George Clooney, left, and Amal Alamuddin arrive in Venice, Italy, Friday, Sept. 26, 2014Luca Bruno/The Associated Press
SHE'S FASCINATING
Amal Alamuddin, British-born barrister and new wife of George Clooney has been named the Most Fascinating Person of 2014 by Barbara Walters, reports Us Weekly.
In being declared the planet's Most Fascinating Person, Alamuddin finished ahead of several other notable newsmakers from the past year, including Game of Thrones author George R.R. Martin, businessman Elon Musk, billionaire David Koch, actress Scarlett Johansson and comedian/talk host Chelsea Handler.
Previous recipients of the semi-lofty honour include Nelson Mandela, Mother Theresa, J.K. Rowling, Hillary Clinton and the late Steve Jobs.
Before the Beirut-born Alamuddin, 36, hitched her star to the 53-year-old Clooney, she had made her name as an accomplished London lawyer specializing in international law.
Alamuddin and Clooney began dating in late 2013 and became officially engaged last April. The couple married in Venice last September.
"You could say hers was the wedding of the year," says the 84-year-old Walters in the ABC promo released to promote the special. "But let's put it into perspective. It was really one of the greatest achievements in human history."
In her not particularly subtle way, Walters is making reference to Clooney's previous long-standing reputation as Hollywood's most eligible – and arguably most active – bachelor.
Following a four-year marriage to actress Talia Balsam (1989 to 1993), Clooney was romantically linked to a dizzying array of females, among them MTV host Karen Duffy, British TV presenter Lisa Snowdon, actress Renee Zellweger, reality-TV star Sarah Lawson and former professional wrestler Stacy Keibler.
But according to the ABC special, everything changed for Clooney when he met the beautiful, and brainy, Alamuddin, both of whom are interviewed by Walters in the program.
"What does it take to fascinate one of the fascinating men in the world?" queries Walters breathlessly in the promo. "Amal Alamuddin – known now as Amal Clooney – is suddenly in that stratosphere that we reserve for the Jackie O's or the Princess Di's or Kate Middleton. That is, everything she does, says or wears is officially fascinating."
MOMMY DEAREST
Kim Kardashian is catching social-media heat for cropping her own daughter out of a selfie. Last weekend, the reality star posted several Instagram pictures of her attending the Disney On Ice show at the Staples Center in Los Angeles with family and friends. Within hours of the picture being posted, Instagram users began pointing out that her year-old daughter was obviously cropped out of one of the photos. Said one commenter: "Are you seriously that narcissistic and VAIN? You crop out your own child so everyone can focus more on you? Ick… Pathetic." On Monday night, Kardashian responded to the controversy on Twitter with the tweet, "Wait is this really news that I posted a selfie and cropped my daughter out? LOL." Kardashian followed up shortly after with another tweet saying, "Her eyes were closed and I was feeling my look! Can I Live?!?!"
Source: Mashable
SUPER SINGLE
Attention all unattached females: Justin Bieber is not just single, he's "super single." The Canadian pop star has firmly denied rumours he's currently dating swimsuit model Hailey Baldwin (the daughter of actor Stephen Baldwin) via Instagram. On Monday, Bieber posted an innocuous black-and-white image of Baldwin and himself to the photo-sharing site along with the caption, "People are crazy. I'm super single and this is my good friend u would know otherwise." Baldwin likewise brushed off the romantic connection between Bieber and herself during a recent interview with E! News in which she said, "I've known him since I was so young – since I was like 13 – and we've just been good friends over the years."
Source: People
THINKING YOUNG
People who feel younger than their real age might actually live longer. A new study from University College London analyzed data on nearly 6,500 men and women whose average age was 65.8 years old. On average, most of the participants said they closer in age to 56.8 years old. Among that same group, 69.6 per cent of participants said their self-perceived age was three or more years younger than their actual chronological age, while 25.6 per cent said they felt their age, or close to it. All told, only 4.8 per cent of the participants said they felt older than they actually were. Noted the study authors: "Individuals who feel older than their actual age could be targeted with health messages promoting positive health behaviours and attitudes toward aging."
Source: Time