landfall late Sunday or early Monday, though tropical storm conditions with heavy rain and wind were to reach shore hours sooner.

Tropical storm warnings were in effect for the entire Georgia coastline, as well as parts of Florida and South Carolina. Once Beryl comes ashore, it was expected to continue dumping rain over parts of Florida and Georgia on Monday before heading north and then out to sea. It was expected to weaken to a tropical depression by Monday night.

On Tybee Island, a barrier island not far from Savannah, water off the beaches was closed for swimming Sunday. Tybee Island fire Chief C.L. Sasser said winds of up to 42 mph were creating “horrendous water currents.” Only people with flotation devices strapped or tethered to their bodies were being allowed into the water, and they were being cautioned not to venture in farther than knee deep.

“Even if you’re standing in waist-deep water, the current can sweep you out quickly,” he said.

His ocean rescue team pulled a total of 48 people from the water on Saturday, he said, including about 27 that were considered to be in life-threatening conditions. One man who was sucked under the water was rescued by friends and onlookers and was taken to the hospital in serious condition.

A band of showers soaked the beaches late Sunday morning, causing crowds to thin, Sasser said. With alternating rainy and sunny weather forecast throughout the day, he said he expected the crowds on the sands to ebb and flow.

In South Carolina, Janice Keith with the Myrtle Beach Area Convention and Visitors Bureau said Sunday that the office hadn’t fielded any calls from concerned tourists.

In Beaufort County, emergency management deputy director David Zeoli said officials were continuing to monitor the storm and encourage people to have a plan in case conditions get worse.

Zeoli said winds had kicked up in the area that includes Hilton Head Island, a popular golf and beach destination. “It’s just a wet day here,” he said.

The survivor, who police think may have been homeless and was lying down when attacked, was taken to the hospital with critical injuries, according to the Miami Herald — whose building was next door to the scene of the crime and whose surveillance cameras showed the officer shooting the suspect on Saturday.

Police sources told CBS Miami that the victim had virtually no face and was unrecognizable.

The Miami Herald’s police sources recounted that a road ranger saw the man chewing on the other man’s face and ordered him to back off over a loudspeaker, and that another police officer soon approached the unidentified attacker.

“The officer, who has not been identified, approached and, seeing what was happening, also ordered the naked man to back away,” the Herald reported. “When he continued the assault, the officer shot him, police sources said. The attacker failed to stop after being shot, forcing the officer to continue firing. Witnesses said they heard at least a half dozen shots.”

Sgt. Altarr Williams, supervisor of the Miami police homicide unit, also told the Herald that a man doesn’t have to be armed to be dangerous. “There are other ways to injure people,’’ Williams said. “Some people know martial arts, others are very strong and can kill you with their hands.’’

Flavor Flav has been repeated accused of not paying child support over the years. The hype man has seven children with three different women, and the two he’s not currently with haven’t been shy about letting the court system and the media know about Flav’s delinquency. The newest beef however could wind up being far and away the most serious.

Flavor Of Love star is supposed to fork over more than eight hundred dollars a week to Angie Parker in order to care for the three children he has with her. She claims he hasn’t paid in quite awhile, leaving a bill that has soared to more than one hundred and ten thousand dollars. A hearing was scheduled this week to determine what happened, but Flav reportedly didn’t bother showing up.

Consequently, the court declared his non-payment to be a “willful violation” and recommended he serve one hundred and eighty days in jail. If the ruling goes through, Flav will also reportedly lose his passport and driver’s license. A new court date has been scheduled for June 19th in Albany, New York, and if he doesn’t show up again, there could be even bigger problems.

CONGRATULATIONS TO GRADUATE TIONNAH WOODS FROM THE HEAT MAGAZINE! WISHING YOU THE BEST IN ALL OF YOUR FUTURE ENDEAVORS.

SHE IS THE DAUGHTER OF PHYLLIS GRANT

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