Can we talk about Rivers’ taboo topics onstage?
LOS ANGELES (AP) — On “The Ed Sullivan Show” in 1967, Joan Rivers joked about society’s double-standard for women.
Month: September 2014
Downey Jr., Duvall kick off Toronto film fest with ‘The Judge’
By Mary Milliken TORONTO (Reuters) – Actors Robert Downey Jr. and Robert Duvall brought their father-and-son dysfunction drama “The Judge” to Toronto on Thursday to open the city’s film festival, an early arbiter in the movie industry’s awards season. Toronto’s opening gala gives a note of Hollywood glamour to a festival known for its sprawling program – 285 films screened multiple times over 11 days – and the participation of ordinary people, who ultimately decide the top prize. On the red carpet before “The Judge” premiere in downtown Toronto, Downey Jr., best known for his superhero role in the “Iron Man” movies, said the kick-off slot was an honor.
No-holds-barred comedian Joan Rivers dies at age 81
By Patricia Reaney NEW YORK (Reuters) – Joan Rivers, the pioneering comedian known for her acerbic wit, classic put-downs and for asking “Can we talk?,” died on Thursday at the age of 81 in a New York hospital a week after her heart stopped during an outpatient medical procedure. Melissa Rivers, the comedian’s only child, said her mother died peacefully, surrounded by family and friends, at 1:17 p.m. EDT (1717 GMT). Although that is difficult to do right now, I know her final wish would be that we return to laughing soon,” Melissa Rivers added in a statement. Groundbreaking comedy star and actor Robin Williams, 63, hanged himself on Aug. 13 in California.
Insight – ‘Love Jihad’ and religious conversion polarise in Modi’s India
By Rupam Jain Nair and Frank Jack Daniel HASAYAN India (Reuters) – Fired up and full of vitriol, Hindu activist Rajeshwar Singh is on a mission to end centuries of religious diversity in India, one conversion at a time. His voice echoing off the walls of a Protestant church across a narrow street, Singh railed against foreign faiths at an event last week to convert a Christian family to Hinduism in the rural town of Hasayan, 140 km (87 miles) south of Delhi. We will not let the conspiracy of church or mosque succeed in Bharat (India),” he said, standing in the family’s front yard by a ritual fire lit to purify the poor, lower-caste converts. Emboldened by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s rise to power in May, leaders of his Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have joined right-wing activists like Singh to openly declare India a nation of Hindus, posing a challenge to its multi-faith constitutional commitment.
‘Love Jihad’ and religious conversion polarise in Modi’s India
By Rupam Jain Nair and Frank Jack Daniel HASAYAN India (Reuters) – Fired up and full of vitriol, Hindu activist Rajeshwar Singh is on a mission to end centuries of religious diversity in India, one conversion at a time. His voice echoing off the walls of a Protestant church across a narrow street, Singh railed against foreign faiths at an event last week to convert a Christian family to Hinduism in the rural town of Hasayan, 140 km (87 miles) south of Delhi. We will not let the conspiracy of church or mosque succeed in Bharat (India),” he said, standing in the family’s front yard by a ritual fire lit to purify the poor, lower-caste converts. Emboldened by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s rise to power in May, leaders of his Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have joined right-wing activists like Singh to openly declare India a nation of Hindus, posing a challenge to its multi-faith constitutional commitment.
Ghosts of China’s Maoist past haunt present in Venice film
By Michael Roddy LONDON (Reuters) – The Chinese film “Red Amnesia” shown in Venice is partly a ghost story that may or may not have a ghost, but its portrayal of how the Cultural Revolution left a trail of twisted lives that haunts China today is unambiguous and devastating. The film by “Beijing Bicycle” director Wang Xiaoshuai is in competition for the Venice Film Festival’s top Golden Lion prize to be awarded on Saturday. “It’s now been over 30 years since the economic reforms began being implemented in China,” Wang said at a post-screening news conference on Thursday. “Yet we have not been freed from the influences of the past and in our minds, we have not completely been able to move on.” The film, which has the Chinese title “Chuangru zhe”, is the third in a trilogy by Wang that looks at the aftermath of the 1966-76 mass campaign launched by Mao Zedong to transform China into a militantly Communist society, which descended into violence, denunciations, purges and warfare.
No-holds-barred comedian Joan Rivers dies at age 81
Acerbic comedian Joan Rivers died in New York on Thursday, a week after her heart stopped during an outpatient medical procedure, her daughter said in a statement. “It is with great sadness that I announce the death of my mother, Joan Rivers. She passed peacefully at 1:17 p.m., surrounded by family and close friends,” Melissa Rivers said. The comedian, who was known for her no-holds-barred brand of humor, had a lengthy career and most recently was host of cable television channel E!’s “Fashion Police,” commenting on the unfortunate red carpet choices of Hollywood celebrities.
Silicon Valley builds up in Microsoft’s backyard
By Bill Rigby SEATTLE (Reuters) – In the last week of August, Twitter entertained dozens of potential young recruits at a chic studio, while Facebook served drinks and snacks to job-seekers at its own office. More than 175 showed up to a similar event at Google in June. No, Seattle, home of Microsoft Corp and Amazon and fast becoming a second home for Silicon Valley companies looking to access the city’s plentiful pool of relatively cheap tech talent. Microsoft alumni are now running the Seattle offices of Facebook Inc , Twitter Inc and Google Inc , and they look to their former employer as a source for new talent.
Comedian Joan Rivers dead at 81
Joan Rivers, the raucous, acid-tongued comedian who crashed the male-dominated realm of late-night talk shows and turned Hollywood red carpets into danger zones for badly dressed celebrities, died Thursday. She was 81.
Obama administration to brief members of Congress on Islamic State
President Barack Obama’s administration is dispatching senior intelligence officials to provide an in-depth briefing on the Islamic State militant group to key members of Congress and staff, a congressional aide said on Thursday. The briefing from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and National Counterterrorism Center for leaders and staff of the House of Representatives Intelligence Committee, Foreign Affairs Committee and other panels, will take place on Friday, the aide said.