J-Hud Has Another Gig Lined Up
Jennifer Hudson, coming off a smashing performance of the National Anthem at the Super Bowl on Sunday, has announced another venture back into the public spotlight, which will be only her second since her mother, brother and nephew were slain in October. She will perform at the 40th NAACP Image Awards on Feb 12. The 27-year-old Oscar winner was well received at the NFL championship game in Tampa. 

Halle and Gabe Want More Babies
Halle Berry and Gabriel Aubry are planning on having a brother and sister for Nahla Ariela, the couple’s only child, People.com reported Monday. “She needs a sibling,” Aubry told People at Monday’s Callaway Golf Foundation Challenge at the Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades, Calif., to benefit the Entertainment Industry Foundation. “I think it’s important. …”I’ve never known anybody who’s had a single child [and] I’ve always been around big families. I believe in big families.” So what does Berry think about this? “She’s okay with it,” he said. “Absolutely.” Read more at Entertainment Spotlight.

Bomb blasts, gunmen kill scores in India. A series of attacks in public places (including hotels and a crowded train station) across the Mumbai, India is responsible for killing least 100 people and wounding at least 200, reports The Associated Press. The attacks started late Wednesday and continued into Thursday morning. Gunmen invaded luxury hotels in the city specifically targeting foreigners, reports say. “They were talking about British and Americans specifically. There was an Italian guy, who, you know, they said: ‘Where are you from?’ and he said he’s from Italy and they said ‘fine’ and they left him alone,” said a British man who was in one of the hotels when they were attacked. “I thought: ‘Fine, they’re going to shoot me if they ask me anything’ – and thank God they didn’t,” Alex Chamberlain said. He managed to escape. After they started shooting, they took hostages at the luxury hotels Taj Mahal and Oberoi. The gunmen, heavily armed, also opened fire on the police headquarters in Mumbai. “The terrorists have used automatic weapons and in some places grenades have been lobbed, the encounters are still going on and we are trying to overpower them,” a senior policeman told the AP. They also attacked a crowded train station in southern Mumbai and popular Leopold’s restaurant. A group named Deccan Mujahideen has taken responsibility for the attacks. While there is no clear motive, Mumbai has been a frequent target for terrorist attacks, which police say Muslim militants are behind. In July of 2007 bomb explosions killed 187 people in Mumbai. Just in September, bomb blasts in a park and shopping areas in New Delhi killed 21 people and wounded about 100. Since 2005, altogether almost 700 people have been killed during terrorist attacks. India is more than 80 percent Hindu, so officials in the country believe the attacks by the Muslim minority (about 14 percent) are an attempt to destabilize the nation.
Nigerian babies die after taking tainted syrup. Contaminated teething syrup is behind the deaths 25 Nigerian babies, who were only between 3 months and 4 years old, reports the BBC. Nigeria’s National Agency for Food, Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) closed down the syrup’s manufacturer, Barewa Pharmaceuticals. According to the agency, the syrup, called My Pikin, contained diethylene glycol, which is an ingredient used in engine coolant and anti-freeze. It caused kidney failure in the children. Vomiting, diarrhea, fever and convulsions were a few of the symptoms the children had when they took the syrup, said the NAFDAC. They first got word of the contamination on Nov. 19 and took action to confiscate the syrup a couple of days later. “NAFDAC officers nationwide have been directed to mop up all batches of the offending drug from circulation,” the head of the agency said, also requesting that mothers stop using the syrup.

Death and 6,000 sick Chinese babies trigger investigation. China will step up testing of livestock feed as its seeks to root out use of a chemical blamed for killing three babies and sickening thousands who drank tainted milk powder, state media said Thursday. Melamine, a chemical normally used in plastics, was illegally mixed into the milk powder but the increased testing of the livestock feed indicates government concern over a problem in the wider agricultural sector. The nation’s top product-quality watchdog on Wednesday gave urgent instructions to its various departments to increase tests for melamine in feed and feed additives, Xinhua news agency said. Authorities have found melamine in the products of 22 dairy companies. Spot tests for feed exporters in “key regions” were also planned, it said. Melamine is widely used in China to give livestock feed the appearance of higher protein content, past foreign media investigations have found. Last year, the chemical hit the headlines when melamine-laced food additives produced in China and later used in pet foods were blamed by U.S. officials for the deaths of dogs and cats across the United States. A recall of several pet-food brands in the United States resulted. But the worst reported use of melamine in China became public last week when it emerged the chemical was being added to baby milk formula. China said Wednesday more than 6,000 babies had fallen ill and three had died from kidney failure after drinking milk powder contaminated with melamine. Authorities have found melamine in the products of 22 dairy companies.