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☆ US goods trade deficit narrows; retail inventories rise
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-28 | by ( Lucia Mutikani | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

SummarySummary Companies Goods trade deficit decreases 6.1% to $91.1 billion in MayWholesale inventories dip 0.1%; retail stocks rise 0.8%WASHINGTON, June 28 (Reuters) - The U.S. trade deficit in goods narrowed in May as imports fell, but the improvement was probably insufficient to prevent trade from being a drag on economic growth in the second quarter. The goods trade deficit decreased 6.1% to $91.1 billion last month, leaving the bulk of April's surge intact. The drop was led by a 7.3% plunge in consumer goods imports. The report also showed that retail inventories increased 0.8% last month after gaining 0.3% in April. Excluding motor vehicles, retail inventories were unchanged after decreasing 0.3% in April.

Persons: nonfarm, Omodunbi, Lucia Mutikani, Chizu Organizations: Goods, Commerce Department, PNC Financial, Trade, Atlanta Federal Reserve, Thomson Locations: WASHINGTON, U.S, Pittsburgh , Pennsylvania

☆ As Lord Mayor, a 22-Year-Old Vaulted From Public Housing Into London’s Elite
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-23 | by ( Saskia Solomon | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

He was the Right Worshipful Lord Mayor of Westminster. In the car, he’d combed his beard and checked his outfit several times before making his grand entrance. “You’re in front of millions — you can’t afford to put a step wrong,” Hamza Taouzzale recalled recently. Just 22 at the time of his appointment as lord mayor last year, he is the youngest ever, and the first Muslim, to hold the ceremonial role, which serves as a sort of good-will ambassador for Westminster and its residents. He represents the area, which covers much of central London, at civic events with all the pomp and protocol that comes with the title, which was created by Queen Elizabeth II by letters patent in 1966.

Persons: King Charles III, he’d, “, ” Hamza Taouzzale, Queen Elizabeth II Organizations: Westminster Abbey, Mayor, Westminster Locations: London

☆ In Wales, Roaming a Land of Legends
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-19 | by ( Matthew Yeomans | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Nine hundred years ago, the Lord Rhys, ruler of the ancient Deheubarth kingdom, established a great seat of religious learning in the heart of mid-Wales. The abbey was called Ystrad Fflur (Strata Florida in the Latin spoken by the Cistercian monks who ran it). It means Vale of the Flowers in English. Today, much of Ystrad Fflur is just a memory save for a grand stone Romanesque arch nearly 25 feet tall, the foundation outline of the abbey and the graves of 11 Welsh princes laid to rest next to one another. It was here, sometime around 1350, that the monks received a commission from a wealthy local man to create a written record of the Welsh legends and folklore that had been passed down by poets, going back perhaps as far as the sixth century.

Persons: Lord Rhys Locations: Deheubarth, Wales, Florida

☆ Opinion: The fifth Beatle is artificial intelligence
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-16 | by ( Opinion Jere Hester | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

CNN —Who’s the fifth Beatle? But now there’s a 21st century contender for the honor: artificial intelligence. The band took some flak for releasing two songs years after Lennon’s murder in 1980. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” album with trippy loops and other innovations that changed the course of popular music. But in the right hands — in this case, Jackson and McCartney’s — AI can be a tool that wields magic.

Persons: Jere Hester, Craig Newmark, CNN —, Jere Hester John Smock, Sir George Martin, Brian Epstein, Stuart Sutcliffe, Sir Paul McCartney’s, John Lennon’s, Lennon, McCartney, Peter Jackson, ”, Yoko Ono, Lennon’s, Jackson, McCartney’s, Facebook McCartney, Ringo Starr, Ono, George Harrison’s, Olivia, Let’s Organizations: Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism, CUNY, CNN, BBC Radio, Twitter, Beatles Locations: Liverpool

☆ Ted Kaczynski, better known as the Unabomber, was found dead in his prison cell
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-10 | by ( Michael Belsamo | Associated Press | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

The infamous Unabomber Ted Kaczynski has died at age 81. "I'm confident that I'm sane," Kaczynski told Time magazine in 1999. David Kaczynski wanted his role kept confidential, but his identity quickly leaked out and Ted Kaczynski vowed never to forgive his younger sibling. Ted Kaczynski was born May 22, 1942, in Chicago, the son of second-generation Polish Catholics — a sausage-maker and a homemaker. His brother fired him and Ted Kaczynski soon returned to the wilderness to continue plotting his vengeful killing spree.

Persons: Ted Kaczynski, David, —, — Theodore, Ted, Kaczynski, Kristie, David's, Linda Patrik, Daniel Boone, Edward Abbey, Henry David Thoreau, Sally Johnson, Hugh Scrutton, Thomas Mosser, Gilbert Murray, Charles Epstein, David Gelernter, Mosser, Susan, Timothy McVeigh, Patrik, Ted Kaczynski's, Susan Swanson, Chicago . Swanson, Clint Van Zandt, David Kaczynski, Swanson, Anthony Bisceglie, Ann Arbor, ___ Balsamo, Derek Rose Organizations: FBI, Service, WASHINGTON, Harvard, of Prisons, Associated Press, Washington Post, New York Times, Industrial Society, Its, American Airlines, Yale University, Oklahoma City, Bennington College, University of Michigan, University of California Locations: Montana, Butner , North Carolina, Florence , Colorado, West Coast, nation's, Lincoln , Montana, California, North Caldwell , New Jersey, Los Angeles, Chicago, America, Ann, Berkeley, Lincoln, Miami

CNN —A 24-year-old man has been hailed as a hero for chasing a man suspected of launching a knife rampage in Annecy, which left six people injured including four toddlers. Two young children are still in intensive care following Thursday’s knife attack in southeast France, when screams rippled through a playground in the small alpine town during the brutal assault. A 31-year-old Syrian asylum-seeker was detained shortly after in suspicion of carrying out the attack, French media and CNN affiliate BFMTV reported Thursday. People lay flowers near the scene at a lakeside park in Annecy, France, on Friday, after a knife attack left four children and two adults wounded. He is on a nine-month journey across the country to visit the most beautiful cathedrals of France, he told BFMTV.

Persons: BFMTV, Henri, ” “, Frenchman, “, ”, ” Henri, Peter Byrne, Emmanuel Macron, Brigitte Macron, Benoit Lagneux, Olivier Veran, François Astorg, Brigitte, Veran, Macron Organizations: CNN, Getty, Reuters, France, Annecy Locations: Annecy, France, Grenoble, AFP, Geneva, hitchhike

☆ Reliance's JioCinema signs content streaming deal with NBC Universal
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

BENGALURU, May 29 (Reuters) - JioCinema, the streaming platform run by India's Reliance Industries Ltd (RELI.NS), has signed a partnership with NBC Universal Media in a push to increase Hollywood content on the platform for Indian viewers, the companies said on Monday. The multi-year deal will give JioCinema's premium subscribers access to popular shows such as "Downton Abbey", "Suits" and "The Office," the companies said in a joint statement. This comes after JioCinema signed a content streaming deal with Warner Bros Discovery Inc (WBD.O) in April for shows such as "Succession" and "Game of Thrones". JioCinema announced its premium pricing earlier this month, moving away from free content model to fight rivals like Netflix (NFLX.O) and Disney (DIS.N) in the content streaming space. Reporting by Shilpa Jamkhandikar and Hritam Mukherjee; Editing by Savio D'SouzaOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Tina Turner, a Queen of Rock ’n’ Roll Covers
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-26 | by ( ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

Led Zeppelin and the Rolling Stones got the treatment, too, and so did “Louie Louie,” with a sultry, little-known rendition which — I’m not even making this up — louielouie.net (“The blog for all things Louie Louie”) called “one of the essential Louie Louie recordings!” with some all-caps emphasis. Tina Turner was a seismic, once-in-a-lifetime musical force, but I don’t need to tell you that; I’ll let this playlist do the talking. And I’ll let my colleague Wesley Morris, who wrote an appraisal worthy of the queen, do some of it too: “They’re saying she was 83? It shot from her — from her feet, thighs, hands, arms, shoulders, out of her hair, out of her mouth.”Listen along on Spotify as you read. “Gimme, gimme, gimme a honky tonk man.” (Listen on YouTube)

☆ What College Students Need Is a Taste of the Monk’s Life - The New York Times
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-25 | by ( Molly Worthen | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +4 min

“On college campuses, these students think they’re all being individuals, going out and being wild,” he said. Undergraduates at Belmont Abbey College outside Charlotte, N.C., share their quadrangles, sidewalks and even their chess clubs with Benedictine monks who live in an abbey in the middle of campus. Their presence compels even non-Christians on campus to think seriously about vocation and the meaning of life. “Either what the monks are doing is valuable and based on something true, or it’s completely ridiculous,” Mr. Lutz said. The point is not to take away the phone for its own sake but to take away our primary sources of distraction.

☆ The Taliban promised to provide security to Afghans. New data shows threat from ISIS is growing
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-19 | by ( Eliza Mackintosh Ehsan Popalzai Antonio Jarne Lou Robinson | Eliza Mackintosh | Ehsan Popalzai | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +19 min

“Currently we don’t have security in Afghanistan at all, whenever we go out we don’t know if we will come home alive or not,” he added. Taliban security forces guard a checkpoint near the foreign ministry in Kabul on March 27, after an ISIS-K suicide bomber struck the site. The data, which is available in a live map, includes 367 pieces of open-source evidence — largely videos and images shared on social media — about 70 ISIS-K attacks since August 2021. As the Taliban try to minimize the threat ISIS-K poses, attacks on civilians continue. Taliban security forces have been waging ongoing operations and night raids against ISIS-K.

☆ Queen Elizabeth II's funeral cost over $200 million, UK government reveals
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-18 | by ( Jenni Reid | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

LONDON — The state funeral of Queen Elizabeth II cost the U.K. government around £162 million ($201.4 million), the Treasury said on Thursday. The U.K.'s longest-serving monarch died on Sept. 8, 2022, aged 96, at Balmoral Castle in Scotland. A 10-day period of national mourning, during which most businesses and workplaces remained open but many events were canceled, was held ahead of her funeral in Westminster Abbey on Sept. 18. An estimated 250,000 members of the public saw the British queen lying in state in London during the mourning period, with many queuing in the streets of London for more than 24 hours. She was buried at St. George's Chapel in Windsor Castle, Berkshire.

☆ Fact Check-Sand on streets to protect horses, soldiers during King Charles’ coronation
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-11 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

An image of King Charles’ coach passing through London’s streets where patches of sand are visible was shared with the misleading suggestion that the sand temporarily filled potholes for the coronation day. A Westminster City Council spokesperson told Reuters that sand was used to cover drain holes and roads for the safety of the horses and is a standard practice. “The council works closely with the armed forces ahead of major events such as this to ensure the safety of horses and soldiers”, the spokesperson added. Reuters’ pictures from Queen Elizabeth’s funeral proceedings in Sept. 2022 show a similar use of sand on the roads (here), (here), (here). Sand was used to cover drains and inspection covers on the ceremonial coronation route for safe passage of horses, not cover potholes.

☆ British Spies, Japanese Teens and a German Cop’s Wild Ride
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-10 | by ( Mike Hale | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

It has been a quiet season for international television on American screens — nothing has grabbed attention on a “Squid Game” or “Downton Abbey” scale. But barely a day goes by, in the streaming age, without an interesting series washing up from some foreign shore. Here are four recent shows worth tracking down, from an elegant British thriller to a Chinese dramedy about a demon god and an immortal warrior who meet cute on the mortal plane. ‘A Spy Among Friends’Alexander Cary, a writer and executive producer on “Homeland,” wrote this six-episode spy thriller as a leisurely, literate, three- or four-dimensional game of chess. Tightly controlled yet somehow relaxed, Lewis gives a performance in which the coldblooded manipulator and the sentimentally loyal bro coexist at every moment.

London CNN —The publisher of UK tabloid the Daily Mirror has apologized to Prince Harry for using unlawful methods to gather information about his private life. The pair has filed at least seven lawsuits against British and US media organizations since 2019, including Rupert Murdoch’s News Group Newspapers, according to Reuters. News Group Newspapers publishes the Sun and used to produce News of the World, which was shut down in 2011 over its own phone hacking scandal. A spokesperson for Mirror Group Newspapers said in a statement Wednesday that “where historical wrongdoing” has taken place, the group has taken “full responsibility” and apologized “unreservedly” for its actions. Mirror Group Newspapers “is now part of a very different company.

☆ Fact Check-Image of London Mayor Sadiq Khan with burqa-clad person is altered
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-09 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

An altered image showing the Mayor of London Sadiq Khan with a person wearing a black burqa has been shared with the false claim that it shows Khan arriving with a woman at the coronation of Britain’s King Charles III on May 6. The original photograph taken in June 2022 shows Khan with his wife wearing modern clothing. The original photograph shows Khan with his wife Saadiya Khan, who can be seen wearing a pant suit, not a burqa (here). Pool photographs (bit.ly/3pmyCBL) and video (here) show Sadiq Khan arriving alone at Westminster Abbey for the coronation on May 6. Image does not show London Mayor Sadiq Khan arrive with a burqa-clad person for King Charles’ coronation.

☆ New Zealand's North Island hit by heavy rain, student missing in caves
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-09 | by ( Lucy Craymer | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

WELLINGTON, May 9 (Reuters) - A high school student is missing in Northland, New Zealand after getting into difficulty on a school trip to caves on Tuesday, according to police, as heavy rain and thunderstorms cause flash flooding and landslides across the upper North Island. Local newspaper the Northern Advocate said the student was missing inside one of the caves, which is described as having a canyon-like feel. Police rescue teams are in the area, which has been hit by heavy rain this morning with further rain expected this afternoon. "Auckland is experiencing widespread flooding and torrential rain. Heavy rain and thunderstorms are forecast to drench the region into the evening and potentially through to midnight.

☆ New Zealand student missing in cave system as heavy rain hits North Island
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-09 | by ( Tara Subramaniam | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —New Zealand police will resume their search at first light Wednesday for a high school student missing in a flooded cave system after a school trip during heavy rain on the country’s North Island. An initial search failed to find the boy and officials suspended the search around 5 p.m. Tuesday when night fell. The school said it would open as normal on Wednesday to “maintain a sense of routine” for students and staff. An orange alert for heavy rainfall, level 2 of 3, remains in effect for the city, the Great Barrier Island and Coromandel Peninsula until midnight local time. And the month before, the city and its surrounding areas were hit by record rainfall that sparked deadly floods.

☆ UK police express regret over coronation arrest of republican leader
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/May JamesLONDON, May 9 (Reuters) - British police expressed regret over the arrests of the leader of anti-monarchist group Republic and five others at the coronation of King Charles, following criticism that the security response was heavy-handed. London's Met Police said they regretted that six of those arrested at the event were prevented from protesting during the coronation on Saturday. They have had their bail cancelled and no further action will be taken, the police statement added. Police said the arrests were made because of items which officers believed could have been used to disrupt the event. There were over 11,000 police on the streets of central London for the coronation, the biggest ceremonial event staged in London for 70 years, and a total of 64 arrests were made.

☆ "A great treat": King Charles heralds weekend of coronation celebrations
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/4] Britain's King Charles and Queen Camilla wave on the Buckingham Palace balcony following their coronation ceremony in London, Britain, May 6, 2023. REUTERS/Matthew ChildsLONDON, May 8 (Reuters) - King Charles thanked singers who performed at a coronation concert in his honour at Windsor Castle for a "great treat" as a long holiday weekend of celebrations drew to a close on Monday. Celebrations on Sunday culminated in the "Coronation Concert" featuring singers including Lionel Richie and Katy Perry, as the royals joined a 20,000-person audience at Windsor, the king's palace to the west of London. Charles asked Richie whether the singers will be there "all night long", in reference to one of Richie's hits. After weekend of street parties and celebrations, Monday, which is a public holiday in Britain for the coronation, sees thousands of organisations get together for a volunteering programme.

Prince William honored his father with a few words during Sunday night's concert - the first ever to be staged at Windsor Castle, home to monarchs for almost 1,000 years. Royals dance the night awaySeveral members of the royal family got their groove on throughout the concert. Chris Jackson/Getty ImagesMesmerizing drone displayA fabulous drone display lit up the sky over the coronation concert, earning audible gasps from the crowd below. Crowds watch illuminated drones creating a light display above Windsor Castle. But when Miss Piggy, dressed in a cerise pink evening dress and glittering necklace, recognized “Downton Abbey” star Bonneville she had other things in mind, thinking he was a real lord.

CNN —Prince Louis, the youngest child of the Prince and Princess of Wales, has undertaken his first royal engagement at the age of five. The Wales family joined the scouts to renovate their scout hut. Prince George, nine, and Princess Charlotte, eight, were seen painting a porch. Prince Louis, dressed in blue shorts and a blue polo shirt, joined his father on a digger and helped fill a wheelbarrow with sand. Prince Louis pushed a loaded wheelbarrow while his mother and sister -- the Princess of Wales and Princess Charlotte -- watched on.

☆ King Charles’s Photographer Wanted a ‘Little Piece of Theater’
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-08 | by ( Alex Marshall | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

As King Charles III was crowned in Westminster Abbey on Saturday, Hugo Burnand, a British photographer, waited in Buckingham Palace’s glittering Throne Room for the most important moment of his career. The royal household had commissioned Burnand, 59, to take the official portraits of the newly crowned monarch — to create images that every newspaper in the world clamor to publish, and that art historians rush to analyze. Yet given the coronation’s complex schedule, Burnand would have limited time to do it. On Monday, the royal family released the results of Burnand’s short session with the newly crowned king, queen and other members of Britain’s monarchy, giving royal watchers worldwide a chance to judge whether Burnand had lived up to the commission. In Burnand’s pictures, King Charles III is depicted sitting forward in full regalia, holding the Sovereign’s Orb, a hollow gold globe made in the 17th century and decorated with a large cross, as well as the Sovereign’s Scepter.

CNN —Prince William paid tribute to his “Pa” King Charles III at the coronation concert on Sunday, saying “we are all so proud of you” as he evoked the memory of the late Queen Elizabeth II. Instead, William said he simply wanted to “say a few words about my father and why I believe this weekend is so important.”Prince William, Prince of Wales (left); Queen Camilla and King Charles III (right) at the Coronation Concert on Sunday. Yui Mok/WPA Pool/Getty ImagesHe went on to pay a heartfelt tribute to the King, outlining his commitment to service over the years. My father’s first words on entering Westminster Abbey yesterday were a pledge of service,” Prince William remarked. Police arrested dozens of people during the coronation, after controversially promising a “robust” approach to protesters.

☆ Chelsea ease Australian fears over Kerr injury
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

SYDNEY, May 8 (Reuters) - Chelsea manager Emma Hayes has moved to ease Australian fears over the fitness of Sam Kerr ahead of the Women's World Cup after the Matildas striker was withdrawn after half an hour of the London club's Women's Super League match on Sunday. Kerr is crucial to Australia's hopes of going deep in the tournament, which the country is co-hosting with New Zealand from July 20 to Aug. 20 this year. "Sam was sick last night," Hayes said after the 7-0 win over Everton that moved Chelsea into second place in the league. "She decided to play but her calf was cramping up so we decided to take her out." Kerr, who scored Chelsea's second goal with a header before being withdrawn, had spent Saturday at the coronation of Britain's King Charles III in London, carrying the Australian flag in the procession into Westminster Abbey.

All were taken by renowned British photographer Hugo Burnand at Buckingham Palace. In this photo made available by Buckingham Palace on Monday, May 8, 2023, Britain's King Charles III poses for a photo in full regalia in the Throne Room, London. Britain's Queen Camilla poses for a photo in The Green Drawing Room of Buckingham Palace, London. In this photo made available by Buckingham Palace on Monday, May 8, 2023, King Charles III and Queen Camilla are pictured in the Throne Room at Buckingham Palace, London. Lady Ogilvy and Prince Edward, the Duke of Edinburgh, in the Throne Room at Buckingham Palace, London.

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