Maryam Mirzakhani, an Iranian who became the first woman to win math’s most prestigious prize, died Saturday after a four-year battle with breast cancer. She was 40 years old. In 2014, Mirzakhani was awarded the Fields Medal, which is commonly referred to as the “Nobel Prize for Mathematics” in order for those outside of the industry to fully grasp its importance. It’s only given out once every four years and Mirzakhani earned the distinction for her work on dynamical systems and complex geometry. Along with being the first female, she was also the first Iranian to garner the medal, which was created in 1936. Born in Tehran, Mirzakhani came to the United States in order to attend graduate school at Harvard University. She started working as a professor at Stanford University in 2008 and the school confirmed her passing on Saturday via its website. “Maryam is gone far too soon, but her impact will live on for the thousands of women she inspired to pursue math and science,” said Stanford President Marc Tessier-Lavigne in a statement, adding: “Maryam was a brilliant mathematical theorist, and also a humble person who accepted honors only with the hope that it might encourage others to follow her path. “Her contributions as both a scholar and a role model are significant and enduring, and she will be dearly missed here at Stanford and around the world.” For the final four years of her life, Mirzakhani battle breast cancer, which eventually spread to her bone marrow. In response to her passing, Iranian-American scientist Firouz Naderi shared his grief on Instagram, writing the following on Instagram: “A light was turned off today… It breaks my heart.” He later emphasized that Mirzakhani was a “genius, but also a daughter, a mother and a wife.” Mirzakhani once famous said that mathematics made her feel like a detective. “It is fun – it’s like solving a puzzle or connecting the dots in a detective case,” she said after winning the Fields Medal, according to NPR. “I felt that this was something I could do, and I wanted to pursue this path.” May she rest in peace. View Slideshow: Celebrities Who Died in 2017: In Memoriam
Maryam Mirzakhani, an Iranian who became the first woman to win math’s most prestigious prize, died Saturday after a four-year battle with breast cancer. She was 40 years old. In 2014, Mirzakhani was awarded the Fields Medal, which is commonly referred to as the “Nobel Prize for Mathematics” in order for those outside of the industry to fully grasp its importance. It’s only given out once every four years and Mirzakhani earned the distinction for her work on dynamical systems and complex geometry. Along with being the first female, she was also the first Iranian to garner the medal, which was created in 1936. Born in Tehran, Mirzakhani came to the United States in order to attend graduate school at Harvard University. She started working as a professor at Stanford University in 2008 and the school confirmed her passing on Saturday via its website. “Maryam is gone far too soon, but her impact will live on for the thousands of women she inspired to pursue math and science,” said Stanford President Marc Tessier-Lavigne in a statement, adding: “Maryam was a brilliant mathematical theorist, and also a humble person who accepted honors only with the hope that it might encourage others to follow her path. “Her contributions as both a scholar and a role model are significant and enduring, and she will be dearly missed here at Stanford and around the world.” For the final four years of her life, Mirzakhani battle breast cancer, which eventually spread to her bone marrow. In response to her passing, Iranian-American scientist Firouz Naderi shared his grief on Instagram, writing the following on Instagram: “A light was turned off today… It breaks my heart.” He later emphasized that Mirzakhani was a “genius, but also a daughter, a mother and a wife.” Mirzakhani once famous said that mathematics made her feel like a detective. “It is fun – it’s like solving a puzzle or connecting the dots in a detective case,” she said after winning the Fields Medal, according to NPR. “I felt that this was something I could do, and I wanted to pursue this path.” May she rest in peace. View Slideshow: Celebrities Who Died in 2017: In Memoriam
Image via Gilbert Carrasquillo/Pool/Getty Juror Admits Andrea Constand’s Attire Affected Credibility In Cosby Case Many were shocked and disappointed when the judge in Bill Cosby’s sexual assault case declared a mistrial after jurors failed to reach a consensus verdict after 52 hours of deliberation. Slowly but surely, anonymous jurors have begun to speak about their thought process and the things they believed about the testimony they heard. One such juror spoke to DailyMail about why he didn’t really believe Andrea Constand’s story. It’s the unfortunate logic of many men when it comes to rape and sexual assault. “She was asking for it.” The juror said: ‘She was well-coached. Let’s face it: She went up to his house with a bare midriff and incense and bath salts. What the heck?’ While this juror would not reveal how he voted, it’s pretty clear from his statements that he likely did not vote to convict Cosby. He specifically felt that she should have gone to Cosby’s home only if she was ‘dressed properly and left the incense in the store’ in reference to a gift she brought him before the alleged assault. A different juror also revealed that the pool used the typical ignorant logic of time-lapse as a reason to disregard Constand’s testimony: ‘That’s hard for me to believe, that I’ve been injured and it takes a year to report,’ the juror said. ‘Whatever the man did, he’s already paid a price and suffered.’ It’s always a bit shocking to hear people say things like this when discussing the rape or sexual assault of a stranger, because it is HIGHLY unlikely that they would use such dismissive logic toward a woman in their family or a female friend. But there you have it, ignorance as usual.
getty images Oh Really? Senior U.S. Department Official Called Obama A “Kenyan Cream Puff” William C Bradford, director of the Department’s Office of Indian Energy, appointed by Trump, tweeted and deleted some pretty awful comments that are coming back to bite him on the azz. According to The Washington Pos t, he once described Barack Obama as a “Kenyan creampuff”, Mark Zuckerberg as an “arrogant, self-hating Jew” and climate scientists as “cultists” and “nuts”. He was going crazy on twitter with all types of race related slander. Who does that? His whole tweet about Obama in December 2016 read: “I think Obama was given his mission in Tehran long ago, and it suits him just fine. How else can a Kenyan creampuff get ahead,” The Post called him out on his loose lips and he wrote them back, saying sorry. “As a minority and member of the Jewish faith, I sincerely apologise for my disrespectful and offensive comments. These comments are inexcusable and I do not stand by them. Now, as a public servant, I hold myself to a higher standard, and I will work every day to better the lives of all Americans.” Do ya’ll accept?
To be honest, I came up with this idea before I actually saw Argo on Tuesday night, but now that I have seen Ben Affleck’ s gripping, well-directed film, I can’t let it go. When I learned about the plot of the movie — in which a CIA agent (Affleck), a Hollywood make-up artist ( John Goodman ) and a movie producer (the wonderful Alan Arkin ) — gin up a fake movie to rescue a group of diplomats trapped in Iran during the hostage crisis — it struck me that Argo was the inverse or the flip side of another fake movie that got a lot of press this past summer: Innocence of Muslims . Argo is about the power of film harnessed for humane reasons — specifically, to extract American diplomats who would have probably faced grisly, public executions had they been caught after slipping out of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran when it was taken over by militants in 1979. Innocence of Muslims is about the dark side of that equation. It’s the power of film — still potent even when the so-called movie is little more than a collection of half-assed scenes cobbled together and thrown on YouTube — misused to incite violence and stoke mistrust and anger between Muslim nations and the United States. Argo , which is based on a true story, is about saving lives. Innocence of Muslims was linked to violent attacks on the U.S. Embassy in Libya on Sept. 11 that left four Americans dead, including Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens. When I saw George Clooney, who is one of Argo ‘s producers, at a private screening and dinner for the film at the Time Warner Center on Tuesday night, I ran my idea by him. Was there any lesson, I asked, to be learned from the controversy and the tragedy that Innocence of Muslims provoked? I’m not a big fan of asking celebrities their opinions about international or national affairs, but I’ve come to admire Clooney’s political activism and his understanding of the way the world really works, as well as his humanitarian spirit. (In March, he was arrested outside the Sudanese embassy in Washington for protesting the country’s blockage of food and aid to its own starving people.) After listening to my take on Argo and Innocence of Muslims , Clooney suggested that I was making a bit of a leap, but he did answer my question. For one thing, he said, “I’m not quite sure that those diplomats did die as a result of that movie. It seems more like that was a coordinated effort by Al Qaeda” to make a statement on the anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on U.S. soil. But getting to the root of my question, Clooney told me: “Freedom of speech means you have to allow idiots to speak, and that’s the unfortunate thing.” “This guy clearly wanted to create problems,” he continued referring to Nakoula Basseley , the Egyptian immigrant who appears to have masterminded the making of Innocence of Muslims . Clooney added that he saw part of the YouTube video: “It made me mad and I’m not Muslim,” he said. “It made me mad for the quality of film that it was, more than anything. But the simple truth is that in order to make [democracy] work, the idiots get to have their say, too. And that’s unfortunate.” I agree. What do you think? Please let me know in the comments section below. Follow Frank DiGiacomo on Twitter. Follow Movieline on Twitter.
Tuesday night was a celebrity bonanza at the Time Warner Center in New York’s Columbus Circle for the New York premiere of director/star Ben Affleck ‘s acclaimed Argo . Stars Bryan Cranston , Alan Arkin , John Goodman as well as producers George Clooney and Grant Heslov were just part of the cortege of A-listers and New York glitterati who dined at the Porter House Steakhouse where Affleck held the spotlight in the bar talking to folks. Guests were divided into two screenings of the Toronto and Telluride film festivals world premiere based on the true story about a CIA agent (Affleck) who rescues six Americans hiding in the Canadian embassy at the dawn of the Iranian hostage crisis that began in November 1979. ML caught up with actor Bryan Cranston as well as Affleck at the event. Between chatting with a parade of well-heeled well-wishers including best pal Matt Damon, Oliver Stone, Sting, Ted Koppel, Brian Williams and more, Affleck gave a little insight on what motivated him to take on the project, telling ML he decided to make Argo happen because it was a fascinating story that was also a challenge, admitting to some fear in the beginning. “I wanted to direct it because it’s a challenge directorially,” he told ML. “It has three competing challenges: It’s a comedy, it’s a nail-biting thriller and it’s a CIA-intrigue spy story. I thought if I can execute that and combine those elements and execute them, unify them and tell something that is true and maintain the integrity of the truth of the stories then I could do something quite special. It’s the favorite thing I’ve ever been involved with.” In the movie, actor Bryan Cranston plays Jack O’Donnell, one of the six Americans hiding in the Canadian Ambassador’s residence after a daring escape into the streets of the Iranian capital soon after the American embassy was overrun by angry mobs with the acquiescence of the country’s new ruler Ayatollah Khomeini. Cranston said he received the Argo script from his agent and that Affleck and producer Grant Heslov had specifically asked for him to read it. “I thought, ‘Oh that’s flattering.’ And I thought, ‘Please God, let the story be as good as the offer,'” he told ML. “And it was quite frankly even better. The story is fantastic. It’s true, important and the screenplay by Chris Terrio is great. What I took away from this and what I think what audiences will is that it’s a simple story about people being selfless and doing things for all the right reasons – just to save other human beings. There’s no greater noble effort than this.” Ahead of production, a fellow actor touted to Cranston the chance to work with Affleck who in turn put a plug in for Affleck’s work ethic and being an all-around great guy. Events such as Tuesday night’s are meant to showcase Oscar contenders in their best light. And the Peggy Siegel Company, which hosts a number of these dinners and parties tied to screenings, is front and center in organizing events for titles hitting the awards circuit. “I got a tip from Jon Hamm, who said, ‘You’re going to love working with [Affleck].’ And I went, ‘Oh good,'” said Cranston. “As an actor turned director he’s one of the best and just as a director in and of itself, he’s terrific. He’s a kind and a thoughtful man. And he’s willing to do the work. People only see the finished product, but he’s very passionate about stories.” “I didn’t want to make a story that was partisan right before the election,” Affleck said to ML about Argo and the audience he hopes will come to see it when it opens this weekend. “I want a movie that the Repubicans I know and am friends with can go see. I do not want a movie that could be politicized internationally vis-a-vis, Iran. I went to great pains to just tell a factual story with out being didactic or tell the audience what to feel.” Argo Log line: On November 4, 1979, as the Iranian revolution reaches its boiling point, militants storm the U.S. embassy in Tehran, taking 52 Americans hostage. But, in the midst of the chaos, six Americans manage to slip away and find refuge in the home of the Canadian ambassador. Knowing it is only a matter of time before the six are found out and likely killed, a CIA “exfiltration” specialist named Tony Mendez (Affleck) comes up with a risky plan to get them safely out of the country. A plan so incredible, it could only happen in the movies. Academy Award-winner Ben Affleck ( Good Will Hunting ) directs and stars in the film, which is produced by Oscar-nominee Grant Heslov ( Good Night, and Good Luck ), Affleck, and Oscar-winner George Clooney ( Syriana ). [ AbovePhoto by Marion Curtis/Starpix ]
U.S. Asks Iran To Return Spy Drone — L.A. Times The Defense secretary says he doesn’t expect Tehran to comply. Iran says it is planning to clone and mass produce the bat-winged craft for use against its enemies. Reporting from Washington — The Obama administration has sent a formal diplomatic request asking Iran to return the radar-evading drone aircraft that crashed on a CIA spying mission this month,… Broadcasting platform : YouTube Source : War News Updates Discovery Date : 12/12/2011 21:11 Number of articles : 2
Now For A Real Iran Debate — Bret Stephens, Wall Street Journal There’s no more doubt about Tehran’s nuclear-weapons program. How the West will respond remains open to question. The International Atomic Energy Agency is expected to unveil a report Wednesday on what it knows about Iran’s efforts to develop nuclear weapons, and the early word is that it contains a few bombshells. But let’s not overstate… Broadcasting platform : YouTube Source : War News Updates Discovery Date : 09/11/2011 21:01 Number of articles : 2
Nothing in the world is better than your freedom. TEHRAN — Two US hikers, jailed in Iran for spying, were released on bail Wednesday into the custody of the Omani envoy in Tehran. An Omani plane was en route to Tehran to retrieve the hikers, FOX News Channel reported, citing a State Department source. Oman is an ally of the US and has friendly ties with Tehran. The lawyer for the two Americans said Oman paid the bail, set at around $1 million. Oman was also involved in the release of a third hiker, Sarah Shourd, 32, who was released in September last year. The lawyer, Masoud Shafii, told FOX News Channel he was en route to the prison, and was unable to confirm if the two men were already released. He earlier said the men would be taken to the Swiss embassy, which handles US interests in Iran. Congratulations gentlemen, we sure your families will be glad to have you home. Source
Tens of thousands of democracy activists took to the streets of Tehran today chanting “death to the Dictator” and calling for an end to their Ayatollah-led “religious dictatorship.” Their chants were met with the brutal violence of Basij militiamen and anti-riot police who used steel batons, fired bullets, and dropped tear gas on the crowd. “This was the most violent protest we’ve had by far, and… Broadcasting platform : YouTube Source : The Blaze Discovery Date : 20/02/2011 15:50 Number of articles : 2
