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President Joe Biden on Thursday announced that Covid-19 coordinator Dr. Ashish Jha is leaving the administration.

President Joe Biden has condemned the “hysterical” threats against LGBT+ communities across the US, following a historic surge in state-level legislation targeting LGBT+ people, particularly trans youth, and a rise in homophobic and transphobic rhetoric and abuse. His remarks alongside UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on 8 June followed the announcement of a White House strategy to protect LGBT+ rights and safety, including the launch of a LGBTQI+ Community Safety Partnership with federal law enforcement agencies, and federal support for affirming mental healthcare and LGBT+ youth in foster care and LGBT+ youth experiencing homelessness. The Biden administration also is directing the US Department of Education to address the spike in book bans and challenges to library materials that are disproportionately by and about LGBT+ people. “Our fight is far from over, because we have some hysterical and I would argue prejudiced people who are engaged in all of what you see going on around the country,” the president said in remarks from the White House. “It’s an appeal to fear and it’s an appeal that is totally, thoroughly unjustified and ugly,” he said. The president also urged Congress to pass the Equality Act, which has languished in the US Senate after its passage, twice, in the US House of Representatives. “I’m not giving up on this,” Mr Biden added. That landmark legislation would extend discrimination protections to LGBT+ people in federal civil rights law by prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sex, sexual orientation and gender identity across federally protected public accommodations and facilities, including employment, education and housing. “It’s wrong that a person can be married in the morning in the United States and be fired in the afternoon by their employer because they’re gay,” Mr Biden said. “It’s wrong that the violence and hate crimes targeting LGBTQ people is rising. It’s wrong that extreme officials are pushing hateful bills, targeting transgender children, terrifying families, and criminalising doctors,” he added. “These are our kids. These are our neighbours. It’s cruel. It’s callous.” The president was set to announce the White House plan for federal LGBT+ protections at a Pride event on Thursday afternoon, but it was postponed due to air pollution from Canadian wildfires blanketing the East Coast. Over the last several years, Republican state lawmakers have introduced hundreds of state-level bills impacting LGBT+ people, including 220 bills specifically targeting trans and nonbinary Americans and their healthcare, according to the Human Rights Campaign’s analysis. More than 75 such bills have been signed into law. At least 19 states have enacted laws or policies banning affirming healthcare for young trans people against the guidance of health providers and major medical groups, including the American Medical Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics. LGBT+ communities also have reported increased threats of violence, discrimination and harassment, parallel to volatile rhetoric that has consumed right-wing media, social media platforms and debate among Republican elected officials, including in the halls of Congress, where House Republicans have advanced legislation mirroring the anti-LGBT+ bills dominating state capitols. “You’re loved, you’re heard, and this administration has your back,” Mr Biden said in his remarks, addressing LGBT+ communities. “We are not relenting one single second to make sure you’re protected.” Read More Rachel Levine on Congress bigots, Don’t Say Gay and life as Biden’s top trans official: ‘Despair doesn’t motivate change’ Biden’s troubled journey on LGBT+ rights is a ‘beautiful thing’, top US diplomat says America’s largest LGBT+ civil rights group issues ‘state of emergency’ across US

Cuba has agreed to allow China to build a spying facility on the island that could allow the Chinese to eavesdrop on electronic communications across the southeastern US, a source familiar with the intelligence told CNN.

As investigators try to determine why a pilot and passengers fell unresponsive on a small jet that ultimately crashed in Virginia on Sunday, the tragedy evokes a critical consideration for pilots when flying: oxygen.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa will hold talks with Chinese leader Xi Jinping as Pretoria considers switching the

Two of the five New Haven, Connecticut, police officers involved in the June 2022 arrest of Randy Cox, who was left paralyzed from the chest down in a police van, have been fired, officials said.

The worst Canadian wildfire season in recorded history spread an orange haze from Massachusetts to South Carolina and

A blanket of heavily polluted air covering much of the eastern US is likely to last until Tuesday,

Quebec, whose wildfires have darkened the New York skyline and spread an orange haze from Massachusetts to South

The White House has postponed a Pride event set to take place on the South Lawn because of the smoke from the wildfires in Canada enveloping the nation’s capital. The event that was scheduled for Thursday is now planned for Saturday. It’s set to be the largest Pride Month celebration in White House history as the Biden administration attempts to push back against the Republican Party’s measures to restrict the rights of the LGBT+ community on the state level. If the hope that the air quality in Washington, DC improves, the event will see thousands of attendees for a celebration of LGBT+ families featuring singer Betty Who and DJ Queen HD from Baltimore, according to Reuters. “Today’s Pride event on the White House South Lawn will be postponed until Saturday based on the projected air quality in the region,” the White House said. Ahead of the planned event on Thursday, the administration announced new measures to protect LGBT+ communities. “Over a dozen states have enacted anti-LGBTQI+ laws that violate our most basic values and freedoms as Americans, and are cruel and callous to our kids, our neighbors, and those in our community,” the White House said. The measures include the launch of an “LGBTQI+ Community Safety Partnership,” including that the Assistant Attorney General of the Civil Rights Division will be the liaison to the community. The administration is also working to strengthen “mental health resources for LGBTQI+ youth, launching a new federal initiative to address LGBTQI+ youth homelessness, releasing federal funding to support programs that help parents affirm their LGBTQI+ kids, and advancing new regulations to protect LGBTQI+ youth in foster care”. “The Department of Education will appoint a new coordinator to address the growing threat that book bans pose for the civil rights of students,” the administration said. The Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments tweeted on Thursday that “current air quality in the DC region is Code Purple, very unhealthy for all due to ongoing smoke from fires in Canada”. The council added that the region “has not previously recorded a Code Purple day for fine particle pollution, the type of air pollution we are currently experiencing,” and urged residents to reschedule outdoor activities or move them indoors. The smoke settled over the US capital after moving down from the more than 100 wildfires in eastern Canada, with a low-pressure area off the east coast moving the winds in the direction of DC, according to WUSA9. The Capital Weather Gang tweeted: “How long will the wildfire smoke last? Unfortunately, may hang around into this evening and be bad again on Friday morning in the DC area.” The office of DC Mayor Muriel Bowser said that the issue “is likely to continue or worsen through Friday”. The city’s Major League Baseball team, the Washington Nationals, cancelled their game on Thursday and the National Zoo closed its doors for the day. Some residents wore masks for their outdoor errands and families who may walk to school organized carpools to limit their time outside. At the Walmart on Georgia Avenue in DC, the shelves for air purifiers were almost empty on Wednesday evening, according to The Washington Post. Read More ‘It’s like being on Mars’: The smoke in the air in New York is so thick you can feel it in your lungs Air quality – live: New York pollution to remain hazardous as no end in sight for Canada wildfire smoke Biden invites thousands of LGBTQ+ individuals, singer Betty Who, to Pride Month celebration Brawl breaks out at LA school discussing Pride month celebrations David Furnish slams Ron DeSantis for ‘diabolical’ ant-LGBTQ+ policies The Independent Pride List: These are the top 50 LGBT+ change-makers of 2023

By Jonathan Stempel NEW YORK (Reuters) -A U.S. appeals court on Thursday refused to reinstate a lawsuit by Amy Cooper,

By Matt Spetalnick and Jonathan Landay WASHINGTON (Reuters) -China has reached a secret deal with Cuba to establish an electronic