Katie Britt proposes federal database to collect data on pregnant people

Posted on by

Republican US senator from Alabama best known for delivering widely ridiculed State of the Union speech in March

Katie Britt, the Republican US senator from Alabama best known for delivering a widely ridiculed State of the Union speech in March, marked the run-up to Mother’s Day on Sunday by introducing a bill to create a federal database to collect data on pregnant people.

The More Opportunities for Moms to Succeed (Moms) act proposes to establish an online government database called “pregnancy.gov” listing resources related to pregnancy, including information about adoption agencies and pregnancy care providers, except for those that provide abortion-related services.

Continue reading...

Target Pride merchandise only available at select stores after rightwing backlash

Posted on by

Company, which operates roughly 2,000 stores, declined to disclose number of stores where merchandise will not be available

Target confirmed Friday that it won’t carry Pride Month merchandise at all stores in June after the discount retailer experienced a backlash and lower sales over its collection honoring LGBTQ+ communities.

Target, which operates roughly 2,000 stores, said decisions about where to stock Pride-themed products, including adult apparel, home goods, foods and beverages, would be based on “guest insights and consumer research”.

Continue reading...

Thousands protest against ‘foreign influence’ bill in Georgia

Posted on by

Demonstrators converge on Tbilisi to denounce government-backed law likened to Russia’s silencing of dissent

Thousands of protesters marched through central Tbilisi on Saturday at a rally against a controversial “foreign influence” bill backed by the Georgian government and likened to Russian laws silencing dissent.

Massive rallies have gripped the Black Sea Caucasus country for almost a month after the ruling Georgian Dream party revived the bill that was dropped last year because of a huge backlash.

Continue reading...

Dutch broadcaster decries Eurovision decision to ban its contestant

Posted on by

Avorotros says Joost Klein’s disqualification ‘disproportionate’ after incident involving female member of production crew

The Dutch broadcaster who sent the country’s entry to Eurovision has said the decision to disqualify its contestant from the song contest just hours before the start of tonight’s grand final was “disproportionate”.

Dutch singer and rapper Joost Klein was excluded from the main show due to an incident involving a female member of the production crew, the competition’s organisers announced earlier in the day.

Continue reading...

US and China need ‘climate armistice’ to meet net zero, says former head of CSIRO

Posted on by

‘Climate change is a global problem. It needs that global level of collaboration,’ says Larry Marshall

The world needs a “climate armistice” between the US and China if net zero emissions are to be reached while Australia should hone its efforts on a few key areas where it has an unusual competitive edge, Larry Marshall, the former CSIRO chief executive, said.

Speaking ahead of Tuesday’s budget in which the Albanese government’s Future Made In Australia (FMIA) plans will probably be prominent, Marshall said the nation ought to focus any industrial support on sectors such as processing of lithium or vanadium or products that realistically scale up.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Price, speed and Elon Musk: why some Australians are ditching the NBN

Posted on by

While politicians argue over who to blame for a decline in Australia’s broadband uptake, customers are seeking more affordable ways to get online

Tens of thousands of Australians are abandoning the National Broadband Network for 5G mobile and other ways of accessing the internet with experts saying three main factors are driving people away: price, speed and Elon Musk.

Despite the NBN being only a few years past completion, between the end of June 2022 and the end of April 2024 the number of customers in the most common category of services declined by more than 65,000.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

So scarlet it was maroon: five places to watch Australia’s autumn leaves turn

Posted on by

Towns across the country are putting on a show as the cold nights draw in. We’ve picked five spots from Queensland to Gippsland to take it in

Autumn is arguably the most beguiling time of year. It’s not too hot, not too cold, and regional towns are basked in alluring shades of auburn, burgundy and orange.

But to experience the season in all its glory, you have to know where to go.

Sign up to receive Guardian Australia’s fortnightly Rural Network email newsletter

Continue reading...

Hamas says British-Israeli hostage has died from airstrike wounds

Posted on by

Nadav Popplewell, 51, abducted on 7 October, was reportedly wounded in Israeli strike more than a month ago

Hamas said in a statement on Saturday that the British-Israeli hostage Nadav Popplewell had died of wounds that he sustained in an Israeli airstrike more than a month ago.

Popplewell, 51, was a captive taken from Nirim kibbutz and a video previously released by Hamas’s armed wing, the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, showed him displaying visible signs of physical abuse.

Continue reading...

Mobile butchers mistakenly kill family’s pet pigs in Washington state

Posted on by

Porcine pals Patty and Betty were shot by butchers who said their GPS ‘screwed up’ when it pointed them to the wrong house

A family in Washington state says a mobile butcher mistakenly slaughtered their pet pigs recently after showing up to the wrong address.

Security camera footage showed an unknown truck pulling up to the home of the family in question when they were not there on 1 May. One of the employees of the family’s farm, who was sent to check on their home, informed them that someone had shot the pigs.

Continue reading...

Conservative defector to Labour ‘was bitter at not getting ministerial job’

Posted on by

Tory sources allege that Dover MP Natalie Elphicke crossed the floor because she was not given a post running housing policy

Tory defector Natalie Elphicke stormed out of the party and joined Labour because she was “bitter” about being denied a ministerial job in charge of housing policy, senior Conservative sources have told the Observer.

It is understood that Elphicke was considered for a government job first by Liz Truss when she became prime minister in 2022 but was not in the end given a post. Elphicke then made clear her ambition to become a minister under Rishi Sunak, but again was unsuccessful.

Continue reading...

Labour gains in leave areas may cut swing needed for overall majority

Posted on by

Analysis reveals voters switching from the Tories in pro-Brexit seats could make a Starmer election victory easier to achieve

Voters are switching from the Tories to Labour in the most pro-leave parts of the country in such numbers that Keir Starmer may need a far lower overall swing from the Conservatives to win a parliamentary majority than was previously believed, election analysts have claimed.

In their analysis of this month’s local elections, professors Robert Ford of Manchester University and John Curtice of Strathclyde University both noted that the bigger the 2016 vote was for leave in an area, the higher the swing was to Labour.

Continue reading...

Tory Welsh secretary broke ministerial code with social media video, says Labour

Posted on by

Party accuses Cabinet minister David TC Davies of breaching rules by using Whitehall office to film X post attacking Senedd expansion plans

A Tory cabinet minister has been accused of a blatant breach of the ministerial code after using his government office in Whitehall to film an anti-Labour video that he then posted on social media.

Welsh secretary David TC Davies put the short film on X (formerly Twitter) last week to attack Labour plans to expand the size of the Welsh Senedd and highlight the Conservative party’s opposition to it.

Continue reading...

Clarence Thomas: Washington is a ‘hideous place’ of ‘nastiness and lies’

Posted on by

US supreme court justice gives one-hour talk at meeting of judges, attorneys and other court personnel of 11th circuit court of appeals

Clarence Thomas told attendees at a judicial conference Friday that he and his wife have faced “nastiness” and “lies” over the last several years and decried Washington DC as a “hideous place”.

The US supreme court justice spoke at a conference attended by judges, attorneys and other court personnel in the 11th circuit judicial conference, which hears federal cases from Alabama, Florida and Georgia. He made the comments pushing back on his critics in response to a question about working in a world that seems mean-spirited.

Continue reading...

‘Self-defeating’: senior Tories warn Sunak against clampdown on international students

Posted on by

Party members say visa restrictions will damage economy and lead to the closure of already-struggling universities

Universities will be plunged into greater financial distress and Britain’s economic recovery dented should ministers proceed with a new “self-defeating” clampdown on international student visas, senior Tories are warning.

Vice-chancellors believe a renewed attempt to reduce visa numbers is just weeks away after ministers ordered their immigration advisers to make an emergency assessment of how a visa designed to attract students to the UK was operating. The report is expected to land on the desk of home secretary James Cleverly next week.

Continue reading...

Terrified families flee Rafah as Israel set to open all-out assault

Posted on by

Leaflet instructs Palestinians to leave southern Gaza city as Benjamin Netanyahu shuns pressure from Joe Biden

More than a hundred thousand Palestinians fled Rafah, Gaza’s southernmost city, on Saturday, after Israeli warnings to evacuate before an imminent military assault that will open a bloody new phase of the seven-month-long conflict.

Roads leading out of Rafah were choked with long columns of young and old, sick and healthy, riding in overloaded pick-up trucks and battered cars, in pony carts and on hand-pulled trolleys. Many walked, carrying their belongings, under a searing summer sun. Some were pushed in wheelchairs or even carried.

Continue reading...