Author: Press Room

A federal judge in Iowa blocked on Tuesday the portion of a Republican-backed law that banned libraries in public schools from stocking books that described sex acts.The decision represented a victory for the publishers, authors and free speech advocates who challenged the measure on First Amendment grounds. But as conservative legislators across the country restrict books that they consider obscene, the ultimate fate of the Iowa law remains uncertain.The same judge, Stephen Locher of the Federal District Court in Des Moines, first blocked the measure from taking effect in 2023. But an appeals court lifted his injunction, saying he had…

Cameron Brink is not fond of the possibility of practicing alongside male athletes. Last week, the Los Angeles Sparks instructed, via a social media post, male athletes to fill out a waiver and register for practice squad tryouts.Brink said she was “icked out” by the WNBA franchise’s call for male practice players.”I guess my confession is I’m really icked out by the potential new practice players,” Brink said. Cameron Brink of the Los Angeles Sparks warms up before the game against the Las Vegas Aces on June 9, 2024, at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles. (Juan Ocampo/NBAE via Getty Images)She then…

When a puppy gets lost at a Pride Parade, everyone comes together to ensure the young pup is reunited with his family. That is the premise behind the book Pride Puppy!, written by Vancouver Island author Robin Stevenson and published in 2021.The rhyming alphabet book is described as an “affirming and inclusive book that offers a joyful glimpse of a Pride parade and the vibrant community that celebrates this day each year.”It is now at the centre of a U.S. Supreme Court case in Maryland.At the beginning of the 2022-2023 school year, Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS), Maryland’s largest school…

InsureandGo has reintroduced multi-trip travel insurance policies. The Australian travel insurance provider’s popular annual policy covers travellers for unlimited overseas trips within a 12-month period. + Multi-trip insurance allows travellers to be covered for 12 months from the moment their first trip starts. It can be more cost-effective than taking out individual insurance policies for each trip. It also reduces travellers’ “admin”. + There is no limit to the number of trips covered, but the policy offers coverage for a maximum duration of 30, 45 or 60 days per trip within the 12 months.+ It also helps travellers who like…

WASHINGTON: China remains the top military and cyber threat to the US, according to a report by US intelligence agencies published on Tuesday (Mar 25) that said Beijing was making “steady but uneven” progress on capabilities it could use to capture Taiwan. China has the ability to hit the US with conventional weapons, compromise US infrastructure through cyber attacks and target its assets in space, the Annual Threat Assessment by the intelligence community said, adding that Beijing also seeks to displace the US as the top AI power by 2030. Russia, along with Iran, North Korea and China, seeks to…

These are the key developments on day 1,126 of Russia’s war on Ukraine.Here is the roundup of key events on Wednesday, March 26. Fighting A mass attack by Russian drones caused “major destruction” in the central Ukrainian city of Kryvyi Rih, the head of the city’s military administration, Oleksandr Vilkul, said early on Wednesday. Vilkul reported at least 15 explosions in Kryvyi Rih, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s home town and a frequent target of Russian attacks. There were no initial reports of casualties. A Ukrainian drone attack on Russia’s Belgorod region has left one civilian injured and damaged an apartment…

A general view of the GameStop logo on one of its stores in the city center of Cologne, Germany.Ying Tang | Nurphoto | Getty ImagesVideo game retailer GameStop announced Tuesday its board has unanimously approved a plan to buy bitcoin with its corporate cash, echoing a move made famous by MicroStrategy.The meme stock jumped more than 6% in extended trading Tuesday following the news. The announcement confirmed CNBC’s reporting in February of GameStop’s intention to add bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies to its balance sheet.The video game retailer said a portion of its cash or future debt and equity issuances may be…

The Senate on Tuesday confirmed Dr. Martin A. Makary as commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration and Dr. Jay Bhattacharya as director of the National Institutes of Health, installing two critics of the medical establishment to influential posts amid a Trump administration campaign to cut spending at health agencies.In a 56-to-44 vote, Dr. Makary was confirmed to lead an agency with broad regulatory authority over products including drugs and vaccines, putting him at the center of debates about the safety of the abortion pill and a wide range of inoculations.Dr. Bhattacharya’s confirmation — 53 to 47, on a party-line…

It was a Saturday night, and behind the graffiti-scrawled facade of Atelier Jolie, her downtown creative space and gallery, Angelina Jolie was in conversation with the artist Shirin Neshat.The topics were heady: the plight of refugees, the rights of women, how to wrench meaning from exile; the value of art in all that. Jolie, ethereal in a cream dress with an embroidered capelet, was gracious. “I’m so happy to be with all of you,” she said to the invited 50 or so guests, adding that she sought community to “keep trying to understand ways to help.” For her, being an…

Dear listeners,It’s Lindsay’s editor, Caryn, here to kick off a round of guest newsletters with around 19 minutes of upbeat music from March. (If you missed Friday’s newsletter celebrating The Amplifier’s second birthday, a reminder that Lindsay will be taking a few months away to work on a book. The Amp will still arrive every Tuesday.)I’ve probably mentioned this before, but I sequence the Friday Playlists that provide the raw material for these monthly entries spotlighting new music, and one of my big challenges is tempo: With the critics Jon Pareles and Lindsay picking so many different types of tracks,…