If you’ve ever fancied working alongside a Game of Thrones star, you might well be in luck.
Everyone’s favourite Stark assassin Maisie Williams has announced she’s starting work on a short film — and she’s put out an open call for people to collaborate with.
Williams’ project is tied in with Daisie — the creative networking app she co-founded and launched in 2018.
Here’s the video Daisie’s Twitter account posted on Sunday:
Maisie Williams and Bill Milner are making a short film. But they can’t do it alone.
Apply to join their Daisie team if you have a way with words, camera, hair, makeup, styling, music, design or even acting. #LDNcreatespic.twitter.com/BFDxkL17vf
“We started our own production company about two years ago with the hopes of creating our own projects,” explains Williams. “We are going to be building a short film, and the best thing about it is we don’t even know what it’s going to be yet — because we want the script to come from you guys.”
Williams and Bill Millner’s short film is part of an initiative called LDN Creates — a program from Daisie that encourages London creatives to submit to one of four different projects.
Williams and Millner are looking for a whole bunch of different job roles to help on the film, including writers, camera assistants, editors, and more — you can find out more about the project and apply directly via the website.
The iconic Addams Family is all set to return to our screens this Halloween in the Conrad Vernon and Greg Tiernan-directed computer animated The Addams Family.
It’s stacked with an incredible voice cast including Oscar Isaac, Charlize Theron, Allison Janney, Nick Kroll, Finn Wolfhard, and Chloë Grace Moretz.
Just be ready to snap your fingers to their classic tune.
Serge Ibaka is holding a plastic cup half-full of dried, roasted crickets. He’s shaking it, actually, showing it off, standing behind a lacquer kitchen island, wearing a customized apron and chef’s hat. He leans toward the camera, just a few feet away, as he empties the bugs into a small french press.
“Crickets. Yes, you heard that,” he says. Ibaka’s been eating them since his childhood in the Republic of Congo and remains an advocate for them today. Often, he will note their high protein content. “Crick-uts,” he repeats, his heavy accent pouring through.
On this March evening, Ibaka is preparing a meal for his newest teammate, Jeremy Lin. “Special menu for Jeremy,” he says with great deviousness. He knows that Lin detests tofu, so tonight’s entree will be a stinky, fermented variation on the soy product, which as it sizzles on a nearby stove, makes Ibaka grimace.
“Oh my God,” he says. The sour odor wafts past him and fills the entire room—a rented kitchen near Toronto’s downtown core. A half-dozen film crew members are struggling, too, but everyone persists, determined to capture the bond that can form over one daring meal.
Since July, Ibaka has brought a number of Raptors teammates to his table for an extraordinary array of dishes: lamb brains, cow heart, pig’s head, worms. His show, How Hungry Are You?, tests the appetites and courage of guests in a most unusual way. On a recent episode, Ibaka surprised Kyle Lowry, a Philadelphia native, with a bull testicle Philly cheesesteak. “You feed me so much on the court,” Ibaka told his point guard. “I have to feed you something good, bro.”
All season, the show has been an easy off-court chemistry builder, a nice asset for a team under duress. At 57-24, this is perhaps the modern Raptors’ best roster, but it’s also the most unstable. Roughly half their players are new following a busy summer and trade deadline; their coach, Nick Nurse, is a rookie; young players have forced their way into bigger roles; veterans have received diminished ones.
Meanwhile, age 29, Ibaka is hard at work, serving up a signature season. He is there if the team needs 30 points or if it just needs 30 minutes of no-frills ball. He is approaching a career high in scoring at 15 points per game and shooting over 50 percent from the floor, leaning on one of the league’s most reliable mid-range games. Maybe he’s not the same menace he once was around the rim—he averaged 3.7 blocks per game at age 22—but he protects it just fine and looks spry doing so.
So, as Lin goes for the stinky tofu—trying it timidly at first and then a little more comfortably, to Ibaka’s delight—he wonders if there is something mysterious propelling the big man.
“It might be the cooking show,” Lin suggests.
No, not quite, Ibaka says.
“It’s the crickets.”
Ibaka’s passion for cooking developed in his native Republic of Congo, as a child. He first learned how to cook by watching his father, who would prepare many of the same dishes that Serge now tries on his show. But the family did not always have a kitchen stocked with ingredients, like Ibaka has today. Ibaka recalls that, as a child, he sometimes had to wait outside restaurants for customers to finish, so he could eat the leftovers. “We come from different places, different cultures, different foods,” Ibaka says, referencing his NBA guests. “Some foods you may say, ‘Oh wow, this is not food.’ People actually eat that somewhere. I just want people to really understand that and really appreciate it.”
Not long after guard Jeremy Lin arrived in Toronto, Serge Ibaka welcomed him to the showMariam Konate
Ibaka’s perspective is appreciated in Toronto, where the roster is especially diverse. This season, the Raptors have represented England, Spain, Cameroon and Lithuania, to name some countries, and Lin is the league’s only Asian American player. Ibaka likes to inquire about his teammates’ backgrounds in a sort of casual way. “I’m not really good at asking people questions in interviews,” he says. “I just try to have fun, to talk.”
In the fall, Ibaka hosted the Raptors’ youthful bench mob: Pascal Siakam, OG Anunoby, Norman Powell, Fred VanVleet and Delon Wright. Ibaka prepared lamb brains, to be spread over toast like butter. Powell and Siakam both recall the food as “terrible,” with Siakam adding that: “He only got two ingredients, salt and pepper; that’s it. Not enough seasoning.”
Regardless, the episode served a larger purpose. “I can tell after that moment, I can really see the difference, just connect us, the guys really can see what kind of person I am,” Ibaka says. “The way I invited them to my show at my place created a good chemistry.”
His teammates felt the same. “It’s not just eating nasty food,” Siakam says. “It’s about eating nasty food but also bonding and talking about important things, which is cool.”
Powell has noticed how such extracurriculars can help unite a team. “It’s just team bonding,” he says. “We’re always supporting each other off the floor, and I think that helps us on the court when we’re going through tough things—not fragmenting, staying strong together because you’re always gonna support your fellow teammates.”
And this team has had no shortage of reasons to fragment. Over the past five years, during what might be considered the Lowry Era, Toronto has always made the playoffs and then exited ingloriously. In 2014, they dropped a Game 7 at home to Brooklyn in the first round. Over the ensuing four years, they were eliminated via sweep three times—twice at the hands of LeBron James.
Then came the really hard part: July’s trade, which sent DeMar DeRozan, Jakob Poeltl and a draft pick to San Antonio for Kawhi Leonard and Danny Green. For whatever the Raptors’ shortcomings had been, one could not deny their unity, led by the special connection between DeRozan and Lowry. That went out the window. And then, in February, more pieces went flying, as Jonas Valanciunas, CJ Miles and Wright—noted locker room chums—were sent to Memphis for Marc Gasol, who on many nights replaces Ibaka in the starting lineup.
Some players in Ibaka’s position—accomplished, a full-time starter since 2011—might pout about such a demotion. Instead, Ibaka welcomed Gasol and his brother Pau into his kitchen for a little cow’s heart. The younger Gasol has known Ibaka for years; they both played in Spain as teenagers. Yet, he was impressed by the way his old friend ran his show. “I never saw that version of him,” Marc says.
All season, Ibaka’s cooking show has been an easy off-court chemistry builder for the Raptors.Moustapha Youssouf
Ibaka leans on his alter ego during How Hungry Are You?: the Mafuzzy Chef. The moniker is emblazoned on Ibaka’s apron and hashtagged on his social media posts. What it means, Ibaka won’t say. “A lot of people asking me about Mafuzzy,” he says dismissively. Ibaka has a sort of coy sense of humor; he is suave and a little skeptical. “It’s personal, top secret. Mafuzzy, man. I am Mafuzzy Man, original man, 100 percent pure, man.” (The song “Mafuzzy Style,” written by the French-Congolese singer DADJU about Ibaka, has cleared 56 million views but provides little clarity.)
You only have to watch one episode of How Hungry Are You? to appreciate Ibaka’s commitment to the character. His effort is admirable; each episode runs about 10 minutes long but requires a few hours to tape. Ibaka prepares notes for each interview and side-eyes them during his conversations. He retapes lines until his pronunciation is sound or until everyone in the room is laughing (he constantly scans the room for reactions). In each episode, there are charming scripted scenes. During the Lin shoot, for instance, Ibaka’s film crew urged Ibaka to say that his salt and pepper—which were in fact American-made—were imported from Vietnam and Iceland to prove “what a worldly guy” Serge is. And so Ibaka spent several minutes trying and trying again to nail the delivery, sometimes stumbling over the very last syllable—”Ice…ah!”—before cracking up and turning his head against the fridge in frustration.
He weighs seemingly small decisions, deliberating with those in the room. Should he film a quick bit in which he opens a window, freeing the kitchen of the tofu’s awful odor? Naw. That would look too much like a cheesy Food Network segment, he thinks, and decides against it. “He’s confident running the show,” Marc says.
He has big plans for it moving forward—new recipes and new guests. For instance, he would like to host his old Thunder teammates, James Harden, Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook. The latter two have, at least, a slightly frosty relationship, but Ibaka’s not worried about that. “End of the day,” he says, “when you do something, you have to do something where you bring people together. You can’t do something where you separate people.”
Ibaka’s good nature was on display in one of the show’s first episodes, which aired over the summer. Right after DeRozan was traded to San Antonio, Ibaka flew out to meet DeRozan in California to serve him worms and talk shop. “Tell me, bro, how you feel, bro?” he asked early on, which digressed into an argument about how many points DeRozan would drop on Ibaka in their first matchup. “I’m gonna block everything,” Ibaka countered. And then he returned to the trade itself, probing DeRozan again. “Tell me a little bit, bro. How did you feel about everything? Because I’ve been there before.” DeRozan was dealt after nine seasons in Toronto; Ibaka’s first seven were in OKC.
“It was tough when I heard the news, I’m not gonna lie to you, bro,” Ibaka tells DeRozan in a poignant moment. “… Your vibe, the way you lead the team, what you did for the team the last two years I’ve been in Toronto, it was just amazing.”
Moustapha Youssouf
Still, like any good journalist or curious host, Ibaka made sure to get both sides of the story. Recently, he cooked for Leonard; the episode airs Thursday as the Season 2 finale. Ibaka used the opportunity to address the long shadow of Leonard’s impending free agency, which covers the team’s magnificent season, its title hopes and everything beyond. Nobody knows what Leonard, who is famously reserved, has in mind, and he hasn’t shown a willingness to talk about it.
Well, the Mafuzzy Chef figured he might as well try. There’s a certain power and charm that he wields, after all, standing there decked out in Mafuzzy merch. He feeds, he connects, he disarms.
“He’s my friend, my teammate, so I just asked him,” Ibaka says now. “A lot of writers already asked that question, but it’s different the way I ask it. I just turned to him: ‘My friend, you coming back next year or what?’”
In his first appearance on Capitol Hill since taking office, and amid intense speculation over his review of special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia report, Attorney General William Barr arrives to appear before a House Appropriations subcommittee on Tuesday. | J. Scott Applewhite/AP Photo
Democrats are attacking the attorney general over what they say is ‘unacceptable handling’ of Mueller’s findings.
Attorney General William Barr said Tuesday that he intends to release a redacted version of special counsel Robert Mueller’s report “within a week” and that he intends to explain his rationale behind every piece of the report he blocks from public view.
Barr told lawmakers during an appearance on Capitol Hill that he is working with Mueller to identify sensitive information that should be redacted — including grand jury evidence, classified material and information relevant to ongoing investigations — before he submits the report. He said the process was “going along very well.”
Story Continued Below
“I do think it’s important that the public have an opportunity to learn the results of the special counsel’s work,” Barr said, noting that the special counsel regulations, as written, do not require him to make the report public.
The attorney general said he gave Mueller and his prosecutors an opportunity to review his four-page summary of the report before it was released to the public last month. Barr said Mueller declined. He also said he doesn’t believe Mueller was involved in crafting a second letter to Congress that Barr sent last week, in which the attorney general outlined the types of redactions he believes are necessary.
Barr’s appearance, ostensibly to advocate for the Justice Department’s budget, featured a raft of questions about his handling of Mueller’s report, which Democrats have panned as an effort to protect Trump from damaging information contained in it. Barr wrote in his summary that Mueller “did not establish” that the Trump campaign conspired with Russians to influence the 2016 election.
Though Barr noted that Mueller made no decision on whether to charge Trump with obstructing the investigation, the attorney general, in his memo, announced his own decision to absolve Trump of any allegations of obstruction, prompting howls from Democrats that the move was an effort to whitewash damaging information Mueller found.
Barr’s testimony took on added urgency in light of recent news reports that members of Mueller’s team were frustrated with the attorney general’s summary, claiming it doesn’t accurately represent their 22-month investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election and potential Trump-Russia collusion. Democrats leaned into Barr’s decision-making process in crafting the summary.
Rep. Nita Lowey (D-N.Y.), the chairwoman of the full Appropriations Committee, used her opening statement to home in on what she called Barr’s “unacceptable handling” of the report.
“All we have is your four-page summary letter, which seems to cherry pick from the report to draw the most favorable conclusion possible for the president,” Lowey said.
And Noah gives her the send-off she deserves. Discussing the report that Trump thought she was too soft on immigration, Noah quips, “How are you going to get rid of ‘kids-in-cages’ woman for being ‘too nice’? That’s like firing a cat for not displaying its anus enough.”
Trump doesn’t escape Noah’s sharp wrath, either, turning his satirical fire on the president and his obsession with appearances versus reality: “If anything, this is a great lesson for the migrants because it’s not your story or your life that President Trump cares about. It’s just how you look.”
Joffrey. Cersei. Walder Frey. Meryn Trant. Tywin Lannister. The Red Woman. Beric Dondarrion. Thoros of Myr. Ilyn Payne. The Mountain.
She whispers their names, one by one, every night before she goes to sleep. Arya Stark’s greatest driving force is vengeance, and those names along with a handful of others comprise her infamous kill list that keeps her pushing onward in the face of tremendous hardship.
Each one of them wronged her, hurt her family, or hurt her friends at some point or another, and while many of the names she’s added to her list over the years have been crossed off by her own actions or the actions of others, Arya has quite a bit of work left to do in the final season of Game of Thrones.
Before Season 8 begins, let’s recap where we’re at with Arya’s list, and start with the ones who are still walking around Westeros.
1. Cersei Lannister
Cersei and Arya haven’t come face-to-face since Season 1.
Image: hbo
There are many villains in Westeros, but few have caused as much death and grief as Cersei Lannister, whose one-track focus of keeping her children safe and in power at all costs leads to the execution of Eddard Stark and helps ignite the ongoing conflicts across the continent.
The main reason for Arya putting Cersei on her list is that Cersei allowed for the beheading of Ned. Right now, Cersei is in King’s Landing and has agreed to ally with Daenerys and the Starks, although she plans on betraying them as soon as possible.
2. Ilyn Payne
You shouldn’t have done that, Ilyn.
Image: hbo
The executioner without a tongue, Ser Ilyn Payne was the man that swung the sword that killed Ned Stark. Although he hasn’t appeared since Season 4, as far as we know, the man is still alive, possibly in King’s Landing.
3. The Mountain
The Mountain is the big one.
Image: hbo
Gregor Clegane, the brother of Sandor Clegane, wreaked havoc throughout the Riverlands and lead his men to take the castle Harrenhal, where the Mountain and his soldiers tortured and executed untold numbers of innocent people. Arya was one of the few survivors of Harrenhal and saw the horrors the Mountain wrought.
Right now, the Mountain is sort of alive in King’s Landing. After being poisoned by Oberyn Martell’s spear, the former maester Qyburn managed to keep the Mountain in a zombie-like state, and he currently obeys all of Cersei’s orders. This name might be the toughest to cross off Arya’s list.
4. The Hound
The Hound and Arya aren’t the enemies they used to be.
Image: hbo
Sandor Clegane was another name on Arya’s list from the early days. He earned his place by killing Arya’s friend Mycah after Joffrey accused Mycah of hitting him.
Over the years, though, Arya and the Hound seemed to settle their differences and begin to respect each other, and in a moment when Arya could have taken his life, she left him to die from his wounds. As far as Arya knows, the Hound died, but in reality he was nursed back to health and is currently headed toward Winterfell where Arya is, happy to hear that she’s alive. It’s quite possible that the Hound is no longer on her list.
5. Melisandre
Melisandre just really loves setting people on fire.
Image: hbo
The Red Woman hasn’t made a lot of friends in her time on Game of Thrones, least of all with Arya. In Season 3, Melisandra takes Gendry (Arya’s best friend) with the intent of sacrificing him to the Lord of Light by burning. Lucky for Gendry, he escapes before that happens but Arya doesn’t just let something like that go.
Melisandre is currently in Volantis, but has said that she will return to Westeros where she will die. Perhaps at the hands of Arya.
6. Beric Dondarrion
Beric (with the eyepatch) is kind of a gray character.
Image: hbo
The last (possibly) living name on Arya’s list (for now) is Beric Dondarrion, the leader of the Brotherhood Without Banners who has died and been brought back to life a handful of times. He’s the one that sold Gendry to Melisandre, knowing full well what the Red Woman wanted to do with him.
Last we saw Beric, he was at the Wall trying to stop the White Walkers and their army from invading, but the White Walkers broke through and we don’t know the current status of Beric. Without Thoros of Myr around to resurrect him, his next death could be his last.
7. Walder Frey
Walder Frey brought this upon himself.
Image: hbo
Now we’re into the names that Arya has crossed off her list. Walder Frey is certainly one of the most detestable people in all of Game of Thrones having hosted the infamous Red Wedding, in which the Freys murdered Arya’s brother Robb and her mother Catelyn, along with a large number of Stark bannermen and allies at what should have been a peaceful wedding celebration.
Arya, after developing the skills she learned from the Faceless Men, killed two of Walder’s sons, cooked them into a pie, and fed them to an unaware Walder. Arya revealed the cannibalism before unveiling her face and slitting Walder’s throat.
Arya took this one a step further and proceeded to disguise herself as Walder, poison a whole bunch of wine and propose a toast, killing a whole bunch of Freys that participated in the murders of her family.
8. Meryn Trant
You can tell what kind of guy Meryn is by who he allies himself with.
Image: hbo
Ser Meryn Trant was a knight of the kingsguard, most importantly under King Joffrey, and aside from being an all around horrible guy, he (probably) killed Arya’s combat instructor Syrio Forel. It wasn’t shown on screen, and Arya didn’t see it, but she assumed that Meryn killed the Braavosi.
Arya killed him in a brothel where Meryn was abusing young girls, slitting his throat.
9. Polliver
Arya and Gendry, friends forever. Arya takes care of her friends.
Image: hbo
When Arya and her companions were captured and taken to Harrenhal, Polliver took Arya’s lithe blade Needle and stabbed her friend Lommy in the throat. If that wasn’t bad enough, Polliver helped the Mountain in his torturing and killing of the people at Harrenhal.
After running into him at an inn, Arya stabbed Polliver in the throat with Needle.
10. Rorge
Rorge never should have left the cage.
Image: hbo
Rorge was another individual who helped with the horrors at Harrenhal and personally threatened to rape Arya, even though she helped save him from dying in a fire. When Rorge and his companion Biter attacked Arya and the Hound on the road, Arya stabs Rorge in the heart with Needle.
11. Joffrey Lannister
Joffrey never stops being terrible.
Image: hbo
And finally we’re onto the people on Arya’s list who are dead but she didn’t get to cross off herself. The first is the sadistic Joffrey who ordered the execution of her father Ned. Joffrey did a myriad of other horrible things, effectively causing the deaths of Mycah and Sansa’s direwolf Lady, and abusing Sansa.
Joffrey died at his wedding, poisoned by Olenna Martell and Petyr Baelish.
12. Tywin Lanniester
Tywin is the richest, deadest man in Westeros.
Image: hbo
Aside from being the head of the (mostly) horrible Lannister family, Tywin Lannister orchestrated the Red Wedding with Walder Frey, ordering the deaths of Robb and Catelyn Stark. Tywin also oversaw the war against the Starks, commanded the Mountain to invade the Riverlands, and tormented his son Tyrion.
Tyrion killed Tywin with a crossbow while he was sitting on the toilet.
13. Thoros of Myr
It’s too bad Thoros can’t resurrect himself.
Image: hbo
Along with Beric Dondarrion, the Red Priest Thoros of Myr sold Gendry to Melisandre, knowing that she wanted to burn him alive. Thoros of Myr died north of the Wall, dying in the cold after he was wounded by the White Walkers’ wights.
Bonus names
Jaqen H’ghar taught Arya a lot about killing.
Image: hbo
When Arya saves the Faceless Man Jaqen H’ghar, he promises her three lives for the three she stole from the Faceless God. Arya names the Tickler, who was torturing people at Harranhal, and then Ser Smory Lorch when he became suspicious of Arya. To help Arya escape in exchange for his own life, Jaqen also killed a whole bunch of other guards.
At least two army soldiers have been killed by Sudanese security forces in the capital Khartoum while they attempted to protect protesters in front of the defence ministry, according to an opposition-linked group.
The Sudan Doctors’ Committee, a group affiliated with the opposition, said two soldiers were shot dead early on Tuesday as clashes erupted between government security forces and Sudanese soldiers – many of whom had responded to calls from the people to join anti-government demonstrations.
Eyewitnesses said government forces had attempted to break a sit-in staged by anti-regime protesters outside the army headquarters.
“At around 2:00am, militias riding vehicles of the Rapid Support Forces began attacking protesters,” Ramy Osman, a protester, told Anadolu news agency.
He said attacks escalated two hours later, prompting the army to intervene.
Another protester, who preferred to remain unnamed, said the army has allowed hundreds of protesters to enter the headquarters for protection.
At least seven dead
Thousands of people have been staging a sit-in for four consecutive days outside the complex, which also houses Sudan’s President Omar al-Bashir‘s residence, calling for the leader’s resignation.
Since April 6, when the sit-in began, at least seven people have been killed – including the two army soldiers and a protester in Omdurman, Sudan’s second most populous city, the Sudan Doctor’s Committee said.
Chanting “Sudan is rising, the army is rising”, crowds massed undeterred despite attempts to foil the demonstrations.
Forces belonging to the widely-feared National Intelligence and Security Service (NISS) have used tear gas, rubber bullets and live ammunition in a bid to disperse the protesters, according to the Sudanese Professionals Association (SPA), one of the groups spearheading the demonstrations.
The latest rallies are an escalation of the four-month-long campaign for political change.
The protest movement began as a reaction to a government decision to triple the price of bread in December, but it has since escalated into growing demands for Bashir’s departure after three decades in office.
Bashir, meanwhile, has refused to step down, saying his opponents need to seek power through the ballot box.
‘No other option’
Protesters have been appealing for solidarity with the military.
On Monday, the protesting Alliance for Freedom and Change group called on the army to hold direct talks with demonstrators about “forming a transitional government”.
Khalid Omer Yousif, a member of the Sudanese Congress Party, told Al Jazeera from London on Tuesday the opposition alliance are waiting to hear from the military.
“We’re waiting for the army leadership to respond to this initiative because we believe this is the only way out of scenarios that we want our country to avoid,” Yousif said.
According to him, army officers have also joined the protesters.
“They told the protesters that they are backing their demand; they are going to protect them – regardless of the position of the army’s leadership.”
Yousif warned that if the army’s top ranks do not respond to the opposition’s call, then they would be “endangering the unity of the army itself”.
“They have no other option than to respond positively to the demands of the people,” he said.
Defence Minister General Awad Ibnouf had vowed that the army would prevent any slide into disorder.
“Sudan’s armed forces understand the reasons for the demonstrations and is not against the demands and aspirations of the citizens, but it will not allow the country to fall into chaos,” Ibnouf said on Monday, according to the official SUNA news agency.
In a separate statement, Army Chief of Staff Kamal Abdelmarouf said the military was “discharging its responsibility in securing and protecting citizens.”
Analysts, meanwhile, said senior military figures were eager to “find a way” for Bashir, whose power base is within the armed forces, to step down “gracefully” and initiate a transition of power.
While officials say 38 people have died since the protests erupted on December 19, Human Rights Watch has said at least 51 people have been killed during the demonstrations.
THE PRESIDENT AND THE WHITE HOUSE are fond of saying that it’s Democrats who are standing in the way of a big-time rewrite of the nation’s immigration laws. Next time he tries to squarely blame Democrats, we should ask him this: “How did purging the top officials at DHS move you closer to an immigration overhaul?”
THE PRESIDENT has been stymied by both the legislative process and his own administration. If you’re a vulnerable Republican senator, how do you feel about the president vowing to get tougher at the border?
BACKLASH …
— WAPO’S SEUNG MIN KIM: “Grassley warns White House not to oust any more top immigration officials”: “The most senior Senate Republican is warning the White House not to oust another top immigration official, making appeals to the administration against dismissing Lee Francis Cissna, the director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, amid a purge of Homeland Security leaders.
“In an interview with The Washington Post, Sen. Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa) said he was ‘very, very concerned’ regarding reports that Cissna could be next in a series of rapid-fire DHS dismissals that began late last week when the White House suddenly pulled the nomination of Ronald Vitiello, who had been tapped as director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
“‘One, those are good public servants,’ Grassley said Monday evening, after rumors of Cissna’s potential exit percolated all day. “Secondly, besides the personal connection I have with them and the qualifications they have, they are the intellectual basis for what the president wants to accomplish in immigration.” WaPo
— BURGESS EVERETT, JOHN BRESNAHAN and MELANIE ZANONA: “Trump’s DHS purge floors Republicans”: “‘It’s a mess,’ Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) said, summing up the dynamic on the border and in Washington.
“‘Strikes me as just a frustration of not being able to solve a problem. Honestly, it wasn’t Secretary Nielsen’s fault. It wasn’t for lack of effort on her part. I don’t know if there’s anybody who’s going to be able to do more,’ said Cornyn, who spoke to Nielsen on Monday and planned to speak to her interim replacement, Kevin McAleenan, later in the day.
“‘I thought that Nielsen was doing a fantastic job,’ added Joni Ernst of Iowa, the No. 5 Senate GOP leader. ‘I would love to see some continuity. I think that’s important.’” POLITICO
WHAT THIS ALL MEANS … NYT A1: “Trump Signals Even Fiercer Immigration Agenda, With a Possible Return of Family Separations,” by Michael Shear, Zolan Kanno-Youngs and Maggie Haberman:“President Trump’s purge of the nation’s top homeland security officials is a sign that he is preparing to unleash an even fiercer assault on immigration, including a possible return of his controversial decision last summer to separate migrant children from their parents, current and former administration officials said Monday. …
“But the longer term effect of the eruption of Oval Office frustration is likely to be a burst of hard-line policies that stand out even in an administration that has pursued an unprecedented series of executive actions and rules changes aimed at reducing legal and illegal immigration into the United States.
“In addition to urging Mr. Trump to revisit the idea of family separation, several of the president’s closest immigration confidants have been pushing him to consider even harsher measures. Those include further limits on who can seek asylum; stronger action to close ports of entry along the Mexican border; an executive order to end birthright citizenship; more aggressive construction of a border wall; and a more robust embrace of active-duty troops to secure the border against illegal immigration.
“In an administration that is famous for chaos and last-minute decision-making, it is unclear on which of those policies the president might choose to move forward. But by removing Ms. Nielsen, Mr. Vitiello and perhaps others, Mr. Trump is getting rid of voices who sometimes cautioned him against taking actions they believed to be illegal or unwise.” NYT
— “House Dem, experts question legality of Trump move to replace Nielsen,” by JOSH GERSTEIN and STEPHANIE BEASLEY: “[I]n a letter to Trump on Monday, Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) wrote that ‘the law of succession at the Department is clear’ that upon Nielsen’s departure the temporary duty to lead the agency would pass to Undersecretary for Management Claire Grady.
“The legal hitch could lead Trump to fire Grady, since she appears to be an obstacle to McAleenan being able to assume the top role at the agency.” POLITICO … Thompson’s letter
HOW TRUMP FIRES PEOPLE — DANIEL LIPPMAN and ANDREW RESTUCCIA, “‘I would have preferred not to have been ejected like an Austin Powers villain’: From Nielsen to Mattis to Mooch, an optics-obsessed president narrates exits.” POLITICO
Good Tuesday morning. “THE HILL TO DIE ON” is in stores everywhere today. JAKE and ANNA will sit down with NYT’S MAGGIE HABERMAN at Murmrr Ballroom in Brooklyn tonight at 7:30 to talk about the book, and news of the day. The event… Order the book
SPOTTED: Former Virginia A.G. KEN CUCCINELLI, who has been mentioned as a potential nominee for DHS secretary and is a 1991 U.Va. grad, hanging out with hundreds of other U.Va. basketball fans at the Marquette Hotel in downtown Minneapolis, before Monday night’s NCAA national championship.
Asked if he had been contacted about being on the short list for DHS secretary, he said he was “just here rooting for U.Va. tonight,” according to our tipster. Pic
HOT POLL … “Biden still tops Democratic field after rough week,” by Steven Shepard: “The spate of negative stories about Joe Biden’s interactions with women hasn’t upended the former vice president’s standing as presumptive 2020 Democratic frontrunner, according to the first national poll of the presidential field conducted since the controversy erupted.
“The survey, from Morning Consult, finds Biden still atop the list of other candidates with the support of 32 percent of voters who say they intend to participate in a Democratic primary or caucus next year. He is 9 points ahead of the next closest candidate: Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), at 23 percent.” POLITICO
HOT SEAT … BILL BARR faces Capitol Hill, via ANDREW DESIDERIO and KYLE CHENEY: “Democrats plan to use hearing to press Barr on Mueller report”: “House Democrats plan to grill Attorney General William Barr about his handling of special counsel Robert Mueller’s final report when he appears before an Appropriations subcommittee on Tuesday morning.
“The hearing is ostensibly focused on the Justice Department’s budget, but it will be Barr’s first public appearance since crafting a four-page summary of Mueller’s findings. Members of Mueller’s team were reportedly frustrated with the summary, claiming it doesn’t accurately represent their 22-month investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election and potential Trump-Russia collusion.
“Democrats plan to lean heavily into Barr’s decision-making process in crafting the summary.” POLITICO
— SECRETARY OF STATE MIKE POMPEO will also appear before the Senate Appropriations Committee today.
HOW TO THINK ABOUT BIBI … Israeli P.M. Benjamin Netanyahu is up for re-election today against what many believe to be a dream team of former defense officials who banded together to take down the Israeli premier. During this campaign, Netanyahu has floated annexing the West Bank. Was he just posturing? Or will he use the rest of Trump’s tenure to lock in whatever diplomatic gains he can with a kindred spirit in the White House?
— L.A. TIMES’ NOGA TARNOPOLSKY in Jerusalem:“Netanyahu says Trump named Iran’s Revolutionary Guard a terrorist group at his request”LAT
2020 WATCH … AND THEN THERE WERE 18: ERIC SWALWELL announced his presidential run Monday night. Because sure, why not?
— ESQUIRE’S @ryanlizza: “Swalwell was in the same 2012 House class as Beto O’Rourke and Tulsi Gabbard. They are all friends and are now all running for president.” … NYT’S ALEX BURNS points out that Beto, Swalwell and Rep. Seth Moulton (D-Mass.) all came to D.C. after taking out Democratic incumbents.
— FLASHBACK … June 17, 2015, Indiana:“When WSBT 22 asked [Mike] Pence what he thought of Buttigieg’s announcement, he replied, ‘I hold Mayor Buttigieg in the highest personal regard. We have a great working relationship. I see him as a dedicated public servant, and a patriot.’” WSBT
THE JUICE …
— JOHN ROGERS, who served as executive director of the NRCC during the 2018 cycle, is launching TORCHLIGHT STRATEGIES with longtime ad-maker JASON MEATH. The firm will focus on TV and digital creative work, general consulting and public affairs.More from Scott Bland
— DEPT. OF NEVER TOO EARLY — The RNC transferred $540,000 to the Committee On Arrangements For The 2020 Republican National Convention.
TRUMP’S TUESDAY — Trump will participate in the arrival and then hold a bilateral meeting with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi in the Oval Office at 12:05 p.m. The two will participate in an expanded working lunch in the Cabinet Room at 12:35 p.m. Sisi will depart at 1:35 p.m.
BREXIT LATEST — With the big deadline now just three days away, British P.M. Theresa May is meeting separately with her European counterparts Angela Merkel and Emmanuel Macron today to beg for yet another extension. Parliament finally passed a Brexit deal late Monday, but she needs more time to work through the details. CNN … More from London Playbook
MAR-A-LAGO IMBROGLIO — Yujing Zhang, the 32-year-old Chinese woman accused of unlawfully entering Trump’s Florida retreat, was found with four cellphones, a hard drive, “a thumb drive infected with malware,” “a radio frequency device that detects hidden cameras,” “nine U.S.B. drives and five SIM cards,” “several debit cards” and “about $8,000 in cash.”
She hasn’t been charged with spying (yet), though: “After the authorities determined that the event she said she had come to attend did not exist, she was arrested and charged with lying to a federal officer and accessing a restricted area.” NYT
— MORE on Zhang’s bail hearing from the Miami Herald, which has been all over this:Miami Herald
THE ARAB SPRING IS BACK, according to NYT’s David Kirkpatrick: NYT
TRADE WARS — “U.S. Moves to Impose Tariffs on $11 Billion of EU Goods,” by WSJ’s Josh Zumbrun: “The U.S. has been in litigation at the World Trade Organization over the case of Airbus subsidies since 2004, and said it was releasing a list of items proposed for tariffs in anticipation of a ruling soon from the WTO on the case.
“‘This case has been in litigation for 14 years, and the time has come for action,’ said Robert Lighthizer, the U.S. Trade Representative. ‘Our ultimate goal is to reach an agreement with the EU to end all WTO-inconsistent subsidies to large civil aircraft. When the EU ends these harmful subsidies, the additional U.S. duties imposed in response can be lifted.’
“Though the tariffs are in response to the WTO case, the move is sure to ratchet up tensions between Washington and Brussels, where negotiators have struggled for nearly a year to make progress on proposed trade talks.” WSJ
CLOSE ENCOUNTERS WITH JOE BIDEN — LILLY JAY in SLATE: “Holding hands with the vice president felt a little odd—when was the last time I had held hands with anyone? But I didn’t experience it as intrusive or unsettling. I remember later being disappointed that most of the press pictures of me that day captured some degree of physical contact with either the vice president or president. I could have sworn there was a moment I stood on my own.” Slate
PHEW … NBC WASHINGTON: “A Maryland man stole a U-Haul van with the intent of using it as a weapon in an ISIS-inspired plot against pedestrians at National Harbor, the Maryland U.S. Attorney’s Office said. …
“The accused, 28-year-old Randall Henry of Germantown, ‘wanted to create the kind of ‘panic and chaos’ that happened in France … According to prosecutors, Henry said, ‘I was just going to keep driving and driving. I wasn’t going to stop.’” NBC … Read the complaint
SANCTIONED — Late Monday evening, the State Department barred 16 Saudis from visiting the U.S. for their alleged roles in the murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi. Missing from the list: Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who is widely believed to have signed off on the hit.
TOP-ED — State Department Iran envoy BRIAN HOOK in the NYT: “The peoples of the United States and Iran should have diplomatic ties. We can foresee a new American Embassy in Tehran issuing visas to tourists, business travelers, and teachers. There should also be direct flights from Tehran to New York or Los Angeles. Before the revolution, America was Iran’s second-largest trading partner. It should be again.” NYT
VALLEY TALK — Facebook and Google execs face questioning today by the House Judiciary Committee about how they’re handling white supremacist content on their platforms. (hat tip: The Hill)
MEDIAWATCH — NUNES SUES MCCLATCHY, via Fox News’ Gregg Re: “House Intelligence Committee ranking member Devin Nunes filed a $150 million lawsuit in Virginia state court against The McClatchy Company and others on Monday, alleging that one of the news agency’s reporters conspired with a political operative to derail Nunes’ oversight work into the Hillary Clinton campaign and Russian election interference.
“The filing, obtained by Fox News, came a day after Nunes, R-Calif., revealed he would send eight criminal referrals to the Justice Department this week concerning purported surveillance abuses by federal authorities during the Russia probe, false statements to Congress and other matters.” Fox News
— D.D. Guttenplan has been named the top editor of The Nation. Per Morning Media: “Guttenplan, a longtime Nation writer and editor, succeeds Katrina vanden Heuvel, who has served as top editor for 25 years.” She will become editorial director and continue as publisher. POLITICO
— Chris Lehmann has been named editor of The New Republic. He most recently was a consulting editorial director at the publication and also editor-in-chief of The Baffler. He’ll remain an editor-at-large for The Baffler. (J.J. Gould was the most recent editor until he resigned in December.)
— Peabody award nominees will be announced later today @PeabodyAwards.
SPOTTED: Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) flying coach on an American Airlines flight to D.C. from Las Vegas on Monday. They were seated in opposite rows and greeted each other and fellow passengers as they passed by them, per two tipsters. … Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) on Monday night at Cafe Milano. Former Rep. Newt Gingrich was there earlier with two men.
BIRTHWEEK (was Sunday): MacKenzie Bezos turned 49
BIRTHDAY OF THE DAY: Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey, who first visited D.C. only about nine years ago when he was 46 years old, is 55. How he’s celebrating: “My day job keeps me busy — even on birthdays. But on Tuesday night I’m looking forward to spending time with my sons and wife at an event where Ben Shapiro will be headlining. We’re big fans!” Playbook Plus Q&A
BIRTHDAYS: Joe Scarborough is 56 … Jeff Zucker is 54 … Alex Witt, host of “MSNBC Live with Alex Witt” on weekends … Alex Anderson … Cynthia Nixon is 53 … Katie Dowd … Interior’s Caroline Boulton … Larry Kamer (h/t Jon Haber) … David MacKay … POLITICO’s Alexandra Manzano and Molly Dunphy … Mike Berman, president emeritus of Duberstein Group, is 8-0 … The Hill’s Miranda Green … Elizabeth Santorum … Neal Kemkar … Brad Perseke, a partner at GMMB … Samantha Cotten, press secretary for America Rising (h/t Sarah Dolan) … Marathon Strategies’ Ross Wallenstein is 41 … WJLA’s Brett Holton … Jon Silvan, founding partner and CEO of Global Strategy Group (h/t Erin Billings) … former Swiss President Alain Berset is 47 …
… Amy Dudley, chief spokesperson for the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative … Stephanie Dreyer … Lucia Graves of The Guardian … GOP operative Dennis Lennox … Paul Jhin … Roy Ramthun … Todd Foley, SVP for policy and gov’t affairs at American Council on Renewable Energy … Christopher Turman, SVP of National Strategies, is 48 … Frank Gargon, a former Joe Kennedy staffer and president of the Andean Group (h/t Chris Lapetina) … Facebook’s Brittany Uter … Ali Aslan … Emma Allen … Jill Gershenson-Cohen … Allen Jamerson … Rob Green … David Mork … Jeff Kepnes, senior EP for specials at MSNBC … Ryan Webb is 49 … Gregory Flap Cole … Bonnie Campbell … Eric Norrby (h/ts Teresa Vilmain)
New Delhi, India – As Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) seek reelection, a cross section of Indian celebrities and intellectuals have started campaigns in a bid to prevent a repeat of the 2014 elections.
Over 150 scientists issued a statement last week appealing people to “reject those who lynch or assault people, those who discriminate against people because of religion, caste, gender, language or region”.
Although circumspect about directly naming either Modi or the BJP, their messaging left little room for confusion: “An atmosphere in which scientists, activists and rationalists are hounded, harassed, intimidated, censored, jailed, or worse, murdered, is not the future the country deserves. It is not the future we want to give our youth,” a public statement by leading members of India’s research community read.
The signatories, whose number has reached to 220 now, say that “we cannot endorse a politics that divides us, creates fears, and marginalises a large fraction of our society – women, Dalits, Adivasis (indigenous people), religious minorities, the persons with disabilities or the poor.”
They said, “diversity is our democracy’s greatest strength; discrimination and non-inclusivity strike at its very foundation,” it said.
Vote rationally
The scientists said they want the Indian youth to awaken to a country that sees science as a means of democratic empowerment through sceptical, open-minded questioning, rather than just a commercial enterprise.
“Many of the developments over the years has really not been conducive to cultivate a scientific temper and more recently one might even say that it is difficult to cultivate a scientific temper,” Amitabh Joshi, an evolutionary biologist and a professor at Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research, told Al Jazeera.
He said that the decision to not specifically name a party was deliberate and the only thing the scientists wanted was for people to vote “rationally”.
The move was soon followed by celebrities from the film and theatre world. Over 800 artistes issued a statement on artistuniteindia.com and appealed the Indian people to vote out “divisive politics”.
Bollywood actor Naseeruddin Shah is one of the prominent celebrities who signed the statement [File:Raajessh Kashyap/Hindustan Times/Getty Images]
They minced no words in their statement which called people to “vote against the BJP and its allies” and vote for “love and compassion, for equality and social justice, and to defeat the forces of darkness and barbarism”.
The statement was signed by prominent celebreties such as Girish Karnad, Naseeruddin Shah, Ratna Pathak Shah, Anurag Kashyap and Lillette Dubey among others.
Watch: India’s deportation of Rohingya refugees under fire.(02:35)
In their statement, the artistes said that for over a 150 years, they have helped create the imagination of a “secular, democratic, inclusive and just India” with compelling human stories garnished with “song and dance, humour and pathos”.
“Today, that very idea of India is under threat. Today, song, dance, laughter is under threat…our beloved Constitution is under threat. The institutions that have to nurture argument, debate and dissent have been suffocated. To question, to call out lies, to speak the truth, is branded ‘anti-national’. The seeds of hatred have entered our food, prayers and festivals. The ways in which this hatred has seeped into our daily fabric are alarming, and it has to STOP,” their statement said.
Dictatorial attitude
Anand Patwardhan, an award-winning Indian filmmaker and a signatory to the statement, told Al Jazeera that people in his fraternity were feeling very frustrated at the takeover of electronic and print media by India’s largest corporations. “These corporates fully back this ultra-rightwing government, which is headed towards fascism.”
He accused the Modi government of targeting minorities, destroying the economy and assuming a dictatorial attitude.
“People are being told lies. People who are brave enough to speak against this situation should get together and speak loudly so that others will also get encouraged to speak out,” he said.
Urmilesh, political analyst and former executive editor of Rajya Sabha TV, says that such statements by intellectuals and artists are not new in the Indian politics. He said, “people came out with such statements in 2014 also and in the elections after 1975 emergency as well.”
The veteran journalist, however, believes that such statements “will have an impact on the ground”. “People will think why such people have come out and spoken so courageously,” he added.
BJP national spokesperson, Syed Shahnawaz Hussain, dismissed the campaigns as ineffective. “BJP will win this election and Narendra Modi will be the prime minister,” he said.
Veteran Bollywood actor and Modi supporter, Anupam Kher, tweeted: “So some people from my fraternity have issued a letter for public to vote out the present constitutionally elected government in the coming elections. In other words they are officially campaigning for opposition parties. Good!! At least there are no pretensions here. Great.”
WATCH:Head to Head – Is Modi’s India flirting with fascism? (47:29)
Apple might not launch a 16/16.5-inch MacBook Pro for at least a year or more according to a new report from reliable leaker of Apple things, Ming-Chi Kuo (via MacRumors).
Same goes for a new version of the iPad, which will be 10 or 12 inches in size. But the good news is that a new, 31.6-inch 6K display from Apple is still on track to launch in the second or third quarter of this year.
The new report is a bit hard to follow, so here’s some background. In February, Kuo said Apple would launch a completely new MacBook Pro with a display that’s 16 or 16.5 inches in size. He also said the company is working on a 31.6-inch, 6K display with a mini LED-like backlight design. Finally, he predicted the launch of new iPad Pro models, a new iPad mini, and a new, 10.2-inch iPad model — and Apple indeed launched a new, 10.5-inch iPad Air and a new iPad mini in March. All of that was supposed to happen in 2019.
The report was notable as it pointed to Apple finally catering to the needs of professionals, many of whom pine for the discontinued 17-inch MacBook Pro, and many of whom would welcome a new, pro-grade monitor (perhaps alongside the previously announced, new Mac Pro).
Now, in a new note that’s only been circulated in Chinese so far, Kuo revised his earlier predictions and changed some of the specs. A new, 15- to 17-inch MacBook Pro will apparently come in the first half of 2021 (ouch). A new, 10- to 12-inch iPad will come at the end of 2020 or the beginning of 2021. And the 31.6-inch, 6K display is coming soon — either in Q2 or Q3 2019.
Add to that a new report by DigiTimes, published on Tuesday, which comments on Kuo’s note but says that the 31.6-inch, 6K display is actually an iMac, which will launch in the same timeframe as Kuo predicted.
Apple rumors are murky enough even when potential mistranslation isn’t in play, but it definitely sounds like whatever these new devices may be, they aren’t coming very soon.
Daily Trends Hunter 