The media are abuzz with Keanu Reeves holding hands with artist Alexandra Grant at the LACMA Art + Film event in LA, saying the couple was beaming as they posed on the red carpet.
The duo also looked at each other and smiled affectionately, indicating a change in the actor’s style because in his career of 35-years Keanu has never posed with a girlfriend on the red carpet.
Previously, Keanu was linked to Sandra Bullock and Amanda De Cadenet in the past and the late Jennifer Syme was his most serious relationship.
In 1999, the couple tragically had a stillborn child. Ava was the name they had chosen for their daughter.
In 2001, Syme tragically died at the age of 28 in a car accident.
This weekend, that changed when Keanu held hands with his business collaborator Alexandra Grant at the LACMA Art + Film Gala Presented By Gucci in Los Angeles.
Photo: Screengrab from Instagram
55-year-old Keanu and 46-year-old Alexandra never let go of each other while exchanging a loving glance and posing for photos, showing that they had nothing to hide.
At the event on Saturday, Keanu looked proud to be with the woman who has captured his heart.
The John Wick star sported a black suit, black shirt and a black tie with workman boots and facial hair while the glamorous Alexandra wore a navy blue dress accompanied with high heels and bracelets.
The rumoured new couple had fun catching up with friends, with a source telling ET, ‘During the cocktail hour, Keanu was spotted with Alexandra and another female friend catching up and chatting.
A phone was handed by Alexandra to the female friend to help take a photo of the duo.
The witness added that Keanu and Alexandra were enjoying themselves and after the photo was taken, Will Ferrell went over to say hello, bringing a few people which included his wife, Viveca Paulin-Ferrell.
Keanu and Alexandra collaborated on the books Ode to Happiness and Shadows.
In 2011, the first book was released where Alexandra provided visual art and the second one was published five years later.
Keanu wrote the poetry for both volumes. Keanu and Alexandra also own the publishing house X Artists’ Books.
Alexandra is a Swarthmore College graduate and is a Los Angeles-based artist.
She uses language and exchanges with writers as a source for imagery in sculpture, painting, drawing, and video.
Some of her work is in public collections such as the one at Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) where the couple was at.
It is rumoured that Keanu has gotten closer to the artist over the past few weeks.
In mid-October, they were spotted arm in arm leaving a sushi bar on Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles. She was spotted resting her head on Keanu’s shoulder as they walked.
Scarlett Byrne,the Harry Potter actress who played Pansy Parkinson in the film franchise has gotten married to Playboy’s Cooper Hefner.
Scarlett Byrne, 29 posted the happy news on her Instagram account.
The couple have gotten legally married and will be planning a wedding ceremony “in the coming months” to celebrate with their family and friends.
Photo: Screengrab from Instagram
Scarlett Byrne wrote in a heartfelt Instagram post that she is proud to be by Cooper Hefner’s side as his partner, friend, and wife and cannot wait to build a life together. She also said her “heart is so full” and she is grateful for their love.
Cooper Hefner wrote on his own Instagram account that the couple have made it officially legal and that they could not be happier. He added, “Cheers to a life full of love, happiness, adventure, and great purpose, Mrs.Hefner.”
“I love you dearly and very much look forward to planning our wedding celebrations in the months ahead. I love you, Scarlett.”
Byrne and Hefner have been engaged since August 2015.
Friends, family and fans congratulated the couple after they announced the good news.
Born as Scarlett Hannah Byrne in 6 Oct 1990, Byrne is an English actress and model who is best known as Pansy Parkinson in the Harry Potter series and as Lexi in the TV series Falling Skies.
She has also appeared in the TV series The Vampire Diaries as Nora Hildegard.
Cooper Bradfor Hefner was born 4 Sept 1991 in Los Angeles, California to Hugh Hefner and Kimberley Conrad.
He is an American entrepreneur and writer who previously worked as the chief creative officer of Playboy Enterprises, a company founded by his late father Hugh Hefner.
Hefner is the initial chief executive officer and founder of the startup company, Hop.
His parents separated and he lived in a mansion adjacent to the Playboy Mansion which was bought by his father after the separation.
Hefner studied in Ojai Valley School and Chapman University.
It is most likely that the PH will lose Tg Piai, Johor because the Chinese voters have already turned away from the Democratic Action Party which has lost its ‘fire and brimstone,’ says a blogger who is known for his sarcasm.
The blogger, known as Syed Akbar Ali writes on his popular blog, Syed Outside The Box on Blogspot. In a recent post, he has a message for the DAP leader, Lim Kit Siang.
He details the cost or what he calls the price of the DAP hanging out with the Pakatan Harapan, which he says “is your loss of Chinese support.”
“Plus there is something even more costly – something that could be fatal to the long-term prospects of the DAP. You have shown to everyone, including the Chinese people, that when it comes to power, money and all the trappings that come with it, even the DAP are no angels,” he wrote.
In a sarcastic tone, he tells Lim Kit Siang his party is now the ‘secret weapon’ for the comeback of the weakened Malaysian Chinese Association, a member of the Barisan Nasional coalition that lost the elections last year.
“The DAP is no different from an MCA, a Gerakan or even a UMNO or PKR,” he said.
He referred to a report that Economic Affairs Minister Azmin Ali has unpaid travel expenses of RM300,000, a piece of news that went viral on Wednesday, saying this will taint the DAP.
“Why? Because you just kept quiet. Not a peep from the DAP. Mr Lim Kit Siang, what has happened to you? Where is the old DAP? What happened to all the fire and brimstone?)”
He said the DAP has given life to the MCA because the DAP has “sold out”, the MCA can come back.
“I think you will lose in Tanjong Piai.”
Tanjong Piai is the hotly contested by-election in Johor on which Dr Mahathir Mohamad, Prime Minister, seems to have placed his belief the PH will win.
But the blogger says if DAP sticks to the PH including the Justice Party or PKR, the future of Lim Kit Siang and the DAP is “as good as dead.”
His advice to the DAP is to shake hands with the PH and to part ways, breaking the coalition and leave power to go back in the opposition where the DAP was the hope for the Chinese community.
Meanwhile, Lim Kit Siang’s response seems to be a call on Tanjong Piai voters to prove the Muafakat Nasional and Barisan Nasional wrong.
Muafakat Nasional is the alliance between Umno and the Islamists PAS. They are the main contenders in the by-election in Johor and are said to be in the lead.
He says the 1MDB scandal is not fake news but the most shameful chapter of Malaysian history.
According to the DAP stalwart, the Tanjong Piai voters have a national duty on the by-election voting day on 16th November.
A Selangor government think-tank Institut Darul Ehsan (IDE) recently said its survey in Tanjong Piai showed that only 41 per cent of Tanjung Piai Chinese voters will make the same choice that they did in GE14.
The PH won the seat in 2018 with a swing in Chinese votes. This may not be the case this time around but the Think Tank says both the opposition MCA and the PH do not have an upper hand in the by-election. -/TISG
The Russian beauty Queen says the baby is his but the Sultan of Kelantan says baby could be that of any Asian men
The ex-King of Malaysia is hitting back at his ex-wife, Russian Model Oksana Veovodina, 27, who says that her baby boy is his son.
In an exclusive article the Daily Mail said the King called Veovodina ‘cruel and vindictive’.
The British paper said the Kelantan Sultan, Muhammad V insists the pictures of the baby produced by the Russian model do not prove he is the father because the boy ‘doesn’t look like him.’
Sultan Muhammad, 50, said the child could be the son of any Asian man.
However, Oksana insists on Instagram posts that the baby is his, calling on the Sultan to undertake a DNA test to prove his lineage.
The Daily Mail describes the Malaysian Sultan who abdicated the Malaysian throne earlier this year for reasons not revealed so far, as a reclusive and wealthy royal.
The paper says it has information the Sultan looked at the images of the child it published and decided any Asian man could have fathered the baby which he has never met.
Besides offering a DNA test to prove the baby is his, Oskana is launching court proceedings in Moscow to declare the Sultan as the father.
The divorce, a quiet affair, turned ugly and acrimonious after the ex-Queen staked a claim on expenses for the baby named Leon.
In October, The Sun published an article saying that the Russian beauty queen is demanding an ‘£8m London mansion and £24k a month’ from the ex-Malaysian King, calling it an ‘astronomical’ divorce payout.
This has started a bitter battle between the two former lovebirds, with the ex-King reportedly asking courtiers: “Who does she think I am… Bill Gates?”
In July, the Sun in the United Kingdom claims the baby of the ex-wife of Sultan Muhammad V of Kelantan is not his, casting doubt on the paternity of the couple’s only child.
The Malaysian ex-King reportedly split from his Russian model wife just weeks after their son was born. He gave up his throne in January months after marrying former Miss Moscow Rihana Oksana Gorbatenko.
He divorced her earlier this month and the news made the headlines in Malaysia though the ex-wife insisted they did not divorce. -/TISG
For the past five years I have lived in the suburbs of Pasir Ris, about 500 metres from the beach. Every other day, I walk about 6km because my wife wants me to. Occasionally, she comes along and I make her walk ahead of me. And, when she comes along, ever so often, she gives a furtive glance to make sure I am on the right path. Literally and figuratively.
Over the years, the footpaths we use, have become busy thoroughfares, filled with aging and other health freaks hoping to delay the inevitable. Of course, there were the occasional cyclists who squeezed past us, some warning us of their approach with ringing bells.
Gradually, a new element was added to the increasingly diverse traffic. The odd e-scooter. I was fascinated by the darn things! How I wished I could ride in one of those nifty contraptions, with the wind blowing in my face and going at speeds that would scare the hell out of even Evel Knievel.
The riders rode their machines without a care in the world and I became envious of them as they sped about their way and disappeared around bends, into the horizon to God knows where.
PMDs were now a familiar site everywhere. On footpaths, in void decks and even on roads. I was flabbergasted with the increasing speed with which they whizzed by me, sometimes missing me by inches.
And of course, true to form, my wife wouldn’t let me get one. One day, my neighbour’s son got one of those e-scooters. When my wife was out for the day, I begged the son to let me have a go.
“Uncle, you know how to ride one?,” he asked.
What impertinence! Of course, I could. Silly boy! After all, I have ridden a bicycle since I was 9-years-old. What difference could there be? One uses pedal power and the other, a small electric motor.
He showed me where the accelerator and brakes were and I got on the machine in the void deck of a block and started to ride this fascinating contraption. It was exhilarating. And as I started getting used to the balance, I increased speed.
Photo credits: Cogito Ergo Sum
I felt the wind blow in my face, my hair flying about and as pillar after pillar went by, I craved to make them go by faster and faster. But void decks are small enclosures. All too soon, the Evel Knievel in me ran out of floor. It was all over in just under five minutes. Reluctantly, I returned the machine and looked on longingly as the young man sped off to wherever he was going.
It was certainly faster than cycling. It had a speedometer and I knew that I must have been going at least 5-10km/hour and the accelerator was only at one third the twist. Instinctively, I knew that I could never own one. Speed kills and this was a potential killing machine.
Sometime last year, as I was on one of my 6km walks, with my wife ahead of me, she turned for some reason and screamed at me to move. Before I could react, something brushed against my right hip and elbow and I fell. I had just enough time to look up.
I was hit by a speeding rider on an e-scooter. He never looked back. He went on on his merry way as if I was an impediment to whatever quest he was on. I would have shown him the middle finger but he never obliged by turning around. He never stopped to look at the trail of damage he had caused.
I put it down as a stray incident, something that was rare and would never happen again…if I had eyes at the back of my head!
Two weeks after that incident, I read a report in the news about a tragic accident involving a young e-scooter rider who was killed after he was run over by a lorry. The report did not elaborate how the tragedy occurred. But my instinct was that the lorry driver must have been speeding when he hit the e-scooter.
As the days went by, taxi drivers I spoke to gave a different version. According to the stories, the e-scooter rider had sped across the path of the lorry at a point that was not meant for crossing. Why did he do it? The rider probably thought he could speed past the lorry as he crossed the road. Whatever his reasons were, it ended in the death of a young life.
As the years went by after my own personal experience with a PMD, the number of incidents of pedestrians being knocked down and some even dying from the ‘accidents’ became frightening.
While I admit that certain jobs would be much more efficient if there was an element of speed, but is progress and the need to be fast worth the loss of lives or injury?
Photo credits: Cogito Ergo Sum
On November 5th, the ban on PMDs on footpaths, void decks and on the grass came into effect.
Delivery service operators like foodpanda, delivero and Grabfood, are being paid by the number of trips they make. Hence the need for speed as faster delivery means another trip and money for the rider. But is the cost of speed worth the potential tragic consequences for that extra SGD5.00?
Today, I read with dismay, a netizen ranting about the PMD ban. Using expletives, and threatening a riot, she took to task the decision to stop PMDs on footpaths.
That is a dangerous path to take. You cannot hold an entire society to ransom with threats, much less riots.
Common sense must prevail in this matter. Rules, unfortunately, are needed to enforce common decency.
There is a need to enforce common sense, by rules and regulations if necessary, before we run riot on our PMDs and make a killing on the market and footpaths.
At the crossroads, the direction we take on this matter, will determine how safe our neighbourhoods will be.
The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of The Independent Singapore. /TISG
Singapore-born Mandopop singer JJ Lin recently shared that he was diagnosed with hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD)
The 38-year-old singer told the audience at a concert in Chongqing, China on Saturday (2 Nov) that he had a fever and had to be admitted to the hospital.
At the hospital, he was diagnosed with HFMD which usually affects young children, but adults can also contract it.
Through nasal discharge, saliva, faeces and fluid spread from the rash of an infected person can be caused by person to person contact.
Sore throat, fever, rashes on the hands and feet and ulcers in the mouth are symptoms of HFMD.
Photo: Screengrab from Instagram
Lin revealed that he had more than 70 ulcers in his mouth.
Based on a report by Chinese daily Lianhe Wanbao as quoted by AsiaOne Lin told the crowd:”I’m not feeling well these few days so I might not be in peak condition. Regardless, I hope that even if I don’t speak, your screams and enthusiasm won’t stop.”
The singer started feeling ill during the Jiangsu, China leg of his Sanctuary 2.0 world tour held on 26 Oct.
Lin was put on a drip when he was admitted to the Zhenjiang First People’s Hospital after his concert.
Staff members of the hospital reportedly put up the drip bag and syringe that was used by Lin for sale online.
Online, a video showing nurses taking turns to lie on the bed that was used by Lin was also circulated.
Staff members that were involved in the incident have been suspended while Lin’s agency JFJ Productions released a statement that it apologised for the leaking of personal information by individual staff who ignored their professional ethics and added that it is confident that the hospital will deal with the incident appropriately.
Lin’s Sanctuary 2.0 World Tour will come to Singapore’s National Stadium on 21 and 22 Dec. /TISG
“Insta[gram] for the first time in 100 years. Make some noise!” wrote Girls’ Generation Yuri jokingly.
Consisting of members Lee Hyori, Ock Joo Hyun, Lee Jin and Sung Yuri, Fin.K.L was formed in 1998 by DSP Media and is a South Korean girl group.
It is one of the most popular K-pop groups during the late 1990s and early 2000s.
Fin.K.L. released four albums including Blue Rain, White, Now and Eternity.
The group won numerous awards such as New Artist of the Year at the 1998 Golden Disc Awards, the Grand Prize at the 1999 Seoul Music Awards and Best Female Group at the 2000 Mnet Music Video Festival.
In 2005, the group became inactive after releasing the album Fine Killing Liberty.
Fin.K.L made a reunion on a variety show, announcing the release of a new song called Just Like The Song That Remains on 22 September. /TISG
Alvin Chau, Macau’s entertainment tycoon has been splitting his time between wife Heidi Chan and mistress Mandy Lieu for the past several years.
It has been reported that Mandy broke up her five-year relationship with Alvin because he did not want to divorce his wife.
Alvin paid Mandy a whopping 300 million HKD as a breakup fee.
The Malaysian-American model and married billionaire started dating in August 2014 and the news shocked the Hong Kong entertainment industry.
The couple was not afraid to show how they feel, often showing public displays of affection.
They go for dinner gatherings while holding hands and in December 2014, it was reported that Mandy was more than four months pregnant with Alvin’s baby.
Photo: Screengrab from Instagram
On 20 May, 2015, she gave birth to their daughter in London.
The couple publicly held hands to officially declare their relationship on 17 Dec 2015.
Mandy also gave birth to a son and a daughter for Alvin in June 2016 and September 2017 respectively.
Alvin and Heidi have two daughters together with a son from his past marriage.
The son is believed to have a good relationship with Heidi. The whole family supports Heidi although she has repeatedly asked for a divorce.
Alvin refused to divorce because he didn’t want to break apart the family.
Mandy, Alvin and Heidi have been stuck in a love triangle for the past five years.
Since Mandy gave Alvin three kids, she has been hopeful that Alvin will leave his wife.
Alvin has promised to give Mandy an official title which she often pressured him about from time to time.
When nothing happened, she gave up and broke up with Alvin.
She was then given 300 million HKD as a breakup free and living expenses for her three children.
Mandy is rarely seen in public in recent years. It is reported that she is dedicated to taking care of her children abroad. /TISG
Photo: Taken from CNB website/ Drugs seized in CNB island-wide operation from 7 July to 12 July 2019.
A court in southern China sentenced a former politician from Japan to life imprisonment on Friday for attempting to smuggle drugs out of the country hidden in the soles of platform shoes.
76-year-old Takuma Sakuragi was caught at an airport in 2013 with 3.29 kilogrammes of methamphetamine hidden in the handle of his suitcase and in the soles of “women’s foam sandals” inside the case, according to a report published on an official court website.
Sakuragi, a former city councillor in Japan’s Aichi Prefecture, was attempting to fly from Guangzhou to Japan via Shanghai.
Sakuragi said at the trial that he had been asked to transport the suitcase to Japan by a Nigerian acquaintance, but had not known that it contained methamphetamine, Kyodo News reported.
Two other people, a Malian national identified on the court’s livestream page as Aly Yattabare and Guinean national Mohamed Soumah, were arrested by police weeks later and believed to have packed the drugs into the suitcase.
Police found another 18 grammes of methamphetamine in the two men’s homes, the report said.
Officials in the central Japanese city of Inazawa said at the time that Sakuragi had travelled to China for his private trading business.
The Guangzhou Intermediate People’s Court sentenced the men on Friday for smuggling drugs, sentencing Mohamed and Sakuragi to life imprisonment and Yattabare to death with a two-year reprieve, which generally means a life term.
China’s criminal law exempts most defendants 75 and older from the death penalty.
China’s foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said on Friday that China had already notified Japan’s consulate general in Guangzhou.
The sentencing comes a day after China jailed nine people for selling fentanyl to Americans in what a court in northern Hebei province described as the first successful joint US-Chinese probe related to the deadly opioid.
A scene of the Babri Mosque demilition in 1992 - YouTube Grab
Indian police have arrested more than 500 people ahead of a Supreme Court ruling on a hotly disputed religious site in the holy city of Ayodhya, media reports said, with authorities fearing the verdict could trigger unrest.
The decision on the future of the site claimed by both Hindus and Muslims is due by November 17 and thousands of paramilitaries have already been sent to the northern city.
Hindu hardliners want a temple built on the site, currently barricaded off decades after a 16th-century mosque there was demolished during 1992 riots that left 2,000 people dead.
Hindus believe the mosque was built over the site of the birthplace of their god Ram.
Security is being tightened across India in the run-up to the ruling and Uttar Pradesh state police chief O.P. Singh told the Economic Times that more than 500 arrests had been made.
“The main message to the police force is to maintain peace at any cost,” the newspaper quoted him as saying.
Most of the suspects were taken into custody while a further 70 people were detained over their social media posts, he said — warning the internet could be blocked in the region if required.
Singh added that police had also identified more than 10,000 people he described as “anti-social”.
A police spokesman declined to comment to AFP.
In recent years Ayodhya has become a rallying point for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ruling Hindu-nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Some senior BJP members are being tried separately over their role in the mosque’s 1992 destruction.
In 2010, a High Court divided the disputed land between Hindu and Muslim groups but both parties appealed to the Supreme Court which has since repeatedly put off a verdict.
Media reports say Modi has told ministers to refrain from making comments on the case that could fuel tensions.
For minority Muslims, the dispute and a recent clampdown in Muslim-majority Kashmir have become symbols of the hostility that they say they face from the government.
Hindus make up about 80 percent of India’s 1.3 billion population while there are about 200 million Muslims.
