CNN style Arts | A museum lent an artist $84K — so he kept the money and called it ‘art’

When an exhibition about the future of labor opened at a Danish art museum on Friday, visitors should have seen two large picture frames filled with banknotes worth a combined $84,000.

The pieces were meant to be reproductions of two works by artist Jens Haaning, who previously used framed cash to represent the average annual salaries of an Austrian and a Dane — in euros and Danish krone respectively.

But when the Kunsten Museum of Modern Art in Aalborg took delivery of the recreated artworks ahead of the show, gallery staff made a surprising discovery: the frames were empty. Rather than being the handiwork of thieves, the loaned cash was missing thanks to Haaning himself, who says he is keeping the money — in the name of art.  —read more—  

CNN travel RECONNECT COLOMBIA | Caño Cristales: Colombia’s spectacular ‘liquid rainbow’

(CNN) — Visit Caño Cristales during the wet or dry seasons in Colombia, and you’d be forgiven for wondering what all the fuss is about.

However, travel there from July to October, the moderate months between the extremes of the wet and dry seasons, and you’ll witness one of Mother Nature’s crowning glories.

The 62.1-mile-long river is in Colombia’s Serranía de la Macarena national park, in the province of Meta, and is known as the “River of Five Colors.”

This “liquid rainbow” — as it is also called — is one of the South American country’s most spectacular natural wonders, thanks to its vivid colors.

The bed of the river sports bright red, yellow, green, blue and black for the few months that conditions are right. Although the colors can be viewed from as early as mid-May and sometimes into December, they are brightest during June and November.  —read more— 

F1 | Hamilton vs Norris: Onboard with team radio for the dramatic final laps that decided the race in Russia

The final six laps of the Russian Grand Prix were the most dramatic of the entire race, as rain fell at Sochi and put the drivers in a hugely difficult position: pit for intermediate tyres and risk losing all, or stay out and hope they could get around the last few laps without sliding off.

This difficult choice was most acute for race leader Lando Norris – chasing down his first ever Grand Prix win – and Lewis Hamilton behind him, chasing his 100th.

Hamilton opted to pit, while Norris tried to brave it out. In hindsight we know which was the correct choice, but what was it like for the drivers and their teams having to make that call in real time and with so much at stake?

Hit play on the video above to join them in the cockpit for those crucial final laps, and hear the key radio calls between the drivers and their race engineers as they wrestled with the conditions, and the strategy dilemma…-  —watch/ride along/listen— 

PALMER: Should McLaren have overruled Norris to ensure victory in Sochi?

CNN US | 5 charts that illustrate why being Hispanic or Latino is more than speaking Spanish

(CNN) – James Bosquez grew up being singled out by his cousins for only speaking English and prompting surprised looks from his peers for not getting good grades in Spanish class.

The 39-year-old standup comedian says those reactions used to bother him as a young boy, but he learned that not speaking the language didn’t make him less Latino.

Bosquez represents the complexity of Latinos, a diverse group whose presence in the United States predates the country’s current borders.

“We’ve been across the Rio Grande since my great grandmother’s migrated (from Reynosa, Mexico) so we go some four of five generations,” said Bosquez, who now lives in Portland.  —read more—  

CNN US | The myths about slavery that still hold America captive

(CNN) – At first, Clint Smith had trouble making out the objects beside a white picket fence in the distance. Then he drew closer; what he saw made him shudder.

Planted in a garden bed in front of the fence were the heads of 55 Black men impaled on metal rods, their eyes shut and jaws clenched in anguish.

Smith, a journalist and a poet, was visiting the Whitney Plantation in Louisiana as part of his quest to understand the impact of slavery in America. He had spent four years touring monuments and landmarks commemorating slavery across America and in Africa, but his stop at the Whitney, in his home state, stood out.  —read more—  

F1 | Wolff admits Mercedes have ‘question marks’ over power unit performance in remaining 7 races

Mercedes head into the final seven races of 2021 leading both the drivers’ and constructors’ titles. But according to Team Principal Toto Wolff, the Silver Arrows are feeling far from comfortable, with power unit worries at the forefront of their minds going into the tail-end of the season.

Lewis Hamilton helped Mercedes maintain their unblemished Sochi record with his 100th Grand Prix victory in Russia. But having changed team mate Valtteri Bottas’ power unit at the Italian Grand Prix two weeks before, Mercedes made the surprising decision to give Bottas a fifth power unit in Russia, relegating him to a P16 start.Asked after the Russian Grand Prix about the switch, and whether it was a means of ‘stockpiling’ power units for Bottas for the remainder of the year, Wolff replied: “I think we haven’t only made the cautionary engine change because we felt we wanted to stockpile, but also because we want to understand the engine’s performance – and that has given us some question marks.”  —read more— 

CNN US | Homeowners brace for more expensive flood insurance as FEMA launches changes to program

(CNN) – Homeowners in flood-prone areas are bracing for rising insurance rates as the Federal Emergency Management Agency launches a revamp of its flood insurance program.

The changes to the National Flood Insurance Program mean than three-fourths of existing policyholders will see higher flood insurance bills, as climate change increases the threat of flooding from storm surge, extreme rainfall and river flooding across the country.

One homeowner on the New Jersey shore told CNN she thinks the new changes could be disastrous for homeowners.

“It’s literally one step forward and five steps back,” said Amanda Devecka-Rinear, executive director of grassroots group New Jersey Organizing Project, a coalition of homeowners impacted by Superstorm Sandy in 2012.  —read more—  

CNN US | Multimillion-dollar beach property taken from Black owners in Jim Crow era is cleared to be returned

(CNN) – A stretch of prime Southern California beachfront real estate can now be returned to the descendants of its rightful Black owners, nearly a century after the parcel was taken by the city of Manhattan Beach.

Known as Bruce’s Beach, the resort had offered Black families a place to enjoy the California life and was a labor of love for owners Charles and Willa Bruce. But harassment from White neighbors and the Ku Klux Klan tore away at their dreams. The final blow came in 1924 when the city took the property through eminent domain and paid the couple a fraction of what they asked for. The city wanted the land for a park.

On Thursday, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed legislation that will enable the county to return the beachfront property to their descendants. The two lots are worth approximately $75 million in total, officials confirmed to CNN earlier this year. The houses directly next to the property have hefty price tags of around $7 million each.  —read more—

CNN BUSINESS | Jamie Dimon says JPMorgan has begun to prepare for potential US default

(CNN Business) – JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon says America’s largest bank is once again preparing for a potential US default even though he expects Congress to avoid that “potentially catastrophic” event by lifting the debt ceiling.

In an interview with Reuters on Tuesday, Dimon said JPMorgan has begun scenario-planning for how a possible default would affect financial markets, capital ratios, client contracts and America’s credit ratings. That’s something Dimon has indicated the bank did during previous close calls with the debt ceiling.

“Every single time this comes up, it gets fixed, but we should never even get this close,” Dimon told Reuters. “I just think this whole thing is mistaken and one day we should just have a bipartisan bill and get rid of the debt ceiling. It’s all politics.”  —read more—  

CNN BUSINESS | The workers who keep global supply chains moving are warning of a ‘system collapse’

London (CNN Business) – Seafarers, truck drivers and airline workers have endured quarantines, travel restrictions and complex Covid-19 vaccination and testing requirements to keep stretched supply chains moving during the pandemic. 
 
But many are now reaching their breaking point, posing yet another threat to the badly tangled network of ports, container vessels and trucking companies that moves goods around the world. 
 
In an open letter Wednesday to heads of state attending the United Nations General Assembly, the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) and other industry groups warned of a “global transport system collapse” if governments do not restore freedom of movement to transport workers and give them priority to receive vaccines recognized by the World Health Organization.  —read more—