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A federal judge in Arkansas has permanently struck down the state’s first-in-the-nation ban on gender-affirming care for transgender youth, finding that the law violates the constitutional rights of trans patients, their families and health providers. The law – the first-such ban on affirming healthcare for trans youth in the US – is permanently enjoined following a weeks-long trial, marking the first such ruling in the country. A decision from US District Judge Jay Moody, who was appointed to the federal judiciary by Barack Obama, joins a wave of legal victories in federal courts for transgender rights and the rights of trans youth to access medically recommended and potentially life-saving care. The law prohibited doctors from providing hormone therapies, puberty blockers or affirming surgeries to anyone under 18 years old. It also barred state funds or insurance coverage for affirming care for people under 18 and allowed insurance companies to refuse to cover affirming treatment for people of any age. Judge Moody had temporarily blocked the law in 2021 as a legal challenge from a group of families with trans children played out. In his ruling on 20 June, Judge Moody determined that the law unconstitutionally discriminates against transgender people and their families by infringing on their due process and rights to equal protection under the law. He also determined that the law violate the First Amendment rights of doctors by prohibiting them from referring their patients elsewhere. Judge Moody argued that attorneys for the state of Arkansas failed to contest the “extensive clinical experience” from doctors who testified in the case and the “decades of clinical experience demonstrating the efficacy of gender-affirming medical care.” He also debunked the state’s medical claims by pointing to testimony from its own witness and ruled that the state failed to prove any of its claims that affirming treatment is “ineffective or riskier than other medical care provided to minors,” among other statements. Arkansas “failed to prove that its interests in the safety of Arkansas adolescents from gender transitioning procedures or the medical community’s ethical decline are compelling, genuine, or even rational,” Judge Moody wrote. He determined that plaintiffs proved that they would “suffer immediate and irreparable harm” if the law was allowed to take effect, “outweighed by any potential harm to the State of Arkansas caused by the entry of a permanent injunction.” “I’m so grateful the judge heard my experience of how this health care has changed my life for the better and saw the dangerous impact this law could have on my life and that of countless other transgender people,” said Dylan Brandt, a 17-year-old transgender boy who joined the lawsuit challenging the law. “My mom and I wanted to fight this law not just to protect my health care, but also to ensure that transgender people like me can safely and fully live our truths,” he said in a statement through the ACLU of Arkansas. “Transgender kids across the country are having their own futures threatened by laws like this one, and it’s up to all of us to speak out, fight back, and give them hope.” Chase Strangio, deputy director for transgender justice at the ACLU’s LGBTQ & HIV Project, said the judge’s deicision provides “enormous relief” to trans youth and their families in the state. “In state after state, transgender people are being forced to fight for our most basic rights, including access to the health care many of us need to live,” he added. “This victory shows that these laws, when tested by evidence, are indefensible under any standard of constitutional review.” The ruling comes days after a federal judge appointed by Donald Trump temporarily blocked a similar ban on affirming healthcare in Indiana law. Another federal court ruling in Florida also partially blocked state law impacting access to such care, delivering a ruling that eviscerated the state’s anti-trans policies and condemned the bigotry that fuelled such legislation. Over the last year, state lawmakers across the country introduced a historic number of bills targeting LGBT+ Americans, including hundreds aimed at young trans people, as part of a growing campaign among Republican lawmakers wielding anti-trans attacks now dominating their platforms and right-wing media campaigns. Children’s hospitals and health providers offering care for trans youth also have faced an unprecedented wave of harassment and threats. At least 20 states have enacted laws or policies banning affirming healthcare for young trans people. But an increasing number of state-level and federal court decisions have blocked them from going into effect, for now. Read More Trump-appointed federal judge blocks Indiana’s ban on gender-affirming care for trans youth Pioneering transgender lawmaker has advice for pushing back against transphobic bills Neo-Nazis can’t stop Pride in Montana: ‘Yes, we are under attack. But we will not be quiet’

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Historic heatwaves are sweeping the planet from China to Europe and the United States, with 2023 on track to become the hottest year on Earth since records began. Rome and Catalonia on Tuesday recorded their highest temperatures ever, provisional data suggests, as southern Europe is gripped by extreme heat and wildfires. Meteorologists predict this week Europe can record its highest temperature ever as parts of Italy are forecast to cross 48C (118.4F). Meanwhile, China has already recorded its highest-ever temperatures with a scorching 52.2C (125.9F) recorded in Sanbao on Sunday as the country is hit by multiple climate disasters at once. The same day, Death Valley in the US recorded 53C (127.4F), as meteorologists say it is close to setting a new record for the highest temperatures ever recorded on Earth amid blistering heat gripping large parts of the southern states. This onslaught of heat from Asia to the Americas is just the latest in the series of climate extremes we have witnessed this year with the first week of July being recorded as the hottest days on the planet and ocean temperatures reaching record highs. So what is causing these extreme temperatures and is there a link between all the heatwaves the planet is currently experiencing? According to experts, a combination of factors are contributing to these extreme weather events including stagnant weather systems and the El Nino phenomenon. However, the driving forces behind the heatwaves are primarily linked to the climate crisis. Scientists say high-pressure systems are dominating Europe, central Asia and the southern US, leading to these regions experiencing heatwave conditions. The hotter-than-usual ocean waters are also contributing to rising temperatures over land. “The bubble of hot air that has inflated over southern Europe has turned Italy and surrounding countries into a giant pizza oven,” Professor Hannah Cloke of University of Reading, says. “The hot air which pushed in from Africa is now staying put, with settled high pressure conditions meaning that heat in warm sea, land and air continues to build.” Dr Akshay Deoras, meteorologist at the University of Reading, says while it isn’t unusual for the northern hemisphere to experience heat at this time of the year, the temperatures seen in Europe are definitely unusual. “Heatwaves are common in the northern hemisphere at this time of year. However, the temperatures we are expecting in parts of southern Europe in the coming days are what we normally get in the tropical deserts or tropical countries such as India, Pakistan or the Middle East during summer,” Dr Deoras says. “The simultaneous occurrence of heatwaves in different regions of the world as well as their forecasted intensity fits well with the anticipated impact of climate change on global temperatures.” Dr Melissa Lazenby, senior lecturer in climate change at the University of Sussex, said the weather extremes being experienced across the globe are “exactly what climate scientists have been predicting” as a result of the man-made climate crisis. “The northern hemisphere is experiencing a combined effect of both natural and anthropogenic climate change resulting in extreme heat over three NH [northern hemisphere] continents,” Dr Lazenby said. According to the United Nations’ top science body, the world has become hotter by approximately 1.2C (34.1F) since the 1800s due to the greenhouse gases released by burning fossil fuels. Scientists say the heat brought by a natural phenomenon like El Nino comes on top of the existing heat the planet is experiencing due to greenhouse gas emissions, hence, raising the temperatures higher than they would have in a world without man-made pollution. “There is a developing El Nino event as well as the additional warming from human emissions, therefore, resulting in abnormally warmer temperatures than without human emissions,” Dr Lazenby said. Professor Cloke adds: “It is not surprising that different parts of the northern hemisphere have heatwaves during our summer months, but the combined picture is starting to look like climate change impacts all happening at the same time, as scientists have forecast for decades. “We are now living through these impacts, rather than predicting them in a computer simulation of the future climate.” Alarms were raised by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) earlier this year about the unprecedented warming the planet could experience once the El Nino cycle begins. The WMO said there is a 98 per cent likelihood that “at least one of the next five years, and the five-year period as a whole, will be the warmest on record”. However, since then, several heat records have been broken. Even before the weather phenomenon could start in full swing, June was the hottest month recorded for the planet, according to Berkley Earth, an independent organisation that maintains monthly temperature records. The researchers at the California-based independent organisation have said there is an 80 per cent chance this year could be the hottest on record for the planet. Ocean temperatures have also been breaking records with parts of the North Atlantic,. especially waters around the UK and Ireland experiencing an “unprecedented” marine heat wave, with temperatures up to 5C (41F) hotter than usual. “The El Nino gathered momentum since May this year and its effects have already kicked in with significant anomalies in upper-surface sea temperatures in the Pacific,” Dr Malcolm Mistry, assistant professor in climate and geo-spatial modelling, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, said. “This in turn is known to disturb wider weather patterns not only in the Pacific, but also globally such as over Eastern US and parts of Europe, Africa and Asia.” El Nino is still in its developing stages and it typically peaks in the months of December to February. Scientists say, there is likely more extreme events and heat to come globally as it kicks in. “As per current seasonal forecasts, the El Niño is expected to strengthen and its effects to remain persistent till the rest of the year,” says Dr Mistry. According to Dr Deoras, El Niño is “still weak and in its early stages of development”. “Its effect on the global weather patterns will become more robust in the coming months,” he adds. This year’s heatwave comes as a repeat of the devastation experienced last year in all three continents, when Asia, Europe and the US all suffered through scorching heat. Scientists say with heatwaves becoming more frequent and prolonged, more immediate measures are needed to protect vulnerable population and cut down planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions immediately. “Scientists have shown that such heatwaves are occurring more often with climate change, and with El Nino conditions this year we are likely to see many more temperatures records broken in the coming months,” says Dr Vikki Thompson, climate scientistat the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute. “Heatwaves will continue to increase in intensity, frequency, and duration unless we reduce greenhouse gas emissions drastically.” Read More 2023 is set to be hottest on record amid global heatwaves, scientists say Why is there no UK heatwave as Europe swelters during Charon? 11 pictures that capture the devastation of climate crisis as heatwave sweeps Europe Heatwave map 2023: Temperatures set to soar in Italy, Spain and Greece due to Charon heatwave Incredible satellite images reveal extent of heatwave across Europe Arizona driver claims extreme heat melted her car light

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A US citizen has been detained in Russia on drug trafficking charges, local reports said. According to Moscow’s courts of general jurisdiction, the man was detained on Saturday when “the Khamovniki District Court of Moscow took a preventive measure against an American citizen”. In a statement on Telegram, the court described the man as a “former paratrooper and musician” who is now “accused of engaging in the narcotics business through attracting young people”. “A preventative measure in the form of detention was taken,” the statement added, according to CNN. Russia’s TASS news agency quoted a US State Department spokesperson as saying that the US was aware of the reports that an American had been detained in Moscow. “The Department of State has no higher priority than the safety and security of US citizens abroad. We are aware of reports of the recent arrest of a US citizen in Moscow,” the spokesperson said. “When a US citizen is detained overseas, the Department pursues consular access as soon as possible and works to provide all appropriate consular assistance. Due to privacy considerations, we have no further comment.” The man will reportedly remain in custody in Moscow until 6 August 2023. Russian media reported that the US citizen is charged with large-scale illegal production, sale or trafficking of narcotic drugs. The US state department reportedly declined to identify the man citing privacy considerations but the Russian local media revealed the identity of the American. Read More The Body in the Woods | An Independent TV Original Documentary The harrowing discovery at centre of The Independent’s new documentary