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After their synagogue is attacked, a tight-knit Jewish community vows to keep coming together

A Torah scroll removed from Temple Israel outside Detroit – where a driver rammed an explosives-laden truck and opened fire – was lifted up at Friday's Shabbat service across the street in a makeshift sanctuary for one of the nation's largest Reform houses of worship.

CNN Friday Shabbat taking place at Temple Israel on Friday. - Temple Israel/YouTube

Rabbi Jennifer Kaluzny was in tears as she held one of the sacred scrolls removed from theWest Bloomfield Townshipsynagogue, where the grounds were sealed off with crime scene tape and heavy barricades one day after Thursday's attack.

"We're keeping one of them with us during services so everyone can see it," she told CNN. "Our traditions live… We're going to keep celebrating Shabbat. We may need security but we need to keep coming together and supporting each other."

On the first Jewish Sabbath since the attack, many in the Temple Israel community – about 3,500 families, or more than 12,000 members, according to its website – gathered in a hall at the sprawlingShenandoah Country Club, which was founded by Chaldean Iraqi immigrants escaping persecution.

"The place that so many of us call home, Temple Israel, became the site of something frightening and painful, an act of violence that was meant to shake us in our sense of safety and belonging," Cantor Neil Michaels said at the Friday night service.

"And yet, tonight, we gather… When the world feels uncertain, we come closer. When fears try to scatter us, we build community."

Police tape hangs outside the Temple Israel synagogue on Friday in West Bloomfield Township, Michigan. - Paul Sancya/AP

Temple Israel includes a nursery school and a religious school for children in pre-kindergarten to 12th grade, according to its website.

There were more than 100 young children at the school in a separate part of the building at the time of the attack, which was stopped when guards opened fire on the truck that drove through the front doors and down a hallway, authorities said. The attacker died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, the FBI said Friday.

One guard was injured, and dozens of first responders were treated for smoke inhalation after the truck caught fire in what the FBI called a "targeted act of violence against the Jewish community." But all the children and teachers inside theheavily-guarded templeand school were safe.

The attack was amongfour acts of violencethat rattled America in recent weeks.

In a powerful sign of interfaith solidarity and cultural recognition from a community with a common history of displacement and resilience, members of the Chaldean country club across the street opened their doors to the Jewish congregation in a time of crisis, providing a safe haven and serving as a command and reunification center for families.

People embrace as law enforcement escort families away from the Temple Israel synagogue Thursday in West Bloomfield Township, Michigan. - Paul Sancya/AP

"When the children finally started coming over, I really understood why the Jews and the Chaldeans get along so well, because the first thing that they did was bring out food for the children," Temple Israel Rabbi Paul Yedwab said.

He added, "We all knew that this was the only place that this service could be tonight."

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Children sing as teachers shield them from attack

Rabbi Kaluzny was among those greeting anxious parents arriving at the country club after the attack.

"We just kept bringing parents literally into our arms," she said. "We had parents coming out of the woods, coming down the streets, running for their children, screaming some of them, others almost blank in affect."

The children were rushed out and locked down in a neighbor's garage, where during the ordeal they sang a version of "The wheels on the bus" about traveling to synagogue, lighting candles and celebrating the end of the week, according to Kaluzny.

"The challah on the table goes break, break, break, all through the town. The people on the bus say 'Shabbat Shalom,' all through the town," the song goes.

Rabbi Arianna Gordon described hunkering down in her office with members of the education team amid heavy smoke and bursts of gunfire. She also recalled holding toddlers on her lap in the neighbor's garage.

Parents are escorted by police down Walnut Lake Road back to their cars after being reunited with their children Thursday. - Eric Seals/USA Today Network/Reuters

"I am so incredibly proud of our teachers," she said. "We have all undergone security training and not a single teacher froze in the face of this crisis. They did exactly what they had been trained to do. They kept every one of our students calm and safe in this moment of horrific danger."

Employees at the synagogue had taken an active shooter prevention training classjust weeks earlier, and the building had bollards placed around it in an attempt to slow a ramming attack.

Rabbi Gordon said teachers and other staffers arrived at the country club coughing and breathing heavily but quickly turned their attention to "screaming" and "catatonic" parents asking about their children. Some children separated M&M's into clusters of different colors on the floor of Shenandoah Country Club.

At the start of the Jewish Sabbath, a time of rest and rituals and the recitation of blessings over wine and bread, Rabbi Yedwab called the events of the previous day "a miracle."

"There were 106 children over there and, for a very long time, there were only four classrooms of children here," he said of the reunification center, his voice filled with emotion. "And we had no idea… The only thought that kept coming to my head is, how many little funerals are we going to have to do?"

The Temple Israel sanctuary is defined by its members, not the building damaged by smoke and fire across the street, the rabbi said. For now, there is no ark housing the Torah scrolls. "Those beautiful prayer books," Yedwab said, "they're all destroyed."

"What you have proven to us is that our sanctuary is not a building," he said. "It's you. It's us. We are Temple Israel. You are Temple Israel. And so we are going to rise."

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After their synagogue is attacked, a tight-knit Jewish community vows to keep coming together

A Torah scroll removed from Temple Israel outside Detroit – where a driver rammed an explosives-laden truck and opened fi...
Trump says Ric Grenell is being replaced as Kennedy Center head

President Donald Trump is replacing Richard Grenell as head of the Kennedy Center, he announced on Friday.

CNN Ric Grenell, special presidential envoy for special missions of the United States, during a dinner in the East Room of the White House in Washington, DC, on November 6, 2025. - Aaron Schwartz/Bloomberg/Getty Images

Trump posted on Truth Social that Grenell would be replaced by Matt Floca, the arts center's current vice president of facilities operations.

The move comes as the arts and culture institution, which now bears Trump name on its façade, is expected to close for two years for renovations as the president seeks to remold it in his image.

Grenell's tenure as interim president of the Kennedy Center since February 2025 has been marked by tumult, plagued by high-profile performance cancellations, protests, declining ticket sales and financial strain as he sought to execute the president's vision for the arts center.

Despite earlier warmth between Trump and Grenell, a longtime loyalist who has served in various roles across the president's two terms in office, the president had become frustrated with a slew of negative headlines about his revamp of the arts institution, multiple sources told CNN.

One source familiar with the White House view said that the president liked Grenell, but felt that he had fumbled when it came to his leadership of the Kennedy Center, including on managing the publicity.

Another White House official insisted that Grenell wasn't being fired but that he was always intended to help during the Kennedy Center's transition period and then leave the role. And a separate source said Grenell did not want to stay through a planned, lengthy renovation of the facility. He plans to transition out of the role in the next few weeks and finish up his work fundraising.

While leading the Kennedy Center, Grenell often bucked the trends of the arts world, defying traditions and stretching norms in place for decades. Critics contended that led to strain and brought irreparable harm to the institution.

Some of those who work with Grenell described him as combative, confrontational and headstrong. A source close to the Kennedy Center lamented that Grenell had no experience or grounding in the arts world and came in "with a sledgehammer" and "campaign schticks" that are moving the institution in the wrong direction.

But others contended that he was exactly the person to carry out Trump's vision and that he brought a "no-nonsense mentality" to his work and brought in many new staff to the center.

In recent days, Trump has been "souring on him," a source close to the Kennedy Center said.

"Ric worked really hard to keep in Trump's good graces, but Trump got tired of turning on the news and hearing every day how bad the Kennedy Center was being run and (how) Trump is killing it," the source said.

CNN has approached Grenell for comment.

The president's 'Swiss army knife'

From the beginning, Grenell was an unlikely choice to lead an arts institution as his professional experience has largely been in foreign affairs. He served eight years in the State Department, including as spokesperson to the United Nations during the George W. Bush administration. There he waged a personal and public challenge to the institution he worked for after officials rejected his request to have his partner listed as his spouse in the United Nations Blue Book, a book that includes contact information for diplomats and other personnel.

After a stretch in California during the Obama years and then a return to politics and public affairs, he became close to Trump, and has an especially close relationship with first lady Melania Trump, sources say.

President Donald Trump speaks to reporters alongside Richard Grenell, president of The Kennedy Center Board of Trustees, during a guided tour of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC, on March 17, 2025. - Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

In Trump's first term, he served as US ambassador to Germany and special envoy for Serbia and Kosovo, and in 2020, the president chose him to be the acting director of national intelligence (DNI), making him the first openly gay acting Cabinet-level official. His three months there proved controversial, with the firings of top career officials, a re-structuring of several parts of ODNI, a deeply acrimonious relationship with overseers in Congress and the declassification of documents from the Obama administration that fueled the "Obamagate" conspiracy theory. But Trump remarked at the end of it of Grenell: "I think you'll go down as the all-time great 'acting' ever, at any position."

In 2024, Trump made him a presidential envoy for special missions, a role he still holds even while at the Kennedy Center.

Trump trusted Grenell "implicitly," said a source who has worked with Grenell in the past, and elevated him to interim president of the Kennedy Center in part due to his experience managing high-stakes diplomacy.

"The president's almost used him as a Swiss army knife," the person said. "When there's a problem that he can't quite figure out or he needs someone to figure out how to solve it creatively, he chooses Ric."

An imperfect fit

But veterans of the Kennedy Center and arts management were skeptical of his ability to lead the institution given his lack of arts expertise or experience. "One of my very first questions to him was asking him what his connection was to the performing arts, why he took on this role, what this meant to him and how did the Kennedy Center connect to who he was in his identity," a person close to the Kennedy Center who met with Grenell early in his tenure said, "one of the very first things that he said when I asked him that was he said, 'I love celebrities.'"

Grenell has highlighted his time singing in a choir as a boy, that his partner was once a Broadway actor, his belief in arts education and his love of niche programming to boost up his arts bona fides.

But multiple people familiar with the Kennedy Center's management said Grenell never showed much interest or took the time to understand what was required to run it, and turned down offers to educate or help him during his time there.

Richard Grenell attends the world premiere of Amazon MGM's "Melania" at The Trump-Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, on January 29. - Taylor Hill/WireImage/Getty Images

"He didn't want to know in any way what was possible and what was not possible – he just wanted to do what he wanted to do," a person closely connected to Grenell at the Kennedy Center said.

Months into his new job, Grenell proposed an unorthodox fundraising suggestion: to auction off conducting duties of the national anthem for the National Symphony Orchestra.

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The idea was simple – anyone who would donate $50,000 would get an opportunity to take the baton and step on stage, into the revered role of conducting the symphony for one song.

While the idea never came into fruition – and it's not clear how serious it was – just the suggestion set off dismay and embarrassment within the institution and among the musicians. Many felt the fundraising pitch threatened to cheapen the symphony, which has long been considered the crown jewel of the Kennedy Center.

But he could also articulate a clear, if divisive, agenda.

"You cannot have programming that is woke or not popular," Grenell said in a recent PBS interview, "We cannot have unpopular programming. It doesn't pay the bills."

He made it a mission to revamp programming as part of a holistic approach to the financials of the institution, starting with bringing in, in his words, more family-friendly programming. He brought in "Dog Man: The Musical," based on the popular kids' graphic novel series, at the recommendation of second lady Usha Vance.

"This is not just an arts, left institution but one that all voices are able to come here and be a part of it," Grenell said in an interview with Politico. "For a lot of time, conservatives didn't feel welcome here."

Grenell, as well as Trump, have attempted to beef up the pizzaz and glamour of the center.

In the past year, the center has been used for a high-profile FIFA World Cup event, the "Melania" documentary premiere and a Charlie Kirk memorial.

For the first Kennedy Center Honors, Grenell had wanted Dolly Parton to host the show, a source close to the Kennedy Center told CNN.

Parton declined the invitation, the source said, and Trump went on to host the show himself.

A temporary stop?

For all that, sources said Grenell did not spend much time at the Kennedy Center – often working from his home in California. When he is at the Kennedy Center, he is "secretive" and "pompous," critics said. He never had an all-staff meeting, and a source close to the Kennedy Center said that a year into his tenure, many staff still had not met him.

Some held the view that Grenell did not truly want the job and was just biding his time to wait for something better to come up within the Trump administration.

Grenell himself told people he was there "very temporarily" and did not shy away from telling people that he felt passed over for the job he had always really wanted – secretary of state, multiple sources told CNN.

"He kept saying that he agreed to take on the Kennedy Center role because he was assuming that he would that he would be taking on the State job quite quickly, so he was just a matter of time," a person close to the Kennedy Center said. "He felt like he was getting sloppy seconds of the Kennedy Center."

A next chapter

Grenell's departure will come amid tumult and continued challenges.

Multiple sources told CNN that attendance at the Kennedy Center had been so low that for months it had to "paper the house" – a theater term used to essentially fill seats – sometimes by offering tickets for free to federal workers to make the shows look fuller than what ticket sales could bring.

Critics of the administration have argued that much of this was caused by the Trump administration's moves to entrench the traditionally nonpartisan institution in politics, after Trump fired the board, replaced it with hand-picked loyalists, installed himself as the chairman, and changed the name to the Trump-Kennedy Center – a change being disputed in court.

"The challenge is finding artists who will work with us, not because they are a Republican or Democrat, but more because concern that if they have a concert at the Kennedy Center they will be labeled as supporting the administration that is not that friendly to the arts," a source close to the Kennedy Center said.

A view of the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, on February 2. - Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images

But Grenell did not do enough to address the problem, critics said. "They have an unwillingness to connect poor attendance numbers to the administration," the Kennedy Center source said of Grenell and his team.

A source close to Grenell said: "Ric is remarkably loyal to the people he works with and willing to throw his head through a wall to make it happen or to do something on their behalf. So if the president's got a mission – he's remarkably loyal to him he's going to do whatever it takes to make that happen."

The move to close for renovations was seen by many within the institution as an attempt to save face amid these challenges. "Every day was just another negative thing hitting the Kennedy Center, and I think that they felt like the closing of the Center is really the only way to stop the hemorrhaging," one of the sources said.

In his Truth Social post Friday, Trump wrote: "Ric Grenell has done an excellent job in helping to coordinate various elements of the Center during the transition period, and I want to thank him for the outstanding work he has done. THE TRUMP KENNEDY CENTER will be, at its completion, the finest facility of its kind anywhere in the World!"

This story and headline have been updated with additional details.

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Trump says Ric Grenell is being replaced as Kennedy Center head

President Donald Trump is replacing Richard Grenell as head of the Kennedy Center, he announced on Friday. Tru...
Russian strike on the Kyiv region kills 4 and wounds at least 15, with peace talks stalled

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — A combined missile and drone attack on the Kyiv region killed at least four people and wounded at least 15 overnight into Saturday, according to the head of the regional administration for the Ukrainian capital.

Associated Press

Three of the wounded were in critical condition, of whom two were undergoing surgery, Mykola Kalashnyk reported on Saturday. The attack hit four districts, damaging residential buildings, educational institutions, enterprises and critical infrastructure, Kalashnyk added in a social media post.

The strikes came days afterthe U.S. postponed peace talks between Russia and Ukrainescheduled for this week, citing the war in the Middle East.

As U.S. and Israeli missiles and bombs rain on Iran, Russia has responded with words of indignation but no action to support its ally. Moscow's failure to help another ally, after the 2024 ouster of former Syrian ruler Bashar Assad and January's U.S. arrest of Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro, highlighted the limits of its influence — butthe Kremlin expects to reap benefits from the Iran war.

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Russia is already profiting from a surge in global energy prices, and could hope that the Mideast war will detract attention from Ukraine and deplete Western arsenals.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Friday that the 30-day U.S. waiver on Russian oil sanctions amid theIran waris "not the right decision" and won't help bring a stop to Russia's more than4-year-old invasion of Ukraine.

"This easing alone by the United States could provide Russia with about $10 billion for the war," Zelenskyy said. "This certainly does not help peace."

Earlier this week, Russian and Ukrainian officialsboth claimed front-line progress, with Ukraine saying it pushed Moscow's forces back across places on the front line and the Kremlin insistingRussia's invasion of its neighboris making progress.

Meanwhile, Russia's almost daily attacks on Ukrainian civilian areas have continued.

Russian strike on the Kyiv region kills 4 and wounds at least 15, with peace talks stalled

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — A combined missile and drone attack on the Kyiv region killed at least four people and wounded at le...
Paris Hilton Shares Big '80s Hair Throwback Photos in Birthday Post for Mom

Famous socialiteParis Hiltonrecently wished her momKathy Hiltonahappy birthdayon Instagram, and the post is chalk full of big wonderful '80s hair.

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Anyone else remember a time when bigger truly was better when it came to hair and extra voluminous bangs? Ever find yourself wistful for the smell of hotboxing in a bathroom full of Aqua Net? Yeah, those were some times.

Whether she meant to or not, Paris Hilton gets us craving some '80s while she celebrates her mom Kathy's 67thbirthdayand shares a bunch of fun old photos. Paris andsisterNicky Hiltonwere both born in the early '80s, so in the family photos when the girls are little, Mama Kathy is rocking some very bodacious hair.

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Related: Christina Applegate Divulges Two Hollywood A-Listers Who Sacrificed Their Salaries to Boost Hers

In the celebratory post, Paris writes: "Happy Birthday to the most incredible mom and the heart of our family@KathyHilton💖✨🎂."

She showsgratitudefor Kathy's dedication as her mom, as well as in the new role she's taken on asgrandmotherto Paris's two kids: sonPhoenix Barron, who's 3, and daughterLondon Marilyn, who is 2. "You have the kindest heart and the most beautiful spirit," Paris continues, "and our family is so lucky to have you at the center of it all. Love you so much Mom. Today we celebrate you 💖✨🎉"Now do yourself a favor click on through the photos to enjoy your '80s throwback (the best hair starts around slide #9):

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This story was originally published byParadeon Mar 14, 2026, where it first appeared in theNewssection. Add Parade as aPreferred Source by clicking here.

Paris Hilton Shares Big '80s Hair Throwback Photos in Birthday Post for Mom

Famous socialiteParis Hiltonrecently wished her momKathy Hiltonahappy birthdayon Instagram, and the post is chalk full of...
NYT 'Connections' Hints, Clues and Answers Today, Saturday, March 14, 2026

There's nothing quite as exhilarating as the feeling of completing the daily New York TimesWordle,Strands,Mini CrosswordandConnections Sports Editionword games in one fell swoop. But sometimes that can be easier said than done. If you need help with today'sConnectionspuzzle, keep reading.

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Spoilers ahead! We've warned you. We mean it. Read no further until youreallywant some clues or you've completely given up and want the answers ASAP. Get ready for all of today'sNYT 'Connections' hints and answers for#1007 onSaturday, March 14, 2026.

Today's NYT Connections puzzle for Saturday, March 14, 2026 / New York TimesThe New York Times

If you've been having trouble with any of theconnections or wordsin Saturday's puzzle, you're not alone, and these hints should definitely help you out. Plus, I'll reveal the answers further down.

Related:The 26 Funniest NYT Connections Game Memes You'll Appreciate if You Do This Daily Word Puzzle

Hints About Today's NYT Connections Categories on Saturday, March 14

  1. In a state of increased suggestibility.

  2. Starting with 1+1

  3. He's on the case!

  4. Queens of the kingdom.

Related:300 Trivia Questions and Answers to Jumpstart Your Fun Game Night

Ready for the answers? Scroll below this image (the image that represents your very appreciatedpatience!).

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Today's Connections Game Answers for Saturday, March 14:

1.HYPNOTIC STATE:DREAM, HAZE, SPELL, TRANCE2.STARTING WITH PREFIXES MEANING "TWO":BINARY, DIOXIDE, DUOLINGO, TWILIGHT3. FICTIONAL INSPECTORS:CLOUSEAU, GADGET, JAVERT, MORSE4.ENDING IN FEMALE ANIMALS:HOOTENANNY, LICHEN, MOSCOW, NIGHTMARE

How'd you do?

Up Next:-15 Fun Games Like Connections to Play Every Day-Hints, Clues and Answers to the NYT's 'Mini Crossword' Puzzle

Did You Miss a Few Days?Let's Catch You Up With Recent Connections Answers

Related: This Trendy New Grocery Find Is the Flavorful Upgrade Your Pantry Is Missing

This story was originally published byParadeon Mar 14, 2026, where it first appeared in theLifesection. Add Parade as aPreferred Source by clicking here.

NYT ‘Connections’ Hints, Clues and Answers Today, Saturday, March 14, 2026

There's nothing quite as exhilarating as the feeling of completing the daily New York TimesWordle,Strands,Mini Crossw...
Out of the frying pan? Noma's Rene Redzepi resigns, and fine dining confronts 'brigade' culture

LONDON (AP) — Chef Gordon Ramsay yells at people. His mentor was known for throwing pans and plates. That chef, London's Marco Pierre White, titled his own memoir "The Devil in the Kitchen" — in part for the punishments he meted out to his chefs.

Associated Press Noma's chef René Redzepi prepares a vegetarian burger in a restaurant, in Copenhagen, Nov. 24, 2024. (Soeren Bidstrup/Ritzau Scanpix via AP) FILE - Gordon Ramsay arrives at the FOX winter junket on Wednesday, Dec. 13, 2023, in Los Angeles. (Photo by Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP, File) FILE - Jeremy Allen White arrives at the premiere of FILE - Danish chef René Redzepi, in London, April 29, 2013. (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis, File) Noma's chef René Redzepi smells a citrus fruit in Copenhagen, Nov. 24, 2024. (Soeren Bidstrup/Ritzau Scanpix via AP)

Denmark Noma Chef

"If you don't fear the boss, you'll take shortcuts, you'll turn up late," White wrote, saying his kitchen staff at Harveys accepted that. "They were all pain junkies, they had to be. They couldn't get enough of the bollockings."

The public downfallthis week of Denmark'sRene Redzepi, arguably the world's top chef, has forced a reckoning in real time over when "brigade de cuisine" becomes abuse and what should happen to perpetrators who direct the creation of edible art.

At issue is whether time is up on the storied bullying and intimidation of fine dining kitchen culture, brought to the masses through pop culture by celebrity chef reality shows and high-end TV like "The Bear." Lofty, pricey matters like leadership style and legal liability are suddenly at the center of a relatively small industry known for narrow profit margins, not HR departments or training.

"The resources aren't there for self-policing," said Robin Burrow, associate professor of organization studies at the University of York. "The general feeling, though, is that things are so tough even for very good chefs that this kind of culture ends up being inevitable."

Kitchen magician, toxic chef

Redzepi, a Danish knight and the founder of Noma and innovative "New Nordic" cuisine, stepped down Thursday afterThe New York Times reportedthat dozens of former employees had shared their accounts of abuse and assault between 2009 and 2017 at theCopenhagen landmark. Redzepi had been dogged for years by reports of mistreating his staff and employing unpaid interns at Noma, which received three Michelin stars and was ranked first onthe World's 50 Best Restaurants Listfive times.

The allegations overshadowed Noma's $1,500-a-head pop-up restaurant in Los Angeles. Sponsors pulled their funding for the residency, which opened on Wednesday to a small gathering of protesters. Redzepi announced his resignation on Instagram with a tearful video soon after. "An apology is not enough," he said. "I take responsibility for my own actions."

Former employees said Redzepi has never been held accountable for his conduct, which included punching members of the staff, jabbing them with kitchen tools and threatening to get them blacklisted from restaurants or have their families deported.

Jason Ignacio White, a former head of Noma's fermentation lab, collected anonymous testimonies of alleged abuse at the restaurant and posted them to his Instagram page. The accounts have been viewed millions of times.

"Noma destroyed my passion for the industry," one post said. "I struggled with intense anxiety, bad enough to give me panic attacks in the middle of the night. The trauma, abuse and idea that nothing would ever change all led me to walk away from the career."

The kitchen brigade system is entrenched

The process at the heart of restaurants worldwide is the "brigade de cuisine," a strict organization of the kitchen developed around the turn of the 20th century by French chef Georges Auguste Escoffier, who based it on his own military experience.

Under its hierarchy, every member of the staff has a specialty — from the "chief" to the sauce-maker, the roast cook, the grill cook and the fish cook. Their choreography and their communications — "Hand!" and "Yes, chef!" — are designed for speed, consistency and cleanliness.

Even so, kitchen atmospheres have long been filled with chaos and intensity. Escoffier himself wrote that his first chef believed it was impossible to govern a kitchen "without a shower of slaps."

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George Orwell, the essayist and author of the dystopian classic "1984," once described the restaurant kitchen of his time as a place where one person in the hierarchy yelled at his subordinate, who yelled at someone below him and so on. Weeping was not unusual. As a plongeur (dishwasher), Orwell ranked at the bottom.

"A plongeur is one of the slaves of the modem world," he wrote in "Down and Out in Paris and London," published in 1933. "He is no freer than if he were bought and sold."

It's a place 'where the rules don't apply'

In the modern era, professional kitchens are thought to be some of the toughest places to work thanks to a recipe of long hours, close quarters, strict hierarchies, grueling physical conditions and relentless pressure.

The rise of the chef as an auteur during the 1970s with an obsession with Michelin-star-level excellence only accelerated the poor behavior as prices and egos rose.

In his 2006 memoir, White described his kitchen at Harveys in London as "my theatre of cruelty" and boasted of giving his chefs "a 10-second throttle."Anthony Bourdain'smemoir "Kitchen Confidential" helped romanticize that testosterone-fueled vision, describing kitchens filled with "heated argument, hypermacho posturing and drunken ranting."

Personal accounts and research suggest there's painful truth behind the romanticized branding. Cardiff University conducted interviews with 47 elite chefs for a 2021 study and found that the isolation of commercial kitchens can produce a sort of "geography of deviance" that create "feelings of invisibility, alienation and detachment" in lower-ranking employees. It also found that chef conduct can make a kitchen "an instrument of social withdrawal and a symbol of deviance around which the community pivots."

Open kitchens in part were designed to merge the two spaces, kitchens and dining rooms. Several employees told The Times that when Redzepi wanted to discipline them in the open kitchen but there were customers in the dining room, he would crouch under the counters and jab them in the legs with his fingers or a nearby utensil.

Many chefs' proteges stay silent because they don't want to risk the opportunity to learn from the best — or the potential to launch high-flying culinary careers of their own. That was the case in the fictional, wildly popular show "The Bear," in which the main character, Carmy Berzatto, endured open and flagrant abuse so that he can study under one of the world's greatest chefs.

The downfall of a 'visionary'

Noma — a contraction of the Danish words for Nordisk and Mad, meaning Nordic and food — opened in 2003 dedicated to "a simple desire to rediscover wild local ingredients by foraging and to follow the seasons." By the time Redzepi stepped down, he had become so prominent in the culinary world that Noma played a role in "The Bear" as the training ground for two main characters. Redzepi himself appeared on the series in a cameo.

It wasn't his first time on camera. He'd also been seen yelling at cooks in the 2008 documentary "Noma at Boiling Point," and has made several public apologies. He acknowledged in a 2015essay,being "a bully for a large part of my career." He said he's "yelled and pushed people. I've been a terrible boss at times."

And — today's mass-culture excitement around intense kitchen behavior notwithstanding — he seemed to recognize even then that the old way alienated young, talented workers and jeopardized the future of cuisine.

"The only way we will be able to reap the promise of the present is by confronting the unpleasant legacies of our past," Redzepi said, "and collectively forging a new path forward."

Associated Press Writer Mark Kennedy contributed from New York.

Out of the frying pan? Noma’s Rene Redzepi resigns, and fine dining confronts 'brigade' culture

LONDON (AP) — Chef Gordon Ramsay yells at people. His mentor was known for throwing pans and plates. That chef, London...
US prosecutors defend block on Venezuelan state funds for Maduro's defense

By Luc Cohen

Reuters

NEW YORK, March 13 (Reuters) - Ousted Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro should not be able to use Venezuelan government funds to defend himself against U.S. drug trafficking charges, U.S. ‌prosecutors said on Friday, noting that Washington has not considered him the legitimate leader of ‌the South American country for years.

Last month, Maduro's lawyer Barry Pollack urged U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein to dismiss the indictment ​against Maduro because the Treasury Department had without explanation revoked an exemption to U.S. financial sanctions on Venezuela that had allowed the South American country's government to fund his defense.

Pollack argued that the revocation interfered with Maduro's right to counsel under the Sixth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

He said that "Venezuelan law and custom" dictate ‌that the government pay the expenses of ⁠the president and his wife. An official in Venezuela's attorney general's office said in a court filing last month that the government was prepared to pay.

In urging ⁠Hellerstein not to dismiss the indictment, prosecutors with the Manhattan U.S. Attorney's office on Friday said the initial exemption was an "administrative error."

The prosecutors said Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, would still be allowed to use their ​personal ​funds for their defense. Flores' lawyer, Mark Donnelly, had also ​asked Hellerstein to dismiss charges against her over ‌the funding of her defense.

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"While both defendants claim that they are entitled to funds under the Venezuelan constitution ... both defendants also surely knew that the U.S. Government did not consider them to hold legitimate positions," prosecutors wrote, noting that one purpose of the U.S. sanctions was to drive Maduro and Flores from power.

The Venezuelan communications ministry, which handles all press queries for the government, did not immediately respond to ‌a request for comment.

Maduro and Flores were captured on January ​3 in a U.S. military raid on their Caracas home. ​Both have pleaded not guilty and are ​jailed in Brooklyn pending trial.

Their lawyers did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Hellerstein ‌is expected to consider the legal fees ​dispute during a court hearing ​on March 26 in Manhattan.

The U.S. accuses Maduro, a socialist who took office in 2013, of rigging his re-election votes in 2018 and 2024, which he denies.

Maduro's former Vice President Delcy ​Rodriguez has been running Venezuela since ‌his capture. A State Department official said in a March 11 court filing in a ​separate case that the U.S. recognizes Rodriguez as Venezuela's sole head of state.

(Reporting by ​Luc Cohen in New York; Editing by Tom Hogue)

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