Grammys CEO on new AI guidelines: Music that contains AI-created elements is eligible. ‘Period.’

LOS ANGELES – Last month, the Recording Academy announced a series of changes to the Grammy Awards to better reflect an evolving music industry. Of those newly instituted guidelines, protocols involving technological advancements in machine learning sparked headlines: “Only human creators” could win the music industry’s highest honor in a decision aimed at the use … Read more

Vietnam bans ‘Barbie’ movie due to an illustration showing China’s territorial claim

HANOI – Vietnam’s state media have reported that the government banned distribution of the popular “Barbie” movie because it includes a view of a map showing disputed Chinese territorial claims in the South China Sea. The newspaper Vietnam Express and other media said posters advertising “Barbie” were removed from movie distributors’ websites after Monday’s decision. … Read more

Viola Ford Fletcher, oldest living Tulsa Race Massacre victim, publishes memoir

NEW YORK – Being a centenarian hasn’t slowed down Viola Ford Fletcher’s pursuit of justice. In the last couple of years, Fletcher has traveled internationally, testified before Congress and supported a lawsuit for reparations — all part of a campaign for accountability over the massacre that destroyed Tulsa, Oklahoma’s original “Black Wall Street” in 1921, … Read more

Dior brings ethereal goddesses and silver threads to Paris couture

PARIS – In the lush surroundings of Paris’ Musee Rodin, the landscapes of artist Marta Roberti formed the backdrop on Monday for the latest Dior couture collection by designer Maria Grazia Chiuri. The designs, inspired by power, feminism and the divine, shone against Roberti’s fantastical creations of exotic birds and ethereal trees. Actors Natalie Portman … Read more

Playwright Arthur Miller’s old studio is in a Connecticut parking lot, awaiting its next act

ROXBURY, Conn. – After breakfast each morning, renowned playwright Arthur Miller would walk up a grassy slope to his creative sanctuary, a modest 300-square-foot studio with a small deck overlooking a stream and woods on his beloved Connecticut property. From 1958 until his death in 2005 at age 89, it was where the Pulitzer Prize-winning … Read more

Space Disco Cowboy? Couples ditch traditional wedding dress codes in favor of out-there themes

NEW YORK – “Space Disco Cowboy.” “Yacht Shabbat.” “Burning Man Formal”? More couples are tossing tradition when it comes to what wedding guests should wear, to some befuddlement among invitees. Maggie Long, 34, recently attended the nuptials of a close friend in a low-key Denver lounge. The suggested dress? “Dive Bar Semiformal.” “I love a … Read more