
With 'Tick, Tick ... Boom!' and 'Encanto,' Lin-Manuel Miranda isn't throwing away his movie shots
CNN
Lin-Manuel Miranda is not throwing his shots, and in 2021, the creator of "Hamilton" has been getting a whole lot of them.
After his earlier work "In the Heights" became a critically admired (if little seen) movie, Miranda has made his directing debut with "Tick, Tick ... Boom!," a loving adaptation of "Rent" creator Jonathan Larson's coming-of-stage story, and written eight original songs for "Encanto," a Disney animated film featuring a predominantly Latinx cast. That follows another animated movie, Netflix's "Vivo," which he produced in addition to writing the music.
Although he is working from a script by Steve Levenson ("Dear Evan Hansen"), Miranda has clearly approached "Tick, Tick" as a deeply personal ode to musical theater in general and in particular Larson, who tragically died on the eve of what would become "Rent's" record-breaking run at the age of 35.

Former Navy sailor sentenced to 16 years for selling information about ships to Chinese intelligence
A former US Navy sailor convicted of selling technical and operating manuals for ships and operating systems to an intelligence officer working for China was sentenced Monday to more than 16 years in prison, prosecutors said.

The Defense Department has spent more than a year testing a device purchased in an undercover operation that some investigators think could be the cause of a series of mysterious ailments impacting spies, diplomats and troops that are colloquially known as Havana Syndrome, according to four sources briefed on the matter.

Lawyers for Sen. Mark Kelly filed a lawsuit Monday seeking to block Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth’s move to cut Kelly’s retirement pay and reduce his rank in response to Kelly’s urging of US service members to refuse illegal orders. The lawsuit argues punishing Kelly violates the First Amendment and will have a chilling effect on legislative oversight.










