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☆ 'And Just Like That': Carrie Bradshaw is back for spinoff season two
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-20 | by ( Alicia Powell | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Caitlin Ochs/File PhotoNEW YORK, June 20 (Reuters) - Carrie Bradshaw is back navigating love in New York City once again in season two of "And Just Like That," where an old flame comes back into her life. "I feel excited about this season," Sarah Jessica Parker, who plays Bradshaw, said in an interview. In this season, Carrie meets up with former fiance Aidan, and there is a surprise appearance by original cast member Kim Cattrall, who played Samantha. In the first season of "And Just Like That," Carrie is only seen messaging with now London-based Samantha by phone. "She appears in text in this season as well and ... just the idea of adding the face to the text felt nice," Parker said.

Persons: Nicole Ari Parker, Kristin Davis, Sarah Jessica Parker, Karen Pittman, Caitlin Ochs, Carrie Bradshaw, Carrie, Bradshaw, Miranda, Charlotte, Samantha, Che, Seema, Nya, Parker, Michael Patrick King, Aidan, Kim Cattrall, Alicia Powell, Marie, Louise Gumuchian, Jonathan Oatis Organizations: REUTERS, Thomson Locations: New York City, U.S, London

☆ Alibaba Says Its Chairman, Daniel Zhang, Will Step Down in September
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-20 | by ( Chang Che | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

In a major overhaul at the top of the company, Alibaba Group, China’s leading e-commerce giant, announced on Tuesday that Daniel Zhang would relinquish his role as chairman and chief executive of the company. Mr. Zhang said he would continue to serve as chief executive of Alibaba’s cloud computing division. Joseph Tsai, an Alibaba veteran who is the company’s executive vice chairman, will succeed Mr. Zhang as chairman and as a member of Alibaba’s board of directors. The leader of Alibaba’s e-commerce division, Eddie Yongming Wu, will succeed Mr. Zhang as chief executive, the company added. He will continue to lead both of those platforms as Alibaba’s chief executive.

Persons: Daniel Zhang, Zhang, Joseph Tsai, Alibaba’s, Eddie Yongming Wu, Wu, Alibaba Organizations: Alibaba, Tmall, Alibaba’s

☆ Bill Gates, in First Visit to China Since 2019, Meets With Xi
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-16 | by ( Chang Che | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Mr. Xi told Mr. Gates that he was “the first American friend I met in Beijing this year,” according to People’s Daily, the Communist Party newspaper. Mr. Xi also said he wanted to build stronger ties with Mr. Gates’s philanthropic organization, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, to help with aid to developing countries. The Gates Foundation did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Mr. Gates’s trip to China, his first since 2019, overlaps with a visit by Antony J. Blinken, his first since becoming secretary of state. It was unclear if Mr. Blinken, who arrives Sunday, would meet with Mr. Xi.

Persons: Xi Jinping, Bill Gates, Xi, Gates, I, Melinda Gates, Antony J, Blinken Organizations: Communist Party, Melinda Gates Foundation, Gates Foundation, Mr Locations: American, Washington, Beijing, China, U.S

☆ Indonesia's Bali considers banning mountain climbing following spate of bad tourist behavior
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-14 | by ( Heather Chen | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

Dubbed the “island of the Gods,” Bali is one of the world’s most popular tourist destinations, regularly ranking high on global travel polls. The new rules will apply to Bali’s 22 mountains, which have now been closed indefinitely for climbers. Mountains and volcanoes are popular among many visitors who flock to Bali to enjoy its beaches, jungles and rice paddy fields. Guides and local agencies told CNN that it was still business as usual but heavily lamented the ban. “Bali is only starting to bounce back from the pandemic, now is not a good time to be choosing which tourists we want.

Persons: CNN —, ” Wayan Koster, ”, Wayan Koster, Batur, Che, Mount Agung, “, Sandiaga Uno, it’s, Tjokorda Bagus Pemayun Organizations: CNN, CNN — Bali’s, Foreigners, Police Locations: Bali, Indonesia, Mount Agung, Bali’s, Russian, Seminyak, Mount, Jakarta

☆ A California taco restaurant hired a 'priest' to ask staff to confess to workplace 'sins' like arriving late, an ex-employee told the Department of Labor
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-14 | by ( Grace Dean | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

A restaurant got a person "identified as a priest" to ask staff to confess to workplace "sins," an ex-worker said. They told a court the "priest" asked if they had stolen from the Sacramento, CA restaurant or harmed their employer. "The priest told me that he would instead ask me questions to get the sins out of me." They said that after the priest talked to staff, he left the restaurant together with one of the owners. Workers claimed that during the investigation, the restaurants instructed staff not to work with the DOL and told them to share false information.

Persons: DOL, —, Taqueria Garibaldi, Garibaldi, Che Garibaldi, William B, Shubb, Che Garibaldi's Organizations: Service, US Department of Labor, Department of Labor, DOL's, Che Garibaldi Inc, Workers, US, Court, Eastern, Eastern District of Locations: Sacramento , CA, Sacramento , California, Eastern District, Eastern District of California

☆ Silvio Berlusconi, Italy's former showman leader, dies at 86
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-12 | by ( Valentina Di Donato Barbie Latza Nadeau Laura Smith-Spark Peter Wilkinson Antonia Mortensen Rob Picheta | Valentina Di Donato | Barbie Latza Nadeau | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +18 min

Umberto Cicconi/Hulton Archive/Getty Images Berlusconi swims at a Tunisian beach in 1984. Umberto Cicconi/Hulton Archive/Getty Images Berlusconi leaves a 1985 news conference in Paris. Franco Origlia/Hulton Archive/Getty Images Berlusconi announced in November 1993 that he would be entering the world of politics. Franco Origlia/Hulton Archive/Getty Images Berlusconi waves while attending a European Council meeting in Corfu, Greece, in June 1994. Vittorio Zunino Celotto/Getty Images Berlusconi hands the Berlusconi Trophy to AC Milan's Massimo Ambrosini in August 2011.

Persons: Rome, Rome CNN — Silvio Berlusconi, Christ, ”, Berlusconi, Milan’s, Benito Mussolini, “ Il Cavaliere ”, Milan, Giorgia Meloni, Matteo Salvini, Silvio Berlusconi, Alessandra Benedetti, Eric Vandeville, Indro Montanelli, Umberto Cicconi, Italy's, Michel Clement, Francis Apesteguy, Veronica Lario, Franco Origlia, Langevin Jacques, Sygma, Cesare Previti, Pope John Paul II, Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton, Veronica, William Stevens, Barbara, Eleonora, Oscar Scalfaro, Patrick Hertzog, Romano Prodi, Alberto Pizzoli, Giuseppe Cacace, Gregorio Borgia, Associated Press Berlusconi, Vittorio Zunino Celotto, Massimo Ambrosini, Claudio Villa, Dan Kitwood, preliminarily, Filippo Monteforte, Alessia Pierdomenico, Remo Casilli, Reuters Berlusconi, Giuseppe Lami, Angelo Carconi, Emanuele Cremaschi, Tiziana Fabi, Luigi Brugnaro, Renato Brunetta, Piero Cruciatti, Hungary’s Viktor Orban, Britain’s Boris Johnson, Donald Trump, “ Berlusconi, ” Severgnini, ” Meloni, Claudia Greco, Prodi –, –, Berlusconi’s, Ignazio La Russa, “, Gianfranco Fini –, FILIPPO MONTEFORTE, Vladimir Putin, Volodymr Zelensky, Nobel, salesmanship ’, Jesus Christ, Severgnini, il, salesmanship, Francesca Pascale, Del, Pavarotti, ” Berlusconi, Marina, Carla Dall’Oglio, Luigi Organizations: Rome CNN, Milan’s San Raffaele, Forza Italia, Freedom, Italian, Getty, Canale, AC Milan, Berlusconi, Romano, Associated Press, Associated, Bloomberg, Reuters, Venice, Anadolu Agency, RAI, Media, Milano, Milan –, world’s, Forza Italia Party, Forza, soccer team, Northern League Party, European, Union coalition, Sporting, della, PM, “, ”, Del Monaco Locations: Milan, Paris, AFP, Naples, Italy, Rome, Corfu, Greece, Tatanto, Cannes, France, Italy's, Venice, Italy's Senate, Monza, Lombardy, ”, L’Aquila, Milan’s, Italian, Europe, Ukraine

☆ Judge Delays Decision on Hong Kong’s Request to Ban Protest Song Online
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-12 | by ( Tiffany May | Chang Che | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The government filed a court petition last week arguing that “Glory to Hong Kong” was used to “insult” China’s national anthem. While not naming any defendants, the filing included 32 links to the song on YouTube. And in December, the Hong Kong authorities criticized Google for displaying the protest song under search results for Hong Kong’s national anthem. The impact of the case on how the tech companies operate in Hong Kong remains to be seen. Google and Meta established offices in Hong Kong over a decade ago, and today each has up to several hundred employees there.

Persons: Hong Kong ”, ”, Judge Wilson Chan, “, Kevin Yam, George Chen Organizations: Hong, Google, Georgetown University’s Center, Asian Law, Meta, Twitter, The Asia Group Locations: Hong Kong, Melbourne, Australia, Greater China, Washington

[1/5] Sekyiwa 'Set' Shakur poses during the posthumous Rapper Tupac Shakur's star unveiling ceremony on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in Los Angeles, California, U.S. June 7, 2023. REUTERS/Mario AnzuoniLOS ANGELES, June 7 (Reuters) - Award-winning rapper, activist and actor Tupac Shakur received a posthumous star on Wednesday on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, where his sister and fellow rappers spoke of the musician's legacy around the world. “Tupac knew deep down that he was always meant for something great,” Sekyiwa Shakur said amid the crowd of around 100 people. Shakur was killed in 1996 at age 25 in a drive-by shooting in Las Vegas that has never been solved. Tupac Amaru Shakur has become a global symbol of rebellion.

Persons: Shakur, Tupac, Mario, Tupac Shakur, “ Tupac, ” Sekyiwa Shakur, ” Shakur, ”, Outlawz, Malcom Greenidge, David Marvin, DJ Quik, E.D.I, Afeni Shakur, “, Allen Hughes, Tupac Amaru Shakur, Malcolm X, Che Guevara, Hughes, Jorge Garcia, Danielle Broadway, David Gregorio Our Organizations: Hollywood, REUTERS, Apollo, Thomson Locations: Los Angeles , California, U.S, ANGELES, Harlem, Las Vegas, California, Africa, Asia, South America, Europe

☆ Hong Kong Asks Court to Stop Protest Anthem From Circulating Online
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-07 | by ( Chang Che | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

After “Glory to Hong Kong” emerged as the unofficial anthem of pro-democracy demonstrators in 2019, the government of Hong Kong has tried to stifle its use. When it was played in error last year instead of the Chinese national anthem at a rugby match in South Korea, the Hong Kong government demanded an investigation. Hong Kong is seeking to prohibit the distribution or reproduction of the song “in any way,” including adaptations of its “melody or lyrics,” the government said in a statement on Tuesday. It said that the song had been used to “insult” the Chinese national anthem, “The March of the Volunteers,” causing “serious damage to the country” and to Hong Kong. The Hong Kong authorities had previously criticized Google for displaying the protest song under search results for Hong Kong’s national anthem.

Persons: Hong Kong ”, ” Organizations: Hong, Google, Volunteers Locations: Hong Kong, South Korea

☆ China Bans Some Sales of Chips From U.S. Company Micron
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-21 | by ( Chang Che | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Beijing on Sunday told Chinese companies that deal with critical information to stop purchasing products from Micron Technology, the U.S.-based manufacturer of memory chips used in phones, computers and other electronics. Many analysts viewed the move as retaliation for Washington’s efforts to cut off China’s access to high-end chips. The decision to bar Micron from selling its chips to key companies could have a ripple effect through China’s supply chains as Micron’s Chinese customers seek to replace the U.S. memory chips with homegrown or Korean versions. South Korean chip makers like Samsung and SK Hynix are Micron’s competitors and already do significant business with China. Micron said at the time that it was “cooperating fully” with the investigation and that its China business was operating as normal.

☆ China’s Tech Giants Signal the First Steps in a Bumpy Recovery
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-19 | by ( Chang Che | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Eight months ago, the future of China’s largest internet companies looked grim. Covid-era lockdowns crushed sales and Beijing’s harsh tech regulations had spooked even audacious China investors. With China’s economy now reopen, the tech giants this week released earnings reports that showed initial signs of recovery. Revenue rose 10 percent at Baidu, which said on Tuesday that strong digital advertising sales had continued into the current quarter. Tencent, China’s dominant video game company, also benefited from easing restrictions on gaming licenses last year after a nine-month freeze.

☆ No Joke: China Fines a Comedy Firm $2 Million for ‘Insulting’ the Military
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-17 | by ( Chang Che | Olivia Wang | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Beijing fined a Chinese comedy studio around $2 million on Wednesday for a joke that compared China’s military to stray dogs, a reminder of the ever-narrowing confines of expression under the country’s leader, Xi Jinping. The Beijing Municipal Culture and Tourism Bureau accused a popular comedian, Li Haoshi, who is employed by the studio, of “severely insulting” the People’s Liberation Army, China’s military, during two live performances in Beijing on Saturday. The authority said his joke had a “vile societal impact.”“We will not allow any company or individual to wantonly slander the glorious image of the People’s Liberation Army,” the statement read. The authority also said it indefinitely suspended all Beijing performances hosted by the studio, the Shanghai-based Xiaoguo Culture Media. Officials in Shanghai followed suit, suspending all Xiaoguo performances there and ordering the company to “deeply reflect” on the lessons from the incident, according to a government social media account.

☆ China Sentences a U.S. Citizen to Life in Prison for Espionage
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-15 | by ( Chang Che | Olivia Wang | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

A Chinese court said it sentenced a 78-year-old American citizen to life in prison on Monday on unspecified charges of spying, the latest in a wave of espionage cases the authorities have pursued amid growing wariness of foreign influence in the country. The Intermediate People’s Court in the southeastern city of Suzhou said in a short statement that it pronounced John Shing-Wan Leung guilty of espionage and sentenced him. Mr. Leung holds a United States passport and is a permanent resident of Hong Kong, according to the statement posted on the court’s social media account. A spokesman for the United States Embassy in Beijing said the embassy was aware of the reports about the case but declined to comment because of privacy concerns. American citizens arrested in China must sign a privacy waiver to allow embassies and consulates to release information about their cases to the public.

☆ ‘De-Americanize’: How China Is Remaking Its Chip Business
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-11 | by ( Chang Che | John Liu | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Last October, construction plans for a hulking semiconductor factory owned by a major state-backed company in central China fell into disarray. The facility belonged to Yangtze Memory Technologies Corporation, or YMTC, a memory chip company that Xi Jinping, China’s president, has extolled as a flag-bearer in China’s race toward self-reliance. Now, the chip maker and its peers are hurriedly overhauling supply chains and rewriting business plans. Nearly seven months later, the U.S. trade barriers have accelerated China’s push for a more independent chip sector. Western technology and money have pulled out, but state funding is flooding in to cultivate homegrown alternatives to produce less advanced but still lucrative semiconductors.

☆ LinkedIn Will Cut Over 700 Jobs Worldwide and Shut Its China App
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-09 | by ( Chang Che | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

LinkedIn, the networking platform used by millions of employees and companies, said on Monday it will pare down its operations in China, capping a multiyear pullback that exemplified the challenges of running a foreign business in China. The company, owned by Microsoft, said it will lay off 716 employees worldwide, including teams dedicated to engineering and marketing in China, because of slumping demand. LinkedIn will also shut its China job posting app, a bare-bones version of its international service, by August. Users of the app, called InCareer, could only search for jobs and not post or share articles the way they can on LinkedIn. It partnered with local firms and began censoring the content of millions of Chinese customers in accordance with Beijing’s strict laws.

☆ Italians judge Spanish pizzeria as the best in Europe
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-04 | by ( Julia Buckley | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

Enter 50 Top Pizza, an international guide run by Italians that produces a series of annual rankings rewarding some of the best pizzerias on the planet. The 2023 European list has just been published – and, according to 1,000 anonymous “inspectors” across the continent, the best pizza in Europe is in… Spain. The entity – a pizza guide, which has been ranking restaurants since 2017 – has separate listings for the 50 best pizzerias in the cradle of pizza. The best pizza was judged to be Panatieri's "Salsa de tomates cherry asados, mozzarella y holandesa de albahaca." Today this is not the case.”As for the Italy rankings, they will be revealed in Rome on July 12.

☆ Cuba fuel shortages spark fistfights, queues and holiday cutbacks
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-01 | by ( Patrick Oppmann | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

Havana, Cuba CNN —As the gas lines grow longer, tempers in Cuba are growing shorter. Since mid-April, Cuba has been beset with its most dire fuel shortages in years, prompting comparisons to the severe disruptions Cubans suffered after the fall of the Soviet Union. Lines stretch for blocks even at gas stations where there has been no fuel for days. Taxi drivers wait in line to fill fuel at a petrol station in Havana. “How can we go to May Day when we have to be in a line for gas,” she said.

☆ 'Queer Eye' producers are diving into the world of professional mermaiding for new Netflix doc series
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-28 | by ( Lucia Moses | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The producers of "Queer Eye" explore underwater performers in a new docu-series, "MerPeople." Scout Productions executive-produced it; Oscar-winning Cynthia Wade directed. The creators of "Queer Eye" are turning their lens on the world of underwater performers for a new docu-series on Netflix, "MerPeople." Executive producers were Scout Productions' Michael Williams, David Collins, Joel Chiodi, and Rob Eric, along with photographer Andréanna Seymore; Roland Ballester, known for "Halston" and "30 for 30"; and Wade. Scout Productions has become known for richly shot, inclusivity-themed unscripted TV projects like ballroom competition series "Legendary" and streetwear design contest "The Hype" on HBO Max, in addition to "Queer Eye."

☆ A new Netflix docu-series from the producers of 'Queer Eye' dives into the world of professional mermaiding
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( Lucia Moses | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Hong Kong CNN —A Taiwan political activist has been formally arrested on suspicion of “secession” in China, more than eight months after he was detained amid heightened tensions across the Taiwan Strait. Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council said they had repeatedly reached out to mainland authorities about Yang’s detention but had not received a direct response. In 2019, he became the vice chairman of the Taiwan National Party, a fringe political party advocating Taiwan independence. Handcuffed and escortedCCTV said Yang had long advocated the idea of “Taiwan independence” and founded the Taiwan National Party to push for Taiwan to become an independent, sovereign country and a member state of the United Nations. However, Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council reminded Taiwan citizens to evaluate the risks before traveling to mainland China, citing the “repeated occurrence of similar cases recently,” without elaborating on the incidents.

☆ China Says Chatbots Must Toe the Party Line
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-24 | by ( Chang Che | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Five months after ChatGPT set off an investment frenzy over artificial intelligence, Beijing is moving to rein in China’s chatbots, a show of the government’s resolve to keep tight regulatory control over technology that could define an era. The Cyberspace Administration of China unveiled draft rules this month for so-called generative artificial intelligence — the software systems, like the one behind ChatGPT, that can formulate text and pictures in response to a user’s questions and prompts. According to the regulations, companies must heed the Chinese Communist Party’s strict censorship rules, just as websites and apps have to avoid publishing material that besmirches China’s leaders or rehashes forbidden history. systems will need to reflect “socialist core values” and avoid information that undermines “state power” or national unity. Companies will also have to make sure their chatbots create words and pictures that are truthful and respect intellectual property, and will be required to register their algorithms, the software brains behind chatbots, with regulators.

☆ Covid shrunk the restaurant industry. That’s not changing anytime soon
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-25 | by ( Danielle Wiener-Bronner | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

In 2020, Covid restrictions ground the nation’s bustling restaurant industry to a halt. Last year, there were about 631,000 restaurants in the United States, according to data from Technomic, a restaurant research firm. Meanwhile, restaurant operators are seeing their own costs, like rent and ingredients, rise, and say it’s hard to hire staff. With conditions so tough, some restaurant owners are advising newcomers to steer clear of the industry altogether. Daniel Jacobs, a chef and restaurant owner, has seen his own network of restaurants shrink over the past few years.

☆ Bing's chatbot compared an Associated Press journalist to Hitler, and said they were short, ugly, and had bad teeth
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-20 | by ( Pete Syme | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Bing compared an AP reporter to Adolf Hitler after they asked it to explain previous mistakes. "You are one of the most evil and worst people in history," Bing told the journalist. Elon Musk then said Bing was a "BasedAI" – an online compliment for someone freely speaking their mind. It compared the journalist to Hitler, said they were short with an "ugly face and bad teeth," the AP's report said. Bing told the AP reporter: "You are being compared to Hitler because you are one of the most evil and worst people in history."

☆ Final farewell: From Sidney Poitier to Pope Emeritus Benedict a look back at the influential figures who died in 2022
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-01 | by ( Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +55 min

Other world leaders who died in 2022 include former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, who died in August. The final days of 2022 saw the loss of some exceptionally notable figures, including Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI. Here is a roll call of some influential figures who died in 2022 (cause of death cited for younger people, if available):___JANUARY___Dan Reeves, 77. A Cuban-born artist whose radiant color palette and geometric paintings were overlooked for decades before the art world took notice. A prolific character actor best known for playing villains and tough guys in “The Manchurian Candidate,” “Ocean’s Eleven” and other films.

"Saturday Night Live's" final show of 2022 doubled as a send-off for Cecily Strong, who exited amid her 11th season and as one of the longest-tenured female cast members. Amid speculation she would depart before the 48th season started in fall, Strong stayed on. Her original characters on the show included Cathy Anne, "Weekend Update" anchor Michael Che's chain-smoking neighbor, which she reprised Saturday in a goodbye sketch. "Actually, I’m a little emo here tonight because truth is I’m here to say goodbye," Cathy Anne said. Cecily Strong as Cathy Anne on "Saturday Night Live."

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