Financial "sextortion" schemes have surged in recent years with offenders appearing to primarily target teenage boys through Instagram and other social media platforms, threatening victims with compromising imagery in exchange for cash, a new report found. The report, released jointly by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) and technology nonprofit Thorn on Monday, analyzed more than 15 million reports made to the NCMEC's hotline from 2020 to 2023. (Nguyen, USA Today)
Read MoreIsrael’s Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled that the military must begin drafting ultra-Orthodox Jewish men, a decision that threatened to split Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition government amid the war in Gaza. In a unanimous decision, a panel of nine judges held that there was no legal basis for the longstanding military exemption given to ultra-Orthodox religious students. (Boxerman, The New York Times)
Read MoreThe Supreme Court on Monday agreed to hear the Biden administration’s challenge to a transgender care ban in Tennessee, delving into the complicated and politically fraught issue of gender-affirming care in a substantive way for the first time. The state law, enacted last year, bans hormone therapy and puberty blockers for minors and imposes civil penalties for doctors who violate the prohibitions. (Fritze & Cole, CNN)
Read MoreJRR Tolkien spoke his Elvish tongues and told stories about Middle Earth for the first time at a previously unknown gathering with CS Lewis. He constructed a world of elves and orcs, where men and magicians fight for power and freedom alongside dwarves and hobbits – and a formidable quest to destroy a ring puts the bonds of fellowship to the test. (Ferguson, The Telegraph)
Read MoreA 2023 Salvation Army community study determined the emergency shelter was not cost-effective or a “transformative” service for people experiencing homelessness. Instead, the Salvation Army will handle emergency shelter requests on a case-by-case basis through community partnerships. (Marques, The Charlotte Observer)
Read MoreStanford released on Thursday dueling reports — one on antisemitism and the other on anti-Muslim bias — that revealed mirroring images of campus life in recent months that may be impossible to reconcile. One report found that antisemitism has been pervasive at the university in both overt and subtle ways, while the other stated that the school had stifled free speech among pro-Palestinian students and faculty. (Hartocollis, The New York Times)
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