Suspended
Valcke is put on leave and released from his duties as Secretary General until further notice, after newspaper allegations implicated him in a scheme to sell World Cup tickets for above face value. Valcke denies the allegations saying they are:
Fabricated, outrageous.
Flaunt cover
Anderson poses nude on the cover for Flaunt magazine, part of a photo spread by LaChapelle.
https://instagram.com/p/7t039bCSpC/
Takei offers support
In a Facebook message, Takei compares his own experiences in an internment camp to Mohameds arrest.
But I want you to know, while America may have done a terrible thing to me and my family, and to 120,000 other Japanese Americans, I have great hope for this country, and I believe we do learn. There was a Japanese word we often said in the camps: Gaman. It means to keep on keeping on, with dignity and fortitude. I think you understand this word already. While certain school officials and police officers may have shown you the worst side of our nation, I understand many others have since shown you the best side. I was touched to hear you say that we all have to be true to ourselves. Ahmed, you are now part of the story of America, and many will learn from your fine example. I see great things ahead for you.
https://www.facebook.com/georgehtakei/photos/a.223098324386295.105971.205344452828349/1366653030030813/
Press conference
Mohamed talks to the media for the first time.
So I guess everyone knows I’m the person who built the clock and got into a lot of trouble for it. built the clock to impress my teacher, but when I showed it to her she thought it was a threat to her. It was really sad that she took the wrong impression of it, and I got arrested later that day. But since the charges have already been dropped I really want to go to MIT. I think of transferring school from McArthur to any other school. Thank you to all my supporters.
Invited to Facebook
Zuckerberg invites Mohamed to Facebook HQ.
https://www.facebook.com/zuck/posts/10102373304096361
Obama tweets support
President Obama tweets support for Mohamed.
Cool clock, Ahmed. Want to bring it to the White House? We should inspire more kids like you to like science. It's what makes America great.
— President Obama (@POTUS44) September 16, 2015
Toronto science show invitation
Hadfield invites Mohamed to Toronto for October’s Generator event, a ‘science-based variety show’
Hi @IStandWithAhmed ! I'd love you to join us for our science show Generator in Toronto on 28 Oct. There's a ticket waiting for you.
— Chris Hadfield (@Cmdr_Hadfield) September 16, 2015
Telegraph interview
Elashiry is interviewed by The Daily Telegraph (Australia). She talks about the Maxim cover, and the Cheeky Swim swimwear she designed herself.
I’m super excited to be featured on the cover of Maxim … I love that the feature is in support of Cheeky Swim. Hang on, let me pinch myself … yep … it’s real.
And says how she was laughed at by a model agency because of her size (5ft 6 inches):
They told me that I was cute. It was heartbreaking for me at the time because I was often told to forget about it and that it was not going to happen. I now thank them for putting me down because it made me try harder.
Maxim cover
Elashiry is featured on the cover of Maxim.
I feel very excited. I’ve only ever appeared in MAXIM in bits and pieces so it’s great to be featured in a bigger way! I’m also pretty stoked to have my swimwear range recognized amongst different audiences.
She talks about her Cheeky Swim range:
Well, I’ve been working with Glue Store for a while now. Between social media, campaigns, collaborations, and events, I’ve been lucky enough to have taken such a big part and be involved closely with such a well recognised brand. When you love your job you’ll never work a day in your life — it’s like having good times and fun with friends…I designed the entire range with the help of the Glue Store buying and marketing team — there were some outrageous designs. I’d already thought about designing swimwear a year ago, so I found my old sketch book and started to combine new and old ideas, gather inspiration from Pinterest, and then threw together a mood board of materials, patterns, shapes, colours and moods for the range.
GOP debate tweets
Coulter sends out a set of Tweets about the debate.
Cruz, Huckabee Rubio all mentioned ISRAEL in their response to: "What will AMERICA look like after you are president."
— Ann Coulter (@AnnCoulter) September 17, 2015
How many f—ing Jews do these people think there are in the United States?
— Ann Coulter (@AnnCoulter) September 17, 2015
I like the Jews, I like fetuses, I like Reagan. Didn't need to hear applause lines about them all night. https://t.co/4guFehK0CM
— Ann Coulter (@AnnCoulter) September 17, 2015
Comedians admit prank
Two Russian comedians, “Vovan” and “Lexus,” admit that they prank called John. In the phone call the pranksters get John to talk about gay rights:
I think the violence toward LGBT people–they don’t feel safe–but this something I don’t really want to talk about over the phone.
They also arrange a November meeting date with the Russian president and agreed to attend a gay pride parade in Moscow. Kremlin spokesperson:
The president has always been open to discuss human rights issues…I would recommend to apologise (to) Elton John, he is a respected and favoured singer here. It was not good to trick him like that.
John:
Pranks are funny. Homophobia, however is never funny. I love Russia and my offer to talk to President Putin about LGBT rights still stands. I will always stand up for those that are being degraded and discriminated against. If this unfortunate incident has helped push this vital issue back into the spotlight, then I am happy to be pranked on this occasion.
Second GOP Presidential debate
Trump participates in the second Republican presidential debate, hosted by CNN. In an exchange with Carly Fiorina:
Fiorina: I think women all over this country heard very clearly what Mr. Trump said.
Trump: I think she’s got a beautiful face and I think she’s a beautiful woman.
He also refuses to apologize to Jeb Bush’s wife and criticizes his brother:
Your brother, and your brother’s administration, gave us Barack Obama, because it was such a disaster in those last three months that Abraham Lincoln couldn’t have been elected.
Trump also says that vaccinations should be administered over a longer period of time. In the final segment he says that his presidential secret service code name should be “Humble” and that his daughter should the woman on the redesigned $10 note.
Apologizes for diversity remarks
Damon apologizes for his comments on diversity:
I believe deeply that there need to be more diverse filmmakers making movies. I love making movies. It’s what I have chosen to do with my life and I want every young person watching Project Greenlight to believe that filmmaking is a viable form of creative expression for them too. My comments were part of a much broader conversation about diversity in Hollywood and the fundamental nature of Project Greenlight which did not make the show. I am sorry that they offended some people, but, at the very least, I am happy that they started a conversation about diversity in Hollywood. That is an ongoing conversation that we all should be having
Kremlin denies call
A spokesman for Putin says that the Russian President did not speak to John.
I don’t know who spoke to Elton John but President Putin did not speak to him. I don’t know [what happened] but President Putin did not speak to Elton John and most importantly we didn’t receive any proposals to meet. If the president does get such a signal from Elton John, the president has always been open to discuss any… human rights problems, any issues. He is always ready to clarify the real situation.
Ctiticizes Trump
In an interview with Rolling Stone, Waters criticizes Trump.
I have [laughed] except it’s not funny that he’s as popular as he is. His ideas [are] not outlandish at all. It’s American exceptionalism gone crazy and delivered under the umbrella of absolute ignorance. He is pig-ignorant and he always was and he always will be. He lives in the illusion that he’s admirable in some way. And obviously for somebody like me, he stands for everything that is not admirable in American society. “Let’s Make America Great Again” [is] the worst possible slogan anybody could ever come up with. It’s silly and disgusting as well, unless they wanted to hark back to the potential. If the Founding Fathers hadn’t been so up their own asses, they might have come up with a system that fell somewhere between republican democracy that was going to work and that had proper checks and balances to prevent it disintegrating into what it has become, which is a country for sale to the highest bidder with the Supreme Court at the top of it, who’s appointed by the highest bidder eventually.
Mitchell interview
Mitchell tells Lauer on Today that she cooperated with demands for help from Matt and Sweat because Matt had threatened members of her family.
People need to know that I was only trying to save my family.
She said she was depressed because she thought her husband on longer loved her.
I was going through depression and I guess they saw my weakness, and that’s how it all started.
Mitchell says she befriended both men and brought them cookies and brownies. She eventually smuggled tools to them in bags that the prison staff failed to search. The inmates’ escape plot included Mitchell picking them up outside the prison after the breakout, but she suffered a panic attack, and her husband took her to a hospital. Mitchell said Matt and Sweat planned to kill her husband during their getaway.
Says Putin called
John says that Putin called him to discuss gay rights in Russia.
Thank-you to President Vladimir Putin for reaching out and speaking via telephone with me today. I look to forward to meeting with you face-to-face to discuss LGBT equality in Russia.
Crew grounded until they lose weight
The airline asks 125 of its flight attendants to lose weight or prepare for ground duties. It insists that the move to manage its employees’ physique is not about appearances but because they are concerned about the safety of the staff. A spokesperson does not say how much they have to slim down.
This is an ongoing process. It is an opportunity for them to bring themselves back to the (required) fitness level. If they cannot because of any medical reasons, they will be offered ground duties.
The decision follows fitness guidelines laid out by India’s civil aviation regulator who mandated a body mass index (BMI) of 18-25 for male cabin crew members and 18-22 for female cabin crew members. Men with a BMI over 25, and women with a BMI over 22 were classified as overweight. A “large number” of the employees refuse to undergo medical examinations for their BMI as ordered and instead ask the airline to first pay for gym memberships before conducting any lab tests.
Talks about grandmother on 125th anniversary
To mark the 125th anniversary of her birth, Prichard, Christie’s grandson, opens up the family archives and photo albums to show a side of the writer many of her fans won’t know about.
The early years of my grandmother, up till her 30s really, she was a different person to what she became after she became famous and was known for her writing. Then, you might say, she was herself.
The images show Christie roller-skating on the pier in Torquay, on the southwest coast of England; traveling to Paris before World War One, serving as a volunteer nurse during the war, and crossing the globe with her husband, soldier and airman. On Miss Marple:
Pritchard:
She gave me the rights to The Mousetrap for my ninth birthday. Not that I knew very much about it at the time, but I don’t think she realized how generous she was being.
Diversity comments
In the season four premiere of Project Greenlight, Damon and Brown are among a number of producers discussing which finalist would win the contest and go on to direct the chosen script for the season. Brown wants directing team Leo Angelos & Kristen Brancaccio (an Asian man and white woman), in part because Brancaccio flagged the stereotypical aspects of the only black character in the script. Brown:
I want to urge people to think about, whoever this director is, the way that they’re going to treat the character of Harmony, her being a prostitute — the only black person being a hooker who gets hit by her white pimp. You’re looking at this group right here, and who you’re picking, and the story that you’re doing, and I just want to make sure we’re doing our best —
Damon:
The only team that’s left with diversity is the team that announced that they liked this script the most as it is, and that’s Leo and Kristen. Everyone else had major problems with it, with exactly the things that you’re bringing up, and exactly the things that we brought up to each other. I think on the surface, they might look like one thing, but they might end up giving us something that we don’t want. And when we’re talking about diversity, you do it in the casting of the film, not in the casting of the show (italics added).
Brown:
Wow, okay.