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☆ Disney rocks DeSantis ahead of expected White House bid announcement
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-19 | by ( Stephen Collinson | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

Disney did not specifically blame DeSantis for the move, partly citing “changing business conditions.” But the message was clear. In keeping with his bruising political persona, DeSantis reacted defiantly to Disney’s announcement that it would halt the office project. “Ron DeSantis’ failed war on Disney has done little for his limping shadow campaign and now is doing even less for Florida’s economy,” the Trump campaign said in a statement. Another possible GOP primary candidate, former Vice President Mike Pence, also leveraged the Disney announcement to jab DeSantis. Given his political exposure on Disney and the combative political image that is central to his White House hopes, DeSantis probably has no option but to further escalate the showdown.

☆ ‘White Men Can’t Jump’ Review: Bouncing Off the Rim
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-18 | by ( Glenn Kenny | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

And Walls, while appealing, can’t get within striking distance of Snipes’ intensity. The script by Barris and Hall, both veterans of the television sitcom “black-ish,” does the actors no favors. The basketball action is similar to the script, that is, indifferently staged and shot. This movie not only doesn’t jump, it barely gets off the couch. White Men Can’t JumpRated R for, what else, language.

☆ Madonna's 'Sex' photos go to auction for the first time at Christie's
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-12 | by ( Carlie Porterfield | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

Prints of photographs from Madonna’s wildly popular 1992 coffee table book “Sex” will be available for purchase for the first time at Christie’s New York this fall, part of ongoing projects to mark the 30th anniversary of the controversial publication. In October, over 40 prints first published in “Sex” will go up for sale as part of a special standalone auction. “Thirty years on, ‘Sex’ is still somewhat controversial, but it still reads as a very body-positive, sex-positive book,” Himes said. “Sex” also featured Madonna’s then-boyfriend, rapper Vanilla Ice, and stars like supermodel Naomi Campbell and socialite Tatiana von Fürstenberg. The prints will go on display at Christie's galleries in London, Paris and New York before the October auction.

☆ Ed Sheeran Lets His Tears Flow on ‘-’
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-08 | by ( Jon Pareles | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

In February 2022, Sheeran’s close friend Jamal Edwards died at 31; he was a YouTube tastemaker, producer, entrepreneur and D.J. Over the last decade, he has proved himself to be a consummate, driven 21st-century musician: gifted, career-minded and supremely adaptable yet easily recognizable, writing songs that revel in direct language and big feelings. Sheeran has made himself the USB port of pop songwriting, connecting with virtually everything. His new album completes a five-album arc of arithmetic symbols, with “-” following “+” (2011), “x” (2014), “÷” (2017) and “=” (2021). Per its title, “-” was intended to be a stripped-down singer-songwriter album, though Sheeran has by no means renounced big pop choruses.

☆ Premarket stocks: This is how the banking crisis ends
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-05 | by ( Julia Horowitz | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

London CNN —US regional bank stocks look set to rebound Friday but are still down sharply this week, accentuating fears that federal regulators have not yet contained a crisis in the sector that could shake the financial system. Breaking it down: Wall Street is on the hunt for any signs of vulnerability in the banking system after the high-profile demise of Silicon Valley Bank, Signature Bank and First Republic Bank in a matter of weeks. While authorities stepped in to protect depositors at those banks, investors were left with stocks that were suddenly worthless. “I believe it really only ends after we get some type of government intervention,” Michaud told me. The value of short positions in regional bank stocks reached $15.1 billion in mid-April, up from about $13.7 billion one year ago, according to data from S3 Partners.

☆ ProPublica: GOP megadonor paid private school tuition for grandnephew of Justice Clarence Thomas
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-04 | by ( Tierney Sneed | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

CNN —A Texas billionaire and GOP megadonor paid boarding school tuition for Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas’ grandnephew, and the justice did not report the financial assistance for the child he helped raised on his annual disclosures, according to a new ProPublica report – the latest revelation raising ethical questions around the high court. The ProPublica report on Thursday revealed that the billionaire Harlan Crow paid tuition for Mark Martin, who lived with Thomas’ family as a child and for whom the justice became a legal guardian. ProPublica cited a 2009 bank statement and an interview with a former administrator at the Georgia boarding school Martin attended. The former administrator at the school, Hidden Lake Academy, told ProPublica that Crow paid for Martin’s tuition for the year or so Martin was at the boarding school. The administrator said, according to ProPublica, that he had been told by Crow that Crow also paid for Martin’s tuition at another school, the Randolph-Macon Academy in Virginia, which is Crow’s alma mater.

☆ U.S. Economy Has Cooled, Labor Market Still Pressuring Prices, Powell Says
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-03 | by ( ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

The U.S. economy “slowed significantly” last year and continued its cooler trend with modest growth in the first quarter despite resilience in consumer spending, Fed Chair Jerome Powell said at his post-FOMC meeting press conference. The labor market remains “very tight,” but labor supply and demand “have moved into better balance,” he said. Nominal wage growth has shown some signs of easing, but overall job openings are still far higher than available workers, which puts pressure on wages, he said. Inflation has “moderated somewhat” since the middle of last year, but there is “still a long way to go.” On the plus side, Mr. Powell said inflation expectations remain “well-anchored.”

☆ A North Carolina Supreme Court Switcheroo
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-29 | by ( The Editorial Board | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +1 min

Images: AP/Reuters/AFP Composite: Mark KellyNorth Carolina’s Supreme Court reversed itself Friday on partisan gerrymandering, ruling 5-2 that it poses “nonjusticiable, political questions.” Last year a 4-3 court said the opposite. In between was the November election, in which GOP candidates won two Supreme Court seats, giving conservatives a majority again. Critics will call the reversal a judicial power play, but it’s really a corrective to the old majority’s overreach. Four liberal justices held that the North Carolina Constitution bans partisan map-making, because it guarantees “free elections,” the rights of speech and assembly, and so forth. At one point the court floated specific metrics that could be used to police gerrymandering, saying that a map could be presumptively constitutional if it has “a mean-median difference of 1% or less.”

☆ James Corden bids an emotional farewell to ‘The Late Late Show’
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-28 | by ( Toyin Owoseje | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —After eight years and multiple Emmy awards, James Corden’s time as host of “The Late Late Show” has come to an end. James Corden sings "That's Our Show" to say his last goodbyes to "The Late Late Show" on April 27, 2023. “I’ve watched America change a lot. Over these past few years, I’ve watched divisions grow and I’ve seen and I’ve felt a sense of negativity bubble and at points boil over,” he added. Corden ended his final appearance by performing a piano ballad, as a video montage of his finest moments on the show played.

☆ ‘Ted Lasso’ Season 3, Episode 7 Recap: Restaurant Week
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( Christopher Orr | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +3 min

At the end of the episode, Sam takes his father to see the fractured restaurant, only to find his teammates hard at work repairing it. Now, I confess I’d spent much of the episode trying to remember why Sam had named the restaurant Ola’s; I was planning to recheck Episode 3 and even last season for clues. Keeley and JackPresumably having Aurora-Borealised to their hearts’ content last episode, Keeley and Jack mostly limit themselves to coffee this time around, even if those coffees involve signed Jane Austen first editions and jewelry-filled pastry. In between, Keeley — who’d confided to Jack her love of daisies — returns to an office overflowing with them. (Also, is it just me or is it a tad stalker-y for Jack to secretly pay for Keeley and Rebecca’s dinner?)

☆ Daniel Radcliffe and Erin Darke have had their first child
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( Hafsa Khalil | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +1 min

CNN —Daniel Radcliffe and his long-term partner, actress Erin Darke, have had their first child. Scott Boute, a representative for Radcliffe, confirmed the birth to CNN on Wednesday, after the Daily Mail published photographs of the couple pushing a pram in New York earlier this week. The baby’s sex and date of birth haven’t been disclosed. While promoting his role in “Weird: The Al Yankovic Story” last year, Radcliffe told Newsweek that he would love his kids to experience “wonderful” film sets – but without the fame. He shot to instant fame with the 2001 release of “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone,” the first in what became a blockbuster eight-movie franchise.

In the suit, Ms. Carroll, 79, says that one evening in the mid-1990s, she visited the luxury department store Bergdorf Goodman, where she was a regular shopper. There, the suit says, she ran into Mr. Trump. He questioned several details of what Ms. Carroll has claimed: that no one else was present nearby, that the dressing room doors were unlocked and that Ms. Carroll fled without anyone seeing her. Ms. Carroll’s lawyers will ask the jury to find Mr. Trump liable for battery, and if he is found responsible, to award monetary damages. Here are some facts about the case:The New York State law that allowed Ms. Carroll to bring her suit isn’t even a year old.

☆ NBCUniversal CEO Jeff Shell to leave company after probe into ‘inappropriate relationship with a woman’
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-23 | by ( Ramishah Maruf | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +1 min

New York CNN —NBCUniversal CEO Jeff Shell is leaving the company after an outside investigation “into a complaint of inappropriate conduct,” its parent company Comcast announced Sunday. Shell will depart effective immediately in the wake of an investigation led by an outside counsel. “Today is my last day as CEO of NBCUniversal. I had an inappropriate relationship with a woman in the company, which I deeply regret,” Shell said in a statement. Shell had been named CEO in January 2020 after leading content creation, programming and distribution for NBCUniversal Film and Entertainment.

☆ Michelle Yeoh set to return as Emperor Philippa Georgiou in new ‘Star Trek’ movie
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-18 | by ( Alli Rosenbloom | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +1 min

After winning a best actress Oscar for her role in “Everything Everywhere All At Once” last month, Yeoh is preparing to step back into the Star Trek universe to reprise her role as Emperor Philippa Georgiou in the new “Star Trek: Section 31” movie. Yeoh was first introduced as the character in 2017, when the Emmy-winning “Star Trek: Discovery” TV series debuted on Paramount+. We can’t wait to share what’s in store for you, and until then: live long and prosper (unless Emperor Georgiou decrees otherwise),” she continued. “Everything Everywhere All At Once” took home seven Oscars that night, including Yeoh’s big win and the top prize for best picture. “Star Trek: Section 31” will begin production later this year.

☆ What metaverse? Meta says its single largest investment is now in ‘advancing AI’
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-15 | by ( Catherine Thorbecke | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

“Our single largest investment is in advancing AI and building it into every one of our products,” Zuckerberg said Tuesday. And not to be left behind, Meta announced late last month that it was forming a “top-level product group” to “turbocharge” the company’s work on AI tools. “I do think it is a good thing to focus on AI,” Ali Mogharabi, a senior equity analyst at Morningstar, told CNN of Zuckerberg’s comments. In 2022, Meta lost more than $13.7 billion in its “Reality Labs” unit, which houses its metaverse efforts. After taking a beating in 2022, shares for Meta have surged more than 50% since the start of the year.

☆ ‘Scream VI’ Review: Ghostface Is Still Slashing, Now in New York
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-10 | by ( Kyle Smith | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +1 min

There is no “Scream V,” but now we have “Scream VI.” In case you’ve lost track (or lost interest), the latest self-aware slasher flick is the sequel to a “re-quel,” last year’s modestly successful “Scream.” That entry helpfully included characters who, referring to the franchise-within-the-franchise “Stab” and its successors, in effect told the audience that it was a combination of reboot and sequel (cf. What was once cleverly self-referential now comes across as nostalgia for ’90s comfort food, like the fried ice cream at Chi-Chi’s. The 1996 franchise-starter, written by “Dawson’s Creek” creator Kevin Williamson , fondly mocked the slasher-movie clichés beloved by Gen X audiences who had grown up watching “Halloween” and “Friday the 13th” on cable TV. Two generations later, however, Mr. Williamson’s meta-cinematic framing is everywhere and the tang of originality is long gone. “Scream VI” feels like a photocopy of a photocopy.

☆ AI-Generated Comic Book ‘Zarya of the Dawn’ Keeps Copyright But Key Images Excluded
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-24 | by ( James Hookway | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Copyright Office supported a copyright registration for a comic book created with the help of an artificial intelligence program, but said that individual AI-generated images couldn’t be granted protection, the latest development in a closely watched case that has become a barometer for how AI art might be treated in the eyes of the law. New York-based author and software developer Kris Kashtanova initially obtained copyright protection for the 18-page graphic novel “Zarya of the Dawn” last year. Kashtanova, who uses a gender-neutral honorific and pronouns, used a series of written prompts to guide the AI software Midjourney to create the images in the book, which describes the voyage of young person through several futuristic worlds and was the subject of an article in The Wall Street Journal last month.

What began as a peaceful protest and vigil in Atlanta honoring a slain activist ended in property damage and several arrests on Saturday. The chaotic night came after nearly two years of organizers and activists imploring city leaders, raising awareness and protesting the city’s plans to build a sprawling police training center in a forest near Atlanta. We went through City Council, we’ve taken the legislative route, we’ve done tons of advocacy, we’ve sent in letters, and all we’ve been responded with is force,” said Matthew Johnson, a supporter of Defend the Atlanta Forest, one of the movements opposing plans for the new Atlanta Public Safety Training Center. It has become the focus of protests in several cities across the country to “Stop Cop City.” In recent weeks police shot and killed an activist, demonstrators destroyed property, and several protesters were arrested and face steep charges. Here is how the tension over Atlanta’s “Cop City” reached a boiling point.

☆ Panic! At The Disco breaks up as the lead singer shares personal news
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-24 | by ( Anna Kaplan | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +2 min

At The Disco is calling it quits after nearly 20 years, the pop-punk group’s lead singer, Brendon Urie, announced Tuesday. So many places all over the world, and all the friends we’ve made along the way,” Urie wrote in a statement posted on Instagram. At The Disco will be no more.”The singer thanked the band’s fans for their support over the years. Smith officially left the band in 2015, according to Variety, effectively making Panic! At The Disco, including the band’s seventh studio album, “Viva Las Vengeance” last year.

☆ Donald Trump will stop in New Hampshire ahead of his South Carolina rally
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-23 | by ( Marc Caputo | Marc Caputo Is A Senior National Political Reporter For Nbc News. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +2 min

Trump has added a stop in New Hampshire on Saturday morning before his rally that evening in South Carolina. Trump will give the keynote address at the annual meeting of the New Hampshire GOP, whose chairman, Stephen Stepanek, praised Trump’s support for the state’s first-in-the-nation primary status. For months, New Hampshire Gov. “That’s usually the most successful approach is someone who can be on the ground, who can shake hands, be social, have real conversations, sometimes about politics and policy, sometimes about the Patriots and the Red Sox.”From New Hampshire, Trump heads to South Carolina, where Gov. “Our message to everyone is: ‘Run against Trump.

☆ U.S. to designate Wagner mercenary group a ‘transnational criminal organization’
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-21 | by ( Leila Sackur | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +4 min

The U.S. will designate the Russian mercenary Wagner Group as a “significant transnational criminal organization” and impose further sanctions against the organization and its support network next week, the White House said Friday. He said the U.S. believes it was a delivery of infantry rockets and missiles for use by the Wagner Group. The Wagner Group is headed by Yevgeny Prigozhin, a longtime ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Yevgeny Prigozhin at the funeral of Wagner group fighter Dmitry Menshikov, in St. Petersburg, Russia, last month. The Wagner Group did not comment on his allegations.

☆ Jacinda Ardern gives supply shortage new meaning
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

MELBOURNE, Jan 19 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Jacinda Ardern has risen to the top of headhunters’ must-call list. Her contacts, international profile, and social-justice nous are skills corporates, charities and supranational organisations treasure in board members and advisers. Her administration’s push to legalise abortion and to enact climate change legislation gives her serious ESG clout. (By Antony Currie)Follow @Breakingviews on Twitter(The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. They do not reflect the views of Reuters News, which, under the Trust Principles, is committed to integrity, independence, and freedom from bias.

The GOP-controlled House passes a rules package for 118th Congress with just one GOP defection, NBC’s Kyle Stewart reports. ... President Biden spends his final day in Mexico City at North American Leaders’ Summit. But first: The news that the Justice Department is reviewing Obama Era classified documents found at a think tank tied to President Biden is quite a political gift to Donald Trump. “When is the FBI going to raid the many homes of Joe Biden, perhaps even the White House?” Trump posted on his Truth Social account. 6: The number of shootings recently at or near the homes of New Mexico Democratic political leaders, including the incoming state House speaker.

☆ Putin’s American Cheerleaders
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-07 | by ( Adrian Karatnycky | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +1 min

American commentators and journalists often appear on Ukrainian television expressing solidarity and offering analysis. Russia’s airwaves have largely been free of U.S. voices, save for occasional clips from American airwaves by Ukraine critics such as Tulsi Gabbard , Tucker Carlson and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene . Most U.S. guests on Russian media come from the fringe, including former Virginia State Sen. Richard Black , who associates with the Lyndon LaRouche movement’s Schiller Institute, and Scott Ritter , an embittered and disgraced former American intelligence officer turned critic of the war in Iraq. More surprising are the appearances of several establishment figures: Columbia University economist Jeffrey Sachs ; the National Interest’s former national security correspondent, Mark Episkopos ; and Dimitri Simes , until recently president of the Center for the National Interest. They willingly appear on the programs of Russia’s most odious state propagandist, Vladimir Solovyov .

Through the end of business hours on Friday, GOP Rep. Kevin McCarthy had lost 13 straight votes for speaker of the House. Vote after vote, hour after hour, the Democratic minority cast its ballots for the conference's leader, Rep. Hakeem Jeffries of New York. And as a result, Jeffries won vote after vote for speaker, though McCarthy finally pulled ahead on Friday. Democrats can vote as a block from now till this Congress is over, but they simply didn't have the numbers to elect Jeffries as speaker. With every vote in the House this week, they’ve shown that criticism to be overstated.

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