Cassidy Grady’s Sunday reading series ‘Confessions’ seeks fresh avenues for creative expression in wake of pandemic

Reading nights and avant-garde literary groups are rapidly emerging as platforms for younger generations to foster community and creatively share personal narratives – and one new series is making waves in New York.

Literary events are on the rise across the US, with CNN citing that book club listings have grown 24% in 2023 from the previous year.

Enlarge / Apple's Vision Pro scored 0 points in US PIRG's self-repairability analysis. (credit: Kyle Orland)

In December, New York became the first state to enact a "Right to Repair" law for electronics. Since then, other states, including Oregon and Minnesota, have passed similar laws. However, a recent analysis of some recently released gadgets shows that self-repair still has a long way to go before it becomes ubiquitous.

On Monday, the US Public Interest Research Group (PIRG) released its Leaders and Laggards report that examined user repairability of 21 devices subject to New York's electronics Right to Repair law. The nonprofit graded devices "based on the quality and accessibility of repair manuals, spare parts, and other critical repair materials.”

Nathan Proctor, one of the report's authors and senior director for the Campaign for the Right to Repair for the US PIRG Education Fund, told Ars Technica via email that PIRG focused on new models since the law only applies to new products, adding that PIRG "tried to include a range of covered devices from well-known brands."

Read 20 remaining paragraphs | Comments

Judge Juan Merchan agrees to pause proceedings to weigh whether immunity ruling could imperil conviction

The judge overseeing Donald Trump’s criminal case in New York postponed his sentencing to 18 September, agreeing on Tuesday to pause proceedings to weigh whether the US supreme court’s recent ruling on immunity could imperil the conviction.

The decision by Judge Juan Merchan to delay the sentencing marks an unexpected setback for the case. It remains unclear whether it will affect what sentence Trump receives given the date is only weeks before the 2024 election.

An alarm rang loudly and continuously in a midtown Manhattan station – and neither commuters nor workers at businesses in the station could identify it

For nearly two weeks, an alarm rang loudly and continuously inside a New York subway station.

As the New York Post first reported, the “mysterious bell” knelled through the stairway to a downtown 1 train platform at 50th Street in midtown Manhattan, a few blocks north of Times Square. Neither commuters nor workers at businesses located inside the station could identify the source of the incessant ringing.

Ex-New York mayor and Trump adviser already had his license suspended for false statements about election

Rudy Giuliani, the former mayor of New York City and adviser to Donald Trump, has been disbarred in New York for making false statements on the results of the 2020 election.

A New York appeals court made the decision on Tuesday.

Twelve jurors in New York have presented their fellow Americans with a simple question: are you willing to elect a convicted criminal to the White House?

On Thursday, Donald Trump was found guilty of all 34 counts of falsifying business records in a criminal hush-money scheme to influence the outcome of the 2016 election. The verdict makes him the first president, current or former, to be found guilty of felony crimes in the US's near 250-year history. Regardless, the conviction does not disqualify Trump as a presidential candidate or bar him from again sitting in the Oval Office.

Trump, who opted not to take the stand during the trial, has denied wrongdoing, railed against the proceedings and ahead of the verdict compared himself to a saint: “Mother Teresa could not beat these charges. The charges are rigged,” he said on Wednesday. Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee, is expected to appeal the verdict.

The Guardian’s Sam Levine has been in court over the last several weeks covering all the developments – here are three testimonies he found most memorable. 

• Could Trump go to prison? Here’s what happens next after the guilty verdict