NBC sacks newsman Matt Lauer over alleged sexual misconduct

Matt Lauer, second from the left in a file photo with fellow NBC television personalities, has been fired as the network's star morning news anchor. — AFP

WASHINGTON: NBC said Wednesday it has fired Matt Lauer, a well-known morning news anchor, for what it described as inappropriate sexual behaviour in the workplace.

Lauer's co-host Savannah Guthrie announced his termination at the beginning of Wednesday's "Today" program.

"This is a sad morning here at 'Today' and at NBC News," Guthrie said.

Lauer, 59, is one of the best known faces on America's popular early morning news shows.

He thus joins the ranks of other titans of American entertainment, journalism and politics who have fallen amid allegations of sexual harassment, assault or rape in a groundswell of outrage that began with a flood of charges against movie mogul Harvey Weinstein.

In a memo to staff, NBC chairman Andrew Lack said that on Monday night the network received a detailed complaint about inappropriate sexual behavior in the workplace by Lauer.

"It represented, after serious review, a clear violation of our company's standards. As a result, we've decided to terminate his employment," Lack wrote.

Lack said this was the first complaint against Lauer in his more than 20 years with NBC but that the network was provided with evidence suggesting this may not have been an isolated incident.

Are Nargis Fakhri and Uday Chopra back together?

Nargis Fakhri and Uday Chopra are reportedly back together. 

Everyone was taken by surprise after Nargis Fakhri and Uday Chopra decided to part ways.

People are even more surprised now after rumours are abuzz that the two are back together.

Their love story was a low-key affair while it lasted. The couple dated for two years before calling off their relationship.

Nargis reportedly left the country after the breakup to heal herself in New York. Uday too seemed to be pining for her, as apparent from his messages on social media.

If a report on Spotboye is anything to go by, Uday and Nargis were spotted spending some quality time in New York in May this year.

The same was denied by Nargis on her Twitter handle. When stories of the couple's marriage started floating around, Nargis rubbished that too.

Even if marriage is not on the cards for the couple, for now, reconciliation has happened for sure.

The Spotboye report says that Nargis is staying with Uday and his mother Pamela Chopra in their Juhu bungalow.

"Nargis often travels to the US but aajkal bahut aati jaati rehti hai [travels back and forth often these days] and you can say that she has a new address in Mumbai," a source was quoted as saying in the report.

Whether it is Uday who is making extra efforts to bring things back to normal or Nargis who had a change of heart, we are happy that the couple is back together. 

Jealous fiancé? Meghan Markle’s ‘Suits’ co-star jokes about his ‘dismay’ at royal engagement

Patrick J. Adams as Mike Ross and Meghan Markle as Rachel Zane on 'Suits'

As Twitter flooded with heartiest congratulations for the newly engaged royal couple, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, one of the best reactions came from the actress' fiancé on TV show 'Suits'.

Patrick J. Adams, who plays Markle's character Rachel Zane's longtime fiancé Mike Ross in the legal drama, sent out a shocked tweet after Kensington Palace announced that Markle will be joining England's royal family.

"She said she was just going out to get some milk..." he joked.

Adams followed up his tweet with a toast to the happy couple.

"Playing Meghan's television partner for the better part of a decade uniquely qualifies me to say this: Your Royal Highness, you are a lucky man and I know your long life together will be joyful, productive and hilarious," he wrote on Instagram and Twitter. "Meghan, so happy for you, friend. Much love."

Playing Meghan's television partner for the better part of a decade uniquely qualifies me to say this: Your Royal Highness, you are a lucky man and I know your long life together will be joyful, productive and hilarious. Meghan, so happy for you, friend. Much love.

A post shared by Patrick Adams (@halfadams) on Nov 27, 2017 at 11:31am PST

Markle has wrapped up her role on 'Suits' after seven seasons, USA Network and Universal Cable Productions said in a statement, a day after the announcement of the royal engagement. 

Happy birthday Fawad Khan! A look at the rise and rise of Pakistan’s favourite heartthrob

Can there be anyone more Khoobsurat than him? Whose every dialogue on screen and photoshoot has a Dastaan to tell, whose charm has become our Humsafar, and made us say Humari 'Zindagi Gulzar Hai'. No more subtle hints, you know who we are talking about!

The actor, singer, charmer, and surely Pakistan's best export to the world… it's none other than… the one and only..

Fawad Khan!

Ladies and Gentlemen, hold your breath.. our slayer of hearts, born with one purpose in life - to put magic in our aesthetic taste by the virtue of his mere presence, is celebrating his 36th birthday today.

Jin Se Mil Kar Zindagi Se Ishq Ho Jaye Wo Log

Aap Ne Shayad Na Dekhe Hon Magar Aise Bhi Hain

One can be good looking but to become a standard of good looks, complimented with a grace in personality, is a trait enjoyed by only a few – and Fawad Khan is undoubtedly among the latter.

The actor once aspired of becoming an aeronautical engineer but graduated with a degree in computers. And he was humble enough to acknowledge in his interviews that he "couldn't make money out of coding" because he "was a terrible computer engineer."

But, science's loss was our gain.

Fawad burst onto the local scene with his alternative rock band, Entity Paradigm, in the early 2000s. He became a household name in music after the release of the band's debut album, 'Irtiqa', in 2003; at the same time, Fawad's acting skills continued to make a jaw-dropping impression all over the country in the sit-com drama, Jutt and Bond.

The young and dashing singer then shot to fame with memorable performances in TV dramas Dastaan, Humsafar and Zindagi Gulzar Hai, gaining wide acclaim by the audiences and critics alike.

NOT JUST A BEAUTIFUL FACE, IS IT?

His dialogue delivery and expressions made him stand out from his contemporaries and left an indelible mark on the hearts of millions of his fans. 

Fawad was equally impressive on the big screen, playing a challenging role in Shoaib Mansoor's 'Khuda Kay Liye' where again, he emerged as the winner.

It came as no surprise then, when he became an overnight heartthrob across the border with lead roles in Khoobsurat, Kapoor and Sons and a cameo in Ae Dil Hai Mushkil. 

By then, Bollywood had well and truly kneeled before King Fawad.

The actor has already won two Filmfare awards, Best Male Debut for Khoobsurat and Best Supporting Actor for Kapoor and Sons, and a countless other accolades for his performances.

On his 36th, Twitter is already overflowing with fans' love for Fawad Khan both sides of the border.

Happy hatchday Fawad! Keep rockin'!

Wear with care: Stella McCartney helps redesign climate-friendly fashion

British fashion designer Stella McCartney and world-record breaking sailor Ellen MacArthur launch a report on the importance of a climate-friendly textile industry. Photo courtesy of the Ellen MacArthur Foundation.

 

LONDON: The fashion industry urgently needs to reform its wasteful, polluting ways, British designer Stella McCartney and record-breaking sailor Ellen MacArthur said on Tuesday.

With global clothing sales doubling since 2000, people now wear each item far fewer times, the Ellen MacArthur Foundation said, calling for items ranging from T-shirts to jeans to be designed differently and reused more.

The charity — established in 2010 — has pioneered a shift toward a "circular economy", in which raw materials and products are repeatedly reused to reduce waste and pollution.

"Fashion is allowed to be fun," McCartney — the daughter of the Beatles' Paul McCartney — said, adding, "The reality is we just need to be a bit more mindful and curious about the way we're consuming and have a level of responsibility."

The fashion industry is worth about $2.4 trillion a year, according to the global consultancy McKinsey.

The equivalent of one garbage truck of textiles is wasted every second, and less than 1 percent of clothing is recycled into new clothes, MacArthur's foundation said in a report.

"The trajectory for the textiles industry is catastrophic if it continues in this way," MacArthur told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

"We need to radically change the way that clothing is designed, used, made and recovered so that we end up with a system that is restorative and regenerative," she said.

If nothing changes, the fashion industry will consume a quarter of the world's annual carbon budget by 2050, it said, referring to the emissions the world can make while keeping the global temperature rise at no more than 1.5 degrees Celsius.

Fashion must abandon its "take-make-dispose" model, where unwanted clothes are sent to landfill sites or incinerated, and start using non-polluting materials that are designed to last and could save the industry $500 billion, it said.

The report presents a roadmap for creating better businesses and more innovative solutions, said McCartney, a long-time vegetarian who does not use leather, PVC or fur in her clothing.

Textile production emits 1.2 billion tonnes of greenhouse gases annually, more than all international flights and maritime shipping combined, the report said.

Clothes also release half a million tonnes of plastic microfibers into the ocean every year, equivalent to more than 50 billion plastic bottles, it said.

Several major brands said they support the initiative, including Swedish fashion retailer H&M and sports giant Nike.

"(It) is aligned with our efforts in making sure that economic and social development can happen in a way that the planet can afford," H&M's chief executive Karl-Johan Persson said in a statement.

—via Thomson Reuters Foundation

Steven Spielberg's 'The Post' aimed at people 'starving for the truth'

Director Steven Spielberg pauses while speaking on-stage at the 9th Governors Awards Show, held in Los Angeles, California, US, November 11, 2017. REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni/Files

 

LOS ANGELES: Steven Spielberg's new movie The Post may be set in 1971 but its theme about press freedom is all about today.

Spielberg rushed to get the movie filmed and released within a year.

It is about the battle by newspapers to publish the leaked Pentagon Papers detailing the US government's misleading portrayal of the Vietnam War.

"I just felt that there was an urgency to reflect 1971 and 2017 because they were very terrifyingly similar," the Oscar-winning director told a Hollywood audience after a screening of the film on Monday.

"Our intended audience are the people who have spent the last 13, 14 months thirsting and starving for the truth," Spielberg said. "They are out there, and they need some good news."

Starring Meryl Streep as the late Washington Post publisher Katharine Graham and Tom Hanks as late editor Ben Bradlee, The Post was named on Monday the best film of 2017 by the National Board of Review — a New York-based 100-year-old group of academics, filmmakers, and professionals.

Streep was named best actress and Hanks was voted best actor, setting the film up as an early front-runner for the Oscars.

Spielberg — a prominent Hollywood Democrat — did not mention US President Donald Trump in his remarks.

But The Post arrives in movie theatres in December at a time when the media has been under repeated attacks by Trump since his election in November 2016.

Trump has called the press "the enemy of the American people." He uses the term "fake news" to cast doubt on news reports critical of his administration, often without providing evidence to support his case.

US Attorney General Jeff Sessions said in August the Trump administration was considering requiring journalists to reveal their sources amid Trump's push to stop leaks to the press.

The film dramatizes the decisions by the New York Times and the Washington Post to publish the top-secret Pentagon Papers about the Vietnam War in the face of injunctions by the Nixon administration in a battle that went to the US Supreme Court.

Spielberg said that before making the film, he was "really depressed about what was happening in the world and the country".

After getting the script in February, "suddenly my entire outlook on the future brightened overnight", he said.

The Post was shot in June and opens in US movie theatres on December 22.

Prince Harry, Meghan to marry in Windsor Castle in May: palace

LONDON: Prince Harry and his American fiancee Meghan Markle will marry at St George's Chapel in Windsor Castle in May next year, Kensington Palace said on Tuesday.

"Her Majesty The Queen has granted permission for the wedding to take place in the chapel. The Royal Family will pay for the wedding," the palace said in a statement.

On Monday, Clarence House had confirmed that Prince Harry will tie the knot with his American actress girlfriend Meghan Markle.

According to a Clarence House statement, the wedding will take place in Spring 2018 and further details about the wedding day would be announced in due course.

The statement further added that the couple were engaged in London earlier this month and Prince Harry has informed The Queen and other close members of his family. The prince also sought and received the blessing of Meghan Markle's parents.

The couple will reside in Nottingham Cottage at Kensington Palace. 

However, Meghan Markle will not be called Princess Meghan after she ties the knot with Prince Harry next year.

By the standards of British royal protocol, the former Hollywood star lacks "royal blood".

This means Meghan will follow Catherine Middleton's suit of becoming Her Royal Highness, Princess Henry of Wales.