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Jolie and Pitt could lose adopted sons
Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt’s troubles just got worse. According to radaronline.com, their adopted sons Pax and Maddox could be taken away from them. Pax’s birth mum, Pham Thu Dung, is set to be released from prison soon and when she is, she says she wants her son back. Jolie adopted 13-year-old Pax when he was three years old. And the biological parents of Maddox, 16 (who was thought to be an orphan) may still be alive. Maddox’s adoption was brokered by an agent who was later jailed in the US for visa fraud and money laundering involving more than 800 adoptions. Children’s rights groups investigating the agent said they believe Maddox’s destitute mother sold her son for $100. radaronline.com
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Burkinis and Brexit now in Victoria and Albert Museum
A burkini and a Brexit campaign leaflet feature among the items added to a collection at London’s Victoria and Albert Museum, reflecting issues of 2016. The V&A has included the dark-blue, full-body swimsuit in a collection exploring the relationship between current global events and art and design. The burkini made headlines in August when it was banned in about 30 French towns, sparking debate about the rights of women. The ban was later overturned by France’s highest administrative court. A ‘Vote Leave’ campaign leaflet distributed ahead of Britain’s June 23 EU referendum also joins the museum’s collection, along with a flag designed for the first refugee team competing in the Olympics. — AFP
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J. Cole is throwing shade
False Prophets, a track off J. Cole’s forthcoming album, doesn’t mention anyone by name on but some on social media are speculating he’s rapping about a few stars, including Kanye West. One verse goes: “Ego in charge of every move, he’s a star/And we can’t look away due to the days that he caught our hearts.” Cole also rhymes, “When he tell us he a genius but it’s clearer lately/It’s been hard for him to look into the mirror lately.” Other lyrics allude to rappers who don’t write their own lyrics. Drake has been accused of not writing some of his own rhymes this year. False Prophets was released over the weekend and is included on Cole’s ‘4 Your Eyez Only,’ which is set to drop December 9. -AP
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Swiss authorities recover cultural relics
Swiss authorities have seized cultural relics looted from Syria’s ancient city of Palmyra, as well as from Libya and Yemen, which were being stored in Geneva’s free ports. The free ports provide highly secured warehouses where basically anything can be stashed tax-free with few questions asked. The confiscated objects, from the third and fourth centuries, include a head of Aphrodite and two funereal bas-reliefs. They were deposited at the free ports in 2009 and 2010 and the alarm was first raised in April 2013 during a customs inspection. -AFP
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Shweta Tiwari gives birth
Actress Shweta Tiwari has given birth to her second child, a boy. Tiwari, who married actor Abhinav Kohli in 2013 after dating him for nearly three years, welcomed their son on November 27 at the Surya Child Care Hospital in Mumbai. This is the couple’s first child together. Tiwari, best known for her stint in shows such as Kasautii Zindagii Kay, Comedy Circus Ka Naya Daur, Big Boss season 4 and Begusarai, was previously married to actor Raja Chaudhary, with whom she has a daughter, Palak. -IANS
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General Tso’s chicken chef dies
The chef who has been credited with inventing General Tso’s chicken — a world-famous Chinese food staple that is not served in China — has died. He was 98. Chef Peng Chang-kuei brought the sticky, sweet-and-sour dish to New York 40 years ago. It became a favourite of Secretary of State Henry Kissinger at the chef’s Manhattan restaurant and spread to menus across the country. Peng’s son, Chuck Peng, said his father died last week in Taipei, Taiwan’s capital. The son runs the family’s Taiwan restaurant chain, Peng’s, where his father still cooked until a few months ago. Peng says his father created the dish in the 1950s for a US Navy commander and named it after a 19th-century Chinese military leader. -AP
