Brazil's Botafogo protest return to pitch


Issued on: 28/06/2020 -

Botafogo club footballer Keisuke Honda and teammates display a banner reading "A good protocol is one which respects lives" as a protest against the resumption of the Carioca Championship, before their closed-door match against Cabofriense in Rio de Janeiro Vitor SILVA Botafogo/AFP

Rio de Janeiro (AFP)

Brazilian club Botafogo protested Sunday against the resumption of professional football in Rio de Janeiro in mid-coronavirus pandemic, as they returned to the pitch after losing a fight against the decision.

"A good protocol is one that respects lives," read a banner carried by Botafogo players before the Rio state tournament match, which was played in an empty stadium.

The players also joined the worldwide protests against racism, wearing black jerseys printed with a raised fist and the words "Vidas Negras Importam" -- Black Lives Matter -- and taking a knee at the start of the match.

The back of their jerseys read "Thank you to the professionals on the front lines against COVID-19."

Botafogo and Fluminense, two of Rio's biggest clubs, fought Mayor Marcelo Crivella's decision to resume football at a time when infections are still not under control in Brazil.

The clubs initially won a reprieve, but a court later ruled they had to resume play this weekend.

Botafogo beat Cabofriense 6-2 at Nilton Santos Olympic stadium in their return.

Fluminense for their part planned to wear all-black jerseys for their match later against Volta Redonda, also in protest against the resumption of play.

Fluminense will play in the same venue as Botafogo, after winning a fight with the Rio de Janeiro Football Federation not to play in the Maracana stadium, where a coronavirus field hospital has been set up in the parking lot.

The club argued playing there was disrespectful to victims and their families.

Rio last week became the first place in South America to resume professional football matches, after a three-month hiatus to slow the spread of the new coronavirus.

In a new first, city hall issued a decree Friday allowing fans to return to the stadiums from July 10.

Organizers will initially be required to maintain a distance of four square meters around each fan.

Brazil has the second-highest number of infections and deaths from the new coronavirus worldwide, after the United States: more than 1.3 million and 57,000, respectively.

President Jair Bolsonaro, who has compared the virus to a "little flu," faces criticism for downplaying the pandemic and urging an end to stay-at-home measures.

© 2020 AFP

KEEPING UP WITH TRUMP
Brazil has record week for virus cases
Brazil, the country with the second-highest number of infections and deaths worldwide after the United States, has struggled to set a strategy for dealing with the pandemic.

Issued on: 29/06/2020 - TOMORROW'S NEWS TODAY

Protestors against Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro and the way he has dealt with the coronavirus pandemic gathered at Copacabana beach in Rio de Janeiro MAURO PIMENTEL AFP Rio de Janeiro (AFP)

Brazil had its worst week yet of the coronavirus pandemic in terms of new cases, registering 259,105 infections in the seven days through Sunday, according to health ministry figures.

The country also reported its second-highest weekly death toll, with 7,005 people killed, just below the record of 7,285 set the previous week.

Brazil, the country with the second-highest number of infections and deaths worldwide after the United States, has struggled to set a strategy for dealing with the pandemic.

The latest grim figures came as protesters in various cities across the country and as far away as Stockholm, London and Barcelona held demonstrations against Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro and his handling of the health crisis.

The far-right president has downplayed the new coronavirus as akin to a "little flu," railed against state authorities' stay-at-home measures and publicly flouted social distancing guidelines and the face-mask requirement in place in the capital, Brasilia.

At Copacabana beach in Rio de Janeiro, military police clutching riot shields used batons to push back people protesting under the slogan "Stop Bolsonaro," as well as for Gay Pride day and against racism.

The harsh police reaction against the crowd of around 200 drew more people to protest from their windows, shouting "Get out, Bolsonaro!"

In Brasilia, protesters put up 1,000 crosses on a lawn in front of Congress to pay tribute to COVID-19 victims, with a banner reading "Bolsonaro, stop denying!"

"Brazil is suffering immense pain, a hidden pain that throbs in the face of the incredible numbers of deaths caused by COVID-19," the organizers said in a statement.




Experts say the real number of infections and deaths in Brazil is probably much higher than the official figures.

The health ministry began this week to test all suspected coronavirus cases in the public health system, but under-testing remains a problem in the country of 212 million people.

And even though the spread of the disease is still not under control, some local authorities are pushing ahead with efforts to reopen their economies.

Rio, the city hit second-hardest after Sao Paulo, has for example allowed shops to reopen and football matches to resume, and even plans to let fans back into stadiums starting July 10.

© 2020 AFP

China's LGBT couples 'wed' online as gay marriage push stalls



Issued on: 29/06/2020 - TOMORROW'S NEWS TODAY 

Despite a shake-up of China's marriage law last month -- and a groundswell of support for same-sex unions in the socially conservative country -- demands to make gay marriage legal have not been met STR AFP/File

Beijing (AFP)

Engaged for over three years, Guo and Zhu are fed up waiting for Chinese lawmakers to approve same-sex marriage -- instead, they have turned online to gain recognition for their relationship.

Despite a shake-up of China's marriage law last month -- and a groundswell of support for same-sex unions in the socially conservative country -- demands to make gay marriage legal have not been met.

The two men joined thousands of other couples announcing their "wedding" through an app where same-sex couples are given an unrecognised marriage certificate to share with friends, colleagues, and the public.


"We can't live in the shadows anymore," artist Guo told AFP, using only his surname.

"My partner's family is still coming to terms with it."

In China only couples who have tied the knot can adopt children, access fertility services or jointly buy a house.

Legalising gay marriage was among top suggestions made by the public last year when lawmakers sought opinions on the country's first-ever civil code.

But a dismayed LGBT community has been left to redraw their battle plans after the text of the code -- which governs everything from property contracts to adoption -- defined marriage as "a union between a man and a woman".

"I feel very disappointed," said activist Sun Wenlin, who filed China's first -- and unsuccessful -- court case to marry a same-sex partner in 2015.

After the civil code legislation was approved, Sun launched his WeChat "wedding" app to raise the profile of gay relationships. More than 3,000 couples have used it so far to get the unrecognised marriage certificates.

"We’ve been together for over a decade... but we can't take leave to take care of our sick partner or their parents the way straight couples can," Guo said.

"The right to marry is a recognition that same-sex relationships are equally important."

- 'Body blow' -

The failure to recognise same-sex marriage was a "body blow", activist Peng Yanhui told AFP.

China decriminalised homosexuality in 1997, and officially removed it from its list of mental illnesses in 2001.

But in recent years, censors have muted discussions on social media, banned homosexuality in films and even prevented the sale of rainbow-themed items online.

Hundreds of thousands wrote their personal stories and sent them to lawmakers as they pushed to influence changes to the marriage law -- a type of civic movement "quite rare in China", Peng said.

Officials told reporters last year they received more than 237,000 online suggestions and 5,600 letters suggesting the new code included same-sex marriage or changed the "definition of close relatives".

Yan Shanshan was among the letter writers, who shared her wish to marry her girlfriend. One line from her mother read: "We have accepted our daughter’s choice, why can't you?"

Messages also came from professionals who had hidden relationships from employers, and from same-sex couples looking to become parents.

Those who want to have a child in China are forced to seek fertility treatment or surrogates abroad -- which is prohibitively expensive.

But the mass outpouring fell on deaf ears.

"It's all been copied and pasted," said parliamentary official Huang Wei from the Legislative Affairs Commission.

"The letters sent to us came in the same envelope, with the same content, and the online messages were the same," he told state media last month.

The comments stoked further anger in the LGBT community.

"If they (the lawmakers) respect public opinion, they should carefully investigate and study it, even if they disagree... and tell us why they disagree," Sun said.

"People don't feel respected by them."

- Gay, with Chinese characteristics -

Same-sex marriage could also solve challenges around owning property, as in Chinese law only married couples can have two names on a housing deed.

He Meili quit her job to nurse her sick partner for 12 years until her death in 2016, but then found herself homeless.

"Within a week, her parents wouldn't let me live in the house where we lived together," He told AFP.

She lost in court after the judges refused to recognise her relationship.

One silver lining in the civil code is the "right to reside" clause, allowing a property owner to grant another individual the right to live in a property for a lifetime.

This could offer rare protection for same-sex couples.

"At least people can find some legal basis to protect some of their rights and interests," He said.

Activists are also conducting a nationwide survey of LGBT couples to create a "gay rights resource with Chinese characteristics".

"There aren't enough studies on the lives and difficulties facing sexual minorities in China," and that, Sun said, hampers "understanding of the community's problems."

© 2020 AFP

BIG DATA IS BIG BROTHER 

Almost 17,000 Protesters Had No Idea A Tech Company Was Tracing Their Location

Data company Mobilewalla used cellphone information to estimate the demographics of protesters. 

Sen. Elizabeth Warren says it’s “shady” and concerning.

Caroline Haskins BuzzFeed News Reporter
Posted on June 25, 2020, at 2:40 p.m. ET

Kerem Yucel / Getty Images
Demonstrators march outside of the state capital building on May 31, 2020 in Saint Paul, Minnesota as they protest the death of George Floyd. (Photo by KEREM YUCEL/AFP via Getty Images)

On the weekend of May 29, thousands of people marched, sang, grieved, and chanted, demanding an end to police brutality and the defunding of police departments in the aftermath of the police killings of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor. They marched en masse in cities like Minneapolis, New York, Los Angeles, and Atlanta, empowered by their number and the assumed anonymity of the crowd. And they did so completely unaware that a tech company was using location data harvested from their cellphones to predict their race, age, and gender and where they lived.

Just over two weeks later, that company, Mobilewalla, released a report titled "George Floyd Protester Demographics: Insights Across 4 Major US Cities." In 60 pie charts, the document details what percentage of protesters the company believes were male or female, young adult (18–34); middle-aged 35º54, or older (55+); and "African-American," "Caucasian/Others," "Hispanic," or “Asian-American.”

"These companies can even sell this data to the government, which can use it for law and immigration enforcement."

"African American males made up the majority of protesters in the four observed cities vs. females,” Mobilewalla claimed. “Men vs. women in Atlanta (61% vs. 39%), in Los Angeles (65% vs. 35%), in Minneapolis (54% vs. 46%) and in New York (59% vs. 41%)." The company analyzed data from 16,902 devices at protests — including exactly 8,152 devices in New York, 4,527 in Los Angeles, 2,357 in Minneapolis, and 1,866 in Atlanta.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren told BuzzFeed News that Mobilewalla’s report was alarming, and an example of the consequences of the lack of regulation on data brokers in the US.

“This report shows that an enormous number of Americans – probably without even knowing it – are handing over their full location history to shady location data brokers with zero restrictions on what companies can do with it,” Warren said. “In an end-run around the Constitution's limits on government surveillance, these companies can even sell this data to the government, which can use it for law and immigration enforcement. That's why I've opened an investigation into the government contracts held by location data brokers, and I’ll keep pushing for answers.”

Mobilewalla



Screenshot from "George Floyd Protester Demographics: Insights Across 4 Major US Cities."

It’s unclear how accurate Mobilewalla’s analysis actually is. But Mobilewalla's report is another revelation from a wild west of obscure companies with untold amounts of sensitive information about individuals — including where they go and what their political allegiances may be. There are no federal laws in place to prevent this information from being abused.

Mobilewalla CEO Anindya Datta told BuzzFeed News that the data analysis that made the George Floyd Protester Demographics possible wasn’t a new kind of project. “The underlying data, the underlying observations that came into the report, is something that we collect and produce on a regular basis,” he said

"It is really just fundamentally terrifying"

Datta said Mobilewalla didn’t prepare the report for law enforcement or a public agency, but rather to satisfy its own employees' curiosity about what its vast trove of unregulated data could reveal about the demonstrators. Datta told BuzzFeed News that the company doesn’t plan to include information about whether a person attended a protest to its clients, or to law enforcement agencies.

“It’s hard to tell you a specific reason as to why we did this,” Datta said. “But over time, a bunch of us in the company were watching with curiosity and some degree of alarm as to what’s going on.” He defined those sources of alarm as what he called "antisocial behavior," including vandalism, looting, and actions like "breaking the glass of an Apple store.” He added that they were attempting to test if protests were being driven by outside agitators.

Datta said that he and a few Mobilewalla employees chose locations where they expected protests would occur — including the George Floyd memorial site in Minneapolis, and Gracie Mansion in New York — and analyzed data from mobile devices in those areas collected between May 29 and May 31.


Mobilewalla



Screenshot from "George Floyd Protester Demographics: Insights Across 4 Major US Cities."

Jacinta González, a senior campaign organizer at Latinx advocacy group Mijente, told BuzzFeed News that by monitoring protesters, Mobilewalla could undermine freedom of assembly.

“It is really just fundamentally terrifying to understand the way that companies can access such vast amounts of data to process for their own gain — without folks understanding even that they have consented to their information being taken, much less used in this way,” González said.

“It’s important to understand that once technology hits the market, it's actually very hard to limit who has access to it — whether it is police, or whether it is other actors that want to harm communities,” González added. “Once this stuff is out there, we just have no way of understanding how it’s being used. Often we don’t even know that it’s out there to begin with.”

Mobilewalla does not collect the data itself, but rather buys it from a variety of sources, including advertisers, data brokers, and internet service providers. Once it has it, the company uses artificial intelligence to turn a stew of location data, device IDs, and browser histories to predict a person's demographics — including race, age, gender, zip code, or personal interests. Mobilewalla sells aggregated versions of that stuff back to advertisers. On its website, Mobilewalla says that it works with companies across a variety of industries — like retail, dining, telecom, banking, consulting, health, and on-demand services (like ride-hailing).

"Who would know that they’d be using it to track demographics of people at protests?"

It’s unclear how accurate this report actually is. Datta told BuzzFeed News that his company, on average, has access to location data for 30% to 60% of people in any given location in the United States. Mobilewalla said in a YouTube video that it collects an average of 25 billion “signals” (or pieces of information, like GPS coordinates) every day. Every week, these signals pour in from an average of 1.6 billion devices. Datta said that about 300 million of these devices are in the US. (This doesn’t mean that Mobilewalla collected data on 300 million people, because one person might have more than one device that Mobilewalla is tracking.)

Saira Hussain, a staff attorney for the Electronic Frontier Foundation, told BuzzFeed News that Mobilewalla’s report was not surprising, but very troubling.

“If [this data] ends up in hands of the government, or if protesters are concerned that it could end up in the hands of the government, that may suppress speech, it may deter people from going to protests,” Hussain said.

Mobilewalla's privacy policy says that people have the right to opt out of certain uses of their personal information. But it also says, "Even if you opt out, we, our Clients and third parties may still collect and use information regarding your activities on the Services, Properties, websites and/or applications and/or information from advertisements for other legal purposes as described herein."

There is currently no federal law that regulates how companies like Mobilewalla — which buy and sell people’s data on the internet — can use people’s information. Hussain noted that information about data-sharing can be buried in the Terms of Service, there isn’t meaningful consent built into most privacy policies.

“Given how many different industries that this company works within for targeted advertising, it seems that you probably wouldn’t know, once the information in the company’s hands, exactly what they’re gonna be using it for,” Hussain said. “And who would know that they’d be using it to track demographics of people at protests?”

MORE ON THIS
Many Police Departments Have Software That Can Identify People In Crowds

Caroline Haskins · June 12, 2020

Here Are The Minneapolis Police's Tools To Identify Protesters

Caroline Haskins · May 29, 2020

Caroline Haskins is a technology reporter for BuzzFeed News and is based in New York

NYC 17 Corrections Officers Will Face Disciplinary Action Over The Death Of A Trans Woman In Solitary Confinement

Layleen Polanco, 27, died of an epileptic seizure at Rikers Island while being held on a $500 bail she could not afford to pay.

Clarissa-Jan LimBuzzFeed News Reporter
Last updated on June 28, 2020

Stephanie Keith / Reuters
A person holds up a picture of Layleen Polanco during a Black Trans Lives Matter rally in New York City.

Seventeen New York City corrections officers will face disciplinary action over the death of a transgender woman in a Rikers jail cell, Mayor Bill de Blasio said Friday. Three of the officers and a captain will be suspended without pay.

“The death of Layleen Polanco was an incredibly painful moment for our city,” de Blasio said in a statement. “What happened to Layleen was absolutely unacceptable and it is critical that there is accountability.”

Layleen Xtravaganza Cubilette-Polanco, 27, died in June 2019 of an epileptic seizure while being held in "punitive segregation," or solitary confinement, on Rikers Island. She had not been able to afford the $500 bail for an assault and prostitution charge and was awaiting trial.

Despite jail policies requiring officers to check on her every 15 minutes, surveillance video released by her family two weeks ago showed that 47 minutes had gone by before an officer peered into the glass slit on the door to Polanco's cell. About 15 minutes later, when two correction officers opened the door to check on her, they were seen laughing on the video.

A few minutes later an officer was seen entering her cell after which Polanco was pronounced dead less than an hour later.

David Shanies, a lawyer representing Polanco's family in a federal civil rights lawsuit against the city and Department of Correction employees, had called the footage "horrifying for the family."

The officers' laughter, he said, is “a symbol of the complete disregard the entire system had for Layleen.”

Her death led to widespread anger from civil rights groups and calls to end solitary confinement, a practice that has been consistently criticized as inhumane, and even as torture by the United Nations.

Bronx district attorney Darcel Clark declined to file criminal charges after a six-month investigation into Polanco's death.

"After an in-depth investigation by my Public Integrity Bureau, we have concluded that we would be unable to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that any individual committed any crime associated with Ms. Polanco’s demise," Clark said.

The investigation report noted that Polanco had informed corrections officers that she "suffered from a seizure disorder."

Her family said in the lawsuit that Polanco should have not been placed in punitive segregation in the first place.


MORE ON THIS
New Video Reveals How Jail Guards Reacted When They Found A Transgender Woman Unresponsive In Her Cell. She Later Died.

Tom Namako · June 13, 2020

Trans Visibility Won’t Save Us

Alex Verman · Dec. 4, 2019

2020 PROTESTS

Videos Show The NYPD Clashing With Protesters At An LGBTQ Pride Event

Witnesses said it was an otherwise "beautiful" and "peaceful" gathering.

Tanya ChenBuzzFeed News Reporter

Last updated on June 28, 2020, at 9:06 p.m. ET


Erin Taylor@erinisaway
the nypd are brutalizing protesters at the queer liberation march on Pride of all days. remember that Stonewall started as a riot against the police. https://t.co/IvD7HmLEPV08:40 PM - 28 Jun 2020
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Multiple first-hand accounts and viral tweets said the NYPD used excessive force on people participating in the Queer Liberation March on Sunday, the anniversary of the Stonewall uprising and the final day of New York's planned Pride celebrations.

Two witnesses told BuzzFeed News they saw police running into crowds, using pepper spray, and beating protesters with batons near Washington Square Park — only about a 5 minute walk from the historic Stonewall Inn, where the modern LGBTQ civil rights movement began 51 years ago.

And while people weren't sure how things escalated, they said that it was an otherwise peaceful and celebratory gathering.

Protester Eliel Cruz, 29, recalled to BuzzFeed News the moment he realized the tone suddenly changed.

"It was very peaceful, very chill. I didn’t see much police presence. Then I saw 20 cops on bikes and a few cop cars speed up right away, so I walked a little quicker," he said.

He said he headed toward where police officers were raining down on protesters.

"I walked by five or six people on the ground who were pepper sprayed and were washing their eyes," he said, adding he saw at least 10 people on Sunday who were recovering from being pepper sprayed.

Marti Gould Cummings, who was also witness to the incident and who attended the march in drag, recalled a similar chain of events.

"I was leaving Washington square — there was a beautiful rally centering around Black trans women. As we were leaving, we noticed a commotion directly in front of us and realized it was the police," said Cummings, who is running for New York's city council.

"People were chanting 'don’t shoot' and many took a knee. The police escalated and used pepper spray and batons," they added.



Eliel Cruz@elielcruz
These cops just got ran up on people09:00 PM - 28 Jun 2020
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Cruz also said he witnessed at least one person get arrested.

"We were demanding the police release the protester, and they started to beat people ... There were more cops running toward the crowds and pushing people," he said.

Cruz said officers began to retreat when a large group of protesters linked arms to create a barricade. He said the police escalation and standoff with protesters lasted about 5-10 minutes.

Cummings recorded a selfie as they were coming out of the confrontation, demanding NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio and NYPD commissioner Dermot Francis Shea answer to "why on the anniversary of Stonewall we are to this day continuing to protest police brutality," adding that "Stonewall was an active resistant against police."

Marti Gould Cummings@MartiGCummings
Hey @NYCMayor @NYPDShea on the anniversary of stonewall your cops are beating and arresting people08:45 PM - 28 Jun 2020
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Cummings later told BuzzFeed News they want the city council "to defund the NYPD by at least $1 billion and put that money back into communities most impacted by police brutality." They're also calling on de Blasio to resign.

"If the mayor continues to allow the NYPD to terrorize this city he must step down."

De Blasio had earlier in the day tweeted about his support for the Black, trans activists who have led the LGBTQ movement. His office did not immediately respond to questions about the NYPD's actions at Sunday's march.



Mayor Bill de Blasio@NYCMayor
On the 50th Anniversary of #PrideMarch and the 51st Anniversary of Stonewall, NYC celebrates the Black, trans activists who built the movement and continue to lead today. #Pride https://t.co/D2FJy0lRoh08:56 PM - 28 Jun 2020
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When asked about the videos Sunday evening, an NYPD spokesperson told BuzzFeed News they have not "been made aware of" any arrests or force from police on protesters.

"Arrest numbers will be tallied at the conclusion of the event," said Sgt. Mary Frances O’Donnell, an NYPD spokesperson, adding that "the NYPD does not use tear gas."

A spokesperson for the coalition behind the Queer Liberation March told BuzzFeed News they were "horrified" and "furious" to hear about what transpired.

"We are horrified and furious at the brutal police attack on peaceful marchers using pepper spray, violent shoving, and arrests," they said. "At the exact moment that Mayor de Blasio tweeted about honoring Stonewall and the LGBTQIA+ rights movement, the NYPD completely overreacted with unprovoked physical violence - including pepper spraying their own colleagues."

"The police refuse to say exactly how many were arrested, and refuse to state the reasons for their arrest or their charges. We are concerned that the NYPD will return to Washington Square Park."

Tasneem Nashrulla contributed reporting to this story.

MORE ON THIS
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Gabriel H. Sanchez · June 26, 2020

Here's Your Reminder That Pride Would Not Exist If It Weren't For Black LGBTQ Activists

Kelly Martinez · June 3, 2020

Black Trans Sex Workers Want People To Say Their Names — While They’re Alive

Otillia Steadman · June 17, 2020

Tanya Chen is a social news reporter for BuzzFeed and is based in Chicago.

SCHADENFREUDE 
Alex Azar: 'Window is closing' for U.S. to control pandemic

YOU FOOL 

YOU CANNOT CONTROL THE PANDEMIC

AT BEST YOU CAN CONTAIN IT 

AND YOU AIN'T THE BEST

Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said the "window is closing" for the United States to control the COVID-19 pandemic as cases surged in Florida, Texas and Arizona pushing the national total past 2.5 million. File Photo by Kevin Dietsch/UPI | License Photo

June 28 (UPI) -- Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar on Sunday said the "window is closing" for the United States to control the COVID-19 pandemic as infections in the nation surpassed 2.5 million amid surges in cases in various parts of the country.

Appearing on CNN's State of the Union Sunday, Azar warned that if Americans "act irresponsibly, if we don't socially distance, if we don't use face coverings in settings where we can't social distance, if we don't practice appropriate hygiene" then the disease will spread.

"Things are very different from two months ago ... So it is a very different situation, but this is a very, very serious situation and the window is closing for us to take action and get this under control," Azar said.

Coronavirus cases in the United States rose to 2,530,587 as of Sunday afternoon and the nation also reported a total of 125,630 deaths as the country leads the world in both categories, according to figures by John's Hopkins University.

RELATED Coronavirus milestones: 10 million cases, 500,000 deaths worldwide

Florida, Texas and Arizona have reported some of the most rapid surges followed by other states such as California and the Carolinas.

Texas has risen to fourth in the nation in total cases with a total of 143, 371 positive cases after reporting 5,747 new cases on Saturday, hospitalizations also hit a record high for a 16th consecutive day on Saturday with 5,523 patients receiving treatment. Florida has reported a total of 141,075 cases -- fifth highest in the nation -- after reporting 8,577 new cases on Sunday and a single-day record 9,564 cases on Saturday.

RELATED Florida breaks single-day record with 9,585 COVID-19 cases

Both states on Friday ordered bars to close amid the rising infections. Also on Sunday, Florida's Broward County announced it would close beaches from July 3 through July 5 ahead of the July 4th weekend, following an earlier decision by Miami-Dade County to do the same.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom also ordered bars to close in seven counties, while recommending they do so in eight other counties on Sunday and has pushed for leaders in the state's Imperial County to reinstate a stay-at-home order as the county's 14-day average positivity rate has approached 23 percent and the state moved into second place in the nation in total cases at 211,243 positive cases.

Cases in Arizona surged by 3,858 on Sunday as the state reported a total of 3,858 positive cases. North Carolina reported 1,605 new cases on Sunday for a total of 62,214, while South Carolina reported 1,366 new cases for a total of 33,221 in the state.

Tom Frieden, the former Centers for Disease Control and Prevention director, told Fox News on Sunday that the United States will see at least 15,000 new coronavirus related deaths in states that have taken steps to ease restrictions and reopen businesses in the coming weeks such as South Carolina, Florida and Texas.
"If you open when cases are still increasing, as many states did, it's like leaning into a left hook," said Frieden. "You're going to get hit hard. And that's what's happening."

New York, which leads the nation in cases and deaths and was once the epicenter for the virus in the United States, reported 616 new cases -- it's lowest daily total since March -- and 5 new deaths for a total of 392,539 cases and 24,835.

In neighboring New Jersey, Gov. Phil Murphy announced 354 new cases for a total of 171, 182 -- third in the nation -- and 30 new deaths for the second-highest death toll in the nation at 13,121.

State Department says white supremacy rising globally
BY UPI

Protesters hold up signs as they participate in a protest on Aug. 14, 2017, at Trump Tower in New York City. The State Department said in a new report Thursday terrorism connected to white supremacy has spread globally. Photo by John Angelillo/UPI | License Photo

June 26 (UPI) -- White supremacy and racially and ethnically motivated terrorism are on the rise in the United States and around the world, targeting immigrants, Jews, Muslims and other minorities, a new State Department report released Thursday said.

White supremacy was the focus of high-profile mass shootings in 2019, such as the mosque attack at Christchurch, New Zealand, the incident at an El Paso, Texas, Walmart, and a synagogue attack in Halle, Germany, last October.

"White supremacist terrorism continues to be a threat to the global community, with violence both on the rise and spreading geographically, as white supremacist and nativist movements and individuals increasingly target immigrants; Jewish, Muslim, and other religious minorities; lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and/or intersex (LGBTI) individuals; governments; and other perceived enemies," according to the report, which is an annual examination of terrorism by country.

During a Wednesday news conference, the State Department's lead counterterrorism official Nathan Sales, said white supremacy is one of the Trump administration's top concerns.

"It took this administration coming into power to really prioritize stepping up efforts against this threat here in the case of the FBI and DHS, but also abroad where this department comes into play," Sales said.

Sales said the Russia-based group Russian Imperial Movement of provided paramilitary training to white supremacists and neo-Nazis along with recruiting individuals from Europe as and the United States. The Trump administration designated the group as a terrorist organization in April.

"We're particularly concerned about white supremacist terrorism and this administration is doing things that no previous administration has done to counter this threat," Sales said.

RELATED ADL: Right-wing extremists killed 38 people in 2019

Trump has drawn criticism for the issue, including for his response after violence between white supremacists and counter-protesters in Charlottesville, Va., in 2017, when he condemned violence from "many sides" and said there were "very fine people, on both sides."

More than 100 killed by lightning as India's monsoon storms arrive early

Lightning strikes are shown over Kolkata, India, on May 27. More than 100 people died from lightning in the country Thursday as monsoon storms arrived early. File photo by Piyal Adhikary/EPA-EFE

June 26 (UPI) -- More than 100 people were killed by lightning strikes in two Indian states as the country's vital monsoon season arrived earlier than expected.

Eighty-three people were killed Thursday in the northeastern state of Bihar and 24 others died during thunderstorms in the neighboring state of Uttar Pradesh, local officials reported.

More than 20 districts in Bihar reported fatalities, with Gopalganj in the northern part of the state registering the highest total with 13 deaths, according to state disaster management officials.

They said families of the victims will be compensated with $5,300.

Officials said many of the victims were farmers at work in their fields, hurrying to finish planting their crops before the arrival of the Southwest Monsoon season, which generally runs from June to September.

The yearly storms, which are crucial to India's agricultural economy, arrived in northern parts of the country two weeks early this year, leaving farmers there exposed to lightning strikes in open fields.

The monsoon rains usually begin in India's southwest corner June 1 and take 45 days to advance across the country. This year, however, they had covered the entire nation by early Friday, the India Meteorological Department said.

Locusts overtake India's capital region


Locusts threaten crops and livelihoods of millions of Indians. File Photo by dr322/Shutterstock

June 27 (UPI) -- Local officials in India advised residents near Delhi to be on alert and close their windows as a swarm of desert locusts entered the capital Saturday.

The swarm arrived in the neighboring city of Gurugram in Haryana state, as well as the South and West districts of Delhi. The government of Haryana issued a high alert, and Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai called for an emergency meeting.

"All district magistrates have been advised to remain on high alert and to cooperate with the district fire department personnel for spraying prescribed pesticides/insecticides," the a Delhi advisory said.

Rai said he ordered districts to contain the spread of the insects by advising residents to make loud noises and burn Neem leaves.

The Delhi government advised people to keep their windows closed and cover plants with plastic sheets. They also suggested the use of insecticides after sunset.

K L Gunjar of the Locust Warning Organization told the Press Trust of India that the swarm was moving toward Faridabad and Palwal in Haryana state.

Locusts pose a threat to crops and food supply, endangering the lives and livelihoods of millions of people in their path.