Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Names and faces
Jill Biden, an educator and wife of former
Vice President Joe
Biden, has been named board chairman of Save the Children. Biden, who still teaches English to college students, said she was honored to be asked to lead the international aid organization’s board and thought its emphasis on education was a perfect fit for her. “I’ve been an educator for 31 years,” Biden said in an interview. “I’m still teaching full time at Northern Virginia Community college, and I think [Save the Children’s] emphasis on education fits with my life’s work.” Biden has traveled around the world to see education programs, including those that help refugee children. Save the Children works in more than 120 countries, including the United States, and focuses on the health, education and safety of kids. U.S. operations are based in Fairfield, Conn. Last week, Biden traveled to Linden, Tenn., to see firsthand how Save the Children literacy programs help children in rural communities. She said many of her own students have gaps in their educations, and that’s why the organization’s early-childhood education programs are so important. Save the Children officials believe Biden will be able to help call attention to the organization’s mission in the U.S. and abroad. “We have issues right here in our own country in terms of kids growing up in poverty, and the really huge challenges they’re facing,” said Carolyn Miles, president and CEO of Save the Children.
Breitbart News editor Milo Yiannopoulos re signed Tuesday after coming under f ire from other conservatives over comments made over the weekend about sexual relationships between boys and men. Speaking to reporters in New York, the writer and provocative public speaker apologized for his remarks, saying that it was a mistake for him to think that his experiences as a victim of sexual abuse as a teenager made him feel he could say outrageous things on the subject. He said he never intended to suggest sexual abuse of minors is OK. In a statement Tuesday, he said, “I would be wrong to allow my poor choice of words to detract from my colleagues’ important reporting, so today I am resigning from Breitbart, effective immediately.” On Monday, he was disinvited from the Conservative Political Action Conference after video of his remarks was promoted through social media by a conservative blog. And, publisher Simon & Schuster announced that it would cancel the publication of his book, Dangerous. While Alex Marlow, editor-in-chief of Breitbart, on Tuesday called Yiannopoulos’ comments about pedophilia “indefensible” and “appalling,” he also defended Yiannopoulos, saying there was no evidence Yiannopoulos had acted as a sexual predator and instead had been a victim of a “coordinated hit” by liberal groups intent on hurting his career.