cross-posted from: https://lemy.lol/post/27519030

> https://archive.is/cQpuq

https://archive.is/cQpuq

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/17029482

> In an open letter to publishers, more than 30,000 readers, researchers, and authors begged for access to the books to be restored in the open library, claiming the takedowns dealt "a serious blow to lower-income families, people with disabilities, rural communities, and LGBTQ+ people, among many others," who may not have access to a local library or feel "safe accessing the information they need in public." > > During a press briefing following arguments in court Friday, IA founder Brewster Kahle said that "those voices weren't being heard." Judges appeared primarily focused on understanding how IA's digital lending potentially hurts publishers' profits in the ebook licensing market, rather than on how publishers' costly ebook licensing potentially harms readers.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/16968321

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ca/post/24017353

> Israeli soldiers have destroyed 11 homes and other structures in an isolated community in the occupied West Bank, leaving 50 people homeless, amid a reported uptick in house demolitions and spiralling violence in the Palestinian territory. > > Contractors with bulldozers accompanied by Israel Defense Forces (IDF) troops arrived in Umm al-Kheir, a village mostly home to shepherds, on Wednesday morning and demolished six houses, tent residences, an electricity generator, solar cells and water tanks, according to residents and Israeli activists who documented the proceedings. Agricultural land and fences were also damaged and trees uprooted. > > The demolition has destroyed about a third of the village’s infrastructure.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ca/post/23771206

> The killer was only 14 and had lived in youth homes as a ward of the authorities since he was eight. > > A year ago, a gang helped the boy escape, put him up in a hotel and gave him cannabis, food and new clothes. Six days later, gang members told him it was time to repay them for their kindness. They had a job for him. > > Together with another youth, the boy, who as a juvenile cannot be identified, shot dead a 33-year-old Hells Angels biker. He was convicted by a court which described the case as a gangland contract killing. > > As he was too young to be sentenced, he was handed back to social services and sent to another youth home. > > Sweden has long prided itself on one of the world's most generous social safety nets, with a state that looks after vulnerable people at all stages of life. > > But these days it also has another distinction: by far the highest per capita rate of gun violence in the EU. Last year 55 people were shot dead in 363 separate shootings in a country of just 10 million people. By comparison, there were just six fatal shootings in the three other Nordic countries - Norway, Finland and Denmark - combined.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ca/post/23820225

> Israel’s Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled unanimously that the military must begin drafting ultra-Orthodox men for compulsory service, a landmark decision that could lead to the collapse of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s governing coalition as Israel continues to wage war in Gaza. > > The historic ruling effectively puts an end to a decades-old system that granted ultra-Orthodox men broad exemptions from military service while maintaining mandatory enlistment for the country’s secular Jewish majority. The arrangement, deemed discriminatory by critics, has created a deep chasm in Israel’s Jewish majority over who should shoulder the burden of protecting the country. > > The court struck down a law that codified exemptions in 2017, but repeated court extensions and government delaying tactics over a replacement dragged out a resolution for years. The court ruled that in the absence of a law, Israel’s compulsory military service applies to the ultra-Orthodox like any other citizen. > > Under longstanding arrangements, ultra-Orthodox men have been exempt from the draft, which is compulsory for most Jewish men and women.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/16898725

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/16863522

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/18630049

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/16857757

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/16899680

> In the wake of Texas’ abortion ban, the state’s infant death rate increased and more died of birth defects, a study published Monday shows. > > The analysis out of Johns Hopkins University is the latest research to find higher infant mortality rates in states with abortion restrictions. > > The researchers looked at how many infants died before their first birthday after Texas adopted its abortion ban in September 2021. They compared infant deaths in Texas to those in 28 states — some also with restrictions. The researchers calculated that there were 216 more deaths in Texas than expected between March and December the next year. > > In Texas, the 2022 mortality rate for infants went up 8% to 5.75 per 1,000 births, compared to a 2% increase in the rest of the U.S., according to the study in the journal JAMA Pediatrics.

cross-posted from: https://lemm.ee/post/35404769

> Women have more rights now in UAE than US?

cross-posted from: https://lemy.lol/post/27107323

> https://archive.is/oGUe6

https://archive.is/oGUe6

cross-posted from: https://lemy.lol/post/27105377

> https://archive.is/5CvyP

https://archive.is/5CvyP

cross-posted from: https://lemy.lol/post/27100416

> https://archive.is/iUcAe

https://archive.is/iUcAe

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/16822259

> Gov. Ron DeSantis gave no explanation for zeroing out the $32 million in grants that were approved by state lawmakers. > > ... > > Leaders of arts organizations in Florida, many of whom have worked in the state for decades, cannot remember a governor ever eliminating all of their grant funding. Even in the lean years of the Great Recession, at least a nominal amount — say, 5 percent of the recommended total — was approved. > > Established arts organizations usually know better than to overly rely on nonrecurring state dollars subject to the discretion of politicians, said Michael Tomor, executive director of the Tampa Museum of Art. But to cut funding at a time when arts organizations are still struggling to recover from the coronavirus pandemic sends a concerning message “that taxpayer dollars should not be used in support of arts and culture,” he added. > > ... > > Mr. DeSantis, a Republican, gave no explanation for zeroing out the arts grants. His office said in a statement that he made veto decisions “that are in the best interests of the State of Florida.” > > In all, Mr. DeSantis vetoed nearly $950 million in proposed spending and proclaimed that the remaining $116.5 billion came in under the previous year’s budget. > > Non-paywall link