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Anonymous ID: e386da June 23, 2019, 5:22 a.m. No.6822229   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>2240

Ukraine hosts biggest ever gay pride parade

 

Ukrainian politicians and foreign diplomats joined thousands marching for gay pride in Kiev on Sunday, the biggest and most peaceful ever in the former Soviet country.

Crowds of people, many dressed in bright colors, paraded along streets in the center of the Ukrainian capital, holding up banners saying “Diversity is beautiful”, “Human rights = happy country”, “No violence - yes rights!”.

 

They were flanked by a thick cordon of police in helmets but there was no sign of violence despite the presence of a few hundred protesters.

 

Sunday’s march in Kiev was part of “Pride Month” celebrated by lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people around the world.

 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, a former comedian who took office last month, has promoted a tolerant culture, saying he stands for all people’s equality and freedom.

 

“Our desire is to convey to a majority of people that LGBT is normality,” Eduard, a 17-year-old tattoo artist, told Reuters.

 

“I am taking part for the fifth time. Ukraine is making significant progress compared to previous years, security and organization are much better.”

 

Zelenskiy’s office urged the police to prevent violence and guarantee the safety of participants in the March of Equality.

 

“Ukraine’s Constitution states that citizens have equal constitutional rights and freedoms,” it said in a post on its Facebook page on Sunday morning.

 

Ruslana Panukhnyk, one of the organizers of the capital’s annual gay pride march, told journalists after the event that about 8,000 people had attended it far more than 5,000 last year.

 

“We are satisfied with the cooperation with the police. There were some small incidents, but no injuries,” she said.

 

“The most important (thing) for us is human rights.”

 

Under Western-backed leadership, Ukraine’s parliament passed legislation in 2015 to ban discrimination in the workplace as part of a series of laws Ukraine needed to pass to qualify for a visa-free travel agreement with the European Union.

 

“Thank you to the police and other law enforcement agencies for protecting today’s Pride event in Kiev,” Judith Gough, the British ambassador to Ukraine who joined the march, wrote in a tweet.

 

She posted pictures of herself and other Western ambassadors who participated in the event.

 

William B. Taylor, charge d’affaires at the U.S. Embassy in Ukraine, wrote in a tweet: “We stand with all Ukrainians striving for equality and non-discrimination”.

 

The government has increased support for LGBT rights since a Western-backed leadership came to power in 2014, but critics say homophobic attitudes remain relatively widespread.

 

Almost 47% of Ukrainians think that rights of sexual minorities should be limited while 37.5% are against restrictions, and 15.6% do not have an opinion, according to a survey published by independent think-tank Democratic Initiatives last December. It interviewed 1,998 people.

 

Sunday’s march was a far cry from violent clashes witnessed at the same event in 2015, but protesters also made their voices heard.

We are for God and Ukraine… For us it is important that people, who have a sexual sin, do not make propaganda out of it,” Oksana Korchynska, a member of the opposition Radical Party which says it promotes family values, told Reuters. She joined a few hundred protesters at the event.

 

Police detained nine men on Saturday, who allegedly were planning protests but police said they had seen no reason to detain anyone on Sunday.

 

Last year Kiev police detained 56 members of nationalist groups after scuffles before the march.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-gay-pride-ukraine/ukraine-hosts-biggest-ever-gay-pride-parade-idUSKCN1TO0EH

Anonymous ID: e386da June 23, 2019, 5:34 a.m. No.6822268   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>2288 >>2297 >>2347

>>6822240

agree with this, where i disagree is that some of them attempt to force that choice on others in an in your face way. Lived in bay area for 30 years and in SF for 10 of those. Plenty of friends that participated in them. They were also a bit put off by some of the militant element that began to flourish in mid/late 90's.

Don't care what any individual does, you are perfectly able to make your own choice(s) but when it becomes something that is overtly pushed on society i disagree.

Anonymous ID: e386da June 23, 2019, 6:17 a.m. No.6822415   🗄️.is 🔗kun

ASEAN leaders call for restraint amid sea row, US-China rift

 

BANGKOK (AP) – Southeast Asian leaders on Sunday pressed their call for self-restraint in the disputed South China Sea and renewed their alarm over the U.S.-China trade war, with one leader warning it may spiral out of control.

 

The long-raging territorial conflicts and the protracted dispute between the two global economic powerhouses are high on the agenda in the final of two days of meetings of leaders from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. It's an annual summit steeped in diplomacy, protocol and cultural color in the Thai capital.

 

Facing regional predicaments such as the Rohingya refugee crisis in Myanmar, the leaders took the stage and clasped their hands together in a trademark ASEAN handshake to project unity.

 

Founded in 1967 in Bangkok in the Cold War era, the diverse 10-nation bloc lumps together an absolute monarchy and constitutional monarchies, along with socialist republics and fledgling democracies.

 

This year's host, Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha, opened the summit with a call for regional unity and a push for the bloc to conclude a massive free trade pact with China and five other Asia-Pacific nations to cushion any impact from America's trade conflicts with China.

 

"The winds of protectionism that are battering the multilateral system remind us that we must hang on ever stronger to one another," Prayuth said.

 

The U.S., which has pursued bilateral deals over multination trade accords under President Donald Trump, is not included in the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, or RCEP, which Prayuth said would encompass the world's largest free-trade region.

 

Officials from Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia and Vietnam will be at the G-20 summit later this month in Japan, where Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping are expected to meet, and express the region's concerns.

 

"ASEAN hopes there will be discussions that lead to an easing and resolution of these problems because they affect many countries," Prayuth said.

 

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte told other leaders on Saturday that the trade conflict between Washington and Beijing "is creating uncertainty. It is taking a toll on global growth and it could hinder the ongoing processes of economic integration."

 

"The U.S. and China must both take the high road and resolve their differences before the situation spirals out of control," the usually blunt Duterte said.

 

In their public communiques, the leaders have avoided naming the U.S. and China or specific nations embroiled in controversial issues in a show of their conservative protocols. The leaders, however, could raise thorny issues in a closed-door and informal session.

 

Duterte has said he would raise the territorial conflicts in the South China Sea following the June 9 ramming of an anchored Philippine boat by a larger Chinese fishing vessel in the disputed Reed Bank. The incident sparked an outcry and condemnations in the Philippines after the Chinese crew sailed away while the fishing boat sank at night. Its Filipino crew was rescued by a Vietnamese vessel.

 

Known for his close ties with China, Duterte has backed Beijing's initial assertion that the collision was accidental. He mocked calls for him to immediately take drastic actions and agreed to a joint investigation with China, which critics have opposed.

 

In a statement outlining their regional policies, the leaders on Sunday renewed their call for countries involved in the territorial spats to "exercise self-restraint in the conduct of activities and avoid actions that may further complicate the situation, and pursue the peaceful resolution of disputes in accordance with international law."

 

Four ASEAN states – the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei – along with Taiwan and China are locked in disputes over the strategic waterway. ASEAN has been in talks with China to negotiate a nonaggression pact called the "code of conduct" to prevent major armed clashes in the offshore region, which has long been regarded as a potential Asian flashpoint.

 

Southeast Asian diplomats have told The Associated Press that the first of three rounds of talks on the proposed pact was expected to be completed this year. The more difficult aspects, including whether the pact should be legally binding and cover the entire disputed region, have been relegated to the final rounds so as not to stall the talks early on.

They cite China's construction of islands on seven disputed reefs in recent years despite it being a party to a 2002 non-binding regional agreement discouraging such actions.

 

China initially claimed some of the islands would serve as storm shelters for fishermen but Beijing instead installed defensive missile systems there and its naval forces shoo away and warn ships and aircraft that stray near.

https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20190623/p2g/00m/0in/036000c

Anonymous ID: e386da June 23, 2019, 6:40 a.m. No.6822530   🗄️.is 🔗kun

POTUS says he never threatened to demote Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell

 

President Donald Trump said he never threatened to demote Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, though he maintained that he has the authority to do so.

 

“I didn’t ever threaten to demote him,” Trump said in an interview with NBC’s Meet The Press that aired Sunday. “I’d be able to do that if I wanted, but I haven’t suggested that.“

 

Trump went on to criticize the Federal Reserve for raising interest rates, saying Chairman Powell made a mistake.

 

“Obama had someone who kept the rates very low,” Trump said. “I had somebody who raised the rates very rapidly – too much. He made a mistake, that’s been proven.”

 

The Federal Reserve on Wednesday held interest rates steady, indicating that there would not be a cut in 2019. The central bank, however, forecast one to two possible rates cuts in 2020.

 

When asked Tuesday whether or not he wanted to demote Powell, Trump said: “Let’s see what he does.”

 

Bloomberg had reported that Trump considered demoting Powell in February, but White House economic advisor Larry Kudlow said the president wasn’t currently considering such a move.

 

“It’s a six-month-old story,” he told reporters. “It allegedly happened six months ago and it’s not happening today and therefore I have nothing to say about it. It is what it is.”

https://www.cnbc.com/2019/06/23/trump-says-he-never-threatened-to-demote-federal-reserve-chairman-jerome-powell.html