diff --git a/core-ui/src/main/java/com/google/samples/apps/nowinandroid/core/ui/NewsResourceCard.kt b/core-ui/src/main/java/com/google/samples/apps/nowinandroid/core/ui/NewsResourceCard.kt
index d31f988ce..718840d17 100644
--- a/core-ui/src/main/java/com/google/samples/apps/nowinandroid/core/ui/NewsResourceCard.kt
+++ b/core-ui/src/main/java/com/google/samples/apps/nowinandroid/core/ui/NewsResourceCard.kt
@@ -156,8 +156,14 @@ fun NewsResourceAuthors(
     if (authors.isNotEmpty()) {
         // Only display first author for now
         val author = authors[0]
-        val authorNameFormatted =
-            author.name.uppercase(ConfigurationCompat.getLocales(LocalConfiguration.current).get(0))
+
+        val locale = ConfigurationCompat.getLocales(LocalConfiguration.current).get(0)
+
+        val authorNameFormatted = if (locale != null) {
+            author.name.uppercase(locale)
+        } else {
+            author.name.uppercase()
+        }
 
         val authorImageUrl = author.imageUrl
 
diff --git a/gradle/libs.versions.toml b/gradle/libs.versions.toml
index fc6572677..78724ff06 100644
--- a/gradle/libs.versions.toml
+++ b/gradle/libs.versions.toml
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ androidxActivity = "1.4.0"
 androidxAppCompat = "1.4.2"
 androidxCompose = "1.2.0-beta03"
 androidxComposeMaterial3 = "1.0.0-alpha13"
-androidxCore = "1.7.0"
+androidxCore = "1.8.0"
 androidxCustomView = "1.0.0-beta02"
 androidxDataStore = "1.0.0"
 androidxEspresso = "3.4.0"