UN aid agency backed by Angelina Jolie is the latest to be embroiled in sex scandal as 19 allegations of abuse are made against staff

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Published on Sunday, 04 March 2018 10:30

Written by Daily Mail

         The United Nations aid agency backed by Angelina Jolie has been hit by 19 allegations of sex abuse by staff in the past year alone, it can be revealed, with three of the alleged victims being under 18.The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), which received almost £100 million from British taxpayers in 2017, said misconduct complaints had been made against workers in Africa, the Middle East and Asia.On the eve of a crisis meeting to be held by Department for International Development (DFID) chiefs, this newspaper has also discovered that:

• DFID contractor Adam Smith International has admitted it has had ‘historic cases of sexual misconduct’;
• Human-rights group Amnesty International said it had dealt with three cases of sexual harassment;
• Prince Charles’s young people’s charity, The Prince’s Trust, said three workers had been disciplined for inappropriate behaviour.

         Tomorrow, International Aid Secretary Penny Mordaunt hosts a ‘safeguarding summit’ with the Charity Commission to work on solutions to the abuse crisis. She has asked charities which receive money from the UK’s £13 billion aid budget to tell her what they have done about historic abuse allegations, and has had 161 responses so far. This newspaper can reveal some of the figures that have been provided by some of the biggest names in overseas aid. UNHCR, whose ‘special envoy’ is Hollywood star Angelina Jolie, said it had one substantiated case of abuse in 2016, for which a member of staff had been dismissed. It had 19 complaints of sexual exploitation or abuse in 2017, of which six are still being assessed. One alleged victim was 17. Details of two other cases involving under-18s are unknown. Ms Jolie declined to comment but a source close to the actress said she will find the allegations ‘upsetting’ and ‘inexcusable’ and has raised the matter with the agency.
         Meanwhile, Adam Smith International – which had its government work frozen after The Mail on Sunday revealed alleged ‘dirty tricks’ to win contracts – said it was still preparing its response to DFID’s request for information and a spokesman said it was conducting ‘an internal review to determine the extent and nature of historic cases of sexual misconduct and how they were managed’.The Prince’s Trust, which received £14 million in public-sector funding last year, said: ‘Three staff have been disciplined for insensitive or inappropriate behaviour in relation to young people, not constituting sexual abuse.’ One was dismissed.Amnesty International, which does not receive public funding, said it had had three alleged cases of sexual harassment in the past ten years, resulting in a volunteer being dismissed. All cases were in the UK.Another DFID contractor, VSO, said last night that staff had made eight allegations of sexual misconduct by employees in the past three years. Six led to staff having their ‘contracts terminated’. All the wrongdoing occurred overseas.

 source : Daily mail  

Neil Burger, Angelina Jolie Teaming for Biopic about Major Mary Jennings Hegar

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Published on Saturday, 03 March 2018 13:29

Written by Traciking Board

            Director Neil Burger (Divergent) is going to direct an untitled film based on the 2017 memoir SHOOT LIKE A GIRL, written by Purple Heart veteran Major Mary Jennings Hegar, and no less than Angelina Jolie is looking to play the military hero.514QzAwRLPLProduced by the Gotham Group, the current draft of the screenplay was co-written by Alice O’Neill with Burger over previous versions by Frank Baldwin and Jason Hall.Hegar earned the Purple Heart and the Distinguished Flying Cross after doing three tours of duty in Afghanistan as a rescue pilot, searching and rescuing hundreds of men and women from the battlefield. She also fought against the Department of Defense’s exclusion of women from combat duty calling it unconstitutional.Nicole Brown brought Hegar’s memoir Shoot Like a Girl: One Woman’s Dramatic Fight in Afghanistan and on the Home Front to the Gotham Group, and she will oversee the project with Hannah Minghella.This sounds like a great project and role for Jolie, if she chooses to come on board, because Hegar is an amazing hero that could give Jolie the proper impetus to give another Oscar-winning performance. Jolie won the Oscar for her early role in James Mangold’s Girl, Interrupted in 2000, then was nominated a second time for Clint Eastwood’s The Changeling. She was also awarded the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award a few years back. In recent years, Jolie has gone behind the camera to direct a number of films including the film First They Killed My Father.O’Neill and Burger previously collaborated on the Showtime series Billions, on which O’Neill is a story editor and Burger is exec. producer on the show after directing the first two episodes. They also co-wrote the screenplay Tara Delaney, which Burger also intends to direct.Most recently, Burger directed the Kevin Hart-Bryan Cranston comedy The Upside, which is a remake of the hit French film The Intouchables. The film premiered at the Toronto Film Festival and was going to be released by the Weinstein Company next month, but the film is now caught up in the bankruptcy faced by the company following the assault charges leveled against founder Harvey Weinstein.Other films in Burger’s filmography include the acclaimed The Illusionist, starring Edward Norton, and the Bradley Cooper sci-fi drama Limitless, which led to the CBS drama of the same name. More importantly, Burger directed the military drama The Lucky Ones, starring Tim Robbins, Rachel McAdams and Michael Peña in 2008, which is more in line with what is needed for the Hegar story. Burger is represented by CAA and Anonymous Content.Repped by ICM Partners and the Gotham Group, O’Neill also wrote the Black List script Buttercup.This project was initially reported on by Variety.

 source : Traciking Board  

'She is an icon!' Alicia Vikander insists she 'could never compete' with Angelina Jolie's original portrayal of Lara Croft... as star attends photocall for Tomb Raider reboot in Madrid

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Published on Tuesday, 06 March 2018 07:10

Written by Daily mail

          She's following in the footsteps of Angelina Jolie by portraying Lara Croft in a reboot of the hugely successful Tomb Raider franchise.But Alicia Vikander, 29, as stated that she 'could never compete' with the 42-year-old screen star's version of the iconic character.The stunning actress, who attended a photocall for Tomb Raider at Madrid's Santo Mauro Hotel on Wednesday, told Games Radar: 'I could never compete with what Angelina did. She made her into an icon because she is an icon. 'But this is our different interpretation, we’re focused on the reboot of the game which came out a few years ago. It’s the origin story – we’re not trying to copy or reinvent what she did.' At her photocall for the reboot, Alicia embodied '70s chic in a brown flared dress with a flattering waist-cinching belt.The Swedish star teamed her flirty retro-style number with a pair of matching wedge peep-toe shoe boots as she worked her magic on the red carpet. Alicia wore her brunette locks in loose waves and accentuated her pretty features with smokey make-up. The Oscar-winning actress added a touch of sparkle to her muted look with her dazzling engagement ring and wedding band from her Ibiza nuptials to actor Michael Fassbender, 40, in October 2017.Alicia looked happy and relaxed as she posed for the cameras ahead of the film's release on March 16.  Alicia's role in the movie sees her travel to a remote island to solve the mystery of her adventurer father's disappearance.Lara Croft stems from the Tomb Raider video game series, although Alicia recently revealed on the Graham Norton Show: 'My breasts are not as pointy as the first Lara.'Alicia gained 16lbs of muscle in preparation for the role, and told E! News this week she even tried a spot of Mixed Martial Arts as part of her training.She said: 'I did a lot of months of training, not only cycling but...MMA training, I did some boxing, climbing, swimming...  'I lifted more weights than I've ever done in my life.' Alicia took over the role of Lara Croft from Angelina Jolie, who starred in the first two films of the series back in the early 2000s.Speaking more about the role Alicia said: 'I've been dreaming since I was a kid to be apart of a big action, adventure. To push myself and in this film I really get to do that.'Our story is very much an origin story. This film is about her becoming the hero that we know her to be.'

 source : Daily mail  

Justin Theroux, Angelina Jolie NOT “Caught Out” In “Hook-Up,” Despite Report

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Published on Wednesday, 28 February 2018 07:06

Written by Gossip Cop

         Justin Theroux and Angelina Jolie were not “caught out” in a “hook-up.” A new report claims the stars were spotted together in New York, but the allegations are untrue. Gossip Cop can bust the story.According to New Idea, Jennifer Aniston and Brad Pitt’s exes have been “busy striking up an unlikely alliance.” The tabloid specifically alleges they were “spotted dining together” at a restaurant on Long Island, where they were “sharing a table in a dimly lit corner for close to three hours” and “talking intensely.” The gossip magazine further describes how the pair were supposedly “leaning over and speaking in hushed tones as stunned onlookers watched intently.”One of those purported “onlookers” is quoted as saying, “We couldn’t believe it when Angelina Jolie walked in. When Justin Theroux arrived 15 minutes later and sat with her, we were dumbstruck.” This so-called “patron” goes on to assert to the outlet that Jolie and Theroux “hugged warmly when they saw each other,” but were “all business after that, with Ange jotting down notes.”
         The publication first maintains that it’s “unclear what the pair were discussing,” but then alleges that “sources close to Ange” contend she and Theroux met up “so they could discuss how best to handle their splits.” One such “source” supposedly claims, “She was keen to talk to Justin to find out what he knew about Jen and Brad’s new romance, and how they should tackle things.” This purported tipster deems the get-together a “strategy meeting… a chance for her to pick Justin’s brain and work out their next steps as exes.”But it’s actually quite clear the tabloid has no idea what it’s talking about. In the article, the magazine asserts Jolie and Theroux were seen at “Il Baco restaurant on Long Island.” Not only is it actually called “Il Bacco,” with two Cs, but the outlet features separate photos of Jolie and Theroux leaving Il Buco, which is an unrelated dining and retail establishment with three locations in Manhattan. What’s more is that the picture shown of Jolie is actually from 2008 when she went to one of the venues for a party celebrating the movie Changeling.Meanwhile, Theroux’s pictured outing was when he dined with Liv Tyler and David Beckham in 2014. So, to recap, New Idea claims Jolie and Theroux met up at Il Bacco on Long Island, but features pictures of each of them separately at Il Buco in New York City on occasions that took place 10 and four years ago. Suffice it to say, they were never actually “caught out” in a “hook-up.” And no reputable publication has reported they were spotted together because this alleged public meeting never happened, Gossip Cop is assured. It’s all made-up.

 source : Gossip Cop