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This year, advertisers and ad agencies may well use the strike as a bargaining tool, said Erin Firneno, vice president of business intelligence for researcher Advertiser Perceptions. The writers’ strike, which has entered its third week, is also injecting a new element of uncertainty for ad buyers, at a time when television viewership is declining and the possibility of recession looms. While the TV networks have long contended with splintered viewership amid the rise of social media and streaming, the writers' strike puts content production at risk, said Rishad Tobaccowala, a former executive at advertising and public relations giant Publicis Groupe and advisor on business transformation. Last year, NBC’s upfront presentation emphasized star power as the network returned to a live event after a COVID-19-imposed hiatus. Ahead of the upfront presentations, media executives sought to reassure investors about the strike’s impact.

☆ The Broken Fingers and Busted Eyes of the Boston Celtics’…Coaches
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-14 | by ( Robert O Connell | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Boston’s 126-102 win over the Houston Rockets, on Dec. 27, was a laugher, with the Celtics’ All-Star duo of Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum racking up 39 and 38 points, respectively. The more intense competition had come hours earlier, on the same parquet floor at TD Garden. There, the Celtics’ coaching staff conducted a vicious, valorizing ritual. They played pickup basketball—or, rather, something like it.

☆ Opinion: Mitch McConnell’s confidence is being put to the test
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-14 | by ( Richard Galant | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +17 min

We’re looking back at the strongest, smartest opinion takes of the week from CNN and other outlets. Not to worry, said Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, a veteran of debt limit battles. McConnell’s reassurance that all will work out in the end is validated by history, but that doesn’t mean this time couldn’t be different. “If female voters are key to a Donald Trump victory in 2024, the former president should be in big trouble – but he doesn’t seem to care,” Jill Filipovic observed. “The town hall audience – selected on the basis of their intention to vote in the Republican primary in New Hampshire – appeared to be made up mostly of Trump fans.

Russian service members rehearsing last week for the military parade in Moscow on Tuesday, when Russia celebrates the anniversary of the victory over Nazi Germany in World War II. More recently, he has tried to wrap Ukraine into that narrative, falsely depicting it as a Nazi redoubt. The parade is likely to be subjected to closer scrutiny than usual, both inside Russia and beyond its borders. This year, the jets have skipped their usual practice runs over Moscow, raising questions about whether they will participate. Dmitri S. Peskov, the Kremlin spokesman, said the march was canceled as a “precautionary measure” against possible attacks.

☆ Opinion | A Gun-Filled America Is a World of Fear and Alienation
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-09 | by ( Jamelle Bouie | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The frequency of mass shootings in the United States means there is a ritual, of sorts, associated with each occurrence. Republican politicians offer “thoughts and prayers,” Democratic politicians condemn those offering only “thoughts and prayers,” and their respective allies in the media trade barbs over gun control. On Twitter, Megyn Kelly — a former Fox News anchor — took part in the ritual with a series of tweets castigating gun control proponents for focusing on, well, gun control. “Serious q for gun control advocates: you’ve failed to effect change,” she said. We’re all well aware you don’t like that fact, but fact it is.

Victory Day, celebrating the Soviet Union’s vanquishing of Nazi Germany in 1945, is Russia’s most important secular holiday, although it is toned down this year as the war in Ukraine drags on. More than 20 cities, some thousands of miles from the battle lines, said they would forgo military parades, and organizers canceled a popular nationwide march honoring veterans. Here’s a look at the significance the holiday has taken on during President Vladimir V. Putin’s two decades in power. Why does Victory Day matter so much? Mr. Putin has helped transform Victory Day — meant to honor the 27 million Soviets who died in World War II — into one of the most important holidays on the Russian calendar, a nostalgic ritual that buttresses national pride and unifies a sometimes divided society.

☆ At Charles’s Coronation, Everything Olde Was New Again
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-07 | by ( Sarah Lyall | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The coronation of King Charles III was billed as a chance to usher in a new kind of monarchy — slimmer, more accessible and more inclusive — for the 21st century. Though Saturday’s ceremony had its share of modern flourishes, it was hard to escape the sense that they were mostly tweaks to an ancient ritual which, like the monarchy itself, can’t escape the heavy burdens of the past. As it happened, the coronation was a huge success by most measures. King Charles looked burdened, and then relieved, by the responsibility of it all; Queen Camilla looked radiant. “The Penny is mightier than the sword,” Chris Bryant, a Labour member of Parliament, tweeted.)

☆ Charles Is Crowned King in Ancient Ceremony With Modern Twists
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-06 | by ( Mark Landler | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Anointed with holy oil and enthroned on St. Edward’s chair, King Charles III was crowned on Saturday in a solemn ritual that stretches back more than a millennium but unfolded with multiple concessions to the modern age. The coronation, the first since Queen Elizabeth II’s in 1953, was a royal spectacle of the kind that only Britain still stages: four hours of pageantry that began with the clip-clop of horses’ hooves on Pall Mall and ended with the vaporous trails of acrobatic jets streaking above Buckingham Palace, as Charles watched from the balcony with Queen Camilla, who had been crowned shortly after him. Yet this was a coronation for a radically different country than when Elizabeth first wore the crown. Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, and Sikh leaders greeted Charles as he left Westminster Abbey, and there were various attempts — not always successful — to make a medieval ritual more inclusive and democratic. Female bishops from the Church of England took part in the liturgy; hymns were sung in Welsh, Scottish and Irish Gaelic; and when Charles, 74, took a sacred oath to defend the Protestant faith, he also offered a personal prayer, in which he promised to be a pluralistic monarch for a diverse society.

☆ King Charles' coronation to blend ancient ritual with modern Britain
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

LONDON, May 6 (Reuters) - The coronation of King Charles will seek to blend the ancient ritual of a ceremony that dates back for almost 1,000 years with the modern, more diverse face of Britain and its many faiths, the Order of Service makes clear. Watched by about 100 heads of state and dignitaries, Charles will be crowned on Saturday at Westminster Abbey, which has staged all coronations since William the Conqueror back in 1066. According to the Order of Service, the king will pray for the first time at a Coronation "publicly for grace to be 'a blessing to all ... of every faith and belief'." The king's love of nature will also be reflected in the clothing of his wife, Queen Camilla, who will also be crowned. Reporting by Kate HoltonOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ ‘Yellowjackets’: How Sophie Nélisse Managed That Harrowing Birth Scene
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-05 | by ( Kalia Richardson | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

This article contains spoilers for Episode 6 of Season 2 of “Yellowjackets.”Sophie Nélisse keeps a close eye on what she eats. When picking out a restaurant for her 23rd birthday dinner last month, she opted for an Italian spot in Montreal that specializes in naturally leavened pizza, pies without commercial yeast. She shops at Erewhon, the trendy health food store, when she is in Los Angeles. “I’ve been eating clean,” she said in a recent video call from her home in Montreal. In the Season 2 premiere, her character, the teenage version of Shauna, snacks on her dead best friend Jackie’s ear.

☆ No other country could do it, PM Sunak says of King Charles' coronation
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

LONDON, May 5 (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak hailed the coronation of King Charles on Saturday as a show of the nation's history and a demonstration of its modern character, saying no other country could muster such a "dazzling display". Charles, and his wife Camilla, will be crowned at London's Westminster Abbey in a show of pomp and pageantry with origins dating back some 1,000 years. "No other country could put on such a dazzling display - the processions, the pageantry, the ceremonies, and street parties," he said in a statement. A vivid demonstration of the modern character of our country. And let's make new memories, so we can tell our grandchildren of the day we came together to sing: God Save The King."

☆ As a King Is Crowned, Some Britons Ask Why the Monarchy Persists
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-05 | by ( Sarah Lyall | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

In a scene in the 1975 movie “Monty Python and the Holy Grail,” King Arthur roams around the English countryside attempting to gather knights for the Round Table. When he declares, “I am your king!” to a deeply unimpressed peasant, her response is both absurd and blindingly obvious. As long as there has been a monarch in this country — for more than a 1,000 years — there have been questions about the legitimacy of the monarchy. “One of the reasons that the monarchy persists is that we don’t often have serious conversations about why we have a monarchy,” said Alastair Bellany, an English-born historian at Rutgers University specializing in 16th- and 17th-century Britain. I think a serious country has to look in the mirror.

[1/5] Britain's King Charles speaks to guests during a reception for overseas guests attending his coronation at Buckingham Palace in London, Britain, May 5, 2023. It will be the largest show of its kind in Britain since the coronation of Charles' mother. Once at the abbey, much of the ceremony will feature elements that Charles' forebears right back to King Edgar in 973 would recognise, officials said. Handel’s coronation anthem "Zadok The Priest" will be sung as it has at every coronation since 1727. After returning to Buckingham Palace, the royals will make a traditional appearance on the balcony, with a fly-past by military aircraft.

☆ We’re All Paying For Private Jet Travel - The New York Times
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-05 | by ( Farhad Manjoo | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

But Prince, who founded a business in the 1990s that has made a fortune printing gift cards, is a wealthy man. Prince says flying private is a magical experience: He can drive right up to the side of his plane and hop on board. If he’s flying in the afternoon, he’ll be greeted with a glass of scotch; in the morning, he’ll get coffee and a newspaper. A progressive activist — he’s the vice chair of Patriotic Millionaires, an organization of wealthy people who favor higher taxes on rich people like themselves — Prince argues that flying private is just too expensive and unfair. His group isn’t calling on other private fliers to ground their planes, but maintains that if rich people are going to continue to jet around in luxury, they should at least be taxed for the privilege.

☆ Eva Longoria shares 5 essential Mexico experiences
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-30 | by ( Marnie Hunter | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

Editor’s Note: CNN Original Series “Eva Longoria: Searching for Mexico” airs on CNN Sundays at 9 p.m. ET/PT. Here are just five of the essential experiences Longoria recommends to Mexico visitors. “There are so many indigenous cultures still vibrant in Mexico,” Longoria said. El Tajín “is one of the best-preserved pre-Hispanic cities in Mexico,” Longoria says in the Veracruz episode. With a conchaActress reveals daily ritual when she's in Mexico City 00:40 - Source: Eva Longoria: Searching for MexicoExploring requires stamina – and maybe a little sugar and caffeine.

☆ Many in U.K. Greet King Charles’s Coronation With a ‘Take It or Leave It’ Shrug
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-30 | by ( Mark Landler | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

When King Charles III is crowned on Saturday, he will undergo a ritual so rare in modern British history that it last occurred 70 years ago, roughly the wait between sightings of Halley’s comet. And yet the coronation has yet to capture the imagination of a Britain preoccupied by other concerns. Images of the new king — in chocolate, in Legos and in wax — are popping up in bakeries, toy stores and at Madame Tussauds wax museum. Ancient relics of coronation, like the Scottish stone of destiny, are being delivered to Westminster Abbey for the ceremony. They love the royal family.

☆ Veracruz state: Home of the flying Voladores, Mexico's top coffee and more
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-29 | by ( Tim Leffel | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

The Voladores of Veracruz in Mexico have a history that goes back at least 1,400 years. “The flying ritual has never had a learning age, it is a project of a lifetime,” he says. Nearly all of the Voladores train in or around Papantla, where the flying schools prepare young people to take over for those who are eventually aging out. Coffee, ancient ruins and an overlooked capital cityMen with ankle ropes flying deftly around a pole are not the only export from this state, though. The big draw, however, is Mexico’s second most important archaeological museum after the one in Mexico City.

Charles’ coronation is expected to be shorter than his mother’s seven decades ago. The spot where King Charles will be crowned inside Westminster Abbey Dan Kitwood/Getty ImagesWhat happens during the coronation service? Which crown will King Charles use? How is King Charles making the ceremony more inclusive? Don’t missThe coronation of King Charles III brings pageantry, revelry, and new questions – is the monarchy relevant in the modern world?

☆ A year in Azerbaijan: From the Grand Prix to the ski slopes
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-27 | by ( Words Cnn Staff | Photo Illustrations Woojin Lee | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +18 min

CNN —Anyone who has tuned in to the Azerbaijan Grand Prix has seen a tantalizing glimpse of what the capital Baku has to offer. This year’s Grand Prix comes at the height of spring, often said to be Azerbaijan’s most beautiful season. Juan Vilata/Alamy Stock Photo Explore Azerbaijan in spring Prev NextSummers in Azerbaijan are hot, so getting out of the city is a good idea. Alexander Melnikov/Alamy Stock Photo Explore Azerbaijan in fall Prev NextWrap up, because even at its coldest Azerbaijan still has plenty to offer. You’ll learn much more at the Azerbaijan National Carpet Museum in Baku.

☆ Analysis: American living standards are on the line in the debt ceiling drama
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-27 | by ( Christine Romans | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

New York CNN —Inside the Beltway, jockeying over raising the debt ceiling has become a partisan ritual to gain political points. But marching toward a debt ceiling default puts American living standards on the line. For most of that time, the debt ceiling was raised with little fuss, until 2011 brought the debt ceiling into a new dangerous realm of political brinksmanship. Deciding later not to pay the bills by not raising the debt ceiling is not sound fiscal policy. Roger Ferguson, economist and former vice chair of the Fed, said the debt ceiling is out of date.

Kids in Hammond, Indiana, are forced to climb over and through stopped trains block their way to school. Jamie Kelter Davis for ProPublicaState lawmakers have tried to curb blocked crossings by restricting the lengths of trains. Spielmaker, the Norfolk Southern spokesperson, said: "We work with first responders on a daily basis to assist however we can. A favorable court opinion could allow other states to finally enforce their laws on blocked crossings. Among those who hope to voice their concerns about the blocked crossings are rail workers themselves who worry about the kids.

☆ Jill Biden and the Statement of No Statement Dressing
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-27 | by ( Vanessa Friedman | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The day after President Biden released a video announcing he would be running for a second term, he and the first lady, Jill Biden, stood in black tie and evening gown on the red carpet outside the north entrance to the White House to welcome President Yoon Suk Yeol of South Korea and his wife, Kim Keon-hee, to the second state dinner of the Biden administration. If the dinner itself largely takes place behind closed doors, one photo always goes wide: the greeting portrait, the two couples, side by side, dressed in pomp and circumstance and symbolism. It tells an implicit story of soft power and priorities. The chairs were bamboo, with cushion designs evoking traditional Korean brush painting! — the one subject they did not officially communicate on was what the first lady was wearing?

☆ Ima Keithel: The world’s largest women-run market
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-24 | by ( ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

CNN —At first glance, Ima Keithel is much like any other market. Priya Kharaibam, for example, is the third generation of her family’s pottery traders at Ima Keithel, following on from her grandmother. The creation of Ima Keithel dates back to the 16th century Kangleipak Kingdom, when it began as a makeshift, open-air market for bartering crops. An overhead shot of a busy afternoon at Ima Keithel. We want to be responsible mothers.”These days Ima Keithel is a microcosm of Manipur’s egalitarian society.

☆ Chevron Championship: Lilia Vu channels memory of late Grandfather to clinch first major title
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-24 | by ( Jack Bantock | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

CNN —Lilia Vu triumphed at the Chevron Championship on Sunday, besting American compatriot Angel Yin in a playoff to seal the first major of her career in The Woodlands, Texas. I’m just really happy and proud of Cole [caddie] and I for doing this.”Vu (R) celebrates her win in the water. Amid bubbling frustrations during a wet and windy final round, it was the memory of her grandfather that kept Vu grounded. Carmen Mandato/Getty ImagesYin upbeatRunner-up Yin was upbeat despite agonizingly missing out on a first career major. “My caddie was telling me to calm down, but other than that, I really just wasn’t really feeling much.

STARYI SALTIV, Ukraine — The families milled about, greeting one another and exchanging news, or sitting at picnic tables laid with candy, Easter eggs and freshly baked bread, reviving village life in an improbable place: the cemetery. Outside the cemetery’s checkerboard of graves, which were festooned on Sunday with fresh flowers and where children ran about collecting candy, the village of Staryi Saltiv is a grim tableau of ruins. “You can see people are returning to clean the cemetery, and the village is coming back to life,” said Natalia Borysovska, a seamstress whose house was destroyed last year. She had no home to return to after fleeing — but still a family plot to tend. Families spend time in cemeteries each year on the first Sunday after the Orthodox Easter, tidying up graves and leaving food and flowers for their dead loved ones.

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