Blogs

By Giancarla Sambo

Edited by Elissa D. Hecker

Below, for your browsing convenience, the categories are divided into: Entertainment, Arts, Sports, Technology/Media, and General News:

Entertainment

Slaughter at a Music Festival of Peace and Love Leaves Israel Transformed

If some sinister choreographer had sought a consummate staging of the failure of Israelis and Palestinians to reach beyond hatred and war, this savage meeting of two adjacent but distant worlds in idyllic undulating countryside came close, leaving at least 260 partygoers dead.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/15/world/middleeast/israel-music-festival-massacre.html

Gal Gadot, Jerry Seinfeld, Jamie Lee Curtis, Chris Pine, Mayim Bialik, Liev Schreiber, Amy Schumer, Michael Douglas, Debra Messing, Among 700+ Entertainment Leaders Standing With Israel

More than 700 leaders from the entertainment industry have signed an open letter released by the non-profit entertainment industry organization Creative Community For Peace in support of Israel. 

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/gal-gadot-jerry-seinfeld-jamie-182800820.html

Hollywood Writers Ratify New Contract With Studios

The vote, which followed the end of the strike on Sept. 27, officially ended a bitter, five-month labor dispute.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/09/business/media/screenwriters-contract-ratify.html

Talks Between Striking Actors and Studios Are Suspended

The sides said they remained far apart on the most significant issues, dealing a blow to hopes that the entertainment industry could soon fully roar back to life.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/12/business/media/actors-strike-talks-suspended.html

‘What About Us?’ Strikes Leave Other Hollywood Workers Reeling

The lives of hundreds of thousands of crew members have been upended, and even a deal between the actors and the studios might not help much in the short term.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/12/business/media/hollywood-strikes-crew-members.html

A Georgia Town Where ‘Stranger Things’ Is Shot Yearns for Production to Return

The impact of the writers’ and actors’ strikes has rippled far from Hollywood, including to the town where “Stranger Things” is partially filmed.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/08/us/jackson-ga-stranger-things-hollywood-strike.html

How Beyoncé and Taylor Swift Struck a New Kind of Movie Deal

A recent change in antitrust law made it easier for the singers to bypass big movie studios when seeking distribution for their concert films.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/07/business/dealbook/how-beyonce-and-taylor-swift-struck-a-new-kind-of-movie-deal.html

Only Question for Taylor Swift Film: How Big Will It Be?

The pop star’s concert film is expected to break box office records. “The fever and scale is unprecedented,” one analyst said.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/11/business/media/taylor-swift-movie.html

Florida Law Targeting Drag Shows Can't Be Enforced for Now, Appellate Court Says

A ruling prohibiting the enforcement of a new Florida law targeting drag shows will stay in place for the time being.

https://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/wireStory/florida-law-targeting-drag-shows-enforced-now-appellate-103929576

Capitol Records Fights Vimeo Copyright Protections in Second Circuit

A dozen record labels argued that the video hosting platform contributed to copyright infringement by encouraging "lip dubs" that used unlicensed music.

https://www.courthousenews.com/capitol-records-fights-vimeo-copyright-protections-in-second-circuit/

45 Seasons in, ‘Survivor’ Faces Realities of a Changing Planet

The CBS hit, along with fellow staple “The Amazing Race,” is learning to deal with climate change, globalization, and other seismic shifts.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/10/arts/television/survivor-amazing-race.html

Arts

Stan Lee’s Daughter Launches New Legal Fight Against POW! Entertainment

The daughter of Stan Lee is launching a new legal fight against POW! Entertainment, the company that holds the rights to her father’s name, likeness, and intellectual property.

https://variety.com/2023/biz/news/stan-lees-daughter-pow-entertainment-legal-fight-1235750084/

A Swirling Philadelphia Mosaic Will Be Sacrificed for Housing

An architect said that he could preserve a 7,000-square-foot mural if Old City allowed his new building to exceed height limits. After neighbors objected, a court ruled against him.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/11/arts/design/philadelphia-painted-bride-mosaic.html

Facing Scrutiny, a Museum That Holds 12,000 Human Remains Changes Course

The American Museum of Natural History said it would address its collecting of remains, which stretched into the 1940s, and included practices now viewed as abusive and racist.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/15/arts/american-museum-natural-history-human-remains.html

Is Painting of Councilman Graffiti or Free Speech? Euclid Officials Want it Removed

The owner of the building had a local artist paint the politician’s picture on his building. Euclid officials, however, say that the painting on the building is a violation of city ordinances.

https://fox8.com/news/i-team/is-painting-of-councilman-graffiti-or-free-speech-euclid-officials-want-it-removed/

Turmoil Engulfs Canadian Art Museums Seeking to Shed Colonial Past

As Canada reckons with its colonial history, a push to “decolonize” museums has rocked its National Gallery and other museums.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/09/world/canada/canada-art-museums-colonialism.html

India Charges Novelist Arundhati Roy Over a 2010 Speech

The action against a Booker Prize winner was the latest in a growing crackdown on free expression by the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/11/world/asia/arundhati-roy-kashmir.html

Louvre and Versailles Emptied as France Raises Guard After Stabbing

Troops were being mobilized and two major attractions were evacuated in separate alerts after a stabbing attack that killed a teacher was described by officials as terrorism.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/14/world/europe/france-louvre-versailles-security.html

Sports

Microsoft Closes $69 Billion Activision Deal, Overcoming Regulators’ Objections

The megadeal could strengthen Microsoft’s standing in the video game industry, after a year and a half of negotiations with regulators around the world.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/13/technology/microsoft-activision-blizzard-deal-closes.html?searchResultPosition=1

Michigan Joins New York In Banning Pick ‘Em Fantasy Contests

The Coalition for Fantasy Sports announced that DFS companies offering over/under props on individual players against the house will be forced out of Michigan. The announcement came less than 24 hours after New York instituted a similar ban, and two weeks after pick ’em operators were ordered to leave Florida.

https://www.legalsportsreport.com/141281/ny-michigan-ban-pick-em-fantasy-contests/

NCAA president Charlie Baker Set to Testify Before Congress

Baker and many other college sports administrators have asked Congress to write a new federal law that would allow the NCAA to regulate how athletes make money and protect the association from what has been a steady and successful onslaught of legal challenges to its business model.

https://www.espn.com/college-sports/story/_/id/38623297/ncaa-president-charlie-baker-set-testify-congress

NCAA Launches First Sports Wagering E-Learning Module

The NCAA has launched its first sports wagering e-learning module, designed to further educate more than 500,000 current and prospective student-athletes on problem gambling's harms and the risks sports wagering poses to the integrity of their games.

https://www.ncaa.org/news/2023/10/10/media-center-ncaa-launches-first-sports-wagering-e-learning-module.aspx

Breakers Grapple With Hip-Hop’s Big Olympic Moment

Largely left out of Hip-Hop’s 50th anniversary, breaking will get its stage at the Paris Olympics. Its pioneers wonder if their art will translate into sport.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/10/arts/dance/olympics-breaking-dance.html

First MMA Fighter Retirement Fund Bill Signed into California Law by Newsom

Mixed martial arts fighters in California got their pension fund Wednesday.

https://www.latimes.com/sports/story/2023-10-11/mma-retirement-pension-gavin-newsom-california-law-matt-haney

Human Rights Groups Warn That Olympic Charter Changes Restrict Athletes’ Ability to Speak Out

Human rights groups have warned that proposed changes to the Olympic Charter expected to be approved at the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Session leave athletes behind and could limit their ability to speak out about relevant issues.

https://www.insidethegames.biz/articles/1141640/olympic-charter-changes-human-rights

Russian Olympic Committee Suspended by IOC for Incorporating Ukrainian Sports Bodies

The IOC executive board made the decision seven months after it publicly supported Russian athletes' returning to international competitions ahead of next year’s Paris Olympics.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/sports/russian-olympic-committee-suspended-ioc-incorporating-ukrainian-sports-rcna120103

Olympic Committee Suspends Russian Organization Over Ukraine Move

The punishment came after Russia moved to make sports bodies from occupied Ukrainian regions part of its national program, but it may not keep individual Russians out of the Games.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/12/sports/olympics/olympics-russia-ukraine.html

A Billion Eyes on One of Sports’ Fieriest Rivalries: India vs. Pakistan

The teams’ face-off in the men’s cricket World Cup, which India won handily, was shadowed, as always, by the stormy history between the two countries.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/13/world/asia/india-pakistan-world-cup-cricket.html

Technology/Media

The Upshot of Microsoft’s Activision Deal: Big Tech Can Get Even Bigger

With the completion of the blockbuster acquisition, the notion that tech giants can grow through “vertical transactions” remains intact.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/13/technology/microsoft-deal-big-tech-mergers-ftc.html

Clarence Thomas Renews Call for Reconsideration of Landmark Libel Ruling

The justice wrote that the decision, New York Times v. Sullivan, lets news organizations “cast false aspersions on public figures with near impunity.’”

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/10/us/clarence-thomas-libel-supreme-court.html

23andMe Is Sued After Ashkenazi Jewish Users’ Data is Stolen and Sold in Targeted Attack

The genetic testing company 23andMe is facing a class action lawsuit over its security practices after hackers stole and published data about 1 million people with Jewish ancestry. 

https://www.jta.org/2023/10/13/health/23andme-sued-after-ashkenazi-jews-user-data-is-stolen-and-sold-in-targeted-attack?utm_source=JTA_Maropost&utm_campaign=JTA_DB&utm_medium=email&mpweb=1161-63288-99166

Fact Checkers Take Stock of Their Efforts: ‘It’s Not Getting Better’

The momentum behind organizations that aim to combat online falsehoods has started to taper off.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/29/business/media/fact-checkers-misinformation.html

A.I. Could Soon Need as Much Electricity as an Entire Country

Behind the scenes, the technology relies on thousands of specialized computer chips.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/10/climate/ai-could-soon-need-as-much-electricity-as-an-entire-country.html

As Red States Curb Social Media, Did Montana’s TikTok Ban Go Too Far?

Montana is at the forefront of a wave of new tech laws passed by Republican-led states. Some give parents control over their children’s social media accounts.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/12/technology/red-states-montana-tiktok-ban.html?searchResultPosition=1

New York Seeks to Limit Social Media’s Grip on Children’s Attention

Legislation would require parental consent for anyone under 18 to access the algorithm-based feeds on TikTok, Instagram, and other platforms.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/11/nyregion/tiktok-instagram-algorithm-children.html

New Laws on Kids and Social Media Are Stymied by Industry Lawsuits

Federal judges in three states have blocked children’s privacy and parental oversight laws, saying they very likely violate free speech rights.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/12/technology/tech-children-kids-laws.html

‘A.I. Obama’ and Fake Newscasters: How A.I. Audio Is Swarming TikTok

TikTok accounts are spreading falsehoods with help from A.I.-generated voices.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/12/technology/tiktok-ai-generated-voices-disinformation.html

Russian Court Upholds Longer Detention for American Reporter

Evan Gershkovich, a correspondent for The Wall Street Journal, was accused of espionage after being arrested during a reporting trip. He denies the charge.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/10/world/europe/evan-gershkovich-russia-court-arrest.html

CBS Sued by Former ’60 Minutes’ Producer Claiming Gender Discrimination

In a complaint filed in New York federal court, producer Alexandra Poolos says the network fired her after she was falsely accused of bullying an associate producer she supervised.

https://variety.com/2023/tv/news/cbs-sued-60-minutes-producer-gender-discrimination-1235751686/

‘Don’t Do That Again’: Sam Bankman-Fried’s Lawyers Under Fire From Judge

In the first week of Bankman-Fried’s fraud trial, Judge Lewis A. Kaplan repeatedly admonished the former crypto mogul’s lawyers, in an ominous sign for the defense.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/10/technology/sam-bankman-fried-trial-lawyers-judge.html

Star Witness Caroline Ellison Says Sam Bankman-Fried Made ‘Terrible Mistakes’

Bankman-Fried’s lawyers sought to poke holes in Ellison’s testimony, but her account remained largely consistent.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/12/technology/caroline-ellison-sam-bankman-fried-trial.html

California Enacts Law Holding Social Media Companies Liable for Allowing Child Sex Trafficking

Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill into law that could hold social media companies like Facebook, TikTok, and Instagram liable for facilitating child sex trafficking, his office announced.

https://www.cbsnews.com/sanfrancisco/news/california-enacts-law-holding-social-media-companies-liable-for-allowing-child-sex-trafficking/

Crunchyroll Users May Get $30 Each From Sony’s Data-Privacy Lawsuit Settlement

The lawsuit, filed in September 2022, claimed that Sony and Crunchyroll violated the U.S.’s Video Privacy Protection Act by disclosing subscribers’ personally identifiable information to Meta’s Facebook and other third parties — without the users’ consent.

https://variety.com/2023/digital/news/crunchyroll-payment-sony-data-privacy-lawsuit-settlement-1235753409/

Fact or Fiction? In This War, It Is Hard to Tell.

Social media is full of false and misleading posts. The rise in A.I. is making it worse. And the trust in traditional news sources has declined.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/13/business/israel-hamas-misinformation-social-media-x.html

Can You Hide a Child’s Face From A.I.?

Parents have been stressing out for at least two decades about what to share about their children online. Powerful new technologies present a more urgent risk.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/14/technology/artifical-intelligence-children-privacy-internet.html

General News

Does the Supreme Court’s Cherry-Picking Inject Politics Into Judging?

By choosing among and sometimes writing the questions the court agrees to answer, recent studies say, the justices have distorted the judicial process.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/09/us/supreme-court-cases.html

U.S. Dysfunction Clouds Economic Diplomacy Efforts

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen calls on Congress to authorize more economic support for Ukraine.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/09/us/politics/yellen-morocco-us-economy.html

Biden: Hamas attack is moment when ‘a pure, unadulterated evil is unleashed upon the world’

President Joe Biden issued a forceful condemnation of Hamas, and pledged American support for Israel, as he announced that the number of American dead from the terror group’s invasion of Israel is now 14.

https://www.jta.org/2023/10/10/united-states/biden-hamas-attack-is-moment-when-a-pure-unadulterated-evil-is-unleashed-upon-the-world?utm_source=JTA_Maropost&utm_campaign=JTA_DB&utm_medium=email&mpweb=1161-63068-99166

Justices Poised to Restore Voting Map Ruled a Racial Gerrymander

The case concerned a constitutional puzzle: how to distinguish the roles of race and partisanship in drawing voting maps when Black voters overwhelmingly favor Democrats.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/11/us/politics/supreme-court-south-carolina-voting-map.html

Supreme Court to Hear Another Broad Challenge to Agency Power

The justices apparently added the new case to ensure that Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson could take part in deciding whether to overrule a major precedent.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/13/us/supreme-court-agency-power-jackson.html

Scalise Withdraws as Speaker Candidate, Leaving G.O.P. in Chaos

The No. 2 Republican had worked to win over holdouts but could not find a path to uniting his fractious party.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/12/us/politics/scalise-jordan-house-speaker.html

Senator Menendez and Wife Face Charges of Plotting to Make Him a Foreign Agent

Prosecutors said he acted on behalf of Egypt even as he served as head of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/12/nyregion/robert-menendez-foreign-agent-charge.html

Behind a Senator’s Indictments, a Foreign Spy Service Works Washington

The charges against Senator Robert Menendez and his wife highlight how Egypt’s powerful intelligence agency wields influence.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/13/us/politics/menendez-egypt-intelligence-government.html

Here’s What We Do and Don’t Know About the Effects of Remote Work

Three years into a mass workplace experiment, we are beginning to understand more about how work from home is reshaping workers’ lives and the economy.

https://nytimes.com/2023/10/10/business/remote-work-effects.html

Trump’s Claim That He Can’t Be Prosecuted Collides With Precedents

The former president says he has “absolute immunity,” but an array of Supreme Court decisions tells a different story.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/12/us/politics/trump-immunity-supreme-court.html

‘Damage and Distress’: Trump Sues Over Russia Dossier in London

Trump is arguing that the document known as the Steele dossier was calculated to embarrass him and that it breached data protection laws.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/10/world/europe/trump-russia-dossier-london-court.html

Wisconsin Republicans Retreat From Threats to Impeach Liberal Justice

Republicans had floated the idea of impeaching Janet Protasiewicz, newly seated on the Wisconsin Supreme Court, before she could undo the party’s legislative gerrymander. Then they backed off.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/12/us/politics/wisconsin-republicans-impeach-janet-protasiewicz.html?searchResultPosition=1

The Human Brain Has a Dizzying Array of Mystery Cells

Researchers identified some 3,300 types of brain cells, an order of magnitude more than was previously known, and have only a dim notion of what most of them do.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/12/science/human-brain-cells-atlas.html

Death Toll in Israel Attack Soars Past 1,200 As Catalog of Hamas Horrors is Revealed

Four days after Hamas attacked Israel, emergency responders are still combing through the carnage at dozens of sites near Gaza. They are moving house by house, community by community, to recover the dead, identify the missing and, in a single bright incident on Tuesday, extract survivors.

https://www.jta.org/2023/10/11/israel/death-toll-in-israel-attack-soars-past-1200-as-catalog-of-hamas-horrors-is-revealed?utm_source=JTA_Maropost&utm_campaign=JTA_DB&utm_medium=email&mpweb=1161-63068-99166

Israel Orders ‘Complete Siege’ of Gaza and Hamas Threatens to Kill Hostages

Israel mobilized 300,000 reservists amid signs that it could be preparing for a major ground invasion of Gaza, and it bombed hundreds of sites, including mosques and a marketplace.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/09/world/middleeast/israel-gaza-siege-hamas.html

Russia Is Denied a Seat on the U.N. Human Rights Council

Russia lost a vote in the General Assembly to Albania and Bulgaria, failing in its bid to be restored to the Council after its suspension last year. However, nearly half of the assembly backed Russia.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/10/world/europe/russia-un-human-rights-council.html

Russia Detains Navalny’s Lawyers in Move to Further Isolate Him, Allies Say

Attorneys for the jailed opposition leader, Aleksei A. Navalny, had been helping him maintain a significant public presence, even from prison.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/13/world/europe/russia-detains-navalny-lawyers.html