Names and faces

German customs authorities said Tuesday that Justin Bieber’s monkey is going nowhere for now, even though the singer has apparently asked that it be removed from an animal shelter where it is staying and be placed in a zoo. Mally, a 17-week-old capuchin monkey, was seized by customs authorities March 28 when Bieber failed to produce the required papers after landing in Munich while on tour. Judith Brett meister,spokesman for the Munich Animal Protection League shelter, where Mally has been kept since then, said Tuesday that her office has since received two e-mails from a representative saying he was with Bieber’s management company, one of which said, “Our team is looking into the idea of placing Mally at a zoo in Germany.” But customs spokesman Thomas Meister said Mally will stay in the shelter until Bieber or someone with his power of attorney gets in touch with customs officials directly. Bieber has until May 17 to provide Mally’s paperwork, Meister said.

Ben Affleck, the Argo director-producer-star, is the latest celebrity showing his support for the Global Poverty Project’s Live Below the Line campaign, a position actor Hugh Jackman initiated for the organization in 2011. Affleck took on the challenge to spend five days feeding himself on only $1.50 a day, which is the the U.S. equivalent of the extreme-poverty line. He showed his support for the initiative on Twitter. “1.4 billion people live on less than $1.50/day. I’m joining Live #BelowThe-Line on behalf of eastern congo. Will you?” Affleck said in a Tweet. The challenge is meant to “give a glimpse into the lives of 1.4 billion people who have no choice but to live below the line every day - and who have to make $1.50 cover a lot more than food,” according to the organization’s website. Jonah Hill, Sophia Bush, Katie Couric and The Avengers actor Tom Hiddleston also support the campaign. “Profoundly aware that to live truly #belowtheline I would have to forego many & various privileges …,” Hiddleston noted on Twitter in early April, adding, “To live truly #belowtheline I would have to surrender the roof over my head, gas, electricity, and clean, running water.”

Front Section, Pages 2 on 04/24/2013

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