By Geert De Clercq PARIS (Reuters) -A modern-day pilgrim on a walking tour of France's cathedrals told journalists on Friday

Eight in 10 students have issues with literacy, the lowest performance in a study of 57 countries.

Over 120 children - some as young as 12 - were detained and accused of people smuggling.

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis will lay out the first details of her sprawling anti-racketeering case against former President Donald Trump, his White House chief of staff Mark Meadows and 17 other co-defendants at a federal court hearing on Monday.

The Second Chance champ Deanna Bolio's first 'Jeopardy!' appearance was in November 2020

Welcome to Sun Blocked, Refinery29’s global call to action to wake up to the serious dangers of tanning. No lectures or shaming, we promise. Instead, our goal is to arm you with the facts you need to protect your skin to the best of your ability, because there’s no such thing as safe sun.

As Republican-led states pass legislation to restrict or ban transgender youth from accessing gender-affirming healthcare, Republicans in Congress have held a series of hearings or steered discussion around implementing national bans while raising dubious claims and dismissing guidance from major medical groups. On 27 July, Democratic members of a Republican-led House committee condemned the latest “cynical and dangerous attack” on trans children and their families during one of the first congressional hearings against affirming care and health providers. The panel heard from a former college athlete who advocates against trans women and girls from participating in sports that match their gender, members of right-wing special interest groups that support legislation targeting LGBT+ people, and a person who formerly received affirming healthcare and now advocates against other receiving it. The committee also heard from a Texas mother whose 18-year-old son is transgender, as well as the trangender legal director of a prominent LGBT+ legal advocacy group. While Republican US Rep Matt Gaetz was railing against a law in Washington state that seeks to protect trans children estranged from their parents, a person watching the hearing from inside the chamber called the Florida congressman a “murderer”. “Oh please, get over yourself,” Mr Gaetz responded. Moments earlier, Republican US Rep Wesley Hunt used a poster of a food pyramid to compare children with gender dysphoria to children who want to eat ice cream for every meal. “What if we affirmed every thought our children had?” he said. Democratic US Rep Mary Gay Scanlon called the hearing a “cynical and dangerous attack on trans people and their families” motivated not by medical guidance but poll numbers, with Republican members “just repeating right-wing talking points to delegitimize” healthcare for trans youth, she said. “Today’s hearing is an all-time low for the Republican majority,” said Democratic US Rep Jerry Nadler. “In my three decades in Congress, I have taken part in plenty of hearings where I did not agree with the choice of topic, to say the least. I am absolutely disgusted at the Republican majority’s bullying, bigoted framing of an issue that would otherwise be worthy of serious discussion.” The New York congressman was furious, calling the hearing a “taxpayer-funded platform for congressional Republicans to bully transgender kids, who are already some of the most vulnerable members of our community”. “The last thing trans kids and their parents need in their lives is Republicans in Washington to jump on the anti-trans bandwagon just so they can fear monger for their five minutes of fame,” he added. The hearing – titled “Dangers and Due Process Violations of ‘Gender-Affirming Care’ for Children” – follows proposals from House lawmakers to strip support for affirming care for US military service members in a must-pass national defence bill, as well as a series of hearings and proposals that replicate the avalanche of legislation targeting trans people in nearly every state. By the end of May, state lawmakers had introduced more than 500 bills impacting LGBT+ people in 2023, including 220 bills specifically targeting trans and nonbinary Americans, according to an analysis from the Human Rights Campaign. Republican members of Congress have also introduced federal legislation that mirrors some of the proposals dominating state capitols. One measure would impose national restrictions on trans athletes, and another bill would impose a similar but more-expansive version of what critics have called state-level “Don’t Say Gay” bills used to restrict classroom discussion of LGBT+ people and events. Shannon Minter, legal director of the National Center for Lesbian Rights and the only trans person who addressed lawmakers, said in his opening statement that anti-trans legislation targets less than 1 per cent of the population as well as medication and supportive care regimens that have been widely available for decades. “They are not new. What is new is this recent massive overreach from state lawmakers,” he added. “These laws … they prevent doctors from doing their jobs, they prevent parents from getting medical care they need.” Stripping access to that care will have “devastating consequences for young people’s lives,” he said. “Decisions should be made by parents who love them, not by politicians who know nothing about a child’s life.” Miriam Reynolds, whose son Cameron is trans, shared the family’s journey to understanding what he was experiencing and working with health providers to “It was hard on me at first, but I was able to put my child’s needs before my feelings and find him the care he needed,” she said. “I could see that my child was happier and felt more and more comfortable the more he was affirmed.” There wasn’t any political “hysteria” surrounding his care when he came out several years ago, compared to the currently volatile environment surrounding his existence and the family’s support for him. “It’s absolutely heartbreaking,” she said. “To be looked at as a child abuser, or indoctrinator, or something like that, is extremely painful … It feels very hateful and divisive.” Mr Gaetz grilled Mr Minter about recently enacted Washington state law that allows shelters to first contact the state Department of Children, Youth and Families if trans children entering the facilities. “There’s no reason to treat these situations with transgender young people who may be in danger or at risk of abuse at home, any differently than we would treat any other child,” Mr Minter said. “I want authorities to treat these kids with the same care they treat all other children.” In his remarks, Mr Gaetz ironically defended the rights of “parents to parent” their children while dismissing families who have asked for the same right to support their trans children. “What’s terrible is when you have this incongruent desire of the government to restrain the abilities of parents to parent,” he said. Read More Ron DeSantis threatens legal action over Dylan Mulvaney’s Bud Light video How a Texas ban on gender-affirming care for trans youth could break healthcare for children across the state Trans youth and families condemn ‘heartbreaking’ Tennessee court ruling against gender-affirming care

A Wisconsin judge has ruled that the state’s bipartisan elections commission must disregard its earlier ruling rejecting a complaint filed against fake presidential electors when it rehears the case

By Sarah N. Lynch WASHINGTON Former U.S. President Donald Trump faces a new legal challenge - this time

Ukraine is already stockpiling fuel ahead of another challenging winter under siege from Russia, the UK’s Ministry of Defence said on Thursday. The ministry said in its intelligence report that “despite the consistent pressures of war, Ukrainian efforts to build up fuel stockpiles will likely be successful in ensuring that it will have sufficient fuel reserves during the approaching winter period.” It also noted that “Ukraine has been effective in mobilising its mining sector to maintain output, ensuring a continuous supply of coal is available for thermal power and heating plants in the winter, with substantial gas stocks providing a further reserve”. “Despite Russian attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure likely continuing this winter, Ukraine demonstrated last winter that it has the skilled workforce and expertise needed to operate and maintain the power network, even in wartime conditions,” it further noted in the defence intelligence report. Even as British analysts acknowledged the likelihood of Russia resuming attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure in winter, they highlighted the country’s ability to sustain its power network in the face of wartime challenges, the Kyiv Independent reported. In the winter of 2022-2023, Russian forces attempted to severely damage Ukraine’s power network through extensive attacks. Despite this, prime minister Denys Shmyhal reported that substantial repairs have been carried out, restoring 80 per cent of the primary power grids and high-voltage stations affected by the assaults. On 15 November last year, Mr Shmyhal pointed out that Moscow had launched approximately 100 missiles, primarily targeting the country’s energy infrastructure. Energy minister Herman Haluschenko labelled the attack the “most massive” bombardment of power infrastructure since the beginning of the war. In July this year, infrastructure minister Oleksandr Kubrakov said that nearly 100 per cent of thermal power stations, which had suffered damage from Russian attacks in late 2022 and early 2023, have been successfully repaired. “In general, as of today, the preparation level of utility networks for stable operation in the autumn-winter period of 2023-2024 is roughly 60 per cent,” the minister wrote on social media, adding that Ukraine will be 100 per cent ready in technical terms before the start of the next heating season on 1 October. “We must be prepared for the worst-case scenario, which includes repeated missile and drone attacks on energy infrastructure,” Ukraine’s state energy operator Ukrenergo’s head, Volodymyr Kudrytskyi said in Kharkiv on 27 July, according to Ukrainska Pravda. He continued: “We at Ukrenergo are absolutely certain that our main network will be ready to function without restrictions during the heating season.” However, he also added: “We don’t want to help the enemy understand the power system in detail.” Read More Ukraine’s intelligence service claims responsibility for Crimean Bridge drone attack Staff at Ukraine's experimental nuclear site pick up pieces from Russian strikes A camp teaches Ukrainian soldiers who were blinded in combat to navigate the world again UK inflation falls 1.1% in just one month as Ukraine war energy price crisis starts to ease Wagner mercenaries issue a chilling message on Poland’s doorstep: ‘We are here’

During an on-air segment, 'Today' co-host Craig Melvin showed his displeasure as Al Roker playfully tossed sanitizer at him

Fresh from a whirlwind tour of the Middle East, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has shifted his intense diplomacy on the Israel-Hamas war to Asia