ADL donations, transgender ban, James Comey, Gal Gadot
Donations are Pouring in
The Anti-Defamation League received 10 times as much money as usual from online donations in response to the white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Va. The group, which combats anti-Semitism and bigotry, reported a 1,000 percent increase in online donations during the week beginning Aug. 13, one day after the Charlottesville rally. The ADL said it received six times as many individual donations as during an average week this year, mostly from first-time donors, though it did not provide a total amount of money raised. In the aftermath of the rally, the ADL has seen its profile skyrocket. It received $1 million donations from Apple and 21st Century Fox CEO James Murdoch, and announced a partnership with Bumble, a dating app, to block bigoted profiles. JP Morgan Chase also announced this week that it would donate $500,000 to the group. JP Morgan and Apple also pledged to match donations to the ADL and other nonprofits from employees. – JTA
Transgender Ban Instructions Coming
The Wall Street Journal is reporting that the White House will send guidance to the Pentagon on President Trump’s military ban soon, according to CNN. Among the memo’s directions: The military is to stop admitting transgender people; and for current transgender troops, the Pentagon should consider a service member’s ability to deploy when determining whether to expel them, the newspaper reported, citing the officials. The memo also instructs the Pentagon to stop paying for transgender troops’ medical treatment regimens, the officials told the paper.
Read: White House to issue guidance on transgender military ban, WSJ reports
Comey Gets a New Gig
According to NPR, former FBI Director James Comey has been invited to give a series of lectures at Howard University. Howard officials said Comey had agreed to donate $100,000, his full compensation as the school’s King Endowed Chair in Public Policy, to a scholarship fund for students who come from foster homes. “I am pleased to welcome Mr. Comey to Howard,” university President Wayne A.I. Frederick said in a statement. “His expertise and understanding of the challenges we continue to face today will go a long way in sparking rich discussion and advancing meaningful debates across campus.”
Read: Former FBI Director Comey Joins Howard University For Lecture Series
Fashion Faux Pas
An Italian fashion design house removed a line of clothing from its collection that featured a yellow star reminiscent of what Jews were forced to wear by the Nazis during the Holocaust. The Miu Miu Italian fashion house, a subsidiary of Prada, said it would remove the clothing items immediately after being contacted by the World Jewish Congress, the WJC said in a statement. In a message to WJC, Preia Narendra, senior vice president of marketing & communications at Miu Miu, said: “Thank you for bringing this to our attention. It was not Miu Miu’s intent in any way to make any political or religious statement, and we apologize for any offense that may have been taken. Kindly note that effective immediately these items will be removed from the collection.” The clothing items, including dresses, shirts and skirts, in a back-to school motif, included a name tag patch with the company’s logo, and a five-point yellow star name patch with a name, such as John, embroidered in it. A dress with the name patch was being sold online for $2,170.
Read: Miu Miu Fashion Brand Removes Clothing Line Featuring Yellow Stars
‘Wonder Woman’ Wins Again
Wonder Woman,” starring the Israeli actress Gal Gadot, has become the biggest non-sequel superhero movie ever, beating out the 2002 version of “Spider-Man.” The movie earned $404.1 million in the United States as of Monday, and has passed $800 worldwide, with the film set to open in Japan on Friday, Forbes reported. Forbes noted that if the film can take in another $5 million at the box office — and it is still being shown at more than 800 movie theaters in the United States — it will pass “The Hunger Games,” “Captain America: Civil War” and “Iron Man 3” in earnings. The film is set to be released in the United States on DVD and Blu-ray on Sept. 19. Warner Bros. has already begun preparing for the sequel, “Wonder Woman 2,” which is slated for release in December 2019.
Read: ‘Wonder Woman’ Tops ‘Spider-Man’ as Biggest Non-Sequel Superhero Movie
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Top image: Former Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, James Comey on Capitol Hill May 3, 2017 in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Eric Thayer/Getty Images)
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