Good Morning!
- The Metropolitan Opera says Saudi Arabia has backed out of a deal that would have provided the cash-strapped institution with millions over eight years.
- Berlin culture senator Sarah Wedl-Wilson has resigned amid a scandal related to funding projects supposed to combat antisemitism.
- President Trump now wants to renovate the Lincoln Memorial reflecting pool.
The Headlines
DIRE STRAITS OF HORMUZ. The Saudi Arabian government has formally backed out of a deal with the Metropolitan Opera that would have provided as much as $200 million over the next eight years to the cash-strapped New York company,reports the New York Times . On Thursday, Met general manager Peter Gelb said the Saudis blamed the war in Iran and the blocked Strait of Hormuz for reneging on a noncommittal “memorandum of understanding” that was first announced in September with much fanfare. However, even before the war in Iran, the Saudi government had failed to send funding as agreed, prompting the Met to launch a series of cost-cutting measures, including preemptive layoffs in January. “They are only doing the projects that are essential,” Gelb told reporters, and that apparently doesn’t include the Met deal. The New York institution is now facing a $30 million shortfall for this fiscal year alone but, ironically, has had some of its “greatest artistic successes,” said Gelb.