Since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade nearly two years ago, supporters of the right to choose have won every ballot initiative, in every state, in which an abortion-related measure has been put before voters. The trend is as true in red states like Kansas and Kentucky as it is in blue California and Vermont, and the in-between battlegrounds.

And so, as the 2024 election approaches, with reproductive rights activists pushing to get abortion-rights amendments on ballots in almost a dozen states, Republican politicians have been throwing spaghetti at the wall to find a way to stop them. The most recent example comes from South Dakota, where state law currently prohibits all abortions, except those needed to save a pregnant person’s life. There, a group called Dakotans for Health is collecting signatures to get a limited right to abortion enshrined in the state constitution.

As they’ve done in other states, Republicans are trying to stop the amendment from going before voters: On Friday, Republican Gov. Krisiti Noem signed a bill to allow people to revoke their signatures from ballot initiative petitions.

The campaign needs to collect 35,017 signatures by May 7 to qualify for the ballot. Dakotans for Health co-founder Rick Weiland says they’re already there, with 50,000 signatures in the bag. Based on history, the prognosis is good if the amendment does get to the ballot: South Dakota voters rejected abortion-ban measures in 2006 and 2008, long before the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision sent support for abortion rights soaring. 

To South Dakota’s anti-abortion Republicans, this an emergency. Literally: The new signature revocation law includes an emergency clause allowing it to take effect immediately. Under the new law, voters who want to revoke their signature from a ballot initiative petition have to send a notarized letter using registered mail to the secretary of state. The bill is transparently targeting the abortion-rights initiative. Its main sponsor, Republican Rep. Jon Hansen—who sits on the board of directors for South Dakota Right to Life—claimed to South Dakota Searchlight that people had been “misled, or frankly, fraudulently induced,” into signing Dakotans for Health’s abortion rights petition. “People have approached me and they said, ‘Hey, I signed that abortion petition because I thought it was pro-life. That’s what they led me to believe,’” Hansen alleged.

Joshua Zirkzee has emerged as one of the most sought-after strikers in Europe, impressing with his performances at Bologna.

The Dutch striker is enjoying a stellar season, showcasing his talent and making a significant impact in one of Europe’s top leagues.

Bologna, traditionally fighting for survival in Serie A, find themselves in contention for a European place this season, largely due to Zirkzee’s brilliance along with the contributions of his teammates.

With his standout performances, Zirkzee has attracted interest from clubs across Europe, including Arsenal, who are closely monitoring his progress. Valued at around 80 million euros, Zirkzee’s price tag is within the reach of Premier League clubs.

Despite Arsenal’s interest, reports from FC Inter News suggest that their pursuit of Zirkzee may not be as serious as portrayed in the media. As a result, it’s likely that Zirkzee will remain in Italy.

Fabrizio Romano has provided an update on the future of Arsenal’s Champions League hero, David Raya, affirming that the Gunners are keen on retaining him.

Raya has been on loan at the Emirates since the beginning of the season, and his performances have left a positive impression on Arsenal.

Quickly establishing himself as the club’s first-choice goalkeeper over the highly-rated Aaron Ramsdale, Raya initially faced criticism. However, he has silenced doubters with consistent and impressive displays.

Raya’s standout moment came in Arsenal’s Champions League round of 16 match against FC Porto, where he emerged as the club’s hero.

Given his contributions and form, Arsenal is eager to secure Raya’s services beyond his loan spell.

Former Liverpool legend turned pundit Graeme Souness believes that Arsenal squandered the opportunity to win the Premier League title last season, but he commends them for overcoming that setback and using it as motivation for improvement.

Souness highlights that at this stage of the previous campaign, Arsenal began dropping points against teams they were expected to defeat, allowing Manchester City to mount a successful title challenge.

The collapse came as a surprise to many, given Arsenal’s strong start to the season and consistent form throughout much of the campaign. Souness attributes this setback to a lack of experience on Arsenal’s part.

However, in the current season, Arsenal has shown significant improvement compared to the same stage of the previous campaign. Souness is impressed by their progress and how they have addressed the issues that plagued them last season.

He writes in the Daily Mail:

Arsenal is reportedly eyeing a move for Real Madrid attacker Brahim Diaz and may launch a bid for him in the upcoming summer transfer window.

As Arsenal aims to maintain their upward trajectory in the Premier League, bolstering their squad with new signings becomes crucial for sustained success.

According to a report from Football 365, Diaz has emerged as one of the talents on Arsenal’s radar. The Spanish attacker, who previously featured for Manchester City and enjoyed a successful loan spell at AC Milan, is now part of Real Madrid’s squad.

While Real values Diaz highly, they could be open to offloading him if a suitable offer is presented. The report suggests that Diaz’s market value is around 60 million euros, a figure that Arsenal should be capable of meeting once the current season concludes.

Just Arsenal Opinion

Ivan Toney has spoken about what an ideal summer will be for him as Arsenal and several clubs show an interest in the attacker.

Toney has been one of the best goalscorers in the Premier League for much of his time as a Brentford player in the English top flight.

He missed most of this term due to a ban but is still expected to leave Brentford in the summer, as the Bees have already signed a replacement for him.

Toney could remain in London, where Arsenal and Chelsea are battling to add him to their group.

However, the striker was asked what an ideal summer would be for him, and he revealed, as quoted by Goal.com:

Kylian Mbappe has addressed a request for him to join Arsenal as he prepares to announce his next club.

The striker has been linked with moves to several top clubs across Europe, as he has yet to finalise his decision on his next destination.

It’s been communicated to PSG that he will not be extending his stay, sparking interest from elite European clubs vying for the signature of the 2018 World Cup winner.

Real Madrid has long been considered a likely destination for Mbappe, with the club having tracked him since the early stages of his career.

While Arsenal would undoubtedly benefit from his addition, it appears unlikely that Mbappe will consider a move to the Emirates at the end of this season.

Patrick Moore, director of the Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, will step down from his position on May 31. He said the reason was he planned to relocate to Spain with his husband.

Moore has been director of the Warhol Museum since 2017. He first joined the organization as its director of development before quickly being promoted to deputy director in September 2012. Prior to the Warhol Museum, Moore spent 10 years with the Alliance for the Arts in New York, where he was the creator and project director of the Estate Project.

During Moore’s time as director, the institution proposed a $45 million expansion plan last year that would increase the institution’s footprint by more than 60 percent, as well as its $60 million “Pop District” initiative.

The 10-year Pop District initiative would span five blocks around the museum in Pittsburgh’s North Shore and would include a “public art initiative, a youth-focused, creative economy workforce program, flagship live event & performance venue.”

The Pop District in particular has proven particularly controversial among staff at the museum, according to WESA, Pittsburgh’s local NPR station. “The museum has been taken over by the alien that is the Pop District,” one unnamed employee told WESA in a report that ran this past December.

It was 2018 when Mateo Jaime was admitted to North Star Behavioral Health, a psychiatric hospital in Anchorage, Alaska. He didn’t need acute psychiatric care, he says. Rather, Jaime was a teenager in the foster system, and Alaska’s Office of Children’s Services didn’t have a foster home for him. Jaime would spend two months at the facility, during which time he was held in seclusion and witnessed the forcible injection and physical restraint of other patients. He still has PTSD from the experience.

Jaime wasn’t alone. A yearlong Mother Jones investigation found that foster kids have been admitted hundreds of times to North Star, where some spend months or even years. Despite the facility’s troubling track record of assaults, escapes, and improper use of seclusion, state officials have admitted what foster youth have long suspected: Foster children are warehoused at North Star when there’s nowhere else for them to go. 

State officials have admitted what foster youth have long suspected: Foster children are warehoused at North Star when there’s nowhere else for them to go.

Now, two bills introduced in the state legislature aim to reform psychiatric treatment for vulnerable youth in Alaska. Though neither bill mentions North Star by name, it looms large as the state’s only private psychiatric hospital for children.

HB 363 would require a court to review a foster child’s placement at a psychiatric hospital within 72 hours to determine if that child meets medical criteria for hospitalization. (There’s no statute on when an initial hearing should take place, though a preliminary injunction requires a hearing within 30 days.) 

Jaime was among those who testified at an emotional hearing on Thursday. “I felt like a zombie for two months,” he said. “I had no control and no voice over the situation.”

A US district judge for the Southern District of New York denied a request for MetaBirkins to be displayed at a museum in Stockholm, citing a lack of details about how the exhibition would describe the NFTs to the public.

Last February, Hermès won a lawsuit against Mason Rothschild (aka Sonny Estival) concerning Rothschild’s NFT collection “MetaBirkins,” 3D renderings of the company’s iconic Birkin bag covered in fur in a variety of patterns.

A jury ruled that Rothschild’s NFTs failed a test that would allow them to be considered art. The luxury handbag company was set to be awarded $133,000 in damages. Hermès also sought a permanent injunction against Rothschild, which was granted in June.

Documents filed on March 13 detail how Rothschild inquired about whether the injunction would prohibit him from providing permission to the Spritmuseum to display the MetaBirkins. The works were to appear on a screen in an Andy Warhol exhibition and his practice of Business Art.

According to Rothschild, the contemporary art and spirits museum had contacted him just before Christmas last year about displaying the MetaBirkins on a screen, “just as the images are available on the Internet.”