Hungary votes to end legal recognition of trans people
Activists say new law will increase discrimination, especially as Hungarians must often display their ID cards
Hungary’s parliament has voted to end legal recognition for trans people, passing a bill that rights activists say pushes the country “back towards the dark ages”.
The new law defines gender as based on chromosomes at birth, meaning previous provisions whereby trans people could alter their gender and name on official documents will no longer be available.
Baghdad demands apology after EU embassies raise 'LGBTQ rainbow flag' in Iraqi capital
An LGBTQ flag that was raised by western diplomats in Iraq's capital Baghdad prompted a swift backlash online, forcing the missions to U-turn on the move.
OP: In my province (Quebec) of Canada, the treatment of elderly people has become a political scandal (there are already discussions of public inquiries into various such institutionsand class action lawsuits by families of elderly patients), because the rates of infections and deaths in institutions which care for the elderly are out of control. (Please note that some references are in French.)
This is however a worldwide problem including in the U.S. (first article is local (=Quebec) while the second has a more global perspective). ---------------------------
COVID-19 in Quebec: With long-term care homes still short-staffed, premier asks Ottawa for 1,000 soldiers
Number of seniors' residences considered 'critical' by the province nearly doubled in 1 week
Another 1,000 soldiers will join the 65 troops with medical training who arrived earlier this week to support staff at CHSLDs [i.e., this acronym refers to long term-care facilities for the elderly in Quebec]. ------------------------
How science finally caught up with Trump's playbook – with millions of lives at stake
The president’s failure to heed the warnings about coronavirus and act quickly has set in train a domino effect that now imperils large swathes of the US
Donald Trump leaves a coronavirus taskforce briefing at the White House in Washington DC on 2 April. (OP: I figured I'd give you a puppy pic instead...)
( Collapse ) OP: I'll admit I was venting with the tags...
OP note: The following article was written in relation to the Canadian context, however it is interesting for more than this specific context because it details why the idea of 'flattening the curve' is of COVID-19 infections is so important. (Note: This article was published a week ago.) ------------------ Canadians being urged to help 'flatten the curve' of COVID-19
Goal is to slow the spread of the virus in order to reduce the load on the country's health-care system
A COVID-19 information letter is shown at a coronavirus evaluation clinic in Montreal on Tuesday. Experts say the key is to now slow the spread of the virus in Canada and 'flatten the curve,' which refers to an epidemiological graph of a disease outbreak. ---------------------- ( Collapse )
Fears over coronavirus legislation that gives no time limit for state of emergency
Hungary’s parliament has passed a new set of coronavirus measures that includes jail terms for spreading misinformation and gives no clear time limit to a state of emergency that allows the nationalist prime minister, Viktor Orbán, to rule by decree.
Parliament voted by 137 to 53 to pass the measures on Monday afternoon, with the two-thirds majority enjoyed by Orbán’s Fidesz party enough to push them through in spite of opposition from other parties, which had demanded a time limit or sunset clause on the legislation.
The bill introduces jail terms of up to five years for intentionally spreading misinformation that hinders the government response to the pandemic, leading to fears that it could be used to censor or self-censor criticism of the government response.
Hungarian state media bosses told staff they need permission to report on Greta Thunberg and EU politics, and banned coverage of reports from leading human rights organizations, according to internal emails obtained by POLITICO.
Editors working in state media are provided with lists of sensitive topics, and any coverage related to the issues mentioned requires staff to send draft content for approval from higher up, the internal correspondence shows. In the case of Thunberg, the Swedish climate activist, journalists were told they need permission before they even start writing, according to one email.
Journalists do not know who ultimately green-lights the articles whose subject matter is on the list, said one state media employee, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to fear of reprisal. When something gets rejected by the unknown decision-makers, senior editors sometimes euphemistically refer to it as reporting that "fell in battle," the employee said.
Hungary is currently subject to the EU's Article 7 censure procedure, triggered when the bloc's fundamental values are considered at risk in a member country. The European Parliament launched the procedure in 2018, citing media freedom as one of many issues that gave cause for alarm. Prime Minister Viktor Orbán's government has dismissed such concerns.
Hungary's new patriotic education meets resistance
There is growing opposition in Hungary to the government's modified national curriculum, which aims to instil a spirit of national pride in school pupils.
Critics - including many schools and teachers' organisations - draw parallels with the Communist period, when the governing party imposed its own ideology.
