The European Commission attacked Hungary on multiple fronts Wednesday, including the threat of legal action over an education bill that targets the Central European University.

The Commission's decision ratcheted up the pressure on Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán ahead of his appearance later Wednesday at the European Parliament alongside the man who wants to take him to the European Court of Justice, Commission First Vice President Frans Timmermans.

Hungary now has one month to argue that its education bill does comply with EU law, or face a fast-tracked court case, a Commission source said.

The Commission pulled no punches when it announced its moves against Budapest, which has been besieged by criticism over an education law widely considered an effort to force the closure of Central European University, founded by the billionaire Hungarian-American financier George Soros.

Spain's anti-austerity Podemos party has vowed to press ahead with a vote of no-confidence against the prime minister, Mariano Rajoy, warning that the latest corruption allegations involving his governing People's party (PP) have crossed "red lines" and risk jeopardising the rule of law.

Podemos's leader, Pablo Iglesias, said his party had an "ethical obligation" to hold Rajoy to account after Ignacio González, a former PP president of the Madrid region, was arrested as part of an investigation into alleged embezzlement at a state-owed water company.

Evidence has also emerged to suggest that the chief anti-corruption prosecutor intervened in the case in an alleged attempt to block a line of inquiry.

"What's happened over the past two weeks is another step over the red lines by the People's party," said Iglesias.

Ein am Freitag in Frankfurt verhafteter Schweizer soll im Auftrag des dortigen Geheimdienstes deutsche Steuerfahnder ausspioniert haben. Nach Informationen von Süddeutscher Zeitung, NDR und WDR soll der Ex-Polizist vom Schweizer Nachrichtendienst eine Liste mit den Namen von Steuerfahndern in Nordrhein-Westfalen erhalten haben sowie den Auftrag, Informationen über die Fahnder zu beschaffen.

There are many complex reasons why people go to food banks

Insgesamt haben sie im Vorjahr 6,83 Millionen Stunden Arbeitsleistung erbracht, berichtet "Datum" unter Berufung auf das Justizministerium.

...

9,70 Euro pro Stunde zahlt ein externes Unternehmen demnach pro Arbeitskraft. Davon behält der Bund 75 Prozent als Vollzugskostenbeitrag, mit dem ein Teil der jährlichen Vollzugskosten von derzeit rund 440 Millionen Euro gedeckt wird. 31 Millionen hat der Bund 2015 an der Gefangenenarbeit für externe Auftraggeber verdient.

I just learned that Austrian (state run) jails also sell their prisoners' labour to the private sector.

Phase I: defandants' motion to dismiss

Welding et al. v. DNC Services Corp., d/b/a [!] Democratic National Committe

See also
reddit critique of the proceedings

Diversity is the key to economic and political evolution.

At the weekend, French Presidential election frontrunner Emmanuel Macron told the BBC that EU leaders "have to face the situation, to listen to our people, and to listen to the fact that they are extremely angry today, impatient and the dysfunction of the EU is no more sustainable". He then warned that if EU leaders do not correct this dysfunction, either France would exit the eurozone or the National Front would take over or both. I think what he says is true and let me explain why.

Surely EU leaders will crush this nonsense just like they did with Greece?

"It is not necessary to have hope in order to persevere."

Both things could be and in fact surely are true https://t.co/VywhBtOAdK

— Paul Krugman (@paulkrugman) May 1, 2017

Several officials relayed anecdotes about their countries' respective efforts to find a way to Trump, and many said they had settled on Merkel's plan of copious outreach to a president who loves picking up the phone (the chancellor, I was told, even called to solicit Trump's "advice" on her upcoming trip to Saudi Arabia this week).

Several of those I spoke with hoped that Trump's recent reversals on some foreign policy issues -- from declaring he no longer viewed NATO as "obsolete" to his decision not to brand China a "currency manipulator" -- combined with his growing reliance on an experienced team of generals for national security advice might produce a foreign policy Europe could live with if not love.

Still, several officials remained stunned at the level of ignorance displayed by Trump -- and many of those advising him in an American government dominated by newcomers to international affairs. "I was told he had never read a book!" one senior European told me.

Extremists continue to focus on tourist locations, transportation hubs, markets/shopping malls, and local government facilities as viable targets.  In addition, hotels, clubs, restaurants, places of worship, parks, high-profile events, educational institutions, airports, and other soft targets remain priority locations for possible attacks.  U.S. citizens should exercise additional vigilance in these and similar locations, in particular during the upcoming summer travel season when large crowds may be common.

Terrorists persist in employing a variety of tactics, including firearms, explosives, using vehicles as ramming devices, and sharp-edged weapons that are difficult to detect prior to an attack.

In a recent television interview, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan advocated a "multilateral" solution to the Kashmir dispute - and this is only one of his positions that may cause diplomatic tension with India.

President Erdogan made the comments during an interview with India-based news channel WION ahead of his arrival in New Delhi on Sunday. During the interview, Erdogan expressed his concern at the continuing stand-off between India and Pakistan on the disputed Kashmir region.

Before Erdogan's arrival in Delhi, Indian Vice President Hamid Ansari paid tribute to victims of the Armenian genocide at the Tsitsernakaberd Memorial in Armenia.

"Erdogan is becoming the new Mahmoud Ahmadinejad - controversial and divisive," P.R. Kumaraswamy, a professor of international studies at Delhi's Jawaharlal Nehru University, told DW.

The EU's statistical agency Eurostat announced Thursday (4 May) that CO2 emissions resulting from the EU's energy use have "slightly decreased" in 2016, compared to the year before.

But Eurostat's press release did not mention that the small decrease has not made up for the small increase in CO2 emissions the year before, and that more CO2 was emitted in 2016 than in 2014.

Carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions account for around 80 percent of all of the EU's greenhouse gas emissions, which contribute to potentially disastrous climate change.

In 2016, carbon emissions dropped by 0.4 percent compared to 2015, Eurostat said in a press release.

But in 2015, CO2 emissions had increased by 0.7 percent compared to 2014.

In other words, last year's CO2 emissions increased by 0.29 percent compared to 2014, which means that for the second consecutive year the EU's carbon emissions are higher than in 2014, albeit very slightly.

Conscription ("selective service") passes the [USA] House 397-24 and the Senate 81-8. Both houses vote to double the current pay of enlisted men. The Senate version would draft men aged 21 to 27, the House version 21 to 40. States will be responsible for providing a number of soldiers proportionate to their population. No sign-up bonus will be allowed, no paying for substitutes as in the Civil War.

more pertinent to "re-imagining" Cinco de Mayo Eurocentric historicism

The censorship bill passes the House. Somehow the amendment requiring that publishing prohibited information could only be prosecuted if there was intent to harm the US has disappeared. The stupidest thing said during the debate was probably Edwin Webb (D-NC)'s "The newspaper ought to be required to make some sacrifices like the rest of us."