Blog entry by Wilburn Bronner

Anyone in the world

"I believe that we are all genuinely committed, but a shift of mindset is necessary for us to bridge the final gaps that continue to separate members," director-general Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala told ministers in her opening address at the closed-door meeting, according to a copy of her speech seen by Reuters.

However, PEN America also notes that only 4% of book bans in 2021 resulted from official challenges. The vast majority were "initiated by school administrators or board members … sometimes in response to comments from community members at board meetings."

GENEVA, July 15 (Reuters) - The head of the World Trade Organization told trade ministers on Thursday she was optimistic about concluding multilateral talks on the fishing industry soon but called for a "shift of mindset" to bridge final gaps.

According to a report, 93 percent of the 91 Marymount students majoring in history, math, philosophy, art, English, sociology, and religious studies, would have gone to other schools had they known the cuts were coming.

From the wife who discovered she married her cousin to the daughter who realized her late father had been swapped at birth, here Dailymail.com rounds up the most jaw-dropping family surprises to come from tracing your roots.

As part of the announcement, there will also be an £8million fund to remove barriers to post-graduate research for black, Asian and minority ethnic students, with projects looking at admissions and targeted recruitment.

The Brooklyn Public Library has launched Books Unbanned, a website that allows anyone 13 to 21 years old to apply for a free library card that will let them download ebooks from its collection. One local library (a very big one) is taking steps to make sure that all teenagers across the US have access to books that may have been removed from their school or 11th grade math questions local libraries.

Efforts to across the US picked up pace during the 2021-22 school year. A new report from PEN America shows that there were more than 2,500 book bans last year from 140 school districts representing a total of almost 4 million students.

If the committee or ruling group decides to remove the book from school libraries, the book is considered "banned" by the school district. School districts usually have committees of librarians or other school officials who will review book challenges.

But there may be a darker reason for the growing interest: a harrowing documentary recently laid bare the damaging health consequences of incestuous families through the eyes of the deformed, inbred Whittaker family in West Virginia.

These school boards often allow for book "challenges" -- arguments from an individual or group explaining why a book should not be made available to students.  Many public school districts are run by local boards of elected officials who have power over the policies of their school libraries. How are books removed from school libraries?

According to CNN, the Brooklyn Public Library has issued more than 5,100 free cards to teens across the country since the program launched in spring 2022. Those teens have accounted for about 18,000 checkouts per month so far. 

Early this year, The New York Times reported that "parents, activists, school board officials and lawmakers around the country are challenging books at a pace not seen in decades." The PEN America study found that a total of 1,648 individual book titles were removed from school libraries in 32 states during the last school year.

We believe investing in programs that appeal to students and prepare them for highly sought-after professions is not only our mission but our responsibility,' the school added.   While these specific changes are not financially driven, they will provide the University the opportunity to redeploy resources to better serve students and areas of growth.

Marymount's trustees made the final call on February 24 when they voted unanimously to axe bachelor's degrees in theology and religious studies, philosophy, mathematics, art, history, sociology, English, economics and secondary education. Students are still required to study the subjects as part of the school's core program but can no longer take them as majors 

The unprecedented increase in attempts to remove books from school libraries has often been led by individuals and groups who object to books dealing with racism, gender identity or sexual orientation. A survey conducted earlier this year on behalf of the ALA found that the vast majority of voters oppose efforts to remove books from school and public libraries. The most common objections in book challenges are for sexual content, profanity and content "unsuited to any age group," per the American Library Association.

Although the library website still says that free cards for find a math tutor in my area teens everywhere will be available "for a limited time," the CNN report notes that, due to the success of the program, the library plans to extend it indefinitely.

'Cutting portions of the School of Humanities as well as math and art programs would be detrimental to the diversity of our student body,' student president Ashly Trejo Mejia wrote in a letter to the school's president.