In 2023, 23andMe experienced a data breach that resulted in millions of customers' genetic data being exposed. The attack exposed around 14,000 user accounts and enabled the theft of data on roughly 6.9 million individuals who were listed as relatives on the website.

The stolen data included: 

- Names 
- Birthdays 
- Location 
- Profile pictures 
- Race 
- Health records 
- Ethnicity 
- Family trees 

The company was also criticized for its delayed acknowledgement of the breach. The breach took place between April and May 2023, but it wasn't discovered until October 2023, when an employee of 23andMe noticed the stolen data being sold on Reddit.

As the new and improved Wenatchee Valley Museum & Cultural Center (in Wenatchee, Washington) takes shape, the genealogy library inside the building’s Annex is in search of its next home.

Run by a group of volunteers from the Wenatchee Area Genealogical Society, or WAGS, they lend their expertise to help people research family history or genealogy. The group recently put out an urgent call on social media for help finding a new space.

“They are going through a huge construction project,” WAGS Board Vice President Kari Strain said about the museum. “So we have been asked to find a new location.”

Inside the Annex, the library fills 1,400 square feet with bookshelves full of local history.

“We do get people outside the area who send us notes and want to know, ‘When did my parents live here? What was their address? I know they were here in 1933,’ and we look them up in the directory and we can find their addresses,” WAGS librarian Diane Gundersen said. “Sometimes we find the name of the orchard they owned or something like that and then that gives that person another avenue to research.”

The library holds items like Wenatchee World and Wenatchee Daily World obituaries dating back to the 1890s and city directories from as early as the 1930s. There are also school yearbooks, phone books and materials from other counties and countries — all for people to use to track down family history.

“The dream is to maintain similar service, but recognizing we may have limited options and we’ll have to be flexible at what is available,” Strain said.

The genealogy library has been in the Annex since 1979. Along with the research materials for people to use when tracking down family history, WAGS offers monthly programs for members and nonmembers. During the move, the events will be a partnership between WAGS and the Wenatchee Public Library, where the group can use a conference room to continue hosting programs, presentations and workshops.

“That’s one piece of the puzzle taken off, but we would love to keep a public access space so we could keep the library open,” Strain said. “And digitizing is another huge piece of the work that we do, and so we need workspace for volunteers to come in and archive those records.”

Strain said it’s not yet known if the move will be temporary or permanent, but the library will be spending at least a year or two in another location. The group needs to leave by the end of the year, though for the next six months they are still open at the museum and ready to help.

“If you’re looking into your family history and you’ve run into a roadblock, come visit us,” Gundersen said.

The genealogy library is open Tuesday through Saturday from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.The group can be contacted at info@wags-web.org. 

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, through its FamilySearch, partnered with the National Archives (AGN) to digitize over 760,000 images of genealogical records in a move to help preserve the Dominican Republic’s historical and genealogical heritage. The move will help more citizens and researchers have access to family history information.

The pope and Madonna are actually related through their genealogy, and Madonna responds to the news on social media.

UK regulators imposed a £2.31 million ($3.1 million) fine on genetic testing company 23andMe after their personal and genetic data of more than 150,000 UK users became publicly exposed due to a cyberattack in 2023 as reported by Bloomberg.

UK Information Commissioner John Edwards declared in an ICO statement that 23andMe neglected fundamental protective measures for this data.

The breach that occurred intensified public examination about how 23andMe manages its consumer data according to Reuters. 

UK Information Commissioner John Edwards announced through an ICO statement that 23andMe did not implement fundamental information protection measures.

The security breach reported by Reuters further increases the public examination of 23andMe's management of consumer data. 

The federal agency responsible for maintaining governmental and historical records initiated employee layoffs starting Monday as leadership stated this decision would strategically redirect resources while maintaining the agency's primary mission.

The University of Nebraska–Lincoln introduced All Things Nebraska which serves as an informatics website delivering trustworthy and current data about state communities. The mapping tool which contains over 30,000 data layers about Nebraska communities and counties was developed together with the Center for Applied Research and Engagement Systems at the University of Missouri.

The following announcement was written by the (U.S.) National. Archives and Records Administration:

The Emancipation Proclamation and General Order No. 3--which informed the people of Texas that all slaves in the state were free--will be on display at the National Archives Museum in Washington, D.C. from Thursday, June 19, to Sunday, June 22, 2025, from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. ET. "The annual public exhibition of President Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation and this important military order provides a regular opportunity to reinforce how America’s founding principles ultimately ended slavery, ” said Jim Byron, Senior Advisor to the Acting Archivist of the United States. The Emancipation Proclamation signed by President Abraham Lincoln on January 3, 1863. NAID: 299998 #ArchivesJuly4 in Washington, DC You're invited to gather at the National Archives in Washington, DC, on Friday, July 4, 2025, to celebrate the Fourth of July! Featuring a reading of the Declaration of Independence, special performances by military bands, and remarks by Commander Everett Alvarez, Jr., the longest held American Prisoner of War in the Vietnam War and soon-to-be recipient of the Congressional Gold Medal. All July 4th activities are free and open to the public, with fun activities for the whole family.  PLUS! The National Archives Museum will be open for extended hours from Thursday, July 3, through Saturday, July 5, from 10 a.m. until 7 p.m. ET.  (Left) The National Archives in Washington, DC, celebrates Independence Day with a dramatic reading of the Declaration of Independence, July 4, 2019.  (Right) Screenshot of Commander Everett Alvarez, Jr., U.S. Navy (Ret.) from a U.S. Navy Video through Wikimedia Commons More RFK Assassination Files Released On June 12, 2025, consistent with President Donald J. Trump’s Executive Order 14176, the National Archives released an additional 9,653 pages of records related to the assassination of Senator Robert F. Kennedy. This includes 54 declassified documents from the Central Intelligence Agency, making 1,450 pages of available for the very first time.  The documents are now accessible online at archives.gov/rfk and cia.gov. Learn more about the CIA release from this press release. Stats from the Stacks There are less than four months left in fiscal year 2025! From October 2024 through May 2025, Presidential Libraries have welcomed over one million visitors, served 71,863 students and teachers in education programs, and hosted 43,554 participants at public programs. Plan your visit to a Presidential Library this summer! Top left: Franklin D. Roosevelt Library, Hyde Park, New York; top right: Dwight D. Eisenhower Library, Abilene, Kansas; bottom left: Lyndon Baines Johnson Library, Austin, Texas; bottom right: George W. Bush Library, Dallas, Texas.

The following is an announcement written by the University of Wales Trinity Saint David:

The University of Wales Trinity Saint David (UWTSD) is delighted to announce the launch of the Swansea Stained Glass Online Archive, a newly digitised and searchable collection of hundreds of stained glass panels created by students at Swansea College of Art over the past five decades.

The roots of stained glass teaching in Swansea date back to the 1930s and from the 1970s it exerted a transformational and international influence on its teaching and practice, as students from the local area and from far afield were attracted to study in the city.

New approaches to architectural stained glass being pioneered in Germany were encouraged by the leader of the course, Tim Lewis, in the 1970s and 1980s, and celebrated German artists were invited to teach at the college. This experimental environment nurtured artists who augmented traditional stained glass techniques with the new approaches necessary for the creation of large artistic works in glass for a wide range of buildings. From the 1970s, students from Swansea embarked on successful careers making a wide range of architectural stained glass for all kinds of buildings around the world.

The student panels held at Swansea College of Art form the most extensive collection relevant to the development of late twentieth-century architectural stained glass anywhere in Britain. Many of the hundreds of panels in the archive are from student exhibitions and competitions, including experimental early work by some of the leading artists working in stained glass over the last fifty years.

While some of the panels are occasionally exhibited and others are displayed in the college, many have not been seen for decades. Initial work on the archive, which also consists of works on stained glass cartoons and designs was undertaken by Marilyn Griffiths in the 2010s while she was lecturing at the college. 

Detailed cataloguing and photography of the stained glass panels was recently undertaken by artist and stained glass historian Martin Crampin (University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh and Celtic Studies, Aberystwyth) and stained glass artist Christian Ryan (Swansea College of Art) in 2024–5, funded by the Colwinston Trust.

Martin Crampin said: “This archive celebrates the spirit of creativity and experimentation that defined the teaching of stained glass at Swansea. It demonstrates the passion and vision of staff and students at Swansea that shaped modern architectural stained glass in Britain. We’re delighted to make these fascinating works of art available for international researchers and the wider public.”

The Swansea Stained Glass Archive affirms UWTSD’s longstanding commitment to artistic innovation and historical preservation. It also recognises the importance of student work, not just as a learning exercise but as a genuine contribution to cultural heritage.

The searchable database is available at https://swansea.stainedglass.wales and more panels are still being added. Most of them are untitled, anonymous, and undated and additional information from former staff and students about would be gratefully received. Comments, corrections, and any further details can be submitted on the pages of the individual artworks.

After 40 years since Katharina Reitz Brow’s murder Massachusetts authorities have discovered who committed the 1980 cold case crime. Authorities revealed that Joseph Leo Boudreau who died after committing violent crimes murdered Katharina Reitz Brow.