Frances Millar

IF YOU listen closely and you can almost hear the scratch of a match as JK Rowling lights up another celebratory cigar.

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The International Olympic Committee, under new president Kirsty Coventry, is to ban transgender women from taking part in female competitions.

Last week the committee's medical and scientific director, Dr Jane Thornton presented the findings of a science-based review to members. Presumably this entailed Dr Thornton standing in front of a large flipchart pointing to a male body on one page, flipping to a female body on the next, and on the next page written in large letters: "Spot the difference".