The Walt Disney Company has pulled the plug on a $1bn office complex in Orlando, following a warning from Disney leadership that billions of dollars in projects were on the line after Florida Governor Ron DeSantis escalated his feud with the company. The development scheduled for construction in the Orlando area was set to bring 2,000 jobs to the region, with 1,000 employees expected to be relocated from southern California. In an email to employees on 18 May, Disney’s theme park and consumer products chair Josh D’Amaro pointed to “changing business conditions” for the cancellation of the 60-acre Lake Nona Town Center project, according to The New York Times, which first reported the move. “I remain optimistic about the direction of our Walt Disney World business,” he added, noting that the company has still planned $17bn in projects over the next decade its Disney World campus. “I hope we’re able to,” he said. For years, Florida legislators and the governor’s office enjoyed a close relationship with the state’s largest taxpayers, among the state’s largest employers, which has wielded enormous political influence while bringing in billions of dollars to the state each year. Now, the company and DeSantis allies are suing one another, following a year-long feud over opposition to what opponents have called Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” law that boiled over into political and legal battles that could shape the company’s business in the state. Moments after board appointed by Mr DeSantis voted to strip the company’s control of its Florida park, Disney filed a federal lawsuit against the governor and state officials alleging a “targeted campaign of government retaliation” for “expressing a political viewpoint.” The lawsuit follows the governor’s state takeover of the Reedy Creek Improvement District, now the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District, made up of conservative activists and DeSantis loyalists, a move that followed Florida Republicans’ punitive measures against the company after its public opposition to the “Don’t Say Gay” law. Days later, the board voted to sue Disney in state court. In March, Disney slammed the governor’s “anti-business” approach to the company, which Mr DeSantis has accused of advancing a “woke agenda” while his administration targets LGBT+ people and their families with sweeping laws to control public school education, healthcare access and speech. The governor dissolved a decades-old municipal district that allowed Disney to control its own land use, zoning rules and public services, without putting a tax burden on Florida residents. In effect, Disney taxed itself to foot the district’s bill for its municipal needs. “Does the state want us to invest more, employ more people, and pay more taxes, or not?” Disney CEO Bob Iger said on a conference call with analysts last week. A statement from Disney said the company has decided to pull out of the new campus construction “given the considerable changes that have occurred since the announcement of this project, including new leadership and changing business conditions.” The “Parental Rights in Education Act” – what opponents have called “Don’t Say Gay” – prohibits instruction of “sexual orientation or gender identity” from kindergarten through the third grade and any such discussion “that is not age-appropriate or developmentally appropriate for students” in other grades. The governor recently expanded the law to explicitly extend such restrictions to all grades. Critics have warned that the broadly written law threatens to freeze classroom speech involving LGBT+ people and issues, from civil rights history lessons to discussion of LGBT+ students, school staff and their families. Following passage of the Florida law, lawmakers across the US and in Congress have introduced similar legislation, including more than two dozen measures in current legislative sessions. Read More DeSantis v Disney: Why Florida’s governor is at war with the Mouse ‘We will not be erased’: Critics slam Ron DeSantis for unprecedented bills attacking LGBTQ+ people Penguin Random House sues Florida school district over ‘unconstitutional’ book bans Florida teacher under investigation for showing Disney movie with LGBT+ character speaks out

America’s greatest physicists assembled under the Manhattan Project to create the deadliest weapon the world had ever seen—an atomic bomb.

An overview of the media in Portugal, including links to broadcasters and newspapers.

An overview of the media in Spain, including links to broadcasters and newspapers.

By Diane Bartz WASHINGTON The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) faces an uphill battle in its fight against Amgen

By John Kruzel WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday ruled against Amgen Inc in its bid to revive

Discounted food apps like Too Good To Go and Flashfood can help you reduce food waste and find great deals on grocery staples like eggs, bread, and more.

The tendency for dogs to steal, chew, and snuggle your shoe while dozing off is common across breeds, ages, and temperaments.

Broadcast journalist Connie Chung was the first Asian American woman to co-anchor a major network newscast.

Getting regular exercise such as cycling, walking, gardening, cleaning and participating in sports may decrease the risk of developing Parkinson’s disease in women, a study suggests. Women who exercised the most had a 25% lower rate of the condition when compared to those who exercised the least. The research also found that 10 years before diagnosis, levels of exercise fell at a faster rate in those with Parkinson’s than in those without, likely due to early symptoms of the disease. Experts suggest the findings support the creation of exercise programmes to help lower the risk of Parkinson’s. Our results support the creation of exercise programmes to help lower the risk of Parkinson’s disease Dr Alexis Elbaz, Inserm research centre Study author Alexis Elbaz, of the Inserm research centre in Paris, France, said: “Exercise is a low-cost way to improve health overall, so our study sought to determine if it may be linked to a lower risk of developing Parkinson’s disease, a debilitating disease that has no cure. “Our results provide evidence for planning interventions to prevent Parkinson’s disease.” Dr Elbaz added: “With our large study, not only did we find that female participants who exercise the most have a lower rate of developing Parkinson’s disease, we also showed that early symptoms of Parkinson’s disease were unlikely to explain these findings, and instead that exercise is beneficial and may help delay or prevent this disease. “Our results support the creation of exercise programmes to help lower the risk of Parkinson’s disease.” The study included 95,354 female participants, mostly teachers, with an average age of 49 who did not have Parkinson’s disease at the start of the study. The women were followed for three decades during which 1,074 of them developed Parkinson’s, and over the course of the study asked to complete up to six questionnaires. They were asked how far they walked and how many flights of stairs they climbed daily, how many hours they spent on household activities as well as how much time they spent doing moderate recreational activities such as gardening and more vigorous activities such as sports. Researchers assigned each activity a score based on the metabolic equivalent of a task (METs), a way to quantify energy expenditure. For each activity, METs were multiplied by their frequency and duration in order to get a physical activity score of METs-hours per week. For example, a more intense form of exercise like cycling was six METs, while less intense exercise such as walking and cleaning was three METs. The average physical activity level for participants was 45 METs-hours per week at the start of the study. Women in the study were divided into four equal groups of just over 24,000 people each. At the start of the study, those in the highest group had an average physical activity score of 71 METs-hours per week, while those in the lowest had an average score of 27. In the group that did the most exercise, there were 246 cases of Parkinson’s disease, compared to 286 cases in the lowest exercise group. After adjusting for factors such as place of residence, age of first period and menopausal status, and smoking, researchers found those in the highest exercise group had a 25% lower rate of developing Parkinson’s disease than those in the lowest exercise group when physical activity was assessed up to 10 years before diagnosis. They found this association remained when physical activity was assessed up to 15 or 20 years before diagnosis. The results were similar after adjusting for diet or medical conditions such as high blood pressure, diabetes and cardiovascular disease, researchers found. The findings were published in the Neurology journal. Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Number of children trying vaping rises 50% in a year All of the star cars to look out for in the new Fast X film Spice Girl Geri Horner ‘so proud’ of King Charles as she gives him a hug and kiss

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has said little publicly about the six-week abortion ban he signed this year or about former President Donald Trump.

An overview of the media in the Czech Republic, including links to broadcasters and newspapers.