Simpson, Ross marry
Evan and Ashlee tie the knot at Evan’s mother, Diana Ross’ Connecticut home . Ashlee’s sister, Jessica serves as maid of honor while close friends and family attend. Evan Ross:
Yeah, she’s the one, it’s amazing. I’m so in love and we’ve got amazing things going on. And we inspire each other. So it’s cool.
Wade, Union marry
Wade and Union get married in Miami in front of an intimate crowd of family and friends. John Legend performs at the ceremony and the bride wears a Dennis Basso gown. Union asks everyone to wear white to their wedding. Wade wears a customized Dsquared2 bowtie from The Tie Bar and a boutonniére by Floral Fix. This is the second marriage for both Wade and Union.
McCarthy, Wahlberg marry
McCarthy and Wahlberg marry at the historic Hotel Baker in St. Charles, Illinois, outside of McCarthy’s hometown. McCarthy wears a gown that was purchased at Berdorf Goodman. This is the second marriage for both.
I could get married in Kentucky Fried Chicken. I don’t care as long as the heart is in the ceremony.
Simpson, Ross marry
Simpson weds Evan Ross, son of Diana Ross, in Greenwich, CT. The event is held at Diana Ross’s personal estate. The wedding is planned by The Supremes, who also perform during the reception. Simpson’s older sister Jessica Simpson serves as her matron of honor and Ashlee’s son, Bronx, leads her down the aisle. Simpson wears a pearl-embellished dress, which she accessorizes with Neil Lane rubies and diamonds.
New York Times commentary
Kerry calls for a global coalition against ISIS in a New York Times op-ed:
No decent country can support the horrors perpetrated by ISIS, and no civilized country should shirk its responsibility to help stamp out this disease. Coalition building is hard work, but it is the best way to tackle a common enemy.
The group’s foreign recruits pose an international threat:
ISIS’ cadre of foreign fighters are a rising threat not just in the region, but anywhere they could manage to travel undetected — including to America […] They have already demonstrated the ability to seize and hold more territory than any other terrorist organization, in a strategic region that borders Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey and is perilously close to Israel.
The U.S., which takes over the UN Security Council presidency in September, should lead the coalition but its contributions – including airstrikes – are not enough on their own:
In this battle, there is a role for almost every country. Some will provide military assistance, direct and indirect. Some will provide desperately needed humanitarian assistance for the millions who have been displaced and victimized across the region. Others will help restore not just shattered economies but broken trust among neighbors. This effort is underway in Iraq, where other countries have joined us in providing humanitarian aid, military assistance and support for an inclusive government.
Ice Bucket Challenge: Conor Maynard
Maynard accepts the ALS challenge and nominates homas Whitnell, Dj Charlesy and Nathaniel Tonez Fuller.
Ice Bucket Challenge: MotoGP
MotoGP accepts the ALS challenge from Silverstone circuit and nominates Hertz, WorldSBK and the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli.
Beheading video of Kurdish fighter
ISIS releases a video apparently showing the beheading of a Kurdish fighter, as a warning to Kurds. Titled ‘A Message In Blood,’ it begins by showing what appear to be a group of 15 Kurdish peshmerga fighters captured in Iraq. The men are sitting and standing in front of an ISIS flag inside a small room with makeshift walls and blue mats lining the floor. An earlier shot shows the captured men still in uniform and peshmerga fighter Hassan Mohammed Hashin reads a prepared statement to Kurdish leaders:
You have made a huge mistake by joining hands with America.
The footage then cuts to a sandy roadside. The Great Mosque of Mosul is visible in the background as three armed, black-clad militants stand behind a kneeling captive. A fighter delivers a speech:
In the name of God, peace be upon him. I have two messages: the first one is for the dog of Roman, the jerk Obama, how did you send your nation and soldiers again to Iraq, did you forget the thousands of dead Americans who you gave them as a sacrifice for wars? Did you forget thousands of images of corpses, deformed and those people who still suffer? Did the economy of America recovered from its crises to get into a new one? But the second message is for the servant of the Jewish Mas’od, this is the destiny of one of the militants, and others who you sent to Muslims unless you finish your work with the Jewish and your alliance with the Crusaders.
The militant then unsheathes a knife from his belt, tilts the capitve’s head back, and begins to decapitate him. The video shows only a brief shot of the execution. It ends with ISIS fighters parading in APCs in Mosul, brandishing flags and weapons.
New York Times op-ed
McCain and Graham criticize Barack Obama’s approach to the conflict:
The president clearly wants to move deliberately and consult with allies and Congress as he considers what to do about ISIS. No one disputes that goal. But the threat ISIS poses only grows over time. It cannot be contained. It must be confronted. This requires a comprehensive strategy, presidential leadership and a far greater sense of urgency.
A comprehensive approach would include military actions in Syria:
But ultimately, ISIS is a military force, and it must be confronted militarily. Mr. Obama has begun to take military actions against ISIS in Iraq, but they have been tactical and reactive half-measures. Continuing to confront ISIS in Iraq, but not in Syria, would be fighting with one hand tied behind our back. We need a military plan to defeat ISIS, wherever it is.
The U.S. must support Kurdish peshmerga, Sunni tribes, moderate forces in Syria and effective units of the Iraqi security forces with arms, intelligence and military assistance, but avoid supporting Iranian troops. Supplying more assets, troops, resources and time could involve revising the Authorization for Use of Military Force, and employing an Afghanistan-like approach. They say other presidents successfully changed their tactics in response to the Soviet Union, Balkans and Iraq:
ISIS presents Mr. Obama with a similar challenge, and it has already forced him to begin changing course, albeit grudgingly. He should accept the necessity of further change and adopt a strategy to defeat this threat. If he does, he deserves bipartisan support. If he does not, ISIS will continue to grow into an even graver danger to our allies and to us.
Ice Bucket Challenge: Hyatt Colleagues
Hyatt Regency Colleagues accept the ALS challenge.
Ice Bucket Challenge: Three Days Grace
Three Days Grace accepts the ALS challenge and nominates Jeff Begoon, Ashley Wright and Brad Wallace.
Ice Bucket Challenge: Nintendo
Nintendo accepts the ALS challenge and nominates all of the Nintendo staff.
In induced coma
Rivers is in a medically-induced coma at St. Sinai Hospital in New York. Melissa Rivers:
Mom is resting comfortably.
Becomes NXT General Manager
WWE announces Regal as new NXT General Manager.
NXT Takeover began to take shape this week, starting with the announcement of NXT’s new General Manager —William Regal! The ring veteran wasted no time in making an impact, signing a huge main event for the live WWE Network special.
Ice Bucket challenge: Aisha Tyler
Tyler accepts the ALS challenge from LeVar Burton, Angelica McDaniel, Jerry Howard, and various fans and nominates The Talk, Julie Chen, Sharon Osbourne, Sarah Gilbert, Sheryl Underwood, castmates on Who’s Side is it Anyway, Wayne Brady, Colin Murphy, Ryan Stiles and the cast of Archer.
Ice Bucket Challenge: Kenny Garrett
Garrett accepts the ALS challenge and nominates Henry Holland, Barbra Streisand and Clyde Davis.
Ice Bucket Challenge: David Garrett
Garrett accepts the ALS challenge from Carmen Nebel, Ticketmaster Germany, Alexander Posth, Kay Gundlack and Jörg Kollenbroich and nominates Alexander Bongartz and Elke Krüger.
Ice Bucket Challenge: Cousin Sal
Jimmy Kimmel sent his cousin Sal around the office with a bucket of ice to nominate any one he wanted.
Ice Bucket Challenge: Karen Gillan
Gillian accepts the ALS challenge and nominates Matt Smith.
Hospitalized in Las Vegas
Roberts is hospitalized in Las Vegas, Nevada, Reports claim Roberts passed out on an airplane and has been unconscious since that event. Roberts is reportedly suffering from double pneumonia.