NEW YORK: Pop superstar and new mother Janet Jackson said Monday she will resume a tour after a nearly two-year break as she confirmed separating from her husband.
Jackson, who had abruptly suspended a tour in 2015 amid the surprise news she was pregnant, announced 56 concerts across North America later this year.
In an online message to fans, Jackson voiced gratitude for her 4-month-old son Eissa and acknowledged splitting with her third husband, Qatari tycoon Wissam Al-Mana.
“Yes, I separated from my husband, we are in court, and the rest is in God’s hands,” said the 50-year-old younger sister of late king of pop Michael Jackson as she lay on a pillow. Jackson has been discreet since marrying Al-Mana, whose company sells luxury fashion brands across Gulf Arab countries and who is estimated to be worth $1 billion.
Jackson in her video said she was changing the name of her tour which was initially called “Unbreakable” after her 2015 album, her first since her brother’s death.
The tour — to begin on Sept. 7 in Lafayette, Louisiana and close on Dec 17 in Atlanta — will now be called “State of the World.”
“It’s not about politics. It’s about people, the world, relationships and, just love,” Jackson said.
The reasons behind Jackson’s separation remain murky, with one tabloid saying Al-Mana had been too controlling but other reports saying the split was amicable.
Al-Mana has publicly declared his love for Jackson, recently voicing hope that “we will be together in the Great Forever.”
“To the most beautiful person in the world, thank you for your divine love, your eternal support and for being my best friend,” he wrote on his website.
After child and separation, Janet Jackson resumes tour
After child and separation, Janet Jackson resumes tour
Fans bid farewell to Japan’s only pandas
TOKYO: Panda lovers in Tokyo said goodbye on Sunday to a hugely popular pair of the bears that are set to return to China, leaving Japan without the beloved animals for the first time in half a century.
Loaned out as part of China’s “panda diplomacy” program, the distinctive black-and-white animals have symbolized friendship between Beijing and Tokyo since the normalization of diplomatic ties in 1972.
Some visitors at Ueno Zoological Gardens were left teary-eyed as they watched Japan’s only two pandas Lei Lei and Xiao Xiao munch on bamboo.
The animals are expected to leave for China on Tuesday following a souring of relations between Asia’s two largest economies.
“I feel like seeing pandas can help create a connection with China too, so in that sense I really would like pandas to come back to Japan again,” said Gen Takahashi, 39, a Tokyo resident who visited the zoo with his wife and their two-year-old daughter.
“Kids love pandas as well, so if we could see them with our own eyes in Japan, I’d definitely want to go.”
The pandas’ abrupt return was announced last month after Japan’s conservative premier Sanae Takaichi hinted Tokyo could intervene militarily in the event of any attack on Taiwan.
Her comment provoked the ire of Beijing, which regards the island as its own territory.
The 4,400 lucky winners of an online lottery took turns viewing the four-year-old twins at Ueno zoo while others gathered nearby, many sporting panda-themed shirts, bags and dolls to celebrate the moment.
Mayuko Sumida traveled several hours from the central Aichi region in the hope of seeing them despite not winning the lottery.
“Even though it’s so big, its movements are really funny-sometimes it even acts kind of like a person,” she said, adding that she was “totally hooked.”
“Japan’s going to be left with zero pandas. It feels kind of sad,” she said.
Their departure might not be politically motivated, but if pandas return to Japan in the future it would symbolize warming relations, said Masaki Ienaga, a professor at Tokyo Woman’s Christian University and expert in East Asian international relations.
“In the future...if there are intentions of improving bilateral ties on both sides, it’s possible that (the return of) pandas will be on the table,” he told AFP.
