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☆ ‘La Chimera’: Alice Rohrwacher and Isabella Rossellini discuss their intoxicating tale of Italy’s tomb raiders
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-10 | by ( Thomas Page | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

CNN —In Alice Rohrwacher’s latest movie, the gently hypnotic “La Chimera,” a rakish Josh O’Connor navigates the Italian countryside with a dowsing rod in hand, searching for ancient treasure. “My job is very close to what an archaeologist does: giving meaning to things that happened in the past.”A still from "La Chimera," which was shot on three types of film stock. To approach “La Chimera” with dense history and sharp facts threatens to tear at its ethereal qualities — a hallmark of Rohrwacher’s filmmaking. Isabella Rossellini as Senora Flora in "La Chimera." “La Chimera” is released in UK cinemas on May 10 and is available to stream in the US.

Persons: Alice Rohrwacher’s, Josh O’Connor, Arthur, –, there’s, O’Connor, “, Rohrwacher, I’ve, ” Rohrwacher, ”, Curzon, tombaroli, O’Connor’s Arthur, he’s, Eurydice, Isabella Rossellini, Flora, Alice, ‘, ’ ”, Rossellini, Roberto Rossellini, Ingrid Bergman, ” “, Josh O'Connor, Virgil, Senora Flora, Ad, Federico, Fellini, Paolo, Pasolini, “ Paisan ”, ” “ Alice, it’s Organizations: CNN, “, Carabinieri, UNESCO Locations: Etruria, Tuscany, New York State, British, Italy, Rome, Open, Italian

☆ At 31 songs, Taylor Swift's new album is way too long. Is the streaming era to blame?
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-19 | by ( Callie Ahlgrim | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Taylor Swift released "The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology" on Friday. AdvertisementTaylor Swift's album release days should be days of celebration. "In the past 3 hours she has released more songs than Lorde has in the past decade," one listener observed on X. Indeed, "The Tortured Poets Department" is Swift's eighth album (including rerecords) in less than four years. Of course, Swift is far from the only artist who's released a bloated project, and these days, the streaming era is largely to blame.

Persons: Taylor Swift, Swift, it's, —, Taylor, I'd, Lorde, That's, Clara Bow, I've, haven't, Rihanna, there's, who's, they've, Swifties Organizations: Poets Department, Service, Department, Spotify, DJ

☆ Gen Z is less happy than the rest of us. Here is what would make the difference
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-09 | by ( Madeline Holcombe | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

CNN —Gen Z is having a harder time than previous generations did at their age, according to new research. It is one of a series of four surveys about Gen Z, said survey author Zach Hrynowski, a senior researcher at Gallup. Gen Z people who are 18- to 26-years-old are less likely to rate their lives positively than older generations when they were in that age range, Hrynowski said, noting this analysis didn’t do a direct comparison but used previous surveys to assess happiness levels of Gen Z and its predecessors. Two factors were heavily correlated with Gen Z happiness: how much time they got for weekend sleep and relaxation, and even more important was their sense of purpose, he said. Gen Z puts a lot of effort into skin care and mental health, but bad sleep means looking tired and feeling badly, Salas said.

Persons: Z, Zach Hrynowski, Gen, Hrynowski, ‘, Chloe Carmichael, It’s, Dr, Broderick Sawyer, ” Sawyer, Carmichael, Rachel Salas, “, ” Salas, Gen Z, Salas, ” Organizations: CNN, Gallup, Walton Family Foundation, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine Locations: New York, Louisville , Kentucky, Baltimore

☆ Baltimore Investigation Turns to Ship’s Deadly Mechanical Failure
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-30 | by ( Mike Baker | Peter Eavis | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Just minutes before the cargo ship Dali was set to glide under Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge, the ship’s alarms began to blare. The lights went out. Even the rudder, which the crew uses to maneuver the vessel, was frozen. As a frantic effort to restore the ship was underway, the pilot soon recognized that the aimless vessel was drifting toward disaster, and called for help. The cascading collapse of the vessel’s most crucial operating systems left the Dali adrift until it ultimately collided with the Key bridge, knocking the span into the river and killing six people.

Persons: Dali, Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Organizations: Engineers

☆ Vultures, on the verge of extinction, receive a lifeline in South Africa
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-22 | by ( Gertrude Kitongo | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

Sub-Saharan Africa is home to four critically endangered species of vulture, and in South Africa, a non-profit conservation and rehabilitation group called VulPro is working to protect these fascinating birds. The operation involved over 50 people, logistics company DHL and WeWild Africa, an NGO specializing in animal rewilding and translocation. It was at that very moment that I actually understood how fragile and misunderstood the species were.”An African White-backed vulture (closest to camera) at the VulPro rehabilitation center near Pretoria, South Africa. Recent efforts have concentrated on the white-headed vulture, with a population of only 3,685 adults continent-wide, according to BirdLife International, and only a small percentage of that figure in South Africa. Poisoning is the most common reason for vultures to require treatment in South Africa, often from ingesting lead in discarded batteries, or bullets in animal carcasses, says Joubert.

Persons: VulPro, ”, Kerri Wolter, Gertrude Kitongo, “, Johan Joubert, Joubert, Wolter, – Organizations: CNN, Reserve, DHL, WeWild, BirdLife International, Shamari Locations: Saharan Africa, South Africa, Eastern Cape, WeWild Africa, African, Pretoria, Africa, West Africa, KwaZulu, Natal, South

☆ Tarek El Moussa has built a million-dollar real-estate empire thanks to HGTV. He said it took hitting rock bottom to get to where he is today.
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-10 | by ( Samantha Grindell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

AdvertisementAt the top of the book, El Moussa recounts his experience living in a partially bulldozed apartment when he was 20. It's a far cry from the multimillion-dollar homes he regularly flips with his wife, Heather Rae El Moussa, these days. "It was the most difficult period of my life," El Moussa told BI of the divorce. El Moussa eventually met former "Selling Sunset" star Heather Rae El Moussa (née Young) in 2019, and she brought him "back to life." AdvertisementHis commitment to putting his kids first is part of what makes El Moussa wake up so early each day.

Persons: Tarek El Moussa's, —, Tarek El Moussa, El Moussa, Slack, Lisette Gatliff El Moussa, El, Heather Rae El Moussa, Tristan, Christina Hall, Taylor, aimless, I've, Hall, Christina, Anne Cusack, née, El Moussas, Peter Tran, he's, Moussa, I'm Organizations: Service, HGTV, TMZ, Tarek Locations: It's, Newport , California, Fort Lauderdale , Florida, LA

☆ I scrapped my 120-person Boston wedding for an intimate family ceremony in Idaho. It was a tough but empowering decision we made for our future children.
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-18 | by ( Geoff Weiss | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

We got engaged in October, and started wedding planning right away. That was always the vision I had for myself — I didn't want a big wedding with a lot of people. You start looking on Pinterest, hearing other people's testimonials on TikTok, and — all of a sudden — we're planning a 120-person wedding. AdvertisementWe're going to do the wedding in northern Idaho, close to where my family lives. I felt aimless like I didn't have a direction anymore (as I'd done weeks of planning on the first vision).

Persons: Anna Vatuone, Trevor, it's, I've Organizations: Service, Boston Locations: Oakland , California, Boston, Shore of Massachusetts, New England, caterers, Idaho, Coeur d'Alene, Pacific Northwest

☆ Democrats Plan to Spend Millions to Weaken Republican Supermajorities
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-14 | by ( Nick Corasaniti | More About Nick Corasaniti | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Democrats are planning to spend millions of dollars next year on just a few state legislative elections in Kansas, North Carolina, Kentucky and Wisconsin — states where they have little to no chance of winning control of a chamber. Yet what might appear to be an aimless move is decidedly strategic: Democrats are pushing to break up Republican supermajorities in states with Democratic governors, effectively battling to win back the veto pen district by district. Such supermajorities result when a single political party has enough votes in both chambers of a legislature to override a governor’s veto, often, though not always, by controlling two-thirds of the chamber. As gerrymanders built by both parties for decades have tipped the scales to favor the party of the map-drawers, legislative chambers have proved resistant to shifting political winds at the state level. At times, those gerrymanders have locked in minority rule in legislatures while statewide offices, like the governor’s, adhere to the desires of a simple majority of voters.

Persons: gerrymanders Organizations: Democratic Locations: Kansas , North Carolina , Kentucky, Wisconsin

☆ Republicans demand Biden challenge China's Xi on fentanyl, prisoners
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-09 | by ( Michael Martina | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The flags of the United States and China fly from a lamppost in the Chinatown neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, U.S., November 1, 2021. Republicans and Democrats in Congress have offered sometimes different approaches for countering China's growing economic and military might despite bipartisan consensus on the need to do so. But they asked Biden to present Xi with a list of 10 demands to improve relations, much like Beijing did to U.S. officials in 2021. "It is clear that competitive actions have been sacrificed to advance aimless, zombie-like engagement," they said. Reporting by Michael Martina and Patricia Zengerle; editing by Grant McCoolOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Brian Snyder, Joe Biden, Xi Jinping, Mike Gallagher, Biden, Mark Swidan, American Kai Li, David Lin, Michael Martina, Patricia Zengerle, Grant McCool Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, U.S, Beijing, Biden, Economic Cooperation, Republicans, Democrats, Treasury, Industrial, Thomson Locations: United States, China, Chinatown, Boston , Massachusetts, U.S, San Francisco, Asia, Beijing, Philippines, South China, South, Taiwan, China's Xinjiang, Texas, American

☆ ‘Different Than Anybody Who’s Ever Played’: The Victor Wembanyama Era Arrives
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-03 | by ( Robert O Connell | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +1 min

As the NBA career of French phenom Victor Wembanyama has gotten underway, Gregg Popovich, his coach with the San Antonio Spurs, has preached patience. Through the 19-year-old’s first four games this season, reserving judgment seemed wise. Wembanyama was scintillating at times—launching his 7-foot-4-inch frame to swallow up opponents’ shots or reach to the rim for long-distance slams—and aimless at others, fumbling passes and drifting around the floor. But his fifth game, Thursday night, brought a breakout to test even the most measured fan’s restraint. According to Stats Perform, two other teenagers in NBA history have matched the line since 1973-74: Kevin Durant, who scored 28 for the Suns on Thursday, and LeBron James.

Persons: Victor Wembanyama, Gregg Popovich, old’s, Wembanyama, —, aimless, — Wembanyama, Kevin Durant, LeBron James Organizations: NBA, San Antonio Spurs, Phoenix Suns, Spurs, Suns

☆ Thailand's new PM draws flak in parliament for 'aimless' economic agenda
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-11 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] Thailand's Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin delivers the policy statements of the Council of Ministers to the parliament, in Bangkok, Thailand, September 11, 2023. REUTERS/Athit Perawongmetha Acquire Licensing RightsBANGKOK, Sept 11 (Reuters) - Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin came under fire in parliament on Monday over a new government policy agenda that opposition lawmakers called vague and short of some of his party's boldest election pledges. Srettha confirmed his agenda before parliament on Monday which included digital cash handouts, lowering energy prices and relaxing visa rules to boost tourism. The new administration adopts an economy that is expected to grow 2.8% this year, below a previous forecast of 3.6%. ($1 = 35.4500 baht)Reporting by Chayut Setboonsarng, Panarat Thepgumpanat and Panu Wongcha-um; Editing by Martin PettyOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Srettha Thavisin, Athit, Srettha, Pheu, Sirikanya Tansakul, Party's Jurin Laksanawisit, Chayut Setboonsarng, Panarat, Panu, Martin Petty Organizations: Thailand's, Ministers, REUTERS, Rights, Thai, Pheu Thai Party, Thomson Locations: Bangkok, Thailand, Rights BANGKOK, Real

☆ His Mind Helped Rebuild New York. His Body Is Failing Him.
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-06 | by ( Christopher Maag | More About Christopher Maag | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

A journalist who hears the Olympics pitch describes Mr. Doctoroff as a man whose eyes “gaze past you, out towards the horizon.”Why this constant drive? His brother Andy says Mr. Doctoroff should be more introspective, and who knows. Mr. Doctoroff is aware that he graduated Harvard aimless and lazy. Wound up in New York by following his wife, Alisa, who got a job in town. It is hard work seeing the future, and so Mr. Doctoroff puts everything into the job.

Persons: Doctoroff, Andy, Harvard aimless, Alisa, “, ”, Stephen Ross, Doctoroff’s, ’ ” Sharon Greenberger Organizations: Harvard, Companies, Ivy League Locations: New York, Bluffed, Bronx, Staten Island

☆ Summer’s Not Over Yet
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-02 | by ( Melissa Kirsch | More About Melissa Kirsch | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

This weekend, while you’re working the grill or attending a parade or sitting in traffic, conversation will turn, inevitably, to the end of summer. Labor Day, nominally a holiday celebrating the industriousness of the American worker, also serves to remind the worker that they haven’t been quite as industrious as they might have been these past three months. In his eulogy for summer’s lazy days in The Times today, my colleague Stephen Kurutz mourns the vestiges of truly unmonitored working from home that this fall seems to augur: “Will we forget the small pleasure of sitting on a porch and looking at the yard?” he writes. Of trading the daily commute for an aimless drive?”Why must there be such an austere demarcation between before Labor Day and after, between summer and not-summer, between enjoying our lives and enduring them? Why have we so internalized the back-to-school dread of childhood that it’s become a permanent feature of adulthood?

Persons: You’ll, Stephen Kurutz, it’s Organizations: Labor, The Times Locations: The

☆ Rich History, Dizzying Beauty: The Sicilian City Where Aimless Wandering Is the Point
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-25 | by ( Tara Isabella Burton | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

THE SUN was setting as I made my way past tombs and ruins toward the ancient amphitheater for the night’s performance. By this point, my third day in Sicily, I was prepared to be taken back in time. The show, Euripides’ “Iphigenia in Tauris” was written in the 5th century B.C., roughly when the theater might have been completed. The scalding summertime heat of the Italian island had at last receded and the smell of jasmine and bougainvillea filled the air as I took my seat.

Persons: Euripides ’ “, Tauris ” Locations: Sicily, Tauris

☆ Screen time linked with developmental delays, study finds
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-21 | by ( Kristen Rogers | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

“The study fills an important gap because it identifies specific developmental delays (in skills) such as communication and problem-solving associated with screen time,” said Nagata, noting there haven’t been many prior studies that studied this issue with several years of follow-up data. The study measured how many hours children used screens per day at age 1 and how they performed in several developmental domains — communication skills, fine motor skills, personal and social skills, and problem-solving skills — at ages 2 and 4. By age 2, those who had had up to four hours of screen time per day were up to three times more likely to experience developmental delays in communication and problem-solving skills. “Kids learn how to talk if they’re encouraged to talk, and very often, if they’re just watching a screen, they’re not having an opportunity to practice talking,” he said. Be choosy about when you rely on screen time, and turn devices off when they’re not in use, Nagata said.

Persons: “, who’ve, ”, Jason Nagata, wasn’t, Nagata, haven’t, John Hutton, “ It’s, Hutton, they’re, ” Nagata, ” Hutton, that’s, “ There’s Organizations: CNN, University of California, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, “, American Academy of Pediatrics Locations: San Francisco, Japan, Tohoku, Miyagi, Iwate, Cincinnati

☆ Chinese millennials are freaking out about the 'Curse of 35' — when they become too old for entry-level jobs, and too young and broke to retire
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-02 | by ( Kwan Wei Kevin Tan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

"You're too old to work at 35, but too young to retire at 60," one person wrote, bemoaning the "curse." It refers, specifically, to the typical Chinese employer's preference for hiring workers who haven't reached the sell-by date of their 35th birthday. And it's not just about finding work — Chinese workers being phased out at what was previously viewed as the prime of their careers means their livelihoods could be seriously affected. "At this point in time, youth unemployment is high, so many young workers are willing to work for less. Seah told Insider that increased competition for younger workers "will eventually drive up youth wages, making them relatively more expensive to hire."

Persons: haven't, Hector Retamal, Huang, Tania Lennon, Lennon, I, Kevin Frayer, workhorses, Kelvin Seah, Seah, aren't, National University of Singapore's Seah Organizations: Twitter, Service, Getty, Peterson Institute for International Economics, International Institute for Management Development, China Initiative, Bureau of Statistics, National University of Singapore, National Bureau of Statistics, Employers, National University of Singapore's Locations: China, Wall, Silicon, Weibo, Beijing, AFP, Quy Huy

☆ History says positive returns are highly likely in the second half of the year — and these 6 stocks are among the best opportunities now, according to BMO Capital Markets
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-06 | by ( James Faris | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

After a surprisingly strong rally in the first half of 2023, BMO Capital Markets remains bullish. Here are six stocks for investors to consider in the second half of the year. Investors can count on further gains for US stocks in the next six months after a startlingly strong start to 2023, said strategists at BMO Capital Markets. In its bull case, the firm thinks the S&P 500 could climb another 13.5% to end the year at 5,050. BMO Capital Markets"SMID-caps have been unfairly punished, in our view," Belski wrote.

Persons: Brian Belski, Belski Organizations: BMO Capital Markets, BMO Capital, BMO Locations: Canada

☆ The Art of Being a Flâneur
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-19 | by ( Stephanie Rosenbloom | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +4 min

I followed the river toward the Uffizi Gallery where I stopped, enchanted by the scene below. It’s “a search for the delectable, delicious, almost gustatory delights of the moment,” as they put it. Other times, an object or architectural detail that piques your interest — a gate, a gargoyle — provides a portal to another time. Stories of vanished ages can be triggered by a single stone, then explored back home through books and websites. Being in a big city among so many strangers can be at turns exhilarating and disturbing.

Persons: Arno, Fred B, Bryant, Joseph Veroff, Puccini’s, Robert K, Merton, Elinor Barber, bento, Amer, plumb, Edgar Allan Poe’s “, Marie Roget, ”, Walter Benjamin, “ Charles Baudelaire Organizations: Uffizi, Lincoln Center, Metropolitan Opera House, Columbia University, Science, Metro, Poet Locations: Firenze, Florence, New York, Tokyo, Japan, Istanbul, Paris

☆ Why E. Jean Carroll Will Always Tell You She Is ‘Fine, Fabulous’
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-05 | by ( Ginia Bellafante | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

Taking the witness stand, she recalled that Ms. Carroll had phoned her immediately after the alleged incident with Mr. Trump “breathless, hyperventilating, emotional,” but that the subject did not come up between them again for another quarter century. Carroll is a very up person; she is not a victim,” Ms. Birnbach said. In the mid-1990s, decades after the sexual revolution, nearing the declining days of the AIDS crisis and the heyday of elite media, New York seemed to belong to women like E. Jean Carroll. A pair of big media personalities — Ms. Carroll was a well-known advice columnist by then — meeting so unexpectedly to do something vaguely conspiratorial. At the outset, the story seemed so paradigmatically “New York,” Ms. Carroll explained in her testimony.

☆ In Texas, Aimless Gunfire Rattles Residents, but It’s Hard to Stop
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-02 | by ( J. David Goodman | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

CLEVELAND, Texas — The sound of gunfire — whether from hunting, or target practice, or celebration — is common in much of rural America. Perhaps nowhere is this more true than in Texas, where the occasional volley rarely raises alarm. Officers did not arrive until after the neighbor had stormed into the family’s house and killed five people, including a 9-year-old boy and a 16-year-old girl, with his AR-15-style rifle. More than 250 officers from a dozen agencies were working to find Mr. Oropesa, a Mexican immigrant who had been deported four times before. Law enforcement officials feared that he could be heading to Mexico, or may have already arrived there.

From a vantage point in his home, Motasim said that earlier on Tuesday he could see RSF troops aiming anti-aircraft missiles from the street below. Residents from other districts said shops had been looted and people ejected from homes by armed men. In the well-heeled Khartoum 2 district, an area that is home to embassies and RSF offices, residents said RSF troops had stormed homes and raided supermarkets. RSF buildings and bases are dispersed across the capital, often in densely populated areas that have become a focus for fighting. Elsewhere in the capital area, several people told Reuters they saw RSF troops dispersing quickly into streets of residential districts when airstrikes began.

☆ Putin's army can't figure out how to use tanks, and the battlefield in Ukraine is littered with burnt wrecks
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-04 | by ( Jake Epstein | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

According to an open-source intelligence analysis by Oryx, more than 1,780 Russian tanks have been destroyed, damaged, captured, or abandoned since Moscow launched its invasion in February 2022. Due to the design of many of Russia's tanks, a hit can cause the ammunition to detonate, killing the crew as the overpressure blows the top off. And it's "questionable" how well Russia's tanks are integrated into its overall operations. A destroyed Russian tank covered by snow stands in the village of Kamyanka, Kharkiv region, Ukraine, Saturday, Jan. 14, 2023. AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda, FileClearing a minefield is a slow, complicated, and deliberate process that involves several steps, but Russian tanks appear to drive right through them.

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