As Bill Cosby continues to fight claims of sexually assaulting women — and lying about it — the unfolding scandal has also hit those who have allegedly aided the embattled entertainer over the years.

Chloe Goins claims to have been a victim of Cosby's at an event at the Playboy Mansion in 2008, and she's now suing Hugh Hefner for conspiring with Cosby. According to her complaint, Hefner told her at the party she looked "woozy" and that Goins should go "lie down" in the bedroom. Goins claims that Cosby gave her a drug to knock her unconscious and that Hefner "knew or should have known" that Cosby "over the years had a propensity for intoxicating and or drugging young women and taking advantage of them sexually and against their will or while they were unconscious."

From THR: Bill Cosby ordered to stand trial in sex assault case

On Friday, Hefner reacted to the lawsuit by demanding dismissal, arguing in court papers that the allegation "smacks of a desperate ploy to garner publicity and wrangle an unwarranted settlement."

According to the 90-year-old Playboy founder's lawyers, the "vague and conclusory allegation" that Hefner should have known about Cosby or that the alleged assault was foreseeable must be rejected because Goins "fails to offer even the lightest dusting of operative facts" in support.

From THR: Jerrod Carmichael discusses Bill Cosby episode

Separately, Hefner's attorneys point to statute of limitations. If Goins was a minor when the assault occurred, it's possible that the claim isn't time-barred, but Hefner points to what the plaintiff told authorities. A January 6, 2016 report states she was 18 years old at the Playboy Mansion event.

"The District Attorney's office was given no reason to believe she was a minor at the time of the incident and proceeded as if Goins was an adult victim, as demonstrated by the contemplated criminal charges against Cosby," states the memorandum from attorney Anthony Glassman. "The office declined to prosecute Cosby because it deemed the charges were barred by the statute of limitations. Not surprisingly, Hefner's name is not mentioned in the District Attorney's report, as investigating authorities never considered Hefner was responsible for, or participated in, Cosby's alleged criminal acts.

From THR: New York judge rejects Bill Cosby's request to get journalists' notes

Cosby's own lawyers also point to this in arguing that the claims be dismissed. Besides statute of limitations, they also seize on a lack of corroborating evidence. "Significantly, police reviewed video footage of the Midsummer Night’s Dream party, and found no images of Plaintiff or Mr. Cosby in attendance," states Cosby's memorandum on Friday. "Similarly, police reviewed guests lists for all events at the Playboy mansion during the summer of 2008 and, once again, found no entries for Plaintiff or Mr. Cosby."

Summary: Chloe Goins alleges she was assaulted in 2008 at the Playboy Mansion.


What's it really like to work at Chicago startups and tech companies? Blue Sky's Inside Job lets people on the ground tell us in their own words.

Terrance Chatman, 27, Training and Quality Assurance Lead at SpotHero

Our biggest customer-service support channel is by phone. Probably 70 percent are phone contacts. And then the rest are social media and also e-mails. I was the first full-time Customer Hero on our team. And now, we’re over 30 customer service reps. We get a myriad of things, from “How does SpotHero work?” To, “Oh, I’m at this garage, I don’t know what to do.”

During onboarding, we have a field trip, and we actually go to the very hard-to-find garages that are popular to our customers.

I head up my own training and quality department within the customer service department. I’m pretty much responsible for all onboarding, ongoing training, as well as quality adherence for customer service professionals. My goal is really training and development for the entire company.

I live in River West. I’m single. I walk to work; it's like 12 minutes. I’m from the Near North, Old Town area. I went to Catholic School my whole life. I was very loud and you know, boisterous, and they had to calm me down a little bit, but it was a really good experience.

Then I went to DePaul University. I was a poli-sci major, thought I wanted to go to law school. That wasn’t in the cards for me, but I did intern for Obama leading up to the 2008 election. It was really cool, to work with so many like-minded people who were passionate about the whole political process and the grassroots approach, too. And really, I think that was the impetus of my still wanting to work at a very nimble, grass-root-ish company.

Obviously, we have parking perks. We have team activities, we have in-house yoga, or we have improv sessions as well, which is really cool. Free snacks. Espresso, coffee, Red Bull, and also, we get free catered lunch on Thursdays. No dress code. I wear pretty short shorts, and they’re OK with that.

I’m also the co-captain of our volleyball team, so I kind of take that pretty seriously because I did volleyball in high school. We play other companies and other teams at North Avenue and Oak Street beaches.

That’s what’s really cool about SpotHero: If there’s an idea, “Cool, let’s do it. If we get a lot of buy-in, then, of course, we can definitely do it.” When I needed to get approval for the volleyball fees, (CEO Mark Lawrence ⇒) was like, “It’s totally fine.”

We, for the most part, have really nice customers. They get it. We’re still a growing company. They know we don’t have all the answers, but they know we're committed to solving and really getting to the crux of everything.

We definitely do have nasties. We call them unicorns. Because they’re special. But we have a very strong, empowering team. If you’re getting a frustrating call or a customer who’s testing you, it’s OK to pass it off. It’s not a thing that’s bad or punitive just because you can’t finish this call. We have to make sure we take care of our Customer Heroes as well.

We have a shake-it-off, meditation room. If you just need a moment, that’s OK. If you had a depressing call, come in here. Scream. Yell. Draw something. We know it can be stressful, it can be frustrating, but we do have a good team to support us.

As told to freelance reporter Erin Chan Ding. Stories are edited for length and clarity.


When Saad Hammad took the controls at Flybe almost three years ago, he knew he was in for a challenge at the ailing regional airline. But no amount of due diligence could have prepared the former easyJet executive for the crisis he faced when he touched down.

“Running out of cash, loss-making, in disarray,” is how he describes Flybe’s predicament then. Floated at 295p a share in 2010, the airline had acquired a reputation for being one of the London Stock Exchange’s worst floats. The share price stood at 46½p when Hammad was appointed chief executive.

“I literally came in and realised: 'God, this could be very, very serious very quickly’,” he says of Flybe’s finances when he arrived in August 2013. “I thought I had a bit more time.”

Indeed, there were moments during his first few weeks and months when it looked like Flybe would drop out of the sky altogether.

“We had in that summer around six days, at one point, of free cash left. And then in January 2014 that had gone down to three days of free cash flow.”

Hammad, 53, was forced to make painful cuts to rescue the business. About 1,000 jobs were slashed not long after he took charge; a third of the work-force. The process was “really harrowing”, Hammad admits, but “I decided I wasn’t going to do it by remote control”.

So he visited all of Flybe’s bases to speak to as many employees who were to lose their jobs as possible. In the end, he addressed 843 of them.

“Having to part ways with these folks through no fault of their own was really tough,” he says. Fast-forward three years, and the prospects for Exeter-based Flybe, which flies from 37 UK airports on routes where there is limited demand, look altogether brighter. The airline, which flew 8m passengers last year on its fleet of mainly turboprop aircraft, is on course to generate annual profits of £3.3m. After Hammad’s drastic early measures saw 55 routes dropped or cut back and six of 13 bases closed, it is expanding in Europe.

“After several years of underlying losses we are going to be profitable this year,” Hammad declares.

An executive whose career has spanned consumer goods to logistics, the Flybe boss concedes the carrier still faces “a tough environment”. The airline’s last two updates bear this out. In January, it warned investors that November’s Paris terrorist attacks had stunted demand for travel. And last month it cautioned would take a £7m hit from the strong dollar.

But thanks to Hammad’s turnaround, Flybe, the biggest regional airline in the UK and Europe, is in a stronger position than it was three years ago.

Hurt by the economic downturn and UK aviation taxes, which hit the domestic-focused carrier particularly hard, when Hammad joined the business he was confronted by an “unbelievably dysfunctional” organisation where annual losses stood at £40.7m.

“We didn’t really have a cost culture when I came onboard; it was extraordinary some of the things that were going on,” he says, his eyes widening as he recalls the state of the carrier when he took over from executive chairman Jim French, who had built up the airline. It was very “siloed”, with different divisions actively “not helping each other, giving a third party revenue”, says Hammad, speaking from Flybe’s offices in Hammersmith, London.

Too many of its routes and bases were unproductive and the company had bought “super expensive” aircraft, unsuitable for its regional business.


Justin Bieber took a nosedive during a Wednesday night concert in Kansas City — and one Belieber caught it all on camera.

Midway through the hit song “Sorry,” the Canadian singer tripped while running around on a water-covered stage.

Hilariously, after the “What Do You Mean?” songman takes a tumble, the lipsync track continues on.

The Biebs recovered like a boss, though, popping right back up to continue performing.

Although they’re kind of hilarious, concert falls aren’t all that uncommon.

In July, Harry Styles wiped out during the start of the North American leg of the One Direction tour. That fall, kicked off a hashtag, #OhNoHarry, where people posted Photoshopped mid-fall pics of Styles into funny backgrounds.

Summary: Sorry, Biebs! The Canadian singer wiped out while singing "Sorry."


You can spend a big, fat pile of cash on a 2014 Ford Escape simply by choosing the top-of-the-line trim level and throwing on all the options. The result is a technologically advanced and luxurious little crossover SUV. And when viewed from the perspective of my Escape Titanium test vehicle’s $36,065 sticker price, this Ford sport-utility could be considered a genuine value.

Say what now? I understand the incredulous expression on your face, and yes, that’s a steep price to pay for a small SUV wearing a mainstream Ford badge. But that figure is also in the same neighborhood as what Acura wants for an RDX, or Infiniti wants for a QX50, without any sort of upgrades. And forget about touching an Audi Q5, BMW X3, Cadillac SRX, or Mercedes-Benz GLK for this amount of money.

I’m not suggesting a loaded Escape competes head-on with luxury crossovers. That’s technically the job of the new 2015 Lincoln MKC, which is based on the Escape. What I’m suggesting is that even when priced head-scratchingly high, the Escape still offers value, partly because it is available with a number of cutting-edge features and technologies that direct competitors don’t provide. There is genuine substance behind the Escape’s dramatic styling.

Unfortunately, no amount of money changes the fact that the 2014 Escape receives a “Poor” rating in the small overlap offset frontal-impact crash-test conducted by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS). This test is designed to measure how well a vehicle protects a driver in the event that the front left corner of the vehicle strikes oncoming traffic or an immovable object (such as a tree or lamp-post) on the left-most portion of the front end. The test has proven to be a particularly difficult one, as many top-selling small SUVs have scored similar ratings. That’s too bad, because otherwise the Escape gets impressive marks in other crash tests.

The Escape is good-looking, too, with the exception of the fake, oversized rear skid plate. My test vehicle’s optional Luster Nickel 19-inch aluminum wheels looked terrific, and I liked the Deep Impact Blue paint job, which is more impressive in person than it is in pictures.

Inside, the Escape’s interior is bold and busy, definitely over-styled in some respects. In terms of how things work, though, everything is fairly easy to use with the exception of the infotainment and climate controls.

In the Escape Titanium, the MyFord Touch technology is paired with a Sony premium audio system, and features simple controls located right beneath the touchscreen display, surrounded by aesthetically pleasing piano-black plastic. Here’s the problem, though. That black plastic gets really hot on a summer day, and throws a bunch of glare onto the display screen, making it hard to read and reference.

The MyFord Touch screen requires a farther reach that’s made more difficult to use by the surrounding dashboard housing. The dual-zone automatic climate controls aren’t much better. They’re tucked down low on the dashboard behind the gear selector, every control requiring visual reference to use except for the temperature knobs. Having driven a fairly basic Escape earlier this year, I can tell you that I prefer this SUV’s standard infotainment setup and the basic air conditioning system to what’s in the Escape Titanium.

As far as comfort is concerned, the Escape delivers plenty of it…for front seat occupants, anyway. You sit up nice and high in this crossover, with an excellent view out, and Ford supplies soft places to rest elbows as well as a steering wheel that’s pleasing to grip. The leather isn’t particularly soft, but it strikes me as durable, and it looks good.

Adults won’t be as happy in the Escape’s back seat. Legroom is tight, but that’s not the main problem. My complaint is that the bottom cushion is too low and too flat, lacking thigh support. But the design does allow the rear seat backs to fold flat for maximum cargo space.

Ford says the Escape offers 34.1 cubic feet of cargo space behind the rear seat, and 67.8 cubic feet of maximum cargo volume. That’s not class leading but is still large enough to make the Escape competitive. The Escape Titanium includes a power rear liftgate with hands-free functionality. Once you get the hang of kicking your leg just right to activate the tailgate, this feature works every time, and is pretty useful.

My test vehicle came with the optional turbocharged, 2.0-liter EcoBoost 4-cylinder engine ($1,195) and all-wheel drive ($1,750), underscoring that extra acceleration and all-weather traction sure don’t come cheap. With 240-horsepower and 270 lb.-ft. of torque, the engine upgrade genuinely transforms the driving experience, however.

So equipped, the Escape is quick and energetic, especially if you choose to drive with the transmission in Sport mode, which makes the powertrain feel more responsive. Trouble is, the engine also sucks up more gas when you drive like that. It might as well have a V-6 engine.

But that’s the idea behind EcoBoost engines. Ford says this 2.0-liter turbo delivers the power of a V-6 when you want it, combined with the fuel economy of a 4-cylinder engine when you need it. Whether or not it actually gets close to the EPA’s 24-mpg estimate in combined driving is up to you and your right foot. I got 21.4 mpg, so adjust your expectations accordingly.

Around town and on highways, the Escape’s handling is athletic and nimble, but the short wheelbase does lead to a wiggly ride on uneven pavement. This SUV is tall, too, and suffers more wind noise than might be expected, especially at the Titanium’s price point.

Where I lacked confidence in the Escape was on a mountain road. Excessive body roll – combined with seats that don’t do a very good job of holding the driver behind the wheel – results in the Escape giving your abdominals a serious workout while threading a hilly highway.

I also took this Escape off the pavement, and while it proved that it can go somewhere a Focus or Fusion never could, you’re not going to want tackle much more than grassy fields and the occasional muddy pumpkin patch in this wee SUV.

The Ford Escape is a genuinely likable little crossover. But until Ford fixes that “Poor” crash-test rating, I have a hard time recommending the Escape over other models – such as the Mazda CX-5, Nissan Rogue, and Subaru Forester – that have aced that same IIHS offset crash test.

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Summary: The Escape offers genuine substance beneath its dramatic styling.


Before you go, we thought you'd like these...

The Duchess of Cambridge is one of the most iconic style icons of our time, and whether she's carrying the next royal heir to the British throne or balancing a glittering tiara on her head, she blows us away every time. 2015 was a year of many different style angles for the Duchess, she rocked her flawless pregnancy style in the beginning of the year and now heads into 2016 with a totally new 'do, bangs and all.

She is eternally elegant and put-together (but would you expect anything less from the princess?). Wearing her favorite British designers Alexander McQueen and Jenny Packham plenty of times this year, Kate also tapped her favorite high street labels Reiss and Hobbs. A few maternity labels also got a nod from the Duchess while she carried Princess Charlotte.

2015 wrap-up: A year of style with Kate Middleton

The Duchess of Cambridge arrives at Barlby Primary School to officially name The Clore Art Room, wearing a coat by British label Madderson London.

Photo by Neil Mockford/Alex Huckle/GC Images

Duchess Kate attended an event for The Fostering Network to celebrate the work of foster carers, wearing a brown animal print Hobbs dress.

Photo by Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty Images

The Duchess of Cambridge leaves after visiting the new Kensington Leisure Centre, wearing a pale blue Seraphine coat.

Photo by Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty Images

Kate arrived in Portsmouth as Royal Patron of the 1851 Trust, wearing a white coat by MaxMara.

Photo by CHRIS ISON/AFP/Getty Images

She wore this sweet sailboat-patterned dress under her coat, by Somerset by Alice Temperley, during the visit to Portsmouth.

Photo by Christopher Pledger/WPA Pool/Getty Images

When Kate visited the Emma Bridgewater Factory, she wore a blue MaxMara coat.

Kate's pretty floral dress, worn to Cape Hill Children's Centre, is by maternity designer Seraphine.

Photo by Eddie Mulholland - WPA Pool/Getty Images

Kate attended the Commonwealth Service at Westminster Abbey, wearing an Alexander McQueen coat, fascinator by Jane Taylor and her Prada shoes and clutch.

The Duchess of Cambridge chose to recycle her dalmatian print Hobbs coat for a visit to the Turner Contemporary Art Gallery.

Photo by Suzanne Plunkett - WPA Pool/Getty Images

This pretty cream coat Kate wore to visit the set of Downton Abbey is a piece by Jojo Maman Bebe.

The Duchess opted for a navy coat by Beulah London with matching navy accessories for a Service of Commemoration to mark the end of combat operations in Afghanistan.

Photo by Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty Images

Duchess Kate attended the St Patrick's Day Parade at Mons Barracks wearing a brown coat by Catherine Walker.

For a visit to the Brookhill Children's Centre in Woolwich, Kate wore a polka-dotted ASOS dress and a coat made by a private dressmaker.

Photo by Alex Lentati - WPA Pool/Getty Images

The Duchess was glowing in a hot pink Mulberry coat as she visited the Stephen Lawrence Centre.

To debut her newborn daughter, Princess Charlotte, to the world, the Duchess wore a pale yellow Jenny Packham shift dress.

Photo by Georges De Keerle/Getty Images

Kate, seen from the balcony of Buckingham Palace during Trooping the Colour, looked lovely in Catherine Walker for her first public appearance since the birth of her daughter.

Photo by Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty Images

Kate was in stripes and jeans for a casual day at the polo with Prince George.

Photo by Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty Images

The Duchess looked elegant in Alexander McQueen as she held Princess Charlotte of Cambridge on the little princess's christening day.

Photo by Matt Dunham - WPA Pool /Getty Images

Duchess Kate dazzled in a red L.K. Bennett dress as she and William attended a match at Wimbledon.

It was a casual day -- calling for skinny jeans and her Sebago boat shoes as Kate attended an America's Cup World Series event.

Photo by Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty Images

Kate looked lovely in a Ralph Lauren shirtdress at the Anna Freud Centre.

Photo by Chris Jackson - WPA Pool /Getty Images

Kate wore a major pop of color to the Rugby World Cup 2015 Opening Ceremony in this Reiss coat.

Kate made a surprise visit to the Rehabilitation of Addicted Prisoners Trust at HMP Send, wearing an elegant gray peplum dress by The Fold.

Photo by Andrew Matthews - WPA Pool/Getty Images

Duchess Kate attended an event hosted by Mind at Harrow College to mark World Mental Health Day with William, wearing a patterned dress by Tory Burch.

Photo by Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty Images

The Duchess looked stunning in a red Jenny Packham gown and a tiara for a state banquet at Buckingham Palace with the President of China.

Photo by Dominic Lipinski - WPA Pool /Getty Images

Kate and William took on a day of engagements in Scotland, with the Duchess wearing another gorgeous blue coat this time by Christopher Kane.

Photo by Mark Cuthbert/UK Press via Getty Images

When Kate attended The Charities Forum for a screening of Shaun The Sheep, she wore a knee-length dress by Tabitha Webb.

The royals -- Harry, William and Kate -- attended the Royal World Premiere of 'Spectre' dressed to the nines. Kate looked stunning in a sheer gown by Jenny Packham.

Photo by Dave J Hogan/Getty Images

Kate recycled an Orla Kiely dress for a visit to Chance UK's Early Intervention Program.

Photo by Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty Images

The Duchess chose a bold floral-printed gown by Erdem for the 100 Women In Hedge Funds Gala Dinner in aid of The Art Room.

It was Dolce and Gabbana for the Annual Festival of Remembrance.

Photo by Chris Jackson - WPA Pool/Getty Images

The Duchess of Cambridge and Queen Maxima of the Netherlands attend the annual Remembrance Sunday Service, Kate wearing a patchwork black coat by Alexander McQueen.

When Kate attended the Fostering Excellence Awards, she wore a new designer for her wardrobe: Saloni.

Photo by Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty Images

Kate recycled one of our favorite looks for the Place2Be Headteacher Conference, a dress by Matthew Williamson.

Kate recycled one of her Reiss coats for a visit to the Men's Shed movement during her time in North Wales.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge watch children on a zip-wire as they visit the Towers Residential Outdoor Education Centre, wearing casual outfits as they prep to go Abseiling.

Photo by Chris Jackson-WPA Pool/Getty Images

Kate looked every bit the Princess as she attended the annual Diplomatic Reception at Buckingham Palace, wearing an ice blue Alexander McQueen lace gown and Princess Diana's favorite tiara, the Cambridge Lover's Knot.

Photo by Julian Parker/UK Press via Getty Images

The Duchess wore L.K. Bennett separates for the ICAP charity day where she and William haggled with donors to raise money for charity.

Photo by Mark Cuthbert/UK Press via Getty Images

Kate wore an amazing coat by Reiss during an official visit to the Action on Addiction Centre.

Photo by Mark Cuthbert/UK Press via Getty Images

She also recycled this lovely Emilia Wickstead pleated dress, worn under the houndstooth Reiss coat.

Kate got into the Christmas spirit with her red Alexander McQueen dress for the Anna Freud Centre Family School Christmas Party.

Kate wore another festive outfit for the Queen's annual Christmas Lunch, during which she also received the honor of taking on one of Prince Philip's patronages. She is now the Honorary Air Commandant of the RAF Air Cadets.

Photo by Stefan Rousseau /WPA Pool / Getty Images

A handout photo provided by Kensington Palace shows Prince William, Duke of Cambridge and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge with their children, Prince George and Princess Charlotte.

Photo by Chris Jelf /Kensington Palace via Getty Images

Summary: The Duchess of Cambridge has had an eventful year of style, filled with royal babies, tiaras and a LOT of coats.


BOSTON, April 3— Left-handed people tend to live significantly shorter lives than right-handers, perhaps because they face more perils in a world dominated by the right-handed, according to new research.

Earlier studies also suggested that left-handed people do not seem to live as long as those right-handed.

In a letter in the current issue of The New England Journal of Medicine, researchers who studied the deaths of 1,000 Southern Californians report that right-handers, on average, live to be 75 years old. Left-handers typically die at age 66.

The trend was seen in both men and women. Right-handed women tended to live five years longer than left-handed women. Right-handed men lived 10 years longer than left-handed men, the report said.

The researchers, Dr. Diane F. Halpern of California State University at San Bernardino and Dr. Stanley Coren of the University of British Columbia, said the differences were striking.

They cautioned, "We are not implying that using one's left hand causes a risk of earlier death." But they found that left-handers were more than five times (7.9 percent to 1.5 percent) as likely to die in accidents, often while driving. One reason, they suggested, is that left-handers live in a world designed for right-handers.

Their findings support a 1989 study published in The American Journal of Public Health that found a higher rate of accident-related injuries in left-handed people.

Dr. Halpern and Dr. Coren also speculated that left-handers might fall victim to underlying neurological or immune-system problems that have been shown to be slightly more common in left-handers.

An earlier study of baseball players showed that from the time statistics were kept, the mean life span of left-handers was nine months shorter than that of right-handers. The proportion of left-handers is 13 percent among people in their 20's, but only 1 percent among those in their 80's.

Another researcher at the University of British Columbia who was involved in the earlier study, Dr. Stanley Coren, said, "Nine months in a lifetime does not sound like much, but it is a very large difference in statistics involving a large group of people."


WASHINGTON, June 7 — Muslim women do not think they are conditioned to accept second-class status or view themselves as oppressed, according to a survey released Tuesday by The Gallup Organization.

According to the poll, conducted in 2005, a strong majority of Muslim women believe they should have the right to vote without influence, work outside the home and serve in the highest levels of government. In more than 8,000 face-to-face interviews conducted in eight predominantly Muslim countries, the survey found that many women in the Muslim world did not see sex issues as a priority because other issues were more pressing.

When asked what they resented most about their own societies, a majority of Muslim women polled said that a lack of unity among Muslim nations, violent extremism, and political and economic corruption were their main concerns. The hijab, or head scarf, and burqa, the garment covering face and body, seen by some Westerners as tools of oppression, were never mentioned in the women's answers to the open-ended questions, the poll analysts said.

Concerning women's rights in general, most Muslim women polled associated sex equality with the West. Seventy-eight percent of Moroccan women, 71 percent of Lebanese women and 48 percent of Saudi women polled linked legal equality with the West. Still, a majority of the respondents did not think adopting Western values would help the Muslim world's political and economic progress.

The most frequent response to the question, "What do you admire least about the West?" was the general perception of moral decay, promiscuity and pornography that pollsters called the "Hollywood image" that is regarded as degrading to women.

An overwhelming majority of the women polled in each country cited "attachment to moral and spiritual values" as the best aspect of their own societies. In Pakistan, 53 percent of the women polled said attachment to their religious beliefs was their country's most admirable trait. Similarly, in Egypt, 59 percent of the women surveyed cited love of their religion as the best aspect.

At 97 percent, Lebanon had the highest percentage of women who said they believed they should be able to make their own voting decisions, followed by Egypt and Morocco at 95 percent. Pakistan was lowest, at 68 percent.

The survey, "What Women Want: Listening to the Voices of Muslim Women," is a part of The Gallup World Poll, which plans to survey 95 percent of the earth's population over the next century.

Dalia Mogahed, the strategic analyst of Muslim studies at The Gallup World Poll, said the new data provide fresh insight into the Muslim world, where Western perceptions generally cast women as victims. "Women's empowerment has been identified as a key goal of U.S. policy in the region," said Ms. Mogahed, adding that Muslim women's rights have generated a lot of interest without much empirical information on "what Muslim women want."

Ms. Mogahed, who was born in Egypt and wears a Islamic head scarf, rejected the idea that Muslim women had been brainwashed by the dominant male culture, citing as proof the fact that women freely stated that they deserved certain rights.

"In every culture there is a dominant narrative, and in many cases it is constructed by people in power who happen to be men," Ms. Mogahed said.

A version of this article appears in print on , on page A9 of the New York edition with the headline: Muslim Women Don't See Themselves as Oppressed, Survey Finds. Order Reprints| Today's Paper|Subscribe

Summary: The survey found that many women in the Muslim world think other issues are more pressing than how women are treated.


New York being a drinking town, it is never a surprise when a new bar opens. And New York being a town where change is often the only constant, it is never a surprise when a bar closes, either. But that doesn't mean that such passings go unnoticed.

Cannon's Pub, an Irish bar at 108th Street and Broadway, will close on Thursday after nearly 70 years in business, and so goes the last of the area's scrappy watering holes.

For many, Cannon's epitomized the neighborhood bar. A nearly windowless brick facade hid a dingy beer hall where blue-collar locals and students from Columbia drank in harmony. Some students who frequented Cannon's in the 1960's still remember the incongruity of seeing 15-cent beers being served on one side and sushi, then a rarity in New York, on the other.

Eddie Murphy once filmed a movie there, and George Carlin, who grew up in the neighborhood, has been in a few times (his father was a regular). But more often, the stars of Cannon's were people like Helen, who lived in three different centuries and spent a good deal of that time at a corner table drinking spritzers before dying in 2002 at 103. The bar wasalso known among sportswriters who would duck infor a man-on-the-street quote that had a dash of vinegar.

The bar began as a chophouse in 1934 and was run for many years by Barney Cannon, who took it over from his uncle. Mr. Cannon's son, Chris, the current owner, said his father was known throughout the area for his largess, sometimes paying the burial expenses of longtime customers whose families couldn't afford the cost. His son has retained that spirit. The drink prices appear frozen in some earlier time, and in keeping with tradition, old-timers pay $1 a drink.

If that doesn't sound very profitable, it isn't. Chris Cannon said he had been able to keep the bar open because his family owned the building. But with the blue-collar crowd being priced out of the neighborhood and the real estate market strong, his family sold the building.

There is some talk of Cannon's reopening under new ownership. Last week, however, as the last bottles of Dr. McGillicuddy's Schnapps were being polished off, a wistful mood gripped the place. The bartender, Jimmy Sullivan, exchanged long-forgotten stories with a handful of regulars there to pay last respects.

James McGlynn, who has been coming to Cannon's for 30 years, complained that with its closing, only pricey restaurant bars would remain. ''This was a place where you could shoot the breeze with the fellas,'' he said. STEVEN KURUTZ

Summary: Cannon's Pub, scrappy blue-collar Irish bar at 108th Street and Broadway where drinks cost $1, closes after nearly 70 years in business; photo (M)


Earlier this week, Netflix announced a partnership with Virgin America to offer free streaming video content on select Virgin flights. It’s a bold branding move at a time when the competitive landscape for streaming video services is heating up. Cable giant Comcast CMCSA last month launched Watchable, an ad-supported online portal that includes television shows from multiple sources, in a move to keep from losing its audience to streaming video providers, such as Netflix NFLX and Amazon AMZN , the industry’s two biggest players.

Netflix has 42.3 million U.S. subscribers, while Amazon Prime boasts an estimated 40 million Amazon members (who also have free access to Prime Video). It took many years for both companies to build up subscriber numbers like these. If Comcast wants to be a key player in video streaming, it could spend just as much time and resources building up its own base, or it could consider buying Netflix.

Buying would be the better option to expand Comcast’s presence in the streaming arena with a pre-built platform and powerful brand already popular with consumers. It would also be in Comcast’s interest, given the acceleration of cord cutting. Expensive cable packages and busier lifestyles can all contribute to cord cutting but the biggest factor by far is the rise of streaming options over the Internet like Netflix. That’s very bad news for Comcast CMCSA .

Even owning a studio, NBCUniversal, doesn’t give Comcast much of an edge in the cable arena, since the studio can’t afford to be too exclusive. NBCUniversal needs to pump its movies and shows over the widest distribution network possible, especially over popular services like Netflix and Amazon, in order to maximize profits. The point is that if cord cutting continues to speed up, Comcast will have to ramp up its presence in the streaming market quickly and that further supports the rationale for buying Netflix instead of trying to develop its own nascent service.

Netflix is planning to produce and shoot more of its original programming in the future instead of relying on third-party content providers. While that could be an expensive venture for Netflix, it will also up the ante significantly for movie and television studios that currently have a lock on production. It can also give Netflix more power in its negotiations with studios for licensing of existing content.

What’s more, access to NBCUniversal’s powerful studio machine would enable Netflix to experiment more freely and with more resources behind it with its original programming strategy, including diversifying into a greater variety of shows and movies; at the same time it would give NBCUniversal a direct and widespread streaming conduit for its content.

It’s worth noting that Comcast is a part owner of streaming site Hulu, which gives NBCUniversal an online distribution vehicle. However, Hulu’s reach and brand recognition are nowhere near that of Netflix. In addition, Hulu is not available internationally (the service even blocks foreign viewers), a major drawback for content distribution. Netflix can solve this problem for NBCUniversal.

The timing is also right for such a deal. Despite some isolated rallies, Netflix stock has generally been down over the past month, almost 25% below its 52-Week High of $129.29 per share. With market volatility set to continue over the next few months because of investor worries about the health of the global economy, commodity prices, political problems in the Middle East, and coupled with global demand fears for everything from iPhones to streaming video, Netflix stock will likely stay in this lower range.

That creates a good buying opportunity for Comcast. That doesn’t mean the deal would necessarily be cheap, given Netflix’s healthy price-to-earnings ratio of more than 380 times, but a market downturn is still the ideal time for Comcast to strike. Comcast’s price-to-earnings ratio is significantly lower, which would make the acquisition dilutive, but Comcast shares (assuming that any merger would likely involve some stock) are down only about 15% from their 52-Week High. That gives the company’s stock more buying power and should mitigate the effect of Netflix’s high valuation.

The wild card here, of course, will be Justice Department approval for the merger. Comcast lost an earlier battle on that front for its proposed purchase of Time Warner Cable TWC so it remains to be seen if the government would agree to letting the company buy Netflix/ But it’s still worth a try, and Comcast should move on this before Netflix becomes too expensive again.

S. Kumar is a tech and business commentator. He has worked in technology, media, and telecom investment banking. He does not own shares of Comcast, Netflix or any companies mentioned in this article.

Summary: The cable company could spend years building its own online video streaming audience or it could acquire Netflix and its 42.3 million U.S. subscribers.


We too often stereotype Impressionism and the other tendencies of French painting before and around 1900: a collection of sunflowers and haystacks, babies and ballerinas, that look good on postcards or a dorm-room wall. But modern French painting was nothing so anodyne. Paris in the late 19th Century was a city in the midst of a massive social transition, and the art of the age depicted much more than the natural world. It depicted a new urban world, in all its intricacy—and shied away from nothing, not even the bordellos of Pigalle.

What is art? Prostitution – Charles Baudelaire

This month Splendour and Misery: Pictures of Prostitution, 1850-1910 opens at the Musée d’Orsay in Paris. It’s the first major exhibition to look at a theme so central to French modern painting that we often look right past it. Prostitutes were a key subject for artists in Paris, and perhaps the two most revolutionary paintings of the age – Manet’s blunt Olympia and Picasso’s twisted Demoiselles d’Avignon – both depict sex workers. Prostitution, now hidden in the shadows, was for these painters a fact of modernity, and while they drew inspiration from women of the night, they also at times imagined the distance between the studio and the brothel was not so great. Charles Baudelaire, in his early intimate journals, made the equation explicit: “What is art? Prostitution.”

We now think of prostitutes as one of the most disfavoured categories of the social order, to be talked about in disgust when we talk about it at all. But in the Paris of the late 19th Century, prostitution was a central part of daily life, a private transaction with public ramifications. Prostitution was strictly regulated during the reign of Napoleon III and this continued into the 20th Century. Soliciting was illegal and instead women had to register with the police, work out of a single brothel and pay tax. (Brothels were outlawed in France in 1946; selling sex remains legal, though the country is currently embroiled in an angry debate about whether to criminalise buying sex, as Sweden does.)

The regulators and police inspectors of the so-called brigade des mœurs, or vice squad, could be notoriously fickle, and newspapers frequently reported on unfortunate women who chose suicide over being hauled into the prefecture. Nineteenth-Century prostitutes also had to endure mandatory medical inspections every month – which, as the prostitute-obsessed Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec depicts in his painting Rue des Moulins, could be more humiliating than sex work itself. The hardy, uncoquettish women are in blouses and stockings, but have no skirts or underwear on; they look exhausted, dishonored, victims of bureaucracy more than of clients.

La Païva received her guests in a wildly ostentatious mansion complete with a bathtub whose tap flowed with champagne

Just a few rungs higher up the social ladder were courtesans, who sold sex but also glamour, conversation, and public prestige. Many of these courtesans became celebrities, with their movements – and even their clients – reported in the thriving social press. La Païva, the top courtesan of the Second Empire (1852-1870), was born in the Moscow ghetto and hustled all the way to the Champs-Elysées, where she received her guests in a wildly ostentatious mansion complete with an onyx bathtub whose tap flowed with champagne. (When she died in 1884, her last husband had her body preserved in formaldehyde and kept the corpse in his attic. That was rather a shock to his new wife.)

Artists and writers, in particular, were absorbed by prostitutes and courtesans of all classes. The courtesan Apollonie Sabatier – known to her fans as ‘La Présidente’ – turned her home into a sort of bourgeois salon, frequented by Eugène Delacroix, Gustave Flaubert, and especially Charles Baudelaire, for whom she served as a muse for hire. At the Orsay, Sabatier appears in the marble sculpture Woman Bitten by a Serpent, by the academic sculptor Auguste Clésinger: a deeply controversial artwork in its day, not least because Clésinger worked from a cast of her naked body.

Courtesans had served as models and muses for artists as early as the Renaissance. In Titian’s languorous Venus of Urbino of 1538, for example, the goddess of love is in fact Angela del Moro, one of the highest-paid courtesans in Venice. But by the 1860s, Édouard Manet was fed up with winking asides, and he decided to paint a scene familiar to everyone (or at least every bourgeois man) in town. In a direct quotation of the Venus of Urbino, Manet shows us a woman nude in bed, slipper dangling from her foot, a ribbon around her neck and a flower in her hair. Her expression is severe to the point of blankness. We are no longer in the world of goddesses and water nymphs: welcome to Paris in the golden age of the maison close.

Manet stripped away all the mythological baggage that made images of prostitutes acceptable

Manet’s model for Olympia was in fact not a prostitute at all, but his fellow artist Victorine Meurent – who had already appeared in his Déjeuner sur l’Herbe, his bullfighting portrait, and other works. Nevertheless, the scandal his painting provoked at the Paris Salon of 1865 – then the most important art event in the world – was unprecedented. The newspapers wrote of women bursting into tears before the canvas, and other painters baying in rage. Manet had stripped away all the mythological baggage that made images of prostitutes acceptable in the world of fine art. Worse, he’d done so in a blunt, unforgiving new painterly style that made no attempt to simulate real space via one-point perspective. Instead, the figure of Olympia is entirely upright, flattened out into pure colour and line.

Manet’s Olympia scandalised on two planes: one formal, another social. Olympia, the woman, poses as if she were the goddess of love, but she’s really only a prostitute. And Olympia, the painting, appears to be a three-dimensional representation, but it’s really only two-dimensional paint. The overwhelming genius of Manet is that he understood these two deceptions were interlinked. What made Manet’s flatness possible – what enabled his radical two-dimensionality, from which abstract art would eventually spring – was precisely the collapsing social mores and upended social rules of the new Paris, symbolised by the shift in fortunes of prostitutes from the outside of society to the centre. As TJ Clark, the great scholar of Manet, once wrote: “The painting insists on its own materiality, but does so in and through a prostitute’s stare.” And it was through prostitution, or at least the image of prostitution, that modern art would be born.

Baudelaire, Manet’s good friend, wrote not just that art itself is a kind of prostitution but that Paris itself was a giant brothel. To paint, as Manet showed, was to engage in a bait-and-switch: to seduce the eye of the beholder by dissembling the truth, by making words on a page or paint on canvas appear to be real life. But only a bourgeois – a bourgeois man, we should really say – could be so self-regarding as to equate the act of artistic creation with the unlovely drudgery of sex work.

Most prostitutes were desperate figures who had fled the French provinces

The courtesans may have been showered with jewelry and bathing in Veuve Clicquot, but most prostitutes were desperate figures who had fled the French provinces, had little money or security, and were frequently victims of violence. Occasionally, as in Toulouse-Lautrec’s pastel showing the indignities of medical inspection, gallery-goers had a glimpse of that reality. More often, modern artists indulged in the image of the ‘happy hooker’: independent, unapologetic, and enjoying it as much as the men.

It was a fantasy: a fantasy that was fundamental for modern art, but a falsehood all the same. Not until well into the 20th Century did artists – women artists, especially – look at the reality of prostitution with an unromantic eye. I think especially of Chantal Akerman, the pioneering Belgian filmmaker, whose magisterial Jeanne Dielman, 23 quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles depicts in glacial sequences the everyday life of a widowed mother whose only income comes from turning tricks in her house. Jeanne Dielman, one of the landmarks of feminist cinema, depicts prostitution not as a personal preference but as an economic necessity, part of a larger system in which women are never fully independent. That was an insight not even the most radical male artists of the 19th Century could accept – even if, in the half-light of the maison close, they could see it on the poor girls’ faces.

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Summary: Prostitution was a central part of daily life in late 19th Century Paris. It is key to understanding the art of the times – and everything that followed, writes Jason Farago.


' engagement is creating major drama among her fellow Housewives – and Bethenny Frankel is no exception.

Frankel, 45, took to her

– in which de Lessep's new fiancé

– to address the drama.

"I can say many things but one I am certain about is that no one is jealous of LuAnn's relationship with Tom," wrote Frankel. "At this point, we are really hoping it is real and that Luann is happy, but no one is jealous. Fact."

Frankel went on to express her doubts about D'Agostino, Jr., who has previously been linked to both

"So three people at this table have been with Tom?" she mused. "I mean the Upper East Side is small, but Manhattan is huge. Something smells fishy."

"Why the rush?" she added. "What is it with this guy swimming in one tiny fishbowl? I'm feeling my usual skeptical self." (Meanwhile, de Lesseps, 51, feels quite the opposite: "Anything that happened before Lu, I don't give a flying leap," she declared to the women on Wednesday's episode. "I don't care who f---ed who. I don't care.")

, which was postponed again.

"For someone who is a 'know it all,' I am shooting in the dark with this medical information, and if a gypsy fortune teller told me what I wanted to hear, I'd listen to them," she admitted. "As it turns out, I am a bit of a scaredy cat. Going under and the risk of never seeing my daughter again was enough to send me over the edge."

airs Wednesdays (9 p.m. ET) on Bravo.

Summary: Frankel wrote in her Bravo blog of de Lesseps fiancé D'Agostino, Jr.: "So three people at this table have been with Tom?"


This article originally appeared in People.

In a field with such depth that the U.S. has far more Rio-ready gymnasts than they can take, five athletes have been selected to go the 2016 Olympic Games.

After a hard-fought Olympic trial, Simone Biles, Gabby Douglas, Aly Raisman, Laurie Hernandez and Madison Kocian were announced as the team headed to Rio at the conclusion of the two-night trials on Sunday.

Even before the selection committee announced their picks, favorites Biles and Raisman cried and embraced one another. Douglas struggled on beam both nights of trials, with a fall each night, but her strength on uneven bars won her the spot on the team.

The three replacement athletes traveling to Rio with the team are Mykayla Skinner, Ragan Smith and Ashton Locklear.

Biles, often described as the most dominant female athlete in gymnastics (and beyond), won the Olympic trials all-around, giving her the lone automatic berth to the team. She made an uncharacteristic mistake on balance beam, resulting in a fall, but still finished in the top spot at the trials. Douglas and Raisman, teammates from the 2012 gold medal-winning Olympic team, were favorites headed into the trials, while the final two spots went to Madison Kocian, the world champion on bars, and Laurie Hernandez, a first-year senior who finished second to Biles at the trials.

The U.S.A. is expected to dominate in Rio, which will be team coordinator Marta Karolyi’s swan song – she’s retiring after the Games.

With the Olympics less than a month away, here’s a look at the women going for gymnastics gold in Brazil in August.

Biles, the reigning three-time world all-around champion, is heavily favored to win the individual all-around gold medal in Rio – and for good reason. For the 19-year-old Texas native, the “Michael Jordan of Gymnastics,” it would cap off an epic career: She’s a three-time all-around world champion and a four-time national champ. She’s also got an inspiring backstory: the 4-foot-8 athlete was born to a mother addicted to drugs and alcohol, and was placed in foster care until her maternal grandparents were able to take her in. “It’s so unreal,” Biles said at the conclusion of the trials. “I’m just proud and honored to be selected.”

The 20-year-old was the first African-American gymnast to become the individual all-around champion at the Olympics in 2012, as well as earning gold with her team. She’s hoping to make history again by defending her all-around win (something that hasn’t been done since 1968) in Rio this summer, and she’s been learning from her stumbles along the way. “Trying to make it happen again is definitely a lot of hard work and pushing myself every day is a lot of dedication, but it’s worth it,” Douglas told PEOPLE. And after the trials, she concluded, “It’s very emotional. I’m so grateful and so honored.”

Raisman was also a member of the “Fierce Five” group that claimed gold in London. At 22, she is the oldest person on the team – and her experience makes her a strong member. “Right now, she’s in a very good place. She’s trusting her strengths and not trying to do anything earthshaking, just do the routines she’s prepared for, and I am very pleased with how she looks through the training session,” Marta Karolyi said of her performance on Thursday. “It doesn’t sink in at all,” Raisman said after trials. “Hopefully we can bring Team U.S.A. another gold medal.”

Hernandez, 16, capped off a very strong two nights of trials with a near-flawless beam routine … and chants of her name from the crowd of 17,000. The New Jersey native has an especially lively floor exercise that always ignites the crowd.

Despite its dominance on the world stage, Team U.S.A. does have a relatively weak event: uneven bars. So one of the spots on the five-woman team was expected to go to a bars specialist. And that spot went to 19-year-old Kocian who turned in top scores on the apparatus at the trials.

Summary: Simone Biles, Gabby Douglas, Aly Raisman, Laurie Hernandez and Madison Kocian are headed to Rio.


WASHINGTON, Oct. 30 — Like an unwelcome specter from an unhappy past, the ominous word "quagmire" has begun to haunt conversations among government officials and students of foreign policy, both here and abroad.

Could Afghanistan become another Vietnam? Is the United States facing another stalemate on the other side of the world? Premature the questions may be, three weeks after the fighting began. Unreasonable they are not, given the scars scoured into the national psyche by defeat in Southeast Asia.

For all the differences between the two conflicts, and there are many, echoes of Vietnam are unavoidable. Today, for example, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld disclosed for the first time that American military forces are operating in northern Afghanistan, providing liaison to "a limited number of the various opposition elements."

Their role sounds suspiciously like that of the advisers sent to Vietnam in the early 1960's, although Mr. Rumsfeld took pains to say of the anti-Taliban forces that "you're not going to send a few people in and tell them they should turn right, turn left, go slower, go fast." The Vietnam advisers, of course, were initially described in much the same terms, and the government of the day vigorously denied that they were a prelude to American combat troops.

In the most famous such denial, Lyndon B. Johnson vowed that he would not send American boys in to fight the war for Vietnamese boys.

Despite the insistence of President Bush and members of his cabinet that all is well, the war in Afghanistan has gone less smoothly than many had hoped. Not that anyone expected a lightning campaign without setbacks; indeed, both Mr. Bush and Mr. Rumsfeld have often said the effort would be long and hard.

But signs of progress are sparse. A week ago, the Pentagon said the military capacity of Taliban leaders in Afghanistan had been "eviscerated" by allied bombing raids; now ranking officials describe those leaders as "tough characters" who remain full of fight. The sole known commando sortie into enemy territory produced minimal results and ample evidence that American intelligence about the Taliban is thin.

The Northern Alliance, whose generals bragged for weeks that it was about to capture the pivotal city of Mazar-i-Sharif, has failed to do so. Nor have its tanks made any progress toward Kabul, the capital. Abdul Haq, the Afghan soldier to whom many had looked to unify anti-Taliban factions, was captured and killed by his enemies almost as soon as he returned to the country.

So influential voices have begun to call for something more than bombing, special forces raids and covert action. Senator John McCain of Arizona, a Republican whose views on military matters carry unusual weight with his peers because of his service as a naval pilot in Vietnam and his years as a prisoner of war, called on Sunday for the deployment of American ground troops "in force" in Afghanistan.

Air power alone, Senator McCain and some colleagues in both parties argue, will never force Osama bin Laden into the open. They believe that only ground troops, operating from a secure base within Afghanistan, will do the trick. That might well involve tens of thousands of troops, hundreds of casualties and many months of effort, they concede, but they see no viable option.

Conservative columnists like Charles Krauthammer and William Kristol have criticized the administration, in Mr. Kristol's words, for trying to fight a war "with half- measures."

The administration has been careful not to rule out the prospect of ground troops, mindful, no doubt, of the leverage that the Clinton administration lost by doing so in the Balkans. Asked about the idea over the weekend, Andrew H. Card Jr., the White House chief of staff, responded, "let's not go there yet." But it is not known whether it is under serious, active consideration.

Clearly, the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington, with the horrific loss of American lives they entailed, would give any United States decision to dispatch ground forces a kind of moral imperative that American involvement in Vietnam lacked, even if fighting a land war in Afghanistan would weaken the broad coalition that has been assembled to fight terrorism.

At least at first, American public opinion would present no problem. The latest New York Times/CBS News poll shows that a majority of Americans are prepared to accept the deaths of several thousand American troops there, although there were the first suggestions that many Americans think that the war is not going too well.

Strategically, the United States could benefit in Afghanistan from the Taliban's unpopularity with many Afghans, but American bombs falling on civilian targets will not win Afghan "hearts and minds."

The terrain in Afghanistan might in some ways be more favorable to the United States than in Vietnam. Tanks could play a much larger role, for example. But the Soviet Union, with good tanks in great numbers, was nonetheless stalemated and eventually defeated by Afghan rebel forces.

Finally, in Afghanistan as in South Vietnam, there is a huge question about who would rule if the United States vanquished its foe. Washington never solved that issue satisfactorily after the assassination of Ngo Dinh Diem in 1963, and solving it in Afghanistan, a country long prone to chaotic competition among many tribes and factions, will probably not be much easier.

Summary: The word quagmire has begun to haunt conversations among government officials as complications become apparent in Afghanistan.


Think of the sub-genre of thrillers and dramas that take place on Wall Street and the faces that come to mind—Michael Douglas as Gordon Gekko, Leonardo DiCaprio as Jordan Belfort, even Christian Bale as Patrick Bateman—have something in common: by and large, they all belong to men. As the star of Equity, Anna Gunn strides onto an otherwise homogeneous list as Naomi Bishop, an ambitious investment banker with an unapologetic thirst for green.

Gunn is no stranger to playing prickly characters; her turn as Skyler White on the AMC drama Breaking Bad was met with such hostility that the actress penned a New York Times op-ed examining the special kind of vitriol reserved for unlikable women on-screen. As Naomi, the extent to which her superiors reward her success and her clients trust her strategy correlates to her willingness to play politely in the sandbox, a trait she’s not particularly interested in adding to her repertoire.

But Equity, which premiered at Sundance and comes from director Meera Menon and screenwriter Amy Fox, also examines the interplay between women rising in the ranks of Wall Street, as exhibited in the exclusive clip above. Naomi’s eyes barely leave her screen as her hardworking assistant Erin (Sarah Megan Thomas, who also co-produced) asks for a promotion she’s clearly getting used to being denied.

Naomi’s quest for the next headline-grabbing IPO and Erin’s desire to rise in the ranks are complicated by the arrival on the scene of an old acquaintance of Naomi’s, a prosecutor (played by Orange Is the New Black‘s Alysia Reiner, also a producer of Equity) sniffing around for evidence of the corruption she believes to exist just millimeters beneath the surface of Naomi and Erin’s latest deal.

Equity, which hits theaters July 29, is consciously gender-specific: it comes from a female director, writer and producers and explores the very real sexism that stymies the ascent of female investment bankers. But it also asks to be seen as a Wall-Street thriller that just happens to have more Jimmy Choos than Prada wingtips, a compelling drama about thwarted ambition and wounded pride and betrayals of trust—experiences, in other words, which don’t discriminate on the basis of sex.

Summary: The movie flips the script on the Wall Street financial thriller


appealed to women on Thursday at the

as she introduced her father

, who has repeatedly come under fire for criticizing women's looks and making sexist comments.

to accept the Republican party's presidential nomination in Cleveland, Ivanka – who has earned a reputation as her father's most trusted advisor since he launched his campaign a year ago – declared her father's commitment to equality for women.

"There have always been men of all backgrounds and ethnicities on my father's job sites, and long before it was commonplace, you also saw women," the 34-year-old

told the GOP delegates, noting that Donald's companies have "more female than male executives.

"Women are paid equally for the work that we do, and when a woman becomes a mother, she is supported, not shut out," she said.

Donald's strained relationship with women has plagued his campaign from the start. The 70-year-old has called

is "no longer a 10." He has famously sparred with Fox News anchor

. Still, Ivanka holds that, if elected, her father will do all he can to ensure equality – with her help.

"Gender is no longer the factor creating the greatest wage discrepancy in this country, motherhood is," she said. "As president, my father will change the labor laws ... he will focus on making quality childcare affordable and accessible for all."

Ivanka added: "He will fight for equal pay for equal work and I will fight for this too, right alongside him."

Ivanka has earned praise on both sides of he aisle for her intelligence, beauty and poise. So, it only seemed fitting that Ivanka, the second of Donald's five children, introduce her father on one of the biggest nights of the business mogul's life.

"Like many of my fellow Millenials, I do not consider myself categorically Republican or Democrat â¦ sometimes it's a tough choice. That is not the case this time. This is the moment and Donald Trump is the person to make America great again," she said.

While wife Melania generally did not join her husband on the campaign trail, it was Ivanka who often filled the role generally occupied by a presidential spouse. During her speech, the 34-year-old said she believes in her father, and spoke at length about the reasons she feels her father should be the next president.

"My father is a fighter. When the primaries got tough, and they were tough, he did what any great leader does: He dug deeper, worked harder, got better and became stronger," she said. "I have seen him fight for his family, I have seen him fight for his employee, I have seen him fight for his companies and now I am seeing him fight for his country."

Ivanka also spoke about growing up admiring her father, and learning from him as she played on the floor with Lego and Erector sets as he build real buildings out of concrete and steel.

"If it's possible to be famous and yet not really well known, that describes the father that raised me," she said. "He taught us there is nothing we cannot accomplish if we marry vision and passion with an enduring work ethic."

A serene presence on the campaign trail – a notable counterbalance to her father's bombastic style – Ivanka's speech comes just one day after she

at the convention when it became apparent that Texas Sen. Ted Cruz was not going to endorse his primary foe during his speech.

However, the poise returned Thursday as she took the stage, and told people that as an employer, her father is "color blind and gender neutral."

"Throughout my entire life I have witnessed his empathy and generosity toward others, especially those who are suffering. It is his way of being in your corner when you are down," she said.

"In Donald Trump you have a candidate that knows the difference between wanting something done and making it happen," she also said. "When my father says he will make America great again, he will deliver."

Ivanka is the fourth Trump child to speak at the convention. Tiffany Trump, his 22-year-old daughter with second wife Marla Maples,

in Cleveland on Tuesday, as did eldest son Donald Trump Jr. Son Eric spoke on Wednesday just following Cruz's speech.

Ivanka spoke with increasing confidence during the speech, telling the audience that she has "loved and respected him my entire life."

"Come Jan. 17, all things will be possible again," she said. "We can hope and dream and think big again."

Summary: Donald Trump's elder daughter Ivanka introduced him before he accepted his party's nomination


FRANKFURT—Deutsche Börse AG and London Stock Exchange Group PLC said Wednesday that investors in both companies will decide on a planned merger after the U.K.’s June 23 vote on whether to stay in the European Union.

In a joint statement, Europe’s largest exchange operators said LSE investors will vote on July 4, while the tender offer for Deutsche Börse’s shareholders is to end on July 12.

That is significant because the...

Summary: The London Stock Exchange and Deutsche Börse laid out more details of their planned merger, saying shareholders would get to vote on the deal after the U.K.’s EU referendum.


Apple has bought the rights to the popular TV series “Carpool Karaoke,” as the technology giant looks to add more original and exclusive content to its music, TV and movie services.

A recurring skit featured on the The Late Late Show with James Corden, “Carpool Karaoke” shows comedian Corden picking up celebrities and musicians in a car and driving around, singing, and listening to the radio, as well as chatting. First Lady Michelle Obama recently made an appearance in the segment, as well as Beyonce, Elton John, and Adele. Obama’s episode garnered 32 million views on YouTube, and the series’ segments to date have seen over 800 million views, according to Variety.

Apple aapl has been making moves to add more original content for the past few months, as it looks to compete with Netflix nflx and Amazon amzn .

Get Data Sheet, Fortune’s technology newsletter.

In April, Apple produced an exclusive behind-the-scenes documentary on Taylor Swift’s 1989 world tour, and is partnering with music artist Will.iam and TV executives Ben Silverman and Howard T. Owens to produce a new series about mobile apps, called Planet of the Apps. Apple executive and Beats founder Jimmy Iovine had hinted in an interview earlier this summer that the company would be selectively interested in additional original content for its Apple Music subscription streaming service.

According to Variety, Apple Music will be distributing future episodes of “Carpool Karaoke” to its 15 million subscribers in 100 countries. Apple licensed 16 episodes of the show. While the series will be produced by Corden, it will not be hosted by the comedian.

Tim Cook Discusses Jobs Film With Stephen Colbert

“We love music, and ‘Carpool Karaoke’ celebrates it in a fun and unique way that is a hit with audiences of all ages,” said Eddy Cue, Apple’s senior vice president of Internet software and services to Variety. “It’s a perfect fit for Apple Music—bringing subscribers exclusive access to their favorite artists and celebrities who come along for the ride.”

Summary: Future episodes will be distributed to Apple Music subscribers.


Joe Allen could be a future Wales captain, according to Stoke City assistant manager Mark Bowen.

Midfielder Allen completed his £13m move to Stoke from Liverpool on Monday despite interest from his former club Swansea City.

Bowen believes the 26-year-old can be a leader on and off the field for Stoke.

Asked if Allen was a potential international skipper, Bowen told BBC Wales: "I think so, no doubt he's got those qualities in him."

Bowen played left-back for Wales on 42 occasions and confirmed the Potters had been tracking Allen before his impressive performances for Wales at Euro 2016.

Allen played all six games as Chris Coleman's team reached their first major tournament semi-final and was picked in Uefa's official team of the tournament.

"It was strange because we didn't want him to do that well during the European championship because it alerts other clubs," said Bowen

"No doubt there was a lot of interest from other clubs - Swansea being one of them - so it was a situation we were hopeful for, but mindful he would be very much in demand.

"We did our homework on him and everybody we spoke to was very quick to say he's a leader in the dressing room.

"He's very much a team player and we'll be looking for him to shine too and we're looking to him to be a leader and a personality in the dressing room."

Stoke manager Mark Hughes also played for Wales - making 72 appearances between 1984 and 1999 and managed his country from 1999 to 2004.

He was pictures shaking Allen's hand after Wales were beaten 2-0 by Portugal in the semi-final of Euro 2016 on 6 July.

Summary: Stoke assistant manager Mark Bowen believes new signing Joe Allen is a natural leader on and off the field.


Most dog-lovers can agree: English bulldogs are pretty darn cute.

After all, those trademark flat faces, adorable underbites and stocky bodies helped make them the fourth most popular breed registered with the American Kennel Club.

But breeding bulldogs to have those desirable traits might come at a dangerous cost.

According to a new study published in Canine Genetics and Epidemiology, hundreds of years of inbreeding to produce desirable traits in purebred bulldogs has caused extreme damage to the breed.

And researchers believe it would be nearly impossible to save them without crossbreeding them with other dogs.

As one of the study's authors told The Washington Post, "The English bulldog is the most egregious example of getting carried away with oneself in actually designing a dog that's as far from nature as you can possibly get."

SEE MORE: Humans May Have Tamed Wolves Twice Because Dogs Are Worth It

To come to this conclusion, scientists studied the DNA of 102 healthy English bulldogs.

They found the average bulldog is "genetically equivalent to offspring of full sibling parents that came from a highly inbred subpopulation."

Translation: The dogs were more closely related than if their parents had been siblings, and that definitely causes issues for them.

Selective breeding to produce the perfect bulldog has given them many health problems, including poor eyesight, shortness of breath, skin allergies and hip dysplasia.

And the breed's health has deteriorated so much, one section of the study claims, "Bulldogs that reproduce without assistance, move freely, walk or run for long distances, and breathe normally even at rest are the exception."

And because bulldogs are so genetically similar now, one researcher says the chances of breeding those harmful traits out of the gene pool are slim to none.

The study has gotten a lot of attention in the U.K. and renewed calls for important revisions in breed standards.

Related: Also see these expressive pups:

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Summary: According to a new study, hundreds of years of inbreeding to produce desirable traits in one major breed has caused extreme damage.


Dir: Baltasar Kormákur Stars: Ólafur Darri Ólafsson (12A cert, 96 min)

It’s quite the year for solo endurance tests. Last week Martina Gedeck was marooned in the Austrian Alps behind The Wall, and Robert Redford has Oscar buzz for being the only human on screen throughout his shipwreck saga All is Lost.

The first reel of The Deep, an Icelandic drama from the solid, rather bloke-ish director Baltasar Kormákur (101 Reykjavik, Contraband), introduces us to a Westmann Islands coastal community in 1984, just before tragedy strikes: beset by a squall and with its nets snagging on underwater rocks, a fishing boat sinks with all of its crew. This part is like A Perfect Storm in miniature. But the movie’s real subject is the survival of one man – chubby, curly-haired Gulli (Ólafur Darri Ólafsson), who manages to swim for five hours in the freezing North Atlantic Ocean, a feat of superhuman stamina and determination.

The real Gulli, who eventually reached land and crawled across a dead 2lava field to get help, was called a seal, a troll, a sea monster, and outlasted the hardiest marines in Britain after volunteering for subsequent medical tests in a giant ice bath. His story’s pretty remarkable. But this film achieves a real kind of lonely magic when he’s bobbing on the waves under the night sky, talking to a gull.

The amiable, bear-like Olafsson, a familiar face from Kormákur’s other work, underplays the despair of these scenes beautifully – he’s somewhere between gruffly stoical and out of it. It begins to feel like a Herzog-y study of man pitted against the brutal implacability of his marine wilderness, with the sea at 3°C and plunging.

Summary: This Icelandic drama, based on a real-life tale of survival in the North   Atlantic, weaves a lonely magic says Tim Robey.


Plans to hire a waterpark in Marseille for a "burkini day" attended only by women wearing the all-over swimming garment have sparked criticism from right-wing politicians, but the French media are on the whole suspicious of their motives.

Le Monde says the controversy, which has erupted at a time of high tension in France over the influence of Islam, "is political in origin".

The paper points out that two of the main figures who have objected to the event - Valerie Boyer, a member of the centre-right party The Republicans, and Stephane Ravier, a member of the far-right National Front - will be contesting parliamentary seats in Marseille in 2017.

The left-leaning Liberation echoes this line, saying the controversy "has nothing to do with the law" but is being stoked by conservative and far-right politicians seeking to gain political advantage by suggesting that fundamentalism is in the ascendancy in France.

The paper says that a ban on the event could be counter-productive, by creating a sense of injustice.

In a piece headlined "The burkini day is making waves", Le Parisien also points out that there is "nothing illegal" about holding such an event in private.

"But yesterday it caused an outcry, fuelled mostly by elected representatives from The Republicans and the National Front," the paper notes.

Remi Godeau, writing in the liberal Paris-based paper L'Opinion, dismisses the controversy as being "as vain as it is empty".

He accuses certain politicians of seeking to make an already tense atmosphere worse by acting as "sorcerer's apprentices, pyromaniacs and fear merchants" and of "stigmatising the entire Muslim community in the run-up to the election".

La Provence points out that the event has been advertised by its organisers since mid-July, but that the controversy only broke out "after elected representatives on all sides took a stand on the issue".

Meanwhile, the news website of France's main commercial TV channel BFMTV declares that "There's no summer break for religious controversies.

"A sign of communalism or the exercise of the right to practise one's religion? This is the question posed by the 'burkini day'."

However, at least one commentator approves of the idea of a ban on burkini-clad swimming sessions.

Gilles Debernardi, writing in Le Dauphine, argues that the authorities should take a stand on behalf of secular values, instead of allowing "a text written in the seventh century… to determine best practice at the swimming pool".

He warns that to do otherwise would permit religious groups "to thumb their noses at the laws of the Republic, which advocate gender equality".

BBC Monitoring reports and analyses news from TV, radio, web and print media around the world. You can follow BBC Monitoring on Twitter and Facebook.

Summary: While plans to hire a waterpark in Marseille for a "burkini day" draws scorn from right-wing politicians, the French media questions their motives.


BAGHDAD—Secretary of State John Kerry exhorted Iraq’s contentious political factions to quickly resolve internal wrangling that has distracted them from the fight against Islamic State during an unannounced visit to the country on Friday.

In a news conference here after meetings with Prime Minister Haider Al-Abadi and other senior Iraqi officials, the U.S.’s chief diplomat said the militant group had suffered clear setbacks from the...

Summary: U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry during an unannounced visit to Iraq on Friday exhorted the country’s contentious political factions to quickly resolve internal wrangling that has distracted them from the fight against Islamic State.


A baby born after its mother was involved in a car accident in Melbourne has died in hospital.

The 25-year-old pregnant women's car was hit by another vehicle exiting a car park in Cranbourne on Monday afternoon.

She was rushed to hospital and gave birth, but her baby died on Wednesday night.

A 93-year-old Donvale woman also died in hospital on Thursday after a separate crash in Doncaster on Sunday night.

Their deaths bring the state's road toll to 183, 28 more than the same time last year.

Summary: A baby born after a road accident has died two days after its mother was involved in the two-car collision in Melbourne.


Call it swimming’s nirvana, its Valhalla or even an aquatic Elysian fields. However you describe Friday night’s penultimate day of Olympic swimming in Rio, it wouldn’t do it justice.

Maya DiRado of the U.S. kicked things off by snatching gold from Hungary’s Katinka Hosszu, the heavy favorite and fastest qualifier in the event, to win her second gold in her first Olympics, while Michael Phelps ended his individual Olympics career with a three-way tie for silver, and Katie Ledecky set yet another world record to defend her 800m title. U.S. sprinters Anthony Ervin and Nathan Adrian put a capstone on the night by winning gold and bronze, respectively, in the 50m freestyle —a remarkable 16-year-gap for Ervin between his last gold in the same event in 2004.

Twelve minutes into the night’s event, Michael Phelps climbed onto the blocks, bent over, and adjusted his feet on the starting platform. He stretched his arms out behind him, then relinquished them to the force of gravity to swing around and smack his back. Slap, slap, slap, three times. It’s a ritual that began when he first started swimming, and stuck with him to the end. The arena fell silent before the starting gun sent them off on two lengths of the pool in what swimmers consider the most punishing stroke.

(Read More: Why Olympic Swimmers Win the Most Medals)

From above, Phelps’ butterfly is more like a wave than a stroke. Flowing from his outstretched arms to his arched back and his final undulating kick, it’s one continuous movement. Phelps was sixth at the turn, at 50m, and started closing the gap with Singapore’s Joseph Schooling, who surprised many when he qualified ahead of Phelps with a stunning 50.83, the fastest time this recorded this year. Schooling bested that time with a 50.39, and Phelps fell behind to touch simultaneously with South Africa’s Chad le Clos, the silver medalist from 2012, and Hungary’s Laszlo Cseh, who owned the fastest time this year before the qualifying heats in Rio. The three longtime rivals wound up splitting silver behind Schooling, 21. While he may not be a household name — yet — this isn’t the first time the Singapore-born, Florida-raised, University of Texas swimmer raided the podium. At last year’s world championships, Schooling finished third, behind le Clos and Cseh (Phelps was serving a USA Swimming suspension for a DUI and did not compete).

With the victory, Schooling won Singapore’s first Olympic gold and became just the third person to beat Phelps in an individual Olympic race. “It’s all kind of a blank really,” Schooling said after beating his idol, whom he met in 2008. “I need time for all of this to sink in. Just being beside [Phelps], walking alongside him and celebrating — I’ll cherish that for the rest of my life.”

Just eight minutes after Schooling’s upset, Katie Ledecky earned her fifth medal in Rio when she defended her Olympic title in the 800m freestyle. Ledecky made a statement with each lap, pulling first half-a-body-length then a full body and finally, by the last lap, several lengths ahead. She wasn’t racing the field but the clock, spending most of the race more than a second-and-a-half under her own world record pace, set earlier this year. With two laps to go, she was nearly two seconds under that pace and in the final 50m, crushed it with a final time of 8:04.79–still nearly two seconds ahead of her own world record. The win gave Ledecky her fourth gold of these Olympics to go along with one silver.

On the medals stand after, the typically contained Ledecky betrayed rare emotion. It came out again later when talking about leaving her longtime coach, Bruce Gemmell, when she starts to swim for Stanford University in the fall. “He’s a great friend, and he will always be a big part of my life,” she said before breaking down. “It’s been a great four years.”

Phelps too was surprised by the rare break in Ledecky’s composure. “I think that’s the first time I’ve seen her in tears after a race,” Phelps said. “It’s the first time I’ve seen true emotion come out. That race was something really cool for me to see.”

For all of its importance, Ledecky’s win was the least climactic of her five races so far. This is the event she won in a stunning upset over more seasoned distance swimmers in 2012, and it’s the distance at which she’s most comfortable. But as she proved at last year’s world championships when she became the first swimmer to win all four freestyle distances—200m, 400m, 800m and 1500m—distance isn’t her only specialty. (The Olympics includes a 1,500m for men only.)

“It’s just unbelievable that someone can swim the sprint and distance races and be dominant all the way through,” says Dara Torres, a 12-time Olympic swimming medalist. Ledecky’s ability to excel at both the 200m and the 800m is akin to having Usain Bolt win both the 100m and the 5,000m. “She’s so versatile; I’ve never seen that before or heard that before,” she says.

Ledecky is only the second woman to dominate all freestyle distances at a single Games, following American Debbie Meyer in 1968. But Meyer didn’t swim the two relays that year.

(Read More: Michael Phelps Has Won More Gold Medals Than These 56 Countries)

Ervin’s feat was far more surprising. Diagnosed with Tourettes as a teen, he began smoking and experimenting with drugs and alcohol after his Olympic win, falling into depression and becoming self-destructive––a period he chronicles in his recently published memoir Chasing Water. Returning to swimming was the culmination of a larger turnaround. Making the finals in Rio, he said, was accomplishment enough, while winning gold was a gift. “It’s completely unexpected for me to be up here at all,” he said.

Phelps’ second place finish was uncharacteristic, and equally unexpected. It’s only the third silver in Phelps’ career, which came a day after he became the first person to four-peat and win the same event in four consecutive Olympic when he out-touched a field that included teammate Ryan Lochte, in the 200m individual medley.

All week in Rio, Phelps has been talking about his last races as a competitive swimmer, and getting a little nostalgic about hanging up his goggles and cap. “Things started hitting me this morning,” Phelps said on Thursday after winning his 26th medal and 22nd gold in the 200m individual medley. “I only have to put on my racing suit two more times after tonight.”

That kind of history is hard to make and will be even harder to surpass. Phelps leaves swimming on his terms. He admits that in 2012, he wasn’t in the sport for the right reasons, being pulled back in to train by a sense of obligation and resignation after establishing himself as the most decorated Olympian ever. With his four golds in Rio––so far––Phelps’ legacy not just as a swimming great but as an Olympic legend is secure.

Before it’s finished, however, Phelps will take one last dive into the pool, for the medley relay on Saturday. And he insists it will be his final Olympic race.

“No. No more, this is it,” he said after his last individual race. “I will be in Tokyo [in 2020] but I won’t be competing in Tokyo. This is final.”

Summary: Ledecky stayed perfect in Rio on a huge night for U.S. swimmers


Timothy Egan worked for 18 years as a writer for The New York Times, first as the Pacific Northwest correspondent, then as a national enterprise reporter.

In 2006, Mr. Egan won the National Book Award for his history of people who lived through the Dust Bowl, “The Worst Hard Time.” The book also became a New York Times best seller.

In 2001, he won the Pulitzer Prize as part of a team of reporters who wrote the series “How Race Is Lived in America.” He has done special projects on the West and the decline of rural America, and he has followed the entire length of the Lewis and Clark Trail.

Mr. Egan is the author of five books, including “The Good Rain: Across Time and Terrain in the Pacific Northwest,” and “Lasso the Wind, Away to the New West.” He lives in Seattle. Mr. Egan’s column appears every Friday.

Summary: Timothy Egan, a New York Times Contributing Op-Ed Writer, covers the environment, the American West and politics.


Simon Burnett has retired from swimming after the British team failed to reach the final of the men's 4x100m freestyle relay on Sunday.

Oxfordshire's Burnett, who is a double Commonwealth Games gold medallist, was competing in his third Olympics but has called time on his swimming career.

The 29-year-old says he will now head back to the United States to live.

"It would have been nicer to finish off my career with a better swim than I had," Burnett told BBC Radio Oxford.

The Tetsworth swimmer still holds the British record for 100m and 200m freestyle, but says having swum internationally for over a decade he has become used to the disappointments over the years.

I just want to encourage everyone to keep turning up and keep supporting Team GB because you do make a difference

He also says the experience of swimming at an Olympics in front of his home crowd will live long in the memory.

"It sounds easy to say but I've had a long career with plenty of ups and downs and it's got easier to deal with over the years," he said.

"There is no point dwelling on it, I've just got to put a brave face on so I can deal with it.

"I felt really good going into the race and was confident of leading off our relay but it just didn't happen for me and at the moment I can't really say more than that.

"I haven't looked at the tape or looked at the splits yet, perhaps in a week I will. For the moment I'm just trying to enjoy the rest of the Games."

Burnett added: "It [the crowd] was brilliant and it can't be underestimated how important that is.

"It's been amazing and their support without a doubt increases our performance and everybody who swims out there is absolutely buzzing because of the support.

"I just want to encourage everyone to keep turning up and keep supporting Team GB because you do make a difference."

Summary: British swimmer Simon Burnett retires after failing to reach the final of the men's 4x100m freestyle relay at the Olympics.


08/16/2016 AT 05:55 PM EDT

by announcing some pretty big news –

will play Olivia de Havilland in his new FX mini-series

"Thrilled that Oscar-winner Catherine Zeta-Jones is joining FEUD as Oscar-winner Olivia de Havilland," the screenwriter wrote.

Thrilled that Oscar-winner Catherine Zeta-Jones is joining FEUD as Oscar-winner Olivia de Havilland.

The eight-episode mini-series, which stars actresses

(Bette Davis), will showcase the classic rivalry between the

Set to air in 2017, the show will also feature Alfred Molina (as filmâs director Robert Aldrich), Judy Davis (as gossip columnist Hedda Hopper), and

Though this is not the first time Zeta-Jones has appeared on a television show, it will mark her first prominent TV project since her role in the '90s British dramedy

The award-winning actress, who rose to fame with her work in films such as

, has been on hiatus for quite some time.

Summary: The eight-episode series is set to air in 2017


NEW YORK — Donald Trump is shaking up his campaign's leadership amid flagging poll numbers, NBC News has learned.

Kellyanne Conway — already a senior adviser to the campaign — told NBC News she has been promoted to the role of campaign manager. She confirmed that Paul Manafort will stay on as campaign chair but said Stephen Bannon, the co-founder of conservative Breitbart News, will come on board as campaign CEO.

The moves were first reported by The Wall Street Journal early Wednesday and mark yet another round of internal shakeups for a campaign struggling to find consistent footing just 82 days ahead of the election.

The Trump campaign parted ways with controversial campaign manager Corey Lewandowski just two months ago, citing a new phase of the race as they transitioned from the primaries into the general.

Manafort had been unofficially filling the role of campaign manager since Lewandowski's departure, but himself has been subject to scrutiny over his ties to ousted Ukrainian Prime Minister Victor Yanukovich.

RELATED: Trump's campaign manager Paul Manafort through the years

Trump's campaign manager Paul Manafort through the years

Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump gives a thumbs up as his campaign manager Paul Manafort (C) and daughter Ivanka (R) look on during Trump's walk through at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, U.S., July 21, 2016. REUTERS/Rick Wilking

U.S. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump's campaign chair and convention manager Paul Manafort speaks at a press conference at the Republican Convention in Cleveland, U.S., July 19, 2016. REUTERS/Carlo Allegri

U.S. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump's campaign chair and convention manager Paul Manafort appears at a press conference at the Republican Convention in Cleveland, U.S., July 19, 2016. REUTERS/Carlo Allegri

Republican U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump's campaign manager Paul Manafort talks to the media from the Trump family box on the floor of the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, Ohio, U.S. July 18, 2016. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

Paul Manafort, senior advisor to Republican U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump, smiles as he talks with other Trump campaign staff after Trump spoke to supporters following the results of the Indiana state primary, at Trump Tower in Manhattan, New York, U.S., May 3, 2016. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson

U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump's senior campaign adviser Paul Manafort (L) walks into a reception with former Republican presidential candidate Dr. Ben Carson, at the Republican National Committee Spring Meeting at the Diplomat Resort in Hollywood, Florida, April 21, 2016. REUTERS/Joe Skipper

CLEVELAND, OH - JULY 21: Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort listens to Ivanka Trump speak at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland on July 21, 2016. (Photo by Michael Robinson Chavez/The Washington Post via Getty Images)

UNITED STATES - JULY 20: A man with a security credential takes a selfie at the podium as Donald Trump, flanked by campaign manager Paul Manafort and daughter Ivanka, checks the podium early Thursday afternoon in preparation for accepting the GOP nomination to be President at the 2016 Republican National Convention in Cleveland, Ohio on Wednesday July 20, 2016. (Photo By Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call)

UNITED STATES - JULY 19: Paul Manafort, advisor to Donald Trump, is seen on the floor of the Quicken Loans Arena at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, Ohio, July 19, 2016. (Photo By Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call)

MEET THE PRESS -- Pictured: (l-r) Paul Manafort., Convention Manager, Trump Campaign, appears on 'Meet the Press' in Washington, D.C., Sunday April 10, 2016. (Photo by: William B. Plowman/NBC/NBC NewsWire via Getty Images)

NA.R.DoleMicCk1.081596.RG.Republican presidential candidate Bob Dole looks up from podium at balloons and television cameras as convention center manager Paul Manafort, at right, points out preparations for tonight's acceptance speech in San Diego, 08/15/96. (Photo by Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)

WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 21: Paul Manafort, Roger Stone and Lee Atwater, young Republicans political operatives who have set up lobbying firms. (Photo by Harry Naltchayan/The Washington Post via Getty Images)

Paul Manafort, a Republican consultant with ties to Presidents Bush and Reagan, told the House Government Operations subcommittee Oct. 2,1989, that he "played by the rules' in obtaining multimillion-dollar federal housing subsidies. (AP photo/stf)

The expectation around Manafort's installation was for a more traditional campaign in terms of structure, strategy and messaging. The reality, however, has been a candidate unwilling to change the bombastic rhetoric and say-anything style that carried him through the Republican primaries.

Now Trump has been trailing in polls to rival Hillary Clinton, with some Republicans publicly pressuring the Republican National Committee to abandon Trump's bid and instead focus on down ballot races.

The latest NBC News / SurveyMonkey Weekly Election Tracking Poll showed Clinton leading Trump by 9 points, 50 percent to 41 percent.

Adding Conway and Bannon lends a mixture of GOP star power and street credibility to a campaign dogged by questions about how deep its campaign experience runs.

Conway is a veteran GOP pollster and strategist who spent the earlier half of the election cycle working for a pro-Ted Cruz super PAC.

Bannon, meanwhile, is a well-known conservative media personality.

A reporter for his pro-Trump Breitbart News accused Lewandowski of assault — allegations that led several journalists to leave the organization over it's handling of the incident.

"I want to win," Trump told The Wall Street Journal of the moves. "That's why I'm bringing on fantastic people who know how to win and love to win."

The shake-up, though, threatens to overshadow Trump's attempt drive home his policy messages.

The GOP candidate delivered a national security speech Monday and an address about law and order Tuesday night.

But instead of waking up to reaction to that speech, questions over the campaign's internal re-calibration was expected to dominate the political discussion on Wednesday.

More from NBC News: Donald Trump Shakes Up Campaign Leadership Is There Anything Donald Trump Can't Say? Trump to Receive Classified Intelligence Briefing

Summary: Donald Trump is shaking up his campaign's leadership amid flagging poll numbers.