The missing top models, and other Sunday items

The other day Matt was posting about the disappearance of Waris Dirie, who had launched a campaign against female genital mutilation in 1996. The Waris Dirie Foundation website has more information on her campaign.

Dirie was later found on Friday and the police are investigating the disappearance:

Dirie's manager, Walter Lutschinger, said she had been involved in an altercation in a hotel reception area after a taxi driver took her to the wrong branch of the Sofitel hotel chain. The police were called and drove Dirie around Brussels looking for the correct hotel because she had apparently forgotten where she was staying.

UPDATE
Model Dirie apologizes for 3-day disappearance
'A little misunderstanding,' she says of absence from women's conference.

Earler last week the police had found the body of another model who had spoken against FGM:

News of Dirie's disappearance came a week after French police said they had found the body of another former model of African origin who had campaigned against female genital mutilation. Guinean-born Katoucha Niane was discovered floating in the River Seine in Paris.

The French police said an autopsy showed no signs of foul play, raising the possibility that she may have fallen accidentally into the river. However, Katoucha's family members say they suspect homicide.

French police

initially said an autopsy showed no signs of foul play, pointing to the possibility that the could have fallen accidentally into the river.

The ex- model and mother of three died from "rapid submersion with no traces of violence," said a source close to the investigation. "She fell into the water and went straight to the bottom," he added.

Her family insists that a homicide investigation continue, and have requested a second autopsy.

France2 did a report on Katoucha's campaign against FGM which you can watch on YouTube (in French)

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The WSJ's Five Best books on gambling, selected by Richard Hoffer:



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Pat has the Carnival of the Insanities
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Today's shoes, looking forward to warm(er) days, the Clarks Hydrangea in bronze.