Category: today’s top story

“Officials from Russia’s general prosecutor’s office said they had opened a criminal investigation into the misuse of funds at Moscow’s celebrated ballet and opera venue. The firm supposed to renovate the theatre was being investigated, they said.”

“The Free Library of Philadelphia has posted notices at its branches and on its web site advising users that all libraries will close at the end of business on Oct. 2 if the state Legislature does not act on the city’s budget request. The notices also say that all material will now be due Oct. 1 and that nothing can be borrowed after Sept. 30.”

“On Sept. 3, a housekeeper for noted art collector Richard L. Weisman walked into the dining room of Weisman’s residence and saw that 11 large portraits” – Andy Warhol’s series The Athletes – “that had been on the walls the day before were gone.”

John Cornyn “cautioned that NEA involvement in recruiting artists for a presidential initiative could suggest that “NEA grant opportunities … may be tied to artists’ willingness to use their creative talents to advance your administration’s policies.” He added: “this episode appears to merit congressional hearings and sustained oversight.”

“The National Endowment for the Arts has reassigned former communications director Yosi Sergant, who had become the latest target of FOX News talk show host Glenn Beck.”

“Testifying before the House Judiciary Committee, Marybeth Peters, the United States register of copyrights, said the settlement between Google and groups representing authors and publishers amounted to an end-run around copyright law that would wrest control of books from authors and other right holders.”

“[T]he building would have been as tall as the Empire State Building minus its antenna, a fact that probably made planners tremble. … Still, the notion of treating the Midtown skyline as a museum piece is more disturbing. The desire of each new generation of architects and builders to leave its mark on the city … is essential to making New York what it is.”

“ACE is looking to recruit 150 arts practitioners, critics, managers and academics to carry out assessments on the work of its regularly funded organisations, which will be used to inform the body’s funding decisions.”

“Most bonnet books,” as they’re called, “are G-rated romances, often involving an Amish character who falls for an outsider. Publishers attribute the books’ popularity to their pastoral settings and forbidden love scenarios à la Romeo and Juliet.”

Preservationists argue that a €1.5 billion plan to dredge the lagoon and build a cargo port could cause high water levels that would finish off the historic city for good. Proponents say that the €4.3 billion Moses sea barrier now under construction will provide all the necessary protection.