Author: natixis-ezine

Iconic tapestry of Picasso’s `Guernica’ is back at the UN

natixis-ezine

Read time : 2 mins

Level : Intermediate

By EDITH M. LEDERER Associated Press

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The iconic tapestry of Pablo Picasso’s “Guernica,” which is considered by numerous art critics as perhaps the most powerful anti-war painting in history, returned to its place of honor at the United Nations on Saturday after a year-long absence that angered and dismayed many U.N. diplomats and staff.

The tapestry of the painting, woven by Atelier J. de la Baume-Durrbach, was re-hung Saturday outside the Security Council, the U.N.’s most powerful body charged with ensuring international peace and security. Since February 2021, the yellow wall where it had hung had been empty.

The tapestry was commissioned in 1955 by former U.S. vice president and New York governor Nelson Rockefeller and offered to the U.N. on loan in 1984.
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Spotify CEO to employees: canceling Rogan not ‘the answer’

natixis-ezine

Read time : 3 mins

Level : Advanced

By TOM KRISHER and LINDSEY BAHR Associated Press

Joe Rogan’s mouth has put Spotify in a tough spot, but the streaming giant is apparently not ready to part ways with the popular podcast host despite intense criticism over his anti-coronavirus vaccine comments and racial slurs.

Spotify CEO Daniel Ek said in a message to employees released Sunday that the company would not part ways with Rogan.

“While I strongly condemn what Joe has said and I agree with his decision to remove past episodes from our platform, I realize some will want more,” Ek said in the note. “And I want to make one point very clear – I do not believe that silencing Joe is the answer.”

The letter is the clearest indication yet of where Spotify stands on Rogan’s fate with the company. It reportedly paid $100 million to exclusively host the podcast, so dropping Rogan threatens the bottom line but is also a key part of the company’s strategy to be a one-stop shop for audio.
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Housework or sleep? Study says it depends when you were born

natixis-ezine

Read time : 3 mins

Level : Intermediate

(AP Photo/Scott Bauer).

By MIKE SCHNEIDER Associated Press

When Gen Xer Amy Rottier went shopping for her young children two decades ago, she drove to a mall and browsed for what she needed. Her millennial daughter, Helen, who is studying for a doctorate and doesn’t have children, buys anything she needs with a click on her iPad.

The women, ages 50 and 25, respectively, illustrate the pace of change from one generation to the next in what people do in an average day. The changes were revealed in a study released last week by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Generation X women were more likely to do housework, care for children, read for pleasure and do lawn work, the study found. Millennial women were more inclined to exercise, spend leisure time on computers, take care of their pets and sleep.
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Ski resorts aim for more efficient snowmaking amid drought

natixis-ezine

Read time : 3 mins

Level : Advanced

(AP Photo/Brittany Peterson)

By THOMAS PEIPERT Associated Press

DENVER (AP) — The sight can be jarring during extreme drought: snowmaking guns lined up on a mountainside, blasting precious crystal flakes on a ski run while the rest of the land goes thirsty.

Snowpack in the U.S. West has decreased by about 20% in the last century, making man-made snow more vital each year to opening ski resorts and fueling ski town economies as they head into an uncertain future.

As the effects of drought and climate change increasingly hit home, the ski industry has invested millions of dollars in more efficient snowmaking systems amid questions about whether the practice is a wise use of energy and water.

“There are impacts. They’re regrettable. We’d rather not have to make snow,” said Auden Schendler, senior vice president of sustainability at Aspen Skiing Company in Colorado. “But our regional economy and the economies of all ski towns depend on your ski resort operating. And so this is a necessary evil.”
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In kids’ book, Sotomayor asks: Whom have you helped today?

natixis-ezine

Read time : 3 mins

Level : Intermediate

By JESSICA GRESKO Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — “Whom have I helped today?” That’s the question Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor tells kids she asks herself every night before she goes to sleep.

Her new children’s book, “Just Help! How to Build a Better World,” challenges kids to ask how they will help, too. The book comes out Tuesday and is Sotomayor’s third book for young readers.

In the book, children help in a variety of ways: sending care packages to American soldiers overseas, recycling plastic bags, cleaning up a park, donating toys to a children’s hospital and encouraging others to vote.
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