04/01/2016 AT 04:00 PM EDT

Kendall Jenner's secret boyfriend isn't so secret anymore.

the 20-year-old model has been dating Los Angeles Laker Jordan Clarkson for several months, with a source describing the pair as "super into each other."

Now that the basketball player is out of the bag, it's time to get to know the newest member of the Kardashian klan.

Get the 411 by studying up on these five facts about Clarkson, now that we will be seeing more of Kendall's new man.

Born to a Filipino mother, Jordan Clarkson has strong ties to the country, including a Philippine passport. The 23-year-old almost played for the Philippines national basketball team, but ultimately was unable to becasue of conflicts with the Lakers' schedule. Now, Clarkson has vowed to play for the Philippines, if the country's basketball team qualifies for the 2016 Olympics in Rio.

Andrew D. Bernstein / NBAE via Getty

Even though he is just starting his professional career, Clarkson has already been labelled as "one to watch," earning a spot on the NBA All-Rookie First Team in 2015.

JEFF HAYNES / AFP / Getty

It appears Clarkson was fated for basketball fame. His parents named their son after Chicago Bulls and

Fellow shooting guard and Laker Kobe Bryant is stepping up to help mentor Clarkson. Clarkson says now that he is starting this year alongside Bryant, the two have been building a stronger relationship.

Andrew D. Bernstein / NBAE via Getty

Clarkson has arms perfect for hugging Kendall ... or four Kendalls. Her new man is 6'5" and has a wingspan of 6'7".

Summary: The Lakers player could be heading to the Olympics this year


Bindi Irwin and Derek Hough

04/04/2016 AT 06:45 PM EDT

As we gear up for Most Memorable Year week on

– which is sure to result in some tears, take a look back at some of the other dances that made you cry.

was announced, we all knew that at some point, she'd dance in honor of her late father, Steve Irwin. But the reality of her Most Memorable Year contemporary performance was more breathtaking than any of us could have expected. Not only did have the whole audience in tears, but she also landed the first 10 of the season.

That same season, PenaVega looked back on her years-long struggle with bulimia, and attempted to overcome her demons in a contemporary routine. In the dance, partner Mark Ballas represented the eating disorder, while she played herself. "This is was a part of my life that I was always so afraid of people finding out," she said of the dance. "You're going to watch something that hurt me, but watch me pull through it."

When it comes to contestants' emotional stories, it doesn't get much more intense than Galloway's time overseas, fighting in the Iraq War, where he lost his left arm above the elbow and left leg above the knee. In this freestyle dance, he told the story of powering through his injury – and got a standing ovation for doing so.

At the end of season 20, it was announced that head judge Len Goodman wouldn't be returning for the next season of

. As we now know, it was thankfully just a one-season-long departure, but before he went, Nastia and Derek did a Viennese waltz in tribute to the icon – and it gave us

This dance wasn't meant to represent a pivotal moment in Meryl's life, but it ended up being just that. These two danced a stunning routine to "Latch" that ended up cinching them the Mirrorball. It left Cariann in full-on tears, Bruno called it a "flawless work of art" and Len said he would have given them an 11 if he could. Can you blame them?

star was a frontrunner throughout season 17, and this Viennese Waltz cemented that status. Coupled with an introduction where Riley discussed struggling with body critics while trying to make it in Hollywood, there's no way you weren't crying at the end of this one.

For someone with nearly 10 million followers on YouTube, it's surprising that Mota ever struggled with confidence issues. But she did, and she confronted her past bullies in a rumba where she and partner Derek literally shoved the taunts out of the way – and made way for Mota to proclaim "I love who I am" to thunderous applause.

Skarlatos shot to fame after he and two other Americans stopped a gunman from opening fire on a Paris-bound train last year. His devotion to his country showed during this emotional rendition of "America the Beautiful."

Summary: Try to make it through this post without crying. We dare you


Shares in SeaWorld Entertainment plunged Wednesday after the theme park operator reported lower revenue and slashed its sales outlook for the year.

SeaWorld shares fell more than 31 percent in early afternoon trading. (What's the stock doing now? Click here)

SeaWorld said attendance for the quarter rose 0.3 percent, but revenue fell slightly. Adjusted earnings also dipped slightly.

The company said it now expects 2014 revenue to fall 6 to 7 percent. Its previous guidance had assumed a slight increase in revenue, according to a Dow Jones report.

The company has been under significant pressure since the release of the documentary "Blackfish," which criticized the way SeaWorld treats its animals. The company has strongly rejected the documentary's claims.

Summary: Shares in SeaWorld Entertainment plunge after the theme park operator reported lower revenue and slashed its sales outlook.


04/27/2016 AT 07:00 PM EDT

just can't seem to fend off the bad guys.

The 18-year-old actress took to

on Tuesday, showing off her toned abs – and her apparently ineffective cell phone case.

"I guess my f--- boy repellent didn't work... #yougetme #whosthat #hescooltho #castmates," Thorne captioned the photo of herself donning a confused expression as her

Along with Smith's silly expression and Thorne's fit physique, the actress's comedic phone case was on full display.

The pink case flashed the words, "f---boy repellent," and showed a white spray bottle. (A "f---boy" is a derogatory term used to describe mean, self-centered, insensitive, promiscuous men.)

Smith and Thorne star in the Brent Bonacorso-directed thriller about a love triangle alongside Halston Sage and

That same day, Thorne sported her ab-flaunting outfit in a

and video clip of her workout.

"Finally back at the gym !!! I'm so weak now this is awful!!! Gotta get back on the grind..damn film #yougetme #latecalltimefinally #sotired @instakicksz," Thorne wrote alongside the

Summary: "I guess my f--- boy repellent didn't work," Bella Thorne wrote in a recent Instagram photo


05/13/2016 AT 12:20 PM EDT

legendary pop and R&B singer Dionne Warwick in the upcoming biopic,

, will follow Warwick's early career spanning from 1962-1968, during which time she recorded some of her biggest hits including "Alfie" and "I Say a Little Prayer."

So who is the actress set to play the iconic singer? Here are five things to know about Luckett.

and LaTavia Roberson to create the all-girls R&B group, managed by Knowles' father, Mathew Knowles. Together they released two albums,

, which featured a slew of the group's biggest hits including, "No, No, No, Part II," "Jumpin' Jumpin" and "Say My Name."

Destiny's Child: LeToya Luckett, LaTavia Robertson, Kelly Rowland and Beyoncé Knowles

After Luckett and Robertson expressed an interest in getting their own manager separate from Knowles, the two girls found themselves on the

. When the music video for "Say My Name" debuted in 2000, they were replaced by two new members,

for breach of partnership and fiduciary duties. They eventually settled with him out of court, but refiled a lawsuit in 2002 following the release of Destiny's Child's "Survivor," claiming it violated their settlement due to the lyrics in the song.

Luckett released her self-titled debut album in July 2006 and landed at No. 1 of the U.S. Billboard 200. The album, which included songs "Thorn" and "She Don't," was certified gold after one month and platinum within four months. The singer went on to release a second solo album,

, in 2009 and announced her third album,

, in 2014, with a planned 2016 release date.

Luckett started a YouTube web series called "H-Town Chick" in 2006, which gave a behind-the-scenes look at the singer's life and team. In the three-episode series, she talked about the highs and lows of navigating her career in Hollywood – including her own account of the Destiny's Child fallout.

titled "Life, Love, & Music" in 2012, which picked up just as Luckett was recording her third album. "A web series giving you an inside look at the process of singer, songwriter, actress Letoya Luckett as she created her third album," read the description on the videos. Luckett recorded six episodes in a nearly one-year time span.

Along with being tapped to play Warwick in the upcoming biopic, Luckett has landed several television and film roles. She appeared in the 2010 film

and had a recurring role in the VH1 series

. Most recently, Luckett starred in the television series

Summary: LeToya Luckett is one of the original four members of Destiny's Child


OMAHA, Neb. — Given all the pessimism about Apple Inc. these days, one might wonder why Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. is betting $1.1 billion on the company. But if sentiment on Wall Street is any guide, the Oracle of Omaha and his lieutenants have made a prescient play.

Even after Apple warned that the sales decline it experienced in the fiscal second quarter would continue in the subsequent three months, there are just two analysts among the 50 monitored by Bloomberg who recommend selling the stock. While the average 12-month target price has fallen from last July’s peak, it remains at $124.60, about 33 percent above current levels.

The gamble hints at Berkshire’s confidence in Apple’s ability to create new products that reignite revenue growth. That may either come with the iPhone 7, set to be introduced later this year, or in product categories such as autonomous driving or virtual reality hardware.

“It’s kind of a no-brainer,” said Steve Wallman, a money manager in Middleton, Wisc., who has invested in Berkshire since 1982 and Apple since December 2003. “I don’t think it’s a great stretch for Berkshire. The company is cheap. It has a boatload of cash.”

Apple shares jumped 3.7 percent to $93.88 after Berkshire’s announcement, valuing Apple at about $514 billion. The company’s nearly 30 percent share slide since the middle of last year may have created an opportunity for Berkshire, even though Buffett typically avoids technology investments.

Berkshire held 9.81 million Apple shares as of March 31, according to a regulatory filing Monday from the billionaire’s Omaha-based company. The holding was valued at $1.07 billion at the end of the first quarter.

Apple trades at a multiple of 10.5 times its earnings per share. The shares have a dividend yield of 2.35 percent. That ranks Apple above the average of its peers on the the Standard & Poor’s Information Technology index.

“Apple at the current valuation makes a ton of sense; it’s a consumer-product company more than a tech company,” Jeff Matthews, an author of Berkshire-related books, said about the new holding. “The company has a great financial model, a great brand name and a cheap stock.”

Some investors have expressed concern that declining iPhone sales, which prompted Apple’s first quarterly drop in revenue in 13 years, are indicative of a broader slackening in demand for smartphones. Gartner Inc. predicts that smartphone sales growth will fall to the lowest level ever this year.

David Tepper’s Appaloosa Management disclosed Friday that it sold out of its Apple stake in the first quarter. Billionaire Carl Icahn said last month that he exited a position in the company because of concern about its relationship with China. Kristin Huguet, a spokeswoman for Apple, wasn’t immediately available to comment.

Chief executive Tim Cook is pivoting toward services and exploring new technologies such as self-driving cars to reduce reliance on the iPhone. Cyrus Mewawalla, managing director at London-based CM Research, said those initiatives are unlikely to pay off this year, but may reward more patient investors.

“What would make this stock a good buy is a whole load of projects we know they’re working on,” he said. “They’re working on a TV, a car, a whole bunch of apps coming for the Apple Watch. We know mobile payments has just started off.”

The investment was made by one of Buffett’s deputies, Todd Combs or Ted Weschler, Buffett wrote in an e-mail to the Wall Street Journal. Both have been building their own portfolios in recent years and typically take stakes of $1 billion or less per company, while Buffett makes larger wagers. The filing doesn’t specify the person behind each holding, and Berkshire didn’t immediately respond to a message seeking comment.

Berkshire has waded more into technology investments in recent years. Combs previously invested in Intel Corp. And Buffett is backing billionaire Dan Gilbert’s bid for Yahoo! Inc.’s core assets. The Berkshire chairman told CNBC that he could provide financing, if there were adequate protections, but doesn’t have enough understanding of the Yahoo assets to take an equity stake.

Summary: Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. is investing $1.1 billion in Apple.


WASHINGTON, March 23 (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court began hearing arguments on Wednesday in appeals by Christian groups demanding a full exemption on religious grounds from a mandate under President Barack Obama's healthcare law to provide insurance that covers contraceptives.

Eight justices were hearing a scheduled 90 minutes of arguments on whether nonprofit entities that oppose the requirement for religious reasons can object under a 1993 U.S. law called the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act to a compromise arrangement offered by the Obama administration. SEE ALSO: Cruz, fresh off Utah win, appeals for unity, gets Bush support

The 2010 Affordable Care Act, dubbed Obamacare, was passed by Congress over unified Republican opposition. It is considered Obama's signature legislative achievement. Conservatives have mounted numerous legal challenges to the law, with the Supreme Court in 2012 and 2015 issuing high-profile rulings leaving it intact.

Dozens of supporters of the Obama administration's position gathered outside the courthouse for a noisy rally ahead of the oral arguments. Several held signs featuring the slogan "my birth control, my business."

The argument, consolidating seven related cases, was being heard by eight justices, with the court one short following the Feb. 13 death of Antonin Scalia. The court is now divided 4-4 between liberal and conservative justices, and a split ruling along those lines was seen as possible. See photos of rallies outside the Supreme Court:

US high court confronts Obamacare contraceptives challenge

Nuns, including Sister Maria Kolbe, right, of the Order of St. Francis, from Mishawaka, Ind., rally outside the Supreme Court in Washington, Wednesday, March 23, 2016, as the court hears arguments to allow birth control in healthcare plans in the Zubik vs. Burwell case. The Supreme Court is taking up a challenge from faith-based groups that object to an Obama administration effort to ensure their employees and students can get cost-free birth control. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 23: Nuns supporting Little Sisters of the Poor, attend a rally in front of the US Supreme Court, March 23, 2016 in Washington, DC. Today the high court will hear arguments in Little Sisters v. Burwell, which will examine whether the governments new health care regulation will require the Little Sisters to change their healthcare plan, to other services that violate Catholic teaching. (Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 23: Nuns supporting Little Sisters of the Poor, attend a rally in front of the US Supreme Court, March 23, 2016 in Washington, DC. Today the high court will hear arguments in Little Sisters v. Burwell, which will examine whether the governments new health care regulation will require the Little Sisters to change their healthcare plan, to other services that violate Catholic teaching. (Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 23: Nuns supporting Little Sisters of the Poor, attend a rally in front of the US Supreme Court, March 23, 2016 in Washington, DC. Today the high court will hear arguments in Little Sisters v. Burwell, which will examine whether the governments new health care regulation will require the Little Sisters to change their healthcare plan, to other services that violate Catholic teaching. (Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 23: Nuns supporting Little Sisters of the Poor, attend a rally in front of the US Supreme Court, March 23, 2016 in Washington, DC. Today the high court will hear arguments in Little Sisters v. Burwell, which will examine whether the governments new health care regulation will require the Little Sisters to change their healthcare plan, to other services that violate Catholic teaching. (Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 23: Nuns supporting Little Sisters of the Poor, attend a rally in front of the US Supreme Court, March 23, 2016 in Washington, DC. Today the high court will hear arguments in Little Sisters v. Burwell, which will examine whether the governments new health care regulation will require the Little Sisters to change their healthcare plan, to other services that violate Catholic teaching. (Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 23: Nuns supporting Little Sisters of the Poor, attend a rally in front of the US Supreme Court, March 23, 2016 in Washington, DC. Today the high court will hear arguments in Little Sisters v. Burwell, which will examine whether the governments new health care regulation will require the Little Sisters to change their healthcare plan, to other services that violate Catholic teaching. (Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images)

Kate Perelman of Silver Spring, Md., left, with Americans United for Separation of Church and State, holds a sign saying "Notorious IUD" as a play on words with the nickname for Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, as she, and others, rally in support of birth control access regardless of employer, Wednesday, March 23, 2016, outside the Supreme Court in Washington. The Supreme Court is taking up a challenge from faith-based groups that object to an Obama administration effort to ensure their employees and students can get cost-free birth control. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

FILE - In this March 25, 2015, file photo, Margot Riphagen, of New Orleans, wears a birth control pills costume as she protests in front of the Supreme Court in Washington, as the court heard oral arguments in the challenges of President Barack Obama's health care law requirement that businesses provide their female employees with health insurance that includes access to contraceptives. Some insurance plans offered on the health marketplaces violate the lawâs requirements for womenâs health, according to a new report from a womenâs legal advocacy group. The National Womenâs Law Center analyzed plans in 15 states over two years and found some excluded dependents from maternity coverage, prohibited coverage of breast pumps or failed to cover all federally approved birth control methods. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak, File)

FILE - In this March 25, 2015, file photo, protestors one wearing a birth control pills costume participate in a demonstration in front of the Supreme Court in Washington, as the court heard oral arguments in the challenges of President Barack Obama's health care law requirement that businesses provide their female employees with health insurance that includes access to contraceptives. Religion, birth control and the Obama health care overhaul are about to collide at the Supreme Court yet again. Faith-affiliated charities, colleges and hospitals that oppose some or all contraception as immoral are battling the Obama administration over rules that allow them to opt out of covering the contraceptives for women that are among a range of preventive services that must be included in health plans at no extra cost. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak, File)

A 4-4 split would leave in place lower-court rulings favoring the Obama administration.

The Christian groups object to a compromise first offered by the Obama administration in 2013. It allows groups opposed to providing insurance covering birth control to comply with the law without actually paying for the required coverage.

Groups can certify they are opting out of the requirement by signing a form and submitting it to the government. The government then asks insurers to pick up the tab for the contraception.

The challengers contend the accommodation violates their religious rights by forcing them to authorize the coverage for their employees even if they are not paying for it.

The case represents an uphill battle for the challengers, who lost all seven cases now before the Supreme Court in lower courts.

Scalia, a conservative Roman Catholic, was considered a reliable vote for the religious groups. In 2014, he was in the majority when the court ruled 5-4 that family-owned companies run on religious principles, including craft retailer Hobby Lobby Stores Inc, could object to the provision for religious reasons.

If the four conservatives who sided with Scalia in that case remain unified, the best result the challengers could get would be a 4-4 split.

A Colorado-based order of Roman Catholic nuns called the Little Sisters of the Poor that runs care homes for the elderly was among the groups challenging the requirement.

Among the other challengers were: Bishop David Zubik and the Roman Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh; the Roman Catholic archdiocese of Washington, D.C.; Priests for Life; and East Texas Baptist University.

Roman Catholic priest Frank Pavone, national director of the group Priests for Life, said the dispute boils down to this issue: "the government cannot force believers to choose between following their faith and following the law."

"This accommodation is not an 'opt-out.' Rather, it is a hijacking of the mechanism of our insurance plans to further the immoral goal of expanding access to abortion-inducing drugs and other objectionable services," Pavone said.

Ilyse Hogue, president of the abortion rights group NARAL Pro-Choice America, said that "women must be empowered to make our own decisions about our bodies."

"No one should have to ask their boss for permission to get the healthcare they need. Period," Hogue said. "We hope that the Supreme Court will agree with that simple statement."

A ruling is due by the end of June.

Related: The history and evolution of birth control:

US high court confronts Obamacare contraceptives challenge

Closeup still life of Zorane tablets, a series of low-estrogen birth control pills. Shown are three packs, one open, two closed. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Various big posters were hoisted in Saint Peter's Square by a group of persons favoring artificial birth control, as Pope Paul VI appeared in the central balcony of Saint Peter's Basilica to read his Easter message to the world and impart his blessing "Urbi et Orbi" (Over the City of Rome and the World) March 26, 1967. The huge poster in center reads: "Yes to the pill", while others read: "No to Abortion." (AP-PHOTO)

13th August 1968: Father Paul Weir expounds on his refusal to quit the Catholic church in the St Cecilia Presbytery in North Cheam. Father Paul, 31, was suspended from his duties because he disagrees with the Pope's ruling on birth control. (Photo by Keystone/Getty Images)

Birth control advocate Bill Baird, center, and Carol Morreale, left, as they led a demonstration outside the Immaculate Conception Church, Aug. 18, 1974 in Marlboro, Mass., protesting the denial of the baptismal sacrament to 3-month-old Nathaniel Morreale. Carol Morreale, the child's mother has publicly advocated that women be given the right to choose whether they will have an abortion. (AP Photo)

A woman holds a birth control pill dispenser indicating the day of the week in New York in August 1974. Though medical trials for the oral contraceptive started in the late 1950s, Enovid was approved by the Food and Drug Administration in 1960. The sexual revolution was born. Known as "The Pill," it changed the balance of hormones estrogen and progesterone in women to prevent pregnancy. It was invented by Dr. Gregory Pincus and Dr. John Rock with the support of Planned Parenthood founder Margaret Sanger. (AP Photo/Jerry Mosey)

FILE - This May 28, 1999, file photo shows a new birth control pill container designed to look like a woman's makeup compact for Ortho-McNeil Pharmaceutical Inc., of Raritan, N.J., displayed at the manufacturer's assembly line. More than half of privately insured women are getting free birth control due to President Barack Obamaâs health care law, part of a big shift thatâs likely to continue despite the Supreme Court allowing some employers with religious objections to opt out. (AP Photo/Mike Derer, File)

Graphic shows the Implanon implant, with contraceptive use stats among women ages 15-44. (AP Graphic)

Graphic shows preferred method of birth control for women by age; 1c x 3 1/2 inches; 46.5 mm x 88.9 mm

Chart shows failure rate of popular female contraceptives

Graphic shows the annual cost of the most effect birth control methods

Individually packaged hand-knitted uteri are placed on a countertop at the lobby of the State Capitol in Phoenix, Thursday, April 5, 2012. Critics of an Arizona proposal to limit birth control gave more than a dozen state lawmakers the personalized gift. The packages were delivered each in a clear plastic bag, labeled with a lawmakerâs name and containing a letter from a Tempe woman asking legislators to oppose the measure. (AP Photo/Terry Tang)

FILE - In this May 2, 2013 photo, pharmacist Simon Gorelikov holds a generic emergency contraceptive, also called the morning-after pill, at the Health First Pharmacy in Boston. The plaintiffs in a legal battle over emergency contraceptives say in a letter Wednesday June 12, 2013, the government has failed to comply with a New York judge's order to lift all restrictions on sales of the drug. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola, File)

A group of people organized by the NYC Light Brigade and the women's rights group UltraViolet, use letters in lights to spell out their opinion, in front of the Supreme Court, Monday, March 24, 2014, in Washington. Holding the "H" in "Hands" is Rep. Keith Ellison, D-Minn. The Supreme Court is weighing whether corporations have religious rights that exempt them from part of the new health care law that requires coverage of birth control for employees at no extra charge. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Margot Riphagen of New Orleans, La., wears a birth control pills costume as she protests in front of the Supreme Court in Washington, Tuesday, March 25, 2014, as the court heard oral arguments in the challenges of President Barack Obama's health care law requirement that businesses provide their female employees with health insurance that includes access to contraceptives. Supreme Court justices are weighing whether corporations have religious rights that exempt them from part of the new health care law that requires coverage of birth control for employees at no extra charge. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

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Summary: Groups object to a compromise that allows those opposed to providing insurance covering birth control to comply with the law without paying for coverage.


(Reuters) -- Salah Abdeslam, the prime surviving suspect in November's Paris attacks, will no longer fight extradition to France as he had vowed to do but instead now wants to return to "explain himself", his lawyer said on Thursday.

Abdeslam, a French citizen, was arrested in Brussels on March 18 after a four-month manhunt in the wake of the Nov. 13 shooting and suicide bombing rampage by Islamic State militants that killed 130 people in Paris.

SEE ALSO: Missing Justin and Stephanie Shults: Mom flies to Belgium

His lawyer, Sven Mary, told reporters in Brussels that he hoped Abdeslam's return to Paris could happen "as soon as possible ... Regarding going to France, I think it's really a question of weeks".

Paris prosecutor Francois Molins had said last week that at worst it could take three months for Abdeslam to be handed over to France after the suspect said he would oppose extradition.

Investigations into suicide bombings in Brussels on Tuesday - also claimed by Islamic State and in which at least 31 people died - have pointed in Abdeslam's direction as well, indicating that the same jihadist network was involved in both the Paris and Brussels attacks, police said.

See more of the raid that left to Abdeslam's arrest:

Surviving Paris attacks suspect wants to return to 'explain himself': Lawyer

Forensic police investigate outside the building where was carried out a police operation in the Molenbeek-Saint-Jean district in Brussels, on March 18, 2016, as part of the investigation into the Paris November attacks. The main suspect in the jihadist attacks on Paris in November, Salah Abdeslam, was arrested in a raid in Brussels on March 18, French police sources said. / AFP / BELGA / DIRK WAEM / Belgium OUT (Photo credit should read DIRK WAEM/AFP/Getty Images)

Forensic police investigate outside the building where was carried out a police operation in the Molenbeek-Saint-Jean district in Brussels, on March 18, 2016, as part of the investigation into the Paris November attacks. The main suspect in the jihadist attacks on Paris in November, Salah Abdeslam, was arrested in a raid in Brussels on March 18, French police sources said. / AFP / BELGA / DIRK WAEM / Belgium OUT (Photo credit should read DIRK WAEM/AFP/Getty Images)

Forensic police investigate outside the building where was carried out a police operation in the Molenbeek-Saint-Jean district in Brussels, on March 18, 2016, as part of the investigation into the Paris November attacks. The main suspect in the jihadist attacks on Paris in November, Salah Abdeslam, was arrested in a raid in Brussels on March 18, French police sources said. / AFP / BELGA / DIRK WAEM / Belgium OUT (Photo credit should read DIRK WAEM/AFP/Getty Images)

A picture shows damage on the building where was carried out a police operation in the Molenbeek-Saint-Jean district in Brussels, on March 18, 2016, as part of the investigation into the Paris November attacks. The main suspect in the jihadist attacks on Paris in November, Salah Abdeslam, was arrested in a raid in Brussels on March 18, French police sources said. / AFP / BELGA / DIRK WAEM / Belgium OUT (Photo credit should read DIRK WAEM/AFP/Getty Images)

SINT-JANS-MOLENBEEK, BELGIUM - MARCH 18: Police officers guard a road after raids in which several people, including Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam, were arrested on March 18, 2016 in Sint-Jans-Molenbeek, Belgium. Belgian police arrested three people in raids including key Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam according to Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel. (Photo by Carl Court/Getty Images)

SINT-JANS-MOLENBEEK, BELGIUM - MARCH 18: Police officers guard a road after raids in which several people, including Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam, were arrested on March 18, 2016 in Sint-Jans-Molenbeek, Belgium. Belgian police arrested three people in raids including key Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam according to Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel. (Photo by Carl Court/Getty Images)

SINT-JANS-MOLENBEEK, BELGIUM - MARCH 18: Police officers guard a road after raids in which several people, including Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam, were arrested on March 18, 2016 in Sint-Jans-Molenbeek, Belgium. Belgian police arrested three people in raids including key Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam according to Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel. (Photo by Carl Court/Getty Images)

SINT-JANS-MOLENBEEK, BELGIUM - MARCH 18: Police officers patrol after raids in which several people, including Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam, were arrested on March 18, 2016 in Sint-Jans-Molenbeek, Belgium. Belgian police arrested three people in raids including key Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam according to Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel. (Photo by Carl Court/Getty Images)

SINT-JANS-MOLENBEEK, BELGIUM - MARCH 18: Police officers guard a road after raids in which several people, including Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam, were arrested on March 18, 2016 in Sint-Jans-Molenbeek, Belgium. Belgian police arrested three people in raids including key Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam according to Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel. (Photo by Carl Court/Getty Images)

An ambulance passes next to a police officer with a dog during a police operation in the Molenbeek-Saint-Jean district in Brussels, on March 18, 2016, as part of the investigation into the Paris November attacks. The main suspect in the jihadist attacks on Paris in November, Salah Abdeslam, was arrested in a raid in Brussels on March 18, French police sources said. / AFP / BELGA / DIRK WAEM / Belgium OUT (Photo credit should read DIRK WAEM/AFP/Getty Images)

SINT-JANS-MOLENBEEK, BELGIUM - MARCH 18: Police officers guard a road after raids in which several people, including Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam, were arrested on March 18, 2016 in Sint-Jans-Molenbeek, Belgium. Belgian police arrested three people in raids including key Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam according to Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel. (Photo by Carl Court/Getty Images)

A Belgian policeman stands guard in a street during a police action in the Molenbeek-Saint-Jean district in Brussels, on March 18, 2016. A police operation was underway on March 18, in the Brussels area home to key Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam whose fingerprints were found in an apartment raided this week, the federal prosecutor's office said. AFP PHOTO / JOHN THYS / AFP / JOHN THYS (Photo credit should read JOHN THYS/AFP/Getty Images)

Police stand guard near the scene of a police operation in the Molenbeek-Saint-Jean district in Brussels, on March 18, 2016, as part of the investigation into the Paris November attacks. The main suspect in the jihadist attacks on Paris in November, Salah Abdeslam, was arrested in a raid in Brussels on March 18, French police sources said. / AFP / BELGA / AURORE BELOT / Belgium OUT (Photo credit should read AURORE BELOT/AFP/Getty Images)

A woman climbs into a police truck near the scene of a police operation in the Molenbeek-Saint-Jean district in Brussels, on March 18, 2016, as part of the investigation into the Paris November attacks. The main suspect in the jihadist attacks on Paris in November, Salah Abdeslam, was arrested in a raid in Brussels on March 18, French police sources said. / AFP / BELGA / AURORE BELOT / Belgium OUT (Photo credit should read AURORE BELOT/AFP/Getty Images)

Police stand guard near the scene of a police operation in the Molenbeek-Saint-Jean district in Brussels, on March 18, 2016, as part of the investigation into the Paris November attacks. The main suspect in the jihadist attacks on Paris in November, Salah Abdeslam, was arrested in a raid in Brussels on March 18, French police sources said. / AFP / BELGA / AURORE BELOT / Belgium OUT (Photo credit should read AURORE BELOT/AFP/Getty Images)

A policeman stands guard near the scene of a police operation in the Molenbeek-Saint-Jean district in Brussels, on March 18, 2016, as part of the investigation into the Paris November attacks. The main suspect in the jihadist attacks on Paris in November, Salah Abdeslam, was arrested in a raid in Brussels on March 18, French police sources said. / AFP / BELGA / AURORE BELOT / Belgium OUT (Photo credit should read AURORE BELOT/AFP/Getty Images)

Police speaks together near the scene of a police operation in the Molenbeek-Saint-Jean district in Brussels, on March 18, 2016, as part of the investigation into the Paris November attacks. The main suspect in the jihadist attacks on Paris in November, Salah Abdeslam, was arrested in a raid in Brussels on March 18, French police sources said. / AFP / BELGA / AURORE BELOT / Belgium OUT (Photo credit should read AURORE BELOT/AFP/Getty Images)

In this framegrab taken from VTM, armed police officers escort a suspect to a police vehicle during a raid in the Molenbeek neighborhood of Brussels, Belgium, Friday March 18, 2016. After an intense four-month manhunt across Europe and beyond, police on Friday captured Salah Abdeslam, the top fugitive in the Paris attacks in the same Brussels neighborhood where he grew up. (VTM via AP) BELGIUM OUT

Police officers with dogs during a raid in the Molenbeek neighborhood of Brussels, Belgium, Friday March 18, 2016. After an intense four-month manhunt across Europe and beyond, police on Friday captured Salah Abdeslam, the top fugitive in the Paris attacks in the same Brussels neighborhood where he grew up. (AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert)

Police evacuate a woman and a small child during a police raid in the Molenbeek neighbourhood of Brussels, Belgium on Friday, March 18, 2016. Two French police officials have told The Associated Press that Salah Abdeslam, the main fugitive from Islamic extremist attacks in Paris in November, has been arrested in Belgium's capital after four months at large. He was arrested Friday in a major police operation in the Brussels neighborhood of Molenbeek. (AP Photo/Geoffrey Van der Hasselt)

A policeman stands guards near the scene of a police operation in the Molenbeek-Saint-Jean district in Brussels, on March 18, 2016, as part of the investigation into the Paris November attacks. The main suspect in the jihadist attacks on Paris in November, Salah Abdeslam, was arrested in a raid in Brussels on March 18, French police sources said. / AFP / BELGA / Aurore BELOT / Belgium OUT (Photo credit should read AURORE BELOT/AFP/Getty Images)

Special operations police secure an area during a police raid in the Molenbeek neighbourhood of Brussels, Belgium on Friday, March 18, 2016. Two French police officials have told The Associated Press that Salah Abdeslam, the main fugitive from Islamic extremist attacks in Paris in November, has been arrested in Belgium's capital after four months at large. He was arrested Friday in a major police operation in the Brussels neighborhood of Molenbeek. (AP Photo/Geoffrey Van der Hasselt)

Police officers guard an entrance of a school during a raid in the Molenbeek neighborhood of Brussels, Belgium, Friday March 18, 2016. Police have descended in force to search a residence in the Molenbeek, and Belgian media reported gunshots had been fired. RTBF French-language TV reported late Friday afternoon that two people had been wounded, and that one might be Paris attacks fugitive Salah Abdeslam. (AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert)

Police officers guard an entrance of a school during a raid in the Molenbeek neighborhood of Brussels, Belgium, Friday March 18, 2016. Police have descended in force to search a residence in the Molenbeek, and Belgian media reported gunshots had been fired. RTBF French-language TV reported late Friday afternoon that two people had been wounded, and that one might be Paris attacks fugitive Salah Abdeslam. (AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert)

Emergency vehicles travel along a street blocked by armed police officers during a raid in the Molenbeek neighborhood of Brussels, Belgium, Friday March 18, 2016. Police have descended in force to search a residence in the Molenbeek, and Belgian media reported gunshots had been fired. RTBF French-language TV reported late Friday afternoon that two people had been wounded, and that one might be Paris attacks fugitive Salah Abdeslam. (Aaron Hamerlynck via AP)

A street is blocked by armed police officers during a raid in the Molenbeek neighborhood of Brussels, Belgium, Friday March 18, 2016. Police have descended in force to search a residence in the Molenbeek, and Belgian media reported gunshots had been fired. RTBF French-language TV reported late Friday afternoon that two people had been wounded, and that one might be Paris attacks fugitive Salah Abdeslam. (Aaron Hamerlynck via AP)

This framegrab taken from APTN shows an armed police officer during a raid in the Molenbeek neighborhood of Brussels, Belgium, Friday March 18, 2016. Police have descended in force to search a residence in the Molenbeek, and Belgian media reported gunshots had been fired. RTBF French-language TV reported late Friday afternoon that two people had been wounded, and that one might be Paris attacks fugitive Salah Abdeslam. (APTN via AP)

Belgian policemen stand guard in a road during a police action in the Molenbeek-Saint-Jean district in Brussels, on March 18, 2016. A police operation was underway on March 18, in the Brussels area home to key Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam whose fingerprints were found in an apartment raided this week, the federal prosecutor's office said. / AFP / JOHN THYS (Photo credit should read JOHN THYS/AFP/Getty Images)

This framegrab taken from APTN shows armed police officers during a raid in the Molenbeek neighborhood of Brussels, Belgium, Friday March 18, 2016. Police have descended in force to search a residence in the Molenbeek, and Belgian media reported gunshots had been fired. RTBF French-language TV reported late Friday afternoon that two people had been wounded, and that one might be Paris attacks fugitive Salah Abdeslam. (APTN via AP)

This framegrab taken from APTN shows an emergency vehicle during a raid in the Molenbeek neighborhood of Brussels, Belgium, Friday March 18, 2016. Police have descended in force to search a residence in the Molenbeek, and Belgian media reported gunshots had been fired. RTBF French-language TV reported late Friday afternoon that two people had been wounded, and that one might be Paris attacks fugitive Salah Abdeslam. (APTN via AP)

A police officer guides two women away during a raid in the Molenbeek neighborhood of Brussels, Belgium, Friday March 18, 2016. Police have descended in force to search a residence in the Molenbeek, and Belgian media reported gunshots had been fired. RTBF French-language TV reported late Friday afternoon that two people had been wounded, and that one might be Paris attacks fugitive Salah Abdeslam. (AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert)

Mary said Abdeslam was due in court in Brussels on March 31 to face a European arrest warrant issued by France. This warrant is a procedure reserved for European Union member states that speeds up the traditional extradition process by preventing government authorities from blocking any transfer.

Asked whether Abdeslam, born and raised in Brussels, was still helping police investigators, Mary declined to comment, citing client confidentiality.

Mary had said on Monday that Abdeslam was collaborating and communicating, and that he was "worth his weight in gold" for the investigation.

As the only suspected participant or planner of the Paris attacks in police custody, Abdeslam would be a possible significant source of information on others involved in support networks, financing and links with Islamic State in Syria, investigators have said.

More from AOL.com: Why France has become a prime target for terrorists Parisians express relief, want justice after Abdeslam arrest Paris terror suspect Salah Abdeslam was captured after dogged police work, luck

Summary: 'Salah Abdeslam has asked me to inform you that he wishes to leave for France as quickly as possible,' Sven Mary said in comments broadcast on BFM TV.


05/27/2016 AT 02:20 PM EDT

member was spotted donning British World War II military dress – and his new short haircut! – while on the set of his new movie,

The upcoming film from writer and director

tells the true story of the evacuation of the French city during World War II's Battle of France in 1940. Filming occurred 76 years after 338,000 French, Belgian and British troops were saved from the surrounding German soldiers – the largest military evacuation in history.

While Styles' role in the film is being kept under wraps, he was spotted costumed in a British army uniform. His character also appeared to be wounded in some shots, with a bloodied bandage surrounding his hand.

A fleet of WWII battleships and army-clad extras joined Styles for the action-packed day of filming. A historic French T-47 class destroyer called the Maillé-Brézé was

prior to filming, sharing an Instagram photo of his chopped-off ponytail that he donated to charity. Although he

to filming earlier this week, his hair was hidden under a hat.

, and is set to hit theaters on July 21, 2017.

Summary: The One Direction member cut off his long locks three weeks ago


PRINCETON— ON a five-mile stretch of the old King's Highway that starts in Princeton and snakes southwest toward Trenton are several exceptional institutions. Princeton University, ivied and spired; Bristol-Myers Squibb's Pharmaceutical Research Institute, where in a park-like setting about 4,000 people build molecules to target human diseases; Drumthwacket, the governor's wedding cake of a mansion; and Jasna Polana, one of the most expensive houses every built.

Yet a bit farther south on the highway, known to most as Route 206, sits one of the most remarkable institutions in New Jersey: the 200-year-old Lawrenceville School, an independent boarding and day school -- more simply known as a prep school -- for boys and girls in grades 9 through 12. With an acceptance rate of 29 percent, it is as selective as all but a handful of America's most elite colleges and universities.

Once -- and perhaps still -- as much a symbol of the establishment as Far Hills or the Social Register, Lawrenceville has in the last few decades tried to reinvent itself as an instrument of meritocracy rather than aristocracy. As in today's culture at large, talent and test scores have mostly trumped social caste and connections.

Not surprisingly, the change in the institution's mission and identity has not occurred quickly or smoothly; it has been the object of protracted fighting, most of it behind closed doors. For years the board debated whether to admit minority students and, later, girls. Indeed one board president resigned in anger when Lawrenceville admitted its first black student in 1963, and another quit in protest over the board's decision to have the school accept girls in 1987.

''We argued back and forth about both issues,'' said Bruce McClellan, who was Lawrenceville's headmaster from 1959 to 1987. ''It was not so much a question of our barring doors as of our not being sufficiently concerned, as a school, about a broad range of American culture.''

Nor is today's meritocratic Lawrenceville an easy place to spend the teenage years, a tumultuous time for any youth. It is a highly competitive school, and the students typically feel tremendous pressure to succeed.

''Anyone who has the notion of the leading preparatory schools as places of indulgence would be disabused of that notion by spending a day at Lawrenceville,'' said Michael S. Cary, the school's current headmaster. ''We have great facilities, but they are for working.''

As explained by Kellan McNulty of Brooklyn, who graduated in June and plans to enter Harvard next fall after traveling in Europe: ''You never have a day when you don't have to worry about your work. There's a lot of pressure to give yourself a heavy workload. Some kids burn out.''

That Lawrenceville is not a typical American high school is obvious from notes about members of the class of 1990 published in a recent issue of the school's alumni quarterly:

''Heather Williams is working in Moscow on the International Space Station for NASA. Andrew Gold is on a world tour, including Israel, with some of his family, the Greek Islands, and 45 days in Europe.

''Did anyone see Julia Cuddihy quoted all over a recent Vanity Fair article? She continues to be glamorous and witty on the West Coast.

''Lindsey Zeller Spindle is living in D.C. complete with a husband, brand new house, job promotion, and an S.U.V. Hey, poster child, you're making the rest of us look bad!''

Lawrenceville bears scant resemblance to most high schools. Behind high brick and wrought-iron fences, the school's grounds stretch for about a mile through this verdant village of a few small shops and restaurants as well as houses both modest and manorial.

Behind those fences are 700 countrified acres with a melange of Richardsonian Romanesque and Georgian revival buildings and an air of being a world apart. Then there are newer ones equipped with the most sophisticated equipment. Together, they comprise 10 classroom buildings, 17 dormitories (called ''houses''), dozens of faculty houses, several sports complexes, a new library flanked by a venerable old chapel and a new music building -- about a million square feet in all.

When ''the Circle,'' the oldest part of the campus, was laid out in 1880 by Frederick Law Olmsted, designer of New York's Central Park and Philadelphia's Fairmont Park, it incorporated more than 300 species of trees and shrubs. Bordered by handsome old houses with names like Cleve, Dickinson, Griswold, and Woodhull, the Circle is now a National Historic Landmark.

As at any high school, students and teachers move to the rhythm of the class bell -- six days a week in the case of Lawrenceville. Students and younger faculty alike tend to dress in laid-back American style; gone are the days of the ubiquitous blue blazers or tweed sport coats embellished with school ties and battered penny loafers. This is the era of earrings and baseball caps worn backwards -- a mongrel mix of day camp and MTV, innocence and hormones.

''The days are over when you could go through the village and immediately know a Lawrenceville boy because he was wearing a coat and tie,'' said Edith Eglin, a school trustee who has lived on campus or in the village for the last 40 years.


You have to be spoiled to play cute with disease—spoiled or, well, stupid. And today’s announcement from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that measles cases in the U.S. have hit record highs in the first five months of this year is a maddening example of both. I learned of the report in an especially striking way.

I returned this morning from a conference in Singapore where some of the most stimulating discussions were about global health — specifically, how to extend the preventive measures and treatments so easily available in the developed world to the harder-to-reach parts of the developing one. There were conversations about how wireless technology can be used to communicate between rural villages and urban hospitals, how new medicines can be fast-tracked from development to distribution and how cold chains can be created to keep vaccines viable as they make their way to the people who need them.

On my return to the U.S., I passed through the arrivals terminal at JFK Airport, where Rotary International is running a billboard campaign showing globally recognized figures—Bill Gates, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Jackie Chan—posing with the legend “We Are This Close to Ending Polio.” To reinforce that point, each celebrity’s thumb and index finger frames the “this close” in a measuring gesture.

By the time I was in the taxi line, the CDC announcement was on my smartphone.

Make no mistake, the measles outbreak in the U.S. is an act of choice, of election, of a decision to get sick—or a decision by parents to put their children at risk. Fully 90% of the new cases are among people who are unvaccinated or whose vaccination status is unknown. And nearly all of those people are unvaccinated for personal, philosophical or religious reasons—as opposed to any medical condition that requires them to avoid vaccines. This is true too of recent outbreaks of mumps and whooping cough, and of the dangerously declining rate of vaccination in the U.S. overall. Nearly all of that folly can be blamed on the rumors and outright lies that continue to be spread about various conditions vaccines are said to cause—autism, ADHD, vaguely defined immune system disorders and on and on depending on which celebrity or health faddist is telling the tale.

Meantime, those polio campaigners? The ones who really, truly are this close to eradicating one of history’s most feared diseases? A lot of them are risking—and in some cases, losing—their lives to do their jobs. In the tribal areas of Pakistan, vaccine field workers are being attacked and killed by Taliban gunmen as they make their way on foot, into villages, with their crates of little vials that, with a few drops, can protect children for life from paralysis and death. And so other field workers take their place, some of whom will surely die too.

In one of the most telling asides in today’s CDC press release, Dr. Anne Schuchat, director of the National Center for Immunizations and Respiratory Diseases, commented on a paradoxical problem in diagnosing new outbreaks of measles. “Many U.S. health care providers have never seen or treated a patient with measles,” she said, “because of the nation’s robust vaccination efforts and our rapid response to outbreaks.”

That, in a phrase, is what spoiled looks like. Of course, you can bet any first year medical student could have spotted the disease a few decades ago—and the same was true with mumps and whooping cough and polio and smallpox and rubella and all of the other diseases that we don’t have to see anymore because we have, in this country at least, vaccinated them all but out of existence. What was true in the U.S. then is still true in the developing world, where those diseases and more still run riot.

The people in those countries would not play cute with disease. The people in those countries would not have the time for rumors and lies and celebrity dilettantes who take up the anti-vax cause because they’ve grown bored with the anti-carb or anti-gluten or pro-cleanse fads. Being this close to eliminating a disease is not the same as truly being done with it. That’s something all those new measles patients learned this year. And that’s something we’ll all have to keep learning until we wise up.

Summary: A disturbing report from the Centers for Disease Control shows what happens when anti-vaccine nonsense wins.


This post is in partnership with History Today. The article below was originally published at HistoryToday.com.

For five years it was as idyllic as war could be. But for the last six weeks – extending beyond the official end of the Second World War – it was bloody carnage. Those who were once comrades in uniform suddenly took to butchering one another in a conflict that has come to be called ‘Europe’s last battle.’

Photographs of German soldiers, who in the Second World War were stationed on the pastoral island of Texel, the largest of the West Friesian Islands, show them beaming as they write home. Texel (pronounced ‘tessel’) was a plum posting, a gem of endless sandy beaches surrounding productive fields of grain, potatoes and pasture for contented sheep. By April 1945, in what everyone knew were the last days of an appalling conflict, the 1,200 Wehrmacht soldiers on Texel had good reason to hope they would see war’s end without firing an angry shot.

But early on the morning of April 6th, tranquility turned to terror as Wehrmacht soldier slaughtered Wehrmacht soldier, using everything from bayonets to artillery. Friend and foe were distinguished by one small difference in their uniforms: some 800 of the men wore a small patch identifying them as Georgians, while 400 officers and non-commissioned officers were German.

The Georgians had begun the war not in German uniforms but Soviet. In 1941, when the USSR mounted a desperate resistance to Hitler’s massive invading army, the Soviets pressed every citizen into service. Coming from Stalin’s birthplace, Georgian citizens were given Soviet colors and weapons and thrown into the defense of the motherland.

The Georgians, captured earlier on the Eastern Front, were given a dismal choice. They could accept prisoner of war status with a future promising hunger, abuse and possible death, or they could enlist in the Wehrmacht. The choice of some 30,000 Georgians to don a German uniform was understandable but it made them traitors.

As the end of the war loomed, the Texel Georgians’ future looked bleak – a return to retaliation and punishment in the USSR. Fearing that fate, the members of the 822nd Battalion, having already replaced Soviet uniforms with German ones, changed their allegiance again, back to the Allied side.

Inside their barracks just after midnight on April 5th-6th, 1945, the Georgians turned on their German comrades, killing many of them with bayonets and knives in coordinated attacks. But some, including the commander, Major Klaus Breitner, who had spent the night with his mistress in the village of Den Burg, survived. Breitner and a few other German survivors were able to escape to the mainland.

On April 6th Breitner launched a counter-attack, having mobilized a force of 2,000 marines and members of the feared German SS. What had appeared to be a complete Georgian victory was quickly reversed. A house-to-house hunt for Georgians swept through Texel.

Captured Georgians, including 57 who finally surrendered control of the lighthouse where they had barricaded themselves, were forced to strip – their mutiny having disgraced their uniforms – and dig their own graves. Over 130 of them were executed in this gruesome fashion.

Texel was turned into a scene of carnage that spared no one, including civilian Dutch inhabitants. Resistance forces and ordinary citizens who sheltered and helped the Georgians were executed and the villages of Den Burg and Eierland saw serious damage to homes and buildings as the Germans exacted their revenge. ‘Texel is under a reign of terror’, wrote one Texeler.

Even the surrender of German forces throughout the Netherlands on May 5th and the official end of the war on May 8th brought no end to the slaughter, as the German execution campaign continued for almost two more weeks. The death toll in the six-week battle was 812 Germans, 565 Georgians and 120 Dutch.

Throughout the nightmare, Texel received no Allied assistance. Only on May 20th was a small unit of the Canadian First Army sent to the island to negotiate an end to the conflict.

The Canadian commander on the scene was so impressed by the Georgian resistance that he refused to class the 228 survivors as enemy personnel. Lieutenant-General Charles Foulkes wrote to the Soviet High Command urging clemency for the Georgians. This would have been a significant bending of the rules agreed upon by the Big Three leaders at the Yalta Conference that all nationals would return to their homeland at the end of hostilities.

Stories circulated that the surviving 228 Georgians would not have to return to the USSR. But, if the promise was made, it was revoked over the course of the next few weeks and the surviving Georgians were dispatched to their home country.

Contrary to expectations of retribution, in 1946 the Soviet daily newspaper Pravda praised the Texel Georgians as ‘Soviet patriots’ and wrote of them as rebelling prisoners of war. Soviet officials also visited the island regularly after the Second World War to pay tribute to the Georgians’ anti-German resistance.

Today, few pause at the collective grave of 475 Georgians killed in combat or through summary execution, their resting place marked by 12 rows of red roses and a simple cairn. Europe’s last battlefield is silent, remembering the murderous nationalist antagonisms unleashed on it when the outcome of the Second World War was already decided.

Larry Hannant teaches History at Camosun College in Victoria, British Columbia.

Summary: The island of Texel was turned into a scene of carnage that spared no one


Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau says he has no problem calling himself a feminist but that every time he mentions it, the “Twitterverse explodes”.

Related: It’s not just Canada that loves Justin Trudeau – the rest of the world does too | Anne T Donahue

Trudeau, who last year unveiled a cabinet with an equal number of men and women “because it’s 2015”, spoke on Wednesday during the UN’s 60th session of the commission on the status of women.

“I am going to keep saying loud and clear that I am a feminist until it is met with a shrug,” Trudeau told diplomats, advocacy group representatives and the head of UN Women, Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka.

“Why, every time I say I’m a feminist, does the Twitterverse explode?” he asked, adding that calling for gender equality should be a mainstream political position.

The 44-year old Liberal leader said calling himself a feminist simply means “I believe in the equality of men and women.” But he said that whenever he makes the claim, he is asked about it by the media.

I am a feminist. I’m proud to be a feminist. #upfordebate

Speaking at the summit, Trudeau reaffirmed his support for gender equality when he kicked off an hour-long discussion punctuated by repeated cheers and applause.

He called on world leaders to follow Canada’s lead when appointing their own cabinets.

“Any world leaders who tell me ‘I’d love to, I just can’t do that with the current configuration of our parliament or of my party’, I say: ‘Well, what are you doing to change that configuration and draw out those extraordinary women who can be leaders that we need?’,” he said.

Asked where his commitment to gender equality originated, the 44-year-old cast it as a fight between generations.

“For my generation and younger, it’s all sort of a ‘duh’,” said Trudeau. “The fact that [it] gets such a reaction from the powers and the authority structure that surrounds us really shows how much work we still have to do.”

Related: Embrace feminism to improve decision-making, says Justin Trudeau

His mother, Margaret Trudeau, considered herself a woman’s rights activist “even back in the early days”, he added.

Trudeau, son of late prime minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau, also referred to a key legacy of his father in promoting human rights, which he said stopped short of embracing feminism as a factor.

Speaking about his government’s other priorities concerning women, Trudeau said these included a focus on equal pay and an inquiry on missing and murdered indigenous women.

Canada ranked 30th globally in the World Economic Forum’s 2015 global gender gap report, which measures how equitably countries are distributing their resources between women and men, putting it behind nations such as Rwanda, South Africa and the United States.

Trudeau announced earlier that Canada would campaign for a seat on the United Nations security council in 2021-2022.

Associated Press and the Thomson Reuters Foundation contributed to this report.

Summary: Canadian prime minister, speaking at UN meeting on gender equality, says he will ‘keep saying it loud and clear until it is met with a shrug’


I have a passion for what I do professionally – a genuine, consuming, dedicated and deep passion. I spend both my working life and a good deal of my social life thinking, reading and talking about the subject, the industry arising from it and the wider policy, political and social issues.

If I say to someone that I am passionate about what I am engaged in, I can do so confidently. But when trying to express this in a job application or CV, I take it as a given (perhaps incorrectly) that "I have a passion for …" is one of those phrases that has become meaningless through overuse.

I have racked my brains to think of an alternative. A personal interest in what one does professionally, however strong, is by no means the be all and end all, but it is still an important part of a successful career, so I want that to be reflected in my applications. Are there alternatives to "passion", or is an alternative even necessary?

I think you're right. The word "passionate" has lost much of its potency. Sandwich shops are passionate about food, delivery companies are passionate about logistics, garden centres are passionate about plants, booksellers are passionate about books and just about every celebrity is passionate about something – from Siamese cats to climate change. It's a pity, really, but that's what happens; language, like other currencies, suffers from inflation, and words lose their value. Today, when you say "I have a passion for ...", you'll probably be interpreted as meaning "I'm really quite interested in …"

Straight synonyms aren't much help. Few potential employers would be impressed if you described yourself as fervent. Obsessive is close (and you do seem to be bordering on the obsessive) but it has unfortunate overtones, suggesting the neurotic and fanatical. When contemplating a cliche, the best thing is usually to write round it. And that's exactly what you did in your letter to me when you wrote: "I spend both my working life and a good deal of my social life thinking, reading and talking about the subject, the industry arising from it and the wider policy, political and social issues." That's anything but glib; that's very convincing. It's all you need to say. (Coincidentally, the question below uses the passion word – but expands on it immediately and reinfuses it with meaning.)

More generally, the point you raise is an important one. Far too many CVs and applications rely on language so tired that it's utterly exhausted. No wonder so many end up in the bin. When sifting through multiple applications, companies will be alert for two things: clear evidence of ignorance, carelessness or illiteracy – because it helps them eliminate a candidate with a clear conscience; and a fresh and evocative turn of phrase – because it suggests a candidate with a personality well worth interviewing.

• I'm not sure the semantic issue is the main one here. It's fine to write in your cover letter "I have a passion for …" The thing is then to back that up with "which I have demonstrated by going to xyz events/conferences/seminars etc, reading such-and-such publications, which I think apply to this role/your organisation in the following way, and discussing so-and-so current issue, which I think may affect your organisation as follows …"

Don't mistake thinking a lot about your job or area of expertise with actually being an expert in doing it. shirleyujest

• I'm with you. People at my place of work pull that face when you tell them you spent the evening/weekend/time off doing something or reading up on something related to your craft. You know the reaction; it's as if you were back at school and told someone you'd spent half-term doing extra homework. It's that passion!

And you're right – it's become such a cookie-cutter phrase in CVs that I guess the only way to prove yourself is to have something you can show that goes above and beyond what others do to get a job. I don't know what your profession is, but maybe you could write a blog or produce something in your own time. Then point them to it. Words mean nothing sometimes. So paint them a picture. Nino

I am a 37-year-old local government employee who has spent the past 15 years working on websites and in communications. I fell into this area and have worked my way up to a fairly senior position. While I think I have achieved a lot, I feel I am stuck in a rut, having been at the same council for 10 years (albeit in different roles). I don't have the drive I used to, and would like a career change.

My passion is sports – I have played football for nearly 20 years and have an FA level-one coaching badge. I run regularly and play and watch just about any sport I can. I've been volunteering with my local Special Olympics group for the past 18 months as I've been thinking about working in sports development, possibly specialising in working with disabled children and young people.

I have two questions: first, is it really bad to consider a career move in the worst recession in local government since the second world war? I know sports funding has been cut and is a non-statutory service, but so is communications. Am I being overambitious, though, in looking to change when things are so uncertain?

Second, if I do go for this, how can I give myself the best chance of getting a job? What training should I be doing?

I'm aware that I will have to take a significant pay cut and probably go back to studying, but it will be worth it if I can come home from work feeling rewarded and that I've made a difference, rather than frustrated and not a little annoyed.

Let me take your two questions in turn. It may not be the best of times to consider a career move but you mustn't let that deter you. You know exactly what you want to do – and irrespective of circumstances, you should follow that instinct. If you don't, you'll spend the rest of your working life regretting it. In another five years it may well be no easier – and you'll be five years older.

So how should you go about it? You'll know better than I do what extra training, if any, you may need. But I'm pretty sure you'll have the best chance of finding what you're looking for as a result of remorseless personal networking. It's easy to forget that about a third of jobs are filled not through jobcentres or agencies but as a result of personal contact. This is neither surprising nor improper. Taking on new people always involves risk. Taking on someone you've previously got to know makes sense for both parties.

You must already have a pretty wide range of contacts in the world of sport – use every one of them, and ask each contact to suggest another. Pursue every lead relentlessly and use your imagination to work out what help different organisations might need and how you might be the one to provide it.

• As a fellow local government communications person, I feel your pain. Our sector is under a lot of pressure, which can lead to a certain bunker mentality, but while you're working, you're in a good place to see how possible a career transition is.

Your volunteering is a great start, but contacts are invaluable, so try offering your skills in communications to as many relevant organisations as you can. A small investment of time will help you gain an understanding of the people involved and what you could offer them, and get you closer to jobs that might be coming up. It will also help you understand whether you want to change the type of work you're doing, or just who you're doing it for. After all, if you've got something to talk about that really inspires you, then you might find you rediscover your love for communicating. babybat

• Reading your problem and hearing about your desire for pastures new was really energising. Remember, though, whatever we do for paid employment inevitably has its downsides. The area you focus on will have funding issues, which may lead to increased paperwork when all you want is to help children. Worst of all, you may work with people who treat it as just another job. So don't go in thinking you will never feel frustrated – you will, and there will be elements that annoy you on occasions as well.

But I don't want to put you off, as you're young and a change now could be significant for you. You'll be pursuing your dream job, which will give you a long honeymoon period to get you established.

In terms of studying, have you considered doing a sports education degree? You could perhaps start this in September, while you are employed, and negotiate some time out on sabbaticals to do the work experience side. There is more likely to be work in the areas you suggest for a qualified teacher, regardless of the cutbacks. ExBrightonBelle

For Jeremy Bullmore's advice on a work issue, send a brief email to dear.jeremy@theguardian.com. Please note that he is unable to answer questions of a legal nature or reply personally.

Read next week's problems on the Money blog from Monday and post your advice – we'll run the best of it alongside Jeremy's in next Saturday's column.

Summary: Problems at work? Need advice? Our agony uncle – and you, the readers – have the answers


Asylum seekers held by Australia in detention on Manus Island in Papua New Guinea have taken the extraordinary step of writing to other countries, begging for asylum there.

Guardian Australia has received copies of letters sent by asylum seekers to US president Barack Obama and to the Canadian immigration department, asking to be resettled in those countries.

The letter to Obama, signed by 10 Pakistani asylum seekers and written in English, pleads for American intervention in their cases.

“You are the only hope for us to give us a new life … we beg for your help to take us out of this miserable situation.”

The asylum seekers mention the deaths of detainees on Manus this year, of Reza Berati, who was beaten to death in a major disturbance between asylum seekers, guards and local Manusians, and of Hamid Kehazaei, who died from an infected foot that turned septic.

“People here are getting worst (sic) mentally and physically as the facilities are insufficient and on some occasions we are provided with expired medicine and contaminated food. We are treated just like animals with inhumane and immoral responses by the management. Authorities and immigration officers … compel us to go back to the country of our origin.”

The men say they fled Pakistan because of the threat of terrorism by Taliban extremists.

They have signed the letter with their names, signatures and the ID numbers issued to them in detention.

Another letter, signed by more than 40 Iranian asylum seekers, has been sent to the Canadian immigration department.

“It has been 15 month that we are detained in the Australian version of Guantánamo prison in an extremely inhuman condition indefinitely and with no awareness of our future,” it says. “We have spent 15 month in here and have witnessed the death of two of our friends.”

The letter shows an acute awareness of Australian government policy and its aims, particularly the deterrent factor of offshore detention in “stopping the boats”.

“We think the end of this abusement (sic) by the Australian government which is used as a tool will end by your help,” the letter says. “Currently we are used as a deterrent signboard for the refugees of the world used by the Australian government which tells them this is what is going to happen to you if you come to Australia.”

Neither letter has received a reply yet. However, the asylum seekers do not regard the letters as attempts to seek attention, but as genuine cries for help.

This week, several refugee status determinations have been handed down by PNG authorities.

Some asylum seekers have been found to be genuine refugees, in need of protection, and will be resettled within the Manus community.

Others have been told they will be deported back to their home countries.

One asylum seeker told Guardian Australia that PNG staff working at the detention centre had warned refugees resettled in the community would be attacked.

“They said ‘if you are coming to Manus we will beat you’.”

Several are having their assessments and determinations made next week.

Summary: In extraordinary move, asylum seekers held on Manus Island in Papua New Guinea plead for US and Canada ‘to take us out of this miserable situation’


In December 1950, Jack Kerouac got a letter from his friend Neal Cassady, which recounted a wild weekend in Denver that included climbing out a window to escape the discovery of his affair with a babysitter. According to Kerouac, it was this letter that inspired him to write On the Road in the energetic, disruptive way he did. Also according to Kerouac, this famed epistle had probably been dropped off the side of a houseboat decades ago, never to be held or read ever again.

It turns out Kerouac was, happily, wrong.

The letter, discovered in Oakland—in a box of forgotten submissions to a publishing house—has been recovered in its entire 18 single-spaced pages. The woman who found the so-called “Joan Anderson letter” is putting it up for auction on Dec. 17, the same day it was dated by Cassady 64 years ago. “I never thought it would be discovered,” says John Tytell, a American literature professor at Queens College. “And it’s a fluke that it was.”

Jean Spinosa, a 41-year-old performance artist based in L.A., lost her father in 2011. Digging through his “hoarder-level” belongings in Oakland the next year, she came across several boxes he had inherited from a now defunct publisher called Golden Goose Press. Her father’s music label had shared a small office with the man who ran Golden Goose, Richard Emerson. One day, she says, Emerson decided to close up shop and announced his intention to throw everything out, including boxes full of unopened poems and letters sent in by hopeful authors.

“He just didn’t care. He was going to throw it in the trash,” Spinosa tells TIME, speaking at the Beat Museum in San Francisco, where the entire letter was displayed on Dec. 1 for the first time since its discovery was made public in November. “And my dad, being a little bit of a hoarder that he was, said ‘Those are poems. Why would you throw out anyone’s poems?’” Emerson told him he was free to keep them, and he did.

The Joan Anderson letter, nicknamed after a girlfriend Cassady writes about in the 16,000-word epistle, was enshrined in history as more than just a letter in 1968. That was the year Kerouac did an interview with the Paris Review and this exchange occurred:

What encouraged you to use the “spontaneous” style of On the Road?

I got the idea for the spontaneous style of On the Road from seeing how good old Neal Cassady wrote his letters to me, all first person, fast, mad, confessional, completely serious, all detailed … The letter, the main letter I mean, was forty thousand words long, mind you, a whole short novel. It was the greatest piece of writing I ever saw, better’n anybody in America, or at least enough to make Melville, Twain, Dreiser, Wolfe, I dunno who, spin in their graves … Neal and I called it, for convenience, the Joan Anderson Letter.

Kerouac goes on to explain that the letter was so great, he lent it to his friend Allen Ginsberg, who then shopped it around to publishers. The first was a man named Gerd Stern, who lived on a houseboat in Sausalito, just to the north of San Francisco. Stern rejected it and, Kerouac imagined in the interview, “This fellow lost the letter: overboard I presume.” What really happened, according to research conducted by Spinosa and the auction house selling the letter, is that Stern gave the letter back to Ginsberg, who then gave it to Emerson for his consideration. “Emerson never read it,” Spinosa says, “and Allen forgot about it.” (Kerouac was also clearly off about the word count.)

The sudden appearance of a long-presumed-dead letter is thrilling for Kerouac obsessors and Beat Generation scholars, who see it as a missing link that may detail how On the Road got made. “I’ve always thought that this letter was crucial to establishing the connection between Neal Cassady’s speech pattern, which was rapid and steeped in the vernacular and unbelievably free, and the source of Kerouac’s inspiration,” Tytell says. “He had broken through to discover something very new, and that letter, that lost letter, I knew was tremendously important.”

About a third of the letter had been copied, presumably by Kerouac, and survived. The rest, left to be imagined, became “mythology” long ago, says Nancy Grace, a professor of English at the College of Wooster in Ohio. “We’ll have to see the letter and see his style in the letter to really be able to tell if it was as influential as the mythology leads us to believe.”

At the Beat Museum in San Francisco, a place where the seats of chairs are ripping and the carpet has some holes, reporters set up their cameras on Monday for a view of the letter arranged in a glass case. Even though they could see the whole pile of pages, the sheets had been arranged to obscure most of the newly rescued words—because, a representative from the auction house explained, while Spinosa owns the letter, the Cassady estate still retains copyright for publishing the work. That will remain true for the buyer who wins the letter later this month.

One hopeful bidder, announced in the midst of the press gathering, is the Beat Museum itself. The largest permanent institution dedicated to the likes of Kerouac and Ginsberg—just blocks from their hallowed City Lights bookstore—started a crowdfunding campaign to raise money for purchasing the letter. “This has to be out in the world,” says Jerry Cimino, who runs the museum and uses phrases like dig this. “This was their stomping grounds.” In the auction, which will be run by Profiles In History, a house that specializes in Hollywood memorabilia, the lot containing the letter will have a reserve price of $300,000.

Regardless of who wins, at least one man will be happy: Gerd Stern, the fellow who had long been blamed, along with Ginsberg, for losing the letter. As soon as Cimino was allowed to share the news that the letter had been discovered, he called his friend Stern, who now lives in New Jersey. “He goes, ‘Wow! Wow! Wow! Wow!’ He must have said it 10 times,” Cimino says. “And he laughed the longest laugh I’ve ever heard.”

Summary: The mythological letter was presumed lost


I was not brought up making pasta at my Italian grandmother’s knee, and I kind of hate the chefs whose eyes roll back in their heads with pleasure as they recall learning to cook at their family’s farmhouse somewhere in Emilia-Romagna. In fact, I’ve never really traveled to Italy, to experience one of the world’s most fabulous cuisines. Faced with a choice between going to France or any other place where the food is wonderful, I always choose France. I know: crazy, right?

And perhaps because I’ve never worked for an Italian chef, I’ve always been slightly intimidated by making fresh pasta. My many attempts, after reading a million recipes in books and staring at loads of pictures, were embarrassingly bad. After a while, I just avoided making it altogether. But now, after being a chef for 40 years, I want to fill in some of the glaring gaps in my culinary knowledge. How to make fresh pasta is chief among them.

So I call chef and pasta master Michael Pagliarini at his Cambridge restaurant, Giulia, and invite myself into his kitchen for a lesson. Michael is a cook who lives and breathes the spirit and soul of this magical concoction of flour, eggs, and olive oil. He is also a former intern at Hamersley’s Bistro, so I figure he owes me! I invade the Giulia kitchen on a Wednesday afternoon for my lesson.

The kitchen is at the end of the long, narrow dining room, and it’s buzzing with busy cooks as they prepare for dinner service. I’m excited to be in a restaurant kitchen again, after closing Hamersley’s almost two years ago, and my “chef eyes” focus on the small containers of chopped herbs, sliced garlic, a puree of parsnip, and another of onion. I notice the familiar sound of sustained chopping and look over to see a cook working a pile of grilled ramps on his cutting board. I smell caramelizing vegetables, and Michael slides over and gives a large, shallow pan a shake. Out in front of the kitchen is a long, beautiful wooden table that is used for making all of the restaurant’s pasta. Later, during dinner service, it becomes a community table for guests and small private parties. But for now, the table is my classroom. It’s covered with white tablecloths and has a commercial pasta machine at one end.

Eggs are added to the well in the flour.

Giulia’s food feels similar to my own (seasonal, simple, and bold, with a healthy respect for tradition) but is totally different because its spirit is born of Italy not France. Some cooking techniques I can pick up by reading cookbooks, but it’s always helpful to see a skill demonstrated by a great teacher. Making pasta, like making bread, is nuanced, and subtle changes make big differences. Michael says the key to truly understanding the dough is to make it by hand. He says, “This helps you understand how the dough develops and its proper hydration.” He explains that moisture, whether it is water, eggs, or both, combines with the flour to make the dough, and the olive oil works as a tenderizer. Working by hand, you get to see the way very small changes in amounts of water and flour affect texture and inform the character of the finished pasta.

With the right technique, it’s not hard to make your own pasta.

So ingredients in the proper proportions are critical to success. Michael suggests using 50 percent wheat flour and 50 percent durum semolina for a basic dough. Whole wheat provides a rustic flavor, and the semolina gives the dough strength and allows it to be rolled out long and thin. Making pasta is perceived to be a messy business, but by using a fork to start and a bench scraper to finish, it actually can be mess-free. We begin working side by side, each with a mound of flour in front of us. Michael makes a wide well in the center of his flour to hold the eggs. I follow suit. We then add the eggs to the center of the well, along with a few drops of olive oil, and whisk with a dinner fork. Then, using our forks, we start to incorporate the flour into the eggs a little at a time, working around the edges of the well.

My mass of flour and egg begins to look pretty bad, and I can’t imagine how it’s going to form into a proper dough. I worry until I look over at Michael’s pile of lumpy, dry clumps, and I relax. His looks worse than mine. Perfect! We keep adding flour, little by little, until a ball of dough forms that just barely holds together when squeezed tight in the hands. We switch to bench scrapers and start to fold and cut in the remaining flour.

Kneading is next, and it takes some practice. It’s absurdly tedious but absolutely necessary to develop gluten. I watch Michael pick up the outer edge of the dough and fold it back on itself, pushing down and away to finish the move. We do this for nearly 10 painful minutes. I try to get into a Zen place as I work, but it doesn’t help. The dough is stiff and hard now, and it’s more work than I imagined. Michael adds a single spritz of water from a spray bottle to the dough, for just a hint more moisture. This tiny addition helps bring the dough together more easily, but it is still very firm. Finally we stop when the dough becomes shiny and smooth. Now it must rest and hydrate. Michael explains, “Letting the dough rest properly and completely hydrate not only relaxes the gluten, but it also allows the flour to fully absorb the egg and reveal its true character.” I realize that during my previous pasta-making attempts, I’ve added way too much moisture.

We wrap our dough in plastic so it doesn’t dry out, and let it rest for an hour. Then we cut the dough into quarters and flatten them out enough to send them through the widest setting of the pasta machine. At Giulia they use a commercial machine, but just as good is the classic Atlas pasta maker or the pasta attachment on your KitchenAid. We run the dough through a few times, and it gets wider and thinner as we compress the rollers after each go. Then we take what we’ve rolled out, fold it in thirds, and put it through the machine again, starting with the original setting. This is called laminating, and it creates uniformity of shape and adds strength to the dough so it can be rolled out very thin.

Dough is sent through a pasta machine.

At last we have a long, thin piece of dough and we’re ready to cut it into our desired shape for the day: tagliatelle. We cut the long pasta sheet into 14-inch lengths, dust each with semolina so they won’t stick, and stack three of them together. To make cutting easier, we fold both sides toward the center, then fold them in once again. Then we cut the package into strips. We separate the noodles and portion them into bundles, and we’re done. (You can, of course, simply send the sheets through the cutter attachment on your pasta machine, but they look funky and rustic when cut by hand.)

Folded dough is then cut into strips.

For spring, I make a pea sauce infused with basil, scallions, lemon, and Parmesan. Once the pasta is cooked, I toss it with the pea puree, whole peas, lemon rind, and cheese. The sauce is a little too thick, so I add an ounce of pasta water to smooth it out.

I twirl the strands of tagliatelle into shallow bowls and taste what we’ve made. The results are fabulous. Each bite brings layer upon layer of flavor. The pasta is tender and dense at the same time, as Michael said it would be. The peas are sweet, and the sauce has bright, lemony overtones. Each bite is nicely balanced. To me, this simple dish embodies everything I like about good cooking in one mouthful. Michael says, “See how each flavor surrenders itself to the whole?” Indeed, and a good lesson learned, thanks to him. It was terrific being an intern for the afternoon.

The final product: fresh tagliatelle with peas and basil.

Summary: Giulia chef Michael Pagliarini drops some noodle knowledge


People know actress, comedian and author Sarah Silverman for her outrageous and sometimes shocking humor, but she has a serious side–one that has helped guide her over the last 20 years.

Audiences will get a full dose of Silverman’s sober side in her new dramatic film, I Smile Back, in which she plays a troubled housewife seeking redemption.

I spoke with Silverman about why her dad offered to pay her rent if she dropped out of college, who inspires her comedy, and what it was like to be one of the few female writers on Saturday Night Live. The following interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

Fortune: I heard that the woman who wrote the book I Smile Back, Amy Koppelman, hand-picked you for this role. How did that come about?

Sarah Silverman: She heard me on Howard Stern’s radio show talking about my book The Bedwetter, which is a bunch of personal essays turned into a memoir. I was talking about my experience with depression, and she just connected and felt like I was right for this, and decided to write a screenplay version.

Was there something that you related to in this character? How did you deal with her dark side?

I think most comedians wrestle with a darker side, and it wasn’t totally unfamiliar to me. There are elements of it that I could draw from my own life, and others that I had come to understand through working in therapy and being interested in human nature. Addiction isn’t something I have experienced—unless Law and Order counts.

As a comedian, I’m surrounded by addiction, sometimes in my peers and certainly the audience. It’s a bar kind of world. I had a lot of things I could draw on and resources—good resources.

You do a full-frontal nude scene in this movie. I was talking about this with somebody, and he said, “Well, was it really her?”

Yeah, like this $400,000 budget allowed for a lot of CGI.

So it was you. What was that like?

I’d never been naked in anything until I turned 40, and then I was naked in a few things and that worked out well for me because I’ve grown emotionally. I’m not perfect, and I nitpick things about myself, but I mostly know that this is my human shell and it’s just fine. It’s good to show your body; there’s nothing wrong with it. I felt like the moment was really real and something that is totally relatable. I have stood in front of the mirror and lifted my boobs and been like, “They used to be there, and now they’re here.”

It’s scary. If you don’t at least journey to reconcile with the process of aging and mortality, then life, especially for a woman, is like a very, very slow-moving horror film.

Before this film came along, had you ever considered doing anything other than comedy?

Yeah. There are lots of sides of me, like all of us. I’ve always mined not just taboo subjects, but also darker topics for my material. I think comedians share a darker side, and I think that’s why many of us do dramas, and do them well.

I never have a game plan for my career or anything. I wasn’t looking for this; it came to me, and I knew I was lucky to have a new experience. I feel I’ve had in me the ability to have the dramatic experience, to pretend this reality like it was real for me. That’s what I did.

You got your start at Saturday Night Live, writing.

I’d been doing stand-up since I was 17. I finished high school, moved to New York and passed out flyers for a comedy club for two years, and they let me have stage time. By the time I was 19, I was doing stand-up professionally, meaning I got $10 at each spot.

I was at NYU, and after a year, my dad made a deal: If I dropped out of college, he would pay my rent for the next three years, and I would continue doing stand-up. It was a good deal. I did take classes. I stole classes from NYU after that because we both realized what I wanted to do didn’t take a degree. They don’t know if you’re in their class because they’re big, giant lecture classes. I took a whole philosophy course—I just didn’t pass in papers. I enjoyed it, and I got a lot out of it. By the time I would’ve graduated, I was hired as a writer on Saturday Night Live.

Your dad made this deal with you, not the other way around?

Well, college is really, really expensive and I knew I wanted to be a comedian and an actor. I was a drama major at NYU, which is an amazing program, and wonderful if you’re very rich or have a full scholarship. It’s a lot of money for something that you don’t need a degree to get hired for. I think that’s a big reality right now in America. For all sorts of vocations, unless you need a diploma for something, college, sadly, isn’t worth it.

What was your experience at Saturday Night Live? Were you one of a few women in that writer’s room?

There was one other woman, a woman named Marilyn Suzanne Miller, who had been there since the beginning. And there had been women there before me who had gone off to create shows and stuff, but it was mostly men. It was a long time ago. There were computers, but there were not computers there. We wrote on legal pads and gave them to a room of typists.

I was hired at the same time as three boys from Harvard. Lorne [Michaels] put us together and said, “You guys can hang out together.” I spent the whole day with them, and we had lunch and then they said, “So are you a typist, or an assistant?” I go, “No, I’m a writer like you, ass****.” But I guess it was an innocent mistake, because they were living in the world we were living in at that time.

What have you seen change since 1993 relative to women in comedy?

Everything. When I started, the comics we looked up to would say, “If you’re a really good comic, then you write material that a woman or a man could do.” That was the thing, and I bought into that, because look at Paula Poundstone. She’s so brilliant, and her material could work for either sex. It was considered hacky or not cool, or you were not a real comic if you talked about the female experience. I think that that is the opposite of how it is now.

Tina Fey becoming head writer at Saturday Night Live was a really big thing. She and Amy Poehler and Chelsea Handler and other really powerful women are unafraid to be powerful, and also unafraid to be vulnerable. I think that’s what important: to realize that I can talk about a female experience, and maybe you’re just not my audience. To me, the best comedy isn’t second-guessing your audience.

What do you want to be known for in your career?

I don’t know, I don’t know. I’m trying in therapy to live a life undaunted by the thoughts of legacy or mortality or immortality or how I’m perceived, or having how I feel about myself be dependent on how people may perceive me. That’s a prison, I think. It’s a practice to try not to do that. I’m not perfect at it, obviously, but that’s what I’m aiming for.

What’s the best advice about acting you’ve ever received?

Oh my gosh. I’ve gotten a lot of great advice. Garry Shandling gave me a lot of great advice about the moments between the lines—not being afraid of the quiet moments. When I was a kid, I took an acting class, and the teacher said, “Acting is reacting.” Up until about a year ago, I was like, what is that, reacting? Acting again? Then I was driving, less than year ago, and I went, “Oh! Reacting! Yes, I agree.”

Lauren Schiller is the host of Inflection Point, where she interviews women changing the status quo. Inflection Point is broadcast on public radio stations, podcast on iTunes, and online at inflectionpointradio.org. The above article is an edited and condensed version of the broadcast interview. Click here to listen to the full audio version and find episodes of the show on iTunes.

Summary: The comedian is branching out with her first big dramatic role.


Attention brides, if you’ve imagined your wedding as all love and part Google hangout, IKEA has a wedding plan for you. The store known for its low price, high design furniture (and dislike of hide-and-seek) is getting into the digital wedding business, or in IKEA-speak, Bröllop online.

Don’t worry, you won’t be required to serve Swedish meatballs (vegan or otherwise) at the reception. Instead, IKEA’s new wedding service allows couples to invite wedding guests from all over the world and bring them together virtually using their computer’s microphone and webcam. That means if Great Uncle Al refuses to be in the same room as Great Aunt Alice after the Great Wedding Debacle of ’08, they can both attend the ceremony via computer. Additionally, if your dream destination is unaffordable or just unreachable for most guests or if relatives are stuck overseas, invitees can beam in to the party, presuming there is a good internet connection. Couples can even pick a virtual theme in lieu of an actual destination wedding. No word if you can get married inside an IKEA store, though.

Summary: Yes, IKEA