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Eric Ulrich rose through the ranks of city government with modest momentum, first elected as a city councilman before Mayor Eric Adams appointed him a senior adviser and, finally, his commissioner of the Department of Buildings. At each stop, prosecutors with the Manhattan district attorney’s office said on Wednesday, he used his positions to benefit friends and associates, and harvested more than $150,000 for himself. They said he reaped New York Mets season tickets, a custom suit, a painting by an apprentice of Salvador Dalí and cash for gambling. The district attorney, Alvin L. Bragg, said in a statement that Mr. Ulrich had accepted or solicited the bribes over just two years. And a court filing said that Mr. Ulrich had engaged in conduct antithetical to his oath of office “on an almost daily basis.”“At every possible turn,” Mr. Ulrich used his taxpayer-funded positions “to line his pockets,” Mr. Bragg’s statement said.

Persons: Eric Ulrich, Eric Adams, Salvador Dalí, Alvin L, Bragg, Ulrich, Mr, Eric Ulrich’s, ” Organizations: of Buildings, New York Mets Locations: Manhattan, City of New York

☆ Australia edge France in penalty drama to reach first Women's World Cup semi
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

[1/5] Soccer Football - FIFA Women’s World Cup Australia and New Zealand 2023 - Quarter Final - Australia v France - Brisbane Stadium , Brisbane, Australia - August 12, 2023 Australia celebrate after winning the penalty shootout and progressing to the semi finals of the World Cup REUTERS/Asanka Brendon... Read moreBRISBANE, Aug 12 (Reuters) - Co-hosts Australia beat France 7-6 in a dramatic penalty shootout to reach the last four of the Women's World Cup for the first time after their quarter-final finished deadlocked at 0-0 following extra time on Saturday. "I would like to congratulate my players for the performance they pulled off today against the entire nation," said France coach Herve Renard. What a game, in normal time, in extra time and then during the penalty shootout." France weathered the storm triggered by the introduction of the Australia skipper, however, and their 19-year-old substitute Becho was soon threatening down the other end. The last quarter of an hour of normal time was a tense but ragged affair with half chances at both ends, a theme reprised in the first half of extra time.

Persons: Asanka Brendon, Read, Mackenzie Arnold, Vicki Becho, Solene Durand, Arnold, Kenza Dali, France, Herve Renard, Maelle, Les, Mary Fowler, Elisa de Almeida, Matildas, Sam Kerr, Hayley Raso, Pauline Peyraud, Magnin, Becho, Australia's Alanna Kennedy, Wendy Renard, Caitlin Foord, Nick Mulvenney, Clare Fallon Organizations: Soccer Football, FIFA, Brisbane, World, Australia, France, England, Sweden, Thomson Locations: New Zealand, Australia, France, Brisbane, BRISBANE, Colombia, Spain, Auckland

☆ Australia progresses to Women's World Cup semifinals after penalty shootout win over France
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-11 | by ( Aimee Lewis | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

Women’s World Cup 2023: Live scores, fixtures, results, tables and top scorersCNN —Australia reached the Women’s World Cup semifinals for the first time, sending a sell-out crowd in Brisbane into ecstasy, with an incredible penalty shootout victory over France. Cortnee Vine, the 20th penalty taker in the shootout, sealed victory, securing a 7-6 win on penalties and a tie against either England or Colombia. Australia head coach Tony Gustavsson told reporters that he is “so freaking proud” of his team and thanked supporters. Having missed a chance herself to seal Australia’s progress during the shootout, the Australia goalkeeper bounced back to save Kenza Dali’s spot-kick. And we’re loving It …”For all of Australia and France’s endeavor, defenses held firm and the match went to extra-time.

Persons: Tony Gustavsson, “, ”, Tertius Pickard, Les Bleues, Vicki Bècho’s, –, Mackenzie, Kenza, Arnold, Hervé Renard, Maelle Lakrar, Eugénie Le Sommer, France’s, Pauline Peyraud, Magnin, Mary Fowler, Élisa de Almeida, Sam Kerr, France's, Kerr, Hayley Raso, it’s, Wendie Renard, Alanna Kennedy, Vine, Renard, Solene Durand Organizations: CNN — Australia, France, Denmark, Australia Locations: Brisbane, England, Colombia, France, Australia, Peyraud

☆ Why Remedios Varo, one of the ‘three witches’ of surrealism, continues to fascinate today
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-10 | by ( Jacqui Palumbo | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

Like many of her contemporaries, Varo fled Europe as war bore down on the continent, arriving in Mexico in 1941. It took more than a decade for her to exhibit her work there, but when she did, she left her mark. Alchemy and artistryDuring her life in Mexico City, Varo bonded with fellow artist Carrington and photographer Kati Horna. Remedios Varo/ARS, New York/VEGAP, Madrid/Art Institute of ChicagoVaro’s sense of humor periodically cuts through in her work. You see that on the surface of her work, with story and material coming together into one unified composition.

Persons: CNN —, Remedios Varo —, —, los Remedios Alicia y Rodriga, Uranga —, André Breton, Varo, Juliana, Remedios Varo, Salvador Dalí, Joan Miró, Max Ernst, ”, Varo’s, “ Remedios Varo, Frida Kahlo, Leonora Carrington, Caitlin Haskell, Tere Arcq, El Juglar, “, ” Haskell, Walter Gruen, Carrington, Kati Horna, George Gurdjieff, El, Rodrigo Chapa, Katrina Rush Organizations: CNN, Mexico City, Artists Rights Society, Art Institute of Chicago, Arte Moderno, York’s Museum of Modern, Art Institute Locations: Mexico, Spanish, Paris, Europe, New York, Madrid, Varo’s, Mexico —, United States, El, Mexico City, Venice, Ciencia

☆ Le Sommer scores brace in France's 4-0 last-16 win over Morocco
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Kadidiatou Diani's fourth goal of the tournament, a header in the 15th minute, sparked an eight-minute three-goal Les Bleues blitz, with Kenza Dali and Le Sommer also scoring at Hindmarsh Stadium, ending the North African side's fairytale run. Le Sommer increased her all-time leading goalscoring record for France to 92, while the game marked the first time Les Bleues had scored four goals in a World Cup knockout game. Le Sommer was able to get a boot on the ball for her first goal in the 23rd minute after Diani pressured a Moroccan defender. This World Cup marked the first time three African nations made the last 16 in Morocco, South Africa and Nigeria. Nouhaila Benzina had also made history as the first player to wear a hijab in the Women's World Cup.

Persons: Eugenie Le Sommer, Vicki Becho, Carl Recine ADELAIDE, Kadidiatou, Kenza Dali, Le Sommer, Les Bleues, Khadija, Dali, Diani, Nouhaila Benzina, Le, Lori Ewing, Christian Radnedge Organizations: Soccer Football, FIFA, debutants, Hindmarsh, Australia, South, Panama, Lyonnais, France, Thomson Locations: New Zealand, France, Morocco, Adelaide, Australia, debutants Morocco, Brisbane, Germany, South Korea, Colombia, Moroccan, South Africa, Nigeria, Sydney

☆ Under a Hellish Ocean Habitat, Bizarre Animals Are Lurking
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-08 | by ( Robin George Andrews | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

But not all experts were so surprised by the discovery. “I think it makes perfect sense,” said Julie Huber, a marine geochemist and microbiologist at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Massachusetts who wasn’t involved with the work. “The shallow subseafloor, where temperatures are likely cool enough for animals to survive, is what I think of as a ‘subseafloor conveyor belt’ for microbes, nutrients and, now, animals.”Much about these unusual habitats is a mystery. Deep below, the magmatic heat roasts percolating seawater, which jets back out into the water column as superheated, mineral-rich soups. Despite their extreme natures, these vents are metropolises of strange critters.

Persons: ”, Julie Huber, wasn’t Organizations: Oceanographic Locations: Massachusetts

☆ Women's World Cup roundup: Colombia into quarterfinals with 1-0 win
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/4] Soccer Football - FIFA Women’s World Cup Australia and New Zealand 2023 - Round of 16 - Colombia v Jamaica - Melbourne Rectangular Stadium, Melbourne, Australia - August 8, 2023 Colombia's Catalina Usme scores their first goal REUTERS/Asanka Brendon RatnayakeAugust 8 - Catalina Usme scored the only goal of the match in the 51st minute and Colombia outlasted Jamaica 1-0 on Tuesday to advance to the Women's World Cup quarterfinals in Melbourne, Australia. Usme punched a left-footed strike past Jamaica goalkeeper Rebecca Spencer, first corralling a pass from Ana Guzman from across the box. Colombia is the lowest seeded team left in the Women's World Cup and advanced to the quarterfinals for the first time. Morocco registered only one shot and zero shots on goal, and France dominated time of possession at 76 percent. Australia defeated France in a friendly before the World Cup.

Persons: Catalina Usme, Asanka Brendon Ratnayake, Usme, Rebecca Spencer, Ana Guzman, Catalina Perez, Eugenie Le Sommer, Le Sommer, Kenza Dali, Diani Organizations: Soccer Football, FIFA, REUTERS, England, Australia, France, Thomson Locations: New Zealand, Colombia, Jamaica, Melbourne, Australia, France, Morocco, Adelaide

☆ France coach Renard says pressure will be on Australia in quarter-finals
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

France cruised into the quarter-finals with an easy 4-0 win over Morocco in Tuesday's last-16 match. "We're hoping to put Australia through exactly what France went through when they were the host country in 2019." France played Australia less than a month ago, a 1-0 loss to the Matildas on July 14th in Melbourne in their last game before the World Cup kicked off. There's nothing to fear here, but we will respect Australia because Australia has a lot of qualities." "I remember in 2016 when the women's team was actually set up.

Persons: Herve Renard, Carl Recine ADELAIDE, Les Bleues, Renard, We're, Eugenie Le Sommer, Kadidiatou Diani, Kenza Dali, Corinne Diacre, you've, Morocco's, Lori Ewing, Christian Radnedge Organizations: Soccer Football, FIFA, World, REUTERS, Australia, France, Morocco, French, Hindmarsh, Morocco's men's, Moroccan, Thomson Locations: New Zealand, France, Morocco, Adelaide, Australia, Tuesday's, United States, Paris, Melbourne, Sydney

☆ While the elimination of top teams continues, France calm amid World Cup turmoil
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Even when we have a friendly match, you still need to win the game so we are here to qualify (for the quarter-finals)." He was only hired by France in late-March after Corinne Diacre was sacked in the wake of a player revolt. The fifth-ranked squad have watched as top 10 teams United States, Germany, Brazil and Canada have all been unceremoniously dumped from an expanded 32-nation World Cup that is enjoying more parity than ever. Aston Villa midfielder Kenza Dali said France feel confident amid the turmoil. So yes, different things are happening during this World Cup, but we need to focus on ourselves and not think that the way things have happened for us have been easier than it was for others."

Persons: Kadidiatou Diani, Clara Mateo, Amel Majri, Vicki Becho, Read, Herve Renard, Bleues, Renard, Corinne Diacre, Kenza Dali, Wendie Renard, Maelle Lakrar, Lori Ewing, Michael Perry Organizations: Soccer Football, FIFA, Sydney Football Stadium, Hindmarsh, United, Aston Villa, Panama, Thomson Locations: New Zealand, Panama, France, Sydney, Australia, ADELAIDE, African, Morocco, Denmark, Brisbane . Renard, French, Qatar, United States, Germany, Brazil, Canada, Brisbane

☆ Artist-Designed Party Hats, and How to Recreate Them
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-27 | by ( Coco Romack | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

In the United States, party hats — those ubiquitous, cone-shaped signifiers of children’s birthdays and summer picnics — have their roots in a less celebratory phenomenon: the pointed dunce caps used as disciplinary tools in schools throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries. It’s a reminder that even the most unassuming objects can have complex meanings — something that artists, several of whom have turned to party attire for inspiration, have long known. The students of the Bauhaus, the influential German design academy founded in 1919, took their costume parties as seriously as their studies, dressing up as monstrous creatures and mechanical humanoids. And in 1972, the Spanish painter Salvador Dalí designed several fantastical ensembles for the infamous Surrealist Ball, a lavish gathering held at the French estate of the baroness Marie-Hélène de Rothschild. From there, imaginations ran free, yielding headdresses that resemble, among other things, a rainbow-colored palm tree, a coral reef and an otherworldly drinking helmet.

Persons: Salvador Dalí, baroness Marie, Hélène de Rothschild, Audrey Hepburn peered, Faye Toogood, Jolie Ngo, Piotrek, Rakeem Cunningham, Alexia Hentsch, Adam Charlap Hyman, Andre Herrero, Charlap Hyman, Herrero — Organizations: Bauhaus Locations: United States, —, Spanish

☆ ‘Dalíland’ Review: Landscape With Vipers
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-08 | by ( Manohla Dargis | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

One of the best things about “Dalíland,” Mary Harron’s amused and amusing fictional look at the singular Salvador Dalí, is that it isn’t a cradle-to-grave exhumation. An anodyne pretty boy, James serves as a proxy for the viewer, a wide-eyed tourist in a seductively foreign land. James isn’t all that interesting, either, and there’s too much of him in the movie. This isn’t Briney’s fault; he’s pleasant to look at, and he manages his transition from tourist to accidental Dalí-wood guide well enough. The relationship provides tension and mystery that the well-matched Kingsley and Sukowa complicate with gargoyle masks and shocks of vulnerability.

Persons: “, Mary Harron’s, Salvador Dalí, Dalí’s, James, Christopher Briney, who’s, Ben Kingsley, Barbara Sukowa, Dalí ’, Captain Moore, Rupert Graves, Alice Cooper, Mark McKenna, Amanda Lear, Suki Waterhouse, James isn’t, grubbing, Kingsley Locations: York, Regis, New York

☆ Barry Humphries (Dame Edna to You, Possums) Is Dead at 89
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-22 | by ( Margalit Fox | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Oh, Possums, Dame Edna is no more. To be unflinchingly precise, Barry Humphries, the Australian-born actor and comic who for almost seven decades brought that divine doyenne of divadom, Dame Edna Everage, to delirious, dotty, disdainful Dadaist life, died on Saturday in Sydney. His death was confirmed by the hospital where he had spent several days after undergoing hip surgery. For generations after the day she first sprang to life on the Melbourne stage, Dame Edna reigned, bewigged, bejeweled and bejowled, one of the longest-lived characters to be channeled by a single performer. She toured worldwide in a series of solo stage shows and was ubiquitous on television in the United States, Britain, Australia and elsewhere.

☆ 19 Unique Gifts for Women Who Have Everything
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-14 | by ( ) www.wsj.com time to read: +10 min

“There’s something a little decadent about wearing a matching cashmere set when you’re traveling by plane, for example,” Deyette notes. Note: The earrings can also be purchased as singles if you or your recipient like to mix and match. Constructed of 100% Australian sheepskin upper and footbed, they feel incredibly luxe and confer the benefit of breathable, moisture-wicking materials. “I love lighting this candle when I take a bath or just want to relax with a good book,” she says. It comes with a 72-ounce pitcher and an ice-crushing blade, as well as two single-serve blender cups for beverages on the go.

Starbucks (SBUX.O) warned of a "cautious" recovery in its China sales. "Consumers have become more meticulous in their spending," its chief executive, Xu Lei, said in an earnings call on Thursday. "Now the Chinese tourists are either super rich or very poor," said the owner, who spoke on condition of anonymity. "This suggests that once the initial reopening rebound has happened, we shouldn't expect a further surge in consumer spending," he wrote in a note to clients. ($1 = 6.8780 Chinese yuan renminbi)Editing by Marius Zaharia and Bradley PerrettOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ In Turkey's quake-devasted city of Antakya, an antiques seller is determined to stay put
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-04 | by ( Timour Azhari | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Close by was a mosaic portrait of Ataturk, the founder of modern Turkey, old magazines and several Turkish flags. "Even before the earthquake, these chairs were outside, I had items outside to show that we run an antique shop ... In one room, a wall collapsed on top of his collection of Turkish antique glassware. A man who has made a living from old things, Sincan said he took a historical view of the earthquake's devastation. Sincan said he was confident the city would rise again.

☆ TikTok's parent ByteDance is developing a new 'AI-based' learning platform called GeniusJoy that it will test overseas
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-24 | by ( Dan Whateley | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

TikTok's parent ByteDance is developing a new 'AI-based' learning tool called GeniusJoy. TikTok's parent company ByteDance is developing a new learning platform for children that the company is referring to as GeniusJoy, per two job postings on its website and a June trademark filing by a company subsidiary. GeniusJoy will adopt "Singapore math pedagogy" for its program, per ByteDance's job listing. ByteDance, which is headquartered in Beijing, has released a variety of educational products in the past centered on Chinese consumers. The company also once operated a learning app called Guagua Long, a course-livestreaming platform dubbed Qingbei, and an English-language tutoring app named GoGoKid.

☆ Spanish police nab art thieves, recover 100-year old Dali drawings
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] A Mosso d'Esquadra police officer handles a recovered charcoal drawing by Spanish artist Salvador Dali that had been stolen in Barcelona, Spain, in this handout photo released on February 17, 2023. Mossos d'Esquadra/Handout via REUTERSBARCELONA, Feb 17 (Reuters) - Spanish police have recovered two 100-year-old drawings by surrealist painter Salvador Dali that were stolen last year in a burglary in Barcelona. They also seized other art works including graphic works by fellow Spanish artist Joan Miro, luxury watches and valuable coins and banknotes. The art works - two dark rural sceneries drawn on brown paper - were authenticated by the Gala-Salvador Dali Foundation, which holds the rights on the late painter's works, police said. The three brothers are alleged by Catalan police to have specifically targeted homes in the Barcelona region with art works and collections of coins and other antiques.

☆ How Salvador Dalí Built His Brand
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-11 | by ( Peter Saenger | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +1 min

“The Image Disappears,” a new exhibition opening on Feb. 18 at the Art Institute of Chicago, explores the clashing impulses that made Salvador Dalí tick. Through much of the 20th century, the public knew Dalí as a kind of surrealist court jester. But behind the showmanship lay a serious artist, with formidable technique and dark, shape-shifting meanings. Viewed one way, “The Image Disappears” (1938) looks like the profile of a man’s face, with a beard and mustache that make him resemble the 17th-century Spanish painter Diego Velázquez. Was Dalí simply comparing two favorite artists who worked at the same time?

☆ U.S.-China relations just got more fragile
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-06 | by ( Evelyn Cheng | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken indefinitely postponed his visit to Beijing due to a Chinese surveillance balloon flying over the United States. Brown | AFP | Getty ImagesBEIJING — U.S.-China relations look increasingly fragile, analysts say, after a now-downed Chinese balloon forced U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken to indefinitely postpone his trip to Beijing. "A key question is why the Biden administration decided to publicize this balloon but not previous [reported] ones," Wildau said. While discussion of the balloon — including memes — circulated on Chinese social media, China's official Chinese-language mouthpieces have been more muted so far. "That alone would mean the Chinese leadership would be more restrained and would not want to let this balloon situation blow out of proportion."

☆ Alejandro Jodorowsky’s ‘Dune’ Was Never Made, but With A.I., We Get a Glimpse of His ‘Tron’ - The New York Times
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-13 | by ( Frank Pavich | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +12 min

I was recently shown some frames from a film that I had never heard of: Alejandro Jodorowsky’s 1976 version of “Tron.” The sets were incredible. However, Mr. Jodorowsky, the visionary Chilean filmmaker, never tried to make “Tron.” I’m not even sure he knows what “Tron” is. caption caption caption caption caption caption caption caption caption caption caption Generation Text prompt The A.I. caption caption caption caption caption caption caption caption caption caption caption Generation Text prompt The A.I. If A.I.s were eligible for the Academy Awards, I’d vote for “Jodorowsky’s Tron” for best A.I.

☆ Four accused in Bulgarian probe of crypto lender Nexo -investigators
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SOFIA, Jan 13 (Reuters) - Investigators looking into crypto lender Nexo on Friday said that four citizens of Bulgaria had been accused of participating in an organised crime group for money laundering as well as tax and computer fraud. Nexo had said after Thursday's operations that the raided office was not customer facing but has only back office functions. Some 35 artworks, including from Salvador Dali, Henri Matisse and Pablo Picasso, had been seized from one of the accused, investigators said. According to Bulgarian prosecutors $94 billion has gone through the Nexo platform in the past five years. Crypto lenders act like banks for the crypto world, offering customers interest on cryptocurrencies they deposit with the platform.

☆ 19 Unique Valentine’s Gifts for Women Who Have Everything
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-22 | by ( ) www.wsj.com time to read: +10 min

Maybe she’s the type who tuts, “Oh, I don’t need anything” as Valentine’s Day or her birthday approaches. “There’s something a little decadent about wearing a matching cashmere set when you’re traveling by plane, for example,” Deyette notes. Note: The earrings can also be purchased as singles if you or your recipient like to mix and match. Constructed of 100% Australian sheepskin upper and footbed, they feel incredibly luxe and confer the benefit of breathable, moisture-wicking materials. It comes with a 72-ounce pitcher and an ice-crushing blade, as well as two single-serve blender cups for beverages on the go.

☆ Huge COVID protests erupt in China's Xinjiang after deadly fire
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Reuters verified the footage was published from the Xinjiang capital Urumqi. Videos showed people in a plaza singing China's national anthem with its lyric, "Rise up, those who refuse to be slaves!" The Urumqi protests followed a fire in a high-rise building there that killed 10 on Thursday night. Urumqi officials abruptly held a news conference in the early hours of Saturday, denying that COVID measures had hampered escape and rescue but saying they would investigate further. Some lamented its similarities to the deadly September crash of a COVID quarantine bus.

Weird Al, known for taking famous pop and rock songs and sending them up by rewriting the lyrics. It began as a fake movie trailer that director Eric Appel made in 2013 as a sketch for Funny or Die. It featured Aaron Paul, Olivia Wilde, Gary Cole, Mary Steenburgen, Patton Oswalt and yes, Weird Al. Yankovic noted that the day after the trailer came out, “if you did a Google search for Weird Al, the first thing is, ‘Did Weird Al date Madonna?’ Everybody wanted to know. Weird Al Yankovic during a photo shoot in Los Angeles in 1984.

☆ I'm a professional pumpkin carver whose creations resemble celebrities, famous artwork, and characters like Paddington. They take up to 20 hours to make and can costs thousands.
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-29 | by ( Jenny Powers | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

Marc Evan started Maniac Pumpkin Carvers with his childhood friend after graduating from college. I run Maniac Pumpkin Carvers, which I started in 2008 with my childhood friend Chris Soria after graduating from college. We were really taking a nostalgic pastime like pumpkin carving that we did at home as kids and elevating it into an art form. Courtesy of Maniac Pumpkin CarversWord about us got out after Wired did an article on us in 2009. Courtesy of Maniac Pumpkin CarversThe farmers market Union Square Greenmarket in downtown Manhattan was home base for us for a very long time.

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