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☆ Alice Munro, Nobel Prize winner and ‘master of the short story,’ dies aged 92
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-14 | by ( Yahya Salem | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

CNN —Alice Munro, the Nobel Literature Prize winner best known for her mastery of short stories and depictions of womanhood in rural settings, has died in Ontario, Canada, at the age of 92. The news was confirmed to CNN “with great sadness” by a spokesperson at her publisher, Penguin Random House. It largely sets the tone for Munro’s prose; semi-autobiographical in nature and exploring the universality of the human urge for self-discovery, love, and independence, through the mundanity of everyday life in small, rural communities. Alice Munro, left, and Margaret Atwood at the National Arts Club in February 2005. Munro’s mastery of short stories and literature has been lauded by many of her contemporaries.

Persons: Alice Munro, Munro, “, Emily Brontë, Charles Dickens, Lucy Maud Montgomery, ”, ” Stephen Pearson, James Munro, Catherine, Eudora Welty, Flannery O’Connor, Carson McCullers, —, General’s, ” Munro, Margaret Atwood, Atwood, Diane Bondareff, James Wood Organizations: CNN, Penguin Random, “ The Paris, Guardian, Fairfax Media, University of Western, CBC, Yorker, National Arts Club, Literature Locations: Ontario, Canada, Wingham , Ontario, ”, University of Western Ontario, Vancouver, Victoria, Canadian, Russian

☆ Opinion | Rita, Anita, My Mother and Me
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-11 | by ( Deborah Paredez | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Some Latina mothers teach their daughters how to spoon masa or plátano onto a corn husk or banana leaf when making tamales or pasteles. My Latina mother taught me to love musicals. Perhaps it’s because, like all musicals, “West Side Story” is a complex form of representation that revels in both its messiness and its marvelousness. My mother was showing me a diva who could move across these imposed limits. Many of us have cataloged and condemned the musical’s depictions of criminal youth and blatantly sexual women all speaking in exaggerated accents.

Persons: Barbra Streisand, Fanny Brice, Diana Ross, Rita Moreno, Anita, ” Organizations: Broadway Locations: “, America

☆ Ryan Gosling says his version of Ken in 'Barbie' was inspired by '80s Sylvester Stallone and 'The Bachelorette'
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-08 | by ( Amanda Goh | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

Ryan Gosling says his Ken in "Barbie" was inspired by Sylvester Stallone and "The Bachelorette." The Oscar-nominated actor spoke to Variety about his portrayal of Ken in the film. AdvertisementRyan Gosling says his version of Ken in "Barbie" was inspired by '80s Sylvester Stallone and "The Bachelorette." The Oscar-nominated actor spoke to Variety about how he portrayed Ken in the film, including the inspiration behind Ken's outfits and behavior. That's a result of Gosling and director Greta Gerwig's mutual love for '80s Sylvester Stallone, the actor said.

Persons: Ryan Gosling, Ken, Barbie, Sylvester Stallone, —, Gosling, Greta Gerwig's Organizations: Variety, Service, Business

☆ Rick Bass Sees Links Between Hunting and Writing
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-01 | by ( ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

What books are on your night stand? “Ædnan” by Linnea Axelsson; “Father and Son” and “Passage to Juneau” by Jonathan Raban; “All the Pretty Horses” (re-re-read); “Cold Mountain” (re-re-re-read); “Mink River” by Brian Doyle. I’m less patient and can barely any longer abide even one misstep in a sentence, no matter how “good” the story. I crave protein and carbohydrates and no longer have much interest in sugar. It’s like the old Woody Allen joke: I’m prolific, I write a book every year/No I’m not prolific at all, I write a book every year.

Persons: Linnea Axelsson, Son ”, Jonathan Raban, Brian Doyle, Woody Allen Locations: Juneau

☆ 'Vampire' stars could be using galactic henchmen to help feed on their companions
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-02 | by ( Hannah Getahun | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Type-Be stars, nicknamed "vampire" stars, are believed to strip the mass of a nearby star. Type-Be stars, characterized by their large size and surrounding rings of gas, are a subset of type-B stars , which are very hot, bright, and blue. The nickname "vampire stars" comes from the most accepted theory of how type-Be stars form rings, researchers said in the study — by sucking the metaphorical neck of an intergalactic victim. AdvertisementThe team observed the type-Be stars by comparing the positions of various stars over longer and shorter periods. However, the team was surprised to learn that they were detecting a higher rate of binary systems for type-B stars than for type-Be stars.

Persons: —, Jonathan Dodd, de Mink, thrall, Dodd Organizations: Service, Royal Astronomical Society, ESO, University of Leeds, European Space Agency

☆ The Undoing of George Santos
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-01 | by ( Vanessa Friedman | More About Vanessa Friedman | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

It may get prosecutors excited, but the general public finds it boring. They make the narrative of wrongdoing personal, because one thing almost everyone can relate to is luxury goods. There’s a reason even Richard Nixon boasted in a 1952 speech that his wife, Pat, didn’t “have a mink coat. In this, as in so many things, the former president appears to be an exception to the rule.) “The notion of elected officials being public servants may be a polite fiction, but it is a polite fiction we expect politicians to maintain,” Mr. Blake said.

Persons: —, Richard Nixon, Pat, didn’t, Wilentz, Mr, Blake, David Axelrod, ” Organizations: Democratic, Institute of Politics, University of Chicago Locations: America, Washington, ”

☆ Don Laughlin, Who Turned a Patch of Desert Into a Casino Mecca, Dies at 92
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-01 | by ( Adam Nossiter | More About Adam Nossiter | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The principal of the one-room schoolhouse he attended for high school was not amused. “He said to get out of the gambling business or get out of high school,” Mr. Laughlin told The Review-Journal. By 1954 he had saved enough to buy a restaurant in North Las Vegas, the 101 Club. But Mr. Laughlin was restless. He learned to fly — it became his passion — and began scouting the state for an alternative to Las Vegas.

Persons: Donald Joseph Laughlin, Raymond, Olive, Donald, “, ” Mr, Laughlin, ‘, — Locations: Laughlin, Owatonna, Minn, Minneapolis, Las Vegas, United States, North Las Vegas, Vegas, Nevada, Arizona, California, Colorado

☆ ‘I’ve always made fun of the rules.’ John Waters has only ever been himself
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-04 | by ( Marie Lodi | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

“I could keep all the money,” Waters once told culture website Flavorwire of the screenings. During a press preview for the exhibition, Waters revealed that one item he wished they had procured was Divine’s “cheater” — drag terminology for a prosthetic vulva with fake pubic hair. Whether it’s subverting a four-figure tub of moisturizer or Hollywood, Waters has always been true to himself. “I’ve always made fun of the rules of the world that I live in. That’s how you can have fun, by breaking some of them.”One rule Waters isn’t breaking, however, is his daily writing schedule.

Persons: CNN —, John Waters, Jenny He, Dara Jaffe, Greg Gorman, Waters, Glenn Milstead, Mink, Edith Massey, Cookie Mueller, Mary Vivian Pearce, Lawrence Irvine, Prince, Puke, William S, that’s, ”, Kathleen Turner, “, ” Jaffe, Charles White, ” Waters, Marjorie Taylor Greene, That’s, he’s, —, you've, ” Chris Pizzello, thusfar, Divine, Ricki Lake, Traci Turnblad, Traci, Amber Von Tussle’s, Van Smith, Isabelle Huppert — Waters, “ I’ve, There’s Organizations: CNN, Academy Museum Foundation, Hollywood, Academy Museum of Motion Pictures, NYU, Warner Bros, Burroughs, Academy Museum, Wesleyan University, Charles White / Academy Museum Foundation, New York Times, Maybelline Locations: Los Angeles, American, Lutherville , Maryland, Baltimore, Sleaze, LA, Middletown , Connecticut, Cape Cod, Waters, Hollywood, Seattle

☆ Animal rights activists storm Coach runway show in New York
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-08 | by ( Amy Woodyatt | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —Animal rights activists interrupted Coach’s runway show at New York Fashion Week on Thursday to campaign against the use of leather. One woman held a “Coach leather kills” sign, while the other had the same slogan painted on her front. “It’s time to STOP selling someone else’s skin and drop leather, @Coach,” animal rights organization People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) posted later on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, alongside a video of the incident. An activist is seen protesting outside during the COACH Spring 2024 Ready To Wear Runway Show and dinner event at the New York Public Library (NYPL) during New York Fashion Week. New York Fashion week kicked off on Thursday, and will run until September 13.

Persons: Gilbert Carrasquillo, ” Tracy Reiman, they’re, Jennifer Lopez, Lil Nas, Stuart Vevers ’, aren’t Organizations: CNN, Animal, New York, Animals, PETA, New York Public Library, Tapestry Inc Locations: New

☆ Norway, Finland battle rapid spread of bird flu
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-28 | by ( Louise Rasmussen | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] People wearing protective suits collect dead birds, as there is a major outbreak of bird flu, in Vadso municipality in Finnmark in Norway, July 20,2023. Oyvind Zahl Arntzen/NTB/via REUTERS/File PhotoCOPENHAGEN, July 28 (Reuters) - Norway and Finland face record outbreaks of bird flu this year which have killed thousands of seagulls and other species, put livestock at risk and restricted travel in some areas, officials said. Avian influenza, commonly called bird flu, has circulated throughout Europe in recent years, leading to a cull in May and June of millions of birds on French farms alone and affecting the supply of poultry meat and eggs. The H5N1 virus strain has spread among poultry and wild birds for years but there have been sporadic outbreaks reported globally in mammals such as cats, mink and otters. Neighbouring Finland also said wild birds were heavily affected and that the H5N1 strain has now been found in 20 fur farms, up from 12 earlier this week.

Persons: Oyvind Zahl, Ole, Herman Tronerud, Louise Breusch Rasmussen, Terje Solsvik, Toby Chopra Organizations: Norwegian Food Safety Authority, Norwegian Food, World Health, Thomson Locations: Vadso, Finnmark, Norway, COPENHAGEN, Finland, Europe, Norway's Finnmark, Norwegian

☆ Who is Ken, really? The history of the world’s most misunderstood doll
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-22 | by ( Scottie Andrew | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +13 min

March 11, 1961: When Ken met BarbieThis original Ken doll from 1961 was supposed to be so handsome and magnetic that Barbie fell instantly in love. 1970s -1990s: Ken tries to be trendyEven with an ever-fashionable companion like Barbie, Ken could never quite crack it when it came to personal style, though he certainly tried. Mod Hair Ken: A quintessentially ‘70s doll with a massive mop of hair, extra-long sideburns and bonus facial hair made for mixing and matching. Totally Hair Ken: It looks how it sounds — this ’90s Ken came with a long, unkempt mane, real hair gel and a small comb his owners could use to style him however they wanted. Mattel introduced a “new and improved” Ken doll almost two years to the day after his break-up with Barbie.

Persons: CNN — “ Barbie, Ken, Barbie, He’s, cinephiles, “ Barbie, Kenneth Carson, Ryan Gosling, Ruth Handler, ”, They’d, Ken wasn’t, diehard Barbie, ” M.G, Yvonne Hemsey, “ hipper, Dan Savage, ” Savage, Mattel, Savage, they’d, —, Russell Arons, Barbie “, ” Arons, Barbie – Blaine, Phillip Bloch, Bloch, Matthew McConaughey, Orlando Bloom, “ Ken, ” Bloch, Woody, Buzz Lightyear, Michael Keaton, hadn’t, “, Valentine’s, Ryan Gosling cheesing, Gosling, Greta Gerwig, Robbie, Kenergy ”, ” Gosling, Ken’s, he’s, Jimmy Fallon, I’m, Ken —, Barbie ” Organizations: CNN, Warner Bros, Discovery, Mattel, New, Historical Society, New York Times, Pixar, ascot, Valentine’s, ” CNN, Facebook, Venice Locations: Barbie’s, Willows , Wisconsin, Cali, Europe, New York, Los Angeles

☆ London festival explores the power of ecopoetry to deliver hope
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-20 | by ( Sarah Mills | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/3] Poet Nina Mingya Powles performs for Reuters on stage at the National Poetry Library, ahead of 'Poetry International' in London, Britain, July 19, 2023. Its organisers said ecopoetry was an obvious focus given rising concern about climate change as record-breaking heatwaves have swept parts of the globe. Also taking part is 30-year-old New Zealand born poet Nina Mingya Powles who is concerned about water quality. "If someone feels in (a) poem, the boundaries collapse between ... what we think of as the human and the non-human ... that for me is hope," she said. Reporting by Sarah Mills; Editing by Barbara Lewis and Alison WilliamsOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Nina Mingya Powles, Sarah Mills, Ted Hughes, ecopoetry, CAConrad, Barbara Lewis, Alison Williams Organizations: Reuters, Poetry, REUTERS, Southbank, British, Thomson Locations: London, Britain, New Zealand, Wellington Harbour

☆ See how an interior designer turned a 124-year-old home she bought on Facebook for $15,000 into a dreamy country getaway
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-17 | by ( Alcynna Lloyd | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

In 2019, Claire Zinnecker purchased a barren plot of land with no immediate plans for development. Her plans quickly changed after discovering an idyllic 124-year-old home on Facebook Marketplace. See how she and her partner moved the crumbling house and restored its classic charm. "I was not planning on doing anything with the land for a while because it was completely raw," she told Insider. See how the couple transformed the crumbling home and barren land into a country getaway.

☆ Opinion | If the Pandemic Is No Longer a Public Health Emergency, Then What Is It?
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-09 | by ( David Quammen | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +3 min

Is malaria an emergency? Is tuberculosis of international concern? I’m neither a public health expert nor a scientist, so I offer a citizen’s opinion: Yes, it’s time to cease calling Covid-19 a public health emergency of international concern. Therefore, Covid is still certainly a public health situation of international concern. We will need to keep improving laboratory techniques and manufacturing capacity for potentially ever-revised Covid vaccines.

"I was previously considered wealthy in the area," said Liu, who also owns some commercial property in the northeastern city of Liaoyuan. In play now in China, where around 70% of household wealth is in property, this phenomenon is weighing on the post-pandemic recovery of household consumption, which Chinese policymakers have vowed to make a more prominent driver of economic growth. Capital Economics estimates net household wealth declined 4.3% overall last year, due to falling house and stock prices, the first decline since at least 2001. Indeed, deposits rose a further 9.9 trillion yuan in the first quarter of this year. ($1 = 6.8376 Chinese yuan renminbi)Additional reporting by Shuyan Wang; Editing by Marius Zaharia and Kim CoghillOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Flu experts gather with H5N1 risk on the agenda
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-24 | by ( Jennifer Rigby | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

But it is also a chance to discuss the risk of animal viruses spilling over to humans and causing a pandemic. At this week's meeting, H5N1 clade 2.3.4.4b was a key topic, the World Health Organization (WHO) and global flu experts told Reuters. They will brief reporters on both the seasonal flu vaccine composition and spillover risks later on Friday. "We need to really continue the efforts for a flu pandemic." A number of companies that produce seasonal flu vaccines can also make pandemic flu vaccines.

☆ Analysis: Why public health officials are not panicked about bird flu
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-23 | by ( Julie Steenhuysen | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

They say the attributes that have made this virus thrive in wild birds likely make it less infectious to people. Although the exact changes required for a bird flu virus to become easily transmissible in people are not known, a pair of landmark studies done a decade ago offer some clues. Mink have both avian and human-type receptors, but avian receptors are scarce in humans and located deep in the lungs. That change is a must if a bird flu virus is to spread easily in people. None of the experts discounted the possibility that H5N1 or another avian flu virus could mutate and spark a pandemic, and many believe the world has not seen its last flu pandemic.

LONDON, Feb 8 (Reuters) - The recent spread to mammals of H5N1 influenza - commonly known as bird flu - needs to be monitored, but the risk to humans remains low, the World Health Organization said on Wednesday. He said the risk to humans remained low, noting that human cases have been rare since the flu strain emerged in 1996. "But we cannot assume that will remain the case and we must prepare for any change in the status quo," Tedros said. He said people were advised not to touch dead or sick wild animals and to instead report them to local and national authorities, who were monitoring the situation. The WHO also recommended strengthening surveillance in settings where humans and animals interact, he said.

☆ Hong Kong to resume hamster imports a year after mass cull over Covid
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-06 | by ( Marie Brockling | Dorothy Kam | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +3 min

HONG KONG — Hong Kong is lifting a ban on the importing of hamsters for sale, a year after it ordered more than 2,000 hamsters and other small mammals to be culled in an effort to prevent pets from spreading Covid-19 to people. The Hong Kong government ordered the culling last January after a small virus outbreak was traced to a pet shop called Little Boss that had imported hamsters from the Netherlands. Hong Kong residents who had recently purchased hamsters were advised to surrender their pets, shops selling hamsters were temporarily shut down and an import ban was enacted. But at the time of the Hong Kong government’s decision last year, the Chinese territory was following a strict “zero-Covid” approach in line with mainland China, leading officials to act aggressively. In recent weeks both Hong Kong and mainland China have relaxed anti-Covid restrictions that minimized cases and deaths but also caused widespread public frustration.

☆ 'How dare he?' New Hampshire seethes at Biden's planned changes to the 2024 Democratic presidential primaries
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-18 | by ( Natasha Korecki | Natasha Korecki Is A Senior National Political Reporter For Nbc News. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +9 min

“How dare he?” Laurie Jasper, a member of the New Hampshire Federation of Republican Women, said. Salting the wound was the revelation that South Carolina hadn’t even asked to be first, and officials there contend they were as surprised as anyone to be handed the spot. In South Carolina, the majority of Democratic primary voters are African American. “North Carolina is more diverse than South Carolina. Democrats say they aren’t about to retreat behind South Carolina and anyway, they can’t.

☆ Danish PM picks right-leaning rivals as key ministers in new government
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-15 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

COPENHAGEN, Dec 15 (Reuters) - Denmark's Social Democratic Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen on Thursday appointed right-leaning political rivals as key ministers in her new reform-oriented bipartisan government. Opposition leader Jakob Ellemann-Jensen of the Liberal Party was appointed deputy prime minister and defence minister, while former prime minister and leader of the newly formed Moderates party, Lars Lokke Rasmussen, was appointed foreign minister. Nicolai Wammen of the Social Democratic Party retained his role as finance minister. Outgoing climate minister Dan Jorgensen will now head a new ministry for development cooperation and global climate policy. Reporting by Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen and Nikolaj Skydsgaard; Editing by Frank Jack Daniel and Tomasz JanowskiOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Thousands of mink swarm northwest Ohio as police seek vandals that freed them
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-17 | by ( Sharon Bernstein | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The animals, which escaped on Tuesday, overran nearby roads, and many were hit by passing vehicles, while hunters went after still more, local media in Van Wert County, Ohio, reported. He warned that mink "are carnivorous animals that stick to a diet of fresh kills," regularly hunting animals larger than themselves. In 2013, a group calling itself the Animal Liberation Front took credit for releasing mink at a farm in Van Wert County. However, it was not immediately clear whether that group was involved in releasing the mink on Tuesday. The Delphos Herald reported that the group took credit for releasing about 1,000 mink from another Ohio farm earlier this month.

☆ Danes hand Social Democrats mandate to form government
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-02 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

The Social Democrats secured their strongest backing in more than two decades. Danes on Tuesday handed the Social Democratic Party a mandate to form a new government in a general election seen as a vote of confidence in Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen's handling of the pandemic and her leadership to overcome yet another crisis. "Thanks to all Danes who have trusted us with your vote, it's a huge vote of confidence. The Social Democrats again became the biggest in parliament with 27.5% of votes. She said she will submit the resignation of her one-party government to the Queen on Wednesday and seek to form a broad government.

☆ Denmark's PM to explore broad coalition after narrow election win
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-02 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

COPENHAGEN, Nov 2 (Reuters) - Denmark's Social Democratic Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, who narrowly won Tuesday's general election, handed in her resignation on Wednesday and said she would begin exploring a coalition across the political middle. The prime minister had campaigned on the need for a broad coalition across the traditional left-right divide, arguing that unity is needed at a time of international uncertainty. The talks are expected to be lengthy as both friends and foes of Frederiksen have expressed scepticism about such a coalition, making the outcome uncertain. The left-leaning bloc, which includes the Social Democratic party, won 90 seats, the slimmest possible majority in the 179-seat parliament, while the right-wing bloc won 73 seats and a newly formed centrist party secured 16. Frederiksen could begin negotiations with former prime minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen and his new non-aligned centrist party, the Moderates, which have also campaigned for a coalition of mainstream parties.

☆ Denmark Prime Minister Poised for Re-Election Amid Surging Inflation, War in Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-01 | by ( Sune Engel Rasmussen | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

COPENHAGEN—Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen looked poised to win re-election by a razor-thin margin Tuesday in an election dominated by a cost-of-living crunch and a disruption in gas supplies from Russia, which had added pressure on her government already under fire for its order to cull millions of mink during the Covid-19 pandemic. Ms. Frederiksen’s Social Democrats won 27.5% of the vote, making it by far the largest of the 14 parties on the ballot. The center-left coalition backing her had gained 87 of the 90 mandates needed to win a majority after all the votes had been counted in metropolitan Denmark.

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