Saudi man crashes car into gates of Mecca’s Grand Mosque https://ift.tt/3ecGJXJ

A Saudi man in a speeding car crashed into the outer gates of Mecca’s Grand Mosque late Friday night, the country’s state-run news agency reported.

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New top story from Time: How Are Activists Managing Dissension Within the ‘Defund the Police’ Movement?

https://ift.tt/3qRRGDU In June 2020, the Minneapolis city council announced plans to disband its police department following the killing of George Floyd . The council’s decision came after days of protesting and unrest in the city—and across the country —related to Floyd’s death and calls for larger-scale accountability from law enforcement. Central in many of these calls-for-action was a phrase soon to go global: “defund the police.” Eight months later, however, and the city’s police department has not been dissolved, though a lot has happened in the interim; Minneapolis’ struggle to implement meaningful reforms serves as a microcosm of how the “defund the police” movement has impacted the country. Council members who initially supported the idea have walked back their positions. In August the city charter delayed the council’s proposal to disband the police pending further review, only to reject the proposal entirely in November. ( Instead, there have been some rollback...

New top story from Time: What Learned About Ourselves In the First Year of the Pandemic

https://ift.tt/3dTjNPp A version of this article appeared in this week’s It’s Not Just You newsletter . SUBSCRIBE HERE to have an It’s Not Just You essay delivered to your inbox every Sunday. March is the anteroom of months. It’s both the end of last year’s winter and the beginning of the new year’s spring. It’s half slush, half-quixotic hope. I had my first baby in March–a child that arrived nine days late, already a solid little being with startling almond eyes and the appetite of a toddler. I had no idea what I was doing; we two just hunkered down and tried to figure each other out. I still flounder at the start of every March, for different reasons every year, staggering out of February a soggy, angsty creature whose clothes don’t fit. But somehow, I slip-slide toward the end of the month, and things start to make sense. Maybe the vernal equinox is what helps get us back on track every spring. It’s that moment, usually, on the 20th or 21st of March, wh...

New top story from Time: How a Belarusian Teacher and Stay-at-Home Mom Came to Lead a National Revolt

https://ift.tt/3bD4WG2 On a hot summer day last August, Svetlana Tikhanovskaya was pacing up and down her empty apartment in Minsk, the capital of Belarus in Central Europe, her life—and her country—in turmoil. With her husband in jail, she had sent her two small children out of the country, to safety, and she now faced a stark choice, bluntly handed to her by the nation’s hard-line security forces: flee into exile herself, or face arrest. “I had a couple of hours, but I could not pack anything, because I was so overstressed,” she recalls. “It was a shock. I was not prepared for this.” Indeed, it is hard to imagine how Tikhanovskaya could have prepared for the jolting transformation of her life. Within the space of a few months, she emerged from obscurity to become the leader of Belarus’ biggest revolt in decades, determined to bring down President Alexander Lukashenko, who has ruled the former Soviet republic with an iron hand for more than 26 years as what many call Euro...

New top story from Time: Australia Says Facebook Will Lift the Country’s News Ban

https://ift.tt/3sfPDd1 CANBERRA, Australia — Australia’s government announced on Tuesday that Facebook has agreed to lift its ban on Australians sharing news after a deal was struck on legislation that would make digital giants pay for journalism. Treasurer Josh Frydenberg and Facebook confirmed in statements that they had reached agreement on amendments to proposed legislation that would make the social network and Google pay for news that they feature. Facebook blocked Australian users from accessing and sharing news last week after the House of Representatives passed the draft law late Wednesday. The Senate will debate amended legislation on Tuesday. “The government has been advised by Facebook that it intends to restore Australian news pages in the coming days,” Frydenberg and Communications Minister Paul Fletcher said in a statement.

New top story from Time: Hunters Kill 20% of Wisconsin’s Wolf Population in Just 3 Days of Hunting Season

https://ift.tt/3kpEd3y (MADISON, Wis.) — Wisconsin hunters and trappers killed nearly double the number of wolves that the state allotted for a weeklong season, and they did it so quickly that officials ended the hunt after less than three days, according to figures released Thursday. Nontribal hunters and trappers registered 216 wolves as of Thursday afternoon, blowing past the state’s kill target of 119. The state Department of Natural Resources estimated before the hunt that there were about 1,000 wolves in the state. Its population goal for the animal is 350. The wolf season began Monday and was supposed to run through Sunday, but the DNR shut it down Wednesday afternoon as it became clear hunters would exceed the target. Hunters and trappers were given a 24-hour grace period, allowing them to remain in the field until Thursday afternoon. Hunters and trappers also exceeded their kill targets in the three previous wolf seasons but never by more than 10 animals. “This ...

New top story from Time: How the Ratatouille Musical Went From TikTok Sensation to All-Star Broadway Production

https://ift.tt/3rIqW9G The chef’s hats were never going to arrive at the actors’ houses on time. In early December, Seaview Productions announced that they would transform a viral TikTok phenomenon into Ratatouille: The TikTok Musical, a professional production featuring veteran performers like Wayne Brady and Tituss Burgess, in just under a month. Musicals, even virtual ones, typically take months, if not years, to produce. And with the holidays looming, Seaview couldn’t ship microphones, green screens or tiny rat ears to the cast in time to record their scenes. “Our costume consultant, Tilly Grimes, looked through the actors’ closets over video chat,” says producer Greg Nobile, who produced Jeremy O. Harris’ Tony-nominated Slave Play and the Jake Gyllenhaal starrer Sea Wall/A Life . “We just asked, ‘Do you have gray?’ ‘Do you have makeup so you can put whiskers on your face?’ ‘Can you make those mittens look like rat’s feet?’ The point was to really lean into the aesthe...

UK returnee tests positive for COVID-19 in Tripura https://ift.tt/3rsk8Nf

A man who has recently returned from the United Kingdom has tested positive for COVID-19 in Tripura, but it is yet to be ascertained whether he has been infected by the mutant coronavirus strain, a senior official said on Saturday.

New top story from Time: Deaths and Blackouts Have Hit the U.S. Northwest Due to the Unprecedented Heat Wave

https://ift.tt/2UgzckI SPOKANE, Wash. — The unprecedented Northwest U.S. heat wave that slammed Seattle and Portland, Oregon, moved inland Tuesday — prompting a electrical utility in Spokane, Washington, to resume rolling blackouts amid heavy power demand. Officials said a dozen deaths in Washington and Oregon may be tied to the intense heat that began late last week. The dangerous weather that gave Seattle and Portland consecutive days of record high temperatures exceeding 100 degrees Fahrenheit (37.7 degrees Celcius) was expected to ease in those cities. But inland Spokane saw temperatures spike. The National Weather Service said the mercury reached 109 F (42.2 C) in Spokane— the highest temperature ever recorded there. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] About 9,300 Avista Utilities customers in Spokane lost power on Monday and the company said more planned blackouts began on Tuesday afternoon in the city of about 220,000 people. “We try to limit outages to one hour per...

Destination San Francisco: Muni Gets You to All the Sights

Destination San Francisco: Muni Gets You to All the Sights By 39 Coit servicing Coit Tower at Telegraph Hill – one of the routes that will be returning in August 2021 as part of Muni’s next service changes. San Francisco is reopening and the SFMTA is supporting economic recovery by providing Muni access to 98% of the city. By August 2021, a majority of our pre-COVID routes will be back in service connecting residents and visitors with world-class shopping and dining experiences, off-the-beaten-path local flare, diverse neighborhoods and almost boundless outdoor activities. Shops, Markets & Dining in Diverse Neighborhoods Virtually every neighborhood in San Francisco has its own boutique shopping and dining experiences, as well as unique farmers markets showcasing local shops and amenities....

'Rail Roko' agitation enters 6th day; farmers to now announce mass agitation across nation https://ift.tt/3jcjIWT

The 'rail roko' agitation by farmers in Punjab has entered the sixth day today (Tuesday). This goes in continuation with the farmers announcing a protest against the three farm bills passed by parliament recently will be extended till October 2. Farmers under the banner of Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee have been squatting on rail tracks since September 24.

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