By Danica Kirka
The British Museum said Wednesday that a member of its staff has been dismissed after items dating back as far as the 15th century B.C. were found to be missing, stolen or damaged.
The museum said it has also ordered an independent review of security and a ‘‘vigorous program to recover the missing items.″
The stolen artifacts include gold jewelry and gems of semi-precious stones and glass dating from the 15th century B.C. to the 19th century A.D. Most were small items kept in a storeroom and none had been on display recently, the museum said.
“Our priority is now threefold: first, to recover the stolen items; second, to find out what, if anything, could have been done to stop this; and third, to do whatever it takes, with investment in security and collection records, to make sure this doesn’t happen again,″ said George Osborne, the museum’s chair.
“This incident only reinforces the case for the reimagination of the museum we have embarked upon," Osborne said.
The museum said legal action would be taken against the dismissed staff member and that the matter was under investigation by London’s Metropolitan Police Service.
The 264-year-old British Museum is a major London tourist attraction, drawing visitors from around the world who come to see a vast collection of artifacts ranging from the Rosetta Stone that unlocked the language of ancient Egypt to scrolls bearing 12th century Chinese poetry and masks created by the indigenous people of Canada.
But the museum has also attracted controversy because it has resisted calls from communities around the world to return items of historical significance that were acquired during the era of the British Empire. The most famous of these disputes include marble carvings from the Parthenon in Greece and the Benin bronzes from west Africa.
Hartwig Fischer, the director of the British Museum, apologized and said the institution was determined to put things right.
“This is a highly unusual incident,'' said Fischer said. “I know I speak for all colleagues when I say that we take the safeguarding of all the items in our care extremely seriously.''
These are the headlines you Need 2 Know for Wednesday, Dec. 19, 2018.
Actor Alfonso Ribeiro's case against Epic Games for its use of "the Carlton" dance in "Fortnite" might come down to a jury's sympathy, rather than copyright technicalities, intellectual property lawyer Gaston Kroub told Cheddar on Tuesday. "Could a sympathetic jury decide that these \[artists\] deserve something from 'Fortnite'? That's something that remains to be seen," said Kroub, a partner at Kroub, Silbersher & Kolmykov.
The markets may be shaky, but hospitality and timeshare company Wyndham Destinations is confident. CEO Michael Brown joined Cheddar Tuesday to discuss Wyndham's resilience in the face of economic uncertainty. "People are going to vacation in good times and in bad. They are not going to give up vacations ー they may change how they vacation," Brown said.
Michael Bloomberg wants to be president, his former campaign manager Bradley Tusk told Cheddar on Tuesday. "Just putting all cards on the table: Mike would like to be president, Mike would be an excellent president," Tusk said.
Fitness guru and former "Biggest Loser" trainer Jillian Michaels has spent years perfecting her clients' exteriors, but now she's dedicating herself to interiors. "There are so many misconceptions ー the idea is that aging or beauty is fought from the outside. And the reality is that it isn't the case," she told Cheddar Tuesday.
If you’re looking to make a move in 2019, you could do worse than some of the cities below. Each one is using technology ー IoT, machine learning, data analysis, autonomy, A.I. ー to remake the way its citizens interact with their surroundings. But a smart city is more than just innovative technology, as Mike Barlow and Cornelia Levy-Bencheton, authors of "Smart Cities, Smart Future," told Cheddar. It's about improving lives in concrete, everyday ways.
More and more retailers are adopting mobile payment technology, but is all that innovation a good thing? A New York City Council member is proposing a ban on cashless establishments, saying it unfairly targets minority populations. Jason Oxman from the Electronic Transaction Association joined Cheddar to discuss.
During a visit to New York's Governors Island, filmmaker Kristi Jacobson was was inspired by a group of high school students who were restoring the harbor with an unlikely natural resource: oysters. So she set out to capture their efforts in a film, which eventually became "Take Back the Harbor," a documentary that chronicles the work of community volunteers, environmental specialists, and New York's Harbor School to preserve local waterways.
In a conversation with Cheddar, Pulitzer-winning journalist Charles Duhigg discussed his months of reporting on Tesla and Elon Musk as the Model 3 production ramped up.
As Cheddar reflects on 2018, we are profiling the most innovative, flamboyant, and often-controversial entrepreneurs and corporate leaders who delivered the year's most memorable moments in business. Of the CEO Class of 2018, who was crowned Biggest Flirt? Class Clown?
