The Full Belmonte, 5/6/2023
King Charles III is crowned in once-in-a-generation ceremony
“Britain’s King Charles III has been crowned in a once-in-a-generation royal event witnessed by hundreds of high-profile guests inside Westminster Abbey, as well as tens of thousands of well-wishers who gathered in central London despite the rain.
In the most significant moment of the coronation service, Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby placed the 360-year-old St. Edward’s Crown on Charles’ head. The spiritual leader of the Anglican Church then declared: ‘God Save the King.’
While Charles became King on the death of his mother, Queen Elizabeth II in September last year, the coronation was the formal crowning of the monarch and was a profoundly religious affair, reflecting the fact that aside from being head of state of the United Kingdom and 14 other countries, Charles is also the Supreme Governor of the Church of England.
The intricate service lasted just over two hours – about an hour shorter than Elizabeth II’s coronation in 1953 – and followed a traditional template that has stayed much the same for more than 1,000 years.
Live: King Charles III is crowned
However, it has been modernized in certain key ways. The archbishop acknowledged the multiple faiths observed in the UK during the ceremony, saying the Church of England “will seek to foster an environment in which people of all faiths may live freely.”
The King took the Coronation Oath and became the first monarch to pray aloud at his coronation. In his prayer he asked to “be a blessing” to people “of every faith and conviction.”
King Charles III sits as he receives The St Edward's Crown during the coronation ceremony.
Jonathan Brady/Pool/AP
King Charles III during his coronation ceremony in Westminster Abbey, London, on Saturday.
Yui Mok/Pool/Reuters
In what is considered the most sacred part of the ceremony, the King was anointed with holy oil by the Archbishop of Canterbury. He was also presented with the coronation regalia, including the royal Robe and Stole, in what is known as the investiture part of the service.
Then, for the first time in coronation history, the archbishop invited the British public, as well as those from ‘other Realms,’ to recite a pledge of allegiance to the newly crowned monarch and his ‘heirs and successors.’
Ahead of the event, some parts of the British media and public interpreted the invitation as a command, reporting that people had been ‘asked’ and ‘called’ to swear allegiance to the King. In the face of such criticism, the Church of England revised the text of the liturgy so that members of the public would be given a choice between saying simply ‘God save King Charles’ or reciting the full pledge of allegiance.
Once the King was crowned, his wife, Queen Camilla, was crowned in her own, shorter ceremony with Queen Mary’s Crown – marking the first time in recent history that a new crown wasn’t made specifically for this occasion – and presented with the Sceptre and Rod.
The ceremony also included a reading from the Bible by UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and, in another coronation first, gospel music.
The King and Queen arrived at Westminster Abbey in a splendid coach drawn by six horses, accompanied by the Household Cavalry. They then walked down the long aisle flanked by top Church of England officials as well as some of their closest family members….” Read more at CNN
WHO declares COVID crisis over
Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios
“COVID is no longer a global health emergency.
That's according to World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, who said today that the pandemic had been on a ‘downward trend’ for a year, ‘allowing most countries to return to life as we knew it before,’ Axios' Laurin-Whitney Gottbrath writes.
The U.S. is set to end its public health emergency next Thursday, by order of President Biden.
Reality check: ‘This virus is here to stay,’ Tedros said. ‘It is still killing, and it's still changing. The risk remains of new variants emerging that cause new surges in cases and deaths.’
The bottom line: ‘COVID has changed the world, and it has changed us. And that's the way it should be,’ Tedros added.
‘If we go back to how things were before COVID-19, we will have failed to learn our lessons, and failed our future generations.’
Breaking: Rochelle Walensky is stepping down as director of the CDC, the White House announced today.” [Axios]
Rochelle Walensky is stepping aside after more than two years as CDC director. PHOTO: TONY LUONG FOR THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
GOP moderates privately panic
Senate Republican leaders hold a news conference on the debt ceiling on Wednesday. Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
“Some House Republicans are fretting about whether they'd be able to pass a watered-down version of their debt ceiling bill once the terms are negotiated with Senate Democrats and the White House, Axios' Juliegrace Brufke has learned.
Why it matters: House moderates say House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and GOP leadership aren't doing enough to tamp down expectations with the right-wing Freedom Caucus — harming the chances for any compromise bill.
State of play: Several GOP lawmakers believe clawbacks to unspent COVID funding is the most realistic spending cut to remain in a Senate bill, with one GOP member referring to the House-passed debt ceiling bill as ‘a fairy tale’ and ‘not real.’
But ‘there are people who actually think ... they're gonna get [the current House bill] and even more a year from now,’ a House Republican told Axios.
A Freedom Caucus member disputed that characterization, saying the ‘understanding is there ... that you might not get 100% of what the House passed, but we put Kevin in a very good negotiating position.’
Behind the scenes: Despite the initial House GOP bill passing, several lawmakers told Axios the process has hurt their ability to move major pieces of legislation.
What's next: President Biden and the top four leaders of Congress are scheduled to meet Tuesday to discuss a path forward.
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has warned that the government is weeks away from a catastrophic default if the debt ceiling isn't increased.” [Axios]
“New York on Wednesday issued the first statewide ban on natural gas in new buildings, securing a major win for US electrification efforts.” [Vox / Rebecca Leber]
One Family Has Spearheaded Montana’s Unflinching Conservatism
Three members of the Regier family now hold leadership positions in the Montana Legislature as the state’s conservative shift has left even some Republicans wary.
By Mike Baker and Jacey Fortin
“KALISPELL, Mont. — During a legislative hearing in 2011 that was a prelude to Montana’s debates on abortion, State Representative Keith Regier displayed an image of a cow and made the argument that cattle were more valuable when pregnant.
The comparison drew a prompt rebuke from some women in the room, but Mr. Regier, a Republican, declined to apologize. Over the years, the former schoolteacher and sod farmer has seldom demurred from his growing brand of combative Christian-oriented politics, in which the Ten Commandments are the foundation of good law and some of the biggest battles have been with moderates in his own party.
Mr. Regier has now emerged as the patriarch of a new family political dynasty that has injected fresh conservative intensity into debates over abortion, diversity training and, this spring, transgender rights. Mr. Regier chairs the Senate’s powerful judiciary committee, while his daughter, Amy, leads its counterpart in the House. Mr. Regier’s son, Matt, has risen to speaker of the House. The trio of legislators, each wielding a similar brand of unflinching conservatism, were among the most powerful proponents of a set of bills that took particular aim at the rights of transgender people.
It was Matt Regier who led the move to bar one of the legislature’s only transgender representatives, Zooey Zephyr, who had spoken out vociferously on the House floor last month against a measure banning hormone treatments and surgical care for transgender minors. The proposal was one of several new laws that passed recently, including one prohibiting adult-oriented drag shows on public property and another creating a strict definition of a person’s sex….” Read more at New York Times
“US Spies Can’t Yet Judge Russia Claim Ukraine Targeted Kremlin
The Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines said US spy agencies don’t have enough information to assess Russia’s accusation that Ukraine was behind a drone attack it said was aimed at President Vladimir Putin’s residence in the Kremlin. As Peter Martin writes, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy denied Moscow’s allegations on Wednesday.” [Bloomberg]
A drone exploding over the Kremlin. Source: Russian state media
“Wagner Chief Again Threatens Bakhmut Pullout Over Supplies
In an expletive-laden video filmed in front of a field of corpses, Wagner mercenary group founder Yevgeny Prigozhin accused Russia’s defense minister and the head of the army of failing to supply his troops with enough ammunition in Ukraine.” [Bloomberg]
“Russia’s Next Standoff With the West Is in the Oil-Rich Arctic
Climate change has precipitated an unusual level of activity in the remote, resources-rich polar region of the high arctic as colliding strategic interests and melting ice stand to reshape it profoundly. Danielle Bochove, Marie Patino and Hayley Warren write that stewardship of the Arctic is suddenly in question as a result of the isolation of Russia, the largest Arctic state, over its war on Ukraine.” [Bloomberg]
The Prirazlomnaya offshore ice-resistant oil-producing platform in the Pechora Sea in Russia in May 2016. Photographer: Sergey Anisimov/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images
UN Warns Sudan Aid Deliveries Hindered by Lack of Security
”Millions of people in Sudan’s capital city can’t receive desperately needed aid because it’s too dangerous to transport it from a Red Sea port, said Abdou Dieng, the United Nations’ humanitarian coordinator in the North African country. He told Simon Marks that UN workers have been attacked or had their convoys hijacked by both sides in the conflict between the army and a rival paramilitary group.” [Bloomberg]
A boat with 1,687 civilians from more than 50 countries fleeing violence in Sudan arrives at King Faisal navy base in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on April 26. Photographer: Amer Hilabi/AFP/Getty Images
“The mass of hot air that brought scorching heat to Morocco, Algeria, Portugal and Spain at the end of April was almost impossible without man-made climate change, according to scientists who are part of the World Weather Attribution group. Laura Millan writes that temperatures in many of the regions impacted were 20 degrees Celsius higher than the average for this time of the year, with records broken by large margins.” [Bloomberg]
A pedestrian walks under a cooling mist spray in Madrid on April 27. Photographer: Paul Hanna/Bloomberg
White House Says It Backs New Rules for AI After Harris Meeting
”Vice President Kamala Harris said the White House would support new regulations or legislation to mitigate the potential harms from artificial intelligence technology. Justin Sink reports on the announcement that came after a meeting Thursday with the chief executive officers of Alphabet, Microsoft, OpenAI, and Anthropic.
Artificial intelligence will be dangerous in the hands of unscrupulous people, according to Microsoft Chief Economist Michael Schwarz.
News websites generated by AI chatbots are proliferating online, the news-rating group NewsGuard said in a report.” [Bloomberg]
Kentucky Derby favorite Forte scratched in stunning turn of events
“Forte, who was slated to be the favorite for Saturday’s Kentucky Derby, was scratched on the morning of the race.
The decision was made by the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission after Forte went through his routine gallop Saturday morning and a veterinary inspection.
Speculation about Forte’s status began to bubble up after video hit social media Friday that seemed to show the horse taking an awkward step during his Thursday morning gallop. Trainer Todd Pletcher brushed off the concern initially, but Saturday told a different story.
After Forte was examined, owner Mike Repole huddled with Pletcher and had a lengthy conversation with a Kentucky Horse Racing Commission veterinarian. Forte was then taken back to the racetrack, suggesting that Repole wanted to exhaust every option before deciding to scratch the horse.
Repole said Saturday morning that he was ‘shocked, sad and devastated’ after the state vet scratched Forte because he ‘seemed off a tick.’ The owner said Forte had a bruise earlier in the week but that multiple vets had taken a look and said the horse was fine.
Repole, a self-made billionaire who co-founded the company that made Vitaminwater, had to scratch Derby favorite Uncle Mo the day before the 2011 race due to an illness.
Forte’s defection adds to a strange and tragic week at Churchill Downs that began with the death of Wild On Ice, who was euthanized after a training injury. Two other horses were euthanized after suffering on-track injuries.
Two more horses, both from the barn of trainer Saffie Joseph, collapsed and died on the track after races this week. The Kentucky Horse Racing Commission scratched all of Joseph’s subsequent entries, including Derby contender Lord Miles. Churchill suspended the trainer until more information was gleaned about the nature of the deaths.
On Thursday morning, Derby contender Verifying dumped his exercise rider and was loose on the track for a moment but was deemed to be fit to run.
Then, Santa Anita Derby winner Practical Move was scratched after spiking a temperature after his Thursday workout. Skinner and Continuar were also scratched.
The defection of Forte leaves 18 horses remaining.” [USA Today]
THE WEEK IN CULTURE
Lil Nas X at the Met Gala.Nina Westervelt for The New York Times
“Celebrities arrived at the Met Gala in pearls, corsets and cat costumes. See the most over-the-top looks from the gala and its after-parties.
An accompanying show honoring Karl Lagerfeld opened at The Met this week. It’s coy about his controversies, The Times’s Vanessa Friedman writes.
A Hollywood writers’ strike could last for months, halting production on many shows.
Drew Barrymore dropped out of hosting tomorrow’s MTV Movie & TV Awards to support the writers’ strike.
Ed Sheeran was found not liable for copying Marvin Gaye’s 1973 classic, “Let’s Get It On.” Here are takeaways from the copyright case.
Missy Elliott, Willie Nelson and Rage Against the Machine were among the artists voted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
A documentary by the artist David Hammons explores what it means when white people try to own something Black, The Times’s Wesley Morris writes.
A TV adaptation of the novel “City on Fire” cultivates nostalgia for the more analog 2000s in New York.
People in Los Angeles are still memorializing a mountain lion, P-22, with T-shirts and a show commissioned by the philharmonic.” [New York Times]
"Yellowstone' to end in Nov.; sequel in Dec.
Luke Grimes (left) and Kevin Costner in "Yellowstone." Photo: Paramount Network via AP
“The blockbuster ‘Yellowstone’ with Kevin Costner will end in November and be replaced the next month by an as-yet-untitled sequel, the Paramount Network announced.
Matthew McConaughey is in talks to star in the new show.
The ‘Yellowstone’ fifth-season debut last November was seen by 12.1 million viewers, more people than any other scripted series last fall — a remarkable feat for a show not on a broadcast network, AP reports.
The intrigue: ‘Yellowstone’ will wrap up with new episodes in November; how many wasn't announced.
Those episodes haven't been filmed. It's not clear whether Costner, who plays Montana rancher John Dutton, will participate following reports that he may want out of the series.
A Paramount spokesperson said: ‘Kevin Costner is a big part of 'Yellowstone' and we hope that's the case for a long time to come.’
What's next: David Glasser, CEO of 101 Studios, which produces ‘Yellowstone’ with MTV Entertainment, said the new series ‘will be picking up where 'Yellowstone' leaves off in another epic tale.’