1.He is notoriously shy – which is hilarious, given that he gave the world Facebook – which makes this post by Mark Zuckerberg about his wife’s miscarriages all the more touching.
Mark took to Facebook (where else?) over the weekend to announce the news that he’s about to become a Dad.
He has been with wife Priscilla, a doctor, for more than 10 years.
He was anxious about posting news of her pregnancy because the couple has grieved the loss of three babies, lost through miscarriage.
“We’ve been trying to have a child for a couple of years and have had three miscarriages along the way.
“You feel so hopeful when you learn you’re going to have a child. You start imagining who they’ll become and dreaming of hopes for their future. You start making plans, and then they’re gone. It’s a lonely experience. Most people don’t discuss miscarriages because you worry your problems will distance you or reflect upon you — as if you’re defective or did something to cause this. So you struggle on your own.
“In today’s open and connected world, discussing these issues doesn’t distance us; it brings us together. It creates understanding and tolerance, and it gives us hope.”
Mark says the new baby – a girl – has given him the “thumbs up like” on the ultrasound, and they feel confident that this pregnancy will go to term. Let’s hope so.
2.Awesome author John Green – he who broke a zillion teenage hearts with a novel about two kids who fall in love on the cancer ward – has leapt to the defence of actor Cara Delevingne, who is under fire for being tetchy with interviewers while promoting the movie version of one of his books.
Cara, who stars in Paper Towns, has been doing the rounds of radio and TV stations and it seems that she finally got fed up with being asked: “Did you read the book?”
The male actors in the film never get asked that question. They get asked: “When did you read the book” – and so, during an interview with Good Day Sacramento, Cara finally had enough. She replied: “I never read the book … or the script, actually, I just kind of winged it.”
It was a joke, but boy, did she cop it for being tetchy and bitchy and awkward to interview.
Now John Green has leapt to her defence.
“I am friends with Cara, and the author of the book in question,” he said.
“I spent more than a month with her on tour in Europe and the U.S, and I watched as again and again, she was asked this question.
“Cara has read the book (multiple times), but the question is annoying — not least because her male costar, Nat Wolff, was almost always asked when he’d read the book, while Cara was almost always asked if she’d read it.”
He asked fans to please try to understand Cara’s frustration.
It’s interesting because comedian Amy Schumer fell into a similar ring of fire while touring Australia, with some journalists complaining that she was dreadful to deal with.
For more on whether Amy is or isn’t a right piece of work, go here.
3.Say what you will about Hillary Clinton, she pays her taxes.
In a statement on her website the Clinton campaign said that Bill and Hillary earned a wonderful $US 140 million over the past eight years.
That’s so much money, but they also paid $43 million in federal taxes; $13 million in state taxes and donated nearly $15 million to charity (most of the charity money went to their own Clinton foundation.)
This means the Clintons paid an effective federal tax rate of 35.7 percent and a whopping combined federal, state, and local effective rate of 45.8 percent last year.
The information came to light because Hillary Clinton’s emails from her time as Secretary of State are currently being scrutinized. She recently admitted using a private email account while working for the Obama administration, which is a breach of the rules.
4.Look, it could happen to anyone: the rapper Snoop Dogg – didn’t he change his name to Snoop Lion? – has been stopped at an airport carrying $450,000.
In cash.
Reuters reports that it happened in Rome, when Snoop the Lion-Dog was head to Britain on a private jet.
Where was the cash? In Snoop’s Louis Vuitton luggage, of course.
The problem is, there’s laws against that kind of thing in Italy. You’re not supposed to carry more than 10,000 euros.
Snoop – real name Calvin – says the cash came from European concerts. He got half back; the Italian police are holding the rest until they decide what kind of fine he has to pay.
