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‘These laws were written 20 years ago plus when the world was different,’ Tory leader saysThe chair of the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) has suggested that there may be legal challenges around the efficacy of gender recognition certificates (GRC) ahead.Asked on the BBC Radio 4 Today programme if yesterday’s supreme court ruling had rendered the legal document worthless, Kishwer Falkner said:I think the next stage of litigation may well be tests as to the efficacy of the GRC, and or other areas. We don’t believe they are [worthless]. We think they’re quite important.But I think there will be other areas, I mean, the Government is thinking of digital IDs, and if digital IDs come in, then what documentation will provide the identity of that person? So it’s going to be a space that we’ll have to watch very carefully as we go on.It’s a victory for common sense, but only if you recognise that trans people exist. They have rights, and their rights must be respected – then it becomes a victory for common sense.It’s not a victory for an increase in unpleasant actions against trans people. We will not tolerate that. We stand here to defend trans people as much as we do anyone else. So I want to make that very clear.They are covered through gender reassignment … and they’re also covered by sex discrimination.We’ll have to flesh this out in the reasoning, but I think if you were to have an equal pay claim, then depending on which aspect of it that it was, you could use sex discrimination legislation. Continue reading...

The killings of paramedics and rescuers last month led to international outcry. Plus, police use stun guns on two people at Marjorie Taylor Greene eventGood morning.The doctor who carried out the postmortems of the 15 paramedics and rescue workers who were killed by Israeli troops in Gaza in March has said they were mostly killed by gunshots to the head and torso, as well as injuries caused by explosives.What did the autopsies find? Ahmed Dhair, the forensic pathologist in Gaza who carried out autopsies on 14 of the 15 victims, told the Guardian he had found “lacerations, entry wounds from bullets, and wounds resulting from explosive injuries. These were mostly concentrated in the torso area – the chest, abdomen, back, and head.”What’s the latest with Israel’s aid blockade? Doctors Without Borders said yesterday that Gaza was becoming a “mass grave for Palestinians”. Aid supplies including food, fuel, water and medicine have been blocked by Israel from entering Gaza since 2 March.What is Israel’s argument for it? The country’s defense minister, Israel Katz, said: “Israel’s policy is clear: no humanitarian aid will enter Gaza, and blocking this aid is one of the main pressure levers preventing Hamas from using it as a tool with the population.” Continue reading...

Jensen Huang causes stir on social media and is reported to have met founder of AI company DeepSeekBusiness live – latest updatesThe chief executive of the American chip maker Nvidia visited Beijing on Thursday, days after the US issued fresh restrictions on sales of the only AI chip it was still allowed to sell to China.Jensen Huang’s surprise visit was on the invitation of a trade organisation, according to a social media account affiliated with state media. Continue reading...

Department of Homeland Security says university must meet administration’s demands on sharing information on some visa holdersPresident Donald Trump’s administration will ask a US federal appeals court on Thursday to pause a judge’s ruling lifting access restrictions the White House imposed on the Associated Press (AP) for referring to the Gulf of Mexico in its coverage.The Trump administration has argued that the lower-court ruling, which mandates AP journalists be granted access to press events in the White House, infringes on the president’s ability to decide whom to admit to sensitive spaces. The White House has asked to put the ruling on hold while it appeals. Continue reading...

As the first climate summit in the Amazon approaches, a gulf is opening between what the area’s farming lobby wants, and what the world needsRevealed: world’s largest meat company may break Amazon deforestation pledges againThe life and death of a ‘laundered’ cow in the Amazon rainforestYellowstone in Montana may have the most romanticised cowboy culture in the world thanks to the TV drama series of the same name starring Kevin Costner. But the true home of the 21st-century cowboy is about 7,500 miles south, in what used to be the Amazon rainforest of Brazil, where the reality of raising cattle and producing beef is better characterised by depression, market pressure and vexed efforts to prevent the destruction of the land and its people.The toll was apparent along the rutted PA 279 road in Pará state. Signs of human and environmental stress were not hard to find during the last dry season. Record drought had dried up irrigation ponds and burned pasture grass down to the roots, leaving emaciated cattle behind the fences. Exposed red soil was whipped up into dust devils as SUVs and cattle trucks sped past on their way between Xinguara and São Félix do Xingu, which is home to both the biggest herd on the planet and the fastest erasure of forest in the Amazon. Continue reading...