By Marisa Taylor The head of the U.S. agency responsible for animal welfare has told lawmakers that it

Furby, the babbling ball of fur once pegged as a security threat by the NSA, is ready for its comeback.

A federal judge in Montana has blocked a bid to ban TikToK in the state. The state-wide ban would have come into effect on 1 January 2024 and would have seen Montana become the first US state to ban TikTok, which is owned by the China-based tech giant ByteDance. Judge Donald Molloy said he blocked the ban because it “oversteps state power” and Montana failed to show how the original SB 419 bill would be “constitutionally permissible,” among other reasons, according to a legal filing released on Thursday. “Despite the State’s attempt to defend SB 419 as a consumer protection bill, the current record leaves little doubt that Montana’s legislature and Attorney General were more interested in targeting China’s ostensible role in TikTok than with protecting Montana consumers,” Judge Molloy wrote in the filing. Judge Molloy’s ruling was a preliminary injunction, so it is possible the ban can still be reinstated. The bill was signed into law by state governor Greg Gianforte in May with the aim of “protecting Montanans from Chinese Communist Party surveillance,” he claimed. Under the law, Montana’s 200,000 TikTok users did not face any repercussions for using the app, however TikTok and other companies faced a $10,000 daily fine for each time someone accessed the app or was “offered the ability” to download it. Opponents of the bill have argued that it violates users’ First Amendment rights. A TikTok spokesperson said in a statement the company is “pleased the judge rejected this unconstitutional law and hundreds of thousands of Montanans can continue to express themselves, earn a living, and find community on TikTok.” ByteDance sued Montana in May to “prevent the state of Montana from unlawfully banning TikTok,” the company said at the time, after state officials alleged the Chinese government “could access data about TikTok users, and that TikTok exposes minors to harmful online content.” TikTok has previously insisted that it does not share data with the Chinese government. Montana attorney general said in a statement that the judge’s decision is merely “a preliminary matter at this point,” adding that the state will continue to defend the ban. In January 2020, the United States Army and Navy banned TikTok on government devices after the Defense Department labeled it a security risk. US lawmakers have expressed concern over the ability of the Chinese Communist Party to access the data of US citizens using the app, and have considered implementing a nationwide ban on TikTok. Read More Apple users told to make urgent update to stay safe Three has gone down Advertisers ‘won’t take risk’ of returning to X after Musk’s expletive-filled rant Apple users told to make urgent update to stay safe Three has gone down Advertisers ‘won’t take risk’ of returning to X after Musk’s expletive-filled rant

After Labor Day, most kids in the United States will be back to hitting the books, and they’re probably not thrilled about it.

By David Shepardson (Reuters) -General Motors will join Ford in adopting Tesla's North American charging plug standard and give GM

By Chris Prentice NEW YORK A top U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) official on Friday rejected criticism

By Josh Ye HONG KONG China's Tencent Holdings said that its self-developed artificial intelligence (AI) model has entered

By Maki Shiraki and Makiko Yamazaki TOKYO Kioxia Holdings Corp and Western Digital Corp are speeding up merger

Florida rejected nearly 35% of social studies textbooks submitted by publishers for approval, including those that referenced social justice and "other information that was not aligned with Florida Law," the state's Department of Education announced Tuesday.

UPDATE: Jun. 21, 2022, 3:25 p.m. EDT This story has been updated to reflect the

Elon Musk says he will drive a Tesla to Mark Zuckerberg’s home in the hope that their on-again-off-again mixed martial arts fight will break out. Mr Musk took to X, the site formerly known as Twitter, to detail his latest plans to try and fight with the Facebook founder after Mr Zuckerberg cancelled it saying that his rival was not serious about the bout. “Knock, knock … challenge accepted … open the door @finkd,” tweeted Mr Musk on Monday. And he added: “For the Tesla FSD test drive in Palo Alto tonight, I will ask the car to drive to @finkd’s house. “Will also test latest X livestream video, so you can monitor our adventure in real-time! If we get lucky and Zuck...actually answers the door, the fight is on!” And in a follow-up post, he took more shots at his tech rival for ditching the contest. “(Zuck thread coming soon about how he would of course love to fight anytime, but blah blah UFC something something)” he wrote. Mr Zuckerberg announced that he was backing out of the fight on Sunday night because Mr Musk would not agree to a format and kept changing details for the bout. “I think we can all agree Elon isn’t serious and it’s time to move on,” Mr Zuckerberg wrote. “I offered a real date. Dana White offered to make this a legit competition for charity. Elon won’t confirm a date, then says he needs surgery, and now asks to do a practice round in my backyard instead. “If Elon ever gets serious about a real date and official event, he knows how to reach me. Otherwise, time to move on. I’m going to focus on competing with people who take the sport seriously.” Read More X: Elon Musk removes last parts of Twitter branding from website Mark Zuckerberg hits out at Elon Musk for wasting time over cage fight: ‘It’s time to move on’ Mark Zuckerberg plays down Elon Musk’s cage fight details ‘Gladiator’: Elon Musk reveals more details of fight with Mark Zuckerberg Musk vs Zuckerberg: UFC president meets Italy’s culture minister to discuss fight at Colosseum The last parts of Twitter are being removed Mark Zuckerberg hits out at Elon Musk for wasting time over cage fight Elon Musk reveals more dramatic details of fight against Mark Zuckerberg

President Joe Biden intends to select veteran government lawyer Anna Gomez to serve on the Federal Communications Commission