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☆ United Methodist Church embraces the LGBTQ after decades of division
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-05 | by ( Chelsea Bailey | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

Courtesy Neighborhood Church AtlantaA church at war with itselfThe United Methodist Church has been at war with itself for decades over its stance on homosexuality. In 2019, the United Methodist Church’s governing body opened a temporary window for congregations to petition to leave over the issue. Andy Oliver reacts after the United Methodist Church removes a rule forbidding "self-avowed practicing homosexuals" from being ordained or appointed as ministers. And yet you stay, and you fight because you know, a better church is possible.”A sign outside the Allendale United Methodist Church in St. Petersburg, Florida. Andy OliverThe Real Work BeginsThe United Methodist Church, is one of the largest mainline Protestant Christian denominations in the United States, according to the Pew Research Center.

Persons: Andi Woodworth, Woodworth, Anjie, ”, “, that’s, ” Woodworth, Anjie Woodworth, Rev, Kristin Stoneking, “ We’ve, “ There’s, ” Anjie, she’s, …, Andy Oliver, Chris Carlson, Robert “ BJ ” Jackson, Oliver, Jackson, Tim, Tim’s, he’s, ” Oliver, Jackson’s, ‘, BJ, – John Wesley –, Billy Hester, Hester, disaffiliate, ” CNN’s Justin Gamble Organizations: CNN, Neighborhood Church, United Methodist Church, Methodist, Church, United Methodist, Christian, “, Conference, Network, Allendale United Methodist Church, Pew Research Center, Asbury Memorial Church Locations: Atlanta , Georgia, Atlanta, Church Atlanta, Allendale, St . Petersburg , Florida, United States, Savannah , Georgia, Savannah

☆ US pending home sales jumped in March, beating expectations by a mile
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-25 | by ( Bryan Mena | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

Washington CNN —Home sales based on contract signings jumped in March despite elevated mortgage rates that month. Contract signings rose across the country in March from the prior month, except in the Midwest. Hotter-than-expected inflation readings in recent months are now keeping the Federal Reserve from cutting interest rates anytime soon. Those are the so-called “golden handcuffs” of low mortgage rates. They began to climb in early 2022 when the Federal Reserve started to hike interest rates in a bid to tamp down high inflation.

Persons: ”, Lawrence Yun, ” Oliver Allen, it’s, Yun Organizations: Washington CNN —, National Association of Realtors, Federal Reserve, Treasury, Pantheon

“We come from a place where gun violence is a problem, but you will never see a 19-year-old with an AR-15 getting into a school and shooting people,” Manuel Oliver said. “There’s a reason for the gun violence in a Third World country. Joaquin's AI voice identifies him and then says, “Many students and teachers were murdered on Valentine’s Day ... by a person using an AR-15, but you don’t care. Other families who lost loved ones to gun violence will be allowed to add their victim's re-created voice to the project, which runs indefinitely. They call themselves “the rebel side of the gun violence prevention movement."

Persons: — Joaquin “ Guac ” Oliver, Oliver, Manuel, Patricia Oliver, Joaquin's, ” Manuel Oliver, “, Stoneman Douglas, ” Patricia Oliver, It’s, Joaquin, Critics, ”, “ Joaquin, Uziyah Garcia, Ethan Song, Brett Cross, “ I’m, Uzi, hadn't, Mike, Kristin Song, ” Kristin Song, —, ’, Manuel Oliver's, Joe Biden Organizations: National Rifle Association, Immigrants, NRA, Valentine’s, YouTube, Waffle House, Robb Elementary School Locations: Fla, Parkland , Florida, Venezuela, United States, Parkland, Tennessee, , Texas, Uvalde , Texas, Connecticut, Virginia

After much preparation, the 12-year-old's small scene turned into a big problem among school officials in Wheatland, Wyoming. Located on the eastern Wyoming plains, Wheatland is a small farming and ranching community with about 3,500 residents. There are few restaurants, no department stores — not even a local Walmart — and few performance venues besides Wheatland High School. "Unless you’re super closed-minded, I don’t see why you would do that.”Drama coach Stephanie Bradley, who also attended the high school, challenged the decision. “Most people in this part of Wyoming don’t come out early," Bradley said of LGBTQ+ teens on the state's rural plains.

Persons: — Oliver Baez, ” Baez, Matthew Shepard, ”, Cassie Baez, Oliver, Lu Lay, John Weigel, hadn't, belittling, Baez, ” Weigel, Robert Daniel, ” Daniel, Erica Biggs, ” Biggs, Sara Burlingame, “, ” Burlingame, Melissa Rukavina, Stephanie Bradley, Bradley Organizations: University of Wyoming, Walmart, Wheatland High School, Platte County Players, Wyoming Equality, Hate, Gay and Lesbian Fund of Colorado, Prevention Locations: WHEATLAND, Wyo, Wheatland , Wyoming, Wheatland, Wyoming, . Wyoming, South Carolina, Platte, Cheyenne

☆ After ‘Saltburn,’ Watch These Five Country House Movies
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-17 | by ( Juan A. Ramírez | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

If “Promising Young Woman” was Emerald Fennell’s darkly comic take on the rape-revenge thriller — one that rode a zeitgeisty wave of discourse onto a best original screenplay Oscar in 2021 — “Saltburn” is the writer-director’s entry in the country house canon. The film (in theaters) is the latest in a subgenre ripe for dramatic tension: upstairs versus downstairs; invited versus interloped; public versus private. In “Saltburn,” Oliver Quick (Barry Keoghan), a shy Oxford student, accepts an invitation to spend the summer at the family estate of a wealthy classmate, Felix Catton (Jacob Elordi). While there, Oliver’s adoration for the charming aristocrat reveals itself to be much more than an innocent infatuation. Here are five other films where summering at a country house leads to significant power imbalances and lifelong consequences.

Persons: ”, Oscar, Saltburn, ” Oliver Quick, Barry Keoghan, Felix Catton, Jacob Elordi, Ripley ” Organizations: Oxford Locations: revel

☆ Pūteketeke: New Zealand crowns ‘bird of the century’ championed by John Oliver
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-15 | by ( Heather Chen | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —The votes are in for New Zealand’s Bird of the Century poll and the winner by a significant margin, getting more than 290,000 votes, is the Australasian crested grebe, better known as the pūteketeke or the ‘puking’ bird championed by comedian and talk show host John Oliver. This 2022 photo supplied by the Royal Forest and Bird Protection Society shows puteketeke at Lake Ellesmere, south of Christchurch in New Zealand. To help spread the message and raise awareness, Oliver bought up billboards in New Zealand, Japan and the state of Wisconsin. “No bird on earth is more deserving of Bird of the Century than this one,” Oliver said on his show. “They are weird puking birds with colourful mullets.

Persons: John Oliver, “, ”, “ We’re, “ Pūteketeke, Peter Foulds, Young pūteketeke, Oliver, ” Oliver, Jimmy Fallon, What’s Organizations: CNN, Zealand’s, HBO, Royal, Bird Protection Society, AP, Wings Locations: kea, Lake Ellesmere, Christchurch, New Zealand, Royal, United Kingdom, Australia, Japan, Wisconsin

☆ John Oliver is campaigning hard in New Zealand’s Bird of the Century poll
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-07 | by ( Manav Tanneeru | Issy Ronald | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —John Oliver is transforming from a comedian into a campaign manager for one of the biggest elections of the year: New Zealand’s Bird of the Century poll. On his show “Last Week Tonight” on Monday, he backed the pūteketeke bird as New Zealand’s Bird of the Century, a competition organized by the conservation group Forest & Bird. John Oliver loves the pūteketeke for its 'colorful mullet,' among other reasons. Initially launched to raise awareness of New Zealand’s endangered, endemic birds, the contest is usually an annual two-week event and has become a national institution. A bat, rather than a bird, won the competition in 2021, while mass voter fraud threatened to delegitimize the competition the year before.

Persons: John Oliver, Oliver Smart, Oliver, ”, ” Oliver Organizations: CNN, Wings, @Last Locations: New Zealand, Tokyo, Europe, Paris, London, ”, Brazil, Ipanema Beach, Manetowoc , Wisconsin

☆ John Oliver returns to his HBO show, urging more workers to unionize
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-02 | by ( Jordan Valinsky | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

New York CNN —Comedian John Oliver returned to his HBO show “Last Week Tonight” on Sunday, becoming the latest late night host to air a new program following the end of the writers’ strike. (Oliver’s show airs on HBO, which like CNN, is owned by Warner Bros. Bill Maher returned to his show last Friday and the network hosts, such as Jimmy Kimmel and Jimmy Fallon, will air new programs Monday. Now the focus turns to negotiations between SAG-AFTRA, the union representing about 160,000 actors, and the AMPTP. The two sides are expected to begin negotiating again Monday and hopefully get closer to ending their strike, which has been happening since mid-July.

Persons: John Oliver, “, Billy Joel’s, ” Oliver, —, ”, don’t, ’, I’m, Bill Maher, Jimmy Kimmel, Jimmy Fallon Organizations: New, New York CNN, HBO, CNN, Warner Bros ., Writers Guild of America, Alliance, Television Producers, SAG Locations: New York

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Late-night talk shows are returning after a five-month absence brought on by the Hollywood writers strike, while actors will begin talks that could end their own long work walk-off. ” and NBC's “ The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon ” were the first shows to leave the air when the writers strike began on May 2, and now will be among the first to return on Monday night. “So, the writers guild went to strike and thankfully won. Discovery, which owns HBO, is among the studios on the other side of the table in the writers and actors strikes. They teamed up for a podcast, “ Strike Force Five,” during the strike.

Persons: CBS's “, Stephen Colbert, ” ABC's, Jimmy Kimmel, Jimmy Fallon ”, John Oliver, exuberantly, Oliver cheerily, ” Oliver, Colbert, Neil deGrasse Tyson, Kimmel, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Matthew McConaughey, ebullient Colbert, Ed Sullivan, Fallon, AFTRA Organizations: ANGELES, Hollywood, HBO, Warner Bros, Network, “, Force, Writers Guild of America, Union, Screen, American Federation of Television, Radio Artists, Alliance, Television Producers, SAG

☆ Julianne Moore’s Montauk Sanctuary
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-21 | by ( Nick Haramis | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +34 min

— HANYA YANAGIHARASpeak Softly In a wild meadow by the sea, Julianne Moore and Bart Freundlich’s Montauk house uses just a few materials to say many things. In Moore’s office, a Pierre Jeanneret desk and chair, an Alvar Aalto stool and a Willy Van Der Meeren cabinet. In the oak-paneled living room of Justinian Kfoury’s apartment in a townhouse on Washington Square Park, an Audubon-style print and a Hans Wegner Papa Bear chair. A view of the double-height living room from the curved balcony on the third floor. A sculpture by Huma Bhabha and a configuration of five Isamu Noguchi L7 pendants in the landing that separates the primary suite from the living room.

Persons: it’s, Mishan, there’s, —, Julianne Moore, Bart Freundlich’s Montauk, Bart Freundlich’s, Moore, Tom Volk, Oliver Freundlich, Anne’s, Pierre Jeanneret, Alvar Aalto, Willy Van Der, Ori Gersht, she’s, ” It’s, ”, “, Bart Freundlich, Tomas Maier, Bottega, Andrew Geller, Norman Jaffe, Freundlich, ” Moore, Moore’s, Liv, Caleb, Robert Gurr, Isamu Noguchi, Pierre, Noguchi, Alma Allen, Joseph Dirand, Oliver, “ I’m, ” Oliver, grins, MOORE, Anne Love Smith, Massimiliano Locatelli, Daniel Romualdez, Vincent Van Duysen, Charlotte Perriand, Pierre Chapo, Willy Van Der Meeren, Friedrich Kunath, Mark Wilson, Donald Judd, Wilson, Mario Bellini, Karl Springer, Rogan Gregory, Nancy Pearce, Oscar, Alice ”, Alexander Calder, Andrea Zittel, JB Blunk, AFTRA, Hope, It’s, ‘ You’re, ’ ”, Justinian, Hans Wegner Papa Bear, Paavo, Marc Hundley, that’s, Adriana Lara, Nicholas Krushenick, Justinian Kfoury, downtowners, He’d, Trish Goff, Kfoury, Leonid Berman, Jelto ”, Tomma Abts, Paul Cadmus, Edith Wharton, Henry James, Paul van der, ” Kfoury, Joe Roberts, Mary Cameron Goodyear, Kfoury’s, He’s, Wolfgang Tillmans, they’d, Lorna Simpson, Misha Kahn, Michael Anastassiades, Glenn Ligon’s, Frank Bowling, Piet Hein Eek, Miriam Cahn, Paul Pfeiffer’s, Leah Panlilio, Tal Schori, Rustam Mehta, Adam Pogue, Constantino Buccolieri, Michael Kirkland, Cy Twombly’s, Ho, Huma Bhabha, Nairy Baghramian, Coco Fusco, Robert Vinas Jr, Duro Olowu, Mark Ellison, Adam Marelli, Bob Chan, Isamu Noguchi Akari, Danh Vo, Nairy, ‘, Laura Mac Donald, Theaster Gates, Frank Lloyd, Kirkland, Ettore, Parsons, Jasper Johns, Merce Cunningham Organizations: Manhattan’s, Yorkers, that’s, Hamptons, WHO, Writers Guild of America, SAG, “, Audubon, Washington, East Village, brac, AS, Fifth, Fort Standard, GRT Architects, Architects, Walt Disney Concert Hall, Soane Britain Locations: New York, Paris, London, Rome , New York, It’s, Washington, Manhattan, Harlem, Montauk, American, Chinatown, York, N.Y, Summerhill, Long, Fort Pond, New York City, Pond, North Carolina, Morentz, Scottish, Japanese American, Belgian, East Hampton, Japan, “, California, Swiss, New York’s Washington, Kennebunkport, England, East, Boston, Lebanon, Maine, Vermont, Venice, Moroccan, North, Kfoury’s, New York’s Harlem, Westchester County, Brooklyn, Italian, Finnish, Rome, Los Angeles, Korean, Berlin, Iranian, Chicago

☆ Inside the Elaborate, Enviable Design of Three New York Homes
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-21 | by ( ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +34 min

If You Can Make It Here Great design for a great city (New York, of course — where else?) In the oak-paneled living room of Justinian Kfoury’s apartment in a townhouse on Washington Square Park, an Audubon-style print and a Hans Wegner Papa Bear chair. “She was eccentric, grand, but not afraid of making weird decisions about design.” In the living room, a 1975 Leonid Berman painting of the Venice Lagoon hangs between the French doors. A view of the double-height living room from the curved balcony on the third floor. A sculpture by Huma Bhabha and a configuration of five Isamu Noguchi L7 pendants in the landing that separates the primary suite from the living room.

Persons: it’s, Mishan, there’s, —, Justinian, Hans Wegner Papa Bear, Paavo, Marc Hundley, that’s, Adriana Lara, Nicholas Krushenick, ”, Justinian Kfoury, downtowners, He’d, Trish Goff, Kfoury, “, Leonid Berman, Jelto ”, Tomma Abts, Paul Cadmus, Edith Wharton, Henry James, Paul van der, ” Kfoury, Joe Roberts, Mary Cameron Goodyear, Kfoury’s, He’s, Wolfgang Tillmans, they’d, It’s, Lorna Simpson, Mario Bellini, Misha Kahn, Michael Anastassiades, Glenn Ligon’s, Frank Bowling, Piet Hein Eek, Miriam Cahn, Paul Pfeiffer’s, Leah Panlilio, Tal Schori, Rustam Mehta, Adam Pogue, Constantino Buccolieri, Michael Kirkland, Alvar Aalto, Cy Twombly’s, Ho, Huma Bhabha, Isamu Noguchi, Nairy Baghramian, Coco Fusco, Robert Vinas Jr, Duro Olowu, Mark Ellison, Adam Marelli, Bob Chan, Isamu Noguchi Akari, Danh Vo, Nairy, ‘, Laura Mac Donald, Theaster Gates, Frank Lloyd, Kirkland, Ettore, Parsons, Jasper Johns, Merce Cunningham, Julianne Moore, Bart Freundlich’s Montauk, Bart Freundlich’s, Moore, Tom Volk, Oliver Freundlich, Anne’s, Pierre Jeanneret, Willy Van Der, Ori Gersht, she’s, ” It’s, Bart Freundlich, Tomas Maier, Bottega, Andrew Geller, Norman Jaffe, Freundlich, ” Moore, Moore’s, Liv, Caleb, Robert Gurr, Pierre, Noguchi, Alma Allen, Joseph Dirand, Oliver, “ I’m, ” Oliver, grins, MOORE, Anne Love Smith, Massimiliano Locatelli, Daniel Romualdez, Vincent Van Duysen, Charlotte Perriand, Pierre Chapo, Willy Van Der Meeren, Friedrich Kunath, Mark Wilson, Donald Judd, Wilson, Karl Springer, Rogan Gregory, Nancy Pearce, Oscar, Alice ”, Alexander Calder, Andrea Zittel, JB Blunk, AFTRA, Hope, ‘ You’re, ’ ” Organizations: Manhattan’s, Yorkers, that’s, Audubon, Washington, East Village, brac, AS, Fifth, Fort Standard, GRT Architects, Architects, Walt Disney Concert Hall, Soane Britain, Hamptons, WHO, Writers Guild of America, SAG, “ Locations: New York, Paris, London, Rome , New York, It’s, Washington, Manhattan, Harlem, Montauk, American, Chinatown, York, New York’s Washington, Kennebunkport, England, East, Boston, Lebanon, Maine, Vermont, Venice, Moroccan, North, Kfoury’s, New York’s Harlem, Westchester County, N.Y, Brooklyn, Italian, Finnish, Rome, Los Angeles, Korean, Berlin, Iranian, Chicago, North Carolina, California, Summerhill, Long, Fort Pond, New York City, Pond, Morentz, Scottish, Japanese American, Belgian, East Hampton, Japan, “, Swiss

☆ Australia's first female central bank chief set to tackle reforms and cost of living crisis
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-18 | by ( Michelle Toh | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

Hong Kong CNN —Australia’s new central bank chief, Michele Bullock, took the helm Monday after a firestorm of criticism over rising living costs engulfed the tenure of her predecessor. Philip Lowe, former governor of the Reserve Bank of Australia, speaking in Canberra in August. “Raising interest rates is never popular, but I think given the circumstances, the Reserve Bank had to do something,” noted Oliver. Within the bank, Lowe also faced questions about the culture he’d fostered since taking over in 2016. Should prices fall more slowly than expected, the central bank would face similar pressure to raise rates, Oliver predicted.

Persons: Hong Kong CNN —, Michele Bullock, Bullock, Philip Lowe, Shane Oliver, ”, would’ve, wasn’t, Lowe, Oliver, Rohan Thomson, RBA, Nick McKim, ” McKim, “ It’s, ” Oliver, disempowered, ” Bullock, ” Lowe, — Hilary Whiteman Organizations: Hong Kong CNN, Reserve Bank of Australia, AMP, CNN, Bloomberg, Getty, Reserve Bank Locations: Hong Kong, Australian, Canberra, Ukraine, Australia, United States, Europe

NEW YORK (AP) — A comprehensive new biography of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr, a memoir on family by the prize-winning novelist Viet Thanh Nguyen and an exploration of the crack epidemic of the 1980s and 1990s are among 10 books on the nonfiction longlist of the National Book Awards. The National Book Foundation, which presents the awards, also released its poetry longlist Thursday, a day after announcing 10 nominees each in the categories of young people's literature and books in translation. Judges will next month reduce each list to five finalists, with the winners to be announced during a Manhattan dinner ceremony on Nov. 15. Political Cartoons View All 1160 ImagesOthers on the poetry longlist are John Lee Clark's “How to Communicate,” Oliver de la Paz's “The Diaspora Sonnets,” Annelyse Gelman's “Vexations,” José Olivarez's “Promises of Gold,” Brandon Som's “Tripas,” Charif Shanahan's “Trace Evidence” and Evie Shockley's “suddenly we.”

Persons: Martin Luther King Jr, Viet Thanh Nguyen, Jonathan Eig's “, Nguyen's, ” Donovan X, Ned Blackhawk's “, Prudence Peiffer's, Cristina Rivera Garza's “ Liliana’s, ” Christina Sharpe's, ”, Shehadeh's, ” John Vaillant's, Williams, Monica Youn, Paisley Rekdal, Craig Santos Perez, John Lee Clark's, ” Oliver de la, ” Brandon Som's “, Evie Shockley's “ Organizations: Book Foundation, Native Peoples, New York, Justice, “ Locations: Manhattan, America, ” Utah

☆ Bad Bunny makes history as first Latino named Apple Music’s Artist of the Year
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-09 | by ( Crystal Minaya | Crystal Minaya Is An Editorial Assistant For Nbc News Digital. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +2 min

Puerto Rican trap-reggaeton superstar Bad Bunny is Apple Music's 2022 Artist of the Year, the first Latin artist to receive the award. The four-time Latin Grammy and two-time Grammy winner has achieved all-time records in the past year, according to Apple Music. “Watching Bad Bunny ascend from an Apple Music Up Next artist in 2018 to our Artist of the Year this year has been nothing short of extraordinary,” Schusser said. “When I started, I didn’t have a global fan base,” Bad Bunny told Apple Music in an exclusive video released Wednesday. In an interview with GQ in May, Bad Bunny said: “Latino culture is very machista.

Up to 29 inches of rain have fallen in Puerto Rico as a result of Hurricane Fiona, overflowing rivers and small streams. “More significant rains are expected, further increasing the risk of landslides,” Puerto Rico Gov. Oliver Lopez’s family is among the many Puerto Ricans still without power or water as a result of Hurricane Fiona. Four deaths have been reported in the wake of Hurricane Fiona. A woman clears debris on her property flooded by Hurricane Fiona in Salinas, Puerto Rico, on Monday.

☆ ‘Law & Order’ actor Diane Neal weighs in on how the show can affect perceptions of police
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-15 | by ( Harmeet Kaur | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

Over numerous seasons of “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit,” the tough and persistent assistant district attorney convicts scores of sex offenders and delivers justice to their victims. An internal NYPD investigation in 2018 criticized the department’s handling of sexual assault cases. A representative for Dick Wolf, the creator of “Law & Order,” did not respond to a request for comment. In a 2020 special celebrating the long-running “SVU,” Mariska Hargitay, who plays detective Olivia Benson, spoke of the positive impact the show had on sexual assault survivors. Others have argued that “Law & Order” and police procedurals more broadly shouldn’t be expected to reflect reality precisely because they are fictional – a point that Oliver acknowledged in his show.

☆ 'Only Murders in the Building' Season 2 review
▼ + stars: | 2022-06-28 | by ( Review Brian Lowry | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —Understandably determined not to mess with success, “Only Murders in the Building” returns with a second season that self-consciously plays to its strengths, while layering the new mystery laid out by its cliffhanger ending on top of the old one. It’s every bit as breezy and fun, with lots of winking references to “Season 2” (the podcast, naturally, but you get the idea). While the show perhaps inevitably doesn’t feel quite as fresh this second time around, it gets plenty of mileage out of those small touches and the general obsession with true crime. You can indeed, which doesn’t prevent “Only Murders” from living up to its modestly scaled ambitions and once again knocking ‘em dead. “Only Murders in the Building” begins its second season June 28 on Hulu.

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