New top story from Time: Dutch Prime Minister Challenges Hungary’s Orban to Leave the E.U. Over Anti-LGBTQ Law

https://ift.tt/3vYw0aG

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte challenged Viktor Orban to trigger the process of leaving the European Union as a spat over LGBTQ rights deepened the Hungarian premier’s isolation in the bloc.

During a summit in Brussels on Thursday, Rutte asked why Orban doesn’t leave the EU if it doesn’t subscribe to its values, according to two diplomats familiar with the comments. Other countries joined the chorus lambasting Orban over a controversial law curtailing public discussion of LGBTQ issues.

Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven told the leaders during the two-day meeting that his country’s taxpayers wouldn’t contribute funds to member states that don’t respect human rights, said one of the diplomats, who asked not to be identified because the discussions are private.
[time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”]

The furor comes after Hungary’s parliament approved legislation last week outlawing content for children that can be deemed to “promote homosexuality.” The bill, which pairs the LGBTQ community with pedophilia, extends a law adopted last year that effectively bans same-sex partners from adopting children and enshrines in the constitution that marriage is only between a man and a woman.

During the talks, Orban complained that he was being attacked from all sides and that other leaders had misunderstood the law, according to diplomats briefed on the meeting. Orban said the legislation doesn’t target homosexuality and that he is ready to work with the European Commission over any possible infraction.

Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi told Orban it is up to the commission to establish whether Hungary may have violated EU treaties, the diplomats said.

The EU’s executive arm has triggered legal proceedings against the law, adding to signs that it will toughen its stance when assessing whether Hungary and regional ally Poland have descended into authoritarianism. Later this year, the commission may propose the freezing of payments from the bloc’s jointly financed stimulus program and common budget to the two countries, citing risks for the misallocation of funds due to the lack of democratic checks and balances.

–With assistance from Katharina Rosskopf, John Follain, Alberto Nardelli, Samy Adghirni, Joao Lima, Arne Delfs, Milda Seputyte, Jasmina Kuzmanovic, Jan Bratanic, Andra Timu and Allegra Catelli.

Comments

Mumbai terror attack 12 years on: Remembering the heroes of 26/11 https://ift.tt/2J9bWA8

Floral tributes were paid on Thursday to the martyrs who laid down their lives while fighting terrorists who attacked Mumbai on November 26, 2008. "Their sacrifice will never be erased from the memory of time and history. Today, we pay tribute to our saviours #2611Attack #2611Martyrs," Mumbai Police tweeted.

Biking by the Numbers: San Francisco’s 2019 Biking Statistics

Biking by the Numbers: San Francisco’s 2019 Biking Statistics By Bradley Dunn Bicycling moves people around San Francisco using less space per person than when people go by driving. The SFMTA encourages bicycling and makes yearly ridership and trend data public. While Bike-to-Work day has moved to September this year due to the ongoing pandemic, we are excited to share San Francisco’s 2019 citywide bicycling data that we usually release in May. The SFMTA uses a variety of bicycle infrastructure and data metrics as indicators of a healthy and growing bicycle network. In 2019, the Agency prioritized the development of a robust data management system, improving high-quality bikeway infrastructure to make bicycling less stressful and more appealing, and expanding access to bikeshare services across the city. As in past years, 2019 data is pulled from the SFMTA’s automated bike counters, annual manual count data, operator-provided bikeshare data, and the US Census. Here are some key fin...

Central Subway Revenue Service Update

Central Subway Revenue Service Update By Enrique Aguilar Central Subway Finishes Year on a High Note As we say goodbye to 2021 and bring in the new year, construction crews for the Central Subway remain laser-focused on the finish line and are working towards completing items in our substantial punch list. It includes testing and certifying elevators and escalators, installing all ticket vending machines and completing small tasks that need to be addressed before the start of service, anticipated for October 2022. Early next year, construction work will continue on the surface near 4th and King streets to install overhead wire and support systems connecting the Central Subway to the existing Metro system. Train and traffic signaling work and installation of new street lighting between Bryant and Townsend will also resume on 4th Street. Now that station elevators and escalators are fully functional and tested, equipment must be certified to meet local and federal safety requirement...

Enhancing Safety on Franklin Street

Enhancing Safety on Franklin Street By Mark Dreger We're excited to share an update on the Franklin Street Quick-Build Project, an effort to enhance traffic safety on Franklin Street between Broadway and Lombard Streets. This roadway stretch was the site of 38 collisions between 2017 and 2021, including the tragic loss of a Sherman Elementary School paraeducator in November 2021. Our data-driven approach focuses on several key safety improvements, and we are ready to share the evaluation results and the next steps to bring further safety changes to Franklin Street. The project includes the implementation of a suite of safety measures focused on the intersections where neighborhood stakeholders expressed most concerns during the outreach process. Painted safety zones (PSZs) have been installed to increase pedestrian visibility at crosswalks by keeping the corners of intersections clear. Slow-turn wedges have been added to encourage drivers to turn at safer speeds...

New top story from Time: The Trial of the Chicago 7 Is as Entertaining—and Galvanizing—as Anything You’ll See This Year

https://ift.tt/304Ck3k Though it’s tempting to view the courtroom sketch as a quaint relic of legal decorum, the physicality of drawing is urgent in a way that camerawork can’t always match. If you’re so inclined, you can Google a color-crayon courtroom drawing from October 29, 1969 showing Bobby Seale —cofounder of the Black Panthers and one of eight men put on trial that year for staging anti-war demonstrations at the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago—gagged and bound to a chair. Earlier, in a fit of justified anger, he’d verbally interrupted the proceedings; the judge responded by ordering court officers to remove him from the court and restrain him. The drawing, by Howard Brodie and preserved in the Library of Congress, shows Seale holding his strong posture to the degree it’s physically possible, as he strains to write something on a legal pad; a Stravinsky-like stanza of strokes, slashes and loops, the sketch is an urgent, evocative work of reportage. That ...

New top story from Time: Cleveland Baseball Team Reportedly Dropping Indians Name After 105 Years

https://ift.tt/2LpSBeG (CLEVELAND) — The Cleveland Indians are changing their name after 105 years. Citing three people familiar with the decision, The New York Times reported Sunday night that the team is moving away from a name considered racist for decades. The Indians have been internally discussing a potential name change for months. A team spokesman told The Associated Press the franchise has no immediate comment on the report. The Times said the team could make a formal announcement later this week. It’s not known when the name change will take affect or if the team has settled on a new moniker. Cleveland’s move away from Indians follows a similar decision earlier this year by the NFL’s Washington Football Team, which was previously known as the Redskins. For years, Native American groups and others have protested against Cleveland’s use of Indians as its name as well as other imagery used by the American League charter franchise founded in 1901. Last year, the ...

New top story from Time: Colorado Governor Orders New Probe Into Elijah McClain’s Death Amid Nationwide Outcry. Here’s What to Know

https://ift.tt/2Yzrx0U Colorado Governor Jared Polis confirmed Thursday that he has instructed the state’s top prosecutor to open a new probe into the death of Elijah McClain, a 23-year-old Black man who died in police custody in Aurora last year. McClain’s case is one of several involving Black people dying at the hands of police that is finding renewed attention in the wake of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor ‘s killings — deaths that have led to widespread protests and outrage. Polis said he’s heard the outcry over the case and that public confidence in law enforcement is “incredibly important now more than ever.” “Elijah McClain should be alive today, and we owe it to his family to take this step and elevate the pursuit of justice in his name to a statewide concern,” Polis said in a statement Thursday. Polis also said he “signed an Executive Order designating Attorney General Phil Weiser to investigate and, if the facts support prosecution, criminally prosecute any ...

FOX NEWS: Canine influenza outbreak: What dog owners need to know A canine influenza outbreak in Los Angeles is drawing up concern among pet owners on the West Coast.

Canine influenza outbreak: What dog owners need to know A canine influenza outbreak in Los Angeles is drawing up concern among pet owners on the West Coast. via FOX NEWS https://ift.tt/lTOH3qM

20,000 national guards with lethal weapons being deployed in Washington DC https://ift.tt/3ic9u93

The Pentagon is deploying 20,000 National Guards with lethal weapons here, a week ahead of the inauguration, to prevent any violence as experienced on January 6, with intelligence agencies receiving information about move to create violence and chaos across the country. As many as 15,000 have already been deployed in and around the Capitol Hill and another 5,000 would be added around the January 20 inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden. This is now twice the number of American troops in Afghanistan and Iraq combined.

New top story from Time: Anne Lamott’s Advice Could Stop You From Drowning in Cynicism

https://ift.tt/3m8JRbR Well hello! I’m so glad you’re here. A version of this article also appeared in the It’s Not Just You newsletter. Sign up to get a new edition every Saturday. This year has tested my lack of faith. I was raised as an erratic agnostic, unsure about being unsure. But lately, I’m not the only one scrabbling for meaning or optimism or even someone to blame for the various messes in which we find ourselves. And who better to address this moment than bestselling author Anne Lamott , who has both faith and a fierce sense of humor? [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] Lamott has written 19 books , many of them wry memoirs about spirituality , addiction, recovery, and hope , in addition to her beloved classics about motherhood and advice for writers . She has a vast following that crosses cultural boundaries, though she refers to herself as an “unabashed, extremely left-wing Christian, and the New York Times has described her as “ a feminist C.S. Lewis...

My precise view

Search This Blog