Tag Archives: misc people

Business

Elon Musk’s college sweetheart auctions off their mementos

Leave a comment



CNN
 — 

Holding onto an ex’s stuff may prove profitable later on, at least if your ex turns out to be the wealthiest man in the world.

The former girlfriend of tech entrepreneur Elon Musk is auctioning off a cache of photos and Musk memorabilia from her relationship with the billionaire. Jennifer Gwynne, Musk’s college girlfriend, is selling the mementos through Boston-based RR Auction.

Gwynne and Musk started dating in 1994 when they both worked as resident advisers in a university dorm, according to a news release RR Auction shared with CNN. Soon after graduating from the University of Pennsylvania, Musk started in a doctoral program at Stanford, but dropped out to launch his first startup, Zip2.

The lot includes 18 candid photos of the entrepreneur as a baby-faced economics student at the University of Pennsylvania, as well as several other mementos of Musk and Gwynne’s time together.

The glossy photos show the billionaire looking every bit the normal college student before his meteoric rise to success: goofing off in a dorm room, hanging out with his fellow resident advisers, and cuddling with his girlfriend.

The item with the current highest bid is a signed birthday card, followed by a necklace gifted to Gwynne on her birthday.

“Happy Birthday, Jennifer (aka, Boo-Boo), Love, Elon,” reads the note. As of Sunday morning, the highest bid is almost $7,000. The card is expected to sell for more than $10,000, according to RR.

The gold necklace includes an emerald from the Zambian emerald mine owned by Musk’s father Errol, a wealthy South African property developer and engineer.

“When we went to visit Elon’s mother in Toronto during the Christmas break of 1994, Elon gave me both the small ‘love, love, love’ note and the necklace,” said Gwynne in RR’s statement. “His mom had a number of these necklaces in a case in her bedroom, and Elon told me they were from his father’s emerald mine in South Africa — he pulled one from the case. And because I had not gotten him anything as a Christmas gift (and I felt very guilty about that), he said we would consider the necklace an early birthday present for me.”

“I wore the necklace for a number of years on and off, but it’s mostly been in my jewelry box for the last ten years (always reminding me of Elon, of course).”

The necklace also comes with two photos, one of Musk and Gwynne with Musk’s mother, the model Maye Musk, and one of Musk and Gwynne at an end-of-the-year formal in 1995.

Tesla superfans can place a bid on a piece of Musk-orabilia until Wednesday, when the auction closes.

Read original article here

World

Queen Elizabeth II’s state funeral: What to expect

Leave a comment

London (CNN) – The death of Queen Elizabeth II has set into motion an intricate period of mourning which will culminate with a huge state funeral on September 19 honoring her lifetime of devotion and steadfast service.

Codenamed “Operation London Bridge,” arrangements for Britain’s longest-serving monarch have been carefully poured over for years by the many agencies involved, with the Queen herself signing off on every single detail before her death. However, details were kept under wraps until the sitting sovereign, King Charles III, gave it all his final seal of approval.

The Queen will ultimately be laid to rest within St George’s Chapel, in the grounds of Windsor Castle, alongside her “strength and stay” of 73 years, Prince Philip. Here, we’ve put together a day-by-day guide on what will happen from now until the state funeral.

Following the Queen’s death, her oak coffin – draped with the Royal Standard for Scotland and a wreath of flowers – sat in the ballroom at Balmoral, where estate staff had the chance to pay their last respects. On Sunday morning, six of her gamekeepers carried the coffin to a waiting hearse.

At 10 a.m. (5 a.m. ET), the beloved monarch’s coffin embarked on its journey to the nation’s capital. However, it will not go there directly. It will first make a six-hour journey to Edinburgh and the Palace of Holyroodhouse, the official residence of the British monarch in Scotland. The trip by road ordinarily takes around three hours, however, it will be driven slowly so as to allow people to witness the hearse along the route and bow their heads as it passes.

An honor guard made up of the Royal Regiment of Scotland will greet the arriving hearse in Edinburgh with a royal salute before it is transferred to the Throne Room by a military bearer party.

Meanwhile back in London, the King will meet with the Commonwealth secretary general before he hosts the high commissioners from the realms of which he is now head of state in Buckingham Palace’s Bow Room.

On Monday morning, the King will start the day with a trip to Westminster Hall where both Houses of Parliament will express their condolences. He and his wife Camilla then fly to Edinburgh, arriving at 12:45 p.m. (7:45 a.m. ET), where they will head straight to the Palace of Holyroodhouse.

At 2:35 p.m. (9:35 a.m. ET), the Queen’s coffin will proceed to St Giles’ Cathedral for a service of prayer and reflection attended by the King and Queen Consort and royal family members, as well as a congregation made up “from all areas of Scottish society,” according to a senior palace official. Afterward, the coffin will rest there for 24 hours to allow the Scottish public to see it, in a tradition known as lying in state.

Following the service, the King will return to Holyrood where he will have an audience with Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, followed by a meeting with the presiding officer of the Scottish Parliament. Charles, accompanied by the Queen Consort, will later go to the Scottish Parliament to receive a motion of condolence.

That evening, at 7:20 p.m. (2:20 p.m. ET), the King and members of the royal family will mount their own guard – or vigil – of the Queen’s coffin.

On Tuesday, the King and Camilla will make a trip to Belfast, Northern Ireland. The couple will visit Hillsborough Castle and view an exhibition on the Queen’s long association with Northern Ireland. The King will then meet the secretary of state for Northern Ireland in addition to other party leaders, and receive a message of condolence led by the speaker of the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Back in Scotland, the Queen’s only daughter Princess Anne will prepare to accompany her mother’s body as it is flown back to London. At 5 p.m. (12 p.m. ET) the coffin will journey 8.2 miles (13.2 kilometers) by hearse to Edinburgh Airport, where it will depart for RAF Northolt.

A state hearse will bring the monarch’s remains to Buckingham Palace, where the King, the Queen Consort, as well as other members of the Windsor clan, will be waiting for the coffin’s arrival at around 8 p.m. (3 p.m. ET). The Dean of the Chapels Royal will conduct prayers and a bearer party found by The Queen’s Company, 1st Battalion Grenadier Guards will place the coffin on trestles in the center of the Bow Room to rest overnight.

Wednesday will see an extraordinary silent procession take the coffin on a gun carriage from Buckingham Palace over to Westminster Hall, the oldest part of the Palace of Westminster, where the Queen will lie in state until the morning of the funeral.

For this journey, the coffin will be adorned with the Imperial State Crown and a flower wreath. The procession route will set off at 2:22 p.m. (9:22 a.m. ET) along The Mall, across Horse Guards Parade, past Downing Street toward Westminster.

In what is likely to be a poignant moment, members of the royal family will walk behind their beloved matriarch. They will be followed by senior staff from the royal households as well as close personal staff and members of the Household Division. As crowds watch the procession – which will take around 40 minutes – Big Ben will toll and minute guns fired by The King’s Troop Royal Horse Artillery at Hyde Park with echo across the capital.

The Queen’s coffin will be placed on a raised platform – or catafalque – in the middle of the hall and guarded around the clock by officers from the Household Division, the King’s Bodyguard or the Royal Company of Archers.

Upon its arrival at Westminster Hall, a short service will be conducted by the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, after which the hall will be opened to the public to pay their respects.

Members of the public will be able to file past the Queen’s coffin during its first full day lying in state at Westminster Hall on Thursday.

Brass plaques in the 11th-century hall mark the spot where Edward VII lay in state in 1910, George V in 1936, George VI in 1952 and Queen Mary a year later. The hall, which is 900 years old, is also where wartime British Prime Minister Winston Churchill lay in state in 1965.

On Friday, the lying in state will continue for a second full day. Huge numbers of people are expected to line up in central London for a chance to visit the coffin and be part of this historic moment. Details of how the public can participate are to be released by the government in the coming days.

Separately, King Charles and Camilla will visit Wales on Friday, bringing their tour of all four nations that make up the United Kingdom to a close.

Public access to the lying in state continues into the weekend.

Sunday marks the final full day the Queen’s body will lie in state in Westminster Hall.

On the morning of Monday, September 19 – declared a public holiday across the UK – the Queen’s lying in state will end. The coffin will then travel in procession once more to Westminster Abbey for the state funeral, the details of which will likely come in the following days.

Westminster Abbey, founded in 960 AD by Benedictine monks, is one of the most recognizable landmarks in London. The historic church has been the setting for every coronation since 1066, and was where the then-Princess Elizabeth married Prince Philip in 1947. But there hasn’t been a funeral of a monarch there since that of George II in 1760.

Heads of state and dignitaries from around the world are expected to be invited to the British capital to join members of the royal family to celebrate the Queen’s life and unwavering service to the nation and Commonwealth. While a guest list has not yet been announced, US President Joe Biden plans to attend the funeral.

Other familiar faces at the televised service will be some of the 15 prime ministers to have served during the Queen’s reign.

At its conclusion, the coffin will travel in procession to Wellington Arch, before making its final journey out of London to Windsor.

Its destination is the now-familiar St George’s Chapel within the grounds of Windsor Castle. It’s where Prince Philip’s memorial service was held, as well as more jubilant occasions like the nuptials of the Queen’s grandchildren.

Following the service for the Duke of Edinburgh in 2021, his coffin was lowered into the Royal Vault, set below the chapel, where many royal family members have been laid to rest. However, he is expected to be relocated to lie together with the Queen in the King George VI Memorial Chapel, located elsewhere within St George’s Chapel.

To get updates on the British Royal Family sent to your inbox, sign up for CNN’s Royal News newsletter.

Read original article here

World

Cloud of colonialism hangs over Queen Elizabeth’s legacy in Africa

Leave a comment


Lagos, Nigeria
CNN
 — 

The death of Queen Elizabeth II has prompted an outpouring of reflection and reaction online. But not all was grief – some young Africans instead are sharing images and stories of their own elders, who endured a brutal period of British colonial history during the Queen’s long reign.

“I cannot mourn,” one wrote on Twitter, posting an image of what she said was her grandmother’s “movement pass” – a colonial document which prevented free travel for Kenyans under British rule in the east African country.

Another wrote that her grandmother “used to narrate to us how they were beaten & how their husbands were taken away from them & left to look after their kids,” during colonial times. “May we never forget them. They are our heroes,” she added.

Their refusal to mourn highlights the complexity of the legacy of the Queen, who despite widespread popularity was also seen as a symbol of oppression in parts of the world where the British Empire once extended.

Kenya, which had been under British rule since 1895, was named an official colony in 1920 and remained that way until it won independence in 1963. Among the worst atrocities under British rule occurred during the Mau Mau uprising, which started in 1952 – the year Queen Elizabeth took the throne.

The colonial administration at the time carried out extreme acts of torture, including castration and sexual assault, in detainment camps where as many as 150,000 Kenyans were held. Elderly Kenyans who sued for compensation in 2011 were ultimately awarded £19.9 million by a British court, to be split between more than 5,000 claimants.

The UK Foreign Secretary at the time, William Hague, said: “The British Government recognises that Kenyans were subject to torture and other forms of ill treatment at the hands of the colonial administration. The British government sincerely regrets that these abuses took place, and that they marred Kenya’s progress towards independence.”

Africa’s memory of the Queen cannot be separated from that colonial past, professor of communication Farooq Kperogi at Kennesaw State University told CNN.

“The Queen’s legacy started in colonialism and is still wrapped in it. It used to be said that the sun did not set over the British empire. No amount of compassion or sympathy that her death has generated can wipe that away,” he told CNN.

While many African leaders have mourned her passing – including Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari, who described her reign as “unique and wonderful” – other prominent voices in regional politics have not.

In South Africa, one opposition party, the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), was unequivocal. “We do not mourn the death of Elizabeth, because to us her death is a reminder of a very tragic period in this country and Africa’s history,” the EFF said in a statement.

“Our interaction with Britain has been one of pain, … death and dispossession, and of the dehumanisation of the African people,” it added.

Others recalled Britain’s role in the Nigerian civil war, where arms were secretly supplied to the government for use against Biafrans who wanted to form a breakaway republic. Between 1 million and 3 million people died in that war. British musician John Lennon returned his MBE, an honorary title, to the Queen in protest over Britain’s role in the war.

Still, many on the continent remember the Queen as a stabilizing force who brought about positive change during her reign.

Ayodele Modupe Obayelu from Nigeria told CNN: “Her reign saw the end of the British Empire and the African countries … became a Republic. She doesn’t really deserve any award or standing ovation for it, but it was a step in the right direction.”

And media publisher Dele Momodu was full of praise, recounting meeting her in 2003 in Abuja while covering her visit to Nigeria. He added that he had fled Nigeria for the UK in 1995, during the dictator Sani Abacha’s regime.

“I told her I was a refugee and now the publisher of a magazine. She told me ‘congratulations,’ and moved on to the other people on the line. I salute her. She worked to the very end and was never tired of working for her country. She did her best for her country and that is a lesson in leadership,” he told CNN.

Momodu believes that the Queen did try to “atone” for the brutality of the British Empire. “She came to Nigeria during our independence and some of the artifacts were returned under her reign. That is why the Commonwealth continues to thrive. I feel very sad that the world has lost a great human being.”

Adekunbi Rowland, also from Nigeria, said: “The Queen’s passing represents the end of an era. As a woman, I’m intrigued by her story. This young woman had an unprecedented accession to the throne, and with much grace and dignity did everything in her power to protect the country and Commonwealth she loved no matter what it took.”

The Queen once declared, “I think I have seen more of Africa than almost anybody.”

She made her first official overseas visit to South Africa in 1947, as a princess and would go on to visit more than 120 countries during her reign, many of them on the continent.

It was while visiting Kenya in 1952 that she learned that she had become Queen. Her father George passed away while she was there with Prince Phillip and she immediately ascended the throne.

As colonialism later crumbled and gave way to independence and self-rule in what had been British overseas territories, the former colonies became part of a Commonwealth group of nations with the Queen at its head and she worked tirelessly to keep the group together over the years.

She forged strong bonds with African leaders, including Nelson Mandela, whom she visited twice in South Africa, and Kwame Nkrumah, with whom she was famously pictured dancing during her visit to Ghana in 1961.

However, there is now a growing clamor for independence and accountability over Britain’s past crimes such as slavery. In November 2021, Barbados removed the Queen as its head of state, 55 years after it declared independence from Britain, and other Caribbean countries, such as Jamaica, have indicated they intend to do the same.

Prince William and his wife, Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, visited Jamaica in March but they faced protests and calls for reparations during the trip. There were also calls for a formal apology for the royal family’s links to slavery.

“During her 70 years on the throne, your grandmother has done nothing to redress and atone for the suffering of our ancestors that took place during her reign and/or during the entire period of British trafficking of Africans, enslavement, indentureship and colonization,” wrote members of a protest group, the Advocates Network Jamaica.

In June, Prince Charles became the first UK royal to visit Rwanda, where he was representing the Queen at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting.

Following his mother’s death, he now heads the Commonwealth, and will embark on a new relationship with its members, about a third of which are in Africa.

Some are asking whether he will be as effective in building the organization as his mother, and above all, how relevant it still is, given its roots in Empire.



Read original article here

Science

Did life ever exist on Mars? This rover is on the hunt for evidence

Leave a comment



CNN
—  

Have you ever spotted another planet in the sky? It’s a celestial thrill without compare.

The first time I spied Mars, it appeared like a red star among a sea of glittering white ones. It was a mind-blowing moment, as I thought about the many spacecraft that humans have sent across millions of miles to visit our planetary neighbor.

The red planet is currently visible in the evening sky through August, so don’t forget to look up.

And this week, the fleet of robots currently exploring Mars revealed more of its secrets.

Courtesy NASA/JPL-Caltech

InSight has been able to unlock some of the secrets of the Martian interior, which sheds light on how all rocky planets form.

Mars may not be the kind of place to raise your kids, but it’s a veritable playground for NASA’s Perseverance rover, Ingenuity helicopter and InSight lander.

Ingenuity recently dipped down in craters and flew over rough terrain for its longest, speediest flight yet as an aerial scout – and it captured images of geological features so intriguing that they are changing the course of the Perseverance rover’s scientific quest.

The Perseverance team shared some of the first key observations made by the rover this week as well – including wonderfully weird rocks that could contain evidence of ancient microbial life, if it ever existed on Mars. Percy will collect its first Martian sample within the next two weeks, and it will be one of dozens returned to Earth by future missions.

And in an exciting first, the stationary InSight lander has revealed the mysterious interior of Mars, thanks to its detection of Marsquakes that helped scientists peer inside the planet.

Renaissance polymath Leonardo da Vinci is remembered for and connected with many things – now including 14 living descendants, according to new research.

This is a curious finding, as Leonardo was not known to have fathered any children. But researchers traced his lineage in other ways.

The historians hope to use this information to understand more about Leonardo’s genius and gain insights about his health, including if he had a rare eye condition or not.

Courtesy Field Museum

This Xerces blue butterfly specimen is 93 years old.

The last of the Xerces blue butterflies fluttered through the air in the early 1940s. As the first North American insect to go extinct due to humans, it has become an icon for insect conservation.

These periwinkle pearly-winged insects lived in the coastal sand dunes along San Francisco and were first characterized by scientists in 1852. But humans destroyed their habitat.

It’s a harsh reminder amid what many scientists call an “insect apocalypse,” as species decline around the globe. While all of them may not be as pretty as the Xerces blue butterfly, insects are more crucial to our lives than most people realize.

Raging wildfires in the western US are so bad that the fires are actually creating their own weather and smoke that’s visible from space.

These fires aren’t just a concern in the West; haze from the smoke is reaching across the US, causing bad air quality on the East Coast.

Rare mushroom cloud-like formations have been seen over the fires. These pyrocumulus clouds tower above the ash and smoke from raging wildfires and can be seen for miles.

And it’s not just the US that’s facing the brunt of destructive fires fueled by the climate crisis. Wildfires are sparking globally, even in the world’s coldest city.

ALMA/ESO/NAOJ/NRAO/Benisty et al.

This image shows a planetary system 400 light-years away that is still forming.

It may look like a burning ring of fire, but this is an actual image of a planetary system that’s still cooking 400 light-years away, taken by the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array of telescopes in Chile.

Two Jupiter-like planets orbit a star, but astronomers spied a moon-forming disk around one of the planets – and it’s the first time they have seen anything like this.

The disk around the planet is 500 times larger than the massive rings around Saturn.

Scientists plan to keep an eye on this system to watch as planets, and maybe even moons, form and grow.

A little more intrigue before you go:

– Unknown viruses dating back 15,000 years have been found in ice samples taken from a glacier in the Tibetan plateau – and they are unlike anything scientists have ever seen before.

– Meet octogenarian Wally Funk, who trained for NASA’s Women in Space Program but was denied the opportunity to fly – until now. And this is what’s next after two billionaires took quick trips to the stars.

– For wild cockatoos, opening trash cans isn’t easy. But in Australia, members of one particular species have taught each other how to do it. Leftovers, anyone?

Like what you’ve read? Oh, but there’s more. Sign up here to receive in your inbox the next edition of Wonder Theory, brought to you by CNN Space and Science writer Ashley Strickland, who finds wonder in planets beyond our solar system and discoveries from the ancient world.



Read original article here