The U.N.’s weather agency, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), says it has verified two “megaflashes” of lightning in South America that set records for longest distance and longest duration.The WMO says on its website Friday its Committee on Weather and Climate Extremes used new satellite lightning technology to verify that an October 31, 2018 lightning bolt that started in southern Brazil traveled just over 709 kilometers.   The WMO says the longest recorded duration for a lightning flash was 16.73 seconds set on March 4, 2019 by a flash that developed over northern Argentina.The agency notes both records are more than double the previous records for distance and duration, set in the U.S state of Oklahoma and in France.The committee maintains official records on global, hemispheric and regional extremes. The committee’s Professor Randall Cerveny called the records “extraordinary” for single lightning flashes, and just examples of what nature can do. He said they will be valuable baselines for future lightning studies.The WMO published the lightning records this week, ahead of International Lightning Awareness Day, June 28. It notes lightning is a major hazard that claims many lives every year and the findings highlight important public lightning safety concerns. As a safety tip, the WMO suggests if the time between the flash and thunder is less than 30 seconds, go inside! And wait 30 minutes after the last observed flash to resume outdoor activities. 
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Pat Davis, one of Albuquerque’s most liberal city councilors who has made police reform part of his agenda, is facing calls to resign over his 2004 shooting of a Black man as a Metropolitan Washington, D.C., police officer.
The left-leaning ProgressNow New Mexico — an advocacy group Davis founded in 2011 — demanded Thursday that he step down from his council seat and his various other positions on committees and task forces.  
In a statement, the group said Davis’ shooting of the man was “troubling” and it criticized “tough on crime” promises he made during his unsuccessful 2009 campaign for Bernalillo County sheriff.
“ProgressNow New Mexico finds it imperative to continue calling out racism when we see it and holding perpetrators accountable for their actions,” said Alissa Barnes, executive director of the group. “No matter who that person is.”
Davis, who is white, served as executive director of the group but left in 2017.
He dismissed calls to resign from his city posts and said the man he shot later pleaded guilty to firearms charges.  
The demand for Davis to resign came amid nationwide anti-racism and police brutality protests that are pressuring cities to reform their police departments and change how officers treat Black residents.  
The call also followed a blog post by former Albuquerque Chief Public Safety Officer Pete Dinelli that detailed a 2006 federal lawsuit filed by the African American man that Davis shot. According to the lawsuit, Davis violated the constitutional rights of Moses Bell when he shot him as Bell sat in a car.
A federal judge later dismissed the lawsuit.
Davis said he shot Bell during a traffic stop after he spotted a gun in the driver’s hand and lunged into the car to grab it. Bell drove off as Davis shot him twice in the shoulder.
Davis said voters in two elections have sent him to the city council and that he has spoken honestly about the problematic training and culture of policing he encountered.
“At a time when we are at the precipice of long-overdue changes in policing and racial justice, I regret that we are being distracted by relitigating my past which is not only well documented but is core to my personal story and the reasons why I have dedicated my life to positive social change,” Davis said in a statement.
As a councilor, Davis successfully pushed legislation that decriminalized marijuana in Albuquerque and opened formerly secret police internal affairs investigations to civilian oversight. 
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Unilever will drop the word “fair” from its “Fair & Lovely” skin lightening products, it said on Thursday, in the latest makeover of a brand in response to a global backlash against racial prejudice.Skin lightening cosmetics have a huge market in South Asia, but their promotion is being questioned, especially in the wake of the Black Lives Matter movement.Earlier this month, Johnson & Johnson said it would stop selling skin-whitening creams in Asia and the Middle East, while PepsiCo said it would change the name and brand image of its Aunt Jemima pancake mix and syrup.Unilever’s “Fair & Lovely” brand dominates the market in South Asia. Similar products are also sold by L’Oréal and Procter & Gamble (P&G).”We recognize that the use of the words ‘fair,’ ‘white’ and ‘light’ suggest a singular ideal of beauty that we don’t think is right, and we want to address this,” said Sunny Jain, president of Unilever’s beauty and personal care division.In India, the biggest market for “Fair & Lovely,” fairness products have long been endorsed by leading Bollywood celebrities, as well as other youth icons.Advertisements have regularly featured two faces showing skin tone transformation, as well as shade guides to show “improvement.”Unilever’s India unit, in which the company owns a 67 percent stake, said it had shifted from such marketing in 2019 and would continue to evolve it to feature women of different skin tones.Several users on Twitter applauded the move, though some said it was too little, too late.”This is a big win, but it’s only the beginning,” Nina Davuluri, who in 2014 became the first Indian American to be crowned Miss America, told Reuters.”While Unilever removing words such as ‘fair, white, & lightening,’ and changing the … brand name is a step towards inclusion, it’s only one piece of a much larger fight to end colorism.”Davuluri on Tuesday wrote an open letter to Unilever CEO Alan Jope, urging him to stop production of the products.The name change is subject to regulatory approvals, Unilever’s India unit, Hindustan Unilever, said. It declined to say what the new name would be.Public records indicate Hindustan Unilever last week filed an application to trademark a logo for soaps, creams, shampoos and other products under the brand name “Glow & Lovely.”In 2018, the company also registered trademarks to market skincare and hair care products under the brand names “Even & Lovely,” “Always Lovely,” “Care & Lovely” and “I Am Lovely,” among others.Separately, a source at L’Oréal in India said the French company was also having discussions in view of the backlash.L’Oréal India declined to comment. L’Oréal in France did not respond to an e-mail seeking immediate comment.P&G declined to comment. 
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Brazil has converted a football (soccer) stadium into a drive-in movie theater, its latest effort to lift national morale as the country struggles with the coronavirus pandemic.The Palmeiras football club’s converted stadium in Sao Paulo accommodates up to 300 cars.Alessandro Tessari, a fan of the football team said, he could never imagine he would be watching a movie in the stadium.Brazil’s movie theaters were among the first sectors of the economy to stop operations as the coronavirus outbreak grew, so it seems fitting fans are enjoying movies again, although it’s unclear if more theaters will reopen, because the virus remains active.Aside from showing films, the stadium hosts stand-up comedy and children’s theater.The converted entertainment space, which opened Wednesday, will remain open until July 19. Those attending the drive-in pay between $23 to $100, with no more than four people to a car.The theater experience is an outlet for a country that remains one of the coronavirus hot spots in Latin America, with more than 1.2 million COVID-19 cases and more than 55,000 deaths.
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New hashtags are circulating in the #Black Lives Matter movement to include Black lives that have been historically marginalized within the community: #Black LGBTQ Lives Matter.“I hope when y’all are out here screaming ‘Black Lives Matter’ that you are talking about ALL black lives, and by all black lives, I mean black women, black men, gay black women, gay black men, black trans men, black trans women, etc.,” tweeted @Cuyler_Nichole on June 24. “Because I’m sure there are people out here screaming black lives matter but are discriminating our black brothers and sisters of the LGBTQ+ community … they matter too.”Historically, LGBTQ+ members of the Black community have experienced ostracization, bullying, isolation and violence, according to studies. LGBTQ youth of color and transgender teenagers report the highest levels of rejection and isolation, in a poll of 12,000 respondents ages 13 to 17. The 2017 study drew from all 50 states and Washington, D.C.“Only 11% of youth of color surveyed believe their racial or ethnic group is regarded positively in the U.S,” according to the 2017 LGBTQ Teen Survey, the largest of its kind, conducted by the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) Foundation and the University of Connecticut.“A black gay person who is a sexual conundrum to society is already long before the question of sexuality comes into it, menace and marked because he’s black or she’s black,” said James Baldwin, an gay African American novelist, on being black and gay in James Baldwin: The Last Interview.“The sexual question comes after the question of color; it’s simply one more aspect of the danger in which all black people live,” he said.Higher rates of biasWhile members of the LGBTQ+ community experience higher rates of bias, violence and suicide, Black LGBTQ+ members experience even higher incidence, according to  the U.S. Transgender Survey (USTS).USTS respondents were more than twice as likely as the U.S. population to be living in poverty. But people of color — including Latino/a (43 percent), American Indian (41 percent), multiracial (40 percent) and Black (38 percent) — were more than three times as likely as the U.S. population (12 percent) to be living in poverty, the report said.In 2016, when the survey was taken, unemployment among transgender people of color (20 percent) was four times higher than the U.S. unemployment rate (5 percent).Human Rights Watch reports that most transgender deaths in 2018 were Black transgender.A national survey by Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network (GLSEN) found 75 percent of transgender youth feel unsafe at school. Their grade-point averages were significantly lower, they were more likely to miss school out of fear and less likely to continue their education.“RIP to Nigel Shelby. At 15 he took his own life due to constant horrific bullying for being gay,” hip-hop artist @Drebae tweeted on June 18. “His school IGNORED his cries for help. He deserved to be loved & appreciated. When you say ‘Black Lives Matter’ don’t forget the LGBT ones.”Drebae also cited the stabbing death of Kirvan Fortuin in Cape Town, South Africa.“Kirvan Fortuin was a 28 year old professional dancer & activist. His life was taken by a 14 year old girl who stabbed him for being gay. Homophobia is TAUGHT. ALL ‘Black Lives Matter’ Stop poisoning your children with hateful ideals because lives are LOST,” Drebae tweeted.’Appalling at best’On June 4, Pose actor Billy Porter posted a video to his Instagram account addressing the Black Lives Matter protests, the Black LGBTQ+ community, and the attack on a Black transgender woman named Iyanna Dior.”The black community’s relationship with the LGBTQ+ community is appalling at best and eerily similar to that of white supremacists versus black folk,” Porter wrote.“Hear me, black people, and hear me well. I’m calling you out right here and right now. You cannot expect our demands of equality to be met with any real legislative policy and change when y’all turn around and inflict the same kind of hate and oppression on us,” Porter said in the video captioned, “This is my message to America.”“The tragic reality here is that black trans, as well as gender nonconforming, women and men are being killed in the United States by cis black men to such a degree that it is nearly the worst emergency for trans women on the planet,” he added. 
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The U.S. House of Representatives approved a sweeping Democratic police reform bill on Thursday, sending the measure to the Senate despite opposition from President Donald Trump and his Republican allies in Congress.The Democratic-controlled House voted 236-181 roughly along party lines to adopt the legislation, one month to the day after George Floyd’s death in Minneapolis police custody sparked weeks of worldwide protests over police brutality, especially against African Americans.An initial tally showed three Republicans breaking ranks to join Democrats in voting for the bill.But the bill, which mandates changes in law and policy to rein in police misconduct, is unlikely to be taken up in the Republican-led Senate, where Democrats blocked a Republican reform bill on Wednesday. It also faces a formal White House veto threat.The deadlockDemocrats and Republicans are deadlocked over how to address racial inequities in policing, despite strong public sentiment for effective reform after Floyd died in Minneapolis as a white policeman knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes.”People say, ‘Well, why can’t you compromise with the other side?’ Well, they don’t ban chokeholds. We ban chokeholds. So, are we supposed to come up with a number of chokeholds we are going to agree with? No,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said ahead of the vote.Aiming to seize the mantle of public opinion surrounding Floyd, Democrats named their legislation “The George Floyd Justice in Policing Act” and predict that public pressure will erode Republican resistance.”I don’t think the street will accept no action,” Pelosi told The Washington Post.Republicans and Democrats are also at odds over a Democratic provision to allow victims of misconduct to sue for damages in civil court.Ray of bipartisanshipThere was a ray of bipartisanship in the Senate, when the chamber unexpectedly passed a measure to establish a commission to study the status of Black men and boys in America, a provision of the Republican bill by Senator Tim Scott.Floyd was among a growing number of unarmed African Americans to die in police custody.Seven unarmed Black people have been shot and killed by police so far in 2020, compared with 14 in 2019, according to a database maintained by the Post. Those killings do not include people who died by other means, as Floyd did. And experts say there is a pervasive lack of data.Representative Karen Bass, chairwoman of the Congressional Black Caucus, which represents over 50 Black lawmakers, said the Democrats’ bill would help prevent killings by ushering in bold, transformative changes nearly half a century after Black legislators began pushing for police reforms in the early 1970s.’Pure race politics at its worst’But Scott, the Senate’s only Black Republican and author of the chamber’s failed police reform bill, accused Democrats of rejecting Republican input on the House bill to deny Trump and his Republican allies a victory on an issue vital to Black America ahead of the November election.”This is pure race politics at its worst,” Scott said on Fox News, warning that congressional inaction will leave Black Americans vulnerable to further police violence.”There will be blood on the Democrats’ hands,” he said.Scott later told reporters that momentum toward compromise was “dissipating as we speak.”Democrats denounce Scott’s bill as too ineffective to protect Black Americans because of its reliance on financial incentives and data collection.The Democratic and Republican bills address similar topics: chokeholds, no-knock warrants, police body cameras, use of deadly force, and training to de-escalate confrontations with suspects and to encourage officer intervention against illegal conduct as it occurs.Republicans oppose the Democratic bill because of mandates they say could undermine law enforcement.   
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A new policy ordering U.S. public schools to share emergency COVID-19 relief funds with private schools regardless of their wealth will take effect immediately, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos said, despite opposition from many public education supporters.  “The CARES Act (Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security) is a special, pandemic-related appropriation to benefit all American students, teachers and families impacted by coronavirus,” DeVos said. “There is nothing in the law Congress passed that would allow districts to discriminate against children and teachers based on private school attendance and employment.” FILE – Education Secretary Betsy DeVos speaks in the James Brady Press Briefing Room, March 27, 2020, in Washington.DeVos said she expects most of the emergency funds to go toward building cleaning, equipment to protect the health of students and teachers, and virtual classroom training for teachers. She said the department will discourage what she calls “financially secure private schools” from seeking such help.  “Most private schools serving low- and middle-income communities are under great financial strain due to COVID-19 because they are typically dependent on tuition from families and donations from their communities. … More than 100 private schools have already announced they will not be able to reopen following the pandemic, and hundreds more are facing a similar fate,” DeVos said. Under the new rule, private schools would be eligible for the aid based on their total enrollment.  But some U.S. public school officials say it should instead be based on the number of low-income students in private schools – the same policy in other federal rules for aiding schools passed by Congress. Under the DeVos plan, the money allocated for private schools would be at a higher rate than what federal law usually requires. “The Department should be providing clear leadership and guidance to help students, parents, and school districts cope with the impact of the pandemic. Instead, it has issued another confusing directive that will undermine efforts to maintain access to education during this pandemic. I urge the Secretary to withdraw this rule and follow the law that Congress enacted,” Democratic Congressman Bobby Scott of Virginia said Thursday.  DeVos, who is known as a champion of private schools, said all kinds of schools hit hard by the coronavirus outbreak deserve relief. 
 
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Country music trio The Dixie Chicks are now just The Chicks, joining other artists and companies who have recently altered their brands to discard names that connote racism or slavery.  The Chicks’ release of a new protest song Thursday came with new social media handles, a new website address and a new cover for an upcoming album. “We want to meet this moment,” members Martie Maguire, Natalie Maines and Emily Strayer said in a joint statement on their website, the only comment on the name change thus far. The Grammy-winning group has performed under its previous moniker since its start in 1989. Dixie and Dixieland are nicknames for the U.S. South, and may have come from the Mason-Dixon line, once considered the line between “free” Northern states and “slave” Southern states. The name change came just a week after writer Jeremy Helligar challenged The Chicks’ former name in a Variety magazine Op-Ed. “For many Black people, (Dixie) conjures a time and a place of bondage,” Helligar said. The Chicks are releasing their first album in 14 years next month, “Gaslighter.” The music video for new protest song “March March” uses footage from Black Lives Matter protests and features the names of prominent victims of racism and police brutality, including George Floyd and Breonna Taylor. In a statement to online magazine Pitchfork, the group thanked a New Zealand-based duo, also called The Chicks, for letting them “share the name.” Country group Lady A, previously known as Lady Antebellum, made a similar change earlier this month to drop associations with the pre-Civil War South. The band faced opposition from Anita White, a Black singer who has used the stage name Lady A for over 20 years. A meeting between the group and White ended in “positive solutions and common ground,” according to social media posts by both.    View this post on Instagram         @ladyantebellumofficial How can you say Black Lives Matter and put your knee on the neck of another Black artist? I’m not mad..I am however not giving up my name, my brand I worked hard for. #GodWillFightMyBattle #TheRealLadyA #LadyABluesSoulFunkGospelArtist #TheTruthIsLoudA post shared by LadyA (@ladya_bluesdiva) on Jun 12, 2020 at 9:34am PDT
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Tanzania’s move to reopen the country for tourism, after President John Magufuli declared the country free of COVID-19, has been welcomed by many in the industry. Even though the sector has been struggling during the pandemic, some tour operators worry that Tanzania’s lack of candor on the extent of infections in the country will keep foreign tourists away. Charles Kombe reports from Morogoro, Tanzania.VIDEOGRAPHER: Rajabu HassanPRODUCER: Marcus Harton  
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Young American voters appear to favor presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden over President Donald Trump, according to newly released national polling data.The survey released Wednesday by the New York Times and Siena College shows Biden leading Trump among registered voters aged 18-34 by 34 percentage points. By comparison, in 2016, Hillary Clinton on election day won 55% of the vote among young voters to Trump’s 37%—a lead of 18 points.In total, the poll shows Biden ahead of Trump by 14 points, with particularly strong leads among Black and Hispanic voters. Trump leads Biden by 19 points among White people without college degrees.Since the 2018 midterm elections, trends have shown both an uptick in youth voter participation and their tendency to vote for Democrats. Millennial voting nearly doubled between 2014 and 2018—from 22% to 42%—according to demographer Richard Fry at the Pew Research Center in Washington. Thirty percent of Gen Zers eligible to vote turned out in the first midterm elections of their lives. And for the first time in a midterm election, more than half of Gen Xers reported they had voted, Pew reported. In the 2018 midterm elections, two-thirds of all young voters aged 18-29 supported the Democratic candidate for Congress—the widest party gap in the past 25 years, according to the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement based at Tufts University in Massachusetts.Kathleen Struck contributed to this report.
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