The News Of …

Ken Norton, who fought three memorable fights with Muhammad Ali, breaking his jaw in winning their first bout, then losing twice, and who went on to become the World Boxing Council heavyweight champion, died Wednesday in the Las Vegas suburb of Henderson, Nev. He was 70.
His death was confirmed by his son Ken Jr., an assistant coach with the N.F.L.’s Seattle Seahawks and a pro linebacker for 13 seasons – The Associated Press said. Norton had been in poor health for several years after sustaining a series of strokes – The A.P. reported.

Ken Norton.

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Talk about the New York Jets and New England Patriots behind their backs in Battle Red Blog’s open thread for tonight’s AFC East tilt on Thursday Night Football.
The undefeated New York Jets travel face the undefeated New England Patriots in a battle of two AFC East juggernauts teams tonight on Thursday Night Football. Sure – we’re only entering the second week of the season, but the Jets have already exceeded many pundits’ expectations for their 2013 campaign.
“Thanks, Lavonte David!” says every Jets fan.

NFL Thursday Night Football.

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Julius Thomas announced his presence to the NFL world (and to fantasy football owners everywhere) with a pair of touchdown catches against Baltimore. Thomas, who had all of one catch for five yards prior to Thursday night, hauled in four passes for 97 yards in the first half alone.
His first touchdown came on a nice double move, as Peyton Manning pump-faked and then dropped one in over the defense to a wide-open Thomas. On the second Thomas victimized rookie Ravens safety Michael Huff and his partner in the secondary, James Ihedigbo.
“They’re just singling that guy” – Broncos coach John Fox said of Thomas. “They’re covering all our other targets, so we’re going to continue to go to him as long as they do that.”

Julius Thomas.

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Scarlett Johansson is engaged to her beau, journalist Romain Dauriac, PEOPLE has learned exclusively.
“They’re engaged and very happy” – a source says of the couple. A rep for the actress had no comment.
The proposal occurred about a month ago. The ring is a vintage Art Deco style.
Earlier this week, Johansson (28) was spotted wearing the diamond stunner while in Italy promoting her new sci-fi movie Under the Skin at the Venice International Film Festival.

Scarlett Johansson and her ring.

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Kate Upton has officially been crowned 2013′s Model of the Year. The Sports Illustrated model will accept the honor Wednesday at the 10th Annual Style Awards – E! News reports.
She also appears on Vanity Fair’s 100th anniversary cover, and gives an interview in which she defends the work ethic of American females!
“I’m not going to name names, but one agency told me: ‘You’re too American, and everybody knows American women are lazy,” she told the magazine. “I was so offended! I’ve never been so offended! I was like, ‘You know that you’re in America, right?’ And it wasn’t ‘American models’ — it was ‘American women are lazy,’ period! I feel like a lot of women would disagree with that. A lot!”

Vanity Fair October 2013 – Kate Upton.

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Tommy Morrison, the hard-punching heavyweight with boy-band good looks who once beat George Foreman and starred in the Rocky franchise before falling ill in recent years (all the while denying he was HIV positive) died on Sunday at a hospital in Nebraska. Morrison (who was nicknamed “The Duke”) was 44.
Morrison’s death was confirmed by his wife, Trisha to the mixed martial arts website, “MMA Dirty,” which reported he died of “respiratory and metabolic acidosis and multiple organ failure.” His death was also confirmed by Morrison’s long-time promoter, Tony Holden to the Associated Press.

Tommy Morrison.

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Today would have been Michael Jackson’s 55th birthday. Though the King of Pop died four years ago at the age of 50 – Twitter was full of birthday greetings and retrospectives of the late singer.
Also – producer Timbaland hinted at a new project that could include Jackson’s vocals. In a teaser initially posted on YouTube’s Revolt TV channel, Timbaland talked about being approached by Epic Records executive L.A. Reid about a project that “would be like two kings working together.” Timbaland never mentions Jackson’s name, but the singer’s image appears throughout the clip, which has appeared in several third-party versions since the original was removed from YouTube.

Michael Jackson.

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Catherine Zeta-Jones and Michael Douglas are taking a break from their marriage.
A rep for Zeta-Jones confirms to CNN that the Hollywood power couple are in the middle of “evaluating” their relationship.
“Catherine and Michael are taking some time apart to evaluate and work on their marriage” – the rep said, declining to offer further comment.
Zeta-Jones and Douglas tied the knot in November 2000 and have stuck together through sickness and health.

Catherine Zeta Jones and Michael Douglas.

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The New York Times Web site was unavailable to readers on Tuesday afternoon after an online attack on the company’s domain name registrar. The attack also forced employees of The Times to take care in sending e-mails.
The hacking was just the latest of a major media organization, with The Financial Times and The Washington Post also having their operations disrupted within the last few months. It was also the second time this month that the Web site of The New York Times was unavailable for several hours.
Marc Frons, chief information officer for The New York Times Company, issued a statement at 4:20 p.m. on Tuesday warning employees that the disruption: which appeared to be affecting the Web site well into the evening: was “the result of a malicious external attack.” He advised employees to “be careful when sending e-mail communications until this situation is resolved.”

New York Times.

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It seems like only yesterday — OK, it was only yesterday, that the biggest question about the the MTV Video Music Awards was whether *NSYNC would appear.
Though the venerable 90′s boy-band did indeed grace the stage during Justin Timberlake’s medley performance, the “Bye Bye Bye” revival has been overshadowed by a very different act from the Aug. 25 show – Miley Cyrus’ performance of her dance hit “We Can’t Stop” and her duet with Robin Thicke on his “Blurred Lines.” Though much of the set merely expanded on imagery from the songs’ music videos, it was enough to drive the online conversation for much longer than is usual for a few minutes of a cable-TV awards show.

Miley Cyrus.

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