Russia and Ukraine W/Mass Murder in Kiev~Trump/The Worldwide Offensive Vs. LGBT Community

 

Russia and Ukraine     Documents shared exclusively with CNN suggest that Russian General Sergey Surovikin was a secret VIP member of the Wagner private military company, the group whose leader headed up a recent short-lived insurrection that plunged Russia’s military forces into uncertainty. It's unclear where Surovikin has been since the rebellion ended. Meanwhile, former Vice President Mike Pence visited Ukraine on Thursday and told CNN’s Erin Burnett it’s an "open question" whether Putin is in full command of his military following the revolt. Meanwhile, the White House is strongly considering approving the transfer of controversial cluster munition warheads to Ukraine to aid its counteroffensive despite the risk such weapons could pose to civilians.

The World Wide Offensive Against The LGBT Community

 

Whenever the rights of LGBTQ+ people move forward in the world, be it with laws that recognize same-sex marriage or the administrative identity of trans people, there is a backlash, to a greater or lesser degree. The historical struggle of the LGBTQ+ community, which today celebrates Pride Day, is full of advances and setbacks, but now that dynamic is rapidly going backward. And it is happening all over the world.

The offensive can be clearly seen in several countries of the European Union, fueled by a far right that has found that attacks on LGBTQ+ rights can be a powerful electoral and ideological tool. This is the case in Hungary and Poland, where there are doubts about the administrations’ democratic rigor, and in Italy, where the far-right government of Giorgia Meloni is seeking to block the legal recognition of families with same-sex parents. Spain, which has been consolidating LGBTQ+ rights for almost two decades, recently approved one of the most progressive laws to protect the LGBTQ+ community, but the so-called trans law is now under attack by the conservative Popular Party (PP) and far-right Vox, which have put it in the spotlight ahead of the general elections on July 23. 

If in democracies, hate speech and the political use of LGBTQ+ rights are being utilized as an ideological weapon that poisons public discourse and puts the physical safety of LGBTQ+ people at risk, authoritarian regimes and dictatorships such as Russia and Saudi Arabia are penalizing — with the death penalty in the case of Saudi Arabia and Iran — marginalizing and erasing any expression of sexual diversity. In 32 of the 54 countries in Africa, homosexuality is prohibited, as an ultra-conservative religious trend sweeps the content and grows, almost contagiously, in more tolerant countries such as Senegal.

The world map of LGBTQ+ rights is immense and uneven. “What is really new is that more and more countries are experiencing legal setbacks and worsening legal situations,” explains Julia Ehrt, executive director of Ilga Mundo, the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association, which is made up of more than 1,800 organizations from 160 countries. “There are countries that are moving forward and changing law and policy in a positive direction when it comes to protecting people from discrimination and violence. But more and more places are going backward,” says Ehrt. “Our feeling is that hostility against LGBTQ+ people is on the rise,” she says.

According to Ehrt, the wave of setbacks has to do, first of all, with the surprising progress that the LGBTQ+ community has made in the last decade, which has triggered a negative backlash. This has been seen in Spain, where the recent trans law has been fiercely attacked. And also in Brazil, where trans people have great visibility and a presence in companies and institutions, but simultaneously the highest number of trans deaths. Compounding the situation, says Ehrt, is the rise of right-wing governments — in Israel, for example, several ministers are openly homophobic — and the growing prominence of the conservative, anti-LGBTQ+ narrative in political debate, particularly in Western countries. Finally, these setbacks are also due to the way in which more conservative governments are attacking LGBTQ+ rights as a way to win over voters.

EL PAÍS has analyzed the situation of LGBTQ+ people in the world, highlighting the hot spots of the global offensive, region by region. “The reactionary wave, which is already here, is global,” says Gracia Trujillo, a sociologist who is a specialist in this field. “There is a feeling that we cannot let our guard down now. We have to defend what we have won. It’s our lives, the lives of our families, our students, our neighbors…“

El Paiz

 

Mass Murder in Kyiv

   

 

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian authorities on Wednesday arrested a man they accused of helping Russia direct a missile strike that killed at least 11 people, including three teenagers, at a popular pizza restaurant in eastern Ukraine.

The Tuesday evening attack on Kramatorsk wounded 61 other people, Ukraine’s National Police said. It was the latest bombardment of a Ukrainian city, a tactic Russia has used heavily in the 16-month-old war.

The strike, and others across Ukraine late Tuesday and early Wednesday, indicated that the Kremlin is not easing its aerial onslaught, despite political and military turmoil at home after a short-lived armed uprising in Russia last weekend. 

Trump

 

New developments are unfolding in former President Donald Trump’s various legal battles. The special counsel’s office is continuing to investigate Trump’s handling of classified documents after his presidency ended, despite the former president’s indictment last month. That includes continued grand jury activity in Florida and inquiries of witnesses, though it is not yet clear what aspects of the investigation prosecutors are still pushing toward. In general, it’s not unheard of for investigators working a case to continue asking questions following the filing of initial charges — though it is unusual since Trump is still vying for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination. Top Trump aide Susie Wiles has met numerous times with federal investigators involved in the probe and was allegedly shown a classified map by Trump after he left office. Meanwhile, former Trump campaign official Mike Roman is cooperating with prosecutors in the ongoing criminal probe related to efforts to overturn the 2020 election.