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☆ Emma Stone is at the center of rumors about a song on Taylor Swift's 'Speak Now (Taylor's Version)'
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-08 | by ( Dan Heching | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —As Swifties and others rejoice at the release of Taylor Swift’s “Speak Now (Taylor’s Version),” a reissue of the star’s third studio album from 2010, one previously unreleased track has some scratching their heads. “When Emma Falls in Love,” one of the “from the vault” songs in the album rerelease, is gaining traction online as being about Oscar-winning actor Emma Stone, a known friend of Swift’s from the time “Speak Now” was initially written, around 2008-2010. Emma Stone (left) and Taylor Swift seen at the premiere of "Easy A" at Grauman's Chinese Theatre on September 13, 2010 in Hollywood, California. David Livingston/Getty ImagesOther slightly more vague clues come with a lyric referencing how Emma in the song “calls up her mom” to talk about her love life. Stone notably has taken her mother Krista to various awards shows and public events, per Entertainment Weekly.

Persons: Swifties, Taylor Swift’s, “, Emma Falls, Oscar, Emma Stone, Swift’s, ”, Sunshine, Natasha Bedingfield’s “, Swift, Stone, Taylor Swift, David Livingston, Emma, Krista, , John ” Mayer Organizations: CNN, Theatre, Getty, Entertainment Locations: Love, Hollywood , California, New York, L.A, Los Angeles, New York City

☆ Silverstone, a Storied Formula 1 Track, Wants to Continue Its Tale
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-07 | by ( Alex Kalinauckas | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

In 2008, Bernie Ecclestone, head of Formula 1 at the time, said the race would leave Silverstone. Then in 2017, the British Racing Drivers’ Club, the owner of the track, activated what is called the break clause in its hosting agreement, which would allow the club to stop holding the race. After two years of talks, a new deal was struck with Formula 1 and its new owner, Liberty Media, which had replaced Ecclestone. Based on its most recent financial filing, Silverstone made £6.9 million in profit in 2021. “The members, the 820 or so racing drivers or former racing drivers,” he said, don’t take money out.

Persons: Bernie Ecclestone, Ecclestone, Silverstone, Pringle, ”, don’t Organizations: Silverstone, British Racing Drivers ’, Liberty Media

☆ Mission Impossible: Paramount reckoning
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-05 | by ( Jennifer Saba | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +8 min

NEW YORK, July 5 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Paramount Global’s (PARA.O) predicament is worthy of its successful “Mission: Impossible” franchise. Over the past year or so, Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway (BRKa.N) has bought and increased its stake in Paramount to about 15%. Without the funding, her closely held firm might have needed to pledge more of its Paramount stock against a loan. Streaming service Paramount+ is similar to Netflix, whose enterprise is worth 5 times next year’s estimated revenue. “Mission: Impossible Dead Reckoning Part One,” from Paramount Pictures, opens in movie theaters on July 12.

Persons: Shari Redstone, Looney, Walt Disney, Sumner, Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway, Goldman Sachs, Byron Trott, Rudolph Valentino, Mae West, Marx, Trustbusters, Martin Davis, Sumner Redstone, Simon, Schuster, Walt, Jeffrey Goldfarb, Sharon Lam, Streisand Neto Organizations: YORK, Reuters, Paramount, Warner Bros Discovery, AT, Netflix, Apple, Comcast, Electronic Arts, MSD Partners, Viacom, Audio Communications, CBS, Nickelodeon, MTV, Time Warner, Reuters Graphics Reuters, Tiffany Network, National Football League, Fox, Amazon, MGM, U.S, Penguin Random, Walt Disney, Amusements, Paramount Global, BDT Capital Partners, “, Paramount Pictures, Thomson Locations: U.S, Gulf, Western, NAI

☆ Kramatorsk restaurant strike shows death can come any time
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-28 | by ( Ivana Kottasová | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

CNN —It was dinner time and the restaurant – a popular pizza joint in the center of Kramatorsk – was crammed with people. Just after 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, a Russian missile ripped through, killing at least 10 people. People comfort each other at the site of a Russian missile strike in Kramatorsk on June 27. Oleksandr Ratushniak/ReutersRescuers search for survivors after the Russian missile attack hit the Ria restaurant in Kramatorsk. In April last year, Russian forces carried out a missile strike on Kramatorsk’s railway station which was being used to shelter civilians fleeing the fighting.

Persons: Yulia, Anna Aksenchenko, –, Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Prigozhin, Vladimir Putin, Ria Lounge, Ria ., ”, Alex, Volodymyr Zelensky, Oleksandr Ratushniak, Wojciech Grzedzinski, Josep Borrell, ” Borrell Organizations: CNN, Authorities, Emergency Services, Institute for, Kramatorsk’s, Reuters, Anadolu Agency, Getty, “, Twitter, Ukrainian Security Service, Russian Armed Forces, Russia, Human Rights Watch, SITU Locations: Russian, Ukraine, Russia, Belarus, Kramatorsk, Ukrainian, Ria, Kramatorsk’s

☆ Farhad Manjoo on ‘South Park’ - The New York Times
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-20 | by ( Farhad Manjoo | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +3 min

But it isn’t the topicality of “South Park” that best explains America. In “South Park,” correctness of any sort — religious, scientific, pedagogical, geopolitical or whatever else — is sus. For Donald Trump Jr., “South Park” memes are the height of wit. In 2018 “South Park” even acknowledged that Al Gore was right: ManBearPig turned out to be real. But the damage was done; the monster had already begun to eat the people of South Park.

Persons: topick, ”, Trey Parker, Matt Stone’s, Parker, Stone, Donald Trump’s, Vladimir Putin’s thuggery, Ron DeSantis, Barack Obama, Donald Trump, Stone’s, they’ve, Eric Cartman’s —, Andrew Sullivan, “, Donald Trump Jr, Ben Shapiro, Steven Crowder, Cartman, Bob White, Al Gore, ManBearPig Organizations: Trump Locations: America, Colorado, South Park

☆ Los Angeles Country Club: One of the world’s most exclusive golf clubs is opening its doors to host the US Open
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-17 | by ( Issy Ronald | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

Now, the club is opening its doors to a curious public and media as the host of the US Open, the first individual event to visit the famed Los Angeles County Club since 1940, though it hosted the Walker Cup in 2017. It’s mythic in some ways.”But even if its exclusivity prevents stars from playing on the golf course, the club is surrounded by them. Lionel Richie’s mansion is a stone’s throw away while Hefner’s famous Playboy Mansion, and zoo which he reportedly built as revenge after being refused entry to the Los Angeles Country Club, sits next to the 14th hole. Whatever Hefner’s intentions, even today golfers say they can still hear the monkeys, parrots and peacocks from the golf course. The Los Angeles Country Club is hosting this year's US Open.

Persons: CNN —, Bing Crosby, Groucho Marx, Hugh Hefner, “, Gene Sykes, Lionel Richie’s, Hefner’s, Harry, ” Patrick Cantlay Organizations: CNN, Los Angeles Country Club, Daily Telegraph, Los Angeles County Club, Walker, LA Times Locations: Los, Beverley Hills

☆ Islay: The wild remote island at the heart of a billion-dollar industry
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-16 | by ( Nell Lewis | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

Islay’s single malt is known for its salty and smoky flavors, that transport you to the wild and windswept island. Part of the reason is that when it comes to an Islay single malt, the place and the taste are so deeply intertwined. The Glenmorangie CompanyIslay’s whisky industry has not always been a boon for the island. Islay has a population of around 3,000 people -- most are connected to the whisky industry. “Traditions are things that are handed down from one generation to another.”Everybody’s connected to the whisky industry.” Islay Heads, general manager at Kilchoman DistilleryLike most people on Islay, Heads has strong links to the spirit.

Persons: Distillery Jackie Thomson, ”, Thompson, “, Jackie Thomson, Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy, Kilchoman, Ardnahoe, Port Ellen, NELL LEWIS, Anthony Wills, Wills, Kilchoman’s, Blair Bowman, Bowman, ’, Islay Organizations: CNN, Distillery, Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra, Whisky Association, Asia –, Diageo, Louis, Islay, Kilchoman, Tourism Locations: Islay, Scotland’s, Kennacraig, Glasgow, Ardbeg, Australia, Ukraine, Netherlands, Germany, Denmark, Taiwan, Asia, Port, Scotland, Aberdeen Angus, Kilchoman, Machir

☆ Ornate Roman mausoleum found beneath London construction site
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-14 | by ( Caolán Magee | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

London CNN —An “incredibly rare” Roman mausoleum has been discovered beneath a south London construction site, archaeologists have said. A team from Museum of London Archaeology (MOLA) made the find in Southwark, close to the Thames River’s south bank. MOLAIn 2017, an excavation just a stone’s throw from the site uncovered a Roman sarcophagus. And in February last year, Roman mosaics approximately 1,800 years old were discovered at the site. The mausoleum will be restored and put on public display, Landsec Developers, which co-owns the site, told CNN.

Persons: MOLA, MOLA MOLA, Antonietta, Catherine Rose Organizations: London CNN, Museum of London, Borough Market, CNN Locations: London, Southwark, Britain, Borough, MOLA, London Borough

☆ Private equity risks gorging on its secret sauce
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-14 | by ( Liam Proud | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

Investors prefer pedestrian but steady management fees over the lumpy share of fund profit that is the industry’s special sauce. Private equity firms with a public listing funnel some of the carry to employees and some to shareholders. TPG (TPG.O) last year went public with a similar strategy of paying around two-thirds of performance-related revenue to employees. Assuming the general idea is to keep overall earnings steady, then higher fee-based income for shareholders must be matched by lower cash compensation for employees. It suggests that for KKR, TPG and the rest, there is a limit to just how much of their own secret sauce employees can eat.

Persons: Steve Schwarzman, Carlyle, Blackstone’s, Schwarzman, Henry Kravis, George Roberts, EQT, Blackstone, Harvey Schwartz, Rowe Price, Thoma Bravo, Jeffrey Goldfarb, Sharon Lam, Oliver Taslic Organizations: Reuters, Blackstone, KKR, Apollo Global Management, JPMorgan, Reuters Graphics, TPG, Apollo, Reuters Graphics Reuters, Alpha, Bain Capital, Thoma, Ares Management, Thomson Locations: BlackRock

☆ A Climactic Opening
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-29 | by ( Lauren Jackson | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Today is something of a curtain raiser for the U.S. National Parks system, ushering in its busiest season. Last year, nearly 312 million people visited the parks, hiking across the Grand Canyon, posting Instagram stories from Joshua Tree and waiting for Old Faithful by Yellowstone’s rainbow pools. On Memorial Day last year, so many people headed to the sites that many of their parking lots were full by midmorning. At Bryce Canyon National Park in Utah, home to 50-million-year-old rock formations, park rangers start clearing the way for visitors weeks ahead of the busy season. Similar preparation plays out at the system’s parks around the country.

☆ Canceled TV deal cuts one loan cord
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

NEW YORK, May 23 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Banks can tune out one painful summer rerun. Television broadcaster Tegna (TGNA.N) on Tuesday terminated its sale to hedge fund Standard General, letting banks off the hook for $8.2 billion in debt backing the deal. As a result, Standard General couldn’t finance its transaction. Chipping away at the $25 billion-plus pile of hung loans potentially frees banks up to start fresh. They do not reflect the views of Reuters News, which, under the Trust Principles, is committed to integrity, independence, and freedom from bias.

☆ Quito: Ecuador’s underrated capital city was the first to become a UNESCO site
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-22 | by ( Sandra Macgregor | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

CNN —It’s hard not to feel a little sorry for the Ecuadorian capital of Quito. Singular churchesInside the Spanish colonial church of San Francisco in the city center of Quito. The museum even puts on a variety of shows, including a karaoke night of traditional Ecuadorian song. It’s especially busy at lunchtime when it fills to capacity with locals looking to indulge in affordable traditional Ecuadorian cuisine. Guided toursMetropolitan Touring’s “Live Quito Like a Local” walking tour is great for visitors with only a day or two to explore Quito.

☆ Bakhmut: Russia has claimed to control the besieged city, but Ukraine says it's still fighting. Here's what we know.
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-22 | by ( Rob Picheta | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

CNN —Ukraine has claimed it still controls parts of Bakhmut after Russian forces said they had finally captured the besieged eastern city. Ukraine’s deputy defense minister, Hanna Maliar, said Monday that Ukrainian forces were still in control of some buildings in the southwest of Bakhmut, two days after Russia claimed to have captured the city. Russian forces, bolstered by members of the Wagner mercenary group, have taken heavy losses trying to capture the city. Only two roads out to the west have remained outside Russian control, though for Ukrainian forces trying to re-supply the city, the drives in have been treacherous. Before the war, around 70,000 people lived in Bakhmut, a city once famous for its sparkling wine.

☆ Russia's Wagner group claims to have captured Bakhmut but Ukraine says it still controls a part of it
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-20 | by ( Darya Tarasova Sugam Pokharel Thom Poole Rob Picheta | Darya Tarasova | Sugam Pokharel | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

CNN —Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has denied claims Bakhmut has fallen to Russia after the chief of the mercenary Wagner group said his forces had taken complete control of the eastern Ukrainian city following months of brutal fighting. In a later update the Armed Forces of Ukraine said: “The battles for the city of Bakhmut continue”. Wagner received a message of praise from Russian President Vladimir Putin. Russian forces, bolstered by members of the Wagner mercenary group, have taken heavy losses trying to capture the city. Before the war, around 70,000 people lived in Bakhmut, a city once famous for its sparkling wine.

☆ TPG returns to credit party fashionably late
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-15 | by ( Jonathan Guilford | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The buyout firm is acquiring Angelo Gordon, an asset manager that specializes in private credit, for $2.7 billion, it said on Monday. The direct-lending portion of its $55 billion credit business emphasizes borrowers with less than $25 million of EBITDA. While it missed the last private credit bonanza, it isn’t saddled with jumbo-size and potentially shaky loans written at the top of the last cycle. As U.S. regional banks struggle, private credit firms see what Blackstone has termed a “golden moment” to muscle in on new turf. Follow @JMAGuilford on TwitterCONTEXT NEWSPrivate equity firm TPG said on May 15 that it had agreed to acquire private credit and real estate-focused investment firm Angelo Gordon for $2.7 billion, including cash and stock.

☆ John Pappajohn, Iowa Venture Capitalist Who Focused on Medical Plays, Dies at 94
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-07 | by ( James R. Hagerty | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

John Pappajohn estimated that he gave $100 million of his wealth to philanthropic causes. Photo: Andy Kropa/Invision/Associated PressJohn Pappajohn , a Greek immigrant in Iowa, was a young insurance agent when he heard the self-help author W. Clement Stone extol the advantages of a positive mental attitude. Emboldened by Mr. Stone’s advice, Mr. Pappajohn founded his own insurance company in the early 1960s. By the late 1960s, around the age of 40, he was getting bored with insurance. He noticed a Wall Street Journal article about venture capital, then a little-known field, and decided to take up that trade.

☆ Opinion | Private Equity Is Gutting America — and Getting Away With It
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-28 | by ( Brendan Ballou | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +3 min

In this case, as in nearly every private equity acquisition, private equity firm benefit from a legal double standard: They have effective control over the companies their funds buy, but are rarely held responsible for those companies’ actions. This mismatch helps to explain why private equity firms often make such risky or shortsighted moves that imperil their own businesses. But it isn’t just that firms benefit from the law: They take great pains to shape it, too. The most prominent of these benefits is the carried interest loophole, which allows private equity executives to pay such low tax rates. Instead, Congress approved an amendment that largely exempted small and midsize companies owned by private equity firms from a new corporate minimum tax.

☆ Russia's war in Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-22 | by ( Ivana Kottasová | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +1 min

People who fled contested territory in Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region disembark at a railway station in the Russian port city of Nakhodka. Photo: Vitaliy Ankov/Sputnik/APAs Russia’s war on Ukraine grinds into a second year, some Ukrainians who fled the fighting and ended up in far flung parts of Russia are still unsure if they will ever be able to return home -- and whether they would be welcome when they get there. Ukraine describes these refugees as forcibly deported, though some Natalia says no one forced her to leave. “It was our decision,” she told CNN by phone from Russia’s far east, where she has resettled since arriving last spring. Over the course of many months, CNN has managed to reach a handful of Ukrainians like Natalia.

☆ Live updates: Supreme Court protects access to abortion pill
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-21 | by ( Elise Hammond | Matt Meyer | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

A patient prepares to take Mifepristone, the first medication in a medical abortion, at Alamo Women's Clinic in Carbondale, Illinois. Along with misoprostol, mifepristone is one of the drugs used for an abortion via medication, as opposed to surgery. Someone having a medication abortion takes mifepristone and then, after 24 to 48 hours, takes misoprostol. Side effects of mifepristone: Mifepristone usually doesn’t have many side effects, doctors say, but as with any drug, there can be short-lived ones. Preliminary data published February 2022 from the Guttmacher Institute, a research and policy organization focused on sexual and reproductive health that supports abortion rights, showed that medication abortion accounted for 53% of all abortions in the US.

☆ Supreme Court protects access to abortion pill
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-21 | by ( Ariane De Vogue | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

CNN —The Supreme Court on Friday protected access to a widely used abortion drug by freezing lower-court rulings that placed restrictions on its usage. How the dispute over medication abortion is ultimately resolved could make it more difficult for women to obtain abortion, even in the states that still allow it. At issue is the scope of FDA’s authority to regulate mifepristone, a drug that the medical community has deemed safe and effective. The next step in the litigation will be a hearing in front of a New Orleans-based federal appeals court on May 17. The appeals court ultimately let stand the government’s approval of the drug, but agreed with Kacsmaryk that access could be limited.

☆ EQT tries tricky private-market fundraising puzzle
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, April 20 (Reuters Breakingviews) - When one pot of cash seems to be running low, it’s rational to seek another. That’s why EQT’s (EQTAB.ST) boss Christian Sinding is right to try raising money from rich individuals, rather than just institutions. The $24 billion Swedish private equity and real estate investor said alongside first-quarter results on Thursday that it was preparing fund structures for private wealth investors. This usually refers to people who are well-heeled but not deep-pocketed enough to have a dedicated private wealth management firm, a family office, looking after their money. EQT itself spooked shareholders in January, when it said that the fundraising for its new 20 billion euro EQT X vehicle was not happening as fast as analysts had predicted.

☆ Opinion: Top secrets come spilling out
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-16 | by ( Richard Galant | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +16 min

We’re looking back at the strongest, smartest opinion takes of the week from CNN and other outlets. Writing for CNN Opinion, Rep. Justin Pearson noted, “This should be a chastening moment for revanchist forces in Tennessee’s legislature and across the country. Over the long haul, the undemocratic machinations employed to oust us from office are destined to fail. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. once famously said that the moral arc of the universe bends toward justice. “As a Jewish historian,” Perry wrote, “I worry about the tension between preserving the memory of past hardships while not locking our entire history into a tale of oppression.

CNN —Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito on Friday extended a hold on a lower court ruling that would have imposed restrictions on access to an abortion drug, a temporary move meant to give the justices more time to consider the issue. The case is the most important abortion-related dispute to reach the high court since the justices overturned Roe v. Wade last term. Alito issued a so-called administrative stay on the ruling while the high court considers an emergency appeal filed by the Biden administration and a manufacturer of the drug, mifepristone. Alito issued the order because he has jurisdiction over the federal appeals court involved in the case. Prelogar, the solicitor general, argued in her filing to the Supreme Court that the FDA’s expert judgment should not be challenged.

☆ Seeking Visibility, Pope’s Commission on Sex Abuse Gets a New Home
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-13 | by ( Jason Horowitz | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Far from an exile, Father Small characterized the move as an expansion to a global headquarters in Rome that can serve as a monument to “the silent massacre of people’s childhoods” and make clear to survivors that they “have a right to be somewhere beautiful.”“It’s very significant,” Cardinal Sean O’Malley, the archbishop of Boston and the president of the commission, said in an interview. Despite it being “nifty” to have been in offices a stone’s throw from the pope, he said, “We have come to realize that it’s not as accessible as we would like to be.” Survivors of clerical sex abuse, he said, often feel uncomfortable coming into a Catholic church: “To have to come into the Vatican and go through the Swiss Guards and the gendarmes and everything else can be pretty daunting.”Location is far from the commission’s only problem. For decades, the church has been divided over the accountability of its hierarchy when it comes to covering up abuse, how much of a voice to give victims inside an insular institution and whether to take a more incremental or uncompromising approach to reform.

CNN —Dueling decisions in two federal district courts last week are likely to set up a showdown at the Supreme Court over the fate of the abortion pill mifepristone. When the Supreme Court upheld the federal Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act in 2007, dubious scientific arguments became even more central to anti-abortion advocacy. In Gonzales v. Carhart, the court held that in circumstances of scientific uncertainty, legislators would have more latitude to regulate abortion. Implausible scientific claims are now visible on social media, in lawsuits and in congressional hearings. (By taking this position, abortion opponents can still defend bans with no or few exceptions by claiming that abortion is never necessary.)

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