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.

Apple has revealed a host of new updates coming to the iPhone. The company launched iOS 17, its new iPhone operating system, this week. It was detailed at its annual Worldwide Developers Conference, which also saw the long-awaited unveiling of its Vision Pro headset. During that event, Apple showed off new features for the iPhone that included new messaging features and the option to twist the iPhone to the side and have it show a special “ambient” mode. But many features appear to have been left without discussion during that same introduction. Now Apple has published a new list of updates that were presumably left out of the update for reasons of time. They include a host of Apple Music features: the ability to make collaborative playlists, control music in the car, sing along to songs in a karaoke mode while seeing video of yourself, and more. Apple also announced offline downloads in Maps, for times when connections may be difficult, and Apple Fitness tools that let users generate a workout routine. Apple News, Podcasts, Apple Books and payments all get other updates. Apple has also added a new ID tool within wallet, that means users can show businesses proof of their age through their phone. That will let people quickly pay for alcohol purchases, for instance, or prove their identity for car rentals, Apple suggested. The full list of updates can be seen on Apple’s website. Unusually, Apple is allowing any users to get hold of the developer version of the new update for free, meaning that it is available right after the launch. But most users are still advised not to install it, given that it might come with potentially disastrous bugs. The public beta version of the software is expected in July. And Apple will fully launch iOS 17 in autumn, usually in September around the same time the new iPhone is launched. Read More ‘I saw the future. It left me in tears’ This could be the end of ‘ducking’ Apple lets people get brand new iPhone update early – but there’s a very big warning

Historians were struck by the tantalizing possibility that this library might contain missing works of some of history’s greatest writers—works thought to have been lost forever.

'I mean, I do not in any way support them but I knew they were gonna show up to the premiere of their own movie eventually,' a user wrote

What could go wrong?

'RHONJ' star Teresa Giudice asks 'RHOC' star Tamra Judge to 'stay in your lane'

'GMA' host George Stephanopoulos was absent from the show due to a major milestone celebration for one of his daughters over the weekend

AARP members believe that their membership in the organization is 'finally paying off' as the Rolling Stones announced a presale for them

After promoting the unreleased Tory Lanez song on TikTok, Kylie Jenner was accused of choosing sides in the Megan vs Tory drama

Has xQc been removed from the directory? Did he manage to watch the entire series of Breaking Bad?

Previous champ James Tyler could not retain his title after missing out on the win by a very close margin

The origins of the phrase (indirectly) involve smelly cabbage, Donald Duck, and several Canadian journalists.