Egyptian army to host unity talks as crisis deepens

CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt's army chief will host national unity talks on Wednesday, seeking to end a growing political and economic crisis in the Arab world's most populous nation.

The meeting scheduled for 1430 GMT was called in response to a wave of protests since President Mohamed Mursi awarded himself sweeping powers on November 22 to push through a new constitution shaped by his Islamist allies, which is due to go to a referendum on Saturday.

"We will not speak about politics nor about the referendum. Tomorrow we will sit together as Egyptians," armed forces chief and Defense Minister Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said at a gathering of army and police officials on Tuesday.

Mursi and the Muslim Brotherhood, which propelled him to power in a June election, were expected to attend, while the main opposition coalition said it would decide on Wednesday morning whether to participate. The opposition stayed away from an earlier reconciliation meeting called by Mursi last weekend.

The judiciary committee overseeing the vote decided late on Tuesday that the referendum would be conducted on two days instead of one, as previously planned.

"The committee had officially asked the President to issue a law approving that the referendum takes place on two stages on Saturday December 15 and Saturday December 22," Judge Mahmoud Abu Shousha, a member of the referendum judiciary committee, said. Voting for Egyptians living abroad starts on Wednesday.

"The reason for the splitting of the vote into two stages is due to a shortage of judges needed to supervise the ballot stations," another member of the committee, who asked not to be named, said.

Many judges had decided in a joint meeting on Tuesday to not supervise the vote on a constitution they say had divided the country into two groups.

Outside the presidential palace - where anti-Mursi protesters are demanding the Islamist postpone the vote on a constitution they say does not represent all Egyptians - there was skepticism tinged with some hope.

"Talks without the cancellation of the referendum - and a change to the constitution to make it a constitution for all Egyptians and not the Brotherhood - will lead to nothing and will be no more than a media show," said Ahmed Hamdy, a 35-year-old office worker.

But the fact that the army was calling such talks "is an indication to all parties that the crisis is coming to a head and that they need to end it quickly", he said.

Earlier, Finance Minister Mumtaz al-Said disclosed that a $4.8 billion International Monetary Fund loan, a cornerstone of Egypt's economic recovery hopes, would be delayed until next month because of the crisis.

The delay was intended to allow time to explain a widely criticized package of economic austerity measures to the Egyptian people, Said told Reuters.

REBUILD CONSENSUS

Prime Minister Hisham Kandil said the measures would not hurt the poor. Bread, sugar and rice would not be touched, but prices of cigarettes and cooking oil would go up and fines would be imposed for public littering. In a bid to rebuild consensus, he said there would be a public consultation about the program next week.

In Washington, the IMF said Egypt had asked for the loan to be postponed "in light of the unfolding developments on the ground". The Fund stood ready to consult with Egypt on resuming discussions on the stand-by loan, a spokeswoman said.

On the streets of Cairo, thousands of opposition supporters gathered outside the presidential palace to demand that Mursi postpone Saturday's referendum.

A bigger crowd of flag-waving Islamist Mursi backers, who want the vote to go ahead as planned on Saturday, assembled at two mosques and remained on the streets as night fell over the Egyptian capital. There were also protests in Alexandria and other cities.

The extended upheaval following the fall of Hosni Mubarak last year is causing concern in the United States, which has given Cairo billions of dollars in military and other aid since Egypt made peace with Israel in 1979.

State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland emphasized "deep concerns" over the situation in Egypt and repeated calls on protesters to demonstrate peacefully and on security forces to act with restraint. She declined to be drawn on whether Washington believed the referendum should be postponed.

The latest unrest has so far claimed seven lives in clashes between the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood and the opposition. But the Republican Guard has yet to use force to keep protesters away from the presidential palace, now ringed with tanks, barbed wire and concrete barricades.

(Additional reporting by Tamim Elyan and Edmund Blair in Cairo, and Andrew Quinn in Washington; Writing by Giles Elgood; Editing by Michael Roddy)

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Football: Bradford pile on the misery for woeful Arsenal

BRADFORD, United Kingdom: Arsenal defender Thomas Vermaelen missed the decisive spot-kick as League Two minnows Bradford City stunned the Gunners with a 3-2 penalty shoot-out triumph after a 1-1 draw in the League Cup quarter-finals on Tuesday.

Garry Thompson's volleyed strike after 16 minutes gave the underdogs a shock 1-0 lead at Valley Parade, but Arsenal thought they had got out of jail when Vermaelen netted three minutes from the end of normal time.

However, Bradford went on to win their ninth consecutive penalty shoot-out with Santi Cazorla and Marouane Chamakh missing the first two kicks for the Gunners before Vermaelen's blunder consigned Arsene Wenger's side to arguably the most humiliating loss of the Frenchman's 16-year reign.

Wenger, who has often opted to field a weakened side in this competition, decided to name eight of the players that had beaten West Bromwich Albion 2-0 in the Premier League on Saturday.

But there was no sign of any momentum from that win as Arsenal, looking totally out of sorts in temperatures that were below freezing when the game got under way, hit a new low in an already traumatic campaign.

Bradford forward Nahki Wells forced Wojciech Sczesny into an early save after breaching the visitors' backline and the home fans were soon celebrating as Thompson picked an opportune time to claim only his second goal of the season.

The former Morecambe and Scunthorpe attacker converted Gary Jones' free kick from the right as Bradford, in front of their biggest crowd at Valley Parade since 1960 of 23,971, threatened to cause a major cup upset.

Arsenal showed signs of improvement late in the half as French midfielder Francis Coquelin went close to his first goal for the Londoners, striking his left footed shot against a post from the edge of the area.

Gervinho then missed right in front of goal with Bradford goalkeeper Matt Duke beaten after Kieran Gibbs had set up the chance with a cross from the left.

The hosts could have been 2-0 up at half-time though as Wells slotted just wide of the post after James Hanson had headed on Duke's long kick.

Bradford, who had previously won on penalties at Premier League side Wigan in the last round, continued to defend in committed fashion at the start of the second half.

But Arsenal were not helping their cause as their wayward finishing continued when Aaron Ramsey sliced a shot wide after an incisive move from the visitors.

Gervinho was next to fire a shot well wide of its target and Wenger opted to send on Chamakh, Tomas Rosicky and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain as his side desperately searched for an equaliser.

Oxlade-Chamberlain immediately tested Duke from distance on 70 minutes, Arsenal's first shot on target in the entire game, but they could not find any momentum.

Bradford, who have already played a total of 31 matches this term, showed no signs of fatigue, defending in numbers as they tried to protect their lead.

Wilshere forced Duke into another save with a left footed shot from outside the area while Cazorla had a shot deflected wide.

But Arsenal eventually found a late equaliser two minutes from time with Vermaelen heading home from six yards out following Cazorla's cross from the left.

Cazorla could have won it for Wenger's team inside 90 minutes with two efforts that were kept out by Duke but the game went into extra-time.

Duke saved well from Gibbs and Oxlade-Chamberlain while Cazorla hit the crossbar in the second half of the added 30 minutes but the visitors could not find the goal to prevent penalties.

Cazorla's first kick was saved by Duke and then Chamakh hit the post.

Bradford missed penalties from Stephen Darby and Ritchie Jones, the latter, but Vermaelen hit the post with the final kick as the hosts reached the last four for the first time.

- AFP/ac

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Facebook Powerball hoaxer: Girlfriend wanted me to nix it

The triumphant pose.

(Credit:
Screenshot by Chris Matyszczyk/CNET)

You've probably not yet got over your disappointment that Nolan Daniels won't be giving you $1 million.

This is understandable. It's near Xmas and you've become rather excited about finally owning a four-bedroom McMansion with a Bilirubin-colored Lexus sitting outside.

Daniels -- for those who've been secreted in their panic rooms in preparation for Doomsday -- is the Arizona-based software engineer who faked (badly) a winning Powerball ticket and offered $1 million to one random person among those who would share his triumphant picture on Facebook.

Naturally, people's rapaciousness overtook their eyesight and more than 2 million clicked away on Facebook in the hope that fortune would kiss them.

Daniels seems to have secreted himself in his own panic room, as the kerfuffle threatened to become an online brawl. Now he has decided to speak to the Savannah Morning News, which originally broke the fascinating tale of modern perceptiveness.

He said he got the idea for his jape from another Facebook poster who had already tried it.

Next, he flexed his fingers and opened his Microsoft Paint. "I wasn't looking to make it authentic," he told the Morning News, offering an interesting advertisement for Microsoft's digital brushes.

Of course he was surprised at how many were duped. But then came the moment when he had to take a deep gaze inward.

Should he listen to his girlfriend and take the image down? Or should he listen to his co-workers and go for the record?

Not only is he a man, he's also a software engineer. Of course, he went for the record.

More Technically Incorrect

Once a record-breaker achieves his goal, though, then he thinks about the little people. And so it is with Daniels.

He has trawled through all the hard luck stories posted to his Facebook page, in search of ones that were moving -- and, most importantly, genuine.

He has chosen a Facebooker called Brooke Reeves-Charlton, who told him she has a brain disorder called Chiari malformation, as does her daughter.

Daniels explained that he chose her precisely because she was in need and not in greed -- and also because a friend of his also suffers from Chiari and his brother had once sustained a brain injury.

Reeves-Charlton had posted that she just wanted to pay her medical bills and give the rest to the American Syringomyelia & Chiari Alliance Project.

A slight drawback is that Daniels doesn't have $1 million to give her, so he's tried to find a way he can help raise money on her behalf.

Though he admits he can't verify her story entirely, he says he's done as much as he can to ascertain that her story is genuine. So he set up a GoFundMe account to raise money for Reeves-Charlton and her daughter.

As he wisely told the Morning News: "I can't just go on Facebook and say, 'Hey, I'm the guy who fooled you -- please give me $1 to help this other person."

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Report: Asian economies to be world's largest by 2030

WASHINGTONThe United States could see its standing as a superpower eroded and Asian economies will outstrip those of North America and Europe combined by 2030, according to the best guess of the U.S. intelligence community in its latest forecast.

"The spectacular rise of Asian economies is dramatically altering ... U.S. influence," said Christopher Kojm, chairman of the National Intelligence Council, as it released the report Global Trends 2030 on Monday.

The report is the intelligence community's analysis of where current trends will take the world in the next 15 to 20 years. Its release was timed for the start of a new presidential administration and it is aimed at helping U.S. policymakers plan for the future.

The report also predicted the U.S. will be energy independent.

The study said that in a best-case scenario, Americans, together with nearly two-thirds of the world's population, will be middle class, mostly living in cities, connected by advanced technology, protected by advanced health care and linked by countries that work together, perhaps with the United States and China cooperating to lead the way.

Violent acts of terrorism will also be less frequent as the U.S. drawdown in troops from Iraq and Afghanistan robs extremist ideologies of a rallying cry to spur attacks. But that will likely be replaced by acts like cyber-terrorism, wreaking havoc on an economy with a keystroke, the study's authors say.

In countries where there are declining birth rates and an aging population like the U.S., economic growth may slow.

"Aging countries will face an uphill battle in maintaining living standards," Kojm said. "So too will China, because its median age will be higher than the U.S. by 2030."

The rising populations of disenfranchised youth in places like Nigeria and Pakistan may lead to conflict over water and food, with "nearly half of the world's population ... experiencing severe water stress," the report said. Africa and the Middle East will be most at risk, but China and India are also vulnerable.

That instability could lead to conflict and contribute to global economic collapse, especially if combined with rapid climate change that could make it harder for governments to feed global populations, the authors warn.

That's the grimmest among the "Potential Worlds" the report sketches for 2030. Under the heading "Stalled Engines," in the "most plausible worst-case scenario, the risks of interstate conflict increase," the report said. "The U.S. draws inward and globalization stalls."

"This is not inevitable," said lead study author Mathew Burrows. "In most cases, it's manageable if you take measures ... now."

Such steps could include decreasing wasting resources like water and increasing the efficiency of food production, he said.

Technology is seen as a potential savior to head off some of this conflict, boosting economic productivity to keep pockets filled despite rising populations, rapid growth of cities and climate change.

Hand in hand with technology is cooperation between the competing states, the authors say. In the most plausible best-case outcome, the report said, "China and the U.S. collaborate," heading off global competition for resources that can lead to all-out conflict.

The report warns of the mostly catastrophic effects of possible "Black Swans," extraordinary events that can change the course of history. These include a severe pandemic that could kill millions in a matter of months and more rapid climate change that could make it hard to feed the world's population.

Two positive events are also listed, including "a democratic China or a reformed Iran," which could bring more global stability.

One bright spot for the U.S. is energy independence.

"With shale gas, the U.S. will have sufficient natural gas to meet domestic needs and generate potential global exports for decades to come," the report said.

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Syrian Ex-General: Assad Will Use Chemical Weapons

A former top general in Syria's chemical weapons program says he doesn't doubt for a moment that President Bashar al-Assad will deploy his chemical weapons arsenal as he tries to hold onto power and crush the uprising that started almost two years ago.

"The regime started to fall and deteriorate. It's coming to its end," said retired Major General Adnan Sillou in an interview in a hotel near Antakya, on Turkey's southern border with Syria. "It's highly possible that he'll start using [chemical weapons] to kill his own people because this regime is a killer."

Sillou told ABC News that until September 2008, he was chief of staff on the defensive side of the chemical weapons program. He said he was in charge of training soldiers against attacks and contact with the weapons, as well as procuring safety equipment to guard against them.

Courtesy Major-General Adnan Sillou

He listed mustard gas along with the sarin, VX and tabun nerve agents as the main elements in Syria's chemical arsenal, whose existence Syria doesn't even acknowledge. Foreign intelligence officials and analysts have focused on the first three as the main threats, and last week U.S. officials said there was evidence sarin had not only been moved, but its binary components, usually stored separately, had been combined and placed into bombs for use.

Sillou accuses Assad's forces of already spraying pesticides and dropping white phosphorous, claims also made by opposition activists.

"They're idiots, crazy. Simply they are killers," he said.

Sillou believes the regime could step it up to more serious chemical weapons if Aleppo, Syria's most populous city where fighting has raged for months, falls to the rebels.

In July, Sillou left Syria for Turkey almost four years after he said he retired from the military. Sillou told ABC News that in his last post, which he held for six years, he was second in command behind a man named Said Ali Khalil, a member of Assad's ruling Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shiite Islam.

After defecting, Sillou said he was debriefed by an Arabic-speaking agent from the Central Intelligence Agency in Turkey's capital, Ankara. The meeting lasted three hours and was the last contact he said he had with them or any other intelligence agency.

Fighting is raging around the capital, Damascus, notably on the airport road where rebels are trying to take the airport to hamper outside support and deal a highly symbolic blow to the regime. The uptick in violence near the seat of Assad's power has raised American fears that he could resort to using his chemical weapons.

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Cairo faces rival protests over constitution crisis

CAIRO (Reuters) - Opponents and supporters of Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi's plans to vote on a new constitution will take to the streets in central Cairo later on Tuesday, risking more violent confrontation after last week's deadly clashes.

Leftists, liberals and other opposition groups have called for marches to the presidential palace in the afternoon to protest against the hastily arranged referendum planned for Saturday, which they say is polarizing the country.

Islamists, who dominated the body that drew up the constitution, have urged their followers to turn out "in millions" the same day in a show of support for the president and for a referendum they feel sure of winning and that critics say could put Egypt in a religious straitjacket.

Seven people were killed and hundreds wounded last week in clashes between the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood and opponents besieging Mursi's graffiti-daubed presidential palace.

The elite Republican Guard has yet to use force to keep protesters away from the palace, now ringed with tanks, barbed wire and concrete barricades, but a decree issued by Mursi late on Sunday gives the armed forces the power to arrest civilians during the referendum and until the announcement of the results.

Leftist politician Hamdeen Sabahy, one of the most prominent members of the National Salvation Front opposition coalition, said Mursi was driving a wedge between Egyptians and destroying prospects for consensus.

As well as pushing the early referendum, Mursi has angered opponents by taking sweeping temporary powers he said were necessary to secure the country's transition to stability after a popular uprising overthrew autocratic former president Hosni Mubarak 22 months ago.

"The road Mohamed Mursi is taking now does not create the possibility for national consensus," said Sabahy.

If the constitution was passed, he said: "Egypt will continue in this really charged state. It is certain that this constitution is driving us to more political polarization."

The National Salvation Front also includes Nobel Peace Prize laureate Mohamed ElBaradei and former Arab League chief Amr Moussa.

The opposition says the draft constitution fails to embrace the diversity of 83 million Egyptians, a tenth of whom are Christians, and invites Muslim clerics to influence lawmaking.

But debate over the details has largely given way to noisy street protests and megaphone politics, keeping Egypt off balance and ill equipped to deal with a looming economic crisis.

Lamia Kamel, a spokeswoman for Moussa, said the opposition factions were still discussing whether to boycott the referendum or call for a "no" vote.

"Both paths are unwelcome because they really don't want the referendum at all," she said, but predicted a clearer opposition line if the plebiscite went ahead as planned.

Mahmoud Ghozlan, the Muslim Brotherhood's spokesman, said the opposition could stage protests, but should keep the peace.

"They are free to boycott, participate or say no; they can do what they want. The important thing is that it remains in a peaceful context to preserve the country's safety and security."

The army stepped into the conflict on Saturday, telling all sides to resolve their disputes via dialogue and warning that it would not allow Egypt to enter a "dark tunnel".

The continuing disruption is also casting doubts on the government's ability to push through tough economic reforms that form part of a proposed $4.8 billion IMF loan agreement.

(Writing by Edmund Blair; Editing by Will Waterman)

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Sembawang, Nee Soon retailers hit by fee hike

SINGAPORE: Already facing dwindling profits because of the shopping malls that have sprung up nearby, hundreds of heartland retailers in the Sembawang and Nee Soon Group Representation Constituencies will be hit by higher fees - the increase is up to four-fold - for using the demarcated areas outside their shops.

The fee hike, the first in 17 years for shopkeepers in the constituencies, will be implemented in April and some 630 businesses will be affected, according to the Sembawang-Nee Soon Town Council.

A visit by TODAY found that most shops use these Outdoor Display Areas - usually demarcated by yellow or red lines - to showcase their wares or to rent out to other businesses.

Responding to this newspaper's queries, a Sembawang-Nee Soon Town Council spokesperson said that fees for the outdoor advertising areas in neighbourhood or town centres will go up four-fold for Outdoor Display Areas that are between 1 and 8 sq m, from S$30 to S$120.

Similarly, the fees will increase from S$50 to S$240 for areas that are between 8.01 and 16 sq m.

For areas that are above 16 sq m, the retailers will have to pay S$20 per sq m, instead of the current S$100 flat fee.

The new fees in other parts of the estate are half that in the neighbourhood or town centres. Previously, the town council charged the same fees for all outdoor advertising areas, regardless of location.

Even though operating costs have increased substantially, the fees charged by the Sembawang-Nee Soon Town Council have "lagged substantially behind" other town councils, its spokesperson said. "After the review, the (fees) will range from S$2 to S$8 a day, still amongst the lowest in Singapore," she said.

Mr Lee Aik Chin, 60, who runs an IT services business at Woodlands Centre, said he will stop using the Outdoor Display Area outside his shop because of the hike. He said he was unhappy that the town council did not explain the rationale of the fee increase to the retailers.

Mr Edmund Wong, who owns Guan Chuan Chan Medical Hall, currently pays S$600 a year for about 9.3 sq m of outdoor advertising area.

With the fee hike, he will have to pay about S$3,000 a year. He will continue to pay for the space as it is "a way to attract customers".

"Business has been bad ... with the current circumstances, it makes it harder for us," said Mr Wong.

The fee hike by Sembawang-Nee Soon Town Council comes after Tampines Town Council raised its fees in September by 150 per cent for shops in the neighbourhood and town centres, and doubled the fees for shops in other parts of the estate.

- TODAY

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Instagram improves camera, editing and adds new filter

Instagram new iOS app.

(Credit:
Instagram)

Instagram rolled out new apps today with promises of a better camera, scaling and cropping functions, control over the blurring of photos and -- of course -- another filter.

The company touted its upgrades in a blog post , highlighting the camera's new features for iOS. This includes an Instagram-themed shutter and shutter release button, a preview of the most recent photo on the camera roll, a grid guide for the scale and crop and screen, and for those using the iPhone 5, an improved camera roll image selector.

Another improved feature, tilt-shift, allows for more precise blurring and a "vastly more realistic rendering of depth of field," boasts Instagram.

The new filter, called Willow, is a black and white filter "with subtle purple tones and a translucent glowing white border. This filter works well on portraits, still life and architecture photographs with contrast," according to the post.
Android users will also get access Willow in the latest update released today.

It's just more ammo for Instagram as it continues to wage its filtered photo wars against other companies trying to take a shot at its action.

Instagram recently disabled the ability for its photos to show up on Twitter. This was after news leaked of Twitter's plans to start adding a way to add filters to photos directly from the Twitter app. Coincidentally, Twitter launched its new feature today.

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Jihadis make certain a messy endgame in Syria

(CBS News) Syrian rebels on Sunday night ramped up their assaults on Damascus, the capital, and Aleppo, the country's largest city.

The U.N.'s peace envoy met with U.S. and Russian diplomats in Moscow again, trying to broker a ceasefire, and there's growing concern over al Qaeda's influence in the rebel ranks.

Video said to show the aftermath of a Syrian air strike provides graphic evidence of a life and death battle which high level diplomats say "is bad and getting worse."

Despite its air power, the Assad regime appears increasingly on the defensive against rebel forces which, according to Israel's ambassador to the U.S., Michael Oren, include a growing number of radical Islamists.

"The jihadi presence is big and getting bigger and the longer the conflict goes on there the bigger it will get," Oren said.

U.S., Russia, U.N. envoy in talks on Syria
Syria's civil war could approach a turning point
Syria war, and diplomacy to end it, intensify

The jihadis are an offshoot of al Qaeda in Iraq, which once fought a no-holds-barred battle against American troops. According to Jeffrey White, a former analyst for the Defense Intelligence Agency, they are now turning the tide against the Assad regime.

"They are very good fighters. They give the rebels a combat edge. They're quite willing to die. They fight on all the key fronts. They're involved in many of the key actions, many of the successful actions of the rebels. These are not people that we want to win," White said.

With the rebels making inroads on Damascus itself, monitoring of Syrian bases where chemical weapons are stored has detected evidence the Assad regime may be preparing to use them in a last-ditch attempt to save itself, an act the Obama administration has warned could trigger military intervention. Worst case scenarios are threatening to become reality.

"It's not going to be a clean outcome in the best of circumstances and now it will be chaotic and messy," White said.

The U.S. has been helping to organize the opposition's military command and later this week is expected to officially recognize its political leadership. What impact that will have on the outcome of the civil war remains to be seen.

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Remains of Banda Superstar Jenni Rivera's Jet Reported Found

UPDATED: Multiple reports, including one from Gerardo Ruiz Esparza, Mexico's Secretary of Communications and Transports, claim that the remains of the private jet carrying Jenni Rivera have been found, with no survivors. Rivera, 43, was one of seven passengers.

Rivera's parents are believed to be en route to Mexico. Her brother, fellow singer Lupillo Rivera, and eldest daughter Chiquis have still not made any statements.

Celebrity reactions on Twitter have poured in since news of the disappearance of Rivera's jet, including Paulina Rubio (who was set to co-host the Mexican edition of The Voice with Rivera) William Levy, Joan Sebastian, Ricky Martin, and others.

Mexican officials have confirmed the disappearance of a private jet carrying regional Mexican music superstar Jenni Rivera that took off from the northern Mexican city of Monterrey at 3:15 a.m. local time on Sunday and fell off the radar 10 minutes (or 62 miles) after take-off.

The Learjet 25 jet is believed to have been carrying seven people – five passengers and two pilots. It was headed for Toluca International Aiport, located outside of Mexico City, where it was meant to arrive at 4:40 a.m. An official search for the jet was initiated at sunrise.

Rivera's publicist Arturo Rivera and her make-up artist Jacob Yebale are believed to have been on that flight. Their most recent tweets are of photos from Rivera's concert in Monterrey on Saturday night.

The Mexican American singer's most recent tweet is a re-tweet of what appears to be a fan's message.

Rivera was due in Toluca this evening for the taping of a Mexican TV show, La Voz. Televisa has canceled tonight's show given Rivera's disappearance.

Known as La Diva de la Banda and beloved by fans on both sides of the border, Rivera, 43, has had a groundbreaking career in regional Mexican music, selling some 15 million records. Among her many feats in a male-dominated genre, she made history in September 2011 when she sold out the Staples Center in Los Angeles, the first female regional Mexican artist to do so. Her reality show on mun2, I Love Jenni, is one of the network's highest rated shows. Rivera made her film debut at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival in the indie family drama Filly Brown, due in theaters in January 2013.

See Also: 'Filly Brown Gives Jenni Rivera a Chance to Grow and Gina Rodriguez a Chance to Shine

The Long Beach, Calif.-born singer's personal life has often called for as much attention as her career. A mother of five, Rivera had filed for divorce from baseball player Esteban Loaiza in October after two years of marriage, citing "irreconcilable differences." Soon after, rumors of an affair between Loaiza and Rivera's own daughter Chiquis surfaced, which Chiquis addressed on Twitter in October by saying, "I would NEVER do that, Ever! That's a horrible accusation."

The search for Rivera's jet continues. This is a developing story.

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