Iran-based hacker charged with trying to extort HBO

NEW YORK » U.S. prosecutors say a member of an Iran-based hacking group tried to extort HBO out of $6 million in digital currency by stealing unaired episodes and scripts of hit shows like “Game of Thrones.”

An indictment unsealed Tuesday in federal court in Manhattan accuses Behzad Mesri of hacking into the cable network’s computer system in New York. It says he stole episodes from “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” “The Deuce” and other series, along with scripts of “Game of Thrones.”

Prosecutors say Mesri threatened to delete data on HBO’s computer system or release the stolen material unless he received $6 million in Bitcoin.

‘France is a Feast’: Photo exhibit celebrates Julia Child

YOUNTVILLE » A new exhibit at the Napa Valley Museum Yountville features photographs of Julia Child in the years before she became one of America’s most popular TV chefs.

The exhibit features 60 black-andwhite photos taken by Julia’s husband Paul between 1948 and 1954. The couple lived in France, where Paul Child was a cultural attache to the U.S. embassy in Paris. Julia Child studied French cooking at the famed Le Cordon Bleu school and later hosted a TV show in the 1960s teaching Americans how to cook French food.

Arkansas man admits stealing Geena Davis’ laptop

BENTONVILLE, ARK. » An Arkansas man has pleaded guilty to stealing a laptop from actress Geena Davis.

Investigators say 67-year-old Gerardo Mancia-Hernandez took the computer on a luggage cart after Davis arrived at Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport on May 1.

Investigators say the actress placed her computer on the cart when she stopped to take a picture next to a poster for Arkansas’ Bentonville Film Festival, which she cofounded