Danny Puff

NEW YORK (AP) Reebok has ended its relationship with Rick Ross following heavy criticism of lyrics by the rapper considered by some to be pro-rape.

The sneaker brand said in a statement Thursday that "Reebok holds our partners to a high standard and we expect them to live up to the values of our brand. Unfortunately, Rick Ross has failed to do so."

Ross formally apologized for his lyrics on Rocko's song "U.O.E.N.O." in a tweet last week. It came the same day a women's group, UltraViolet, protested outside of one Reebok's stores in Manhattan.

In Rocko's song, Ross raps about giving a woman the drug MDMA, known as Molly, and having his way with her.

"Put Molly all up in her champagne, she ain't even know it, I took her home and I enjoyed that, she ain't even know it," he says.

The song was released in January, but just recently began getting widespread notice. Women's groups and rape victims have issued petitions.

In his apologetic tweet, Ross said his lyrics were misinterpreted. He said he doesn't condone rape and apologized for lyrics that were "interpreted as rape." A week prior, he said in a radio interview that "there was a misunderstanding with the lyric" and that he didn't use the term "rape."

Ross has appeared in a commercial for the Reebok Classic sneakers. The company says it does not believe that the Grammy-nominated rapper "condones sexual assault," but the company is not happy with how he has handled the situation.

"We are very disappointed he has yet to display an understanding of the seriousness of this issue or an appropriate level of remorse," the statement read. "At this time, it is in everyone's best interest for Reebok to end its partnership with Mr. Ross."

A message sent to Ross' representative was not immediately returned.

Rocko said in an interview with radio station Hot 97 on Wednesday that he his removing Ross' rap from his song. He said the backlash has "put him a position where I have to change" the song.

UltraViolet said in a statement Thursday that the group is "thrilled to hear that Reebok is joining the fight against rape culture and dropping Rick Ross."

"This sends a strong message that rapping about drugging and raping an unconscious woman is not only morally wrong, but has real consequences," the statement read.

Four of Ross' five albums have reached gold status, including last year's "God Forgives, I Don't," which earned a Grammy nomination for best rap album. His hits include "The Boss" and "Aston Martin Music," and he's collaborated with acts like Kanye West, Drake, John Legend and Nicki Minaj.

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Online:

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HELENA, Mont. (AP) The Montana man whose dog ate $500 says he's going to find a better place to stash his cash when he travels.

Wayne Klinkel tells the Independent Record (http://bit.ly/16TPFGC) he doesn't carry a wallet on his chiropractor's advice.

Sundance, his 12-year-old golden retriever, ate the bills during a visit the Klinkels' daughter in Denver last Christmas.

Sundance was left alone in the car with five $100 bills and a $1 bill when they stopped for dinner.

The dog dined on the $100 bills, but left the dollar.

Klinkel says he collected fragments from the dog's droppings. His daughter found more when the snow melted.

He says he washed the remnants of the bills and sent them taped together to the Treasury Department in hopes of having them replaced.

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By Kate Kelland, Health and Science Correspondent

LONDON (Reuters) - Robert Edwards, the scientist known as the father of IVF for pioneering the development of "test tube babies" for couples unable to conceive naturally, died on Wednesday aged 87.

The Briton, who won the Nobel medicine prize for his achievement in 2010, started developing in-vitro fertilization (IVF) in 1955 - work that culminated in 1978 in the birth of Louise Brown, the first so-called test tube baby.

More than 5 million babies have been born around the world as a result of the techniques that Edwards, known as "Bob" to his friends, developed with his late colleague Patrick Steptoe.

Edwards, who has five daughters and 11 grandchildren, said he was motivated in his work by a desire to help families.

"Nothing is more special than a child," he was quoted by his clinic as saying when he won his Nobel prize.

IVF is a process by which an egg is fertilized by sperm outside the body in a test tube, giving rise to the term "in vitro" or "in glass".

Working at Cambridge University in eastern England, Edwards first managed to fertilize a human egg in a laboratory in 1968. He then started to collaborate with Steptoe.

In 1980, the two founded Bourn Hall, the world's first IVF clinic, in Cambridge, where gynecologists and cell biologists from around the world have since come to train.

CRITICISM AND CONTROVERSY

Experts say that today, as many as 1 to 2 percent of babies in the Western world are conceived through IVF.

Yet Edwards' work and its consequences remain controversial. The Roman Catholic Church strongly opposes IVF as an affront to human dignity that destroys more human life than it creates - because scientists discard or store unused fertilized embryos.

Working together in the 1960s and 1970s, Edwards and Steptoe, a gynecologist, pursued their research despite opposition from churches, governments and many in the media, as well as skepticism from scientific colleagues.

"A lot of people go around saying they're pioneers, but this man really was," said Dr Mark Sauer, head of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility at Columbia University Medical Center in New York.

"What was unique about Bob is that he did this pioneering work at a time when it was immensely unpopular."

In the late 1970s and for years after, much of the public viewed test tube babies as "ghastly and scary", said Sauer.

"The Vatican tried to shut (Edwards and Steptoe) down. They did their work at great personal risk to their careers. But Edwards was a fighter, and he believed in what he was doing. He knew the human side of it" - the couples unable to conceive without medical help.

Edwards and Steptoe struggled to raise funds and had to rely on private donations, but in 1968 they developed methods to fertilize human eggs outside the body.

EARLY FLAWS

Working at Cambridge University, they began replacing fertilized embryos into infertile mothers in 1972. But several pregnancies spontaneously aborted due to what they later discovered were flawed hormone treatments.

In 1977, they tried a new procedure, which relied not on hormone treatments but on precise timing. On July 25 of the following year, the world's first IVF baby was born.

According to the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology (ESHRE), around one in six couples worldwide experience some form of infertility problem at least once during their reproductive lifetime.

Since Edwards' pioneering work, various forms of "assisted reproductive technology" have been developed, including intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) - a process by which an egg is fertilized by injecting it with a single sperm.

Martin Johnson, professor of reproductive sciences at Cambridge, said Edwards also wrote extensively about the ethics of assisted reproduction, and in 2000 founded the journal Reproductive BioMedicine Online to encourage rapid publication of research and to air controversies.

Dr. Zev Rosenwaks, Director of the Ronald O. Perelman and Claudia Cohen Center for Reproductive Medicine in New York, said Edwards had been "revered" in his field.

"The fact that he did not get the Nobel earlier must have reflected other forces," Rosenwaks said. Many of us wrote letters nominating him many years before he finally achieved it."

(Additional reporting by Sharon Begley in New York; Editing by Kevin Liffey)

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By Brent Lang

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) - Julie Taymor has reached a settlement in her ongoing lawsuit against the producers of the Broadway musical "Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark," the parties said Wednesday.

They did not release details of the settlement, but said that the agreement resolves all of the director's pending litigation.

"I'm pleased to have reached an agreement and hope for the continued success of Spider-Man, both on Broadway and beyond," Taymor said in a statement.

The lawsuit was technically settled for an undisclosed amount last August, but according to a report in the Hollywood Reporter, the parties had a hard time hammering out a final agreement. A trial had been scheduled for May.

Taymor, who is best known for her Broadway adaptation of "The Lion King" and iconoclastic Shakespearean film adaptations such as "The Tempest" (2011), was fired from the show over creative differences.

Getting "Spider-Man" to the stage was an ordeal, and the production inspired intense media coverage after it was beset by cost overruns and injuries to several cast members.

The budget eventually ballooned to a reported $75 million, making it one of the most expensive productions in Broadway history, although box office returns have been strong. Last week, "Spider-Man" grossed more than $1.4 million, a figure eclipsed only by mega-hits like "The Book of Mormon" and "The Lion King."

She had been seeking $1 million in back pay and royalties, arguing that her contributions to the show were not being acknowledged. She also alleged that her collaborators - a group that includes U2's Bono and the Edge - had undermined her by developing a rival script while she was ironing out production difficulties during the play's preview run.

In a statement, co-producers Michael Cohl and Jeremiah Harris of 8 Legged Productions said the resolution will allow them to concentrate on rolling out the show to other theaters and foreign markets.

"We're happy to put all this behind us," the pair said. "We are now looking forward to spreading 'Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark' in new and exciting ways around the world."

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By Mabvuto Banda

LILONGWE (Reuters) - The Malawi government has branded pop star Madonna an "uncouth" bully who exaggerates her charitable work in the country and demands preferential treatment when she visits.

Malawi President Joyce Banda's government accused the "Material Girl" of bullying officials after she complained about her latest trip to the southern African country this month.

"Among the many things that Madonna needs to learn as a matter of urgency is the decency of telling the truth," said an 11-point statement from Malawi's State House.

Media reports said Madonna and her children were forced to join a check-in queue and go through security with ordinary passengers at a Malawi airport when they left the country.

The "Holiday" singer dismissed Malawi's comments as "lies" in a statement on the website of her Raising Malawi foundation.

"I'm saddened that Malawi's President Joyce Banda has chosen to release lies about what we've accomplished, my intentions, how I personally conducted myself while visiting Malawi and other untruths," Madonna said.

Malawi said Madonna expected the government to be forever chained in an "obligation of gratitude" towards her for adopting two Malawian children and contributing to the construction of classrooms in the country.

"Kindness, as far as its ordinary meaning is concerned, is free and anonymous. If it can't be free and silent, it is not kindness; it is something else," the statement said. "Blackmail is the closest it becomes."

The singer said she came to Malawi seven years ago with honorable intentions and returned earlier this month to view the new schools built by her foundation.

"I did not ever ask or demand special treatment at the airport or elsewhere during my visit," Madonna said.

"I will not be distracted or discouraged by other people's political agendas. I made a promise to the children of Malawi and I am keeping that promise."

She said the disagreement was rooted in her history with President Banda's sister, Anjimile Mtila Oponyo, who once headed Raising Malawi. Oponyo was fired and sued the charity for wrongful termination.

The Malawi government said in its statement the current dispute had nothing to do with Oponyo, however.

"For her to accuse Mrs. Oponyo for indiscretions that have clearly arisen from her personal frustrations that her ego has not been massaged by the state is uncouth, and speaks volumes of a musician who desperately thinks she must generate recognition by bullying state officials instead of playing decent music on the stage."

(Writing by Paul Casciato; Editing by Sonya Hepinstall)

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NEW YORK (AP) Jay-Z is defending his recent trip to Cuba in a new song.

The rapper released "Open Letter" Thursday after two Florida Republican lawmakers critical of the trip questioned if the rapper's visit to Havana with wife Beyonce, which coincided with their fifth wedding anniversary, was officially licensed.

On the song, Jay-Z talks about his distaste for politicians and repeats the refrain, "Y'all gon' learn today."

Jay-Z raps: "Want to give me jail time and a fine? Fine, let me commit a real crime."

U.S. Treasury officials said Tuesday the couple's trip was licensed as an educational exchange after Cuban-American U.S. Reps Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and Mario Diaz-Balart expressed concerns about the trip and wanted to know if it was licensed.

Jay-Z and Beyonce are avid supporters of President Barack Obama. Jay-Z raps in his song, "Obama said, 'Chill, you gon' get me impeached, you don't need this (expletive) anyway, chill with me on the beach."

U.S. citizens aren't allowed to travel to Cuba for mere tourism, though they can obtain licenses for academic, religious, journalistic or cultural exchange trips. The so-called people-to-people licenses were reinstated under the Obama administration. Beyonce and Jay-Z marked their fifth wedding anniversary in Havana last week.

On the new song, the 17-time Grammy winner also addresses the Brooklyn Nets, which he owns less than 1 percent of. Jay-Z is selling his stake in the team so he can become certified as a player agent, a person with knowledge of the details said Wednesday.

"Would have bought the Nets to Brooklyn for free, except I made millions off of you (expletive) dweebs, I still own the building, I'm still keeping my seats," he raps.

Jay-Z also calls himself "the Bob Dylan of rap music" on "Open Letter," produced by Timbaland and Swizz Beatz.

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Online:

http://lifeandtimes.com/jay-z-open-letter

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AP Basketball Writer Brian Mahoney contributed to this report.

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LONDON (Reuters) - Former Beatle Paul McCartney's 680-million-pound ($1.04 billion) fortune put him at the top of a list ranking the UK and Ireland's richest musicians that also highlighted Adele as the wealthiest young music millionaire.

McCartney was followed closely by music and stage impresario Andrew Lloyd-Webber at 620 million pounds, Irish rock band U2 and singer Elton John in the Sunday Times Rich List 2013 to be published on April 21, an emailed statement from the paper said.

McCartney, 70, has topped all the charts for the country's wealthiest musicians since the Rich List began in 1989, when the former Beatle was worth just 80 million pounds.

Aside from starring roles at Queen Elizabeth's diamond jubilee as well as the closing and opening ceremonies for the London Olympics, McCartney's "On the Run" tour grossed $57 million from 18 dates in 2012.

His total was also boosted by wife Nancy Shevell's stake in her father's New England Motor Freight trucking operation.

Profits from Lloyd-Webber's hugely successful stage shows, such as "Phantom of the Opera", "Evita" and "Cats", helped to boost the composer and theatre owner's fortune to keep him in second place ahead of U2 at 520 million and "Candle in the Wind" singer John in third at 240 million pounds.

Rolling Stone Mick Jagger came joint fifth at 200 million pounds alongside former Spice Girl Victoria Beckham and her soccer player husband David Beckham.

Adele topped the 2013 Young Music Rich List of entertainers aged 30 and under with a 30 million pound fortune. With the continued worldwide success of her album "21", this was a 50 percent increase on the 20 million pounds which put the Oscar-winning singer-songwriter atop the list in 2012.

New entries to the youngsters' list, each worth 5 million pounds, included singer-songwriters Emeli Sand , aged 26, Ed Sheeran, 22, and all five members of boy band One Direction, Niall Horan, 19, Zayn Malik, 20, Liam Payne, 19, Harry Styles, 19, and Louis Tomlinson, 21.

One Direction have become Britain's richest boy band, with combined wealth of 25 million pounds. This puts them just 1 million pounds ahead of the combined wealth of the four members of JLS, Jonathan (JB) Gill, 26, Marvin Humes, 28, Aston Merrygold, 25, and Ortis Williams, 26, who now share a total fortune of 24 million pounds.

(Reporting by Paul Casciato; editing by Stephen Addison)

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TORONTO (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index fell for the first time in four sessions on Thursday as energy and mining stocks were hurt by declining prices and weak investor sentiment, while BlackBerry plunged on doubts about the company's recovery plan.

The Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index fell 53.54 points, or 0.43 percent, to 12,481.37.

(Reporting By Cameron French)

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PHILADELPHIA (AP) A grocery store employee said Thursday that he is thanking God and his belt buckle for saving him from a stray bullet that smashed through the market's front door.

The bullet lodged in the metal buckle worn by Bienvenido Reynoso, who had only recently started his job at 8 Brothers Supermarket in Philadelphia.

"It saved my life," Reynoso said of the belt. "I keep it for (my) whole life now."

Reynoso, 38, said he was about to wheel a hand truck outside the market in the city's Grays Ferry section when he heard gunshots around 4 p.m. Wednesday. He hit the floor.

Surveillance footage shows a man on a bike firing a gun outside the market. One person outside the store was hit in the abdomen and was hospitalized in critical condition, police said.

At first, Reynoso didn't realize he could have been a second victim.

"When I check my body, I don't see nothing, no blood, nothing," he said in an interview at his home Thursday. "And I said I'm going to be OK."

Then someone noticed a hole at the bottom of Reynoso's shirt. That's when he found the bullet stuck to his belt buckle.

Police took the bullet and shirt as evidence. But Reynoso, the father of a young daughter, got to keep the belt, which he said he got in New York three years ago.

Christian Vinas, 21, was working behind the counter and also dived to the ground when the shooting began. Reynoso had perfect timing in dropping to the floor, he said.

"That has to be God," Vinas said. "Out of all the places you could get hit in the body, you get hit right there. It was truly amazing."

Police arrested a 24-year-old suspect and charged him with attempted murder and aggravated assault.

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TORONTO (Reuters) - Shares of BlackBerry slipped about 8 percent on Thursday as analysts questioned whether the handset maker's turnaround plan would succeed in the brutally competitive smartphone market.

Discounting of the Z10, its recent handset meant to take on the likes of Apple Inc's iPhone and Samsung Electronics Co Ltd's Galaxy line, has also raised concerns, according to one trader.

BlackBerry launched its latest handsets based on its much delayed BlackBerry 10 operating system in January, but they started selling in the United States only in March.

Investors have been skeptical about the company's prospects of regaining its lost glory and stealing back market share in the U.S. market. The stock has lost a quarter of its value since hitting a 52-week high in January.

"(The) recent optimism surrounding the ability of the new BlackBerry 10 products to get BlackBerry back to long-term profitability will ultimately prove unwarranted," Pacific Crest analyst James Faucette wrote in a research note.

"We see a combination of market maturity, more aggressive pricing from competitors and smaller resources than those of competing ecosystems frustrating the comeback attempt," added the analyst, who has an "underperform" rating on the stock.

This followed a Credit Suisse note, which suggested that the surprisingly strong gross margins that BlackBerry reported last month may have been driven more by lower amortization levels and less by operational improvements.

The weakness in BlackBerry came amid the backdrop of a broad selloff in the technology sector, led by Microsoft Corp and Hewlett-Packard Co, after an influential tech research firm said personal computer sales plunged the most in two decades.

Options on the stock were busy as well, with 107,000 puts and 87,000 calls traded so far on Thursday afternoon, according to options analytics firm Trade Alert.

The weekly $13.50, $14 and $14.50 strike puts expiring on Friday after the close are among the most active contracts in BlackBerry, on concerns that the recent drop in the stock will continue, WhatsTrading.com options strategist Frederic Ruffy said.

BlackBerry shares were down at C$13.84 on the Toronto Stock Exchange. Its Nasdaq-listed shares were down 7.8 percent at $13.53 in afternoon trading.

(Reporting by John Tilak and Euan Rocha in Toronto, and Doris Frankel in Chicago; Editing by Bernard Orr)

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