Little about this matter has turned out to be what it first appeared, and there's little independent confirmation besides the email address that messages to the paper came from, but for what it's worth, the self-proclaimed culprit says he's based in Nigeria but wrote in a Ugandan language. - The New York Times
"(He) had admitted arranging sex acts with someone he thought was a teenager, but was in fact an undercover police officer. … On Tuesday, the 70-year-old was given a 14-month prison sentence, suspended for two years." - The Standard (London)
There are over 1,100 such sites known in the state; most have been discovered during preparation for coal and oil projects. Vandalism to the sites tends to fall into categories of initial and names, dates, firearm damage or painting. - Casper Star-Tribune (Casper, WY)
We define quality from the perspective of the audience. So if the audience loves the movie, it’s great. That’s quality. “Irish Wish” maybe didn’t scratch the itch for you, but 65 million people watched that movie. - The New York Times
The walkout, which involved about half the museum’s staff, has shut the museum down for several days (a reopening date has not been set), and the employees involved say they plan to withhold their labor until their demands are met. - Seattle Times
Their dispute stems from SPOT’s controversial decision to reclassify its Premium tiers as ‘bundles’ by combining music and audiobooks, which has resulted in Spotify paying a lower mechanical royalty rate in the US to publishers and songwriters than standalone music subscription services. - Music Business Worldwide
In the new, global media ecosystem, AI and user-generated content will interact in a symbiotic cycle of information and transformation. The U.S. should therefore move with urgency to assert a national interest in our communal creative expression. - The Hill
Critic Elisabeth Vincentelli reports that audiences being moved to actual tears (and, yes, even wailing on occasion) has become surprisingly commonplace this season — and it's all because of the way the scripts and cast are connecting with viewers. - The Washington Post (MSN)
If you think a poem made like a hot dog of stolen words sounds interesting, that’s fine, but no one should lose their job over that experiment. This entire report makes clear to me that the powers that be see AI as a way to make more money by squeezing down their cost of labor. - LitHub
The Galloping Cure, with a story and libretto by Karen Russell (author of the novel Swamplandia!) and Royce Vavrek (possibly America's busiest librettist), will be directed by Tom Morris (who co-directed War Horse) and produced by former ENO chief John Berry, with four major opera houses on board. - The Observer (UK)
In 2023, 53% of ticket buyers were under age 50, and people in their 30s made up the largest age segment by decade. Five years earlier, in 2018, 41% of ticket buyers were under 50, and people in their 60s made up the largest age segment. - AP
"In 2020, Danish antiquities dealer Dr. Ittai Gradel began to suspect an eBay seller he had been buying from was a thief who was stealing from the British Museum. … More than two years later, the museum would announce that thousands of objects were missing, stolen or damaged from its collection." - BBC
A hacker group called RansomHub said it was behind the cyberattack that hit the Christie’s website just days before its marquee spring sales began, forcing the auction house to resort to alternatives to online bidding. - The New York Times
"Ballet Tech … isn’t just a dance school; it’s an academic one, too. A collaboration between the New York City Department of Education and the Ballet Tech Foundation (created by choreographer Eliot Feld), the school — on Broadway and 19th Street — is for students in fourth grade through eighth." - The New York Times
