Palestinian leaders struggle to mobilise street against annexation

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

Palestinian demonstrators turned out in small numbers for a demonstration against Israeli annexation plans early this month ABBAS MOMANI AFP/File
Ramallah (Palestinian Territories) (AFP)

With loudspeakers mounted, Palestinian flags unfurled and civil servants allowed off work, everything appeared set for a large protest in Ramallah against Israel's annexation plans in the occupied West Bank.

But only 200 people turned up for the June 8 demonstration, in a sign of the struggles the Palestinian Authority (PA) has faced generating outrage on the street against the prospective Israeli moves.

International condemnation of possible Israeli annexations has mounted ahead of July 1, when the Jewish state could take its first steps toward implementing part of a US-proposed Middle East peace plan.

President Donald Trump's proposals, rejected outright by the Palestinians, pave the way for annexing key parts of the West Bank, including settlements long considered illegal by the majority of the international community.

But on Palestinian streets, mobilisation against looming Israeli actions has been muted.

"There is fatigue," Palestinian analyst Nour Odeh told AFP.

"Fatigue from the usual -- to stand in Ramallah and wait for the cameras to show how angry we are," she added.

"You're talking to yourself, and then what?"

There was a substantially larger rally in the West Bank city of Jericho on Monday, where crowds sang in unison and hoisted banners declaring "Palestine is not for sale," in condemnation of the Trump plan.

The crowd of several thousand was brought to the protest site on buses chartered by the event organisers -- the Palestine Liberation Organization and Fatah party -- but many left even before the speeches began.

Odeh said the malaise was driven in part by frustration with Palestinian leaders who "promised to deliver peace through negotiation, (but) they failed."

- 'No power' -

Israel has occupied the West Bank since the 1967 Six Day War.

The 1993 Oslo peace accords were designed to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and establish the scope of Palestinian autonomy in the West Bank.

But nearly three decades on, doubts have grown among some Palestinians about their leaders' ability to secure a deal with Israel that would be accepted on the Palestinian streets.

"The PA is so weak! It has no power," said a farmer who requested anonymity in the Jordan Valley, a strategically crucial West Bank area targeted for annexation in the Trump plan.

For Ghassan Khatib, an academic and former PA official, signs of apathy about the prospect of annexation reveal a widening "gap" between the Palestinian people and their leaders.

Khatib blames this gap in part on "the absence of elections," last held in 2006 and on a disconnect between an ageing Palestinian leadership and a young population.

The 2006 election came a year before Islamist group Hamas took power in the Gaza strip. Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas, whose Fatah party is Hamas's rival, has previously pledged to hold elections on multiple occasions but without following through.

A poll published this week by the Jerusalem Media and Communications Centre (JMCC) and the German Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung foundation, found that 83 percent of Palestinians believe it is important to hold an election.

Asked "who do you trust most?", only 13 percent of respondents answered Abbas, who is 85 years old, while 76 percent described the PA he leads as corrupt.

- 'The street will lead' -

Khatib noted that the annexation threat comes as Palestinians face worsening economic conditions brought on by the coronavirus pandemic, along with a new surge in West Bank infections.

"People have too many problems over their heads in this period" to mobilise properly, according to Khatib.

He added that some among the Palestinian public see annexation as a continuation of Israel's long-running campaign of "consolidating occupation," including the regular construction of new Jewish settlements.

"They (might) think (annexation) is not a measure that is going to have a dramatic impact on their day-to-day life," he said.

Odeh however cautioned against using the scale of recent demonstrations as a "barometer" for the Palestinian reaction to concrete annexation moves by Israel.

"People are not waiting for instructions (from officials). The street will lead," she said.

"Nobody predicted the First Intifada," she added, referring to the Palestinian uprising that began in 1987.

© 2020 AFP

Thousands in Israel hold muted Gay Pride events

Issued on: 28/06/2020 -
 

A participant wearing a rainbow-themed mask at the annual Jerusalem Pride parade amid the COVID-19 pandemic MENAHEM KAHANA AFPJerusalem (AFP)

Thousands took part in muted LGBT events across Israel on Sunday as the usually larger gatherings were cancelled due to coronavirus restrictions.

In Tel Aviv, home to the Middle East's biggest annual Pride parade, revellers gathered at Rabin Square for a concert featuring local stars including transgender Eurovision winner Dana International.

An hour's drive away, police deployed in force to secure the parallel Jerusalem event, just shy of five years after a participant was murdered by a Jewish religious extremist.

On July 30, 2015, teenager Shira Banki was stabbed to death during the parade by ultra-Orthodox Jew Yishai Shlissel, who also wounded six others.

Police arrested 27 people before Sunday's event "to avoid any incidents", a spokesman said.

The parade began with several hundred people observing a minute's silence in Banki's memory and that of "all victims of homophobia".

Pride events also took place in the northern city of Haifa and Beersheva in the south, with all four taking place under the strapline "the revolution is not over".

The date was chosen to mark the 50th anniversary of the first Gay Pride parade in New York on June 28, 1970.

Around the world, the LGBT community and their supporters took many events online on Saturday, responding to the threat of the coronavirus pandemic.

With Israel still suffering hundreds of new COVID-19 infections a day, the police imposed limits on attendance at the country's events.

The country has reported over 23,000 cases of the disease, including 318 deaths.

Israel's parliament currently has six openly gay members, a record in a country where a sizeable ultra-orthodox Jewish population is deeply against LGBT rights.

Thousands in Israel attend muted Gay Pride events
Pride events take place in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Haifa and Beersheva under the slogan, 'The revolution is not over'

Mask-clad participants take part in annual Jerusalem Pride event amid Covid-19 pandemic on Sunday (AFP)

MEE and agencies Published date: 28 June 2020

Thousands took part in muted LGBT events across Israel on Sunday as the usually larger parades and gatherings were toned down or cancelled because of coronavirus restrictions.

In Tel Aviv, usually home to the Middle East's biggest annual Gay Pride parade, revellers instead gathered at Rabin Square for a concert featuring local stars, including transgender Eurovision winner Dana International.

An hour's drive away, police deployed in force to secure the parallel Jerusalem event, just shy of five years after a participant was murdered by a Jewish religious extremist, AFP said.



Over 130 filmmakers to boycott Tel Aviv’s LGBT film festivalRead More »
On 30 July 2015, teenager Shira Banki was stabbed to death during the parade by ultra-Orthodox Jew Yishai Shlissel, who also wounded six others. He was sentenced to life in prison.

Police detained 27 people before Sunday's event "to avoid any incidents", a spokesman said.

On Saturday, a few dozen right-wing protesters demonstrated outside the home of Jerusalem Mayor Moshe Leon against the municipality’s support for the event, Haaretz said.

The parade began with several hundred people observing a minute's silence in Banki's memory and that of "all victims of homophobia".

Pride events also took place in the northern city of Haifa and Beersheva in the south, with all four taking place under the slogan: "The revolution is not over."

The date was chosen to mark the 50th anniversary of the first Gay Pride parade in New York on 28 June 1970.

Around the world, the LGBT community and their supporters held many events online in response to the threat of the coronavirus pandemic.

With Israel still suffering hundreds of new Covid-19 infections a day, the police imposed limits on attendance at the country's events.

Israel has reported more than 23,000 cases of the disease, including 318 deaths.

Israel's parliament currently has six openly gay members, a record in a country where a sizeable ultra-orthodox Jewish population is deeply against LGBT rights.


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Socialist Anne Hidalgo declares victory in re-election as Paris mayor

Issued on: 28/06/2020

Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo reacts to victory in the second round of the mayoral elections, in Paris, France, June 28, 2020. © Christian Hartmann, REUTERS

Text by:FRANCE 24

Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo declared victory in her fight to win re-election in the French capital on Sunday, which will allow her to oversee the 2024 Summer Olympics.
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Hidalgo, a Socialist Party member, beat conservative candidate Rachida Dati in France’s municipal elections, according to estimations based on partial results. She was first elected as Paris mayor in 2014.

She is backed by the Europe Ecology – The Greens party (EELV), which gained strong influence nationwide in Sunday’s voting.

Votre confiance sera notre force. Merci Paris ! pic.twitter.com/5g5o9VXZhi— Anne Hidalgo (@Anne_Hidalgo) June 28, 2020

The second round of the municipal elections, which had been postponed amid the coronavirus crisis, has seen a record low turnout amid concerns over the pandemic.

Only 40 percent of voters cast ballots as French voters were required to wear masks, maintain social distancing while in queues and carry their own pens to sign voting registers.

Interior Minister Christophe Castaner, in charge of organising the elections, said that “today, everywhere across France, health measures ... were able to be respected. That is a satisfaction.” Yet he “regretted” the low turnout.

Macron's government under the spotlight

Voting was suspended after the first round of the nationwide municipal elections on March 15, which produced decisive outcomes in 30,000 mostly small communes. French President Emmanuel Macron's critics say he shouldn't have allowed the first round to go ahead at all, since it was held just as infections were exploding across Europe and just two days before France introduced sweeping nationwide lockdown measures.

The spread of the coronavirus has slowed significantly in France in recent weeks and almost all restrictions on social and business activity have been gradually lifted over the last month. France has reported nearly 200,000 confirmed cases and 29,781 deaths in the pandemic but experts believe all reported figures are undercounts due to limited testing and missed mild cases.

The elections, though ostensibly focused on local concerns, are also seen as a key political indicator ahead of the 2022 French presidential election.

Macron had said he wasn't considering the elections as a pro- or anti-government vote.

Yet a government reshuffle is expected in the coming weeks, as Macron seeks a new political boost amid the economic difficulties prompted by the virus crisis.

(FRANCE 24 with AP)


Anne Hidalgo: anti-car Socialist mayor of Paris

Issued on: 28/06/2020

A victorious Anne Hidalgo after being elected to another term as Paris mayor

 JOEL SAGET AFP


Paris (AFP)

Anne Hidalgo, re-elected Paris mayor on Sunday, is a Spanish-born socialist who has waged a divisive but ambitious campaign to push cars out of the centre of the French capital.

Hidalgo, 61, became in 2014 the first-ever woman to head the French capital's city hall that had once been the political springboard for late president Jacques Chirac.

She doggedly rose through the ranks despite having been told as a girl that her Spanish roots would forever hold her back.

Retaining the Paris mayor position is a boost for the left in France after its dismal showing in the 2017 presidential election.

As mayor, Hidalgo has pushed to reduce car use in the capital and boost biking.

She has reduced lanes and speed limits, closing off dozens of streets to cars completely.

In her latest campaign, she has proposed transforming 60,000 roadside parking spaces into cycling lanes.

But the move has proved controversial among many drivers who complain the city is a perpetual building site.

Claiming victory on Sunday, Hidalgo thanked Parisians for choosing "a Paris that breathes, a Paris that is more agreeable to live in, a more caring city that leaves no one by the wayside."

Hidalgo has also pledged to improve sanitation in the city plagued by rats, bed bugs and dirty streets.

Her unsuccessful challenger Agnes Buzyn of President Emmanuel Macron's Republic on the Move (LREM) party described Paris during her campaign as "brutal for its inhabitants, a city whose condition has deteriorated".

Hidalgo has said sanitation will require a yearly one-billion euro ($1.12 billion) city budget.

Another challenge is the sky-high property costs driving some 12,000 people out of Europe's densest city each year.

Hidalgo has promised major investment in housing, transport and green spaces, seeking to reverse the middle- and working-class exodus to the suburbs.

- 'Take the challenge' -

Hidalgo was born in San Fernando, a town in Andalusia, Spain, to an electrician father and a mother who worked as a seamstress.

Two years later the family moved to Lyon in southeast France -- Ana became Anne and French citizenship came when she was 14.

"One day in second grade, my teacher told me: 'little Spanish girls don't make it to the top of the class.' That only made me want to take up the challenge," Hidalgo told the Parisien newspaper in March.

After graduating from university, Hidalgo had a career as a labour inspector before becoming an advisor to former Labour minister Martine Aubry, the architect of France's 35-hour working week.

Hidalgo became the deputy mayor of Paris in 2001, a post she held for 13 years until claiming the top job in one of the world's most visited cities -- winning with a convincing 55 percent of second round votes.

Having had to endure taunts from her political opponents about her modest origins and lack of Parisian roots, Hidalgo has been known to quote the words of writer Sacha Guitry: "Being a Parisian is not about being born in Paris, it is about being reborn there."

- Olympics on horizon -

When she finally emerged from the shadow of her fellow Socialist predecessor Bertrand Delanoe in 2014, her tenure as Paris mayor began with a baptism of fire.

In January 2015 jihadist gunmen shot dead cartoonists and journalists at the Paris offices of satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo.

Just 10 months later, 130 people were killed in Paris when gunmen and suicide bombers from the Islamic State jihadist group attacked bars, restaurants, a concert hall and the Stade de France national stadium.

Then last year another blow when fire partially destroyed the Notre-Dame cathedral, a beloved monument intrinsic to the very fabric of Paris.

But there have been victories too: in 2017 Paris was crowned the host of the 2024 Summer Olympics, which Hidalgo should now preside over.

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France's Greens make gains, Macron loses ground in low-turnout local elections


AFP 28/06/2020 -

French ecologist party Europe Ecologie – Les Verts (EELV) candidate for Bordeaux mayor, Pierre Hurmic (C), celebrates on June 28, 2020 in Bordeaux, following his victory after the second round of the French municipal elections. © Nicolas Tucat, AFP
Text by:NEWS WIRES

France's Greens appeared set for major gains Sunday in local elections marked by record-low turnout and the failure of President Emmanuel Macron's ruling party to make any significant impact

\rojections based on early vote counts showed Europe Ecology, The Greens party (EELV), poised to take the key cities of Lyon, Bordeaux and Strasbourg and in a very close contest for Lille.

Macron expressed his concern over the high abstention rate, estimated at about 60 percent, and acknowledged that the elections were marked by a "green wave", the presidency said.

Government spokeswoman Sibeth Ndiaye spoke of "disappointment" over the poor showing of the centrist Republic on the Move (LREM) party Macron created shortly before his successful 2017 presidential run.

This is the first time it had competed in nationwide local elections.

"There are places... where our own internal divisions brought us to results that were extremely disappointing," Ndiaye told French television.

The party's candidate in Paris, Agnes Buzyn, was projected to come a distant third with incumbent Socialist mayor Anne Hidalgo on course to easily win a second term as mayor of the French capital.

Marine Le Pen's National Rally, meanwhile, claimed victory in the southern city of Perpignan, in what would be the first far-right takeover of a French city of more than 100,000 inhabitants since 1995.

The biggest coup for the Greens would be ousting former minister Martine Aubry as mayor of the northern city of Lille. But her entourage insisted to AFP that she had clung on in a knife-edge vote.

'Not very good news'

Some 16.5 million eligible voters cast ballots in nearly 5,000 cities and towns where the first round of municipal voting, on March 15, had failed to yield a decisive outcome.

This represents about 15 percent of the country's municipal councils where power remained up for grabs.

But estimates showed that only two in five voters turned up, an abstention rate that Le Pen described as "astonishing" and far-left leader Jean-Luc Melenchon said amounted to "a civic strike".

Macron said the low turnout was "not very good news," according to the Elysee.

The first election round, which took place as the COVID-19 pandemic was gaining deadly momentum, already yielded a record-low 55-percent abstention rate.

The second phase, originally scheduled for March 22, was postponed after France went into lockdown. Most restrictions have now been eased.

With a national death toll approaching 30,000, France has been badly hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, with some voters angry over the government's failure to provide protective material like masks rapidly.

The new polling date was set after the government's scientific council said it was possible to hold another round safely, but voters were required to wear face masks and urged to bring their own pens to lower the contamination risk.

Many voters and election officials sported germ-blocking plastic visors, and plexiglass screens were erected between them at several polling stations, which also provided sanitising hand gel.

Reshuffle?

Macron is widely rumoured to be preparing for a cabinet reshuffle after Sunday's results, and the future of Prime Minister Edouard Philippe, who won his race for mayor in the Normandy port city of Le Havre, appeared unsure.

Though French law allows for the holding of two executive posts, observers expect Macron to use the occasion to axe the premier, whose popularity exceeds his own according to opinion polls.

Firing Philippe would allow Macron "to claim he is delivering on his promise to ensure the 'second act' of his presidency takes note of failings revealed by his handling of the COVID-19 crisis," said Mujtaba Rahman of the Eurasia Group risk consultancy.

With just 22 months to the next presidential election, Macron's main challenger nationwide is Le Pen.   THE FASCIST

Analysts say disillusion with the LREM and Macron, who critics say is a president of the rich out of touch with ordinary people, may have dissuaded people from going out to vote in already complicated circumstances.

(AFP)

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?”

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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.


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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.

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