EYE: Misty Copeland + Calvin Royal III By Albert Watson For Pirelli 2019 Calendar | Misty On Offering New Black Role Models

EYE: Misty Copeland + Calvin Royal III By Albert Watson For Pirelli 2019 Calendar | Misty On Offering New Black Role Models

AOC drops into Vogue Italia as Misty Copeland, the first African American Principal dancer of the American Ballet Theater, talks about her appearance in the 2019 Pirelli calendar. Photographer Albert Watson pairs Copeland with Calvin Royal III, an ABT soloist since 2017 . Valentina Bonelli interviews Misty about her battles to bring diversity into the world of classical ballet.

Misty Copeland has long articulated the intense degree of racism embedded in classical ballet in America and across the world. George Balanchine imposes a singular vision of a ballet dancer as a person with light skin and the lithe, ultra-low BMI body of a teenager.

Copeland speaks to Vogue Italia of the social media criticism of her with words that ring true to those hurled at tennis great Serena Williams. The bodies of both black women are unsuitable for greatness with their too developed muscles, abundant breasts and dark skin tweet the social media harassers.

Grateful for former president Barack Obama giving her a White House platform to join creators in advancing an expanded vision of black talent in the arts, Copeland believes that the momentum has established new roots in black communities — in spite of the Trump effect.

Manhattan Judge Rules That Harvey Weinstein Case Will Proceed To March 7 Pre-Trial Hearing

Manhattan Judge Rules That Harvey Weinstein Case Will Proceed To March 7 Pre-Trial Hearing

Disgraced Hollywood media mogul Harvey Weinstein, a key catalyst behind the widely-revived #MeToo movement, will be going to trial. On Thursday Judge James Burke rejected Weinstein’s legal request to dismiss the remaining five counts of sexual misconduct and rape charged by the Manhattan District Attorney’s office. The case is scheduled for a pre-trial hearing on March 7. The judge previously dismissed one of the initial sex counts involving allegations by Lucia Evans.

Vanity Fair writes that the courtroom was packed with reporters and supporters of the Time’s Up movement. Actors Marisa Tomei, Kathy Najimy, and Amber Tamblyn joined Time’s Up President and CEO Lisa Borders, who said that she was “relieved that Harvey Weinstein failed” in his efforts to have the charges dismissed.

The case remains complicated, especially after the dismissal of one count against Weinstein. With the case proceeding, Judge Burke’s rulings around evidence will heavily influence the case.

Attorney Alan Dershowitz, who was brought on by Weinstein’s lead attorney Ben Brafman as a consultant, says defense emails contradict claims that the sexual encounters were forced.

Ruth Bader Ginsburg Film 'On the Basis of Sex' Draws Sold Out NYC Crowd With Clinton + Steinem

Ruth Bader Ginsburg Film 'On the Basis of Sex' Draws Sold Out NYC Crowd With Clinton + Steinem

“She’s not a superhero; she’s a woman like many others of her generation,” Mimi Leder, director of the Ruth Bader Ginsburg biophic ‘On the Basis of Sex’ told the packed audience at New York’s Walter Read Theatre director on Sunday. The audience included Gloria Steinem (wearing an RBG-inspired Lingua Franca sweater that read “all rise”) and former Secretary of State and 2016 presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. Vogue writes that RGB received a hero’s welcome from an audience that gave her a standing ovation at every opportunity.

“She is an exceptional woman who changed the culture with her intelligence and her eloquence, “ Leder continued, emphasizing the reality that themes of her story are universal: “She didn’t go into the law to become a champion for equal rights. She went into the law because she thought she could do that job better than any other.”

“I ask no favor for my sex,” Ginsburg’s voice says at the end of the film. “All I ask of our brethren is that they take their feet off our necks.”

Justice Ginsburg’s nephew Daniel Stiepleman wrote the script for ‘On the Basis of Sex’, and her daughter Jane helped edit the movie script.

Five Reasons Why 2018 Was A Big Year For Palaeontology

Five Reasons Why 2018 Was A Big Year For Palaeontology

By Julien Benoit, Postdoc in Vertebrate Palaeontology, University of the Witwatersrand. First published on The Conversation Africa.

A lot happened in the world of palaeontology in 2018. Some of the big events included some major fossil finds, a new understanding of our reptile ancestors and a major controversy whose outcome could rewrite human history. The Conversation Africa asked Dr Julien Benoit to discuss five important moments in palaeontology you may have missed during 2018, and what they mean – particularly for Africa and its place in the story of human origins.

EYE: Chinyere Ezie Educates Prada On Why Fat Red Lips On Black Bodies Are Not Good Trinkets In America

EYE: Chinyere Ezie Educates Prada On Why Fat Red Lips On Black Bodies Are Not Good Trinkets In America

The best paragraphs in Robin Givhan’s WaPo commentary “Seriously, Prada, what were you thinking?: Why the fashion industry keeps bumbling into racist imagery” isn’t the narrative around Prada’s utter stupidity in their SoHo window display of items from their Pradamalia collection.

AOC readers know that we do not hop on the bandwagon of every alleged act of fashion industry cultural appropriation or racism. But Givhan is correct and we concur: what in goddesses name were you thinking Prada?

Let’s take a different approach here because Givan has done a superb job of also telling the experience of Chinyere Ezie’s reaction upon seeing the Prada store window in Soho. We will quote liberally in a moment, but let’s back up even further and introduce Prada to this woman. From her website:

Chinyere Ezie (Cheen-Yer-Ray Ay-Zee-Ay) is a nationally recognized civil rights lawyer and social justice activist who specializes in constitutional litigation and anti-discrimination work. In 2016, Chinyere was named one of the country's Best LGBT Lawyers Under 40. 

Chinyere is a Staff Attorney at the Center for Constitutional Rights where she focuses on racial justice, gender justice, and LGBT rights work. Chinyere previously worked as a Staff Attorney at the Southern Poverty Law Center LGBT Rights Project, where she was lead counsel for transgender rights activist Ashley Diamond in her suit against the Georgia Department of Corrections. Chinyere also worked as a Trial Attorney at the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission where she successfully represented employees who had been subjected to discrimination--securing a $5.1 million dollar trial verdict. 

Chinyere is a William J. Fulbright Scholar and a graduate of Yale University and Columbia Law School, where she served as President of Columbia Outlaws and Editor in Chief of the Columbia Journal of Gender and Law. 

She also clerked on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit and worked as an associate at Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen, and Hamilton LLP in New York City.

In her free time, Chinyere enjoys photography, graphic design, and spending time with her wife and puppy.

Based on her stellar credentials, Chinyere Ezie more than qualifies as Prada’s target customer, although she is not one. Now, via Robin Givhan’s narrative, we share Ezie’s experience on meeting up with Prada’s SoHo window. Personally, I think all the great African goddesses were her spirit wings in this painful life episode, quietly hopping as invisible spirits on her shoulders when Ezie left DC’s National Museum of African American History and Culture for the return trip to New York.

Life In A Heavy Space

LVMH Acquires Luxury Travel's Belmond Hotels | Will Bernard Arnault Help Save The Elephants

LVMH Acquires Luxury Travel's Belmond Hotels | Will Bernard Arnault Help Save The Elephants

AOC awoke Saturday morning to news that LVMH has set in motion the acquisition of Belmond Hotels. “Belmond, a fast-growing company based in London, offers its wealthy customers some of the most opulent travel experiences money can buy in settings like the Hotel Cipriani in Venice, the Copacabana Palace in Rio de Janeiro and Orient Express trains connecting major European cities,” wrote The New York Times.

LVMH, the world’s largest luxury company based on revenues from brands like Christian Dior, Louis Vuitton and Fendi, offered to pay $25 a share for Belmond, a premium of more than 40 percent on the company’s closing price, in a deal valued at $2.6 billion.

The deal emphasized the limitless financial resources available to the world’s very rich customers. as well as the ongoing move away from buying ‘things’ and the growing appetite for ‘experiences’. This transition to the value of ‘experiences’ is pronounced among the entire younger generation, regardless of income, and dovetails well with their environmental concerns over accumulating more stuff.

Perhaps it was no coincidence that Friday’s Porter Edit had a sponsored post from Belmond Africa, based in South Africa and Botswana. The luxury hotel jumping off point gave us an opportunity to update the hot topic of the well-being of Botswana’s elephants, the largest elephant population in Africa and one that has been relatively stable until disputed reports of almost 90 dead elephants hit headlines in September.

Mitch Landrieu Launches E Pluribus Unum Fund For Racial Reconciliation With Backing By Emerson Collective

Mitch Landrieu Launches E Pluribus Unum Fund For Racial Reconciliation With Backing By Emerson Collective

The removal of the statue of Confederate President Jefferson Davis in New Orleans, was the second of four Confederate monuments scheduled by then New Orleans mayor Mitch Landrieu for relocation in advance of the city’s 300 anniversary. The larger-than-life image of Davis atop an ornate granite pedestal roughly 15-feet high was erected in 1911, nearly 50 years after the end of the war, and commissioned by the Jefferson Davis Memorial Association.

A month earlier workers dismantled an obelisk that was erected in 1891 to honor members of the Crescent City White League who in 1874 fought in the Reconstruction-era Battle of Liberty Place against the racially integrated New Orleans police and state militia.

Two other works were also removed in the summer of 2017: a bronze statue of Gen. Robert E Lee that has stood in a traffic circle, named Lee Circle, in the city’s central business district since 1884, and an equestrian statue of P.G.T. Beauregard, a Confederate general. 

Former Alabama Senator and Attorney General in the Trump Administration Jefferson Beauregard Sessions III bears the Confederate general’s name.

Protests on both sides of the Confederate statue debate were fierce, prompting Mayor Landrieu to make an eloquent, emotional and gifted speech on the subject of removing the Confederate monuments on Friday, May 19, 2017.

The full text of Landrieu’s speech was published by The New York Times. I consider it to be one of the best speeches I’ve ever heard — from its sweeping beginning to its soul-wrenching end.

Thank you for coming.

The soul of our beloved City is deeply rooted in a history that has evolved over thousands of years; rooted in a diverse people who have been here together every step of the way — for both good and for ill. It is a history that holds in its heart the stories of Native Americans — the Choctaw, Houma Nation, the Chitimacha. Of Hernando De Soto, Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle, the Acadians, the Islenos, the enslaved people from Senegambia, Free People of Colorix, the Haitians, the Germans, both the empires of France and Spain. The Italians, the Irish, the Cubans, the south and central Americans, the Vietnamese and so many more. Read on.

Nancy Pelosi's Max Mara 'Fire Coat' Worn To Obama's Second Inauguration Will Be Reissued

Nancy Pelosi's Max Mara 'Fire Coat' Worn To Obama's Second Inauguration Will Be Reissued

Nancy Pelosi's 2013 Max Mara ‘Fire Coat’ is about to make a comeback!! ‘Beale’ Street Director Barry Jenkins must be orgasmic.

On Wednesday evening, Max Mara announced that the jacket setting Twitter blazing was its "Fire Coat," which the Italian fashion house last sold in 2013. However, because the coat is drawing so much attention, the Italian fashion brand confirms that it will reissue it in 2019 in a range of colors, including Pelosi's red/rust shade.

Now all we need is 'Beale Street' director Barry Jenkins -- who really was the catalyst behind the red coat blast -- and Pelosi in a DC ad shot, and fashion has made history.

In a statement, Max Mara Creative Director Ian Griffiths said:

The FIRE COAT is a boule shaped coat with a funnel collar — which is very feminine — but it has a shoulder and sleeve that are cut quite sharply. So whilst the body is soft, the shoulders give it structure. That contrast between masculine and feminine gives it modernity. This coat was designed over 6 years ago; a good coat is a life companion so it should be designed not to date. Ms Pelosi wore this coat to the Presidential Inauguration in 2013, and again for her historic meeting at the White House in 2018, so it clearly means something to her. You develop an emotional relationship with a coat like nothing else in your wardrobe and Max Mara coats are much more than just clothes. They represent lasting values, they project personal strength and glamour. I can imagine why Ms Pelosi chose to wear the FIRE COAT for this important moment and I'm honoured.

Elephant Conservation Update From Botswana Includes Pending Prince Harry Transfer Of Elephants To Zambia

Elephant Conservation Update From Botswana Includes Pending Prince Harry Transfer Of Elephants To Zambia

PORTER escapes to Belmond Savute Elephant Lodge, an adventurous tented hideaway in Botswana’s Savute Channel, part of Chobe National Park and boasting the highest concentration of elephants in Africa.

Belmond Savute prides itself on a “happy marriage of style and substance; for the eco-conscious traveler”, offering “the tents’ sustainable design features (that) include the removal of all concrete, the use of eco-friendly composite bamboo decking in the principal areas, and a 95% solar-grid system for power.” 

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Elephant Deaths in Botswana

Since September 2018, controversy has swirled in Botswana around the story that 87 elephants were reported to be “killed by poachers’ in Botswana. The high-impact story originated with “Elephants Without Borders,” an NGO in the USA and Botswana surveying the elephant population.

Under the new government of Mokgweetsi Masisi, Botswana’s parliament is exploring its ban on trophy hunting, citing the large size of Botswana’s elephant population and the growing issue of human-elephant conflic (HEC) in the country.

Politicians have quoted the Botswana elephant population to be as large as 237,000. However the African Elephant Status Report (AESR) estimates Botswana’s elephant population to be 131,626 individuals migrating across an area of 228,073 square kilometres. The vast majority of these elephants occur in the northern region that includes Chobe, Moremi, and the Okavango Delta.

Kaywin Feldman Becomes Director Of National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC

Kaywin Feldman Becomes Director Of National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC

The National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC, has named Kaywin Feldman as its new director, replacing Earl “Rusty” Powell III, who has led the National Gallery since 1992 Feldman will be the fifth director—and the first ever female director—at the 77-year-old American institution with annual visitors of more than 5.2 million visitors . Feldman, who has been director of the Minneapolis Institute of Art (Mia) since 2008, will take up the new position in March 2019.

artnet News writes: “Under her leadership, attendance at Mia has nearly doubled, from around 450,000 in 2009 to more than 700,000 in 2018 to date. She has also expanded the museum’s digital presence—something the NGA has been conspicuously slow to invest in—and championed equity and social justice in the museum’s program. Earlier this year, the museum announced the launch of its Center for Empathy and the Visual Arts, a think tank dedicated to exploring how museums can build a more just society.

She is also not afraid of experimentation. Last year, for example, the Mia unveiled an unorthodox overhaul of six of its 17 period rooms designed to highlight the power structures behind them. (The fact that one of the room’s previous inhabitants was a slave owner was made explicit, as were his ties to the local Native American community.)

As Feldman moves to lead a DC organization mired in partisan politics, her principled, diplomacy skills will be tested fully by Congress and line staff.

New NY State Atty Gen Letitia James Prepares To Launch Massive Trump Business Investigation

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo campaigning with then candidate for NY State Atty General Letitia James.

New NY State Atty Gen Letitia James Prepares To Launch Massive Trump Business Investigation

Besides Nancy Pelosi, another bad-ass lady boss has entered Trump's sweet dreams.

Newly-elected New York Attorney General Letitia James, has reached out to former US Atty General Loretta Lynch to be part of her transition team, with an eye on bringing in experts for its Trump-related investigations, writes NBC News.

Writing Hillary Women News on FB for 3 yrs. I know well the mountain of dead bodies in Trump's namesake business. And the NY Feds have watched the Trump family since the mid-80s, preferring to monitor his ties to the Russian mob and money-laundering -- leading to numerous arrests -- and not going after Trump himself. Trump was the honey bait, if you will.

When Trump supporters start screaming that this is all Trump hate, it's important to understand that Trump's brazen actions now threaten democracy in America, and so both the feds and state legal entities are moving in on Trump as part of an international network up to no good.

If the Zembla videos out of The Netherlands are correct -- and they have been on everything so far -- the missing piece in the public domain is the relationship of Israel's right wing to Russia. Israel is the one big chess piece not openly on the legal chess board. Not yet. But Russia has courted Israel's right-wing billionaires extensively. Jared Kushner is, of course, a major conduit in the Zembla analysis.

Zembla is the equivalent of '60 Minutes' in the Netherlands.

The Daily Beast writes Thursday that the ‘Russia investigation’ is set to go global. In court filings due to drop in 2019, prosecutors will unveil Middle Eastern countries’ attempts to influence U.S. politics.

Various witnesses affiliated with the Trump campaign have been questioned about their conversations with deeply connected individuals from the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, and Israel, according to people familiar with the probe. Topics in those meetings ranged from the use of social-media manipulation to help install Trump in the White House to the overthrow of the regime in Iran.

This week has been a blockbuster headache for Trump, with so much breaking news that it’s almost impossible to track all the lawsuits and investigations surround Trump and the Trump family.

Emily Ratajkowski Sizzles, Talks Feminism + Sexuality For Vogue Australia January 2019

Emily Ratajkowski Sizzles, Talks Feminism + Sexuality For Vogue Australia January 2019

Top talent, model, activist, lingerie designer and actor Emily Ratajkowski covers the January 2019 issue of Vogue Australia. Jillian Davison styles Emily for images by Nicole Bentley.

Zara Wong interviews Emily, who is in Sydney to receive the International Woman of the Year award at the GQ Australia Men of the Year event.

The star is proud of her combination of beauty and intellect, believing that she herself is a vessel for discussions on the politics of feminism. AOC adds “and sexuality”.

“It’s a contradiction,” she says. “Firstly, I think it’s sexism. I think in general people don’t really want to hear women talk about these kinds of things, and especially women who make money on how they look: they especially resent them using their voice.”

She’s heard the criticisms of herself, and has considered them. “The only argument that I think is sort of interesting is the conversation that somehow I’m playing into a patriarchal society by looking the way I look and capitalising on my sexiness,” she says with a shrug. “But I don’t really care if me wearing a crop top is somehow playing into some patriarchy, because it makes me feel good about myself, and I shouldn’t be limited on that. Making rules as to what a feminist should look like or wear is insane to me.” It’s a thought she will touch upon again at her speech at the GQ Australia Men of the Year awards, where she was acknowledged for her activism – that she can wear a string bikini and have a stand on politics, too. “No-one should be shaming anyone, and women especially should not be shaming other women.” She probes further: “I think there’s a whole other level of women who are sexy and are promoting their sexiness or are comfortable with their sexinesss; they especially don’t want to hear it from them.”

As for GQ, they justified their award by saying Ratajkowski was key to the “modern feminist movement”.

“Spending the last few years travelling the world as one of the planet’s most in-demand models, she’s also established herself as a de facto face of the modern feminist movement, spreading a message of body positivity and a ruthless, no-holds-barred approach to sexual equality that has seen her sweep up both accolades and criticism across the globe,” GQ announced.

Felicity Jones Talks Playing Ruth Bader Ginsburg In 'The Illusionist' For Porter Edit Dec. 7, 2018

Felicity Jones Talks Playing Ruth Bader Ginsburg In 'The Illusionist' For Porter Edit Dec. 7, 2018

Actor Felicity Jones graces the pages of Porter Edit’s Dec. 7 issue, styled by Tracy Taylor in ‘The Illusionist’ by Matthew Sprout.

Jones was in Washington, DC Tuesday night for the premier of the new biopic ‘On the Basis of Sex’, in which Jones plays Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Notorious RBG, now 85, posed with Jones and also Armie Hammer who plays her late husband Martin Ginsburg, and Justin Theroux, who plays former ACLU legal director Melvin Wulf. Read the opening night details at The Hollywood Reporter.

Back to Porter Edit, Jane Mulkerrins interviews Jones about playing heroic women.

While the film documents Ginsburg’s path to the highest legal appointment in the land, a path beset by sexism and misogyny, it is also a portrait of her very modern marriage to fellow lawyer Marty, played in the film by Armie Hammer, who supported his wife’s career unreservedly. Marty did all the cooking at home, says Jones: “They believed that gender stereotypes limit both men and women, that the patriarchy holds everyone back.” The apartment, she says, remains full of “the remnants of their life together – including racks of Marty’s cooking pots”. Now, Jones does not take her own opportunities for granted. “You’re not just expected to settle down and have children,” she notes. “If you want to do that, then that’s equally as valid a choice. But if you have ambition, why not follow it?”

The film ‘On the Basis of Sex’ opens in US theaters on Dec. 25 and in the UK on Feb. 8.

'Beale Street' Director Barry Jenkins Is Crazy In Love With Nancy Pelosi's Ravishing Red Max Mara Coat

'Beale Street' Director Barry Jenkins Is Crazy In Love With Nancy Pelosi's Ravishing Red Max Mara Coat

Barry Jenkins is in the news as Director of ‘If Beale Street Could Talk’, nominated for a 2019 Golden Globe Award for Best Drama Film. Jenkins was also nominated for screenplay, along with Regina King for supporting actress.

Based on James Baldwin’s 1974 novel of the same name, ‘Beale Street’ tells the 70s love story of a young black Harlem couple, Tish and Fonny. Devoted to each other since childhood, the young lovers are torn apart when Fonny is falsely accused and jailed for rape.

In a smile-worthy move, Jenkins had other matters on his mind after Nancy Pelosi’s epic TV performance at the White House Tuesday, when Donald Trump tried to negotiate a budget deal live before the American people. It did not go well for the US president, although Trump’s supporters surely disagree, especially if you like to see Trump constantly interrupting the next Speaker of the House and the most formidable woman in US politics.

Anne's Response to Women's March 'Founders' Response To Alyssa Milano and Theressa Shook

Anne's Response to Women's March 'Founders' Response To Alyssa Milano and Theressa Shook

This Women's March Founders battle goes on, and it's tough for me to see where it ends. My inability to buy into these words puts me on the outs with Women's March leaders, seeing no way back towards unity.

After what I've personally been through with these leaders, the words "As a Black woman, it hurts me to see the recent headlines regarding this movement. While you may think you’re helping, you are tearing a movement that was built on unity apart. This is not the time to strengthen the wedge between white women and people of color" are utter poppycock.

I'm sorry but this is Donald Trump talk #101. These four women wouldn't even allow Hillary Clinton to be one of over 20 honored at the Women's March. Do NOT talk to me about driving wedges, and this is BEFORE I share what has been privately said to me.

There is NOTHING in the quoted paragraph below that represents an olive branch. Rather, it's a reconciliation ceremony in which injured parties shares their own testimony. In particular white women are supposed to sit quietly and listen . . . indefinitely . . . for years.

I support reconciliation ceremonies and Laurene Powell Jobs is investing in the possibility of such an event in America over slavery. She is concerned it will become a horror show only, and is heavily involved with leaders in South Africa who have gone through this process to understand how to make such a reconciliation process successful in America. Her partner in this possibility is New Orleans mayor Mitch Landrieu.

My focus is saving America from Trump, cultivating a new democracy and also working for women's rights worldwide. There is not an indefinite time horizon on my life, and I am focused on both purpose and results. Decades of my life have focused on racial reconciliation in America and I've done my part. My eye is now on a larger ball -- aligning myself with hundreds/thousands of women of color worldwide who are willing to bury the ax with white women and move forward.

The leaders of the Women's March have no such goal. It's a Sartre play with no way out.

Queen Rania Speaks To Topic of 'Fake News' + 'Truth' At Arab Social Media Awards In Dubai

Queen Rania Speaks To Topic of 'Fake News' + 'Truth' At Arab Social Media Awards In Dubai

HM Queen Rania Al Abdullah of Jordan was honored in Dubai on Monday, presented with the Influential Personality of the Year Award at this year’s Arab Social Media Influencers Summit. by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai.

Queen Rania seized the moment to deliver a stirring keynote address during the third annual summit, urging attendees to use digital platforms for the good of humanity, in an era of “fake news”.

“Online, the plain truth is not appealing enough to be circulated and liked or to command power in the virtual world, despite the fact that it has never been more accessible than today. The truth is losing ground to emotional rhetoric and sensational rumors,” Queen Rania stated. “We owe it to the truth to seek it out and distribute it. It might not be the most appealing or fascinating, but not all that glitters is gold. Let us aim to give truth the final word.”

Queen Rania launched her first official social media pages back in 2009, and AOC celebrated it. The royal reminded her audience that it is estimated that the average person will spend over five years of his or her life on social media. “Social media has achieved much of what we had expected from it, but unfortunately, we still managed to transfer our human barriers to this world,” HM added, exploring the ways in which digital platforms have changed from spreading hope and connecting humans in a barrier-free landscape. “We now listen not to communicate, but to respond, closing ranks and isolating ourselves among those who resemble us and confirm our own convictions.”

Moving from the downside to the positive opportunity of social media, Queen Rania urged influencers to maintain a steady focus on positive change.

Hailey Baldwin Bieber Talks Privacy In Vogue Arabia Zoey Grossman Cover Story Interview

Hailey Baldwin Bieber Talks Privacy In Vogue Arabia Zoey Grossman Cover Story Interview

Hailey Baldwin goes full-throttle glam in her Vogue Arabia December 2018 cover story. Bobette Cohn styles Baldwin in Tom Ford, Balmain, Marc Jacobs and luxe jewels in images by Zoey Grossman. Hailey’s interview Introducing Mrs Bieber: Hailey Opens Up About Fame, Her Father, and Starting a Family by Alexandria Gouveia presents Mrs Hailey Rhode Bieber as a reluctant celebrity.

Amal Clooney Critiques Trump At UN Correspondents Dinner, Unveils New TrialWatch Initiative To Monitor Global Judicial Systems

Amal Clooney Critiques Trump At UN Correspondents Dinner, Unveils New TrialWatch Initiative To Monitor Global Judicial Systems

Alright. First things first. Amal Clooney made a stunning appearance at wednesday night’s United Nations Correspondents Associations (UNCA) Awards dinner in New York City. Ignoring frigid temperatures, the human rights lawyer, accompanied by husband George Clooney, wore a “breezy, blue and white warm weather frock by J. Mendel, writes ELLE UK. As always, Amal looked ravishing.

Amal Clooney was honored as Global Citizen of the Year by UNCA for her human rights work generally and her willingness to take on high-profile cases involving persecuted journalists, often putting her at odds with the world’s repressive regimes.

Clooney seized the opportunity to address not only the global risks for journalists, but US president Donald Trump for his own attacks on the press. She referenced the mistreatment of journalists in countries like North Korea, Turkey, Brazil, and the Philippines, saying that Trumps’ actions legitimized aggression against the press.

In the words of Emirates Woman, Amal Clooney “put US president Donald Trump on blast.”

"The U.S. president has given such regimes a green light, and labeled the press in this country an enemy of the people," Clooney said, according to a video of her speech. " She continued, "In many of the cases that I have worked on too, I have seen journalists and opposition figures ruthlessly targeted so that they can no longer criticize leaders." In March, it was reported that Clooney joined the legal team representing two Reuters reporters imprisoned in Myanmar. 

Amal also paid tribute to her client Nadia Murad, an Iraqi Yazidi refugee who survived sexual abuse by ISIS and will be honored Monday in Stockholm, as a co-winner of this year’s Nobel Peace Price. Clooney and Murad have worked together in trying to make ISIS legally accountable for the genocide of the Yazidi people.

On Wednesday. the Clooneys revealed their latest initiative, TrialWatch, which will monitor court trials where there is a risk of abuse, and rank countries’ judicial systems. The project is part of the Clooney Foundation for Justice. Amal released a statement regarding their latest endeavor saying, “Today, courts all over the world are used as tools of oppression. Governments get away too easily with imprisoning opposition figures, silencing critics and persecuting vulnerable groups through the courts. Trial monitoring will shine a light on these abuses.”

EYE: Albert Watson Unveils Pirelli 2019 Calendar With Gigi Hadid, Misty Copeland, Laetitia Casta + Julia Garner

EYE: Albert Watson Unveils Pirelli 2019 Calendar With Gigi Hadid, Misty Copeland, Laetitia Casta + Julia Garner

The 2019 Pirelli calendar stars several of the world’s most famous women including Gigi Hadid, Misty Copeland, Laetitia Casta and Julia Garner with backup from Alexander Wang (with Gigi Hadid), Calvin Royal III (with Misty Copeland), Astrid Eika (with Julia Garner), and Sergei Polunin (with Laetitia Casta) — all lensed by celebrity photographer Albert Watson.

While the Pirelli calendar is more sensual than last year’s by Tim Walker, it is born of the #MeToo movement. The staged scenes of sex and debauchery — best lensed by Terry Richardson’s infamous image of Eniko Mihalik eating a banana — are gone.

Albert Watson, who is known for his cinematic images, chose to "show women who were dreaming of things."

The narratives were shot in Miami and New York and revolve around four glamorous female movie characters imagining their future success. Copeland, a principal dancer at the American Ballet Theater, plays the role of an aspiring dancer biding her time at a Miami strip club; Hadid is a stylish but bored and melancholy heiress; Casta performs as a bohemian painter; and actor Julia Garner plays a photographer.

"The Pirelli calendar was, at the bottom roots, a pinup calendar for mechanics when they changed tires," Watson said at his vast Manhattan studio last month.

"They held onto the sexy thing for a long period of time, and when it came time for me to do it, (it) seemed wrong to take models to the beach to take their tops off. It seemed out of time with the #MeToo movement."

Priyanka Chopra Is First Indian Woman To Cover Vogue US January 2019 | Also #94 On Forbes 2018 Most Powerful Women List

Priyanka Chopra Is First Indian Woman To Cover Vogue US January 2019 | Also #94 On Forbes 2018 Most Powerful Women List

New bride Priyanka Chopra covers the January 2019 issue of Vogue US, lensed by Annie Leibovitz. Chopra, styled by Tonne Goodman, appears in the company of now husband Nick Jonas, styled by Michael Philouze.

Among her many honors, Priyanka Chopra is now the first Indian woman to cover the magazine in its 126-year history. In short order, Chopra added another notch on her accomplishment belt this week, being named to the Forbes List of 100 Most Powerful Women of 2018. The Forbes list describes the Quantico star as: "Arguably the most successful Bollywood actor to cross over to Hollywood." The new bride moved up three slots on the list to #94 from her 2017 #97 slot.

Read on at Vogue: When Prihyanka Met Nick: A Love Story.