Daily Mail op-ed: No conflict with mother-in-law
After The Daily Mail reports George Clooney’s future mother-in-law does want Clooney to marry her daughter, Amal, because of religious differences, and the actor responds in an op-ed:
First of all, factually none of the story is true. Amal’s mother is not Druze. She has not been to Beirut since Amal and I have been dating, and she is in no way against the marriage, but none of that is the issue…The irresponsibility, in this day and age, to exploit religious differences where none exist, is at the very least negligent and more appropriately dangerous.
After the op-ed was published, The Daily Mail removed the article from its website, The Mail Online, and issued a statement:
The MailOnline story was not a fabrication but supplied in good faith by a reputable and trusted freelance journalist. She based her story on conversations with a long standing contact who has strong connections with senior members of the Lebanese community in the UK and the Druze in Beirut. We only became aware of Mr. Clooney’s concerns this morning and have launched a full investigation. However, we accept Mr. Clooney’s assurance that the story is inaccurate and we apologize to him, Miss Amal Alamuddin and her mother, Baria, for any distress caused.
UN Goodwill Ambassador
UN Women, the UN’s gender-equality entity, names Watson the new Goodwill Ambassador. Watson will work on the organization’s women’s-empowerment campaign, HeForShe, and is the first to be appointed under the leadership of Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, the Under Secretary-General and executive director of U.N. Women. Mlambo-Ngcuka believes that Watson’s “intellect and passion” embodies the values of U.N. Women, and that her experience promoting girls’ education in countries such as Bangladesh and Zambia, will help spread the organization’s mission.
Women’s rights are something so inextricably linked with who I am, so deeply personal and rooted in my life that I can’t imagine an opportunity more exciting. I still have so much to learn, but as I progress I hope to bring more of my individual knowledge, experience and awareness to this role.
Donates to Houston housing project
Beyonce’ donates $7 million to a Houston, TX low-income housing project. The 43-unit apartment complex, which has been named Knowles-Temenos Place offers housing to low-income and homeless individuals. Pastor Rudy Rasmus:
She’s an incredible human being. Has an incredible heart and has been extremely helpful in our mission and our ministry here.
Cole, Fernandez-Versini marry
Cole secretly marries Fernandez-Versini after a three-month romance. The couple marry on a beach in Mustique. The X Factor judge’s mother Joan and PA Lily England are two of the guests on the white sands of Macaroni Beach, and it is also thought her brother Garry was present for the occasion. Cole:
I usually do not discuss my personal life but to stop the speculation I want to share my happy news. Jean-Bernard and I married on 7/7/14. We are very happy and excited to move forward with our lives together.
Retweet donation raises over $150K
Ver creates a donation program for Ulbright’s legal fund:
I’ll give $10 to @Free_Ross for each RT. If guilty, he’s a hero. If innocent, he needs help.http://freeross.org/
The post quickly receives over 15,000 retweets, or around $150,000, which Ver pledges will be give to the Free Ross Ulbright campaign. In a statement to Coin Telegraph:
I think that each individual owns their own body, and has the absolute right to put whatever they want into it. The police, judges, and jail guards who lock people in cages for ingesting substances without the permission of strangers, are the ones committing evil and need to stop. If Ross Ulbricht is DPR and helped facilitate the these voluntary interactions, he is a hero for helping provide the technology that allowed peaceful people to ignore the violent threats from strangers calling themselves politicians and law enforcement. If Ross is falsely accused, and was not DPR, then he deserves the best defense money can buy. Either way, he deserves the support of anyone who is opposed to the war on drugs.
WSJ op-ed
Swift writes opinion editorial piece for the Wall Street Journal. Swift covers her opinion on where the music industry be decades from now, album sales and the power of fans. Swift says she is very optimistic about the industry overall.
There are many (many) people who predict the downfall of music sales and the irrelevancy of the album as an economic entity. I am not one of them. In my opinion, the value of an album is, and will continue to be, based on the amount of heart and soul an artist has bled into a body of work, and the financial value that artists (and their labels) place on their music when it goes out into the marketplace.
Vergara, Manganiello dating
The actress and actor, Manganiello, are now dating according to sources. Manganiello:
She’s got the curves, she’s got a beautiful face, beautiful hair, just gorgeous. Naturally beautiful. She’s feisty!
Dave Legeno dies at 50
Legeno dies after a desert hiking incident. Legano’s body is discovered by hikers and removed from the scene by helicopter. The Sheriff’s Department reads:
The remains have been identified as David Legeno, a 50-year-old United Kingdom man. It appears that Legeno died of heat related issues, but the Inyo County Coroner will determine the final cause of death. There are no signs of foul play.
Newcomers cast
From an open casting call that was held by Abrams, two new castmembers join the Star Wars: Episode VII project – Crystal Clarke and Pip Andersen. In their official press release, StarWars.com says:
Crystal Clarke is an American actress studying in Glasgow, UK, who has both stage and screen acting experience and is soon to be seen in her first feature,The Moon and the Sun (to be released in 2015). British actor Pip Andersen is a skilled practitioner of parkour, a discipline that involves propelling oneself through any given environment with incredible grace and agility.
No information has surfaced yet about the characters that these two actors will be portraying.
Red Cross reports 22 dead
The Red Cross reports that on July 5, 2014, 22 people were killed in Hindi in Lamu county and Gamba in Tana River. Al Qaeda-linked al-Shabab militants from Somalia are claiming responsibility for the attacks. Police say 13 people were killed in Hindi, and in Gamba nine others were killed and one person is missing.
Holland Marysia Walker Hartington born
Hansen and Hartington welcome Holland Hartington into the world. She weighs 5 lbs 5 oz. Hansen’s rep:
Holland is healthy, precious and sure to love cars just like her mom!
Mulaney, Tendler marry
Mulaney and Tendler get married. Instead of wedding gifts, the couple asked the wedding guests to donate to the Innocence project. Along with a photo of the couple, Mulaney writes on his Instagram:
July 5, 2014. On a beautiful and perfect day, I married a beautiful and perfect woman. I wish I could live it over and over again. (taken by @jessepafundi).
Simpson, Johnson marry
Simpson ties the knot with Johnson at the San Ysidro Ranch in Montecito, California. Simpson wears a custom Carolina Herrera dress and exchanged vows in front of more than 250 guests. The couple’s son, Ace, who just turned 1, serves as a ring bearer and their daughter, Maxwell, 2, walks down the aisle as a flower girl.
We are overwhelmed with complete happiness and love having made our eternal commitment.
Simpson, Johnson marry
The singer, 33, marries Johnson, 34, at San Ysidro Ranch in Santa Barbara, California. Simpson wears a custom Carolina Herrera gown. The couple’s son, Ace, who just turned 1, serves as a ring bearer and their daughter, Maxwell, 2, walks down the aisle as a flower girl.
To say ‘I do’ in front of family, friends and, most importantly, our children has been the happiest moment of our lives.
Hardy, Riley marry
Hardy marries Charlotte Riley at the 18th century castle Chateau de Roussan in Provence. Rachel Speed, Tom’s ex-girlfriend and the mother of his six-year-old son Louis, was also in attendance at the couple’s nuptials. A source:
It was a beautiful, low-key day made even more special because they just had their closest friends and family around them. Tom’s son Louis played a key role during the ceremony and they made certain to pick a stunning and private setting.
Perez, Valerio marry
Perez and Valerio get married in the Dominican Republic. After the ceremony, the couple go to the Caribbean for their honeymoon.
This is the happiest and most blessed moment in our lives.
Lecpetex botnet destroyed
Facebook works with Greek police to take down Lecpetex, a botnet affecting 50,000 Facebook accounts and 250,000 computers worldwide. Victims receive a private message with an executable file in a .zip folder. When run, the program harvests login credentials or uses the computer’s power to mine cryptocurrency. The botnet is able to infect so many people because it constantly changes to evade Facebook’s threat detection measures:
Over the last seven months we saw the botnet operators experiment with different social engineering tactics, including embedding Java JAR files, using Visual Basic Scripts (VBS), and creating malformed ZIP archives and Microsoft Cabinet files (CAB) . . . The files used in the spam messages were also refreshed frequently to evade anti-virus vendor detection.
Anderson, Salomon divorce
The actress files for divorce only six months after marrying Rick Salomon a second time. She cites irreconcilable differences as her reason for filing. Anderson’s rep states,
We ask the media to please respect Pamela and her family’s privacy during this time
Man dies at VA hospital
A man collapses and dies at a VA hospital in Albuquerque, New Mexico, while waiting for an ambulance. The man collapsed in the cafeteria, approximately 500 feet from the hospital’s emergency room. Officials are confirming that the man died after waiting more than 30 minutes for the ambulance to arrive to take him from one building to another at the site, which is approximately a five minute walk. VA spokeswoman Sonja Brown says the staff followed policy by calling the ambulance and that their policy is under expedited review.
Overpass collapse: at least two dead
At least two people are killed and at least 15 people injured when an overpass collapses in the Brazilian World Cup host city of Belo Horizonte. A city bus and several vehicles were crushed after a part of a bridge, which was under construction, fell onto a busy highway. The overpass, which was supposed to have been completed in time for the tournament, is almost four miles from the Estadio Mineirao, where next Tuesday’s semifinal matchup between the winners of France/Germany and Brazil/Colombia will take place.
