UNITED NATIONS — Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has appointed Leonardo DiCaprio as a United Nations Messenger of Peace to help promote global action on climate change.
Ban told a news conference Tuesday that the American actor "is not just one of the world's leading actors" but he has "a longstanding commitment to environmental causes."
DiCaprio established a foundation in 1998 with a mission to promote the Earth's last wild places and build a more harmonious relationship between humanity and the natural world.
The secretary-general said DiCaprio will address next Tuesday's climate summit, where he expects some 120 world leaders.
DiCaprio said he was honored by the role and that he feels "a moral obligation to speak out at this key moment in human history" about the threat of climate change.
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The 39-year-old "Wolf of Wall Street" star founded an environmental foundation in 1998.
He joins 11 other prominent world figures who advocate on behalf of the U.N. as Messengers of Peace, including Stevie Wonder, Michael Douglas, George Clooney, Brazilian author Paulo Coelho and conductor Daniel Barenboim.
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CBS: Rihanna out of NFL telecast
NEW YORK — CBS and Rihanna are splitting up, more fallout from the Ray Rice domestic violence incident and the turmoil it has caused for the NFL.
The network said Tuesday it was permanently editing a song featuring Rihanna's voice out of its Thursday night NFL telecasts — after the singer issued a profane tweet about it.
A portion of Jay-Z's "Run This Town" featuring Rihanna was cut from last Thursday's Baltimore Ravens vs. Pittsburgh Steelers game because CBS was covering the controversy over Ravens running back Rice's assault of his then-fiancee. CBS planned to use the song Thursday and for the rest of the season, but Rihanna tweeted, "CBS you pulled my song last week, now you wanna slide it back in this Thursday? ... Y'all are sad for penalizing me for this." She added an expletive.
CBS issued a statement saying that it was "moving in a different direction" with different theme music.
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The song was one of a handful of elements CBS cut out of its inaugural Thursday night football telecast. At the time, CBS Sports President Sean McManus said Rihanna's own history as a victim of domestic violence was one part of the decision but not the overriding one. The song was to be featured in all six of the Thursday night games CBS was broadcasting this fall, plus eight more on the NFL network.
A spokesperson for Rihanna had no immediate comment on the CBS decision or her client's tweet.
The decision means a significant loss of weekly exposure for Rihanna's work: more than 10 million people watched the opening of the telecast last Thursday, according to the Nielsen company.
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Chicago mayor says students read 2.7 million books
CHICAGO — Chicago Public School students read 2.7 million books this summer as part of Mayor Rahm Emanuel's Readers Summer Learning Challenge, officials announced Monday
The number eclipsed the goal agreed upon by Emanuel and NBC's "Tonight Show" host Jimmy Fallon. The two agreed during a June appearance on the show by Emanuel that Fallon would bring his production to Chicago for several shows if Chicago Public School students read 2.4 million books this summer.
"It's time to pick a venue, Jimmy," Mayor Emanuel said in a statement.
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Emanuel's appearance with Fallon was the result of a previous deal between the two men. The mayor agreed to appear on the show if Fallon participated in Chicago's Polar Plunge into Lake Michigan in February.
Fallon took part in the event dressed in a business suit.
The Summer Learning Challenge, funded through the Chicago Public Library Foundation, is designed to keep children engaged in learning over the summer break. Its goal is to prevent the "summer slide," a documented loss of academic knowledge and skills in kids who don't take part in such summer activities.
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Seinfeld says Rivers was to be in series
NEW YORK — Jerry Seinfeld says that Joan Rivers was to join him for an episode of his digital series "Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee," until he got a call saying she had to postpone because she was undergoing a medical procedure.
Rivers went into cardiac arrest following a throat procedure on Aug. 28 and died on Sept. 4.
Seinfeld, in a post on his show's Facebook page on Monday, said Rivers had been thrilled to be included.
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He wrote that he wanted to show another side of Rivers, and to tell her how much he admired her accomplishments, especially later in her career. Seinfeld called her one of the greats and said, "I'll miss her."
