Washington Post: “The bill in Connecticut, pending before an education committee, is one of a raft of measures advancing nationwide that seek to do things like prohibit book bans or forbid the harassment of school and public librarians — the first such wave in the country… Legislators in 22 mostly

“Russia is preparing to enlist more contract soldiers as it presses its invasion of Ukraine, aiming to avoid at least for now another mass call-up that could undermine popular support for the war,” Bloomberg reports.

“One of the most prominent regional leaders of the far-right Alternative for Germany party goes on trial on Thursday for using a Nazi slogan at a party rally,” Bloomberg reports. “Bjoern Hoecke, the head of the AfD in the eastern state of Thuringia, was charged a year ago for using the catchphrase

“The United Arab Emirates struggled Thursday to recover from the heaviest recorded rainfall ever to hit the desert nation, as its main airport worked to restore normal operations even as floodwater still covered portions of major highways and roads,” the AP reports.

“With the slightest of jabs Wednesday, President Joe Biden publicly acknowledged former President Donald Trump’s ongoing criminal trial in New York for the first time since it got underway,” USA Today reports. Said Biden: “Under my predecessor − who’s busy right now…” “There was little doubt what