Islamist threat forces Lady Gaga to cancel Jakarta concert

The US pop music artist Lady Gaga has cancelled a planned concert following a threat from an Islamist group. The group said it had purchased tickets and planned to create "chaos." 

The American pop star as Lady Gaga has cancelled a planned concert in the Indonesian capital, Jakarta, due to a threat to her security issued by an Islamist group.
"Lady Gaga's management has considered the situation minute to minute, and with threats if the concert goes ahead, Lady Gaga's side is calling off the concert," Minola Sebayang, a lawyer for the promotion company Big Daddy, told reporters in Jakarta. "This is not only about Lady Gaga's security, but extends to those who will be watching her."
Islamist threat
The decision came after a group called the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI), which has described the pop diva as a "devil's messenger" wearing nothing but a bra and panties, threatened to cause “chaos” if she entered the secular but mainly Muslim country.
The Islamic group reacted to the news with satisfaction.
"FPI is grateful that she has decided not to come. Indonesians will be protected from sin brought about by this Mother Monster, the destroyer of morals," Habib Salim Alatas, the head of the Jakarta branch of the Islamic group told the AFP news agency.
"Lady Gaga fans, stop complaining. Repent and stop worshipping the devil," he added, referring to thousands of messages on the website Twitter pleading with her to go ahead with the concert.
More than 50,000 tickets had been sold for the June 3 concert at Jakarta's Bung Karno Stadium. The promoters said those who had purchased tickets would get full refunds.
FPI planned to disrupt event
Among those who apparently had bought tickets were 150 FPI members. In a message posted on the social networking site Facebook, FPI spokesman Murhali Bard had written: "We have gotten Lady Gaga tickets … our target is to stop the concert."
There had been talk that Lady Gaga's managers was in negotiations with the local authorities to tone down her act, which features skimpy costumes, and sometimes provocative lyrics, for the Jakarta concert. On Thursday, her manager, Troy Carter told reporters in Singapore, an earlier stop on her Asian tour, that this was out of the question.
The fact that the concert has now been cancelled may be seen as a blow to Indonesia's reputation as a country which combines mainly moderate Islam with democracy and free speech.
pfd/msh (APE, AFP)

Messi

Lionel Messi  has been confirmed as the winner of the European Golden Shoe award for the continent's top scorer.

The mercurial Argentine scored an insurmountable 50 goals in Barcelona's La Liga campaign, finishing the season four goals ahead of the runnerup Cristiano Ronaldo.

A sublime run of nine goals in his final four league matches, including all the goals in the 4-0 win over Espanyol in Pep Guardiola's final home game, saw Messi surge past his Real Madrid rival to claim the accolade ahead of Ronaldo, who despite scoring in all of his last four league games, could not retain the Pichichi and European Golden Shoe honours he won last season.

Robin van Persie secured third spot by matching Arsenal legend Thierry Henry's record 30-goal haul in a single season. In his most prolific campaign for Arsene Wenger's side, the Dutch striker helped the Gunners secure Champions League football for the 15th consecutive season.

Klaas-Jan Huntelaar was the Bundesliga's highest scorer with a tally of 29 goals as he finished just two points shy of Van Persie. He in turn ended the same distance ahead of Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who became the first player to win the capocannoniere with two different Serie A clubs.

Wayne Rooney found the net 27 times for Manchester United but it was not enough to stop the Premier League title from going to his team's fiercest rivals, Manchester City. He scored the only goal as the Red Devils defeated Sunderland on the final day of the season to complete the campaign with 54 points.

That goal allowed him to move clear of Mario Gomez, who was unable to find the net on the final day of the Bundesliga despite his Bayern Munich side thrashing relegated Koln 4-1.

The remaining places were made up of four different players, each achieving a points total of 48. Burak Yilmaz and Bas Dost both scored an impressive 32 times for their respective clubs but finished lower in the rankings by virtue of playing in a lower-ranking league.

Radamel Falcao found the net on 24 occasions in La Liga in his debut season with Europa League champions Atletico Madrid while despite a disappointing campaign for Inter as a club, Diego Milito also racked up the same amount of goals.