US Gay Marriage Ruling Yields Real-life Impact
- Get link
- X
- Other Apps
Friday’s landmark Supreme Court decision legalizing same-sex marriage throughout the United States is an outcome few thought possible just years ago, and shows a nation that increasingly tolerates and even celebrates the hopes and aspirations of gay people. VOA’s Michael Bowman spoke to a same-sex couple that will benefit from the high court ruling, and to a Christian scholar who is apprehensive about its potential consequences for America’s faith community.
Originally published at - http://www.voanews.com/media/video/us-gay-rights-ruling-impact/2841088.html
The U.S. Supreme Court decision mandating marriage equality nationwide has energized gay rights supporters around the world. Gay rights remain a highly contentious issue in a key U.S. ally, South Korea, where police did a deft job Sunday of preventing potential clashes between Christian protesters and gay activists. Kurt Achin reports from Seoul.
Originally published at - http://www.voanews.com/media/video/south-korea-christians-protest-gay-rights-festival/2841108.html
As world powers and Iran continue nuclear negotiations in Vienna, many observers are optimistic a deal will be reached soon. But hardliners are amping up the rhetoric on both sides. And while a deal that can be implemented successfully may be difficult to reach, VOA’s Heather Murdock reports from Vienna that analysts say out-dated ideas are simply no longer a practical factor in negotiations.
VOA's Pamela Dockins reports from the scene of the Iran nuclear talks in Vienna, Austria.
Beautiful brownstones and a celebrated park make Park Slope one of New York's most family-friendly--and pricey--neighborhoods.
Produced by: Nacho Corbella, Eileen Mignoni and Aaron Wolfe
Read the story here: http://nyti.ms/1e1Aohm
Subscribe to the Times Video newsletter for free and get a handpicked selection of the best videos from The New York Times every week: http://bit.ly/timesvideonewsletter
Subscribe on YouTube: http://bit.ly/U8Ys7n
Watch more videos at: http://nytimes.com/video
---------------------------------------------------------------
Want more from The New York Times?
Twitter: https://twitter.com/nytvideo
Instagram: http://instagram.com/nytvideo
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nytimes
Google+: https://plus.google.com/+nytimes
Whether it's reporting on conflicts abroad and political divisions at home, or covering the latest style trends and scientific developments, New York Times video journalists provide a revealing and unforgettable view of the world. It's all the news that's fit to watch. On YouTube.
A Look at Park Slope, Brooklyn | Real Estate, Block by Block | The New York Times
http://www.youtube.com/user/TheNewYorkTimes
http://www.youtube.com/user/TheNewYorkTimes
Read the whole story
· ·
 Fox News |
Supreme Court to rule in lethal injection, redistricting and mercury emission ...
Fox News WASHINGTON – The fate of a drug commonly used to carry out lethal injections could go down as one of the most bitter battles between the liberal and conservative justices on the U.S. Supreme Court. On Monday, justices will decide whether the use of the ... and more » |
Next Page of Stories
Loading...
Page 2
 NBCNews.com |
At gay pride parades, rings of joy after court's marriage ruling
Washington Post SAN FRANCISCO — At 10:22 Sunday morning, on the corner of crowded Beale and Market streets, Tara Sorgentoni hopped off a rumbling motorcycle, raced over to her girlfriend and knelt with a small whiteboard containing her marriage proposal. Gay Pride Parade Highlights From New York and San FranciscoNew York Times Gay marriage ruling bolsters crowd, Pride ParadeChicago Sun-Times San Francisco Pride leads celebration of supreme court same-sex rulingThe Guardian NBCNews.com -San Jose Mercury News -Washington Times all 999 news articles » |
 NBCNews.com |
Prison Worker Helps NC Murderer Escape, Authorities Say
NBCNews.com In a case strikingly similar to the escape of Richard Matt and David Sweat in upstate New York, convicted murderer Kristopher Antonio McNeil escaped a North Carolina prison with the help of a prison worker and remains at large, authorities said Sunday. Authorities: N.C. Prison employee had sex with inmate, helped him escapeThe State NC prison worker accused of helping inmate escapeLompoc Record all 74 news articles » |
High Colombian official urges courts to OK same-sex marriage
Washington Post BOGOTA, Colombia — A top Cabinet minister on Sunday urged Colombia's courts to legalize same-sex marriage and support the right of such couples to adopt. Interior Minister Juan Fernando Cristo noted Friday's decision by the U.S. Supreme Court that ... and more » |
 Irish Independent |
French suspect in beheading 'sent selfie to contact in Syria'
Irish Independent A French Islamist, who confessed yesterday to decapitating his boss in a car park, may have sent a selfie photograph in which he posed with the severed head to Syria. Ads by Google. Share. Facebook · Twitter · Google · Email. Go To. Comments. According ... France attack suspect Yassin Salhi admits to decapitating bossFinancial Express French Assailant Texted Beheading Photo to Canadian NumberNew York Times Suspect in French beheading attack admits killing his bosseuronews The Australian (blog)-The Globe and Mail -ABC Online all 563 news articles » |
 WRIC |
FBI warns of possible terror threat ahead of holiday weekend
WRIC RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — As many of us prepare for the upcoming Fourth of July holiday, there are some new concerns about terror threats after a weekend of attacks in France, Kuwait and Tunisia. U.S. officials are concerned about the possibility of an ... The new normal in terrorismLivemint No Malaysian casualties in France, Tunisia and Kuwait attacksAstro Awani No end in sightIsrael Hayom AllAfrica.com-Morocco World News all 87 news articles » |
 NBCNews.com |
Sen. Ted Cruz: Supreme Court Justices 'Violated Their Oaths'
NBCNews.com Republican Texas Senator and presidential hopeful Ted Cruz spoke to TODAY's Savannah Guthrie on Monday about the latest Supreme Court rulings in an appearance Monday to discuss his new book, "A Time For Truth: Reigniting the Promise of America.". Obamacare ReconciliationHuffington Post Ted Cruz isn't taking the marriage ruling wellMSNBC Obamacare critics: Wrong on the law, wrong on the factsAtlanta Journal Constitution (blog) Washington Times -The Hill (blog) -NPR all 89 news articles » |
Next Page of Stories
Loading...
Page 3
 Christian Science Monitor |
Texas attorney general calls court's gay marriage decision 'a lawless ruling'
Christian Science Monitor Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said he will defend state officials refusing to grant same-sex marriage licenses or perform weddings based on religious beliefs. By Sarah Caspari, Staff writer June 29, 2015. Save for later Saved. close. In this Jan. 5, 2015 ... Can a Texas county clerk refuse to issue a gay marriage license? It's complicated.Washington Post (blog) Texas Attorney General Encourages Clerks to Refuse Marriage Licenses to Gay ... Slate Magazine (blog) Texas clerks could refuse to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couplesThe Guardian KFDX-Refinery29-Examiner.com all 267 news articles » |
 USA TODAY |
US Supreme Court to Consider Affirmative Action at Public Universities
Wall Street Journal WASHINGTON—The Supreme Court said Monday it would again consider affirmative action at public universities, the third time since 2003 the issue of race-based admissions has come before the justices. The court said it would examine admissions ... Supreme Court will hear new challenge to affirmative actionUSA TODAY Supreme Court will re-hear Texas case weighing new limits on affirmative actionWashington Post University Affirmative Action Gets U.S. Supreme Court ReviewBloomberg all 29 news articles » |
 New York Times |
Supreme Court Blocks Obama's Limits on Power Plants
New York Times WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Monday blocked one of the Obama administration's most ambitious environmental initiatives, one meant to limit emissions of mercury and other toxic pollutants from coal-fired power plants. Justice Antonin Scalia ... Supreme Court rules against EPA on power plant regsFox News High court strikes down power plant regulationsUSA TODAY Supreme Court: EPA unreasonably interpreted the Clean Air ActCNN Wall Street Journal- CBS News-Huffington Post all 126 news articles » |
Wall Street Journal |
French Gas Plant Attack Suspect Sent 'Selfie' With Severed Head
Wall Street Journal PARIS--The suspect behind an attack at an industrial gas plant in France on Friday took a photo of himself with the severed head of his victim and shared it with a Canadian phone number through a messaging service, French police said Sunday, leaving ... French Islamist killer sent selfie photo with severed headTelegraph.co.uk France attack suspect admits killing, police make link to SyriaReuters UK French police escort suspect in beheading to his homeNew York Daily News Ynetnews -NBCNews.com all 455 news articles » |
BBC News |
Tunisia beach attack: Gunman 'had help' from others
BBC News The gunman who killed 38 at a beach near the Tunisian city of Sousse had help in carrying out the attack, officials say. Interior ministry spokesman Mohamed Ali Aroui said authorities were "sure" that Seifeddine Rezgui had had accomplices. The government ... Tunisia Launches Nationwide Manhunt for Attack AccomplicesNew York Times David Cameron: We must be intolerant of Isil intoleranceTelegraph.co.uk Sousse terrorist attack a blow to Tunisia's faltering economyIrish Times Financial Times -Irish Independent all 117 news articles » |
New York Times |
Tunisian Gunman Showed Subtle Signs of Radicalization
New York Times GAAFOUR, Tunisia — The Tunisian student who shot 39 tourists at a seaside hotel on Friday was a silent loner who showed signs of radicalism in the past year but hid his real intentions, according to relatives, neighbors and the student's Facebook page. Tunisians formed human barricade to protect beach terror victims: reportsSydney Morning Herald Tunisia gunman: from rap fan and breakdancer to merciless killerHindustan Times Tunisia terror attack: Father of gunman says he is 'ashamed' of his son's actionsIrish Independent Brisbane Times -Irish Times -Irish Examiner all 144 news articles » |
Next Page of Stories
Loading...
Page 4
New York Times |
French Assailant Texted Beheading Photo to Canadian Number
New York Times PARIS — The man accused of beheading his employer and setting off an explosion at an American chemical factory in southeastern France used a smartphone application to send a gruesome photograph of himself with the victim's head, a French official said ... Suspect in French beheading attack admits killing his bosseuronews I beheaded boss for telling me offThe Australian (blog) France attack suspect Yassin Salhi admits beheading boss, police link killer to ...ABC Online The Globe and Mail -Irish Independent -Mashable all 510 news articles » |
The Guardian |
Greece crisis: markets begin to tumble as investors flee
The Guardian Share prices began to plummet across Asia on Monday as hopes dwindled for a resolution to the Greek debt crisis. Japan's Nikkei stock average briefly fell by more than 500 points in early trading, while the euro dropped more than 3% to 133.80 yen, ... BOJ not considering emergency fund injection over Greece yet-sourcesReuters Nikkei slides to 1-week low as Greek crisis batters global marketsFinancial Express Asian Markets Slip On Fears Over GreeceRTT News AsiaOne -Yahoo7 News -Business Insider all 33 news articles » |
The Guardian |
Puerto Rico needs debt restructuring - economists' report posted on media sites
Reuters Struggling Caribbean island Puerto Rico needs to restructure its debts to bridge financing gaps in coming years, in what could be a precedent-setting move, according to a copy of a report by former IMF economists posted on websites of the island's media. Report: Puerto Rico governor believes public debt unpayableFox News Puerto Rico says it cannot pay its debt, setting off potential crisis in the USWashington Post Puerto Rico in Danger of DefaultVoice of America Bloomberg -The Seattle Times -Kansas City Star all 102 news articles » |
Military commanders like to say that “quantity has a quality all its own.” It’s a shorthand way of saying that greater numbers of inferior weapons or troops often can beat smaller, superior forces. Given that Monday marks the first birthday of the declaration of the Islamic State of Iraq and Greater Syria, it’s also worth noting that the passage of time, too, has a quality all its own.
The quantity of time counts, as days turn into weeks, and months have become a year. Time isn’t an inert presence, either on the physical battlefield or in the war of ideas. It’s a measure of will, a magnet to attract followers, and a manifestation of reality. Bottom line: persistence produces power.
This isn’t good. The Pentagon has adopted a go-slow approach, with its modest air campaign and turgid training schedule, in part to prod Iraq to do the fighting. That’s fine, so long as you believe ISIS is a slow-growing tumor, confined to Iraq and Syria. But as last Friday’s attacks in France, Kuwait and Tunisia that killed at least 60 make clear, it’s a malignancy that’s spreading.
“They’ve been able to hold ground for a year,” says retired Marine general James Mattis, who served as chief of U.S. Central Command from 2010 to 2013. “The longer they hold territory it become this radioactive thing, just spewing out this stuff as fighters go there and then come home again.”
“Listen to your caliph and obey him,” ISIS spokesman Abu Mohamed al-Adnani said of ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in a recording released June 29, 2014. “Support your state, which grows every day.”
Chillingly, al-Adnani issued a call last Tuesday calling on Muslims to mark the holy month of Ramadan by making it “a month of disasters for the kuffar”—non-Muslims. He pledged those carrying out such attacks “tenfold” rewards in heaven in exchange for their martyrdom. Last week’s attacks followed. ISIS took responsibility for the beachfront attack in Tunisia that killed at least 38; an ISIS affiliate claimed credit for the blast at a Kuwait City mosque that took 27 lives; the suspect in the French attack reportedly told police of his ties to the Islamic State after decapitating his employer.
After a year in existence, ISIS continues to keep its grip on the huge swatch of land straddling what used to be the border between eastern Syria and western Iraq. “After awhile, possession is nine-tenths of legitimacy,” Anthony Cordesman, a military scholar at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, says of ISIS’s first anniversary. “Just being there, visible, over time gives you more and more influence and ability to create more extremists.”
This represents a new kind of threat. “The Islamic State is not an insurgency like the United States fought from 2003 until its departure from Iraq,” Rand Corp. analyst David Johnson notes in the latest issue of Parameters, the Army’s professional journal. “Rather, it is an aspiring proto-state bent on taking and holding territory.”
The U.S. actually has been fighting ISIS and its forebears for years. “Washington continues to fail to recognize the persistence of this organization going back to the declaration of what was then called the Islamic State of Iraq,” Brian Fishman of West Point’s Combating Terrorism Center told the House Armed Services Committee last Wednesday. “We don’t often recognize our long history of fighting ISIS, but we have effectively been fighting this organization for a decade already.”
As ISIS grew and began controlling greater swaths of Iraq and Syria, there was a sense its days were numbered. Following its seizure of Mosul, Iraq’s second-largest city, just over a year ago, Pentagon officials repeatedly said that Iraqi forces, perhaps aided by small numbers of U.S. troops accompanying them to call in air strikes, would take back the city sometime in the first half of 2015. That hasn’t happened. And for every Tikrit that Iraqi forces, aided by Iranian-backed Shi’a militias, have taken from ISIS by military force, ISIS has attacked and occupied a city like Ramadi, capital of Iraq’s Anbar province.
Despite President Obama’s pledge to “degrade and destroy” ISIS last summer, little has changed. “Very little consequential territory has been reclaimed,” says retired general Jack Keane, who served as the Army’s second-ranking officer from 1999 to 2003. “ISIS still enjoys freedom of maneuver to attack at will, whenever and wherever it pleases.”
While the U.S.-led air campaign has led pretty much to a stalemate on the ground, ISIS’s survival has attracted supporters to its ranks, and led others around the world to claim membership. “What we see very frequently in Afghanistan, with respect to [ISIS], is a rebranding of people who are already in the battlefield,” Defense Secretary Ashton Carter said Thursday in Belgium. They’re donning the ISIS label because “they regard as a better replacement for names they’ve had in the past.”
ISIS’s continuing existence is also generating American recruits, according to an alert last month from the Department of Homeland Security to U.S. law enforcement agencies shortly after police killed a pair planning to shoot up a “draw Muhammad” contest in Garland, Texas. “We judge … that [ISIS’s] messaging is resonating with US-based violent extremists due to its championing of a multifaceted vision of a caliphate,” the agency warned. A key reason for its success in attracting followers, DHS added, is “the perceived legitimacy of its self-proclaimed re-establishment of the caliphate.”
Every day that the undefeated caliphate persists boosts the chances that its followers will strike targets in the U.S. “The most important way to discredit the appeal of their ideology is by military defeat,” Michael Eisenstadt of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy told that armed services panel hearing last week. “If they’re not holding terrain, if there is no caliphate,” he said. “There is no Islamic utopia.”
Read the whole story
· · · ·
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — The governor is warning that Puerto Rico can’t pay its $72 billion public debt, delivering another jolt to the recession-gripped U.S. island as well as a world financial system already worrying over Greece’s collapsing finances.
Gov. Alejandro Garcia Padilla is hoping to defer debt payments while negotiating with creditors, spokesman Jesus Manuel Ortiz said Sunday night.
The comments came as legislators debate a $9.8 billion budget that calls for $674 million in cuts and sets aside $1.5 billion to help pay off the debt. The budget has to be approved by Tuesday.
Ortiz confirmed comments by Padilla that appeared in a report in The New York Times published late Sunday, less than a day before Garcia planned to meet with legislators and then go on television to deliver a public address.
“There is no other option. I would love to have an easier option. This is not politics, this is math,” Garcia is quoted as saying in the Times.
Puerto Rico’s bonds were popular with U.S. mutual funds because they were tax-free, but hedge funds and distressed-debt buyers began stepping in to buy up debt as the island’s economy worsened and its credit rating dropped.
Some legislators were taken aback by Garcia’s comments, including Rep. Jenniffer Gonzalez, spokeswoman for the main opposition party.
“I think it’s irresponsible,” Gonzalez said. “He met privately with The New York Times last week, but he hasn’t met with the leaders of this island.”
Puerto Rico’s constitution dictates that the debt has to be paid before any other financial obligation is met. If Garcia seeks to not pay the debt at all, it will require a referendum and a vote on a constitutional amendment, she said in a phone interview.
Puerto Rico’s situation has drawn comparisons to Greece, where the government decreed this weekend that banks would be shuttered for six business days and restrictions imposed on cash withdrawals. The country’s five-year financial crisis has sparked questions about its continued membership in the 19-nation shared euro currency and the European Union.
Puerto Rico’s governor recently confirmed that he had considered having his government seek permission from the U.S. Congress to declare bankruptcy amid a nearly decade-long economic slump. His administration is currently pushing for the right for Puerto Rico’s public agencies to file for bankruptcy under Chapter 9. Neither the agencies nor the island’s government can file for bankruptcy under current U.S. rules.
Puerto Rico’s public agencies owe a large portion of the debt, with the power company alone owing some $9 billion. The company is facing a restructuring as the government continues to negotiate with creditors as the deadline for a roughly $400 million payment nears.
Garcia has taken several measures to help generate more government revenue, including signing legislation raising the sales tax to 11.5 percent and creating a 4 percent tax on professional services. The sales tax increase goes into effect Wednesday and the new services tax on Oct. 1, to be followed by a transition to a value-added tax by April 1.
Read the whole story
· ·
As Greece’s debt crisis grows increasingly dire, another territory much closer to home — Puerto Rico — has admitted to some major financial woes.
What exactly is happening in Puerto Rico?
Puerto Rico Governor Alejandro García Padilla made a worrisome announcement Sunday that the island cannot pay back its $72 billion in public debt, the New York Times reports. Padilla and his staff, according to the Times, are seeking to defer debt payments for as long as five years, while also possibly seeking concessions from many of its creditors.
“The debt is not payable,” García Padilla said. “There is no other option. I would love to have an easier option. This is not politics, this is math.”
Okay… in English, please?
Puerto Rico is in the midst of a decades-long economic struggle fueled by years of recession and slow economic growth. As a result, its government has taken out massive loans from creditors to cover its costs.
But Puerto Rico has to pay back the money (or figure out a Plan B). In recent years, the commonwealth has raised taxes and slashed pensions in order to pay back its loans, but the island’s “tab,” so to speak, has still spiraled out of control. Many residents have found their businesses collapsing — Puerto Rico’s unemployment rate is double that of mainland America — while others have been leaving the island for better opportunities state-side.
Financial markets across the world have already been rocked by Greece’s debt crisis, and Puerto Rico’s troubles will only add to the current global economic uncertainty.
What does this mean for Americans?
If you’re an investor in municipal bond funds, Puerto Rico’s debt might be your problem, too. Municipal bonds — or loans used by local governments to fund public projects — have traditionally been considered safe investments. But some investors are worried about them — several American cities have filed for bankruptcy in recent years, and the Puerto Rico situation could make things worse. According to the Washington Post, as many as three out of four municipal bond mutual funds held Puerto Rican bonds in 2013.
How bad is the situation exactly?
Padilla called the situation a “death spiral.” And he wasn’t exaggerating: Puerto Rico’s debt is four times that of Detroit’s, and the island has more debt per capita than any American state. Analysts believe the central government will run out of cash as soon as July, according to the Wall StreetJournal, which could lead to a government shutdown, emergency measures and an unpredictable crisis.
So what’s next for Puerto Rico?
Good question. While Padilla seeks to negotiate with creditors, his administration is also pushing for the right to file for bankruptcy under Chapter 9, which outlines a plan for creditors to get back some of their money. (That’s what happened with U.S. cities like Detroit, Mich., and Stockton, Calif., last year.) But under current law, that right is afforded only to U.S. cities, not to states or territories including Puerto Rico.
Read the whole story
· ·
Next Page of Stories
Loading...
Page 5
- Get link
- X
- Other Apps
Comments
Post a Comment