Entertainment

‘Secret’ screenings of cancelled Batgirl movie being held by studio – reports | Batgirl

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Warner Bros Discovery are reportedly holding a series of discreet “funeral screenings” for their never-to-be released DC film Batgirl, starring Leslie Grace, Michael Keaton and Brendan Fraser.

The Hollywood Reporter confirmed with multiple sources that a select few who worked on the film, including cast, crew and studio executives, would be attending the screenings this week on the Warner Bros lot in California. One source described them as “funeral screenings”, as it is likely the footage will be stored forever and never shown to the public.

Earlier this month, Batgirl became headline news when it was revealed the new Warner Bros Discovery CEO David Zaslav had ordered the $90m film to be scrapped entirely, despite filming having been finished. Starring Leslie Grace as the titular superhero Barbara Gordon, JK Simmons as Barbara’s father, Commissioner Gordon, Fraser as the villain Firefly and Keaton returning to his role as Batman, the film was well into postproduction when it was canned, but still had a temporary score and visual effects.

The news spawned a worldwide reaction, with many on social media using the hashtag #releasebatgirl to call on Warner Bros to release the film. Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige and directors including James Gunn, Kevin Smith and Edgar Wright all voiced their support for the cast and crew who had worked on the film.

The decision to cancel the film was motivated by wider cuts at Warner Bros Discovery after the two companies recently merged, and is seeking to save US$3bn. If the film is not shown, Warner Bros Discovery can take a tax write-down as a money-losing project.

Batgirl has only been shown to members of the public once, in a single test screening.

The Hollywood Reporter reported there was a chance Warner Bros would make “the drastic move of actually destroying its Batgirl footage as a way to demonstrate to the IRS that there will never be any revenue from the project, and thus it should be entitled to the full write-down immediately.”

On Tuesday, in an interview with French outlet Skript, Batgirl directors Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah said they no longer had any copy of the film, recalling the moment they found they could not longer access the servers that held the footage.

“We were like ‘fucking shit!’” El Arbi said. “All the scenes with Batman in them! Shit!”

El Arbi said it was unlikely they’d have the studio’s support to release it in the future or that there could be an equivalent of “the Snyder cut” – Zack Snyder’s four-hour director’s cut of the DC film Justice League, which added an extra $70m to a $300m budget film.

“It cannot be released in its current state,” said El Arbi. “There’s no VFX … we still had some scenes to shoot. So if one day they want us to release the Batgirl movie, they’d have to give us the means to do it. To finish it properly with our vision.”

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World

Iran nuclear deal: US confirms it has sent response to EU on proposal to salvage the deal

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“As you know, we received Iran’s comments on the EU’s proposed final text through the EU. Our review of those comments has now concluded. We have responded to the EU today,” State Department spokesperson Ned Price said in a statement.

He did not provide details on the response, but it is not expected that the US will accept what Iran put forward without seeking changes and further negotiations.

US officials had voiced some optimism around the latest efforts to revive the nuclear deal, which the US left in 2018 during the Trump administration and which Tehran has increasingly violated since then. However, they have stressed that gaps remain between the two sides.

It is also expected to face significant domestic opposition from US congressional lawmakers, and has been denounced by Israel, whose prime minister said “will act to prevent Iran from becoming a nuclear state.” The negotiations over the nuclear deal are also set against a backdrop of continued concerns about threats from Iranian and Iranian-backed military groups.

EU spokesperson Nabila Massrali confirmed they “received the US response and have transmitted to Iran.”

Earlier on Wednesday, a spokesperson for Iran’s Foreign Ministry said they had received the US response via the EU and “the careful study of the views of the American side has started.”

“Iran will share its comments with the coordinator upon completion of the review,” Nasser Kanaani said, according to a statement by the Iranian Foreign Ministry.

The US answer was conveyed more than a week after Iran sent its response to what the EU’s top diplomat Josep Borrell called “a final text” to restore the nuclear deal. Borrell said Monday that the Iranian response was “reasonable.”

Price on Monday said the US government had been working “as quickly as we can, as methodically as we can and as carefully as we can see to it that our response is complete,” noting it “takes into account the Iranian feedback.”

Biden administration officials have claimed that Tehran dropped a number of demands that were in previous drafts of the text meant to restore the 2015 agreement, including the demand that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) be de-listed as a foreign terrorist organization.

Still issues to resolve

However, US officials have indicated that there are issues that still need to resolved before the US will agree to rejoin the deal — formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). Iran has increasingly violated its commitments to the agreement and grown its nuclear program in the wake of the US withdrawal.

“We’ve said all along that if Iran were prepared to re-enter the JCPOA and if it were willing to drop the demands that are extraneous to the JCPOA, that is to say the demands that Iran previously put forward that have nothing to do with the Iran deal, then we would be prepared on a mutual basis to re-enter the Iran deal,” Price said Wednesday morning in an interview on CNN’s “New Day.”

“We’re closer today, but we’re still not there,” he said.

The US sent its response to the EU a day after Israeli National Security Adviser Eyal Hulata met with his counterpart Jake Sullivan in Washington. On Wednesday, Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid reiterated his country’s opposition to “this agreement, because it is a bad one.”

Lapid called on the US and other parties to the deal to walk away from negotiations, and claimed the ” negotiators are ready to make concessions.”

“We have made it clear to everyone: if a deal is signed, it does not obligate Israel. We will act to prevent Iran from becoming a nuclear state,” he said during a press conference in Jerusalem.

Biden administration officials have denied making any concessions to Tehran and have argued that the resumption of the deal is the best way to prevent Iran from ever acquiring a nuclear weapon.

A senior administration official said that in the event of a full mutual reimplementation of the deal, a number of constraints would go into effect. They include a prohibition on Iran “enriching and stockpiling uranium above very limited levels,” the removal of “thousands of advanced centrifuges … including all of the centrifuges enriching at the fortified underground facility at Fordow,” and “a prohibition on reprocessing and the redesign of a reactor that could otherwise be used to produce weapons-grade plutonium.”

“Strict limits on Iranian enrichment would mean that even if Iran left the deal to pursue a nuclear weapon, it would take at least six months to do so,” the official said.

“In addition to the nuclear constraints Iran would have to implement, the IAEA would again be able to implement the most comprehensive inspections regime ever negotiated, allowing it to detect any Iranian effort to pursue a nuclear weapon covertly,” they added. “Much of that international monitoring would remain in place for an unlimited amount of time.”

CNN’s Hadas Gold, Emmet Lyons and Natasha Bertrand contributed reporting.

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Entertainment

Sylvester Stallone addresses reports that a dog caused marriage to end

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That’s the doggone truth.

Sylvester Stallone is denying claims that his 25-year-old marriage ended because of his dog.

On Wednesday, it was reported that Stallone’s wife, Jennifer Flavin, filed for divorce because they fought over a new Rottweiler named Dwight.

The argument over the pooch — Flavin didn’t want another pet while Stallone wanted the dog for “protection” — supposedly led to an “extremely heated argument that brought up other issues.”

But Stallone is denying the canine charges.

“We did not end the relationship on such a trivial argument,” the “Rocky” star, 76, told TMZ, although he did concede that the couple disagreed over “how to care for the dog” given they often travel and live in two homes.

Stallone named the Rottweiler, Dwight.
Instagram/officialslystallone

Stallone explained the surprise split as the couple just going “in different directions.”

“I have the highest respect for Jennifer,” he added. “I will always love her. She’s an amazing woman. She’s the nicest human being I’ve ever met.”

Stallone said he was “blindsided” by his wife filing for divorce.
Getty Images

He also cleared up the air regarding a tattoo of Flavin that he covered up with a portrait of Dwight.

“The Expendables” star explained that he wanted to “freshen” up his Flavin inking but “it got messed up and the dog was just a fix will no ill intention,” before adding that he still has a tattoo of his estranged wife on his back.

Page Six exclusively reported that Stallone was “blindsided’ by Flavin filing for divorce last week. He was shooting the Paramount+ series “Tulsa King” in Oklahoma City and was “shocked” when he got the news.

Stallone also explained why he covered up a tattoo of Flavin with a portrait of his dog.

“I’m sad to announce that after 25 years of marriage I have filed for divorce from my husband Sylvester Stallone,” Flavin told People.. “While we will no longer be married, I will always cherish the more than 30-year relationship that we shared, and I know we are both committed to our beautiful daughters.”

The couple first began dating in 1988, when Flavin was a 19-year-old model and Stallone was 42 and twice divorced. After an on-again-off-again relationship, the pair married in 1997 and share three daughters, Sophia, Sistine and Scarlet.

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World

Jackson Hole, HKEX cancels morning session on typhoon warning

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Qantas shares jump after the buyback announcement, earnings report

Shares of Australian airline Qantas jumped as much as 10% after the company reported earnings and announced plans for a share buyback.

The company posted an underlying loss before tax of 1.86 billion Australian dollars ($1.29 billion) for financial year of 2022.

“While the first three quarters of the year were defined by border closures and waves of uncertainty caused by Covid variants, the fourth quarter saw the highest sustained levels of travel demand since the start of the pandemic,” Qantas said in a statement.

It also announced plans to buy back shares worth up to 400 million Australian dollars, according to a filing.

“This is the first return to shareholders since 2019 and follows $1.4 billion of equity raised at the start of the pandemic,” the company said.

— Abigail Ng

CNBC Pro: Why Goldman Sachs thinks this FAANG stock is a sell

FAANG stocks delivered a mixed bag of second-quarter earnings, but Goldman Sachs is keeping its buy calls for nearly the entire grouping.

Just one stock is a sell, according to the bank.

Pro subscribers can read the story here.

— Zavier Ong

HKEX delays morning session due to Typhoon, to resume in afternoon

A restaurant’s windows at The Peak are taped up in Hong Kong on August 24, 2022, as Hong Kong Observatory issued a Typhoon Signal No. 8 earlier in the morning. HKEX canceled its morning session accordingly to the T8 issuance. (Photo by ISAAC LAWRENCE / AFP) (Photo by ISAAC LAWRENCE/AFP via Getty Images)

Isaac Lawrence | Afp | Getty Images

Hong Kong delayed its morning session due to the issuance of Typhoon Signal No. 8, the exchange announced on its website. The session’s likely to resume in the afternoon as the signal has now been downgraded to a T3.

“If Typhoon Signal No. 8 or above, or any announcement of Extreme Conditions, remains issued at 9:00 am, the morning trading sessions for all markets will be cancelled,” it says.

The HKEX’s guidance on its website on resuming its session says, “trading will begin on the first half hour approximately two hours after the discontinuation of the Typhoon Signal No. 8 or any Extreme Conditions announcement.”

—Jihye Lee

Bank of Korea raises rates

The Bank of Korea raised the nation’s benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points to 2.50%.

The move was in line with a poll by Reuters, where all but one of the 36 economists predicted the raise. One expected a 50 basis point hike.

That follows July’s 50 basis point raise — the biggest increase since the bank adopted the currency policy system in 1999, coming even as it expects gross domestic product growth “below the May forecast of 2.7%.”

The central bank’s Governor Rhee Chang-yong is expected to hold a press conference elaborating on today’s decision later in the morning.

— Jihye Lee

CNBC Pro: Morgan Stanley, UBS prefer these ‘cheap’ stocks, even in a recession

The risk of recession is growing, according to Canaccord Genuity’s analysts led by Tony Dwyer.

“Our indicators suggest a recession is increasingly likely as we move into next year, especially if the Fed continues to raise rates,” according to an Aug. 22 research note.

But according to Morgan Stanley and UBS, some stocks still look cheap — even with the risk of a slowdown priced in. Here are some of the stocks they prefer.

Pro subscribers can read the story here.

— Zavier Ong

Treasury yields rising on expectations of a hawkish Jackson Hole Fed meeting

Treasury yields are climbing ahead of the Federal Reserve’s annual symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyo. on the idea that the market view has been more dovish than the central bank.

The three-day event starts Thursday, and the market is most focused on a Friday morning speech from Fed Chairman Jerome Powell.

The market has been anticipating a hawkish Fed based on comments ahead of the meeting. For instance, some Fed officials have been pushing back on a market view that the Fed could cut interest rates not long after it finishes raising them next year.

Yields, which move opposite price, have been moving higher on expectations that Powell will emphasize an aggressive policy of battling inflation and holding rates at high levels for longer. The 10-year yield reached 3.11% Wednesday morning, the highest since late June.

“I think what the bond market is looking to try to understand is Powell’s view of this policy reversal in 2023,” said Jim Caron of Morgan Stanley Investment Management.

— Patti Domm

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Entertainment

Kiara Advani’s Role In Lust Stories Was First Offered To This Actress

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Kiara Advani in a still from Lust Stories. (courtesy YouTube)

Mumbai (Maharashtra):

Kiara Advani and Shahid Kapoor graced the Koffee couch in this week’s episode and the duo made sure the show was entertaining throughout with their funny, heartfelt and quirky revelations and stories. One of the things that got out in the public domain on the show was that Kiara’s role in her Netflix project Lust Stories was earlier offered to Kriti Sanon. Karan Johar directed his short film in the anthology that had Kiara Advani and Vicky Kaushal in the lead role. In the film, Kiara’s character Megha has an orgasm in front of the whole family and Kiara was appreciated for her acting skills and the way she pulled off that particular part.

While speaking about the film and how it made Kiara stand out as an actor in the series, Karan Johar revealed that he had a hard time finding someone to play the part. He said that he first offered the part to Kriti Sanon.

Karan said, “I had offered it to Kriti Sanon, the role…and she said that her mom didn’t allow her.”

Karan continued, “I thought everybody’s mom would stand in line, not allowing their daughters. It’s actually a very empowering story. It’s about a woman’s right to pleasure. So I met Kiara at Manish Malhotra’s house, and I just saw her, I knew her of course, I knew her as Alia Advani then…so I met her and I asked can you come tomorrow and meet me, it’s for a short film. She came and she heard it and then she was a little zoned out.

“She said, are you directing it? I said yes. Then she said, yeah! I’m doing it!” Kiara then admitted that she did the movie because Karan was directing it. She said, “I have to say that when I signed the film, it was only to work with Karan Johar.”

Lust Stories was released on Netflix in 2018. The anthology film consists of four short films, each directed by Anurag Kashyap, Zoya Akhtar, Dibakar Banerjee, and Karan Johar.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

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Science

Ancient Human Ancestor Walked on Two Legs 7 Million Years Ago, Scientists Find : ScienceAlert

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The switch to walking on two legs, instead of four, is a major moment in the evolution of our species, which is why scientists are keen to pinpoint exactly when it happened – and a new study puts the adaptation as happening around 7 million years ago.

That’s based on a detailed analysis of thigh (femur) and forearm (ulna) fossils from Sahelanthropus tchadensis, the oldest representative species of humanity. These fossils were first discovered in Toros-Menalla in Chad in 2001.

At the same time, it’s probably likely these early hominins did a fair bit of tree climbing using all four limbs as well – as you would expect if the species made the gradual shift from four legs to two legs.

“Here we present postcranial evidence of the locomotor behavior of S. tchadensis, with new insights into bipedalism at the early stage of hominin evolutionary history,” write the researchers in their published paper.

3D models of the Sahelanthropus tchadensis fossils. (Franck Guy/PALEVOPRIM/CNRS – University of Poitiers)

By comparing the thigh and forearm fossils with the equivalent bones from humans, chimpanzees, and gorillas, the researchers were able to figure out the mechanics of how they were used, and how this species moved about (its “locomotor mode”).

A total of 20 different characteristics of the fossilized bones were used to establish whether S. tchadensis walked on two legs or four, including the outer shape of the remains and the internal structures, assessed via microtomography imaging.

They concluded that “habitual bipedality” with some tree climbing was the most likely scenario.

The team also suggests that there is a difference between the way the species climbed trees compared to gorillas and chimpanzees of today: with firm hand grips, rather than leaning back on finger and toe bones.

“The curvature and cross-sectional geometric properties of the ulna… are indicative of habitual arboreal behaviors, including climbing and/or ‘cautious climbing’, rather than terrestrial quadrupedalism,” write the researchers.

The research builds on an earlier study of a skull fossil dug up at the same site and thought to also belong to S. tchadensis. The skull analysis suggested that these ape-like creatures were bipedal, but now there’s more comprehensive evidence.

The fossils date from around the time (between 6-8 million years ago) that humans split off genetically from chimpanzees and bonobos, which are our closest still-living relatives, so it’s a crucial stage – and one that has already attracted plenty of scientific debate.

These early hominins would have probably lived in an environment that mixed forests, palm groves and grasslands, with both walking on two legs and clambering up trees being options for them as they looked for food and water.

“The most parsimonious hypothesis remains that the postcranial morphology of Sahelanthropus is indicative of bipedality and that any other hypothesis would have less explanatory power for the set of features presented by the material from Chad,” write the researchers.

The research has been published in Nature.

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Business

China EV maker Xpeng to launch a Tesla Model Y competitor in 2023

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A new Xpeng P7 car is shown in the Xpeng Motors flagship store in a shopping mall. Xpeng P7 is one of the two popular models of Xpeng motors.

Zhang Peng | LightRocket | Getty Images

Chinese electric carmaker Xpeng teased details about two new vehicles it plans to release next year, with one positioned to be a competitor to Tesla’s Model Y.

Currently, the company has four vehicles on sale — the flagship P7 sedan, a cheaper P5 sedan, the G3 sports utility vehicle and a larger G9 SUV that will begin being delivered to customers in October.

Xpeng has been aggressive in launching vehicles as it looks to gain share in China’s fast-growing electric vehicle market and challenge leaders such as Tesla and Warren Buffett-backed BYD.

While the company has not released names or many details about the two new models slated for 2023, Xpeng President Brian Gu, provided some snippets of information.

One of the vehicles will be a so-called B-class vehicle and the other a C-class vehicle. The classes refer to the size of the vehicle. For context, the company’s P7 sedan is a B-class car while the G9 SUV is a C-class vehicle.

Gu said the B-class vehicle will launch in the first half of next year and is “actually going to target [an] even larger market segment” than the P7 sedan. He said the car can be considered a “strong competitor” to Tesla’s Model Y mid-sized SUV.

The C-class product will be released in the second half of 2023, Gu added.

“Given the premium and large format positioning, the number may be limited in terms of contribution,” Gu said of the C-class model. “But again, it’s still going to be targeting a brand-new segment that we did not cover before,” he added.

Gu also said the new models will not be sedans. He did not comment on the type of vehicle they would be.

The executive said the B-class model will be “different” to the upcoming G9 in terms of size and price point.

“So there’s minimal cannibalization from our model positioning and lineup,” Gu said.

Tesla’s Model Y is consistently one of the top-selling electric vehicles in China. But competition in the world’s largest electric car market is on the rise with Xpeng and rivals Nio and Li Auto trying to challenge the U.S. giant.

Details of Xpeng’s new cars came after the company reported a wider-than-expected loss in the second quarter of the year, and weak delivery guidance for the third quarter that sent its stock cratering.

Gu said with the launch of the G9 and its new cars next year, the company will enter a “growth cycle.”

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US

Jill Biden tests positive for rebound case of Covid-19

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Biden, who is currently in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, tested positive again for Covid-19 with an antigen test on Wednesday. She tested negative during a routine test on Tuesday.

Donohue says the first lady has not had a reemergence of symptoms. She added that a “small number of close contacts” with whom Biden had recent contact have been notified.

Biden first tested positive on August 15 while vacationing in Kiawah Island, South Carolina. The first lady had “cold-like symptoms,” according to Alexander, and was put on a cycle of the antiviral drug Paxlovid, which can trigger a rebound case of Covid-19 in some people several days after a negative test result.
Biden had two consecutive negative tests on Sunday and traveled from South Carolina to join President Joe Biden in Delaware.

President Biden tested negative Wednesday, a White House official told CNN. Following US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines, the President will mask for 10 days indoors because he is considered a close contact, the official said.

The President also took Paxlovid when he had Covid-19 last month, and he eventually tested positive for a rebound case of Covid-19, following initial negative tests.

Donohue told CNN that Jill Biden will remain at the family beach house in Delaware until she once again has two consecutive negative test results.

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Sports

Everyone Has The Same Theory With Tom Brady, Gisele

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TAMPA, FLORIDA – FEBRUARY 07: Tom Brady #12 of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers celebrates with Gisele Bundchen after winning Super Bowl LV at Raymond James Stadium on February 07, 2021 in Tampa, Florida. (Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)

Tom Brady officially returned to the Buccaneers on Monday, following an extended absence away from the team.

The 45-year-old seven-time Super Bowl-winning quarterback was away from the Bucs for 11 days for “personal reasons.” Brady has yet to address why he was away, outside of shooting down the wild “Masked Singer” rumor.

Still, one popular theory is emerging with Brady and his wife, Gisele Bundchen.

Fans and reporters seem to think that when Brady was retired earlier this year, he and his wife made plans to visit the Bahamas in mid-August.

Gisele made Brady follow through with those vacation plans, fans think.

“League sources indicated that his time away from the team included a trip to the Bahamas at an exclusive resort and primarily for family time with his wife, Gisele Bündchen. His commitment to family and having a personal life was at the heart of this hiatus from football, and there was no medical emergency, as speculated, or other reasons… 

A league source said that he was definitely not expected to retire again and would fulfill his commitments to his coaches and teammates,” Aaron Wilson reported.

Brady is back with his teammates now, though, just in time for the start of the regular season.

Tampa Bay opens the year against Dallas on Sunday, Sept. 11.

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US

U.S. judge blocks Idaho abortion ban in emergencies; Texas restrictions allowed

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FILE PHOTO – Abortion rights protesters participate in nationwide demonstrations following the leaked Supreme Court opinion suggesting the possibility of overturning the Roe v. Wade abortion rights decision, in Houston, Texas, U.S., May 14, 2022. REUTERS/Callaghan O’Hare

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Aug 24 (Reuters) – A federal judge on Wednesday blocked Idaho from enforcing a ban on abortions when pregnant women require emergency care, a day after a judge in Texas ruled against President Joe Biden’s administration on the same issue.

The conflicting rulings came in two of the first lawsuits over Biden’s attempts to keep abortion legal after the conservative majority U.S. Supreme Court in June overturned the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that legalized the procedure nationwide.

Legal experts said the dueling rulings in Idaho and Texas could, if upheld on appeal, force the Supreme Court to wade back into the debate.

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About half of U.S. states have or are expected to seek to ban or curtail abortions following Roe’s reversal. Those states include Idaho and Texas, which like 11 others adopted “trigger” laws banning abortion upon such a decision.

Abortion is already illegal in Texas under a separate, nearly century-old abortion ban that took effect after the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision. Idaho’s trigger ban takes effect on Thursday, the same day as in Texas and Tennessee.

In Idaho, U.S. District Judge B. Lynn Winmill agreed with the U.S. Department of Justice that the abortion ban taking effect Thursday conflicts with a federal law that ensures patients can receive emergency “stabilizing care.”

Winmill, who was appointed to the court by former Democratic President Bill Clinton, issued a preliminary injunction blocking Idaho from enforcing its ban to the extent it conflicts with federal law, citing the threat to patients.

“One cannot imagine the anxiety and fear (a pregnant woman) will experience if her doctors feel hobbled by an Idaho law that does not allow them to provide the medical care necessary to preserve her health and life,” Winmill wrote.

The Justice Department has said the federal Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act requires abortion care in emergency situations.

“Today’s decision by the District Court for the District of Idaho ensures that women in the State of Idaho can obtain the emergency medical treatment to which they are entitled under federal law,” U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a written statement.

“The Department of Justice will continue to use every tool at its disposal to defend the reproductive rights protected by federal law,” Garland said. The DOJ has said that it disagrees with the Texas ruling and is considering next legal steps.

U.S. District Judge James Wesley Hendrix ruled in the Texas case that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services went too far by issuing guidance that the same federal law guaranteed abortion care.

Hendrix agreed with Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, a Republican, that the guidance issued in July “discards the requirement to consider the welfare of unborn children when determining how to stabilize a pregnant woman.”

Hendrix, an appointee of former President Donald Trump, said the federal statute was silent as to what a doctor should do when there is a conflict between the health of the mother and the unborn child and that the Texas law “fills that void.”

Hendrix issued an injunction barring enforcement of the HHS guidance in Texas and against two groups of anti-abortion doctors who also challenged it, saying the Idaho case showed a risk the Biden administration might try to enforce it.

Hendrix declined to issue a nationwide injunction as Paxton wanted.

Appeals are expected in both cases and would be heard by separate appeals courts, one based in San Francisco with a reputation for leaning liberal and another in New Orleans known for conservative rulings.

Greer Donley, an assistant professor at the University of Pittsburgh Law School and expert on abortion law, said that if the conflicting rulings were upheld the U.S. Supreme Court may feel pressured to intervene.

“Without a federal right abortion, this is the type of legal chaos that most people were predicting would be happening,” she said.

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Reporting by Nate Raymond in Boston; Additional reporting by Dan Whitcomb in Los Angeles; Editing by Grant McCool and Christopher Cushing

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Nate Raymond

Thomson Reuters

Nate Raymond reports on the federal judiciary and litigation. He can be reached at nate.raymond@thomsonreuters.com.

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