Google Doodle of Marsha P. Johnson, beloved trans-rights activist, will close out Pride month


By Christina Maxouris, CNN  Tue June 30, 2020

(CNN)Google is paying tribute to Marsha P. Johnson -- a pioneering figure in the country's LGBT rights movement -- on the last day of Pride month.
The company announced its June 30 Google Doodle will be dedicated to the late activist who was at the center of New York's gay liberation movement for more than 20 years.
The doodle depicts Johnson in all her colorful, flower-in-hair, bright-red-lipstick glory.

A petition wants to replace a New Jersey city's Christopher Columbus statue with Black trans activist Marsha P. Johnson
The company said it chose June 30th to honor Johnson as it will be the first anniversary since she was posthumously honored as a grand marshal during WorldPride in New York.

"Thank you, Marsha P. Johnson, for inspiring people everywhere to stand up for the freedom to be themselves," Google wrote.

Who is Marsha P. Johnson?
Google.org will also donate $500,000 to the Marsha P. Johnson Institute, the company said. The institute, which launched last year, will continue the work Johnson started, advocating for and organizing on behalf of the transgender community, its founder has previously told CNN.

"For so long, Marsha's history has only been heralded by the LGBTQ community," Elle Hearns, the founder and executive director of the institute, said in a statement.
"Today's Doodle will help teach her story to many more around the world, and about the work that has been historically ignored and often purposely left out of history books. Today's Doodle of Marsha reminds people that Black and LGBTQ+ history is bigger than just a month; it is something to be honored every single day."


Google's June 30 Doodle

A movement in Johnson's hometown
In Elizabeth, New Jersey, there's another push to keep Johnson's memory alive.
A 19-year-old woman has created a petition -- which in less than two weeks has garnered more than 40,000 signatures -- to replace a statue of Christopher Columbus in the city with one of Johnson.
The creator, Celine Da Silva, told CNN she thinks an honor for the activist in her hometown is long overdue.
"Being that this is her hometown, I think that we should be celebrating her and honoring her here," Da Silva told CNN. "And I think that the LGBT and queer community should be able to learn more about historic figures from their own community."
Da Silva and her boyfriend have plans to bring up their demand to the city council next month. They say they hope a new monument for Johnson will be the first of many steps to create a more inclusive Elizabeth and one that celebrates minorities and LGBT figures like Johnson.

Marsha P. Johnson, a black transgender woman, was a central figure in the gay liberation movement
The late activist's family, who still live in the New Jersey city today, say the movement to honor Johnson in her hometown gives them hope.
"I've always said that Marsha was more recognized in New York City and around the world than she is in her own hometown," her nephew, Al Michaels, says. "You have a hero, one of the greatest persons who did something in history and in your own hometown, and you have nothing there to commemorate the experience."
An announcement for another statue of Johnson was made last year by New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio.
De Blasio said the city would commemorate both the work of Johnson and her friend and activist Sylvia Rivera with statues in Greenwich Village. The two helped found the group Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries (STAR), which offered housing to homeless and transgender youth.
Their monument will be among the first in the world to honor transgender people, the mayor's office had said.

https://g.co/doodle/y9euyvr

https://www.google.com/search?q=Marsha+P.+Johnson&oi=ddle&ct=158961028&hl=en&kgmid=%2Fm%2F06dtn0&source=doodle-ntp&ved=0ahUKEwikt7DN6qjqAhUVo54KHcSVBnIQPQgB

Scores of children killed in Philippines' war on drugs: report

GENEVA(Reuters) - At least 129 children have been killed in the Philippines’ four-year war on drugs, most by police or allied assailants, but they may only represent a fraction of the toll, activist groups said on Monday.

FILE PHOTO: Protesters and residents hold lighted candles and placards at the wake of Kian delos Santos, a 17-year-old high school student, who was among the people shot dead in an escalation of President Rodrigo Duterte's war on drugs in Caloocan city, Metro Manila, Philippines August 25, 2017. REUTERS/Dondi Tawatao/File Photo
Minors have been directly targeted, punished as proxies, or victims of mistaken identity or “collateral damage”, they said in a report, “How could they do this to my child?”.

The World Organisation against Torture (OMCT) and the Children’s Legal Rights and Development Centre, a Philippines- based group, urged the U.N. Human Rights Council to launch an independent commission of inquiry into extrajudicial killings and other crimes at its three-week session opening on Tuesday.

The figures, which include seven child murders this year, are “the tip of the iceberg because it is only those cases that we were able to document and verify, there may be many more in the country”, said Gerald Staberock, OMCT secretary-general.


“We are calling on the Human Rights Council to give a clear investigative mandate on the ground to collect the evidence and to ensure accountability,” he told a news conference.

A Philippine presidential palace spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Spokesman Harry Roque rejected as “rehashed claims” a separate U.N. report this month that found tens of thousands of people may have been killed in the war on drugs amid near impunity.

But the activists’ report said: “Far from being only ‘collateral damage’, as callously stated by President Rodrigo Duterte, these have often been deliberate killings.”

Their investigations found that 38.5% of the documented child killings were carried out by policemen while 61.5% were by unknown assailants, “some of them with direct links to the police”. The youngest victim was a 20-month-old girl.


Perpetrators enjoy impunity, with only one case, involving the killing of 17-year-old Manila student Kian delos Santos, recorded on video in 2017, leading to a conviction, the report said.

Children violating quarantines in the pandemic have been killed, Rose Trajano of the Philippine Alliance of Human Rights Advocates, said.

“We have documented at least 15 extrajudicial killings during the time of COVID and we know that is not all,” she said

Assange surprised by timing of new U.S. indictment

LONDON (Reuters) - Julian Assange’s lawyer said on Monday he was surprised U.S. authorities issued a new and wider indictment last week against the WikiLeaks founder whom they are seeking to extradite from Britain.

Assange is wanted by U.S. authorities to stand trial for 18 offences including conspiring to hack government computers and espionage. Last year, the United States began extradition proceedings after he was dragged from London’s Ecuadorean embassy where he had been holed up for almost seven years.

The U.S. Department for Justice issued a second, superseding indictment last week which, it said, contained no new charges but broadened “the scope of the conspiracy” and included accusations of recruiting hackers.

“We are to say the least surprised by the timing of this development,” Assange’s lawyer Mark Summers told a brief technical hearing at London’s Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Monday, adding it could derail the timing for the case.


Assange’s full extradition hearing began in February but was interrupted by Britain’s coronavirus lockdown and is now scheduled to resume on Sept. 7.

Judge Vanessa Baraister said the case would “almost certainly” be now held at London’s Old Bailey criminal court.

Assange himself was again absent from Monday’s hearing and unable to appear by videolink from prison because of medical reasons, Summers said.

Baraitser said the prison had said Assange was not unwell but was choosing not to attend. She said his legal team needed to provide up-to-date medical information for the next hearing.


Summers said the medical issues related to Assange attending the court via an unventilated video booth. His lawyers say he has had past respiratory illnesses making him susceptible to COVID-19.

Assange, 48, an Australian, fears decades in prison if convicted in the United States and calls the case against him a threat to free speech. Washington says he put the lives of informants in danger by publishing secret diplomatic cables.


Reporting by Michael Holden; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne

Spanish village makes its own rainbow after council's gay pride flag ban

BARCELONA (Reuters) - When police ordered a local mayor in southern Spain to take down a rainbow flag put up to celebrate gay pride on Friday because it was illegal, more than 300 households in the village rallied to the cause and flew their own flags.
A woman walks past rainbow flags placed on a street during the International LGBT Pride Day, in Villanueva de Algaidas, southern Spain June 28, 2020. REUTERS/Jon Nazca
By the time gay pride celebrations took place in Spain on Sunday, the Andalusian village of Villanueva de Algaidas near Malaga was awash with flags hanging from balconies, windows and even a bar in solidarity.

Juan Civico, Socialist mayor of the village of 4,000 inhabitants, only found out it was illegal for authorities to fly the flag after three residents complained about the one he had put up.

Civico said the local government was bound by a recent ruling by the Spanish Supreme Court that only official flags, of Spain, its regions or the European Union, can be flown from council buildings.

“After the complaints, we studied what we had to do. We saw that under the law we had to remove the flag. But the people can put what they like on their balconies,” said Civico.

Hearing about the police action, Antonio Carlos Alcántara who runs a shop in the seaside resort of Torremolinos, 62 km away, had an idea.

He sells rainbow flags in his shop in the resort, which is popular with the LGBT community, but because of the coronavirus they were not selling and he had plenty in stock.


After he put out a message on the council’s Facebook page asking if anyone in Villanueva de Algaidas wanted to fly a rainbow flag, he received more than 100 requests for the flags, prompting him to drive over and hand out another 300.

“The village is full(of flags). It is incredible,” Alcántara said.

Piedad Queralta hung two flags from her house in the village.

“I think people should be free to love who they want to as long as it does not cause anybody any harm,” she said.

In 2005, Spain became the third country in the world to legalise same-sex marriage, after the Netherlands and Belgium.

A 2013 report for the U.S.-based Pew Research Center found 88% of Spaniards accepted homosexuality, making it one of the most accepting countries of the 39 polled.

Antonio Ferre, of the Federation of Andalusian LGTB+ Diversity, said the villagers’ initiative in Villanueva de Algaidas was “especially moving”.


Manolo Garcia, another resident, was just happy to support the cause.

“To me it is not good nor bad. Every person should be able to do what they like in their own home and in the public street if it does not offend others,” he said.

Giant rainbow flag unfurled in front of Taiwan autocrat's memorial hall

(Attention to strong language in paragraph five some readers may find offensive)

TAIPEI (Reuters) - Hundreds of people thronged a central square in Taiwan’s capital Taipei for a Pride event on Sunday, unfurling a giant rainbow flag in front of the main memorial hall for late autocratic leader Chiang Kai-shek before being ushered away by police.

Proudly democratic Taiwan is a bastion of liberal values in a part of the world where in many countries homosexuality remains illegal or taboo. Taiwan legalised same sex marriage last year, the first in Asia.

The “Taiwan Pride Parade for the World” billed itself as a show of solidarity with countries unable to hold LGBTQ celebrations due to restrictions on public events to stop the spread of the new coronavirus. The pandemic is under control in Taiwan.


An international crowd of more than 200 people waving rainbow flags and masks, some singing and dancing, marched up to the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall, where a small group briefly displayed the flag in front of the building, which houses a giant statue of Taiwan’s late leader.

After scattered shouts of “Fuck you, Chiang Kai-shek”, the crowd marched back down the steps, accompanied by a handful of police, blowing whistles to stop people lingering.
Chiang, who died in 1975, was lauded in life as an anti-communist hero, especially in the United States, but many Taiwanese revile him as a despot who imprisoned and killed opponents during a reign of terror.

Darien Chen, who represented Taiwan at Mr. Gay World 2013 and organised Sunday’s event, said they were holding high the banner for the rest of the world, with hundreds of events cancelled in the traditional Pride month.

“With the rest of the world under the peak of the epidemic, only Taiwan can do this,” Chen told Reuters. “Of course we won’t give in, and we must continue with this flame of hope and stand up for the world, to hold the only parade in the world in this Pride month.”

Taipei holds its main Pride parade in late October when the weather is cooler.

Thousands in western Myanmar flee as army plans operations, monitors say
(Reuters) - Thousands of villagers have fled their homes in Myanmar’s Rakhine state after a local administrator warned dozens of village leaders that the army planned “clearance operations” against insurgents, a lawmaker and a humanitarian group said.
People who fled from Rathedaung Township arrive in Sittwe, the capital of Rakhine State, Myanmar June 27, 2020. Picture taken June 27, 2020. REUTERS/Stringer

But a government spokesman said late on Saturday an evacuation order issued by border-affairs officials had been revoked. Border affairs acknowledged issuing the order through the local administrator but said it affected fewer villages.

The warning to the village leaders came in a letter written on Wednesday, which was seen by Reuters and verified by a state government minister, Colonel Min Than.

The letter, signed by the administrator of Rathedaung township, Aung Myint Thein, told village leaders he had been informed the operations were planned in the township’s Kyauktan village and nearby areas suspected of harbouring insurgents.

The letter does not specify where the order came from, but Min Than, Rakhine state’s border affairs and security minister, told Reuters it was an instruction from his border affairs ministry, one of three Myanmar government ministries controlled by the army.

“Clearance operation will be done by forces in those villages,” the letter from the administrator said.

“While this is being done, if the fighting occurs with AA terrorists, don’t stay at the villages but move out temporarily,” it said, referring to the Arakan Army, the name of the Rakhine state insurgents.

The administrator could not be reached for comment by Reuters.

Min Than said the “clearance operation” described in the letter referred to military operations targeting “terrorists.”

He said the administrator had misinterpreted the order from his ministry and that the operations would only take place in a few villages, not the dozens mentioned, but confirmed other details.

The operations could last up to a week, Min Than said by phone, adding that “those who remain will be those who are loyal to the AA.”

On Saturday, government spokesman Zaw Htay said in a statement on Facebook the government had instructed the military not to use the term “clearance operations”. He also said the letter ordering people to flee had been revoked.

He did not answer phone calls from Reuters seeking further comment. Reuters did not see the revocation instructions.

This year the Myanmar army has been fighting the AA, a group from the largely Buddhist Rakhine ethnic group that is seeking greater autonomy for the western region, also known as Arakan.

Dozens have died and tens of thousands been displaced in the conflict. Save the Children says 18 children were killed and 71 injured or maimed between January and March, citing local monitoring groups. The army says it does not target civilians.

“Clearance operations” is the term the Myanmar authorities used in 2017 to describe operations against insurgents from Rakhine’s Muslim-minority Rohingya people. During those operations, hundreds of thousands of people fled from their homes. Refugees said the army carried out mass killings and arson, accusations the army has denied.

Rohingyas fled to neighbouring Bangladesh during that military crackdown, which the government said was a response to attacks by Rohingya insurgents.

The United Nations said in a statement on Sunday it was concerned by intense fighting in Kyauktan, including reports people were trapped and houses damaged. It called on all parties to “respect international humanitarian law, fulfil their responsibilities and take urgent measures to spare civilians and civilian infrastructure”.

On Saturday, the British, Australian, U.S. and Canadian embassies in Myanmar said they were “deeply concerned by the reports of the Myanmar Military’s clearance operations along the Kyauktan village tract” and “the worsening humanitarian and security situation across the region.”

“We are aware of the historic impacts of such operations disproportionately affecting civilians,” the statement said. It called on “all armed actors to exercise restraint while in areas inhabited by local communities, some of whom may not, by no fault of their own, be able to seek refuge elsewhere.”

In anticipation of the new operation, Min Than said 80 people had fled Kyauktan to elsewhere in Rathedaung township and that the army had prepared shelter and food.

Zaw Zaw Htun, the secretary of the Rakhine Ethnic Congress, a humanitarian group, said at least 1,700 had fled to the neighbouring Ponnagyun township.


Another 1,400 are sheltering in a nearby village and are in dire need of food and other supplies, said regional parliamentarian Oo Than Naing from Rathedaung township.

A military spokesman did not answer phone calls seeking comment about the operations. Reuters could not independently verify how many people had fled their homes.

The UK-based rights group Burma Human Rights Network said residents of 39 villages had begun to flee since the order was issued in Kyauktan on Wednesday, citing local sources. The Kyauktan area is home to tens of thousands of people, from both Rohingya and Rakhine communities, according to the Rakhine Ethnic Congress.

Journalists are barred from most of Rakhine state, and the government has imposed an internet shutdown on most of the region, making information difficult to verify.

Far right takes to Lisbon streets to deny racism is a problem

LISBON (Reuters) - Hundreds of protesters marched through one of Lisbon’s main avenues on Saturday shouting “Portugal is not racist”, in a demonstration organised by the leader of a far-right party known for his derogatory remarks against ethnic minorities.

TELL THAT TO THE PEOPLE OF ANGOLA & MOZAMBIQUE AND BRAZIL

Portugal's far-right party Chega leader Andre Ventura marches with supporters in a protest against those who say racism exists in the country, in downtown Lisbon, Portugal, June 27, 2020. REUTERS/Rafael Marchante

Dozens of police officers were on standby as protesters wearing face masks marched and waved Portuguese flags in the demonstration organised by the leader of the Chega (Enough) party Andre Ventura, a former soccer commentator. There were no immediate reports of violence or arrests.

In October, Ventura won the far right’s first seat in parliament since Portugal’s dictatorship ended in 1974.

“Today will be history because after 40 years the right decided to go out on the streets,” Ventura, who has been involved in several controversies since the election, told a crowd of supporters.


In January, Ventura called for a Black fellow MP with dual Portuguese-Guinean citizenship to be “returned to her own country” after she proposed that items in Portuguese museums be sent back to their countries of origin.

A month later, Ventura questioned if Porto striker Moussa Marega, who quit a soccer match in protest after being subjected to monkey chants and other insults, was a victim of racism.

Saturday’s protests took place at a time when Portuguese authorities are worried about a wave of new coronavirus cases across Lisbon’s suburbs and have been forced to reintroduce certain lockdown measures.

“We are outdoors, we know the virus dies under a certain temperature, we are social distancing, we have masks and I believe we are complying with all rules,” said Chega supporter Joao Rodrigues.


The march came around three weeks after thousands gathered in Lisbon and other Portuguese cities in protest against racism and alleged police brutality.

Among the crowd of right-wingers at the Saturday demonstration, a 27-year-old man stood alone and waved a rainbow LGBT+ pride flag in protest.

“Someone has to show this ideology in 2020 is wrong,” Joao Pedro said.


Reporting by Catarina Demony, Miguel Pereira and Rafael Marchante; Editing by James Drummond and David Holmes

Scientists just beginning to understand the many health problems caused by COVID-19

Julie Steenhuysen Updated: Jun 27


CHICAGO (Reuters) - Scientists are only starting to grasp the vast array of health problems caused by the novel coronavirus, some of which may have lingering effects on patients and health systems for years to come, according to doctors and infectious disease experts.

Besides the respiratory issues that leave patients gasping for breath, the virus that causes COVID-19 attacks many organ systems, in some cases causing catastrophic damage.

"We thought this was only a respiratory virus. Turns out, it goes after the pancreas. It goes after the heart. It goes after the liver, the brain, the kidney and other organs. We didn't appreciate that in the beginning," said Dr. Eric Topol, a cardiologist and director of the Scripps Research Translational Institute in La Jolla, California.

In addition to respiratory distress, patients with COVID-19 can experience blood clotting disorders that can lead to strokes, and extreme inflammation that attacks multiple organ systems. The virus can also cause neurological complications that range from headache, dizziness and loss of taste or smell to seizures and confusion.

And recovery can be slow, incomplete and costly, with a huge impact on quality of life.

The broad and diverse manifestations of COVID-19 are somewhat unique, said Dr. Sadiya Khan, a cardiologist at Northwestern Medicine in Chicago.

With influenza, people with underlying heart conditions are also at higher risk of complications, Khan said. What is surprising about this virus is the extent of the complications occurring outside the lungs.

Khan believes there will be a huge healthcare expenditure and burden for individuals who have survived COVID-19.

LENGTHY REHAB FOR MANY

Patients who were in the intensive care unit or on a ventilator for weeks will need to spend extensive time in rehab to regain mobility and strength.

"It can take up to seven days for every one day that you're hospitalized to recover that type of strength," Khan said. "It's harder the older you are, and you may never get back to the same level of function."

While much of the focus has been on the minority of patients who experience severe disease, doctors increasingly are looking to the needs of patients who were not sick enough to require hospitalization, but are still suffering months after first becoming infected.

Studies are just getting underway to understand the long-term effects of infection, Jay Butler, deputy director of infectious diseases at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, told reporters in a telephone briefing on Thursday.

"We hear anecdotal reports of people who have persistent fatigue, shortness of breath," Butler said. "How long that will last is hard to say."

While coronavirus symptoms typically resolve in two or three weeks, an estimated 1 in 10 experience prolonged symptoms, Dr. Helen Salisbury of the University of Oxford wrote in the British Medical Journal on Tuesday.

Salisbury said many of her patients have normal chest X-rays and no sign of inflammation, but they are still not back to normal.

"If you previously ran 5k three times a week and now feel breathless after a single flight of stairs, or if you cough incessantly and are too exhausted to return to work, then the fear that you may never regain your previous health is very real," she wrote.

Dr. Igor Koralnik, chief of neuro-infectious diseases at Northwestern Medicine, reviewed current scientific literature and found about half of patients hospitalized with COVID-19 had neurological complications, such as dizziness, decreased alertness, difficulty concentrating, disorders of smell and taste, seizures, strokes, weakness and muscle pain.

Koralnik, whose findings were published in the Annals of Neurology, has started an outpatient clinic for COVID-19 patients to study whether these neurological problems are temporary or permanent.

Khan sees parallels with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. Much of the early focus was on deaths.

"In recent years, we've been very focused on the cardiovascular complications of HIV survivorship," Khan said.

(This story corrects spelling of doctor's name to Khan instead of Kahn in last two paragraphs)

(Reporting by Julie Steenhuysen; additional reporting by Caroline Humer and Nancy Lapid in New York; Editing by Bill Berkrot)

Canada's treatment of some farm workers a 'national disgrace': minister

FILE PHOTO - Canada's Minister of Health Patty Hajdu speaks during a meeting of the special committee on the COVID-19 pandemic, as efforts continue to help slow the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada June 16, 2020. REUTERS/Blair Gable

OTTAWA (Reuters) - The treatment of migrant workers in Canada by some farmers is disgraceful and the federal government is seeking to fix the problem, the country’s health minister told a parliamentary committee on Friday, as farms battle COVID-19 outbreaks among their employees.

Outbreaks of coronavirus infections have killed three people and infected hundreds more on farms in Ontario, Canada’s most populous province, in recent weeks.

Health Minister Patty Hajdu said she had heard stories about the treatment of migrant workers that “would curl your hair,” and the way some farms treat them now is “a national disgrace.”

IT IS A HISTORICAL PHENOMENA BAD FARMER BROWN, THE IWW ORGANIZED FARM WORKERS AT THE BEGINNING OF LAST CENTURY, POST WWII IT WAS CPCML ORGANIZING AMONG EAST INDIAN WORKERS IN BC.

Hajdu added that she was working with Employment Minister Carla Qualtrough “on how to reform the temporary foreign worker program” but gave no details on what those reforms might look like.

Canadian farmers rely on some 60,000 temporary foreign workers, predominantly from Latin America and the Caribbean to plant and harvest crops. Many live in crowded bunkhouses where the virus can spread quickly.

“All the PPE (personal protective equipment) in the world will not protect you if you are sleeping in a bunkhouse that is housing 12 to 15 people that may not have any ability for distancing, certainly no private washrooms or kitchen,” Hajdu said when asked whether Canada would consider providing migrant workers with PPE upon their arrival in Canada.

Migrant farm workers are considered a vulnerable population and need to be supported should they fall ill, Canada’s Chief Public Health Officer Dr. Theresa Tam told reporters on Thursday.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has also said Canada must do more to protect migrant farm workers, who are considered essential workers.

Earlier this week, an Ontario official said the province would allow some people who have tested positive for COVID-19 but do not have symptoms to immediately return to work, provided precautions were in place.

Canada cop found guilty of 2016 assault of Black man

TORONTO (Reuters) - A white off-duty police officer was found guilty of assault in a 2016 attack on a Black man, a Canadian judge ruled in a livestreamed hearing on Friday.

Michael Theriault, a Toronto police officer, and his brother Christian Theriault, who was not from the police department, were charged with aggravated assault and obstruction of justice after the pair violently attacked Dafonte Miller in Whitby, Ontario, 50 km (30 miles) east of Toronto, using their fists and a pipe.

Miller, who was 19 at the time, lost his left eye as a result of the attack, which has drawn attention for its racial overtones and prompted questions about police brutality.

In recent weeks, police brutality against people of color has been gaining widespread attention in Canada, including an alleged attack on Chief Allan Adams, an indigenous leader in Alberta.
The brothers argued that they were acting in self-defense, after they allegedly found Miller attempting to steal their parents’ car.

Ontario Superior Court Justice Joseph Di Luca said although it was not his job to conduct an inquiry into race and policing, he was “mindful of the need to carefully consider the radicalized context from which this case arises,” local media reported.

Christian Theriault was found not guilty of aggravated assault. Both brothers were found not guilty of obstruction of justice.

The court is scheduled to return on July 15 to discuss a sentencing hearing.

Reporting by Moira Warburton in Toronto; editing by Jonathan Oatis