Justin Timberlake Performing at Grammy Awards

After seven years of waiting, Justin Timberlake has finally announced he will be taking the stage once again, and quite the stage it is. The Sexy Back singer is set to perform at this year's 55th Annual Grammy Awards.

RELATED: Beyonce and J.T. to Collaborate

This will be the six-time Grammy winner's first performance in four years on the awards show stage, and will also be his first televised act since announcing the release of his new album, 20/20 Experience, out on March 19.

Timberlake, 31, is in good company. Other artists set to hit the stage include: Adele, Dierks Bentley and Miranda Lambert, the Black Keys, Fun., the Lumineers, Mumford & Sons, Rihanna, Taylor Swift, Carrie Underwood and Jack White, as well as Elton John and current nominee Ed Sheeran performing live together for the first time.

RELATED: Listen to Timberlake's New Song

The Grammys air Sunday, Feb. 10 on CBS.

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Gabrielle Giffords, NRA official to testify at gun-control hearing before Senate Judiciary Committee

WASHINGTON — Wounded former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords was appearing as an unscheduled witness Wednesday at the year's first congressional hearing on curbing gun violence, adding drama to a session that was already slated to hear from a top official of the National Rifle Association.

Giffords, an Arizona Democrat who suffered a severe head wound in a 2011 Tucson shooting spree that killed six people, was not expected to take questions, according to a Senate aide who revealed the details only on condition of anonymity because they had not been announced.

AFP/Getty Images

Gabrielle Giffords in May

The dramatic juxtaposition between the NRA and a famous shooting victim set the stage for the hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee, whose own members are divided in a microcosm of the debate that gun limits will face on their way through Congress. The hearing is a response to the Dec. 14 shooting rampage that killed 20 first-graders and six adults at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., and transformed gun control into a top-tier issue in the capital.

"The time has come to change course," Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., one of Congress' leading gun-control advocates, said Tuesday. "And the time has come to make people safe."

Feinstein, a Judiciary Committee member, has already introduced her own legislation banning assault weapons and magazines of more than 10 rounds of ammunition.

Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, said he would listen to proposals and agreed that reviewing the issue was timely.

"But I'm a strong supporter of the Second Amendment," he said Tuesday, citing the constitutional provision that describes the right to bear arms, "and I don't intend to change."

The chairman of the panel, Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., said little Tuesday about the direction his committee's legislation might take. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., indicated that whatever the committee produced wouldn't necessarily be the final product, saying the package would be debated by the full Senate and senators would be allowed to propose "whatever amendments they want that deal with this issue."

Despite the horrific Newtown slayings, it remains unclear whether those advocating limits on gun availability will be able to overcome resistance by the NRA and lawmakers from states where gun ownership abounds. Question marks include not just many Republicans but also Democratic senators facing re-election in red-leaning states in 2014. They include Max Baucus of Montana, Mark Begich of Alaska and Mark Pryor of Arkansas.

Knowing that television cameras would beam images of the hearing nationally, both sides were drumming up supporters to attend Wednesday's session.

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Tablets take their screen tests

Screen quality is critical to a great tablet, and in 2012 we saw the quality of tablet screens advance in leaps and bounds, especially in terms of clarity. Here are our favorites.

Barnes & Noble Nook HD

Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5 (Very good)

The good: A light, comfortable design with a sharp screen and a well-implemented user profiles feature. Books, videos and magazines look great and the microSD slot takes some of the sting out of the lack of internal storage.

The bad: App, movie, TV show and game options are thin and there’s no native music service. It’s missing some typical tablet features and 8GB is low for the price. Fingerprints easily sully the screen.

The cost: $199

The bottom line: The Barnes & Noble Nook HD can’t match competing tablets in media library breadth, but as long as you’re not looking for bells and whistles, its sharp screen and comfortable body make it an ideal tablet choice for books and magazines.

Asus Transformer Pad Infinity TF700

Rating: 4 stars out of 5 (Excellent)

The good: High-resolution screen rivals the new iPad’s display in sharpness and clarity. Also, apps launch quickly, GPS works well and its rear camera is the best we’ve seen on any Android tablet. The tablet’s body has the same great thin and light design as the Prime.

The bad: So far, not enough Android apps take advantage of the TF700’s higher pixel count. Also, its battery life isn’t as good as the Prime’s.

The cost: $479.88 to $590.37

The bottom line: The Asus Transformer Pad Infinity TF700 is one of the fastest Android tablets out there, combining an already proven design with a better camera, a faster processor, and a beautiful screen.

Google Nexus 10

Rating: 4 stars out of 5 (Excellent)

The good: A beautifully sharp screen is light, durable and has the fastest processor of any Android tablet. Photo Sphere is an incredibly cool concept. Google’s content ecosystem is only getting better.

The bad: The included charger isn’t fast enough to power the battery while playing a game; even while idle, it charges painfully slowly. There’s no storage expansion option, and apps that take full advantage of the screen are currently few and far between. Navigation isn’t quite as smooth as on the Nexus 7.

The cost: $399

The bottom line: The Nexus 10’s superior design and swift performance make it one of the best Android tablets to date. We expect post-launch updates from Google to make it even better.

Apple iPad (fourth generation)

Rating: 4.5 stars out of 5 (Outstanding)

The good: A6X processor adds extra system speed and graphics power. Improved worldwide cellular compatibility makes the LTE model a more appealing proposition. And the iOS App Store remains best in class, with the widest selection.

The bad: The fourth-gen iPad is otherwise identical to its recent predecessor — same size, weight and Retina Display screen. It’s heavy to hold in one hand, and most older accessories won’t work without investing in a pricey Lightning adapter.

The cost: $499 to $539.99

The bottom line: The latest iPad adds several tweaks and improvements to secure its position at the top of the tablet heap. It’s better all around, but third-gen owners don’t need to upgrade.

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Related developers find themselves in court over tactics

His company on trial over its tactics in a controversial condo project, Jorge Pérez, the celebrated developer, found himself on the witness stand Monday answering to an unexpected foe: Jorge Pérez, the author.

Pérez, the chairman of the Related Group, testified in the trial of a lawsuit brought against his company by The Vizcayans, a fundraising and support group for the Vizcaya Museum and Gardens. The Vizcayans have accused Pérez’s company of secretly manipulating the zoning process at Miami City Hall to win approval in 2007 for a three-tower condo project next to Mercy Hospital in Coconut Grove — forcing the Vizcayans to spend more than $1 million in legal fees in its successful effort to kill the project.

The Vizcayans, who objected to the project because it would have intruded on the views from the historic property, have also accused the developers of quietly buying the approval of two local neighborhood associations by offering them $8 million in exchange for their support.

William Davis, a lawyer for the Vizcayans, questioned Pérez about the arrangement by citing passages from Pérez’s 2009 book, Powerhouse Principles: The Ultimate Blueprint for Real Estate Success in an Ever-Changing Market (foreword by Donald Trump). In the book, Pérez discussed his efforts to build the Mercy Hospital project, and said his team decided to keep the payments to the neighborhood groups secret because “we gave them a lot of money,” and he feared other groups would ask for more if they got wind of it.

Pérez sheepishly conceded that he didn’t exactly write his book — it was the work of a ghostwriter with whom he worked.

“They were my thoughts interpreted by a person that was writing,” he said.

Davis also tried to hoist Pérez on one of his powerhouse principles from the book: “neutralize the opposition.”

He suggested that Related sued the Vizcayans seeking public records in an effort to harass them. Pérez denied the allegation and said he had no recollection of that lawsuit.

Pérez insisted that there was nothing sinister about the deals with the neighborhood groups; he said the payments to the groups were simply a routine practice his firm follows when it seeks community support for its projects.

“I’m doing that on probably 10 projects right now,” Pérez said.

Yery Marrero, the president of the Natoma Manors homeowners’ association, told jurors that her group supported the condo project not because of the promise of money, but because they thought the condos would prevent Mercy Hospital from expanding and bringing even more traffic to their already congested neighborhood.

“Our issue in our neighborhood is traffic,” Marrero told jurors. “Per day we have so many cars going through there.”

The Vizcayans’ lawyers have portrayed the payments as part of a larger scheme to win over the Miami City Commission, which had to endorse zoning and land-use changes for the condo project. They have accused Related’s staffers, lawyers and lobbyists of working behind the scenes to essentially rig the commission vote.

In one January 2007 email, a Related vice president told Pérez that they had confirmed the votes of three commissioners in favor of the condo deal — days before the first public hearing on the project.

The City Commission ultimately approved the project in a 3-2 vote. But following a suit from The Vizcayans, an appeals court later overturned the decision, finding that the city ran afoul of state zoning laws and that then-Mayor Manny Diaz had improper contact with Pérez during the veto period after the vote.

Diaz is expected to testify Tuesday.

Related’s lawyers, John Shubin and Israel Reyes, have asked Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Daryl Trawick to throw out the case, saying The Vizcayans have failed to prove that the developers set out to deliberately harm the nonprofit.

The developers’ lawyers also called Miami Mayor Tomás Regalado as a witness Monday. Regalado, who was on the commission at the time of the 2007 vote, said he never heard anything suggesting that the developers were trying to harm The Vizcayans.

Shubin said the Vizcayans are wrongly seeking to punish the developers for simply petitioning the government for a zoning change.

“This is all about petitioning activity,” Shubin said. “They can’t even cite to you a case that looks remotely like this one that has been brought.”

Pérez took his day on the witness stand with good humor. “I’m glad someone is reading my book,” he said when his testimony ended.

The trial, now in its fourth week, is expected to end this week.

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Children’s magazine promotes adult video games

LONDON (Reuters) – A British magazine distributed by a joint venture of Conde Nast and Hearst Corporation and aimed at primary school children has been featuring images of adult-rated video games.

The most recent issue of Cool Kidz, which is published by privately-owned LCD Publishing, contained images of five games that carried age ratings of 18 years, under the European gaming industry’s PEGI rating scheme.

Screenshots appeared as double-page spreads, for use as posters, and were reproduced in spot-the-difference and other puzzles. Earlier issues also had images from 18- and 16-rated games.

Children’s campaigners said the images reflected a growing problem of young children being exposed to violent video games, thereby increasing the chance they start playing them earlier.

It also highlighted what some critics describe as an apparent gap in regulation of children’s magazines since LCD does not appear to have broken any law or industry rule.

LCD Publishing, which is based in Exeter, southwest England, said it took its responsibilities to young readers seriously.

“We censor the images we use to ensure that there is no blood or apparent body damage,” owner Allen Trump said in an emailed statement.

He said the images used were suitable for children 12 or older, although he added the magazine was targeted at children up to 12 years.

The pictures printed depicted life-like computer generated images of men carrying weapons including assault rifles, Bowie knives, an axe, an anti-tank weapon and pistols.

The images showed explosions but not the visceral, bloody combat or scenes of a sexual nature for which the games are frequently criticized by parents’ groups and women’s rights advocates.

Cool Kidz is distributed by Comag, which is controlled by privately-owned U.S. magazine publishers Conde Nast, owners of Vogue magazine, and the Hearst Corporation, owner of Cosmopolitan magazine.

All three groups declined repeated requests for comment.

London-based Comag is one of the largest magazine distributors in the UK with annual turnover of around 230 million pounds ($ 360 million), according to its most recent accounts.

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Trump said LCD downloaded the game images from the Internet although he was also occasionally approached by public relations firms seeking coverage of their clients’ games.

Games publishers regularly post images on their websites, for use by online and print publishers, thus helping create awareness of their game.

Games firms contacted by Reuters said they were unaware Cool Kidz, which has been published for seven years, had been using their images.

The adult games Cool Kidz featured included Hitman: Absolution, Call of Duty Black Ops II, Assassins Creed III, Farcry 3 and Dishonored.

Representatives for Japan’s Square Enix, publisher of the Hitman series, privately-owned Bethesda Softworks, publisher of Dishonored, and Ubisoft Entertainment, publisher of Assassins Creed III and Farcry 3, said they opposed the use but declined to say whether they would take any legal action against LCD.

Call of Duty publisher Activision declined to comment.

Alison Sherratt, senior vice-president of teachers union ATL, said publishers and government needed to do more to limit children’s’ exposure to games.

“It puts peer pressure on children .. If they see these images, it gives them the idea it’s ok, it’s all right to play these games,” she added.

A spokeswoman for the Advertising Standards Authority said games companies could not advertise 18 rated games in children’s magazines and a spokesman for the Video Standards Council (VSC), the UK affiliate of PEGI, said its rules also prohibited this.

However, since the images were not paid-for advertising, or supplied to Cool Kidz by the games publishers, these rules do not apply.

The Press Complaints Commission can adjudicate on complaints against magazines but only in respect of its members. LCD is not one.

The Office of Fair Trade and the Professional Publishers Association, trade group for magazine publishers, said they were unaware of any bodies that had regulatory powers over the content of children’s magazines.

(Reporting by Tom Bergin; Editing by Jon Boyle)

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Justin Bieber Releases Breakup Song

Taking a note from Taylor Swift, Justin Bieber released a new breakup track on Monday that many are speculating is dedicated to his ex Selena Gomez. Off his Believe Acoustic album, the lyrics are certainly blaming the other person for the split.

The lyrics read: "Lately I've been thinking, thinking about what we had / And I know it was hard, it was all that we knew, yeah / Have you been drinking, to take all the pain away? I gave you everything babe / Well, everything I had to give / Girl, why would you push me away?"

Click HERE to give the song a listen and let us know: Is Bieber singing about Selena?

RELATED: Selena Gomez Addresses Her Dating Life

Bieber's Believe Acoustic was released today, Jan. 29.

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Soldier describes Afghan firefight against Taliban after helmet cam video goes viral

The gripping video has been seen by more than 23 million people on YouTube and the soldier behind the helmet cam is speaking out.

Pfc. Ted Daniels was fighting Taliban forces in Kunar, Afghanistan when his team came under fire in the remote province, according to CBS News.

On the video, Daniels can be heard telling his team that he was "moving down."

WARNING: GRAPHIC LANGUAGE

The soldier said that he purposely made himself a target to protect the seven other men in his unit, according to the report.

"You know, tactically, it was not a sound thing to do. But I also remember Murphy's Laws of Combat. If it's stupid, but works, it isn't stupid," Daniels told the station.

With the firefight raging around him, Daniels is seen continuing his downward trek.

On the video, Daniels is heard crying out "I'm hit - help me!" after his gun was shot out of his hand.

"It was almost like if you took an aluminum baseball bat and hit a metal pole with it," Daniels said. "That's what my hand felt like. I was actually afraid at first to look down at my hand, wanted to make sure I still had all my fingers and everything else."

Daniels was peppered with fragments after shots hit nearby rocks. Then his camera battery died.

Daniels said he then ran down the hill to rejoin his unit.

"A round had hit the corner of my eye protection," Daniels said. "They blew right off of my face. And I had another round skip off the side of my Kevlar helmet."

Daniels said it was a mistake that the video ended up going viral online but that, in the end, "We made it. We made it, you know. We all made it out and we all made it to fight another day. It felt good."

In an interview with the Washington Post, Daniels said he had a difficult time watching the video at first.

“I don’t know if I held it together, but I tried to,” he told the Post. “I put my a-- on the line for other guys. I still functioned even though I was scared to death.”

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Miami Herald Business Plan Challenge opens for entries

Entrepreneurs, please don’t let the name of our contest scare you.

As we launch our 15th annual Miami Herald Business Plan Challenge today, we are putting out our annual call for entries. But we aren’t looking for long, laboriously detailed business plans. Quite the contrary.

More and more, today’s investors in very early stage companies want to see a succinct presentation of your concept and how you plan to turn it into a success. We do, too.

If you have a business idea or an operating startup that is less than two years old, you can enter the Challenge, our annual celebration of South Florida entrepreneurship. Sponsored by the Pino Global Entrepreneurship Center at Florida International University, our contest has three tracks — a Community Track, open to all South Floridians; an FIU Track, open to students and alumni of that university; and a High School Track, co-sponsored by the Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship.

Your entry may be up to three pages and you may attach one additional page for a photo, rendering, diagram or spreadsheet if you wish. Think of it as a meaty executive summary. Experts in all aspects of entrepreneurship — serial entrepreneurs, executives, investors, advisors and finance specialists (see judge bios on MiamiHerald.com/challenge) — will judge your short plan. In doing so, they will be looking at your product or service’s value to the customer, market opportunity, business model, management team and your marketing and financial strategies. See the rules on page 22, which also include tips on preparing your entry.

Your entry is due by 11:59 p.m. March 11. Entries should be sent to challenge@miamiherald.com, fiuchallenge@miamiherald.com or highschoolchallenge@miamiherald.com.

Don’t worry, we’re here to help!

“Frame your business from your customer’s perspective and not yours. Rather than diving into a detailed explanation of your product or service, a more compelling way to tell your business story is to clearly share the problem that you are solving for your customers and how your business is different, better, faster, cooler, cheaper, smarter,” says Melissa Krinzman, managing director of Venture Architects and a veteran Challenge judge.

On Feb 26 at 6:30 p.m. at Miami Dade College, we’ll host a free Business Plan Bootcamp, where you can bring your working plan with you for advice from experts, including Krinzman. Find the sign-up link on MiamiHerald.com/challenge.

And each week in Business Monday and on MiamiHerald.com/challenge, we’ll be bringing you advice and answering your questions. You can post your questions on the Q&A on MiamiHerald.com/challenge or email your questions to me at ndahlberg@miamiherald.com. Follow @ndahlberg on Twitter.

The top six finalists in the Community and FIU Tracks will present their 90-second elevator pitches for our popular video contest. Last year our People’s Pick contest drew more than 18,000 votes.

On May 6, in a special section of Business Monday, we will profile the winners — the judges’ top three selections in each track plus the People’s Pick winners. Along the way, we will unveil semifinalists and finalists to keep the suspense building.

Today, though, we are looking back on the entrepreneurial journeys of our 2012 winners. Funding was a nearly universal challenge, and many faced setbacks in developing their platforms. Throughout the entry period, we’ll also look back on other winners from the past 14 years.

Show us what you’ve got. Let’s make this the best Challenge yet.

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Power suit: Monroe County sued by Keys residents for $10 million over no electricity to island

Four No Name Key residents filed a $10 million discrimination lawsuit against Monroe County Thursday in Circuit Court.

Jim and Ruth Newton, along with Robert and Julianne Reynolds, allege the county has for years willfully denied the Lower Keys island commercial power without proper cause. Currently homes there are powered by solar and generators.

"The county has a long history of discrimination against that island and the residents and its very flagrant. And if it's not discrimination, it's ignorance," Reynolds said Friday.

The crux of the plaintiffs' argument is Chief Circuit Court Judge David Audlin's ruling in 2011 that the state Public Service Commission has jurisdiction over the matter, not the county.

That ruling came about from a county filing asking Audlin to decide whether county law allows commercial electricity on No Name. County officials say the law doesn't allow it and that it can't issue permits for it.

The suit concentrates on Monroe County fighting the installation of 62 Keys Energy Services power poles last year, as well as a 2001 county ordinance creating a coastal barrier overlay district prohibiting commercial utilities in federal coastal barrier areas.

Congress created the Coastal Barrier Resource System in 1982, and updated it in 1990, to protect undeveloped coastal barrier areas.

The lawsuit also addresses the Newtons' controversial application last year for an electrical building permit from the county. Originally granted, it was revoked when county officials realized their home is on No Name.

In addition to the $10 million in damages -- which Reynolds called a "low" number-- the plaintiffs want Audlin to void the county's coastal barrier overlay district law and grant homeowners electrical permits.

"If you knew what this has done to the friendships and relationships there ... it's pretty much the only thing they think about and talk about. I don't know what the value of my peace of mind is, but in my mind it's pretty significant," Reynolds said.

He's owned a house on No Name since 2005.

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Megan Hilty They Just Keep Moving The Line Smash First Look Clip

NBC delighted the Bombshell-loving world by releasing the first hour from Smash's two-hour premiere online earlier this month, and now, with only 8 days to go until the second season premieres in full, ETonline scored an exclusive clip of Megan Hilty slaying a new song!

RELATED - The Smash Cast Takes You Inside Season Two

While I won't reveal the jaw-dropping turn of events that lead to Ivy Lynn performing the rousing They Just Keep Moving The Line, I'm thrilled to be presenting the world premiere of the song, which is featured on the upcoming Bombshell album, in stores February 12.

VIDEO - First Look at Smash Season Two

And you better get used to having Smash-induced goosebumps covering your body, because the reinvigorated second season truly capitalizes on the potential the musical showed in brilliant bursts throughout season one. The drama is dishier, the songs are catchier and the characters are coming into their own like never before!

Watch ETonline's exclusive clip from the February 5 premiere of Smash (9 p.m. on NBC) and click here to pre-order Bombshell: The New Marilyn Musical from Smash, available February 12.

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