Last night Glamour’s Women of the Year Awards were held in New York and Rihanna took home top honours:  Woman of the Year.  Iman presented the award to her by saying how inspired she was by the young singer:

“Now I am even more impressed with her dignity and courage,”

Rihanna:

“It means a lot, because I’m a woman and I represent a lot of things for women, and part of that is being strong and being confident and being comfortable with who you are. And, all the women on the list this year happen to have all those qualities, so it’s an honour to be the Woman of the Year amongst all those great women.”

She also talked about what her interview with Diane Sawyer did for her:

“it was like a weight lifted off my chest and now I don’t have to talk about it anymore. I can talk about my music, things that I love”

Other winners of last night’s awards included:

• Stella McCartney
• Serena Williams
• Dr. Maya Angelou
• Dr. Jane Aronson
• Laura Ling and Euna Lee
• Marissa Mayer
• One Million Signatures Campaign
• Amy Poehler
• Susan Rice
• Maria Shriver
• Special Recognition: Michelle Obama

Amy Poehler received her award for being an inspiration to girls and said when she won:

“Girls, if boys say something that’s not funny, you don’t have to laugh,”

That’s so Amy, isn’t it??  :)

Lots of pictures after the break

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The stars came out big  for Day 3 (yesterday) of Clinton’s Global Initiative where Ben Stiller was Master of Ceremonies and Quincy Jones (among others) was honoured.  Lisa Ling, Usher and Demi Moore presented recipients with awards and Alicia Keys entertained.

Brad Pitt was also honoured by the U.S. Green Building Council because he had created the “largest and greenest single-family community in the world” with his Make It Right foundation.  Brad Pitt said:

“Make It Right has exceeded my expectations. Our criteria from the beginning were at odds, to say the least. We demanded that these homes be sustainable, that they have aesthetic qualities … that they be storm resilient and take safety in mind of the families who live there and that they would be affordable.

“If we had not been so blissfully naive to the potential, we would not be experiencing what we are seeing today and that is the unquantifiable joy of families returning home to the 9th Ward and returning home to something that was better than before. What the team has done here is not so exceptional. All we did was put the right people together and answer the problems as they came along and that is why we’re here today.”

Also on hand yesterday were Barbra Streisand, Jessica Alba, Bono, Ricky Martin, Mira Sorvino, and Julia Ormond.

Pictures after the break

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Ginnifer Goodwin looks cute as can be as she attends a special screening of ‘The September Issue’ in Los Angeles last night.

She is joined by:

• Kelly Rowland
• Rose Byrne
• Lisa Ling
• Krysten Ritter
• Jennifer Morrison
• Nicole Mitchell Murphy
• Sanaa Lathan
• Jamie Pressly
• Shenae Grimes
• Perrey Reeves

Click on thumbnails to enlarge

Photos:  WENN.com

People.com is reporting that Former President Bill Clinton is en route to Los Angeles with Lisa Ling’s sister Laura Ling and their reporter friend Euna Lee after talks with North Korea’s Leader Kim Jong II resulted in their pardon and release.

Laura Ling and Euna Lee were initially detained March 17 after trespassing from China and sentenced in June to 12 years of hard labor for “committing hostilities against the Korean nation and illegal entry.”

The talks with North Korea are said to have been ‘exhaustive’.

This is absolutely the best news to hear!  The stress these women have endured not to mention that of their family and friends must have been beyond tremendous.  I can not even fathom it.  God bless Bill Clinton and all those involved in making this mission successful!

Photo:  WENN.com

This is so very tragic I can not imagine what the families must be feeling.  Former View co-host, Lisa Ling’s sister Laura and her friend Euna Lee have been sentenced in North Korea’s highest court for 12 years of hard labour (prison camp) for “for the grave crime they committed against the Korean nation and their illegal border crossing.”

They were in China for former Vice President Al Gore‘s Current TV, where they were covering international trafficking of women and it is believed they were abducted and taken over the border.

The trial has been shrouded in secrecy and it is unknown (other than crossing the border) why these women were arrested March 17.

The Ling and Lee families had quietly been working to release the two women and decided to reach out to the public on May 31.  A joint statement from the families pleading for the:

“expeditious release of Laura and Euna on humanitarian grounds,” stressing, “Euna Lee is the mother of a 4-year old daughter. And Laura was being treated for an ulcer prior to her departure, and in our limited communication with her we fear it has become more serious since her detainment and requires immediate medical attention.” 

“We aren’t certain of the details of what happened on March 17, but we can say with absolute certainty that when the girls left U.S. soil, they never intended to set foot onto North Korean territory. If at any point a transgression occurred, we sincerely apologize on their behalf.”

I think if anyone had a ‘worst nightmare’ it would be something along these lines.   The families must be beside themselves with all of this.   Analysts are saying this could be used as a bargaining chip with tensions mounting from ongoing testing of nuclear missiles.  I sincerely hope the U.S. government can step in and do whatever they can to secure the release of these two women.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to the women and the families.

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