The Royal Opera House in Covent Garden opened its fourth revival of David McVicar’s famous 2008 production of the Richard Strauss opera “Salome” one day after the death of the Queen of England in 2022.

Can you even imagine? The relatively tame “Don Giovanni” (everything else is, by comparison) had been canceled the night before, but less than 48 hours after the death of Her Majesty, opera goers were plunging back into the height of operatic depravity as Salome makes orgiastic love, of a sort, to a severed head. Even as a book of condolence rested in the lobby.  Talk about compartmentalization.

Not so necessary now in America, at least to many minds, as excessive behavior with catastrophic consequences has been rendered ubiquitous. We’re all too familiar with demands taken to the extreme.

McVicar hardly stinted on depravity. His eye-popping staging, now seen Stateside for the first time at the Lyric Opera of Chicago, not only imagines a fascistic underworld (we are nominally in pre-war Italy), but his underworld has an underworld from which the ill-fated Jochanaan (Nicholas Brownlee) first emerges like Typhon, roaring his Biblical resistance to the machinations of his crazily consumed admirer, Salome, sung at the Lyric by Jennifer Holloway. Holloway spills out Salome’s all-consuming pain even as she explains why she loves it, and thus has to have him, so much.  And the actions of these players have observers: a disempowered domestic staff, forced only to watch in a kind of trembling horror, like Palm Beach waiters seeing altogether too much, linking this work based on Oscar Wilde’s famously controversial play to classic Greek tragedy.

Salome is not the first woman in McVicar’s carefully kinetic production we see prone, maybe drunk, stoned, somehow inured to the agonies of the past. The opening image is of another soul, splayed on set designer Es Devlin’s stairway down to hell, even as the fascistic one-percenters cavort upstairs, the set structured so we see little more than their partying torsos, oblivious to what they have wrought and how much the consequences are about to come home to roost.

Desire as a sedative, desire as a consequence of being desired, desire as a fetishistic perversion, desire as a ticket to a personal hell: all of these are themes of the Strauss opera, which has a libretto from Hedwig Lachmann’s translation of Wilde’s scandalous drama (which I last saw in Chicago back in 1995 at the Athenaeum Theatre in a whiteface treatment from the radical British writer-performer-director Steven Berkoff, also set at a posh dinner party, as it happens).

The music itself does a number on you, of course, even without McVicar’s horrifyingly maximalist staging. Its seductive chords, its shocking sounds, somehow pierce one’s normal resistance, cutting through snow and ice and whatever else has gummed up one’s works.

But it’s Salome on the marquee and Holloway plants her feet firm on the stage, even rocking her soles to ensure terra firma before blasting out what Salome wants, feels and now has become (or always was). Brownlee is every bit as determined to counter her demands and thus this 100-minute opera (long enough, god knows) is at its peak when his head remains on his shoulders and we are listening to the astonishing musical back and forth along the lines of “I want to kiss your mouth” and “go right to hell, lady.”

McVicar eschews the traditional Dance of the Seven Veils and I won’t spoil what he does exactly, except to say that he has Salome traverse through the world as if on a kind of treadmill through a fascist landscape. McVicar and Holloway, an American who makes her Lyric debut with this performance, have no interest in the erotic Victorian combo of delicacy and determination that so interested Wilde; on the contrary, this Salome starts and ends everything low down in the body, where deeper truths reside. Holloway delivers a phenomenal leading performance, not least because of its unstinting focus on all-consuming desire, and it was duly greeted by great roars of approval at Sunday afternoon’s opening.

Lyric had a late casting change when it came to Herod, with Alex Boyer solidly assuming the role. But finding this is a primal singing party with a stiff price of entry, gravitas-wise, especially with the conductor Tomáš Netopil whipping the Lyric orchestra into an atypical frenzy, Tanja Ariane Baumgartner’s Herodias assumes a slightly cynical air, aptly enough for what can Herodias really do, sending one’s mind musing on issues of resistance and complicity, while Ryan Capozzo’s Narraboth implies a character who once had potential, prior to being consumed by the multifarious dimensions of desire.

That’s really what McVicar’s not-to-be-missed production is saying: we are all of our milieu, all consequences of our past, all subject to the pressures both of our bodies and our environment.

One finds oneself wanting to yell “stop,” both in and outside the opera house. Which is the point of the deadly experience. To life!

Chris Jones is a Tribune critic.

cjones5@chicagotribune.com

Review: “Salome” (4 stars)

When: Through Feb. 14

Where: Lyric Opera of Chicago

Running time: 1 hour, 40 minutes

Tickets: $47-$375 at 312-827-5600 and lyricopera.org

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/01/26/review-salome-lyric-opera/ 

Lavrov Exposed The Europeans’ Plot To Subvert Trump’s Ukrainian Peace Plan

Tyler Durden
Mon, 01/26/2026 – 13:25

https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/lavrov-exposed-europeans-plot-subvert-trumps-ukrainian-peace-plan 

A Gary Police officer has been placed on unpaid leave following a Jan. 17 arrest for operating a vehicle while intoxicated.

Corporal John H. Artibey Jr., 43, was arrested following an encounter with Indiana State Police on Interstate 94 in Porter County, according to court documents. Artibey, a Chesterton resident and 20-year veteran of the department, was charged with operating while intoxicated with a prior conviction, a Level 6 felony, and misdemeanor operating while intoxicated.

A Friday release from the Gary Police Department said it took immediate administrative action by placing Artibey on unpaid leave pending the outcome of criminal proceedings and an internal investigation.

“Public trust is the cornerstone of effective policing, and we are committed to preserving it,” said Police Chief Derrick Cannon in a statement on Facebook. “This incident is not a reflection of the Gary Police Department as a whole, nor does it diminish the hard work our officers do every day to keep ur city safe. We will continue to serve with the highest standards and professionalism our community deserves.”

According to charges in Artibey’s most recent case, around 8:45 p.m. Jan. 17, an Indiana State Police Trooper spotted a passenger vehicle stopped on the shoulder of eastbound Interstate 94 at the 17-mile marker.

The arresting officer, according to the charges, said Artibey smelled of alcohol and had bloodshot/glassy eyes. He failed field sobriety tests and had a blood-alcohol level of .122%, according to a portable breathalyzer test. The legal limit in Indiana is .08%.

Court records show that Artibey pled guilty in 2023 to operating a vehicle with a blood-alcohol concentration between .08 and .15, a Class C misdemeanor. Judge Christopher Buckley sentenced him to 60 days in jail, but he already had credit for 1 day served and Buckley suspended the remainder of the term.

In 2021, Artibey received an Officer of the Year commendation at the District One Law Enforcement Awards, based on his actions when he and another officer rescued a woman who was abducted while walking home from work and dragged into an abandoned building in January 2018, according to Post-Tribune archives.

Artibey is scheduled for an initial hearing Feb. 18 before Porter Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Thode, according to an online court docket.

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/01/26/gary-officer-charged-with-operating-vehicle-while-intoxicated-2/ 

The Chicago Harbor Lock is expected to see its federal funding cut by more than 90% this year after an effort by Illinois lawmakers to secure more money for the busy stop lock and dam failed. 

The Harbor Lock, the mechanism which boats use to travel between Lake Michigan and the Chicago River, is one of the busiest locks in the U.S. The 24/7 operation is run by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. 

The Army Corps requested $3.85 million in funding for operation and maintenance of the lock this year. But in his own budget proposal, Trump allocated less than $300,000 for the lock, through which more than 900,000 passengers traveled in 2024. 

Funding for the Harbor could have gotten bumped up above the president’s budget proposal during the Congressional appropriations process. An effort by Illinois Senators Dick Durbin and Tammy Duckworth to secure more money, however, went nowhere. 

An appropriations “minibus” package, of which Army Corps funding is a part, passed the Senate without any amendments by an 82-15 vote Jan. 15. Durbin and Duckworth, both Democrats, were among those who voted to approve the measure. Trump signed the appropriations legislation on Friday.

The Army Corps said previously that though the cuts were “not ideal,” it would be able to cover operating costs this year by using leftover funds from 2025 and redirecting some money that it had planned to use for an electrical rehabilitation project. 

However, the Army Corps said, funding cuts this year could threaten funding in future years because budget limits are based on a five-year average of prior funding levels. 

Advocates for Chicago’s waterways said Monday they were disappointed and concerned that the effort to secure more funding for the lock had failed. 

Colin Smalley, the president of Local 777 of the International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers, which represents Army Corps workers in Chicago, said he saw the Harbor Lock cuts as “of a piece” of the Trump administration’s efforts to “politicize the civil service and our federal agencies.”

“The American public needs to know about this,” he said.

Mike McElroy, the president of the Chicago Harbor Safety Committee, said the news was “disheartening.” The harbor safety group, he said, would continue pushing lawmakers to see if there was a way to secure any additional funds.

It “just seems like Chicago’s getting the short end of the stick again,” McElroy said.

The Trump administration has repeatedly withheld or threatened to withhold federal funding from blue cities and states, including in Chicago. Last year, insiders told the Tribune it was not clear whether or not the Harbor Lock cuts specifically were politically targeted. 

“Chicago [Harbor] Lock is one of the busiest locks in the country, and ideally, the funding available to the lock would match its prestige,” Durbin said in a statement. 

“While the Chicago Harbor Lock will have the resources to maintain operations in FY26, I hope we can return full funding to the lock in the years to come,” he said.

The Army Corps did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday. Neither did the White House. 

A boater pushes off from the wall of Chicago Harbor Lock operated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, connecting the Chicago River with Lake Michigan, Oct. 1, 2025. (E. Jason Wambsgans/Chicago Tribune)

Located just south of Navy Pier, the Harbor Lock functions like a water elevator to allow vessels to travel between the difference in elevations between the river and lake. 

Illinois Democrats previously tussled with the Trump administration over its use of the harbor for a river cruise photo-op during Operation Midway Blitz. 

In September, U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers docked their boats near the lock after taking a sail down the Chicago River whilst armed with rifles. 

The outing prompted Durbin and Duckworth to send a scathing letter to the Department of Homeland Security, of which CBP is a part, writing that “the use of the Chicago Harbor and its infrastructure as a staging ground for armed Federal operations undermines public trust and risks politicizing Federal assets and agencies.”

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/01/26/chicago-harbor-lock-funding-cuts/ 

The founder of the Lake County Symphony Orchestra announced the launch of a new orchestra on Thursday, a moment he described as a “strong step on the path to healing” after a bitter break with his previous group.

Known as Orchestra Revivo, the new group will be looking to fill a roster of roughly 45 performers, founder Ron Arden said, largely in line with the scale of the Lake County Symphony Orchestra. Its home will be the Ten Hotel Gurnee, where Arden envisions regular performances of a variety of orchestra music, from pops to classical, played with dinner accompaniment.

Arden shared some more plans for the coming months, such as performances for Fourth of July celebrations as the United States marks 250 years, and a Charlie Brown jazz concert for the Christmas season.

It was an emotional evening for Arden, who was surrounded at the launch event by friends, fellow musicians and family, choking up several times while speaking.

“As I heal emotionally and mentally, many of you in this room have been at my side with love, respect and encouragement,” Arden told the gathered crowd.

Arden said the group’s name came about while talking with his family. Referencing the controversy surrounding the end of his time with the Lake County Symphony Orchestra, Arden said he had an idea around the mythical phoenix bird, which, after burning away, is reborn from its ashes, but the “Phoenix Symphony” already exists in Arizona.

Ron Arden reveals the name of his newly founded orchestra group, Orchestra Revivo, during an event January 22, 2026. The group is looking to fill a roster of about 45 performers, Arden said. (Joe States/Pioneer Press)

But it led down a path of synonyms, and Arden said he was drawn to the word “revival,” and a quick check for the Italian pronunciation led to the new name.

“I looked up from my cell phone and said, ‘Orchestra Revivo. Music that lives again.’” Arden said.

Cellist Phillip Suwandi, who performed during the event, said he’s already lined up to be the group’s principal cellist. The young Suwandi studied at Northwestern University, coincidentally under the same teacher as Arden several decades prior.

Being an official performer in an orchestra is valuable for musicians, Suwandi said. His time with Arden has been “really valuable” for him professionally, he said.

Orchestra Revivo board member Alexandros Pirillis, left, hugs group founder Ron Arden during the group’s name reveal event. Arden has big dreams for this newest orchestra. (Joe States/Pioneer Press)

“It’s a community,” Suwandi said. “There’s something spiritual.”

Bitter break

In December, Arden sent out a mass email to several hundred people saying he had been forced out of the group he founded, and encouraging members not to donate to the organization.

It was the first public notice of an internal drama that had occurred earlier in the year. Arden said he had been driven to put out the message after being contacted by several people who had learned he would not be leading the orchestra’s Christmas season performances.

In the message, Arden alluded to an internal controversy and takeover of the orchestra’s board, alleging a “story of lies and deceit.” In the email, Arden said he resigned in August, “in response to the unreal betrayal of board members” he had recruited, “trusted and thought had integrity.”

According to a previous LCSO’s statement, the organization’s board accepted Arden’s resignation “based on internal concerns regarding administrative alignment, organizational expectations and long-term governance needs.”

“These components were reviewed in the context of ensuring the stability and compliance of the LCSO as a 501(c)(3) organization,” the statement said.

In reference to Arden’s letter, the LCSO had said statements circulating online represent his personal views, and that the LCSO “does not concur with those characterizations”.

The LCSO has continued performing, with concerts listed online for February, March and May.

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/01/26/lake-county-symphony-founder/ 

Por OPE ADETAYO

LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) — Una operación global contra traficantes de personas y contrabandistas de migrantes coordinada por Interpol llevó al arresto de más de 3.700 sospechosos y ayudó a más de 4.400 posibles víctimas de tráfico en todo el mundo, informó la organización policial internacional el lunes.

Interpol indicó que 14.000 policías llevaron a cabo la Operación Liberterra III entre el 10 y el 21 de noviembre. La operación, que abarcó 119 países, resultó en 3.744 arrestos, la protección de 4.414 posibles víctimas y la detección de 12.992 personas atrapadas en esquemas de migración ilegal.

Las autoridades abrieron al menos 720 nuevas investigaciones, según la agencia con sede en Francia que ayuda a la policía de 196 países miembros a colaborar para combatir el crimen internacional.

“Las redes criminales están evolucionando, explotando nuevas rutas, plataformas digitales y poblaciones vulnerables”, declaró en un comunicado el secretario general de Interpol, Valdecy Urquiza. “Identificar estos patrones permite a las fuerzas del orden anticipar amenazas, desarticular redes más temprano y proteger mejor a las víctimas”.

Interpol destacó casos que involucran a sudamericanos y asiáticos en África, señalando que parece haber un cambio emergente en el tráfico de personas que contrasta con patrones pasados de víctimas africanas siendo traficadas al extranjero.

Las estafas de tráfico siguen siendo una preocupación seria, con migrantes interceptados en rutas peligrosas a lo largo de las costas de Senegal, Guinea-Bisáu, Marruecos y Argelia, y redes terrestres en Perú, Brasil y otros países, según Interpol.

Las autoridades en los países de África Occidental y Central, como Benín, Burkina Faso, Costa de Marfil, Ghana, Senegal y Sierra Leona, informaron de acciones policiales que rescataron a más de 200 víctimas y desarticularon “múltiples centros de reclutamiento y explotación”.

Las víctimas en África a menudo son reclutadas bajo el pretexto de empleo en el extranjero. Los traficantes cobran tarifas altas y obligan a las víctimas a reclutar amigos y familiares a cambio de mejores condiciones, fomentando un modelo de esquema piramidal, indicó Interpol.

Una operación contra el cibercrimen en África en 2025 llevó al arresto de 1.209 sospechosos que apuntaron a 88.000 personas. En Asia, las autoridades descubrieron a 450 trabajadores en una sola redada en un complejo en Myanmar, informó Interpol.

___________________________________

Esta historia fue traducida del inglés por un editor de AP con ayuda de una herramienta de inteligencia artificial generativa.

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/01/26/interpol-detiene-a-ms-de-3-700-sospechosos-en-operacin-global-contra-trfico-de-personas/ 

Calls To Nuke Filibuster, Pass SAVE Act Intensify As Threat of Government Shutdown Increases

Tyler Durden
Mon, 01/26/2026 – 12:45

https://www.zerohedge.com/political/calls-nuke-filibuster-pass-save-act-intensify-threat-government-shutdown-increases 

Por DANIELLA MATAR

MILÁN (AP) — Cuando Lucas Pinheiro Braathen le dice a la gente en Brasil que representa al país en esquí alpino, dice que no le creen.

Quizás lo hagan si gana la primera medalla olímpica de invierno de Brasil el próximo mes.

“Cuando conozco a alguien nuevo (en Brasil)… siempre es un momento asombroso y siempre genera una conversación muy interesante”, expresó Pinheiro Braathen con una sonrisa en una reciente entrevista con The Associated Press en Milán. “Y curiosamente, creo que son esas interacciones las que tal vez demuestran más lo gratificante que es para mí representar a Brasil en algo como el esquí porque simplemente me muestra lo ajeno que es. Así que eso es realmente divertido”.

Si Pinheiro Braathen termina en el podio, también sería la primera medalla olímpica de invierno para cualquier país sudamericano, algo de lo que no estaba al tanto.

“Quiero decir, gracias, acabas de añadir una capa más de presión, así que felizmente la llevaré conmigo”, se rió. “Cuanto mayor es el desafío, mayor es la diferencia que puedo aportar y creo que cuanto más presión sientes, mayor es la diferencia que puedes crear”.

La madre de Pinheiro Braathen es brasileña y su padre es noruego. Había competido para Noruega hasta que se retiró abruptamente en vísperas de la nueva temporada en 2023, solo para regresar un año después representando a Brasil.

El campeón de slalom de la Copa del Mundo de 2023 ya ha acumulado una serie de hitos bajo su nueva bandera, convirtiéndose en el primer esquiador brasileño en terminar en un podio de la Copa del Mundo el año pasado antes de lograr la primera victoria del país esta temporada para sumar a sus cinco para Noruega.

“Simplemente trato de capitalizar esa presión y canalizarla en mi rendimiento porque, sí, hace que los días previos a la competencia sean extremadamente desafiantes porque sabes que tienes algo más grande que cumplir en lugar de solo la posibilidad de un gran resultado”, manifestó Pinheiro Braathen.

“Pero es exactamente eso lo que te permite convertirte en la versión de ti mismo donde puedes vencer a todos los demás atletas en esa puerta de salida y, como dije, la presión es un privilegio. Es mi moneda más importante”.

Samba en la nieve

A Pinheiro Braathen le gusta entretener. Cuando obtuvo su primer resultado en el podio para Brasil, lo celebró con un baile de samba. Su reacción después de lograr su primera victoria fue más visceral, ya que cayó de rodillas y gritó “¡sí!” con ambos brazos en el aire.

El joven de 25 años admite que no tiene idea de lo que haría si tuviera éxito en Bormio, donde se llevará a cabo la competencia de esquí alpino masculino en los Juegos Olímpicos.

“Si logras un éxito inmenso en algo a lo que has dedicado tu vida, al menos para mí, es imposible curar cómo se ven esos momentos”, dijo Pinheiro Braathen. “Es realmente lo que sientes lo que ve la luz del día y eso es lo que creo que es tan hermoso de esos momentos y es simplemente lo que persigo cada día al despertar. Un día más para experimentar esa sensación”.

Pinheiro Braathen es una de las personalidades más vibrantes del esquí, conocido por pintarse las uñas y tener un gusto por la moda. Lleva a las pistas la energía de Brasil y la disciplina de Noruega, habiendo pasado gran parte de su infancia en ambos países.

“Soy una persona de dualidad cultural”, comentó. “Dos perspectivas siempre presentadas desde el nacimiento y, para mí, siempre encuentro que nunca he vivido una vida donde solo se me presenta una realidad, una cultura o una forma de vivir. Siempre han sido estos polos opuestos y creo que eso me ha moldeado para convertirme en quien soy hoy y cómo quiero vivir mi vida.

El amor de un padre

Pinheiro Braathen tiene una relación cercana con su padre, Björn Braathen. Tanto es así que nombró al reno que ganó como parte del premio tradicional para el ganador en la Copa del Mundo en Levi en su honor.

Fue su padre quien lo introdujo al esquí, cuando tenía cuatro o cinco años, aunque Pinheiro Braathen no se interesó al principio.

“Le compré todo, como zapatos, botas y esquís y todo, y salimos y él se quejaba todo el tiempo”, relató Braathen. “Como ‘tengo frío, no estoy hecho para esto, me estoy congelando’, y ‘soy brasileño y esto no es para mí’”.

Eventualmente llegó el amor por el deporte. Braathen, quien también es el gerente del equipo de su hijo, no le importa que su hijo haya cambiado de lealtades.

“Como noruego, la gente espera que me sienta muy mal por eso, pero no”, dijo. “Es mi hijo y solo quiero que sea feliz”.

___

Deportes AP: https://apnews.com/hub/deportes

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/01/26/un-esquiador-brasileo-en-los-juegos-de-invierno-lucas-pinheiro-braathen-podra-hacer-historia/ 

NEW YORK — Fans of Broadway, circle this date: This season’s Tony Awards will take place on June 7 at its familiar home of Radio City Music Hall.

Producers of the show announced the date and location Monday. Nominations will be announced May 5.

Radio City can seat 6,000 people and has been the longtime home of the awards.

The host will be revealed later.

The 2026 awards will air live on CBS and stream on Paramount+. Getting buzz from appearing on the telecast can dictate a show’s future, both on Broadway and on tour.

Related Articles

Last year’s awards drew 4.85 million viewers to CBS, its largest broadcast audience in six years, according to Nielsen data. CBS also said the awards show drew its largest streaming audience on Paramount+ but did not disclose streaming viewership numbers.

The awards are presented by The Broadway League and the American Theatre Wing.

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/01/26/tony-awards-ceremony-date/ 

WASHINGTON — The aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln and three accompanying warships have arrived in the Middle East, bringing a renewed potential that President Donald Trump could opt to order airstrikes on Iran over its crackdown on protesters.

The carrier, along with three destroyers, “is currently deployed to the Middle East to promote regional security and stability,” U.S. Central Command said Monday on social media.

The strike group was in the Indian Ocean, Central Command said, and not in the Arabian Sea, which borders Iran. It will bring thousands of additional service members to the region, which has not had a U.S. aircraft carrier since the USS Gerald R. Ford was ordered in October to sail to the Caribbean as part of a pressure campaign on then-Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.

Trump told reporters last week that the ships were sent to the region “just in case.” “We have a massive fleet heading in that direction, and maybe we won’t have to use it,” he said.

Trump earlier had threatened military action if Iran carried out mass executions of prisoners or killed peaceful demonstrators during a crackdown on protests that began in late December. At least 5,973 people have been killed and more than 41,800 detained, according to activists. The official Iranian death toll is far lower, at 3,117 dead.

More recently, Trump appeared to have backed away from possible action, claiming Iran halted the hangings of 800 detained protesters. He has not elaborated on the source of the claim, which Iran’s top prosecutor called “completely false.”

However, Trump appears to be keeping his options open. On Thursday aboard Air Force One, he said his threatened military action would make last year’s U.S. strikes on Iranian nuclear sites “look like peanuts” if the government proceeded with planned executions of some protesters.

In addition to the aircraft carrier, the U.S. military said the Air Force F-15E Strike Eagle fighter jet now has a presence in the region.

Analysts who follow flight-tracking data have noticed dozens of U.S. military cargo planes also heading to the region.

The activity is similar to last year when the U.S. moved in air defense hardware, like a Patriot missile system, in anticipation of an Iranian counterattack following the bombing of three key nuclear sites. Iran launched over a dozen missiles at Al Udeid Air Base days after the strikes.

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/01/26/us-aircraft-carrier-middle-east-iran/