Author: The Guardian

Hours after Arizona’s supreme court declared on Tuesday that a 160-year-old abortion ban is now enforceable, Republicans in the state took a surprising stance for a party that has historically championed abortion restrictions – they denounced the decision.“This decision cannot stand,” said Matt Gress, a Republican state representative. “I categorically reject rolling back the clock to a time when slavery was still legal and we could lock up women and doctors because of an abortion.”First passed when Arizona was still a territory, the ban only permits abortions to save a patient’s life and does not have exceptions for rape or…

Katie Boult says Emma Raducanu will be welcomed back to England’s Billie Jean Gold Cup squad “with open arms”.The former U.S. Open champion will play her second match with the national team in France this week, two years after making her debut against the Czech Republic.Raducanu, who is unable to compete due to injury, said at the Australian Open that she would prioritize her health when considering whether to compete this year.However, Raducanu will compete on indoor clay courts ahead of next week’s WTA Championships in Stuttgart, where she will play Bolt, Harriet Dutt, Heather Watson and debutant Francis Car…

After months shrouded in controversy – and 40 years in the making – Francis Ford Coppola’s feature Megalopolis will debut at Cannes film festival in May.The film, a passion project, which the Godfather and Apocalypse Now director has funded with $120m of his own money, has been in development since 1983 when Coppola wrote the first version of the screenplay.In the decades since, it has been announced, delayed and abandoned multiple times – with footage even shot then discarded in several instances.Starring Adam Driver, Nathalie Emmanuel, Giancarlo Esposito, Aubrey Plaza, Jon Voight, Shia LaBeouf, Laurence Fishburne and Dustin Hoffman, as…

Netball Australia’s governing body has no plans to follow the lead of World Netball and ban transgender players from elite competitions.Transgender athletes are banned from international competition under a new participation and inclusion policy, effective immediately, the global governing body announced on Monday.World Netball (WN) said the decision was made after a lengthy review of consultation and research.”Following a detailed scientific review and consultation with experts and members, it has been determined that women’s netball at international level is a gender-sensitive activity requiring policy development [to] Ensuring fairness and safety at our level of sport. “WN said in a statement.Over…

The silence in the flat was deafening. Having lost almost everything in my divorce, it was now just me in a basement studio flat with black mould. I had no TV, no sofa and the wifi wasn’t set up. I sat at a cheap folding table and made a list. Since my life was no longer going to be the way I had planned – marriage, kids, a dog, a late-Victorian terrace in a country town – I was going to try something else. I was going to do all the things on my “try before you’re 30” bucket list.It…

More than 800 predominantly black women and non-binary actors have signed an open letter in solidarity with Francesca Ameuda-Rivers. Francesca Ameuda-Rivers was the target of online racism after she was announced to star in the new drama “Romeo and Juliet.”Lashana Lynch, Sheila Atim and Marianne Jean-Baptiste are among the 883 signatories of the letter.It reads: “Too many times, Black performers — especially Black actresses — have had to face a storm of online abuse after committing the crime of finding work on their own.”Previously, the Jamie Lloyd Theater Company issued a statement condemning “a series of deplorable acts of racial…

The European parliament is to vote on Wednesday on sweeping new laws to overhaul its migration policy amid renewed criticism that it is feeding the agenda of the extreme right rather than protecting vulnerable people.Ylva Johansson, the home affairs commissioner who was the driving force behind the legislation, said on Tuesday that with the reforms aimed at “managing migration in an orderly way”, the 27-member bloc was taking a step towards neutralising the populist far right.“We have already taken away a lot of the arguments from the far right by reaching this agreement,” she told reporters, adding: “I hope we…

Australian golf star Lee Min-woo has revealed he will compete in the Masters with a broken finger after sustaining an accidental injury in the gym last week.Lee also entered the first major of the year at an untimely date with the flu, but remained optimistic after detailing a broken ring finger on his right hand.”I dropped a dumbbell on my hand,” he said after playing nine holes at Augusta National on Tuesday with compatriots Adam Scott, Jason Day and Cameron Smith.”I was in the gym last Saturday. I was just doing side bridge glutes, and it was actually my last…

Swapping red meat for forage fish such as herring, sardines and anchovies could save 750,000 lives a year and help tackle the climate crisis, a study suggests.Mounting evidence links red meat consumption with a higher risk of disease in humans as well as significant harm to the environment. In contrast, forage fish are highly nutritious, environmentally friendly and the most abundant fish species in the world’s oceans.While research has shown the benefits of forage fish, until now it has been unclear to what extent they might cut the global burden of disease if substituted for red meat. Now a team…

Thousands of disadvantaged children questioning their gender identity are being let down by the NHS offering unproven treatments and the “toxicity” of the transgender debate, a landmark report has found.Dr Hilary Kass said the UK’s only NHS gender identity development service used puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones to make people look more masculine or feminine despite “very weak evidence” suggest they can improve the well-being of young people, and there are concerns they may harm health.Chief pediatric consultant Kass stressed that her findings were not intended to undermine the validity of transgender identities or challenge people’s rights to transition, but…