Iranian moderates on Monday won a majority in parliament and in the body that selects the Islamic Republic’s next supreme leader. President Hassan Rouhani, in addition to his moderate conservative allies won 15 out of the capital’s 16 seats on the clerical body. Reformists, who are in favor of a relationship with the West and social freedoms, won at least 85 seats in parliament. Reformists and moderate conservatives now have a reported majority in the 290-seat assembly. Voter turnout was at  62 percent, according to Interior Minister Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli, and the election was seen as a major blow to the hardline conservative Islamic establishment. “This election can be a turning point in the history of the Islamic Republic,” said an editorial in reformist newspaper Mardom-Salari, whose managing editor, Mostafa Kavakebian, won a parliamentary seat in Tehran.

A nanny allegedly waited until a 4-year-old’s parents left their apartment, killed the child, decapitated her, and set the house on fire. The woman was detained in Moscow after she was caught on camera holding the girl’s head to the sky near a metro station and shouting “I am a terrorist!” The suspect has been identified as a 39-year-old Uzbekistan woman named Gyulchekhra Bobokulova. Local media reports say police tried to check the woman’s papers and she responded by taking the head out of her bag. Video footage reportedly shows one officer charge at the woman before a group of others tackle her to the ground. A round object can be seen rolling away as she falls. Police have said they are not treating the incident as related to terrorism.

Cardinal George Pell, the Vatican’s financial adviser, admitted that the Catholic Church made “enormous mistakes” in handling sexual-abuse allegations. The cardinal testified late Sunday into early Monday to an Australian inquiry into child sex abuse via video link from Rome. Australia’s most senior Catholic acknowledged that he heard an Catholic school teacher might’ve been involved in “pedophilia activity” during his time as a priest in the 1970s in the Ballarat diocese in southern Australia. However, Pell denied allegations that he ignored warnings and maintained that he wasn’t’’ aware of the “catastrophe” caused by clergy abuse. Pell also admitted that he made mistakes in believing priests over victims, saying, “if a priest denied such activity, I was very strongly inclined to accept the denial.”

*LBN-INVESTIGATES: The only president to be unanimously elected was George Washington (1732-1799). He also refused to accept his presidential salary, which was $25,000 a year.

*LBN-BUSINESS INSIDER:   ***The cause célèbre in Hollywood during this year’s Oscars was diversity — but over at the Beverly Hills Hotel VIPs have largely forgotten about a boycott over gay rights. In 2014, Tinseltown was up in arms about the controversy surrounding the Beverly Hills Hotel’s parent, Dorchester Collection, because of its backer, the Sultan of Brunei’s stance against gay rights in his homeland. Two years on, Taylor Swift, Calvin Klein, Kevin Spacey, Lorne Michaels and others have reportedly been seen dining at the hotel’s Polo Lounge, and over the weekend, Russell Crowelunched with Leo DiCaprio and DJ Khaled by the pool. Sean Penn even set up a command center there during his “El Chapo” p.r. whirlwind.

*LBN-MEDIA INSIDER:   ***Chris Rock came out swinging in one of the most anticipated opening monologues in years and took on the diversity controversy from the get-go at the 88th Academy Awards. Last night also saw Brie Larson win Best Actress, Leonardo DiCaprio snag Best Actor in his fifth nomination, Alejandro G. Iñárritu was named Best Director and Spotlight won Best Picture. With all that, the Oscars themselves did not have a great night ratings-wise with a 23.1/37 in metered market results. Declining to an 8-year low, that’s down 6% from the 24.6/39 that the ceremony got last year in early results from the 56 markets across the country. That 2015 Neil Patrick Harris-hosted Oscars were matched with the 2011 Oscars for the third worst the Academy Awards has done in MM ratings since the last time Rock fronted the gig in 2005 – only 2009’s Hugh Jackman-hosted 23.3 and 2008’sJon Stewart-hosted 21.9 were lower. Obviously, in the early results, last night’s show dipped below 2009 and close to 2008 numbers.

*LBN-NOTICED:   ***Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly was spotted at Vanity Fair’s dinner before the Oscars, along with the event’s LA regulars like Judd Apatow, Don Rickles, Larry David, Martin Short and dapper designer Tom Ford. Busy Kelly this month closed a book deal that’s said to be worth about $10 million with HarperCollins, and she graced the February issue of VF.   ***PMK•BNC p.r. gurus Cindi Bergerand Marian Koltai-Levine hosted their annual Oscars dinner at Craig’s on Friday night — one of the weekend’s newer traditions as a cozy, clubby respite from over-branded scrums. Supping together at one table was a trio of former high-ranking Disney execs: Anne Sweeney, Discovery’s Rich Ross and his husband, Adam Sanderson. Also chowing down was legal powerhouse Patricia Glaser, and Matt Rutler, the fiancé of Christina Aguilera.

*LBN-LEGAL INSIDER: L.A. uber-attorney Tom Girardi will be the guest of honor at next week’s “City Talk” event on Monday, March 7th at the elegant and popular steak house, Baltaire on San Vincente Blvd. in Brentwood. “City Talk” is an invitation only month conversation series for L.A. movers and shakers.

*LBN-SITE OF THE DAY:
Wikiquote
“Wikiquote is a free online compendium of sourced quotations from notable people and creative works in every language, translations of non-English quotes, and links to Wikipedia for further information.”

*LBN-SPOTLIGHT: Deliciously Healthy, Premium Quality Meals and Menus –  Customized Meal Delivery Service or Pickup at our west L.A. Facility. WWW.NutriFitOnLine.com – For additional information, call Jackie Keller —-

*LBN-COMMENTARY by Mark Baer (Award-winning mediator): A great many people wrongly believe that shaming others produces positive results. According to Brene’ Brown, Ph.D., “separating self from behavior is the difference between shame and guilt. Shame is very correlated with addiction, depression, suicide, aggression, violence, bullying, and eating disorders. Guilt, on the other hand, is inversely correlated with those same outcomes.” We have a huge problem with the consequences of a shame-based culture. Let’s start addressing the cause of our problems, rather than just the symptoms.  I therefore strongly recommend that people take the time to learn from Dr. Brown’s research on vulnerability, courage, authenticity, and shame.

*LBN-OVERHEARD:   ***After an investigation, Salma Hayek’s neighbor has confessed to killing her beloved dog Mozart. The unidentified neighbor told Washington state authorities that he was fed up with Hayek’s dogs entering his property and attacking his dogs, according to TMZ. On the day of the incident, the neighbor says he spotted Hayek’s dogs in his garage and fired a pellet gun to scare them off. Although he didn’t intend on killing any of the animals, he claims, a pellet struck the German Shepherd mix nicking him in an artery near his heart.