Supreme Court raises bar for affirmative action in college admissions

The Supreme Court on Monday allowed affirmative action to survive in college admissions but imposed a tough legal standard, ruling that schools must prove there are “no workable race-neutral alternatives” to achieve diversity on campus.

While the ruling was not a sweeping pronouncement on the future of affirmative action, it amounts to a warning to colleges nationwide that the courts will treat race-conscious admissions policies with a high degree of skepticism.

By a 7-1 vote, with one justice recusing herself, the court sent a case about the University of Texas admissions policy back to a federal appeals court for review, and directed the appeals court to apply an exacting legal standard known as strict scrutiny.

The case was brought by Abigail Fisher, a white woman who applied to the university in 2008 and was denied, and claimed that her constitutional rights and federal civil rights laws were violated.

“I am grateful to the justices for moving the nation closer to the day when a student’s race isn't used at all in college admissions,” Fisher said in a statement.

The appeals court sided with the university. But the Supreme Court ruled that the lower court did not hold the university to the “demanding burden of strict scrutiny.” Instead, the lower court “presumed that the school had acted in good faith” and required Fisher to show otherwise, the high court found.

While the ruling was favorable to Fisher, civil rights advocates were “really breathing a sigh of relief,” said Tom Goldstein, the publisher of SCOTUSblog and a Supreme Court analyst for NBC News.

“There was the potential that the justices would issue a really major ruling headed in a conservative direction, limiting or eliminating affirmative action,” he said on MSNBC. “Instead the justices did something more modest.”

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Armie Hammer Jokes About Working With Co-Star Johnny Depp

Armie Hammer & Johnny Depp star as vigilante cohorts in ‘The Lone Ranger,’ due in theaters July 3. At the L.A. premiere, HollywoodLife.com spoke with Armie and he revealed why he loved working alongside Johnny!


What’s it really like to work with Johnny Depp? Well, The Social Network’s Armie Hammer talked to HollywoodLife.com EXCLUSIVELY at the L.A. premiere of The Lone Ranger and he joked around about his legendary co-star!


Armie’s Take On Tonto

Johnny’s back on Disney turf in The Lone Ranger, starring as spiritual Native American warrior Tonto who joins up with the Lone Ranger (Hammer) to fight for justice in the American West.

His crime-fighting partner, Armie, told us what it was like to work with Mr. Depp:

Terrible! Hated it, hate him and never want to see him again in my life! No, it was great!

Oh, Armie. Such a jokester! We’re sure these two stars got along great as they filmed this epic adventure.

When we saw the first picture producer Jerry Bruckheimer tweeted back in 2012 of the crime-fighting duo, we could barely contain our excitement for the film. Armie and Johnny were spot-onin their looks of the Lone Ranger and Tonto.

The Lone Ranger is to be released July 3 — just in time for the Independence Day weekend. What better to celebrate America that a swashbuckling tale of the Wild West?

What do you think about Armie’s comments about co-star Johnny? Will you go see The Lone Ranger? Let us know what you think!

WATCH: ‘The Lone Ranger’ Trailer

Would you eat a 'Dexter' cupcake?

I dig Dexter. I crave cupcakes. But would I bite into a sweet treat inspired by Showtime's serial killer?

Hmm, I'm not so sure ...

Today Showtime announced the arrival of a special cupcake created in partnership with Magnolia Bakery. The red velvet Dexter cupcake is "spattered with caramel 'blood' and sugar 'glass' shards." I'm including an image, which looks both appetizing and disturbing.

If this sounds like it's exactly what your season-premiere viewing party needs, note that you can purchase the cupcakes at Magnolia Bakery locations (in New York, Los Angeles and Chicago) and on Sho.com. They're only available until June 30, so act fast.

Dexter's new season premieres June 30 at 9 p.m. ET on Showtime. Expect lots of blood — and not the caramel variety ...

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Nadal Loses to 135th-Ranked Player in the First Round

WIMBLEDON, England — Relentlessly competitive and ultimately unbeatable on the red clay at the French Open, Rafael Nadal could not win so much as a set on the grass at Wimbledon this year.

It was the first time Nadal, the great Spanish champion, had lost in the first round in singles at a Grand Slam event, and his unlikely tormentor on Court 1 on Monday was Steve Darcis, a Belgian veteran ranked just 135th who spent part of this season competing in the minor leagues of professional tennis, the challenger circuit.

But against the fifth-seeded Nadal, the flashy Darcis was too much to handle, producing winners with his forehand, timely first serves and defense off the full stretch that often appeared to catch Nadal by surprise on the slick grass that is part of the equation on opening day at Wimbledon.

In the end, Darcis’s 7-6 (4), 7-6 (8), 6-4 victory seemed surprisingly straightforward, almost shockingly so, for what was one of the biggest upsets in Wimbledon history. It was also the second year in a row that Nadal had given an aggressive outsider a chance to make a bigger name for himself.

“Nobody was expecting me to win today,” Darcis said.

A year ago, Nadal was beaten in the second round by the 100th-ranked Czech Lukas Rosol on Centre Court, with the fifth set being played under the closed roof. Nadal, because of knee problems, did not play another match for seven months before returning in February.

It has been a remarkably successful comeback, with Nadal winning seven of the nine tournaments he had played before Wimbledon, including his eighth French Open little more than two weeks ago. But in an attempt to protect his left knee, he played all but one of those nine tournaments on clay.

Though he had originally planned to play a warm-up tournament on grass in Halle, Germany, he withdrew from that event and elected to spend the week resting in Majorca instead. He arrived at Wimbledon last Tuesday and was unable to make up for missed grass-court matches.

“Obviously I wanted to play,” Nadal said of Halle. “But today, yes, we cannot come back. We cannot come two weeks before. That’s what happened. I didn’t have that chance. I tried my best. Was not possible. That’s all I can say, just congratulate the opponent. At the end, it’s not a tragedy. That is sport.”

It was an inadvertent echo of a long-ago quote from Boris Becker when he was stunned in the second round of Wimbledon by the Australian journeyman Peter Doohan in 1987: “No one died out there,” Becker said. “I just lost a tennis match.”

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Jurors hear F-bomb, knock-knock joke as George Zimmerman murder trial begins

The prosecutor cursed and the defense attorney told a joke as both sides laid out opening arguments in the murder trial of George Zimmerman, the man who killed Florida teen Trayvon Martin in what his lawyers say was self-defense and authorities say was a case of fatal profiling.

The all-female jury of six took in both unconventional statements, alternately stunned, taking notes and at times appearing to nod in agreement. Jaws in the jury box dropped when prosecutor John Guy electrified the courtroom with a short, but profanity-laced and impassioned argument that sought to paint the defendant as an angry and out-of-control vigilante who was stalking Martin when he shot the teen in the gated community in Sanford, where he lived.

“F---ing punks,” prosecutor John Guy said in open court, quoting Zimmerman's own words to a non-emergency police dispatcher. “These a--holes, they always get away.”

The language -- rare for open court -- appeared to stun the six female jurors who must decide whether Zimmerman shot and killed the 17-year-old African-American teen in self defense, or if he stalked the youth and provoked the deadly 2012 confrontation.

“And excuse my language, but those were his words, not mine.”

- Florida Prosecutor John Guy

“Those were the words in that grown man’s mouth as he followed, in the dark, a 17-year-old boy who he didn’t know,” continued Guy, as jurors in the Florida courtroom listened intently, some taking notes. “And excuse my language, but those were his words, not mine.”

When Guy said Zimmerman "made a decision that brought us all here today," the juror identified as E6 nodded her head in apparent agreement

Zimmerman appeared to show no emotion inside the courtroom as Guy made his statements.

Guy discounted the expected defense version of events, that Zimmerman was on the losing end of a violent confrontation and pulled his registered gun in self-defense, calling it a "tangled web of lies." 

The prosecutor said Martin had no blood or DNA from Zimmerman on his hands or under his fingernails, and he wrapped up his statements in about a half-hour, telling jurors Zimmerman "did not shoot [Martin] because he had to, but because he wanted to."

Don West followed with opening statements on behalf of Zimmerman, offering a knock-knock joke that fell flat before the stone-faced jurors.

"Who's there?" West said. "George Zimmerman. George Zimmerman who? Okay, good. You're on the jury."

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Amazon LOVEFiLM gets Star Trek, Dexter, more with CBS deal

The digital content land-grab continues, with Amazon signing up shows including Dexter, Star Trek, andNurse Jackie for its LOVEFiLM Instant streaming services in the UK and Germany. The agreement, with CBS Studios International, will include content from both CBS and Showtime, and comes alongside a new streaming app for Sony’s range of TVs, Blu-ray decks, and AV kit.

From CBS, there’s The Good Wife and Blue Bloods among others, while Showtime also contributesCalifornication.

The licensing is the latest of a stream of content deals Amazon has inked over the first half of 2013, both for its LOVEFiLM division in Europe, and for Amazon Prime Instant in the US. In January, for instance, it was NBC Universal, Channel 4, and Marvel, followed by Warner Bros. and, most recently, Disney.

However, its also seen Amazon butt heads with streaming rival Netflix along the way. Earlier this month, Amazon snatched up a deal with Viacom including hit kids’ shows including Dora the Explorer and Go, Diego, Go!, which only weeks before had prompted parent fury when they disappeared from Netflix’s catalog.

TV content was highlighted by independent streaming researchers earlier this year as LOVEFiLM’s weak spot, with their findings indicating that, while the Amazon owned service offered more movie content than Netflix in Europe, it lagged behind in TV.

As for the new LOVEFiLM app for Sony’s BRAVIA line-up, it follows Amazon’s new streaming software for the Xbox 360, released last week. Trialled initially on the PS3 in May, the new app includes watchlist support for easier TV and movie playlist management, and an improved recommendations engine.

The new BRAVIA LOVEFiLM app is available from today, though you’ll need to be using a smart TV, Blu-ray player, or home cinema system from the 2010 range or later in order to install it.

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Daredevil Nik Wallenda completes high-wire walk across Grand Canyon

(Reuters) - Daredevil Nik Wallenda completed a historic high-wire walk on a 2-inch (5-cm) steel cable over the Grand Canyon on Sunday and was greeted by wild cheers after his hair-raising stunt.

Wallenda, the self-described "King of the High Wire," took 22 minutes and 54 seconds to walk 1,400 feet across the crimson-hued canyon with just a distant ribbon of the Little Colorado River beneath him. The event was broadcast live around the world.

Wallenda, the first person to cross the canyon, made the walk without a tether or safety net.

Wallenda could be heard praying almost constantly during the walk, murmuring "Thank you, Jesus." He kissed the ground when he reached the other side.

"It took every bit of me to stay focused that entire time," Wallenda said. "My arms are aching like you wouldn't believe."

He said he stopped and crouched down twice, first because of the wind, the second because the cable had picked up an unsettling rhythm.

He spat on his hands and rubbed it on the sole of his shoe for grip as the cable had gathered dust.

Wallenda said the walk was stressful. But he also said the view, from 1,500 feet above the snaking river, was "breathtaking."

"It was a dream come true," Wallenda said of the crossing. "This is what my family has done for 200 years, so it's part of my legacy."

A seventh-generation member of the "Flying Wallendas" family of acrobats, Wallenda also made history last year by becoming the only person to complete a high-wire walk over the brink of Niagara Falls. He used the same cable on Sunday.

The 34-year-old first dreamed of Sunday's challenge during a visit to the Grand Canyon with his parents as a teenager.

There was no word on the financial benefits of Wallenda's stunt. He was listed by the Discovery Channel as one of the executive producers of the live broadcast. A Discovery spokesman could not be reached for comment.

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Plane for Cuba Leaves Russia, but Snowden Is Not on Board

MOSCOW — Intrigue deepened on Monday over the whereabouts of Edward J. Snowden, the fugitive former National Security Agency contractor accused of espionage, when he did not leave Moscow on a planned flight to Havana, one day after Hong Kong frustrated his American pursuers by allowing him to fly out of the territory.

Mr. Snowden’s vacant seat on the Havana flight raised the possibility that the Russian government had detained him, either to consider the demands by the Obama administration to intercept him and return him to the United States or perhaps to question him for Russia’s own purposes.

The authorities in Hong Kong said Mr. Snowden boarded an Aeroflot flight to Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport that arrived on Sunday afternoon. But he was never photographed in Hong Kong and has not been seen publicly or photographed since his reported arrival in Moscow. Arriving passengers on that flight, interviewed at the airport, said they could not confirm that he had been aboard.

The situation remained infuriating for American officials, who have charged Mr. Snowden with illegally disclosing classified documents about American surveillance programs.

On a visit to New Delhi, Secretary of State John Kerry emphasized that Russia should send Mr. Snowden to the United States. "I would urge them to live by the standards of the law,” Mr. Kerry said.

Security was extremely tight at the gate at Sheremetyevo airport on Monday as agents called passengers to board the Havana-bound Aeroflot aircraft. Police officers stood around the plane on the tarmac, and the entrance to the gate inside the terminal was cordoned off with about 25 feet of blue ribbon.

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Army Rangers' arduous training featuring on Discovery Channel

TAIPEI, Taiwan -- A documentary on the rigorous training of Army Rangers will broadcast tomorrow on Discovery Channel, the channel announced yesterday.

The documentary recorded the arduous 10-week training of the elite infantry personnel at a Special Forces training center in the mountainous Guguan area in Taichung City.

A potential Ranger has to undergo all kinds of extraordinary training, such as overcoming any fear of heights by jumping into water from a 22-meter-tall platform.

A trainee also has to be able to overcome high-altitude-related problems and be able to swim in cold water while wearing 30 kilograms of equipment, it noted.

Only less than 1 percent of all Army trainees will be able to pass required tests to become an elite Army ranger, the statement said.

The documentary is the latest episode of a three-episode program the TV channel made to tell the story of the rigorous training that some of Taiwan's Special Forces units undergo.

The previous two episodes featured the training of Taiwan's amphibious reconnaissance team, better known as “frogmen” on the outlying island of Kinmen, and the underwater operations unit which is responsible for removing and deploying mines, and for ship maintenance.

The program will broadcast in more than 30 countries throughout Asia in August, the TV channel added.

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Nelson Mandela in Critical Condition for Second Day

JOHANNESBURG — President Jacob Zuma said on Monday that Nelson Mandela remained in critical condition for a second day in a hospital in Pretoria where he is being treated for a lung infection.

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“Doctors are doing everything possible to ensure his well-being and comfort,” Mr. Zuma said at a news conference in Johannesburg, but he gave few details about the condition of Mr. Mandela, who was hospitalized on June 8.

Mr. Zuma spoke as South Africans and admirers around the world awaited word on the condition of Mr. Mandela, the iconic leader who played a towering role in his country’s transition from white minority rule under the system of apartheid to multiracial democracy in 1994.

Mr. Zuma said that he and Cyril Ramaphosa, the deputy president of the governing African National Congress, visited Mr. Mandela late Sunday.

“Given the hour, he was already asleep. We were there, looked at him, saw him and then we had a bit of a discussion with the doctors and his wife,” Mr. Zuma said. “I don’t think I’m in a position to give further details. I’m not a doctor.”

Doctors told Mr. Zuma on Sunday evening that Mr. Mandela’s health “had become critical over the past 24 hours,” according to an earlier statement from the presidency.

In the statement on Sunday, Mr. Zuma said that doctors were doing “everything possible to get his condition to improve and are ensuring that Madiba is well looked after and is comfortable.” Madiba is Mr. Mandela’s clan name.

The language used in the statement was the strongest yet concerning Mr. Mandela’s health.

On Saturday, the president, seeking to play down news reports about Mr. Mandela’s deteriorating health, described his condition as “serious but stable.”

Mr. Mandela, who was freed by the apartheid government in 1990 after 27 years of imprisonment, became South Africa’s first black president after the country’s first all-race elections in 1994. He retired from public life in 2004.

He has not been seen in public since the World Cup soccer final in South Africa in July 2010 and has been hospitalized four times since December, mostly for the pulmonary condition that has plagued him for years.

The South African government faced criticism over the weekend after it confirmed reports that the military ambulance carrying Mr. Mandela to the hospital had broken down, leaving him waiting on the roadside until a replacement vehicle arrived.

Mr. Zuma said he had been assured by doctors that “all care” had been taken to ensure that Mr. Mandela’s condition was not compromised during that time. Media reports that Mr. Mandela had suffered a cardiac arrest on that same night contained “no truth,” he added

“There were seven doctors in the convoy who were in full control of the situation throughout the period,” he said. “He had expert medical care.”

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Ellen Page Doesn't Appreciate the Use of Her Likeness in The Last of Us

"I am actually acting in a video game called Beyond Two Souls, so it was not appreciated."

Remember how The Last of Us' Ellie once bore a more-than-striking resemblence to Canadian actress Ellen Page? And remember how Naughty Dog subsequently redesigned her to better resemble her voice actress, Ashley Johnson? But arguably, Ellie still carries certain... Ellen-Page-ish qualites?

In a recent Reddit Ask Me Anything, Page admitted she did not "appreciate" her likeness being "ripped off" by Naughty Dog, principally due to her legitimate involvement with Quantic Dream's Beyond: Two Souls, another Sony exclusive.

The below question was posed to Page during her recent AMA:

"This has almost certainly been made clear to you several times, but are you aware how much you look like Ellie from “The Last of Us,” a video game which came out about a week ago. She even sounds like you. So much so that almost everyone assumed it was you playing the role.

Which leads me to my questions:

How did you like playing the role of a video game character when doing “Beyond: Two Souls?” Do you prefer live action? Have you seen any footage of “The Last of Us” and would you have taken the role as Ellie if approached?"

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ICC must never betray fans again

So the ICC just got away with it. The rain relented, we had a final to remember, and the fans went home happy. That will be the official view. There may even be some pats on administrators' backs. But it only tells half the story.

Yes, the rain relented, yes, we had a 20-over final to savour, and yes, India, the best team in the tournament, won and their supporters celebrated long into the night.

But the administrators should not get away with it. By staging a final without a reserve day, they messed with the fans and got lucky. They should never be allowed to do so again.

The official explanation is that there were only 17 days to stage the tournament, that there was "no wriggle room", and that bilateral tours take precedence. Are fans really expected to take such an explanation seriously?

You can praise the players for contesting a fluctuating final in difficult conditions. You can listen to people intellectualising about the amount of cricket played, and how difficult it is to cram spare days into the schedule.

You can retreat into comforting jokes about the essential awfulness of the English summer and even speculate that global warming could make it more unbearable than ever. You can listen to thousands of explanations about logistics, about what is possible and what is not.

None of that matters. Do not accept any explanation that you hear. The administrators need to understand that to stage the final of a major one-day tournament without a reserve day is as purblind as it gets.

If you do something, you have to do it properly. If you tell spectators that a tournament is important, and sell TV rights and tickets on that basis, there are basic standards you have to meet to try to bring it to a satisfactory conclusion.

We can all argue incessantly about the details: about how many sides should take part, how the groups should be drawn up, whether to pre-determine semi-final venues for the countries that qualify, how to choose between sides that finish on equal points.

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Both Clippers and Celtics benefit from long-awaited Doc Rivers trade

Doc Rivers had been telling friends for years that if he ever did choose to leave the Celtics, then he wouldn't coach another franchise the following season. His plan was to sit out for at least one year, out of respect for the Celtics franchise and the large role it has played in the NBA and in his own life.

But this was an unusual case. After expressing doubts that he would want to participate in Boston's plan to rebuild, Rivers told the Celtics that he was committed to returning as their coach next season. Then he was "traded,'' essentially, to the Clippers, in exchange for a future first-round pick, based on an agreement reached in principle between Boston and Los Angeles on Sunday.

Rivers' initial intention to return to the Celtics absolves him of the perception that he was forcing himself out. Instead, he was the property of the Celtics and was moved by them in return for the draft pick.

Regardless of the timing, it does not appear as if ultimatums were issued so much as all sides recognized the common interests that would be fulfilled if Rivers were exchanged for compensation from Los Angeles. The Celtics participated in, and profited from, the departure of their coach.

After many well-publicized starts and stops in recent days, the agreement was finalized Sunday. A more complicated proposal -- by which Kevin Garnett would have also been packaged to the Clippers in exchange for DeAndre Jordan -- was viewed as untenable last week by commissioner David Stern.

A subsequent trade of Garnett to the Clippers appears to be a non-starter according to NBA rules that ban salary-cap trades that are linked to coaching hires. The bottom line for the Celtics is that Rivers has turned out to be their most valuable asset -- not only did he net them a draft pick, but his departure will also save them millions in coaching salary annually.

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Lisa Robin Kelly, 'That 70s Show' Actress, Arrested On Suspicion Of Drunk Driving

BURBANK, Calif. -- "That `70s Show" actress Lisa Robin Kelly has been arrested in Southern California on suspicion of drunken driving.

The California Highway Patrol says officers noticed signs of possible intoxication when they helped move the 43-year-old actress' stalled car off Interstate 5 in Burbank late Saturday.

The CHP said that after an investigation, officers arrested and booked her on suspicion of DUI. Kelly was released on $5,000 bail.

An email to her agent was not immediately returned.

It was not her first brush with the law. Kelly and her husband Robert Joseph Gilliam were arrested last November in connection to a disturbance at their home in the Charlotte, N.C., suburb of Mooresville.

Kelly portrayed Laurie Forman, sister of Topher Grace's lead character Eric, on the FOX series, which ended in 2006.

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‘Under the Dome’ Is One Eerie TV Show

From Stephen King and Steven Spielberg comes Under the Dome, a weird, scary, and potentially great excuse to stay inside this summer. Jace Lacob dissects tonight’s premiere.

In the not-too-distant future, the inhabitants of Chester’s Mill—a small and seemingly idyllic town in Anywhere, U.S.A.—suddenly discover their town is trapped inside an invisible barrier of unknown origin. Birds fall from the sky, numerous vehicles crash, and a blood-red handprint on this transparent dome becomes a sigil of awe and fear.

This is the basis for CBS’s intriguing new “event” drama series, Under the Dome, which begins its 13-episode summer run tonight at 10 p.m. (While some have referred to it as a “miniseries,” it is most definitely an ongoing series, with the strong possibility of future seasons should ratings take off.) Based on Stephen King’s 2009 novel of the same name, Under the Dome imagines a scenario that is both rife with possibility and nightmare. Trapped and with nowhere to turn, Chester Mill’s residents must either work together to survive or succumb to the terror and uncertainty of their new situation, one that has cut them off from both loved ones and the outside world. So, live together, die alone then?

If that reminds you of the now-famous words uttered by reluctant leader Jack Shephard (Matthew Fox) on Lost, you’re on the right track. Under the aegis of executive producers Steven Spielberg, Neal Baer (Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, ER, and far too many other credits to list here), and Brian K. Vaughan (Lost), the series imagines a terrifying “what if” scenario that positions the inexplicable as a backdrop for the intimate.

Much like Lost before it, Under the Dome presents a life-altering occurrence as a crucible by which to view a group of disparate characters. Barbie (Mike Vogel), a former soldier, is passing through Chester’s Mill on some illicit business when he’s trapped inside. Local newspaper editor Julia Shumway (Rachelle Lefevre) has a nose for news but seems oblivious to what’s going on inside her own home. Angie (Britt Robertson) is a local nurse who is desperate to escape Chester’s Mill even before the dome, but finds herself trapped inside with her emotionally unstable boyfriend, Junior (Alexander Koch). Local bigwig Jim Rennie (Dean Norris), a used-car salesman and councilman, looks to use the dome to seize control of the town. A lesbian couple from Los Angeles, Carolyn (Aisha Hinds) and Alice (Samantha Mathis), taking their troubled daughter (Mackenzie Lintz) to a “camp,” find themselves stuck as well.

Elsewhere, there are a pair of local radio DJs (Nicholas Strong and Joelen Purdy), the stoic town sheriff (Lost’s Jeff Fahey) and his trusted deputy, Linda (Natalie Martinez), and a subplot that indicates that the financial stability of the town may be based on less-than-legal solutions. It’s this latter element that is perhaps the most timely, given the recent economic downturn and its similar handling over on A&E’sBates Motel: how does Small Town America remain viable? How creative do towns like Chester’s Mill have to be in order to survive in the 21st century?