By Jane Wooldridge, CNN

Altamura, Italy (CNN) — A pair of practiced hands pushes novice fingers into the stretchy dough, encouraging the boldness needed to coax the focaccia into the pan’s creases before mashing in juicy tomatoes and garlic. After a sprinkling of dried oregano and a generous splash of olive oil, the pan is ready for the wood-fired oven.

My teacher is Graziella Incampo, Italy’s answer to Julia Child. At 89, Incampo and her childhood friend Teresa Calia, 88, have become a social media sensation, drawing millions of Instagram views and heaven-knows-how many visitors to this region’s oldest bakery.

Quirky videos showcase the pair as they dance to electronic music, play a guitar and mix margaritas in a wheelbarrow. They fill a yards-long loaf with fresh stracciatella cheese, grate tomatoes on top and finish it off with coppa ham. For their cooking lesson on parmigiana, Calia dons a vintage war helmet while Incampo wears yellow goggles as they fry up sliced eggplant, whipping the egg wash with a fork attached to a drill. Belissima!

Their “set” is a shady barrel-vault and medieval courtyard across a narrow stone lane from Antico Forno Santa Caterina, founded in 1307 in the medieval walled city of Altamura. I’m part of the forno’s “Bread Experience,” a bespoke culinary foray into history, baking, cheese-making and herbal remedies.

But you don’t have to join the tour to sample the baked bounty. The made-for-video dishes are shared with noshers who have snagged a table under the vault, where they indulge in focaccia, orecchiette and sandwiches purchased from the bakery. The line to get into the small shop sometimes stretches down the lane and into Altamura’s main pedestrian street. When the queue is long, Incampo and Calia fill a platter with fresh-baked crackers and serve them to those who are waiting.

Everything was delicious

Many visitors, like Galina Nankova of Plovdiv, Bulgaria, found the forno on social media. “I took it as a sign. Within a month I had planned a trip to Bari with my boyfriend,” she wrote via Instagram messenger. “I made sure to add Altamura — and especially Forno Santa Caterina — to our must-see list.”

Nankova and other visitors rave about meeting the nonnas, who count 45 grandchildren between them. “I didn’t expect it to be so wonderful!” texted Juliana Nardella of Brazil, who visited earlier this year. “The place is authentic, nothing modified for tourism. My family and I sat down to lunch, with breads and focaccia baked in the Santa Caterina oven, as well as orecchiette with tomato sauce and roast chicken. For dessert, we had homemade cookies. Everything was delicious!

“And the big surprise: Graziella and Teresa were there! They were very kind.”

The wildly popular videos started “as a kind of joke,” says Incampo’s great-nephew, Giacomo Barattini, who creates the Reels with his iPhone. He and a group of hometown friends were lamenting the closure of the town’s oldest bakery and decided to do something about it. They pooled resources and reopened it in 2023.

Barattini engaged his great-aunt and her friend to help spread the word with their infectious sense of fun. The nonnas enjoyed making the videos so much, it became a daily ritual.

Nonna wisdom: ‘The little things are good’

“The two nonnas, they’re very funny and happy e

By Jacqui Palumbo, CNN

(CNN) — When the Obama Presidential Center opens on Chicago’s South Side in the spring, a series of large-scale artworks and installations by some of America’s most important living artists will help set the tone of the nearly 20-acre cultural and civic complex.

The latest to be announced, by the artist Theaster Gates, will be a monumental portrait of Black life — and an ode to Black women, in particular — drawn from two vast photographic archives of vintage editorial images from Ebony and Jet magazines.

The long, two-part frieze, featuring images printed on aluminum alloy, will hang inside the center’s Forum Building. The atrium where it will be located will host public events and is named after Hadiya Pendleton, the teenage majorette who marched in former President Obama’s second inauguration parade and died by gun violence days later in 2013.

Gates’ frieze will be seen by passersby as well from Stony Island Avenue — a South Side thoroughfare with a rich cultural history that is also home to Gates’ gallery and archival space, the Stony Island Arts Bank, which is part of his larger foundation, Rebuild.

For nearly a decade, the Chicago-born artist has been the caretaker of the images and periodicals from the Johnson Publishing Company, the now defunct Black-owned media powerhouse behind Ebony and Jet magazines, which sold off its assets in 2016. Both publications began as vital sources of news, visual culture, beauty and style for Black Americans following World War II, and, as Gates explained in a video call, “amplified the dignity and the life of Black folk.”

Gates has continually returned to the Johnson Publishing Company’s archive in his work, including most recently at dual exhibitions at the Smart Museum of Art (on view until February) and the Gray Chicago gallery. At the Obama Presidential Center, he has selected some 20 images from that archive, in addition to portraits by Howard Simmons, a groundbreaking commercial photographer and photojournalist who shot for the Johnson Publishing Company as well as the Chicago Sun-Times and whom Gates met around three years ago.

“When given this opportunity to think about what I have to offer, I think that the archive — the photojournalistic and artistic ambition of Black creatives in the ’60s and ’70s is an unmatched period,” he said of his new works for the center. “People were taking photos not to make money, but to keep culture alive and tell the story of culture.”

He described the work as “something old and something new,” as he recontextualizes them within this larger artwork, playing with scale and material. “These images are not just historic artifacts; they are the foundational images of Black life,” he explained.

Art as a ‘great connector’

The center’s curator of art commissions, Virginia Shore, said that Gates’ use of the images “underscores the power and possibility of Black modernity, particularly in Chicago.”

According to Shore, the former president has been extensively involved with selecting each commissioned artist and the discussions around the works. In September, the center announced the participation of renowned artists Nick Cave, Jenny Holzer and Kiki Smith, among seven others. A year prior, it revealed that the painter Julie Mehretu would work with glass for the first time to create an 83-foot-tall window comprising 35 painted abstract panels.

“During the Obama administration, we saw that art and artists were so important to the Obamas and their mission,” said Louise Bernard, director of the museum of the Obama Presidential Center, on a joint video call with Shore. “We know that art is just such a great connector. It convenes people, it engages them to think about ideas in new and creative ways. And so we are building a presidential center unlike any other — the whole site is being activated by

Por Gonzalo Zegarra, Sol Amaya, Germán Padinger y Uriel Blanco, CNN en Español

Las Fuerzas Militares de EE.UU. atacaron tres embarcaciones presuntamente dedicadas al narcotráfico en el este del océano Pacífico el lunes. Según el Comando Sur de EE.UU., al menos ocho personas murieron como resultado del operativo.

Con ello, desde el 2 de septiembre suman 25 botes destruidos en 23 ataques efectuados en aguas internacionales, contra embarcaciones que presuntamente transportaban narcóticos, según ha dicho Washington sin presentar pruebas que respalden estas afirmaciones.

Hasta el momento son al menos 95 las personas que han muerto en estos ataques en el Caribe y el Pacífico, que se han llevado a cabo sin procedimientos judiciales ni una declaración de guerra del Congreso de Estados Unidos.

El Gobierno de Trump mantiene un enfrentamiento creciente con los gobiernos de Venezuela y Colombia, con una escalada de declaraciones cruzadas entre Trump y el presidente de Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, y también con el jefe de Estado de Colombia, Gustavo Petro.

Las operaciones en el Caribe comenzaron tras el despliegue de buques de guerra estadounidenses en la zona, en lo que Washington insiste que se trata de una misión para combatir los cárteles de la droga, pero el Gobierno de Venezuela sostiene que EE.UU. busca en cambio un cambio de régimen.

Maduro calificó los ataques como “ejecuciones seriales” y pidió a la ONU investigar el asunto. El ministro de Defensa de Venezuela, Vladimir Padrino, consideró que se trata de “una guerra no declarada” y la Cancillería denuncia la “amenaza militar” de Washington. Petro, por su parte, dijo que siempre estará “en contra de genocidios y asesinatos del poder en el Caribe”.

Esta es la cronología de los ataques:

El primer ataque de Estados Unidos contra una embarcación en el Caribe fue el 2 de septiembre.

El presidente Donald Trump anunció la ofensiva en sus redes sociales y dijo que bajo sus órdenes las Fuerzas Armadas de Estados Unidos “realizaron un ataque militar contra narcoterroristas del Tren de Aragua identificados en el área de responsabilidad del Comando Sur”.

“El Tren de Aragua es una organización terrorista extranjera designada por el Departamento de Estado, que opera bajo el control de Nicolás Maduro y es responsable de homicidios masivos, narcotráfico, trata de personas y ac

Por CNN Español

Pasaron más de 72 horas desde que un hombre armado abrió fuego en el campus de la Universidad de Brown, en Providence, Rhode Island, matando a dos estudiantes e hiriendo a nueve más. Mientras continúa su búsqueda, las autoridades difundieron nuevas imágenes y una descripción actualizada de una persona relevante para la investigación, y anunciaron una recompensa de US$ 50.000 por información que conduzca a su arresto y condena.

Lo que sabemos:

Las autoridades publicaron este lunes fotos y videos de una nueva persona relevante para la investigación, descrita como de aproximadamente 1,72 metros de estatura y de complexión robusta. Las imágenes muestran a un individuo vestido con ropa oscura y con el rostro cubierto. Según un analista policial de CNN, su forma de andar distintiva y su ritmo constante podrían resultar reconocibles para alguien cercano.

De acuerdo con los investigadores, las imágenes fueron captadas alrededor de las 2 de la tarde del sábado, aproximadamente dos horas antes del ataque. Las fuerzas del orden trabajan ahora para reconstruir los movimientos de esta persona antes y después del tiroteo, con el objetivo de establecer un posible patrón y determinar si aún se encuentra en Providence.

El FBI confirmó que ofrece una recompensa de US$ 50.000 por información que lleve a la identificación, arresto y condena del sospechoso.

La difusión de este nuevo material se produce después de que una persona detenida previamente en relación con el tiroteo fuera liberada y descartada de la investigación, según informó el fiscal general de Rhode Island. La decisión ha generado confusión y preocupación entre estudiantes, docentes y residentes de la comunidad universitaria.

El tiroteo ocurrió en el edificio Barus and Holley Hall, dentro del campus de Brown. El ataque dejó dos estudiantes muertos y otros nueve heridos. Como consecuencia, la universidad canceló clases y exámenes, mientras el campus permanece en vilo.

Las autoridades estatales informaron que el gobernador ordenó una revisión exhaustiva de las medidas de seguridad escolar. La Policía continúa buscando al autor del ataque mortal, con apoyo de agencias estatales y federales.

Funcionarios de la Universidad de Brown instaron a cualquier persona que haya estado en el edificio Barus and Holley Hall el viernes o el sábado a comunicarse con la Policía de Providence para colaborar con la investigación.

“Solicitamos a cualquier persona que haya estado en el edificio Barus and Holley el viernes o sábado 12 y 13 de diciembre que se comunique de inmediato con la Policía de Providence para concertar una entrevista”, señaló la universidad en una actualización publicada la noche del lunes. “Incluso un detalle aparentemente incidental podría ser útil para las fuerzas del orden en sus esfuerzos por proteger a nuestra comunidad”.

La Universidad de Brown afirmó que está reforzando de manera significativa la seguridad del campus. La medida se da en medio de un aumento de llamadas con información falsa e informes de amenazas que, según las autoridades, han resultado ser infundados.

La institución subrayó que la seguridad sigue siendo su principal prioridad y aseguró que los reportes que circulan sobre nuevos intrusos o episodios de violencia en el campus y sus alrededores no tienen sustento. Entre las medidas adoptadas se incluyen una mayor presencia de personal de seguridad y el acceso restringido a los edificios universitarios.

Una de las víctimas fatales fue Mukhammad Aziz Umurzokov, un estudiante, de 18 años, de Virginia. Su familia lo recordó como una persona increíblemente amable, divertida e inteligente, según una campaña de GoFundMe. “Tenía grandes sueños de convertirse en neurocirujano y ayudar a la gente”, señalaba la publicación. El ministro de Asuntos Exteriores de Uzbekistán expresó sus condolencias y afirmó en un comunicado

By Meteorologist Chris Dolce

Cold and snowy weather has gripped much of the northern tier of the United States since Thanksgiving, but a pattern change will torch the chance of white Christmas for many.

A white Christmas is when at least 1 inch of snow is on the ground on the morning of December 25, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Arctic air has made frequent surges across the Midwest, Northeast and South for weeks, including the coldest of the bunch this past weekend. That’s allowed winter storms to cover a large chunk of the northern states with snow.

But the big question is: How much snow will stick around for Christmas Day since a big jet stream pattern shift is promising a meltdown?

Milder temperatures could fade hopes of a white Christmas

December’s cold start has been spurred on by a wavy north-to-south oriented jet stream driving frequent bouts of Arctic air into the central and eastern states from Canada. This persistent weather pattern is tied to the disruption of the polar vortex at the end of November.

Now, the jet stream is about to smooth out and take a more level west-to-east path across the country. When that happens, it tends to act like a wall, blocking any long-lasting bouts of cold air from coming too far south out of Canada.

A large area of the US is expected to see warmer-than-average temperatures for the rest of December as a result, according NOAA. The exception is the far northern tier, which could see thermometers hover right around or just below the norm for this time of year.

Some of the snow on the ground in the Midwest and Northeast will melt away because of the milder temperatures. Rainfall will also play a role, especially from a storm system that will bring downpours as far north as Michigan and Maine late this week.

Forecast models show much of the snow Christmas morning will be in the places that usually have the best shot at a waking up to a white blanket outside their windows on the holiday: the Mountain West, northern Plains, Upper Midwest, northern New England and the Great Lakes snow belts.

The caveat? It’s too soon to tell if any storm systems next week might save the day and bring new snowfall. Add that possibility to your wishlist for Santa if you’re still dreaming of a white Christmas, but right now, the odds of that happening look slim.

White Christmas chances are usually low for most

History tells us the odds of a white Christmas are less than a coin flip for most of the Lower 48.

If you want a nearly-guaranteed white Christmas, then head to a ski resort in the West or northern New England, or cities like Marquette, Michigan, and Duluth, Minnesota. Those locations have odds that are 90% or higher, based on data from 1991-2020.

Minneapolis-St. Paul has one of the highest chances for a major city at 74%.

In other large cities like Chicago and New York, the chances drop off sharply to 34% and 13%, respectively. Even in Denver and Salt Lake City, the chance is less than 50%.

Of course, the South has the lowest likelihood, but there have been some rare instances.

In 2004, a snowstorm on Christmas Eve in South Texas reached all the way to the Texas Gulf Coast, setting up a strange Christmas scene of palm trees blanketed by snow.

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