Twitter has confirmed they will be revamping Spaces in the near future, but shared no timeframe concerning the same.
Twitter Spaces might get a revamp in the near future.
Twitter’s Spaces– the platform’s audio chatroom feature– is getting a revamp. The social media platform confirmed changes are indeed underway and that they are working on a new Twitter Spaces tab in the app itself, but did not reveal any information about the same. But some images revealed the company’s plans to group Spaces based on common interests like Music.
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A report by TechCrunch suggests Spaces might also get the ‘Your Daily Digest’ treatment, which as it might you thought, will be a collection of Spaces from people you already follow or might want to listen to. While Twitter did not say the images shared by TechCrunch were fake, they pointed out that they were indeed outdated and inaccurate.
Twitter told TechCrunch that the changes reflected an ‘initial version’ of the new experience and that it might change in the coming days. While the company did say they will be announcing the changes in the near future, there is no timeframe as to if and when they will be implemented.
A couple of months ago, Twitter made it easier for those using Spaces to see information like who’s hosting and Topics being discussed on the Space bar.
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Beyoncé’s new album Renaissance is at the center of another controversy.
Just days after the singer’s team announced an “ableist slur” would be removed from the lyrics to her song Heated, Beyoncé has removed an interpolation of Kelis’s song Milkshake from her song Energy.
In the original version of Energy, the popstar sang a series of “la”s to the tune of the 2003 R&B hit which led to Kelis’s fame.
In the updated version found on streaming platforms Spotify, Apple Music and Tidal, the series of “la”s has been removed.
On a fan-made account on Instagram, Kelis, under her username @bountyandfull, said: “My mind is blown too because of the disrespect and utter ignorance of all 3 parties involved is astounding.”
“Some of the people in this business have no soul or integrity and they have everyone fooled,” she wrote.
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One user who commented on the fan account’s post said a collaboration between Beyoncé and Kelis was what “the world really needs.”
Kelis responded to this, saying:
“It’s not a collab, it’s theft.”
Kelis was not credited as a writer of Energy because she is not officially a writer or producer of Milkshake.
Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo, also known as The Neptunes, are the official composers and co-writers of the song.
Both Williams and Hugo were previously listed as composers on Beyoncé’s song Energy. But they were removed from the song’s listing on her website once the track was updated.
Writing her own post on Instagram, Kelis said the use of Milkshake was a “trigger” for her.
“There are bully’s (sic) and secrets and gangsters in this industry that smile and get away with it until someone says enough is enough,” she wrote.
On Tuesday, after the lyrics to Heated were changed, Monica Lewinsky, the activist and former White House intern who had an affair with then-US president Bill Clinton, tweeted a personal response to the news and included the hashtag #Partition.
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The hashtag is in reference to Beyoncé’s 2013 song Partition, which includes the lyric, “He Monica Lewinsky-ed all on my gown.”
This marks the second time Beyoncé has edited a track from her new album, which was released on July 29.
In Heated, the singer repeatedly uses a word which is considered a derogatory reference to the medical term spastic diplegia, a form of cerebral palsy.
In a statement to Insider, a representative said the lyric would be changed.
“The word, not used intentionally in a harmful way, will be replaced,” the statement said.
Beyoncé isn’t the only artist to come under fire for using the derogatory language.
In June, American singer Lizzo faced backlash for including the same word in her single Grrls.
The singer faced heavy criticism online, eventually leading to Lizzo changing the lyrics.
Melbourne star Ed Langdon has labeled Collingwood “a bit of a one-trick pony at times” despite the side’s 10-match winning streak, raising the stakes of Friday night’s blockbuster clash at the MCG.
The Pies defeated the Dees when the two sides last met, prevailing by 26 points in the Queen’s Birthday game.
Still, Langdon said the Dees were well and truly prepared for the Pies from a planning perspective.
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“There’s certainly a plan in place. Without giving away too much, it’s not dissimilar to what we did to Freo (Fremantle) last week,” he said on SEN Drive, referring to the side’s 46-point demolition of another side that had beaten them earlier in the year.
“Our defense is definitely our biggest strength and to be honest we probably pride ourselves on making Friday night games pretty boring to watch for spectators.
“They’re sort of all duck, no dinner in a sense. If they’re playing fast footy on their terms they’re a very hard team to stop.
“They’re a bit of a one-trick pony at times, so hopefully we can dampen the way they want to play and off the back of that go out and offensively play the way we want to play.”
The Pies enter Friday night’s game equal with Melbourne on points, but trailing significantly on percentage.
Canberra homes and businesses will be unable to install a gas connection from next year under the ACT government’s plan to ditch fossil fuels by 2045.
Key points:
Two-thirds of Canberra households currently have a gas connection
The ACT gas supply network will switch off for good in 2045
The government is offering incentives to replace gas appliances
Households are already leading the way, as natural gas prices convince them to switch to electricity to save money.
And Canberra’s new suburbs have already been designed without gas connections.
However, the government tabled legislation today to end all connections to new builds — including in older suburbs — as of January 1.
Chief Minister Andrew Barr said the transition — far ahead of the rest of the country’s schedule — would be “gradual and gentle.”
He said cutting off new gas connections was the only way to meet the ACT’s target of eliminating greenhouse-gas emissions.
“The days of cheap gas in Australia appear to be over,” Mr Barr said.
“Renewable electricity is now the cheapest and cleanest way to power our homes and businesses.”
About two-thirds of Canberra homes have a gas connection, though the number has been shrinking.(Supplied: ACT government)
About two-thirds of Canberra homes use natural gas — for heating, water systems or cooking — and the fuel accounts for about 20 per cent of the ACT’s emissions.
The ACT already buys more electricity from renewable sources than it uses: it reached its 100 per cent target three years ago.
Most remaining emissions come from transport, and the government revealed plans last month to phase out petrol and diesel engines.
Mr Barr said the government would help Canberrans to turn off their gas entirely by 2045.
“We know we need to make this transition in a responsible and considered manner — a way that provides certainty to households and businesses but also supports them during the transition,” he said.
Market forces already encouraging Canberrans to switch
Each year, about one in 50 ACT households year switches from gas to electricity.(Supplied: ACT government)
Even before the Ukraine war worsened the global energy crisis, prices had been driving Canberrans to disconnect from mains gas.
In the two decades to 2020, gas costs for ACT households doubled after accounting for inflation.
They are expected to rise a further 19 per cent over the coming decade — about $220 a year more for a typical home.
Meanwhile, electricity prices are predicted to fall 3 per cent.
As a result of these pressures and environmental concerns, about 2 per cent of Canberra households each year have been cutting off their gas supply.
The government now expects that to increase to 2.5 per cent a year.
Its modeling also suggests that, without any policy interventions, market forces alone would reduce Canberra’s gas use by almost 60 per cent by 2045.
Change-over costs the biggest barrier: survey
Shane Rattenbury says induction electric cooktops are preferred even by chefs.(Unsplash: Conscious Design)
The government says a range of incentives will help people and businesses change over.
These include the existing interest-free household loans of up to $15,000 to improve energy efficiency or switch to electricity.
Lower-value homes are also eligible for direct subsidies of up to $5,000.
Climate Change Minister Shane Rattenbury said disconnecting from mains gas was a longer-term goal, and there was no need to hurry, though it made sense to avoid the annual connection fees.
“As your current gas devices come to the end of their life, our advice to you is: make your next one electric,” he said.
“As you go to replace your hot water or heating system, don’t put another gas one in: choose an electric one today.
“It’s better for the environment and it’ll be better for your bank account — and we’ll help you make that transition over the coming years.”
A recent government survey found cost was the biggest barrier preventing Canberrans from switching to electricity.
At present, removing a gas meter and supply pipes costs about $800 per household.
The government said it would work with the Australian Energy Regulator to reduce or abolish that charge.
Mr Rattenbury said the ACT gas network would be switched off in 2045, but the government would not stop people from buying gas in LPG tanks if they wanted to.
“But I would say to those people: those new induction cooktops perform like gas, and the chefs we’ve talked to who’ve tried it love it.”
WASHINGTON (AP) — US officials believe Russia is working to fabricate evidence concerning last week’s deadly strike on prison housing prisoners of war in a separatist region of eastern Ukraine.
US intelligence officials have determined that Russia is looking to plant false evidence to make it appear that Ukrainian forces were responsible for the July 29 attack on Olenivka Prison that left 53 dead and wounded dozens more, a US official familiar with the intelligence finding told The Associated Press on Wednesday.
Russia has claimed that Ukraine’s military used US-supplied rocket launchers to strike the prison in Olenivka, a settlement controlled by the Moscow-backed Donetsk People’s Republic.
The Ukrainian military denied making any rocket or artillery strikes in Olenivka. The intelligence arm of the Ukrainian defense ministry claimed in a statement Wednesday to have evidence that local Kremlin-backed separatists colluded with the Russian FSB, the KGB’s main successor agency, and mercenary group Wagner to mine the barrack before “using a flammable substance, which led to the rapid spread of fire in the room.”
The official, who was not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on the condition of anonymity, said the classified intelligence — which was recently downgraded — shows that Russian officials might even plant ammunition from medium-ranged High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, or HIMARS, as evidence that the systems provided by the US to Ukraine were used in the attack.
Russia is expected to take the action as it anticipates independent investigators and journalists eventually getting access to Olenivka, the official added.
Ukraine has effectively used HIMARS launchers, which fire medium-range rockets and can be quickly moved before Russia can target them with return fire, and have been seeking more launchers from the United States.
Earlier Wednesday, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he is appointing a fact-finding mission in response to requests from Russia and Ukraine to investigate the killings at the prison.
Guterres told reporters he doesn’t have authority to conduct criminal investigations but does have authority to conduct fact-finding missions. I have added that the terms of reference for a mission to Ukraine are currently being prepared and will be sent to the governments of Ukraine and Russia for approval.
The Ukrainian POWs at the Donetsk prison included troops captured during the fall of Mariupol. They spent months holed up with civilians at the giant Azovstal steel mill in the southern port city. Their resistance during a relentless Russian bombardment became a symbol of Ukrainian defiance against Russia’s aggression.
More than 2,400 soldiers from the Azov Regiment of the Ukrainian national guard and other military units gave up their fight and surrendered under orders from Ukraine’s military in May.
Scores of Ukrainian soldiers have been taken to prisons in Russian-controlled areas. Some have returned to Ukraine as part of prisoner exchanges with Russia, but other families have no idea whether their loved ones are still alive, or if they will ever come home.
—
Lederer reported from the United Nations. Associated Press writer Zeke Miller contributed to this report.
Australian Wagyu producers are unable to meet domestic and international demand as an appetite for the premium meat soars.
Irongate Wagyu, based near Albany in Western Australia’s Great Southern region, produces full-blood Wagyu, which can sell for as much as $450 per kilogram.
Managing director Peter Gilmore said interest in the company’s carcasses and genetics had tripled over the past 12 months.
“The increase is demand, I would say, is around 300 per cent,” he said.
“If we had three times the number of animals, we probably could not meet that demand.”
Irongate’s Peter Gilmore says there are about 1,000 breeders, 700 weaners and 500 feeder animals on farm.(ABC Great Southern: Angus Mackintosh)
Irongate sells genetics to Australian producers and Mr Gilmore predicts the domestic Wagyu industry will expand.
“On the animal production side, we have seen a very big uptick and a lot of people are purchasing … to try and obviously lift their own farm gate receipt — I mean, Wagyu produces a significant premium over the rest of beef production,” he said.
“I think the industry has the potential to actually, in the future, get up there with equal to Japanese production.”
The increased investment in Wagyu is not limited to the southern parts of the state.
Pardoo Beef Corporation, based in the north, has invested more than $75 million in its Wagyu operation.
Its Singaporean owner, Bruce Cheung, plans to run more than 100,000 head of cattle across the Pilbara and Kimberley by 2035 in a business worth $3 billion.
Nathan Robb was one of the first butchers to sell full-blood Wagyu in Western Australia.(Supplied: Nathan Robb)
Domestic demand sounds
Nathan Robb, the owner of Bullsbrook-based Bully Butcher, says he needs more than double what Irongate supplies him with to meet demand.
“We receive [the Wagyu] on a Monday, by the following Monday it’s gone,” he said.
“Everything is pretty much put on hold for customers in advance.
“In the last 12 to 18 months it has gone from a little bit of interest to almost every customer asking a question about it.
“A lot of people don’t know what it is, they see it and think, ‘Wow I wouldn’t mind trying that.'”
Mr Gilmore said that increase in domestic demand was correlated to a changed health focus.
“People understand that intramuscular fat can actually be good for you … I think there has been a real health focus shift and enjoyment for producing,” he said.
“If you go back two years when COVID first started, we had very little domestic output, almost nothing.
“Now domestic would be 40 per cent of our total production.”
Japan ceased releasing full-blood Wagyu genetics in the mid-1990s.(ABC Great Southern: Sophie Johnson)
Markets boom amid FMD threat
South-East Asian countries are asking for more Australian Wagyu because Japan is a selective exporter.
“Japan has a very satiated market,” Mr Gilmore said.
“They’re a net importer of meat, so they don’t really need to export.
“The international demand for Wagyu has been quite extraordinary over the past year, the amount of inquiry that has come in at a range of different levels from many different countries.
“There’s a Chinese demand which is enormous and certainly is the kind of demand that we would struggle with supply to meet.”
There are huge growth opportunities for Australian producers, but a disease outbreak could undo years of work.(ABC Great Southern: Sophie Johnson)
Scott Richardson, the managing director of producer and distributor Stone Ax Pastoral Company, says a foot-and-mouth disease outbreak could stop the trade in its tracks.
“If foot-and-mouth disease was introduced into Australia it would potentially decimate the Australian Wagyu beef breed, along with other elite genetics within the cattle breeding industry,” he said.
“It would particularly impact the full-blood Wagyu breed, given that Japan isn’t releasing any more full-blood Wagyu genetics.
“Australia would need to rebuild its herd with the genetics left on hand and what can be sourced internationally.
“It would take years and years to rebuild the herd to its current numbers.”
Behavior Interactive has launched hooked on youa visual novel that offers players the chance to date killers from Dead By Daylight.
During the Behavior Beyond showcase, Behavior Interactive announced that Hooked On You: A Dead By Daylight Dating Sim is available on Steam today (August 3).
A dating game created to address fans’ “deep thirst”, hooked on you is set on Murderer’s Island, where “four dead-sexy killers” from Dead By Daylight are looking for romance – The Trapper, The Huntress, The Wraith and The Spirit.
Behavior Interactive describes The Trapper as “an alpha male whose bulging biceps and singlet swimsuit leave little to the imagination,” while The Huntress will use her “herculean biceps and cute bunny mask” to woo suitors.
Meanwhile, The Wraith “is all fun and play, thanks to his sunny disposition and apropos button up and swim trunk,” while “bikini and Kimono-clad The Spirit is all goth and roll, ready to be charmed and charm with her Katana in tow.”
Hooked On You: A Dead By Daylight Dating Sim. Credit: Behavior Interactive
A new trailer for hooked on you shows that players will be able to befriend and romance these four killers through the dialogue options they select. There will also be a selection of minigames available to play, including chopping food with a machete and playing spin the bottle.
though hooked on you launches with four romanceable killers, Behavior Interactive has shared that it has enough killers to do “a couple more chapters” if it finds demand from fans is high enough.
The studio also says there is a “conversation to be had” on whether the IP holders of third-party killers in Dead By Daylight (EG Silent Hill‘s Pyramid Head, Halloween‘s Mike Myers) would allow Interactive Behavior to include their characters in a game that presents them in such a drastically different light.
In other news, Malcolm McDowell has announced a delay to stealth-shooter Gloomwood.
Premier Tagelagi occupies the highest office in the land of Niue, and three weeks ago was rubbing shoulders with Australian prime minister Anthony Albanese in Fiji at the Pacific Islands Forum.
He’s also a mad South Sydney Rabbitohs supporter.
Australian prime minister (top left) and Niue premier Dalton Tagelagi (top right) attend the Pacific Islands Forum in Fiji last month. Credit:Joe Armao
Tagelagi takes off his mask – he’s the only person in sight wearing one – and pulls up a seat at a wooden table just a few meters away from where he is about to do battle against Australia in the first round of the men’s fours event.
“Some of my close mates in bowls here know who I am. I try and hide,” Tagelagi tells the herald.
“I say to my friend ‘you’re the best man in this sport but I’m the top man in my country in politics’. We have a few jokes like that.”
It’s one of the great untold stories of the Commonwealth Games, which tends to throw up obscure stories involving athletes from smaller nations.
Niue president Dalton Tagelagi and New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern speak to media during a press conference in New Zealand in July. Credit:Getty
Tagelagi is a softly spoken man and has been in government since 2008. He was sworn in as Niue’s premier in June 2020.
Despite the optics of being in Birmingham competing at a third Commonwealth Games while COVID-19 begins to sweep through Niue, Tagelagi insists there is no issue.
He’s on annual leave.
Tagelagi has been supporting his 14-year-old son Tukala, who is another member of Niue’s small lawn bowls squad.
The first thing you notice about Tagelagi on the bowling green, as he coaches his son, is the AirPods in his ears.
They’re in place in case he needs to take – or make – an important call.
“I came here for a two-week break. This is the first time I’ve had a break since I became a leader,” Tagelagi says. “I used the chance to bring the young fella here and give him that experience at high-level sport.
“We have a little bit of an issue with our community in terms of an outbreak of about 20 [COVID-19 cases]. They’re managing it well. I still keep an eye on what’s happening back home. It keeps me busy.
“I’m going back to the polls next year. Three weeks ago I was with your prime minister in Fiji. I’ve been away from home for six or seven weeks now. I’m going to Australia in September for meetings in Brisbane.
Dalton Tagelagi and his 14-year-old are Tukala.Credit:Getty
“I actually grew up in Sydney myself.”
A big grin comes over Tagelagi’s face when he reflects on a two-year stint in Sydney in 1984 and 1985.
“I followed Bob Hawke’s leadership at the time before Paul Keating,” Tagelagi says. “I was down in Maroubra. I used to surf and row at the South Maroubra Surf Life Saving Club.
“I’m a Rabbitohs and NSW Blues man. I played league and rugby. That’s why my knees are bad.”
There are myriad scars all over Tagelagi’s arms and legs. More often than not he wears a suit, so no one notices.
“Back home I used to fall off the motorbike and little scooters,” Tagelagi says.
Does he miss Sydney?
“I miss the fish markets [in Pyrmont] that’s for sure,” Tagelagi says. “That’s the best hangover cure on a Sunday. I miss that. I’ve been around but home has always been Niue.”
Dalton Tagelagi is a busy man when he’s not on the lawn bowls green. Credit:Getty
Tagelagi admits he could have been more diligent in his preparation for these Games. Juggling lawn bowls commitments and the around-the-clock responsibilities of being the boss of a country is laborious.
“I have late nights,” Tagelagi says. “As soon as I turn 60, I’ll call it quits. I want to do something else. I can’t quit now though. I’m only 54, so I’ve got a while before I can get on the pension.”
Niue does not send athletes to the Olympics, so the Commonwealth Games is the peak for Tagelagi and his teammates.
The country’s bowling greens certainly aren’t flash. There are seven rinks to play on at a small bowling club with about 50 members.
Niue has one nine hole golf course.Credit:Niue Golf Course
Niue does not have beaches, just a reef that Tagelagi says divers enjoy exploring. The island is vulnerable to big waves and bad weather because there are no other islands surrounding it.
There’s a nine-hole golf course with about 20 members playing every Saturday morning.
There’s only one flight on and off the island every week.
Niue lost their fours match on Tuesday 18-8 against an Australian team featuring a business development manager (Carl Healey), ambassador for a bowling club (Ben Twist), a groundsman (Corey Wedlock) and a bowls coordinator (Barry Lester).
Did the Aussies know anything about Niue or the influential figure on the other team?
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“Not much, other than they’re pretty handy players and really lovely people too,” Healey said.
“I only just found that out that their skipper is the big dog. At the end of the day, you’re out there competing for your country.
“We don’t worry too much about saluting or bowing to anyone.”
Get all the latest news from the Birmingham Commonwealth Gameshere. We’ll be live blogging the action from 4pm-10am daily.
The trip of a lifetime has come to a crashing halt for a criminal who stole the identity of a man in South Australia, in an attempt to escape authorities and flee to the Northern Territory.
Key points:
Travis Whyte pleaded guilty to eight fraud-related offenses in April
He stole around $25,000 from a South Australian man, after stealing his identity
In a letter to a friend, Whyte described his offending as the “best two weeks of his life”
Travis Whyte, while on bail for offenses allegedly committed in South Australia, assumed the identity of another man, after coming into possession of his wallet in Whyalla in September last year.
Over the next two weeks, Whyte made his way to Darwin using the stolen bank cards, stealing fuel and twice evading police along the way.
He was eventually arrested in Darwin, attempting to purchase a $70,000 car.
In a letter Whyte wrote to a friend from prison in January this year, released by the court, he described his crimes as “the best 20 days of [his] life”.
“Darwin, first three days and I blew through my cash!!” Whyte wrote.
“Everyone thinks I’m [this] other bloke… his bank gave me full access to his 200k!! So I’m up on $180k fraud charges and looking at 2.5 years … I had the best 20 days of my life bro!! I can die a happy man!!”
The man went on a trip after coming into possession of someone else’s wallet.(ABC Adelaide: Brett Williamson)
“Spending somebody else’s money, buying cars to avoid detection, visiting a number of landmark sites in the NT [such as] the Devil’s Marbles, really enjoying himself in the course of this spree,” said Crown Prosecutor Tami Grealy.
“He continued until he was caught.”
A man who will “say anything to anyone to get what he wants”, according to Ms Grealy, Whyte withdrew close to $25,000 from the man’s accounts and was able to receive checks totaling $81,848 from the man’s bank by impersonating him.
He pleaded guilty to eight offences, including five charges of obtaining benefit by deception.
Travis Whyte went on a two-week roadtrip and was charged with fraud after coming into possession of someone else’s wallet.
The ‘best two weeks’
According to a statement of facts tendered to the Northern Territory Supreme Court, Whyte stopped at various roadhouses and hotels along the Stuart Highway as he made his way from Whyalla to Darwin.
On two occasions, he stole fuel from remote petrol stations and was eventually met by police in Katherine for failing to pay.
“The offender informed police his name was [the victim’s] and produced [his] license as identification,” the facts read.
“The offender indicated he panicked and left [the petrol station] but had been feeling guilty all day. He told police he would call his mother to get some money, then he would return to Mataranka and pay for the fuel.”
Whyte never returned to pay.
He was again picked up by police in Darwin city after he was seen mounting a kerb in his car around 3am on September 25 last year.
Police confiscated the stolen driver’s license from Whyte, after he tried to convince them he had “lost 20 kilograms” and that was why the picture didn’t look like him.
Whyte later managed to obtain a digital version of the victim’s license.
Ultimately, the 36-year-old’s great undoing was an attempt to use the stolen identity and money to purchase a car at Hidden Valley Ford in Darwin’s outer suburbs.
The fraudster visited a number of iconic and scenic Northern Territory attractions, including Karlu Karlu, also known as the Devil’s Marbles.(Wikimedia: Dagmar Hollman)
Dealership staff also queried why Whyte didn’t look like the picture in his stolen driver’s license, but according to the statement of facts, he told them he “had lost about 50 kilograms”.
After attending multiple banks in order to secure the money to buy a car, Whyte was met by plain-clothed police at Hidden Valley Ford after dealership staff tipped them off.
Upon his arrest, Whyte told officers he “didn’t feel like he was hurting anyone” and asked police “what had brought him unstuck.”
‘Literally no concern’, prosecutors say
In arguing for Whyte to be jailed with a non-parole period, Ms Grealy argued the letter he wrote to a friend showed “literally no concern” for anyone else.
“A man with his criminal history, who’s committed offenses of dishonesty for years… it is nonsense, in my submission, that only now… does he understand his offending touches the lives of anyone,” Ms Grealy said.
“This really is offending where he has gone to a lot of trouble to avoid detection … obviously, all signs point to somebody who was on the run, not looking to be located in the Northern Territory.”
Three of the territory’s gushing waterfalls were visited by Mr Whyte on his travels.(Supplied: Serena La Canna)
In his letter to a friend, Whyte wrote he had been “running amok” and “done all the touristy things.”
“Devil’s Marbles, eight different springs, three waterfalls, one national park and then I made it to Darwin,” Whyte wrote.
Mr Whyte’s defense lawyer told the court prosecutors had “cherrypicked” aspects of the letter and the “best 20 days of [his] life” was not necessarily due to “ripping people off”.
“The fact that some of the money he used was not his own does not mean it is the best part of his experience,” Giles O’Brien Hartcher said.
“The territory’s a beautiful place, we all want to do that. It’s not inconceivable that it would have been a fantastic time. The road trip up the Stuart Highway is a fantastic experience.”
Mr O’Brien Hartcher conceded his client was not a “fully reformed human being” but argued he should still be afforded future opportunities for rehabilitation.
“The benefit Mr Whyte enjoyed was objectively small,” Mr O’Brien Hartcher said.
Justice Jenny Blokland will hand down Whyte’s sentence on September 1.
For the first time since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, leaving it to states to determineabortion access, the issue appeared on a state ballot. In Kansas, CBS News projects that a proposed amendment to the state constitution that would eliminate the constitutional right to an abortion has been defeated.
The Kansas ballot initiative is seen as a bellwether for the impact of abortion on the midterm November elections.
Since the high court’s ruling ending the federal right to an abortion, at least 12 states have either banned abortion outright or after six weeks of pregnancy. Other states are also expected to move forward with further restrictions.
In Kansas, voters reaffirmed abortion is constitutionally protected, leaving in place a 2019 decision by the state Supreme Court. That ruling stated that a person has the right to personal autonomy and applied strict scrutiny to regulate abortion. The Kansas legislature would not be able to ban or enact further restrictions on abortion without a constitutional amendment.
In this photo from Thursday, July 14, 2022, a sign in a yard in Merriam, Kansas, urges voters to oppose a proposed amendment to the Kansas Constitution to allow legislators to further restrict or ban abortion. Opponents of the measure believe it will lead to a ban on abortion in Kansas.
John Hanna/AP
“Kansans stood up for fundamental rights today. We rejected divisive legislation that jeopardized our economic future & put women’s health care access at risk,” tweeted Kansas’ Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly. “Together, we’ll continue to make incredible strides to make KS the best state in the nation to live freely & do business.”
President Biden issued a statement saying in part that, “This vote makes clear what we know: the majority of Americans agree that women should have access to abortion and should have the right to make their own health care decisions. Congress should listen to the will of the American people and restore the protections of Roe as federal law.”
The “Value Them Both” Amendment made it onto the Aug. 2 primary ballot after being passed in the Republican-controlled state legislature with two-thirds of the vote in both chambers in 2021.
“While the outcome is not what we hoped for, our movement and campaign have proven our resolve and commitment. We will not abandon women and babies,” said the Value Them Both Coalition, which supported the amendment, in a statement. The group went on to call the outcome a “temporary setback.”
While passage of the amendment would not have directly banned abortion in the state, legal experts said it would have paved the way for the state legislature, where Republicans hold a super majority, to ban abortion.
“Under the language of the amendment, it would be possible to adopt a total ban on abortion from the point of conception until birth, with no exceptions for rape, incest or the life or health of the mother,” said Richard Levy, a professor of law at the University of Kansas.
Leading up to the primary, groups for and against the amendment were engaged in an aggressive campaign to reach voters, knocking on doors, phone banking and holding rallies. Nearly $13 million was spent on ads in the state on the issue of abortion ahead of the vote, according to AdImpact.
“This historic victory was the result of a groundswell of grassroots support and a broad coalition of reasonable, thoughtful Kansans across the state who put health care over politics,” said Emily Wales, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Great Plains Votes, of the amendment’s defeat. “We have seen the devastation caused by a loss of access to abortion in neighboring states and tonight, Kansans saw through the deception of anti-abortion interests to ensure people in their state retained their rights.”
Although this was an off-year primary, where turnout is generally very low — in past recent elections less than a third of voters turned out to cast their ballots — Kansas’ early voting emerged ahead of the Aug. 2 primary, suggesting voters were highly motivated by the issue of abortion.
Unofficial results Tuesday night from the Kansas Secretary of State’s office showed more than 781,500 people voted on the amendment in the state. With 90% of the vote counted as of 11:45 pm Tuesday, “No” led with 60.4% to “Yes” at 39.6%
Overall, party officials and politicians are keeping a close eye on how the overturning of Roe v. Wade could galvanize voters ahead of the midterms. According to the CBS News Battleground Tracker, abortion is as an important an issue as the economy and inflation to women under 50. More than two-thirds of women under 50 describe the Republican party as “extreme.” But Democrats appear to be disappointed with how their party is handling the issue of abortion. Fifty-nine percent said their party was not doing enough to protect access, whereas the majority of Republicans believe their party is taking the right approach on abortion.
Kansas is the first state in a handful in which voters will have their say on abortion rights in the midterms. Similar measures to the Kansas effort are on the ballots in Kentucky and Montana, while initiatives adding abortion protections to the state constitutions are on the ballots in California and Vermont. Efforts to amend the constitution to protect the right to an aborotion in Michigan are also underway.
