The crowds of travelers filling airports in many parts of the world this summer are a telltale sign

Lance Armstrong has been accused of staggering hypocrisy after wading into a public debate about transgender representation in sport. The disgraced former cyclist, who was stripped of his seven Tour de France titles in 2012 after being found guilty of multiple doping offences, boasted on Twitter that he was “uniquely placed” to speak about divisive subjects. Announcing the launch of a special series of his podcast ‘The Forward’, he tweeted: “Of all the controversial and polarizing subjects out there today, I'm not sure there are any as heated as the topic of Trans athletes in sport. “Is there not a world in which one can be supportive of the transgender community and curious about the fairness of Trans athletes in sport yet not be labelled a transphobe or a bigot as we ask questions? Do we yet know the answers? And do we even want to know the answers? “I do. Hence these conversations… a special series of The Forward, beginning Monday, where I dive into this issue with an open mind in an attempt learn as much as possible from all sides of the debate.” He ended his thread: “I hope that for those who have been reluctant to have this conversation, this somehow feels safe. Be fearless.” Sign up for our free Indy100 weekly newsletter His announcement has not gone down well with fellow social media users, countless of whom have picked up on his eyebrow-raising choice of wording. Here’s what they had to say about his so-called curiosity about the “fairness” of trans sportspeople’s inclusion in competitive events: The furore comes just weeks after World Athletics (WA) announced a banon transgender athletes who have been through male puberty from female category events, following similar codes to those of rugby and swimming. At the end of March, the organisation’s president, Lord Sebastian Coe, said that the decision was driven by the need to “protect the female category”. “We cannot in all consciousness leave our transgender regulations as they were,” he said. Elsewhere, Alun Williams, Professor of Sport and Exercise Genomics at Manchester Metropolitan University, agreed that athletics’ previous approach of allowing transgender women to compete in female events with reduced levels of testosterone did not equate to fairness. He told the PA news agency: “There are key biological differences that appear predominantly during male puberty due to elevated testosterone while growth is still going on. “Those differences seem to persist whatever happens for the rest of someone’s life, including if they then lower testosterone down to what is the typical female range. “The biological effects that are related to sport – like an increase in skeleton size, having larger muscles that are stronger, increase in the size of organs like the heart that help in all sorts of activity – those persist. “On that basis, the choice for the authorities like World Athletics is to make a decision – do they prioritise fairness or do they prioritise inclusion, but there’s no evidence at the moment that those two can be met at the same time.” However, critics of a blanket ban argue that not enough research has been done to draw such a conclusion. Liz Ward, director of programmes at Stonewall, which campaigns for LGBTQ+ rights and equality, said: “It is so disappointing to see World Athletics announce a unilateral ban on trans women in track and field events. “Their own statement recognises that there are no trans women competing at an international level and that they have no specific evidence to justify the ban. “It is vital that decisions about trans participation are based on robust evidence, specific to the sport played and the athletes competing at that level of the sport. “We stand with trans people who now have the door closed on their chance to compete in athletic sports at an international level.” Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

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NÜRTINGEN, Germany--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug 15, 2023--

He spent time in a detention facility after getting into fights and hitting a police car in Seoul.

The long-running hunt for missing Madeleine McCann returned to headlines last week, during a three-day search of a Portuguese reservoir. Acting on tip-offs, police searched the remote Barragem do Arade reservoir in Portugal, an area that prime suspect Christian Brueckner frequented from 2000 to 2017. Although police are remaining tight-lipped about the details, they said they recovered “a number of items”, which will be evaluated in the coming days and weeks in the hunt for evidence in the mystery of Madeleine’s disappearance on 3 May 2007. Prosecutor for the city of Braunschweig, Christian Wolters, said: “Whether some of the items actually relate to the Madeleine McCann case cannot yet be confirmed.” Earlier this week, officers said “materials collected” during the search had already been sent to Germany for analysis. One “relevant clue” was found during the police operation in the Algarve last week, Portuguese newspaper Correio da Manha reported. Separately, investigators are set to widen the search again after photographs belonging to 46-year-old Brueckner were also said to have revealed clues. With help from Portuguese police, and with Scotland Yard detectives watching on, German investigators scoured the beauty spot 16 miles from Silves, near the southern coast of the country. Starting on Monday last week, investigators sealed off a mile-long peninsula jutting into the reservoir and set up tents as an operations base. They then spent three days digging with shovels, cutting back swaths of undergrowth and using rakes and pickaxes to sweep the banks of the reservoir, leaving behind piles of rubble. At the main 160sq-ft excavation area, they flattened a concentrated area of woodland with heavy machinery, and dug holes 2ft deep. Using sniffer dogs to hunt the surrounding grassland for clues, detectives in a rigid-hull inflatable boat also examined the water. A no-fly zone in place in the skies overhead allowed police drones to survey the region undisturbed. A track leading to the search area was cordoned off with police tape and marked vehicles from Portugal’s National Republican Guard. What appeared to be evidence bags were removed from the scene. The dam, which is 31 miles northeast of the Praia da Luz coastal resort from which Madeleine disappeared, was built in 1955 and is fed by the Arade river. Specialist divers had previously searched the reservoir in 2008, paid for by Portuguese lawyer Marcos Aragao Correia, who claimed to have been tipped off by criminal contacts that Madeleine’s body was there. Two other areas near Praia da Luz could also be searched by police, The Sun reported. Investigators looking through more than 8,000 photographs belonging to Brueckner said they had yielded more clues. Brueckner, who denies any connection to Madeleine, is in jail in Germany for the rape of a 72-year-old American woman two years before the three-year-old vanished at the same resort. German prosecutor Christian Wolters said the investigators were looking for a body, as well as anything that could help the investigation, such as clothing. He said co-operation between German, British and Portuguese authorities went “excellently and very constructively”. And enquiries will continue out of the public eye, he added. The probe into Brueckner is expected to continue for a long time, Mr Wolters said on Thursday. As that investigation goes on and as analysis of the recovered items begins, Madeleine’s parents’ 16-year wait for answers continues. Read More Madeleine McCann news – latest: Investigators set to widen search after new photos reveal ‘clues’ Madeleine McCann case: Timeline of the missing child’s disappearance Sixteen years and countless heartbreaks: Where are Madeleine McCann’s family now? What happened to Madeleine McCann? Sixteen years and countless heartbreaks as Madeleine McCann’s family wait for answers Items seized in Madeleine McCann search ‘cannot yet be linked’ to disappearance

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