Donald Trump has been sending mixed messages on abortion. As president, he appointed three of the six Supreme Court justices who overturned Roe v. Wade and opened the door to abortion bans in red states. Now, as a presidential candidate, he would rather downplay the issue.

What is his current stance?
Trump's allies this summer backed a Republican Party platform that "abandons the party's long-standing explicit support for national restrictions" on reproductive rights, said The Washington Post. The platform, essentially a statement of where the party stands, leaves the way open for courts to "grant fetuses additional legal rights" – which would narrow any remaining abortion protections – but the "watered-down language" infuriated the GOP's influential anti-abortion wing. Trump has instead made the case that "abortion rights should be left to the states", said CNN. He has refused to endorse a national abortion ban – and his running mate, J.D. Vance, said Trump would even veto one.

Return of a 'zombie law'?
The former president wouldn't necessarily need to pass a new ban to restrict abortion at a federal level. A "movement has been gaining steam" to use an existing 1873 law, called the Comstock Act, to limit abortion nationwide, said Meghan Bartels at Scientific American.

This "zombie law", which has stood "unenforced for decades", forbids sending "instruments of contraception or abortion" via post. With medical abortions now accounting for most terminations in the US, abortion rights activists are worried. But, so far, Trump has rejected the notion of enforcing the ancient law.

Will Trump's abortion plans change?
The abortion issue is turning into Trump's "greatest dilemma", said MSNBC's Anthea Butler. The policies of his anti-abortion evangelical supporters "are not popular" – even red states such as Kansas have voted against restrictions. But he "needs those white evangelical voters to stick by his side". 

Lila Rose, founder of pro-life group Live Action, has warned that Trump is "making it impossible" to back him. We need candidates "who are going to be fighters for the pre-born", she told the BBC. 

As Trump tries to woo both sides of the debate, his abortion policy plans are unlikely to be confirmed until, or unless, he regains the White House.

If you've ever bought garments labeled the same size from two different stores, only to find one fits perfectly and the other doesn't, you're not alone. Shoppers are increasingly frustrated by inconsistent clothing sizes on the high street.

The problem seems to be even worse online, said Katie Rosseinsky in The Independent. "Ordering multiple sizes, crossing your fingers and hoping that one might fit has become commonplace." So why is it so hard to find clothes that fit?

'Vanity sizing' vs. 'compensatory spending'
Each brand tends to have a "base" or "sample" size that is used to create their design prototypes, and they "won't necessarily line up with those used by others", said Rosseinsky.

There are other factors at play too, such as the "plague that is 'vanity sizing'", said Shakaila Forbes-Bell in Cosmopolitan. The practice of "altering measurements to allow customers to fit into smaller sizes" has been exploited because the boost that can come from believing we are a smaller size "causes us to spend more".

It can also work the other way around; some brands run smaller than usual. A study published in the Journal of Consumer Psychology suggested that having to size up can cause "compensatory spending", in which "we end up buying more to assuage our body hang-ups".

Time for 'universal sizing'?
"Erratic sizing isn't just bad for our self-esteem – it's damaging for the environment too," said Rosseinsky. A survey from the British Fashion Council last year found that wrong sizing or fit was behind 93% of returns, which has a knock-on effect for transport-related carbon emissions.

One solution to the "sizing debacle" would be the introduction of universal sizing, said Leah Harper in The Guardian. But fashion technology expert Simeon Gill warned that shapes and distributions of bodies differ so much that it might not work. There are also the "complexities of cultural and regional variations in body types and preferences", said Shingo Tsukamoto, president of sizing technology specialist Makip.

Another option may be to go "totally bespoke" and buy far fewer clothes. If you had "five pieces of clothing tailored to your body, they would all fit", journalist and author Heather Radke told Harper. "So the answer may be something none of us is totally willing to do, which is to change our relationship with clothes and how many we have."

As Sober October gathers pace, people nationwide are taking a month-long break from booze before Christmas party season rolls around. Beyond the "obvious" benefits that come with abstaining from alcohol – better sleep, reduced anxiety and a clearer head – there are other perks too, from "glowier skin" to "deeper relationships", said Christina Pérez in Vogue.

Even a "modest" reduction in drinking can lead to significant improvements in blood pressure and liver health, said Anahad O'Connor in The Washington Post. So if it's more of a "sober-ish" October, cutting back will still "count as a success". And to help, there are plenty of alcohol-free drinks that taste like the real thing. 

Guinness 0.0
With no alcohol, half the calories of the original and a proper head thanks to the "clever" widget inside the can, Guinness 0.0 looks almost identical to a draught pint of the original, said Anne Shooter in The Times. The "mouthfeel is the same too" – but it tastes "ever so slightly sweeter and less bitter than the full-fat version".

Everleaf
This bittersweet zero-alcohol aperitif tastes of "cloudy lemonade with an 'adult' edge", said Jennifer Savin in Cosmopolitan. "Extremely quaffable", it's ideal for those looking to try something entirely new that "isn't really comparable to any traditional liquors".

Zeno Alcohol-Liberated White
"Clean, crisp", and "packed with tropical fruit", this alcohol-free white wine is an "excellent match for seafood and spicy curries", said Stacey Smith in Women's Health. Fermented using the same process as a normal wine, then "gently heated until the booze bubbles off", expect notes of apple, passionfruit and ripe mango.

New Tory leader must finally bury Boris
Jenni Russell in The Times
Boris Johnson has a clear and "immediate" aim in writing his new memoir, writes Jenni Russell. The former PM wants to test whether he can "lever a misleading version of his past into an eventual comeback". Johnson is "crouched, combative, a man re-entering the arena". But he "haunts" the Conservative Party because his "undeniable talent is his mischief, his warm public manner, his likeability". The Tories "shouldn't give him the chance" to return.

I wish you could see the living nightmare in Palestine. But how much more must we see before something is done?
Nesrine Malik in The Guardian
The "violation of Palestinians" is "colossal", writes Nesrine Malik. "I wish you could see it all" as I have during visits to the occupied West Bank, "but really, what more do we need to see beyond what is happening at the sharpest end in Gaza?" The problem "isn't that we don't know, but that so little changes despite our knowledge". You cannot "deny" rights to Palestinians and "expect them to underwrite peace and stability by submitting to their fate as subhuman".

Why are we feeding so much fast food to our kids? Ask men
Lucy Mangan on the i news site
Ultra-processed foods have been "having a moment as THE great contemporary evil", writes Lucy Mangan. A recent study of a 2007-08 dataset showed UK toddlers were getting nearly half of their calorific intake from these foods, increasing to 59% by the time they were seven, and those rates are likely to have increased since. It's a "class issue" and, given that "most of the work of feeding a family" still "falls disproportionately on women", it's a "feminist one too".