The Mike Hosking Breakfast

Senior lawmakers in Italy pushed back Wednesday against "interference" from the Vatican after it protested against a draft Italian law designed to combat homophobia.
The Italian "parliament is sovereign and won't accept interference," the President of Italy's lower house of parliament, Roberto Fico, a member of the governing coalition, said on Italian TV Wednesday morning.
The Vatican has invoked its sovereign status under a 1929 treaty with Italy to protest the draft legislation, arguing that it could restrict the religious freedom guaranteed the church under that accord.
Alessandro Zan, an openly gay legislator who introduced the bill -- known in Italy as the "Zan bill" -- said it "was approved by a branch of parliament with a large majority, and the process has not yet been completed."
"All concerns must be heard and all doubts dispelled, but there can be no foreign interference in the prerogatives of a sovereign parliament," Zan tweeted on Tuesday following the Vatican's protest.
Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi has said he'll take questions from parliament about the issue on Wednesday. The legislation is currently under consideration by the Italian senate.
The Vatican's concerns were expressed in mid-June in a nota verbale, meaning a formal diplomatic communique, presented by British Archbishop Paul Gallagher, the Vatican's foreign minister, to the Italian Ambassador to the Vatican, Pietro Sebastiani.
The contents of the note were first reported by the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera, and confirmed to Catholic news site Crux by a Vatican official informed on the matter.
While the Lateran Pacts -- which established Vatican City as a sovereign state and govern relations between it and Italy -- allow the Vatican to assert its rights to the Italian government, this marks the first time the Vatican has used that provision to object to a draft piece of legislation before it's adopted.
According to a 1984 update of the 1929 Lateran Pacts, the Catholic Church in Italy is to be guaranteed "freedom of organization, of public exercise of worship, of the exercise of the magisterium and episcopal ministry," as well as "full freedom for Catholics and their associations and organizations to meet and to manifest their thought in words, in writing and every other means of communication."
Within the Vatican City State, the civil code of the Vatican applies, though it's mostly based on Italian law. But the supposed conflict isn't between Vatican and Italian law, but a proposed Italian law and Italy's treaty with the Vatican.
Critics say the anti-homophobia measure could require private Catholic schools to adjust curricula to adopt state-mandated lessons on tolerance and gender, and it could also criminalize some public expressions of Catholic teaching on sexuality and marriage.
But Fabrizio Marrazzo, a spokesperson for gay-rights group Gay Party for LGBT+ Rights, said in a tweet the draft law was "already a compromise with poor protection" and called the Vatican's protest a "field invasion on the lay state."
"We find this interference by the Vatican on the Law Against Homotransbiphobia worrying," Marazzo said in a longer statement on the party's website.
"The majority that supports the law, and the Government and Draghi say a clear NO to the Vatican and improve the law."
'Dialogue' over bill
It's not clear what the immediate implications of the Vatican protest might be. But the leader of Italy's main center-left party, Enrico Letta, said Tuesday that while its "design" should be maintained, his Democratic Party -- which is a major proponent of the bill -- is ready for "dialogue" over the "legal issues."
Theoretically, should the proposal be adopted without satisfying the Vatican's concerns, the Lateran Pacts envision the creation of a joint commission between Italy and the Vatican to resolve the dispute.
Although Pope Francis is known for...

A British naval warship became embroiled in a confrontation with Russian forces off the coast of the disputed territory of Crimea on Wednesday.
Russia says one of its warplanes dropped bombs and a patrol boat fired warning shots to turn back a British destroyer it claims entered into its territorial waters in the Black Sea.
The UK Defense Ministry denied Moscow's accusation, saying that the vessel, HMS Defender, was making legal and innocent passage.
A BBC reporter on the ship said he witnessed Russian warplanes and naval vessels buzzing the destroyer.
Russia said the ship went three kilometres (1.9 miles) inside Russian territory off Cape Fiolent in Crimea just before noon local time on Wednesday. A nation's territorial waters extend 12 nautical miles (22.2 kilometres) from its coastline. Any foreign warship going past that limit would need permission of the country to do so.
Shortly after that, an Su-24M attack jet dropped bombs and a coastal patrol ship fired warning shots in front of the British destroyer, the Russian Defence Ministry said in a report from Russian State Media TASS.
British officials pushed back on the Russian allegations.
"This morning, HMS Defender carried out a routine transit from Odesa towards Georgia across the Black Sea. As is normal for this route, she entered an internationally recognised traffic separation corridor. She exited that corridor safely at 0945 BST. As is routine, Russian vessels shadowed her passage and she was made aware of training exercises in her wider vicinity," British Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said in a tweet.
The UK Ministry of Defence also said no warning shots were fired at its destroyer Wednesday, contrary to what the Russian Defence Ministry claimed, as cited by TASS.
"No warning shots have been fired at HMS Defender. The Royal Navy ship is conducting innocent passage through Ukrainian territorial waters in accordance with international law. We believe the Russians were undertaking a gunnery exercise in the Black Sea and provided the maritime community with prior warning of their activity," the UK Defence Ministry Press Office said in a statement.
"No shots were directed at HMS Defender and we do not recognise the claim that bombs were dropped in her path," the statement added.
BBC journalist Jonathan Beale was on board the vessel during the incident, and reported that it had been harassed by Russian military. Aircraft could be heard overhead during his audio report.
"Increasingly hostile warnings were issued over the radio - including one that said 'if you don't change course I'll fire'," Beale wrote on the BBC website. "We did hear some firing in the distance but they were believed to be well out of range."
TASS reported the Russian Defence Ministry told journalists the Russian Black Sea Fleet, together with the Federal Security Service Border Control, "stopped a violation of the Russian border" by the ship.
The department said in a statement that it has "called on the British side to conduct a thorough investigation of the actions of the crew of the destroyer 'Defender' to prevent similar incidents in the future."
Its statement also said the British Defence Attaché at the UK Embassy in Moscow has been summoned to the Defence Ministry to discuss the incident. Later, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said the British ambassador would be summoned to the ministry, according to TASS.
The ministry told Russian state media that the British destroyer left Russian territorial waters at 12:23 p.m. local time.
The Russian accusations on Wednesday follow a report from the US Naval Institute News (USNI) on Monday that open source intelligence data on the positions of the British destroyer and a Dutch frigate had been faked on June 18-19 to show them steaming to within two nautical miles of a Russian naval base in Sevastopol, Crimea.
The track was shown from an...

After 91 years of New Zealand test cricketing history, Kane Williamson's pioneers have achieved immortality in the sport at Southampton.
Ross Taylor whipped a ball off his pads to the square leg boundary to secure the inaugural test championship, their most significant silverware.
New Zealand chased 139 for victory on the sixth and last day to win by eight wickets.
Williamson and Taylor enjoyed an unbeaten 96-run third-wicket partnership.
Coach Gary Stead says he was anchored out of superstition for the stand's duration.
“We lost a couple of wickets where I was sitting so I actually moved downstairs. Sitting in the seat I am right now, not moving because things were going well.”
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Ross Taylor ended the ultimate test with his best stroke of the match – a dismissive flick over square leg for four – but it was a shot that had its genesis two years earlier.
"The 2019 World Cup was very tough for us, but this makes up for it," Taylor said, referencing the heartbreaking day at Lord's where they lost the CWC final on a boundary countback despite the match ending in a tie.
Taylor took that result hard. Earlier he had earmarked that tournament as a potential career swansong, but it instead hardened his resolve to add some silverware, some heft, to a glittering career.
The veteran batsman had the honour of scoring the winning runs in his 108th and most important test. He had the joy of doing it 22 yards away from Kane Williamson, with whom he has formed the greatest No 3-4 punch in New Zealand history.
Taylor scored 47, Williamson 52, becoming just the second player to pass 50 on this devilishly tricky surface. The pair put on 96, an extraordinary partnership in the context of the game, and was clearly determined to protect those still to come.
"Kane has been a fantastic leader for a long period of time," Taylor said of his batting mate.
"It's been a couple of years coming. Lot of rain but the way the team fought from day one, to be out there in a crucial situation, it's something I'll never forget.
"This would have to be the highlight of my career. At the start of my career, I felt we probably didn't have the side to do this.
"I'm sure there are a few Kiwis waking up who will be very proud. There was a lot of pressure; it was nice to be standing up to it."
Taylor said the plan was simple upon arriving at the crease.
"It wasn't easy to start, but [the thinking was] it would get easier. The run rate wasn't a factor."
Taylor has given no indication as to his future plans though he is much closer to the end than the start.
No New Zealander has scored more international centuries than him and only one – the guy at the other end – has more test centuries. He's not just a modern New Zealand great, but an all-timer.
Nobody has earned this moment more.

The Blackcaps have come away with a historic win to claim the title of World Test Champions.
The team has completed an eight-wicket win over Virat Kohli’s Indian side at Southampton.
Gold AM commentator Bryan Waddle told Tim Dower says it was a team effort.
“You could pick on Tim Southee because he had some good moments, Kyle Jamieson was the man of the match and deserved that by his performance but he was backed up by some good bowling and some outstanding fielding.”
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Around ten percent of long haul pilots haven't been vaccinated against Covid-19.
From next week, air crew returning to this country won't have to self-isolate, provided they've had both jabs.
Air Line Pilots' Association president, Andrew Ridling told Tim Dower there'll be a discussion tomorrow about what will happen to those who aren't inoculated against the coronavirus.
He argues there are several reasons why the last ten percent haven't been vaccinated.
“Like availability, they don’t live in Auckland; they live in small towns in New Zealand, so it’s been access. We also have people who have their own reasons not to take it as well.”
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Health officials are working on the assumption that Wellington is dealing with the Delta variant of Covid-19.
The Wellington region is now in Alert Level Two -- after a Sydney tourist visited the city while probably infectious over the weekend.
Thousands of people are in isolation and seeking a test, after visiting 19 locations of interest.
The man's four close contacts have tested negative.
Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins told Tim Dower he's yet to receive genome sequencing results for the case, but he's assuming the worst.
“We are assuming it is the Delta variant though and NSW officials indicate that their expectation is that it will be linked to their current cluster.”
Hipkins expects to receive the outcome of the sequencing at some point this morning.
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Locations of interest
New South Wales case




Location name


Address 


Day


Time


What to do






The Weta Cave shop


1 Weka Street, Miramar, Wellington


20 June


11.10am to 12.30pm


Isolate/quarantine for 14 days from last exposure. Test immediately, and on day 5 after last exposure and day 12 after last exposure. Call Healthline on 0800 358 5453.




Floridita's Restaurant


161 Cuba Street, Te Aro, Wellington


19 June


12.45pm to 4pm


Isolate/quarantine for 14 days from last exposure. Test immediately, and on day 5 after last exposure and day 12 after last exposure. Call Healthline on 0800 358 5453.




Pickle & Pie café


2 Lombard Street, Wellington


20 June


9.45am to 11.37am


Isolate/quarantine for 14 days from last exposure. Test immediately, and on day 5 after last exposure and day 12 after last exposure. Call Healthline on 0800 358 5453.




Unichem Wellington Central Pharmacy


204 Lambton Quay, Wellington


19 June


10.38am to 11:48am


Stay at home, get a test around Day 5 after last exposure and stay at home until a negative test result is received. Self-monitor for COVID-19 symptoms for 14 days. If symptoms develop, get a test immediately and stay at home until negative test result is received. Call Healthline on 0800 358 5453.




Countdown Cable Lane


280/284 Lambton Quay, Wellington Central, Wellington


20 June


6pm to 7.15pm


Stay at home, get a test around Day 5 after last exposure and stay at home until negative test result is received. Self-monitor for COVID-19 symptoms for 14 days.If symptoms develop, get a test immediately and stay at home until negative test result is received. Call Healthline on 0800 358 5453.




4 Kings Bar at Jack Hacketts - Toilets only


5 Inglewood Place, Cnr Taranaki St, Wellington


19 June


8.45pm


NOTE: If you used the toilets at 4 Kings Bar: Isolate/quarantine for 14 days from last exposure. Test immediately, and on day 5 after last exposure and day 12 after last exposure. Call Healthline on 0800 358 5453.




Jack Hackett's Bar


5 Inglewood Place, Cnr Taranaki St, Wellington


19 June


8:45pm to 12 am


Isolate/quarantine for 14 days from last exposure. Test immediately, and on day 5 after last exposure and day 12 after last exposure. Call Healthline on 0800 358 5453.




Highwater Eatery


54 Cuba Street, Wellington


19 June


5.45pm to 9.30pm


Isolate/quarantine...

It’s a funny thing that even when the evidence mounts, those driven by ideology still will not see.
The vacancy rates in our metro CBDs I would have thought confirm what most of us see and what most of us know: down town New Zealand is struggling. Auckland and Wellington’s vacancy rate is up to seven percent empty.
Yes, Covid is a part, but not as much as they wouldn’t want you to believe. The real nail being driven into the growth and success is the attitude and policy.
Christchurch has the advantage of the earthquake in the sense that there are still too many places that haven’t been sorted, so what’s left are big squares of shingle that Wilsons have commandeered and turned into car parks.
But on a recent Saturday, when we visited there was parking all over the place. Cars were a part of down town and down town was pumping.
The message and therefore the lesson could not be clearer or simpler: make the place accessible, make it welcoming make it easy, and they will come.
Contrast that with Wellington and the council’s decision to clear cars out of the so called golden mile, and do what, create a ghost town?
How are people getting to town: on the buses that get cancelled and the trains that don’t work?
Same story in Auckland: you have never seen a council go more out of its way to make the place seem more inhospitable.
All driven by the delusion, despite all evidence to the contrary, that we can’t wait to be on a bus.
They honestly think, if they’ve thought this far ahead at all, that there is nothing more fun that being dumped in town via public transport so we can cover kilometre after kilometre on foot dragging shopping bags along the way.
I note Napier are considering doing a Wellington and closing the main street. If there is any upside to that it’s that provincial New Zealand doesn’t have as big an area when it comes to ‘downtown’, but they also don’t have the public transport infrastructure either.
The reality is, the proof is there now. The theory of bike lanes and bus lanes and the European utopia has been shown to be flawed, wrong, and now fiscally damaging - mainly because, one, we aren’t European, and two, the planning has been a shambles.
But like all mistakes the trick is to pull the pin before it gets worse.
You reckon they’re going to?

Carl Nassib this week became the first active NFL player to come out as gay. And with his announcement, the Las Vegas Raiders defensive end joins a small group of openly gay men in professional sports.
Many of the history-makers who preceded him shared in his joy.
Former NBA center Jason Collins, who came out in 2013 and became the first openly gay athlete in any of the four major US sports leagues, wrote that he was "very proud" of Nassib.
"Incredibly happy for him and can't wait to watch him play this upcoming season!" Collins tweeted.
Collins only continued to play professionally for a few days after coming out. In 2014, under a 10-day contract with the Brooklyn Nets, he made history again as the first openly gay man to play in an NBA game.
Nassib has a predecessor, too, in Michael Sam, who came out in 2014 ahead of the NFL draft. When he was eventually selected in the seventh round of the draft by the St. Louis Rams, he kissed his boyfriend in celebration -- a moment that was ridiculed by some fellow and former NFL players.
In a tweet, he thanked Nassib for "owning [his] truth" and for making a $100,000 donation to the Trevor Project, a suicide prevention service for LGBTQ youth.
"LBGTQ people are more likely to commit suicide than heterosexuals," Sam wrote. "I hope and pray people will take note to this. Thank you again Carl and look forward to seeing you play on the field."
Sam never got to play with the Rams -- he was released by the team that same year, a decision former Rams coach Jeff Fisher said was purely motivated by the game, not Sam's sexuality.
NFL veteran Ryan Russell, who is bisexual, told CNN that Nassib's coming out is "a moment of celebration ... not only for Nassib as a person and as a player but for the NFL" and sports as a whole.
"I have no doubt that this announcement for Carl will enhance his game, will enhance his physical edge, his physical prowess and allow him to have hopefully the best season that we have seen him have in his career," Russell said in a Tuesday appearance on CNN's New Day.
Billy Bean, a former MLB player who now serves as the league's vice president and special assistant to the commissioner, came out only after he'd retired. He called Nassib's coming out a "big announcement" and thanked him. (In Minor League Baseball, David Denson, who was drafted by the Milwaukee Brewers, came out in 2015 before retiring two years later.)
Robbie Rogers, a former professional soccer player with the Los Angeles Galaxy, came out in 2013 -- the first American soccer player to do so. He called Nassib's disclosure "inspiring."
In his social media announcement, Nassib spoke of the support he's received from his family and teammates and the overwhelming happiness he felt in asserting his sexuality. Not every pro athlete who's come out has felt the same sense of joy and ease upon their announcement -- most of them came out before same-sex marriage was even legalized in the US -- but they're sharing in Nassib's joy now and lifting him up while he makes history.
- by Scottie Andrew, CNN

Health officials are racing to contact trace an Australian traveller -- who visited Wellington while probably infectious with Covid-19.
The man was in Wellington between Saturday morning and Monday morning, became symptomatic on his return home, and then tested positive upon his return to Sydney.
Four close contacts of the traveller in Wellington are now in isolation.
Meanwhile, a National MP appears to be in hot water over a tweet attacking Winston Peters - but won't say whether he was asked to take it down.
The New Zealand First leader yesterday called the Nats a bunch of "sex maniacs" in an exclusive interview with Newstalk ZB.
In a now-deleted post, Chris Penk took to Twitter, aiming expletives at Peters.
Penk wouldn't stop for media on Tuesday morning's caucus run as a press secretary ushered him through.
He only told reporters he didn't want to cause offence, and is erring on the side of safety.
Peters' comments came after his comeback speech on Sunday, where he touted NZ First's potential to return to Parliament in 2023. 
Labour Minister Stuart Nash and National MP Mark Mitchell joined Mike Hosking to recap the political news of the week. 
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