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☆ Books Bound in Human Skin: An Ethical Quandary at the Library
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-19 | by ( Jennifer Schuessler | Julia Jacobs | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The New York International Antiquarian Book Fair is the place to inspect some of the most exquisite rare books on the market. But at this year’s event in early April, some browsers may have been unprepared for a small, grayish item on view: a book bound in human skin. The book, which measures about 3 by 5 inches, came with a price tag of $45,000 — and a colorful back story. According to a statement by its owner, the binding was commissioned in 1682 by an Italian doctor and anatomist identified as Jacopo X, and has been kept by his descendants ever since. So he removed a piece of skin, and used it to bind a copy of the play.

Persons: Jacopo X, Jacopo, “ Le Baron d’Albikrac, ”, ” Ian Kahn Organizations: New York Locations: Italian

☆ Unilever to Cut 7,500 Jobs and Spin Off Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream Unit
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-19 | by ( Jason Karaian | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Unilever, the consumer goods giant, said on Tuesday that it would cut 7,500 jobs and spin off its ice cream unit, which includes Ben & Jerry’s, to reduce costs and simplify its portfolio of brands. The moves would make for “a simpler, more focused and higher performing Unilever,” Ian Meakins, the London-based company’s chair, said in a statement. The group’s ice cream unit generated 7.9 billion euros ($8.6 billion) in sales last year, or about 13 percent of the group’s total. The division is home to Ben & Jerry’s, which Unilever acquired in 2000, along with other brands like Cornetto, Magnum, Talenti and Wall’s. The spinoff is expected to be completed by the end of 2025.

Persons: ” Ian Meakins, Hein Schumacher Organizations: Unilever Locations: London

☆ Lionel Messi: Paper napkin ‘contract’ to seal move to FC Barcelona heads to auction with a $380,000 starting bid
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-01 | by ( Ben Morse | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —The paper napkin containing the agreement which saw Lionel Messi join FC Barcelona will go to auction with a starting price of $380,000 (£300,000). Together with Rexach, Minguella helped organize Messi’s initial audition with the Blaugrana in September 2000. On December 14, Rexach, Minguella and Gaggioli met for lunch at the Pompeia tennis club to sign the napkin. “Yes, it’s a paper napkin, but it’s the famous napkin that was at the inception of Lionel Messi’s career. It changed the life of Messi, the future of FC Barcelona, and was instrumental in giving some of the most glorious moments of football to billions of fans around the globe.”

Persons: Lionel Messi, Messi, Carles Rexach, Minguella, Horacio, ” Rexach, Horacio Gaggioli, Josep Minguella, Rexach, Gaggioli, Joan Gaspart –, – Messi, ” Ian Ehling, “, Lionel Messi’s Organizations: CNN, FC Barcelona, Messi, Barcelona, Camp, La Liga, Bonhams Locations: Barcelona, Argentine, York

☆ Olympic sponsorship deal with beer company AB InBev criticized as ‘cynical’ and ‘an odd pairing’
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-31 | by ( George Ramsay | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

In a room crowded with people in suits, the sponsorship deal with brewing giant AB InBev was met with beaming smiles and the clinking of beer bottles by many of those in attendance. AB InBev is the latest company to participate in The Olympic Partner (TOP) program – the highest level of Olympic sponsorship – alongside the likes of Coca-Cola, Visa and Deloitte. AB InBev said that it would not reveal the cost of its deal with the IOC. Stuart C. Wilson/Getty Images for AB InBevThe IOC and AB InBev see the deal as part of a wider market demand for non-alcoholic drinks which, despite being in circulation for decades, have had a recent surge in popularity. Some brands have found ways to navigate France’s restrictive laws when it comes to alcohol advertising.

Persons: Thomas Bach gushed, ” Bach, ”, ” Andrew Misell, Kin Cheung, Sportcal, Michel Doukeris, Thomas Bach, Stuart C, Wilson, Molson Coors, ” Marcel Marcondes, “ Corona Cero, Marcondes, Bach, Garde, ” Ian Gilmore, “ Corona, ” Alex Barker, ” Barker, Xavier Laine Organizations: CNN, Olympic Committee, InBev, IOC, Corona, Cortina, Alcohol, CNN Sport, Cola, Visa, Deloitte, Health, WHO, Centers for Disease Control, University of Liverpool, ”, Getty, AB InBev, Heineken, Molson, Games, Alcohol Health Alliance, University of Derby, rugby’s, Nations, Guinness, Stade de France, French rugby, Wales, TOP Locations: London, Corona Cero, Paris, Milan, Los Angeles, Tokyo, Corona, Garde

☆ Opinion | Farewell to the U.S.-China Golden Age
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-14 | by ( Farah Stockman | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

A lunch meeting about China this summer at the Upper East Side headquarters of the Council on Foreign Relations felt more like an Irish wake. A crowd that included gray-haired China hands and not-so-gray-haired tech executives shared memories of their years in the Middle Kingdom as diplomats, entrepreneurs and English teachers in the countryside. They were all keenly aware that they had lived through an extraordinary period of warm relations that is now gone, perhaps forever. China has closed itself off.”The nostalgia was poignant but the gathering was also notable for what it represented. That lunch meeting underlined the fact that China was turning into something they hadn’t expected — and slipping out of their reach.

Persons: Warren Christopher, “, ” Ian Johnson Organizations: Foreign Relations, U.S, Washington, New York Times Locations: China, Middle Kingdom, Taipei, Taiwan, Beijing, United States

☆ White House to send letter to news execs urging outlets to ‘ramp up’ scrutiny of GOP’s Biden impeachment inquiry ‘based on lies’
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-12 | by ( Oliver Darcy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —The White House plans to send a letter to top US news executives on Wednesday, urging them to intensify their scrutiny of House Republicans after Speaker Kevin McCarthy launched an impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden, despite having found no evidence of a crime. “It’s time for the media to ramp up its scrutiny of House Republicans for opening an impeachment inquiry based on lies,” Ian Sams, a spokesperson for the White House Counsel’s Office, wrote in the letter, according to a draft copy obtained by CNN. The correspondence comes one day after McCarthy announced that he had directed three House committees to begin an impeachment inquiry into Biden. In its letter Wednesday, the White House will ask news organizations to be more clear-eyed in their coverage of the impeachment inquiry, and not to fall prey to the traps of false equivalency in reporting. The Republican House-led investigations into Biden have yet to provide any direct evidence that the president financially benefited from Hunter Biden’s career overseas.

Persons: Kevin McCarthy, Joe Biden, “, ” Ian Sams, McCarthy, Donald Trump, baselessly, Biden, White, ” Sams, Hunter Biden’s Organizations: CNN, White, Republicans, The New York Times, Fox News, Associated Press, CBS News, White House, Biden . House Republicans, Biden White House, Facebook, Fox, California Republican, Republican, Biden Locations: people’s, California

☆ These images aren’t real, but for some refugees they depict a painful truth
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-25 | by ( Hilary Whiteman | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +14 min

For some, Australia’s approach has been seen as a model, particularly in the United Kingdom, which wants to send some asylum seekers to Rwanda. As AI images, they’re powerful and controversial, not least due to fears they could be mistaken for real images in a world awash with false and misleading information. Amnesty International was recently called out for using AI images in a report to depict protesters in Colombia that critics said undermined its credibility as a news source. The refugee AI images were created partly because no “real” alternative existed – partly due to distance but also restrictions on media access and early bans on mobile phones. But the use of fake images to visualize accounts raises questions about when it’s acceptable to create AI images and how they should be presented.

Persons: Ian Rintoul, ”, I’m, It’s, Saman, “ I’m, Maurice Blackburn, they’d, –, Jennifer Kanis, Maurice Blackburn “, “, we’d, Behrouz Boochani, Kim Wade, Wade, Gavin, Kanis Organizations: Australia CNN, Asylum Seeker Resource, Refugee, Coalition, United Nations, CNN, High, Amnesty, Guardian, University of Warwick, Howatson, Australia’s Home Affairs Department, “, Papua New, Papua New Guinea Government Locations: Brisbane, Australia, Nauru, Manus, Papua New Guinea, United Kingdom, Rwanda, Pakistan, United States, New Zealand, Indonesia, Colombia, Papua

☆ Why is inflation cooling — and why isn’t it coming down more
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-12 | by ( Elisabeth Buchwald | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

New York CNN —Ahead of May’s closely watched Consumer Price Index, set to be released Tuesday morning, economists are expecting yet another month of smaller price increases. No individual spending category accounted for more than 40% of overall inflation last year. For instance, the percentage of housing expenses that contributed to overall inflation nearly doubled to 64% from 33% a year ago. That accounted for 19% of overall inflation last April. That helped lower inflation overall.

Persons: Refinitiv, Anthony Behar, Ian Shepherdson Organizations: New, New York CNN, Federal, AP, Pantheon, Gas Locations: New York, seeping, New York City, Queens , NY

☆ The job market held up in May. But the Fed may have already decided to pause
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-02 | by ( Bryan Mena | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

Washington, DC CNN —The US labor market picked up momentum in May, once again defying expectations of a slowdown. Many economists, including those at the Fed, still expect a recession later in the year. The labor market and signs of future disinflationThe May jobs report mostly showed that the labor market held up. Some top economists have argued that the strong labor market has had a minor, albeit growing, impact on inflation. Hawkish Fed officials still think the Fed’s job isn’t done.

Persons: That’s, Joe Biden’s, ”, Philip Jefferson, Patrick Harker, “, ” Harker, It’s, ” Julia Pollak, ZipRecruiter’s, you’ve, you’d, Dave Gilbertson, hasn’t, Ben Bernanke, ” Jack Macdowell, Louis President James Bullard, Bullard, Louis Fed’s, Louis, Jerome Powell, there’s, Ian Shepherdson, Eugenio Alemán, Raymond James Organizations: DC CNN, Federal, Fed, Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, National Association for Business Economics, CNN, Employers, of Labor Statistics, BLS, UKG, The Palisades Group, Hawkish Fed, Federal Reserve Bank of St, Louis Fed, Pantheon Locations: Washington, Washington ,

☆ How Western air defense weapons helped Ukraine turn the tables on Russia's aerial assault
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-17 | by ( Brad Lendon | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

Until recently most analysts and even US defense officials simply doubted Ukraine’s air defenses would be up to the job of repelling a sustained Russian assault. The obvious answer, in the Kyiv region at least, is the deployment of the US-made Patriot air defense systems, which arrived in Ukraine last month. Reinforcements on the wayOn May 9, the US Defense Department announced a $1.2 billion package to bolster Ukraine’s air defenses and artillery stockpiles. Meanwhile, on Monday the United Kingdom confirmed it would send hundreds of air defense missiles to Ukraine. “Should Russia manage to wear down Ukraine’s air defenses through attrition and gain air superiority, the war becomes significantly more challenging for Ukraine,” Williams wrote.

☆ Americans are getting worried about the job market
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-25 | by ( Bryan Mena | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

Washington, DC CNN —US consumer confidence worsened in April as Americans become more pessimistic about the job market. The Conference Board’s Consumer Confidence Index, which measures attitudes toward the economy and the job market, fell to 101.3 in April, down from 104 in March and marking the lowest level since July 2022. “Compared to last month, fewer households expect business conditions to improve and more expect worsening of conditions in the next six months. They also expect fewer jobs to be available over the short term.”That matches government figures showing the labor market has begun to show some cracks. Employers added 236,000 jobs in March, the smallest gain in two years, and job openings fell below 10 million for the first time since May 2021.

☆ What the Boston Marathon Finish Line Means Now
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-15 | by ( Talya Minsberg | Matthew Futterman | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +14 min

The Boston Marathon is arguably the most elusive finish line of all, and not just anyone can cross it. In 2013, on a cool, partly sunny day, this ebullient scene was shattered when two bombs exploded near the finish line. On Monday, nearly 30,000 runners will journey, down and up and down, toward the finish line of the 127th Boston Marathon. Volunteer, runner I used to volunteer at the finish line, reading information about runners as they finished for the announcer. It means something so different crossing that finish line compared to other marathon majors.

☆ America may dodge a crippling rail strike. Here’s how we got here
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( Chris Isidore | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

The House approved two pieces of legislation Wednesday, one to impose the tentative agreements that members of four of the unions have already rejected, keeping 115,000 rail workers on the job and averting a strike. More than just sick daysThe fact that this is still an issue more than two months after an 11th-hour tentative deal was reached goes beyond the issue of paid sick days. All 12 rail unions agreed to the tentative deals that generated so much opposition. But he said the issue of sick days will not be going away. Senator Bernie Sanders, a close ally of the labor movement, tweeted “At a time of record profits in the rail industry, it’s unacceptable that rail workers have ZERO guaranteed paid sick days.

New York CNN Buiness —With a crippling freight rail strike looming in two weeks, leaders of four railroad unions and management of the major US freight railroads are due back at the negotiating table Tuesday afternoon. It will be the first joint negotiating session for the four unions, whose rank-and-file members rejected the five-year labor agreements similar to deals accepted by the eight other rail unions in recent months. If any one of the unions goes on strike, it would be honored by all 12 unions, which would bring US freight rail service to a halt. Union members also would receive cash bonuses of $1,000 a year. All told, the backpay and bonuses would give union members an average payment of $11,000 per worker once the deal is ratified.

☆ Nvidia says it is working with Microsoft to build 'massive' cloud AI computer
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-16 | by ( Jane Lanhee Lee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

OAKLAND, Calif, Nov 16, (Reuters) - U.S. chip designer and computing firm Nvidia Corp (NVDA.O) on Wednesday said it is teaming up with Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O) to build a “massive” computer to handle intense artificial intelligence computing work in the cloud. The AI computer will operate on Microsoft’s Azure cloud, using tens of thousands of graphics processing units (GPUs), Nvidia’s most powerful H100 and its A100 chips. “We're seeing a broad groundswell of AI adoption ... and the need for applying AI for enterprise use cases.”In addition to selling Microsoft the chips, Nvidia said it will partner with the software and cloud giant to develop AI models. Buck said Nvidia would also be a customer of Microsoft’s AI cloud computer and develop AI applications on it to offer services to customers. This is important as heavy AI computing work requires thousands of chips to work together across several servers.

☆ Fact Check-Monkeypox, polio and new COVID variants are not ‘planned’ as ‘scare tactics’ to affect the U.S. midterms
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-18 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

Monkeypox and polio outbreaks, or new COVID-19 variants, have not been “planned” or orchestrated as “scare tactics” to manipulate the Nov. 8 midterm elections in the United States. As laid out in a Reuters explainer (here), experts agree that the major driver behind both vaccine-derived and wild polio outbreaks remains an under-vaccinated population. “Monkeypox is nothing more than a scare tactic to make you stay home and not vote in the November elections. Experts contacted by Reuters dismissed claims that these disease outbreaks are connected to election cycles and said they would not disrupt the upcoming electoral process. There is no evidence that monkeypox and polio outbreaks or new COVID-19 variants have been orchestrated as “scare tactics” to manipulate the U.S. midterm elections.

Hurricane Ian in the Gulf of Mexico on Sept. 27, 2022. Share this -Link copiedHurricane Ian over Cuba on Tuesday morning Hurricane Ian over Cuba, on Tuesday. Share this -Link copiedIan expected to strengthen later Tuesday morning Hurricane Ian is expected to strengthen later Tuesday morning, officials said. Share this -Link copiedStorm clouds over St. Petersburg, Florida Storm clouds are seen as Hurricane Ian approaches in St. Petersburg, Florida on Monday. Ricardo Arduengo / AFP - Getty Images Share this -Link copiedHurricane Ian as it barrelled towards Cuba Hurricane Ian growing stronger as it barrelled toward Cuba on Monday.

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