川普宣布禁止跨性别者在军中服役
美国总统川普宣布，美国军队将不再允许跨性别者以任何身份服役，逆转了前总统奥巴马政府一年前宣布的政策变更。
川普在周三发出的一系列推文中说，在与将领和军事专家咨商后，他下令军队停止征收跨性别者。
川普写到“我们的军队必须精力集中取得决定性和压倒性的胜利，而不能为跨性别者造成的巨额医疗费用和干扰所累。”
根据兰德公司的统计数据，目前大约有4千名跨性别者在美国军中服役。川普没有说将如何处理已经在军中服役的跨性别者。
白宫发言人桑德斯随后表示，川普“需要与国防部合作”才能就已经在军中服役的跨性别者的前途作出“合法的决定。”
她拒绝回答记者提出的关于川普是否违背了竞选期间支持跨性别者的承诺。桑德斯说，总统认为他的决定“符合军队最佳利益。”
除了已知的跨性别者人数，国防部官员说还有大约250名军人正在进行变性手术。
川普是在军方为顾及跨性别者对医疗规章进行更新的截止日前一天宣布该决定的。但五角大楼看起来被总统的推文有些措手不及。
国防部表示，会将所有政策变更相关的问题转给白宫。五角大楼表示将“继续就总统宣布的新规定事宜与白宫密切合作，”随后将向军方官员汇报。
川普的决定随即受到一个主要跨性别者权益组织和对去年支持政策变更的国会议员的抨击。
人权战线总裁查得·格里芬说：“我认识的跨性别现役军人和退役军人在服务国家方面所作的比川普一辈子做得都多。”
美国最知名的跨性别权益活动人士切尔西·曼宁说：“你不仅想禁止跨性别者，现在还想把我们关进监狱？听起来挺熟悉。”曼宁曾是美军情报分析员，因向维基解密泄露军方保密文件入狱，近期获释。不过也有一些曾在军中服役者在社交媒体上对川普的决定表示支持。
资深共和党参议员约翰·麦凯恩曾在1960年代的越战期间被俘。他斥责川普在推特上的处理这样严肃的问题，并说该声明模糊不清。他说：“国防部已经决定允许正在服役的跨性别者留在军中，而且他们中许多人正在光荣服役。任何符合目前体检和就绪标准美国人都应该被允许继续服役。”
佛罗里达共和党众议员伊莲娜·罗斯-雷婷恩说：“任何美国人，不能因为他们的性取向和性别认同，而剥夺他们为国家服务的荣誉。”
新罕布什尔民主党参议员珍妮·沙欣在一条推文中说：“数千名跨性别者为我们的国家服务，他们是爱国者，应当得到我们的掌声，而不是受到川普总统的歧视。”
马里兰州民主党参议员本·卡丁说：“在军队中服役的数千名跨性别者勇气可嘉。他们是爱国者。他们理当享有更好待遇。”
星期三数以百计的人聚集在纽约和旧金山抗议川普的决定。
Trump Bans Transgender People from US Military
President Donald Trump says the U.S. military will no longer let transgender people serve in any capacity, reversing a policy former President Barack Obama's administration announced a year ago.
In a string of Twitter comments, Trump said Wednesday that after consulting with generals and military experts, he was ordering the armed forces to stop accepting transgender recruits.
"Our military must be focused on decisive and overwhelming victory and cannot be burdened with the tremendous medical costs and disruption that transgender in the military would entail," Trump wrote.
Trump did not say what would happen to transgender people already in the U.S. military - about 4,000 personnel, according to research by the Rand Corporation.
White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders said later that Trump will "have to work together" with the Defense Department to "lawfully determine" the fate of transgender service personnel already in the military.
She rebuffed reporters' inquiries suggesting that Trump had broken an election-campaign vow to support the transgender community. The president felt his decision was "the best one for the military," Sanders said.
In addition to service members known to be transgender, defense officials said there are about 250 military personnel who are believed to be transitioning to a gender other than the one they were identified with at birth.
Trump's announcement came one day ahead of a deadline for the military to update its medical regulations to accommodate transgender personnel, but the Pentagon appeared to be caught off-guard when the president issued his Twitter comments.
The Defense Department said it was referring all questions about the change in policy to the White House. The Pentagon said it would "continue to work closely with the White House to address the new guidance provided by the commander-in-chief," and then brief military officials.
Trump's action drew an immediate rebuke from a leading group supporting transgender rights and many lawmakers who had favored last year's policy change.
Human Rights Campaign president Chad Griffin said, “I know transgender service members and vets who have done more to serve their country than @realdonaldtrump has in his entire life."
One of the country's most prominent transgender activists, Chelsea Manning, an Army intelligence analyst freed recently from prison for leaking classified military documents to the anti-secrecy group WikiLeaks, said, "So not only do you want to ban trans people, now you want to throw us in prison ?? sounds familiar."
A senior Republican lawmaker, Senator John McCain, held as a prisoner of war in Vietnam in the 1960s, chided Trump for taking up such a serious issue on Twitter, and said the statement was unclear: "The Department of Defense has already decided to allow currently serving transgender individuals to stay in the military, and many are serving honorably today. Any American who meets current medical and readiness standards should be allowed to continue serving."
Florida Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, a Republican, said, "No American, no matter their sexual orientation or gender identity, should be prohibited from the honor and privilege of serving our nation."
"Thousands of transgender service members defend our country," Democratic Senator Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire said in a tweet. "They're patriots & should be applauded not discriminated against by Pres Trump."
Another Democrat, Senator Ben Cardin of Maryland, said: "The thousands of transgender Americans serving in our #military are courage incarnate. They are patriots. And they deserve better than this."
Hundreds of people also gathered Wednesday in both New York and San Francisco to protest Trump's decision.
委内瑞拉全国罢工进入第二天
委内瑞拉反对派星期四连续第二天，也是最后一天全国大罢工，目的是对委内瑞拉总统马杜罗施加压力，迫使他取消即将举行的制宪会议选举。
数百万工人星期三待在家中，街道和高速公路上空空荡荡，很多店铺也关门停业。一些抗议者在社区设置路障，不让大家去上班，结果引发跟保安部队的冲突，至少一人丧生。
委内瑞拉总统马杜罗计划星期天，也就是7月31日投票选举制宪会议成员，重建国家秩序。四月以来抗议者和保安部队几乎每天都会发生暴力冲突，已经造成100多人丧生。
反对派领袖说，马杜罗是希望选举产生他能够接受的制宪会议，逐渐实现独裁统治。
反对派领袖洛佩斯星期三呼吁委内瑞拉人继续在街头和平示威，并鼓励军对无视政府下达的镇压活动人士的命令。
48小时全国罢工后，反对派将于星期五在首都加拉加斯举行抗议示威游行。
与此同时，美国星期三宣布对13个跟委内瑞拉政府和国家石油公司有关的个人实施新制裁，进一步向马杜罗施压，迫使他取消星期天的选举。
川普政府一位高级官员说，被制裁者包括跟马杜罗政权有关的现任和前任高官，其中有两位内阁部长，国家选举负责人，委内瑞拉国家石油公司财务副总裁，以及军方和警方负责人等。
美国财政部长姆努钦宣布制裁的同时发表声明说，马杜罗星期天如果举行选举，美国可能会考虑施加更多制裁。声明说：“当选全国制宪会议成员的人要知道，他们在削弱委内瑞拉的民主程序和机制中扮演的角色，有可能使他们成为美国制裁的对象。”
Nationwide Strike in Venezuela Enters Second Day
Venezuelan opposition forces will take part Thursday in the second and final day of a nationwide strike aimed at forcing President Nicolas Maduro to cancel an upcoming vote to create a constitutional assembly.
Millions of workers stayed home Wednesday, leaving streets and highways clear of traffic and scores of businesses closed. Some protesters threw up roadblocks in neighborhoods to keep people from getting to work, leading to clashes with security forces that left at least one person dead.
President Maduro has scheduled a vote for Sunday, July 30 for a constitutional assembly to restore order in Venezuela, where more than 100 people have been killed in near daily violent clashes between protesters and security forces since April.
Opposition leaders say Maduro intends to assume more authoritarian powers once a constitutional assembly acceptable to him is chosen.
Leopoldo López, an opposition leader, called on Venezuelans Wednesday to continue peaceful street protests, and encouraged the military to ignore government orders to clamp down on activists.
A planned protest march on Friday in the capital, Caracas, will follow the 48-hour walkout.
Meanwhile, the United States announced new sanctions Wednesday against 13 individuals connected to the Venezuelan government and state oil company, in an further effort to pressure Maduro call off Sunday's vote.
A senior Trump administration official said the individuals targeted include high-ranking current and former officials connected to the Maduro regime, including two Cabinet ministers, the national elections director, the vice president of finance for state-run oil company PDVSA, and the country’s army and police chiefs, among others.
In a statement accompanying the sanctions announcement, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said further sanctions are possible after the election Maduro has called for Sunday: "Anyone elected to the National Constituent Assembly should know that their role in undermining democratic processes and institutions in Venezuela could expose them to potential U.S. sanctions.”
