Of the world’s 10 most neglected displacement crises, nine are in Africa, the Norwegian Refugee Council reports in an annual assessment released Wednesday. “The deep crises represented by millions of displaced Africans are yet again the most underfunded, ignored and deprioritized in the world,” Jan Egeland, the NRC’s secretary general, said in a news release announcing its new report. “They are plagued by diplomatic and political paralysis, weak aid operations and little media attention. Despite facing a tornado of emergencies, their SOS calls for help fall on deaf ears.” Cameroon tops the list of neglected crises for the second consecutive year. The West African nation has reeled from conflict over the Anglophone separatist movement in Cameroon’s English-speaking northwest and southwest regions, displacing more than 679,000 people.Hobbled by Separatist Conflict: Media Freedom in CameroonIntimidation, arrests and journalists held incommunicado for months cut off vital news on conflict and rights abuses It’s followed by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Venezuela, Mali, South Sudan, Nigeria, Central African Republic and Niger. The countries from Africa’s Sahel region – Burkina Faso, Mali, Nigeria and Niger – all have been beset by extremist violence and receive insufficient aid, the NRC said. Venezuela is the only non-African entry on the list. The once-wealthy South American country has been devastated by falling oil prices and political strife. The socialist government led by Nicolas Maduro also blames economic sanctions by the United States and its allies for its misfortunes. The NRC said it expects the novel coronavirus pandemic will worsen conditions for the countries on its list – and for others, too. “The World Food Program is cutting rations at a time when you have an economic struggle caused by COVID,” Pål Nesse, an NRC senior adviser, said by phone from Oslo on Tuesday. Trade and distribution problems have contributed to higher prices than normal, he said, emphasizing that if humanitarian aid is reduced, “the situation becomes more urgent. … More people will starve.” The World Food Program predicts that 265 million people globally will confront acute food insecurity this year because of the pandemic, more than doubling the number who experienced food shortages in 2019.COVID-19 Puts 265 Million at Risk of ‘Hunger Pandemic,’ Experts Say‘We could be facing multiple famines of biblical proportions’ The NRC reviewed more than 40 crises in which more than 200,000 people have been displaced. It compiles its list based on three criteria that are lacking: political will, media attention and international aid. The organization defines political will as the degree to which armed parties on the ground will protect civilians’ rights and “engage in peace negotiations, and international actors’ willingness or ability to find political solutions.” [Optional graph] To assess media attention, it used the media monitoring firm Meltwater. It gauges international aid deficits based on U.N. and humanitarian partners’ funding requests and the extent to which these are met. [End optional graph] The previous year’s list, in descending order of severity, included Cameroon, the DRC, Central African Republic, Burundi, Ukraine, Venezuela, Mali, Libya, Ethiopia and Palestine. Nesse suggested countries such as Ukraine and Libya commanded more attention last year with the migrant crisis in Europe and elsewhere. “There has been more news interest, whereas Africa often falls off the news screen, partly because conflicts have been going on for a long time” and because in some countries “it is very difficult for journalists to cover or have access.” Through its list, Nesse said, the NRC hopes to refocus attention, political support and aid. The NRC report includes recommendations for politicians, donors, humanitarian organizations and the public. Among these are increased diplomatic efforts toward political solutions, more flexible and predictable aid funding, and improved “collaboration and coordination between organizations on the ground.” It urges the public to get informed and speak up about neglected crises, and to check on candidates’ and parties’ humanitarian policies before voting.
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Month: June 2020
George Floyd’s Brother Among Those Testifying as US Leaders Consider Police Reforms
Members of the U.S. Congress are examining national police reform proposals, while local and state officials announce more steps to change funding and authorizations for the use of force in their police departments. The House Judiciary Committee is set to hear Wednesday from Philonise Floyd, brother of George Floyd, the African American man whose death in police custody after an officer held a knee to his neck for almost nine minutes sparked nationwide protests urging reforms. Other witnesses include Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo and Vanita Gupta, former head of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division and current president and CEO of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights. Gupta wrote on Twitter that she would testify “on the need for transformative policing policies that promote accountability, reimagine public safety, and respect the dignity of all people.” House Democrats have proposed a package of reforms that includes bans on racial profiling and choke holds, making it easier to sue officers in civil court and establishing a national database tracking officer misconduct. A vote is planned this month. Republican leaders in the Senate have tasked Senator Tim Scott with leading the creation of their own package of proposals, an effort White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows told reporters Tuesday he hopes will come “sooner than later.”Senator Tim Scott (R-SC) delivers remarks during a news conference on the coronavirus relief bill, on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., March 25, 2020.Scott said Tuesday he held a productive discussion with colleagues on the plan and they would be releasing a draft “in the near future.” “I am hopeful that this legislation will bring much-needed solutions,” Scott said. Senator Lindsey Graham, who heads the Senate Judiciary Committee, has set a hearing on police use of force for next week. With the two parties each controlling one of the chambers, and President Donald Trump repeatedly stressing the need for “law and order” amid the protests, it is unlikely the sides will agree on all of their proposals, but there is some common ground, including the misconduct database. Local bans on choke holds have been among the steps already taken by city and state leaders in places such as California, Denver and in Minneapolis, the city where Floyd died. The latest such move came from the police department in Phoenix, Arizona, which announced the immediate ban of the technique Tuesday. In Portland, Oregon, Mayor Ted Wheeler said his package of reforms includes halting the use of patrol officers on public transit and moving $7 million from the city’s police budget to programs for communities of color. Other cities have pledged similar funding shifts, including New York and Los Angeles, heeding what has become one of the major initiatives promoted by protesters. New York state lawmakers also voted Tuesday to repeal a decades-old law that made the disciplinary records and misconduct complaints against officers secret. Governor Andrew Cuomo has said he will sign it. Floyd was entombed Tuesday in Pearland, Texas, after a Houston funeral attended by hundreds of family members, friends and prominent figures. WATCH: Floyd funeral serviceSorry, but your browser cannot support embedded video of this type, you can
download this video to view it offline.Download File360p | 6 MB480p | 8 MB540p | 11 MB720p | 23 MB1080p | 43 MB Embed” />Copy Download AudioCivil rights leader the Rev. Al Sharpton gave the eulogy, saying Floyd touched people all over the country, and in other parts of the world who have also joined in protest, “marching with your name.” “People are walking out in the streets, not even following social distance because you’ve touched the world. And as we lay you to rest today, the movement won’t rest until we get justice. Until we have one standard of justice. Your family is gonna miss you, George. But your nation is going to always remember your name because your neck was one that represented all of us. And how you suffered represented our stuff,” Sharpton said. Among those in attendance were the parents of Eric Garner, Botham Jean and Michael Brown, three victims of earlier police violence whose deaths brought calls for reforms. “Until we know the price for black life is the same as the price for white life, we’re going to keep coming back to these situations over and over again,” Sharpton told those assembled at The Fountain of Praise Church. Hundreds of people gathered along the funeral procession route to pay their final respects to Floyd, and to express their grief and their frustration at the history of police violence against African Americans and the lack of action to eliminate it. “We’ve been kneeling. Nothing happened. We’ve been peacefully protesting. Nothing happened,” Xavier Bradley told VOA. “Only until something gets destroyed they’ll listen. Now we’ve got their ear, hopefully we can put it to good use.”
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Were They Worth It?: Key Protest Movements Over the Decades
The protests that left much of the world in a haze of tear gas last year were slowed by a pandemic – until the death of George Floyd sparked a global uprising against police brutality and racial inequality. From Hong Kong to Khartoum, Baghdad to Beirut, Gaza to Paris and Caracas to Santiago, people took to the streets in 2019 for the pursuits of freedom, sovereignty or simply a life less shackled by hardship while few prospered. It seemed as if the streets were agitated everywhere but the United States. Now, after the death of Floyd, a black man in Minneapolis who died in police custody when a white officer pressed his knee into Floyd’s neck for several minutes, protests rage around the globe. Police or military brutality and racism are universal dynamics that are experienced in many societies. The very nature of a protest suggests a fervent desire for change, the need to right a perceived historic injustice. It’s a means to an end. But to what end? Depending on the government the activists are demanding change from, the results can be varied. Demonstrations were held last week in solidarity with American protesters, but Floyd’s death also had resonance and reverberations far beyond U.S. shores because of those lives lost closer to home in similar circumstances. As the coronavirus crisis eased in China, protesters in Hong Kong, the semi-autonomous territory, began to emerge again. And Beijing moved swiftly to quash the movement that caused unrest for months last year, enacting a national security law that would effectively end the existence of one country, two systems. A democratic government that is amenable to the changes may enact legislation, or a change of leadership can be forced at the ballot box. An authoritarian regime, however, does not often bend. Protesting against dictatorship can be a life-or-death struggle which may even require activists to make a deal with the country’s military. Confronting tyranny can also backfire, the result a more dictatorial leader or a ruinous civil war. Here’s a look at some of the key protests of recent decades and what they achieved or failed. American Civil Rights The protests that erupted across a scarred U.S. landscape last week had the unusual characteristic of being largely leaderless and are still evolving, though the Black Lives Matter movement was focal. During the critical era of the 1950s and ’60s, Martin Luther King Jr., who led the 250,000 strong March on Washington in 1963, and Malcolm X were colossal 20th century figures, representing two different tracks: mass non-violent protest and getting favorable outcomes “by any means necessary.” The Civil Rights Acts, initiated by the Kennedy administration, and Voting Rights Act were passed by the Johnson administration, which was sympathetic to tackling endemic racism in the nation. These were key inflection points. But social injustice and the Vietnam War continued to dominate the American decade and beyond, reaching a crescendo of civil unrest in 1968 which has been echoed in 2020.FILE – In this Aug. 28, 1963 file photo, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. acknowledges the crowd at the Lincoln Memorial for his “I Have a Dream” speech during the March on Washington.Democrats in Congress are proposing an overhaul of police procedures and accountability, but like so much in Washington this has been snagged by partisanship. Key Democrats, including presumptive presidential nominee Joe Biden, are also distancing themselves from liberal calls to “defund the police” as President Donald Trump and his Republican allies blast the proposal. The iron curtain falls Revolution was in the air in Eastern Europe in 1989, powered by a flowering of civil resistance to overthrow Communist rule. One-by-one, countries fell in a reverse-domino effect — Washington had always been concerned about the dominoes falling in the Soviet Union’s favor. The final Soviet leader, Mikhail Gorbachev, laid the groundwork for this tectonic shift. The Berlin Wall fell and one-party rule was swept aside in East Germany, Poland and other states once cast as being behind the Iron Curtain, mostly bloodlessly — the exception being in Romania where the tyranny of Nicolae Ceausescu and his family was ended by a firing squad on Christmas Day. This period also included a “Velvet Revolution” in Czechoslovakia, which was the historical antidote to the Prague Spring, a period of liberalization in embracing “communism with a human face” that was ruthlessly crushed by more than half a million Soviet-led Warsaw Pact troops in 1968. The Arab Spring and the current redux It was two decades before the world witnessed another wave of protests consume an entire region. This one was the first to be captured on a new digital platform, social media. After decades of dictatorship and kleptocracy, the Arab World became intoxicated by the heady mix of possibility and immediacy. And rulers did fall: in Egypt, Yemen, Libya and Tunisia in 2011. But only the latter transitioned to a democratic next chapter. Egypt now lives under even more authoritarian rule, where all dissent is extinguished, and thousands languish in prison. Yemen and Libya have been torn to shreds by conflict and humanitarian catastrophe. Syria exploded quickly from an uprising against the Assad dynasty to ruinous civil war which still continues with more than half million dead and millions displaced. In neighboring Lebanon and in Iraq, civil protests erupted last October against ruling elites. Lebanon is suffering a confluence of crises as it lurches on the cusp of national bankruptcy. In Iraq, too, where protesters had been killed in scores, the health care system is not equipped to deal with COVID-19 and the loss of oil revenue is hitting hard. Protests seem likely to reignite in both places. The spirit of 2019 and 2020 Sudan captured much of what civil disobedience and protest can achieve — as well its painful cost with many killed and systemic rapes — as the fragile transition to a new era continues. The protest movement succeeded in ousting a longtime military strongman who faces genocide and war crimes charges. President Omar al-Bashir was toppled in April 2019, forcing the creation of a joint civilian-military ruling “sovereign council.” But the civilians are struggling to assert authority in the face of the military’s power. Hong Kong’s protests, which began one year ago this week, seemed to embody all the facets of democratic aspiration: But the clear intent of President of Xi Jinping and the overwhelming might of China’s People’s Liberation Army makes it ever more likely that the territory will be under Beijing rule much sooner than 2047 as agreed upon. The landmark 1997 agreement in which the British colony was formally handed over to China, had stipulated things would remain unchanged for 50 years.
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Fearing Arrest for Pro-democracy Activity in Hong Kong, Protestor Flees to Taiwan
As Beijing tightens control over Hong Kong, some Hong Kong residents who participated in months of pro-democracy protests are opting to self-exile to avoid being charged with the vaguely defined offense of rioting, which can carry a 10-year prison sentence. A 21-year-old Hong Konger, Daniel is one of them. A critic of China, he asked that his full name not be used. When he saw thousands of people marching on the street on June 9, 2019, he knew it was time. The Civil Human Rights Front said over 1 million people participated, while police estimated there were 240,000 protestors, according to the South China Morning Post.“At that moment, I saw a little bit of hope, so I started to participate,” Daniel told VOA Mandarin. “But what made me angry is although a million people were marching, the (Hong Kong) government didn’t care, and mocked them by saying, ‘Thank you for coming out to show how Hong Kong has the freedom of gathering and marching.’” That anger motivated Daniel. He began standing in the frontline of protests making himself a target for police pepper spray and bean bag shots. His mother criticized him, saying he sold his soul to the Americans, and for “causing disruption in Hong Kong.” Her words presaged the official Chinese position, which emerged when Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying criticized the protests, saying at a July 30 press conference that the protests were, “As you all know, they are somehow the work of the U.S.” But Daniel denied of any U.S. involvement in his action, calling his mother’s words “ridiculous.” ‘The fall of Hong Kong’in 2019, Hong Kong marked the 22nd anniversary of the handover from Britain to China on July 1. In the protestors’ eyes, it was “the fall of Hong Kong” said Daniel. Starting with that morning with the flag-raising ceremony, there were waves protests and police confrontations. He said that he and friends were beaten or pepper sprayed by those whom they called the “black police” in Hong Kong. After that, hundreds of protesters decided to storm the legislative council. “The Hong Kong police started the attack at midnight,” Daniel recalled. “It was brutal. They fired … bean bag shots, pepper spray and tear gas. Unfortunately, I was shot in the thigh at that time.” A bean bag shot, deflected by his right thigh, wounded him in his left thigh. After the occupation of the Legislative Council, the Hong Kong police began searching for witnesses and clues online. Any protestor who had rushed into the Legislative Council, left fingerprints or other evidence, or had taken off a mask and been photographed by the monitors, was risked arrest. Daniel and his friends fled to Taiwan. Later that month, authorities charged 44 people with rioting. Under Hong Kong law, that is an unlawful assembly of three or more people where any person “commits a breach of the peace”, and a conviction can carry a 10-year prison sentence, according to Reuters. In mid-August, Daniel’s mother told him the police and some people who didn’t identify themselves had visited the family home with a ruling saying he was wanted by the police. Now, after 11 months in Taiwan, Daniel heard from news accounts that one protester, who once fought at his side, was sentenced to four years in prison for the offense of rioting. He said he was lucky to leave Hong Kong in time. “While in Taiwan, I have continued to support Hong Kong, so I am in line with what the (Hong Kong) government has said is assisting riots, planning riots and so on. I would face a sentence of more than 10 years if I were arrested back in Hong Kong,” he said. Last month, the China’s National People’s Congress (NPC), voted in favor of a proposal to a committee to formulate national security measures to be directly enacted in Hong Kong. The measures will likely allow mainland security agents to be positioned in Hong Kong to root out behavior and activities that constitute what Beijing defines as subversion, secession, terrorism and foreign interference. It is anticipated the law will be enacted later this year.China’s Hong Kong Security Law Risks ‘Intimidating’ US, Observers Say If law is enacted as anticipated, Hong Kong’s status as a financial center could end, they sayDaniel said that once it takes effect, everyone who participated in the movement could be charged with subversion of the state or colluding with foreign forces. Earlier this month, Hong Kong cancelled the annual Tiananmen Square vigil, saying the event would pose a “major threat to public health” during the COVID-19 pandemic. Critics said it was the latest evidence of China tightening its grip on Hong Kong, where the vigil attracted tens of thousands some years to remember the June 4, 1989 massacre of pro-democracy protestors in Beijing.Hong Kong Tiananmen Vigil Officially BannedHong Kong police formally ban annual candlelit vigil to mourn victims of crackdown on 1989 Tiananmen pro-democracy movement that has taken place uninterrupted for 30 yearsSome countries are now considering changing their policies toward Hong Kong and its residents. In November, U.S. President Donald Trump signed two bills into law supporting the Hong Kong protesters despite Beijing’s repeated objections.Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen said last month that Taiwan “stands with the people of Hong Kong” as she pledged “necessary assistance” to Hong Kongers who need help. Some British lawmakers suggested that British National Overseas (BNO) passport holders and democracy activists in Hong Kong who do not have BNO status should be fast-tracked for U.K. citizenship. As many as 200 Hong Kongers fled to Taiwan last summer, now dozens of them remain in exile in Taipei. C.H. Kyou is a representative at Che-lam Presbyterian Church in Taipei, which has been helping Hong Kong protesters, including those seeking asylum in Taiwan. Kyou said most of them, in addition to suffering physical trauma, also suffer from severe post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Some wake in the middle of night, convinced they smell tear gas, and others told Kyou they were awakened by people walking outside their room, said Kyou. Most commonly, the exiled Hong Kongers obsessively check their cell phones to keep current on the situation at home. Constantly sending and receiving messages about Hong Kong, the exiles become anxious. Kyou said Daniel is like that. Daniel admits that he can’t stop watching the situation in Hong Kong because, on the one hand, he feels sorry for his fellow protesters, and on the other, he is afraid of missing out on the opportunity to help fellow protesters via the internet. “Watching them being arrested is the biggest nightmare,” Daniel said. Having been stalked by people in Taiwan, Daniel now wears a face mask and hat and carries pepper spray when he leaves his home. Daniel studied STEM in Hong Kong but now he plans to study political or social science in Taiwan. He hopes that when China falls or the Hong Kong revolution succeeds, his younger generation can govern Hong Kong. Adrianna Zhang contributed to this report.
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Violence Gives Way to Street Fair Vibe Outside White House
That massive fence erected around Lafayette Park has become a do-it-yourself gallery of protest art. Messages, posters and portraits, ranging from loving to enraged, almost blot out the view of the White House across the way. One block away at the corner of 16th and I streets — a constant flash point for most of last week — the calliope version of “La Cucaracha” rang out from an ice cream truck parked just outside the police roadblock. In front of St. John’s Episcopal Church, it was so tranquil Monday afternoon you could hear the birds chirping while a white visitor paid for a $20 Black Lives Matter T-shirt with Venmo. As the nation’s capital emerges from a violent and chaotic 10-day stretch of protests and street battles, a different mood is taking hold. The anger has given way to something closer to a street fair as community leaders, members of Congress and the D.C. government have rallied to the protesters’ cause. “For me this is exactly the sort of atmosphere it should be,” said Leigh McAlpin, a writer and veteran activist from Baltimore, who was staffing a medical relief tent offering water and snacks. “Last night we were doing the ‘Cha Cha Slide’ in the street.” Police have turned a several-block area north of Lafayette Park, in front of the White House, into an open air pedestrian space. The area is pristine, with no sign of broken glass and only minimal graffiti visible. The clearest sign of last week’s protests — other than the massive yellow “Black Lives Matter” painted in the middle of 16th Street — is the sheets of plywood covering almost every window on the block. At the medical relief tents, the number-one priority was no longer dousing people with milk and antacid to counter the effect of smoke bombs and pepper balls. “Please stay hydrated. We have free water here,” said one volunteer over a loudspeaker. “Donald Trump is not your friend and neither is the sun on a day like this.” The National Park Service says part of Lafayette Park will reopen Wednesday. Spokeswoman Katie Liming said Monday that most of the temporary fencing will be removed. Some fencing will remain in Lafayette Park around damaged areas to allow workers to make repairs and address safety hazards. Liming gave no time for when the rest of the square would reopen. Tia Farrell, left, Tangee Massey, and Shalonda Harris, all of Richmond, Va., wear clothes designed and crocheted by Massey, as people visit the site of protests, June 9, 2020, near the White House in Washington.Lafayette Park is one of the country’s most prominent sites for political protests and other free-speech events. But it’s been closed off since last Monday by a towering black chain link fence that was hastily erected after U.S. Park Police used smoke bombs, pepper pellets and officers on horseback to violently clear peaceful protesters. Immediately afterward, President Donald Trump staged a brief photo op in front of St. John’s, the historic church that had been damaged in the protests. The exact decision-making around that series of events continues to be a topic of lingering controversy and examination. On Monday, White Press press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said there were “no regrets on the part of this White House” over the handling of peaceful protesters that night. McEnany said it was Attorney General William Barr who made the decision to expand the security perimeter around the White House. “Park Police also had made that decision independently when they saw all the violence in Lafayette Square,” she said. McEnany noted that the protests since that night have been increasingly peaceful and she credits Trump’s calling in the National Guard. As the violence subsided and the weather improved, the mood outside the the White House turned festive over the weekend. Republican Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah marched with the protesters. D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser, who engaged in a weeklong public feud with Trump over his deployment of armed National Guard units in Washington, renamed the intersection in front of St. John’s as Black Lives Matter Plaza. Bowser also commissioned the painting of a massive yellow “Black Lives Matter” on 16th street leading up to the White House. “It’s way too early for a victory lap, but this does feel hopeful,” said McAlpin, the relief station volunteer and a veteran of multiple previous protests over black deaths at police hands. “There are a lot of new faces and white supporters. But they’re not just chanting ‘No Justice/No Peace’. They’re coming up and asking what’s next? What groups should they join and support and donate to? And then they’re really doing it in their phones in front of you. That’s what feels different.” But the undercurrent of defiance remains: local activists both welcomed Bowser’s support and dismissed the street painting as a political performance. They added their own, much more politically sensitive, message: “Defund the Police.” Bowser on Monday, took pains to avoid conflict over the issue, refusing to say whether the Defund the Police addition would be removed. “That’s not part of the mural,” she said at a press conference. “But we recognize it as expression, and especially right now, acknowledging and affirming expression is important to the discussion we have to have as a community.”
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Republican Senators Push FCC to Act on Trump Social Media Order
Four Republican U.S. senators on Tuesday urged the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to review whether to revise liability protections for internet companies after President Donald Trump urged action.Trump said last month he wants to “remove or change” a provision of a law that shields social media companies from liability for content posted by their users and directed a U.S. Commerce Department agency to petition the FCC to take action within 60 days.Senators Marco Rubio, Kelly Loeffler, Kevin Cramer and Josh Hawley asked the FCC to review Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act and “clearly define the criteria for which companies can receive protections under the statute.”FILE – FCC Chairman Ajit Pai testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington, Dec. 5, 2019.Last week, an advocacy group backed by the tech industry sued, asking a judge to block the executive order.FCC Chairman Ajit Pai — who in 2018 said he did not see a role for the agency to regulate websites like Facebook Inc , Alphabet Inc’s Google and Twitter — declined to comment on potential actions in response to Trump’s executive order. He told reporters on Tuesday it would not be appropriate to “prejudge a petition that I haven’t seen.”FCC Commissioner Mike O’Rielly said on Tuesday the order poses a lot “of very complex issues.”O’Rielly tweeted earlier “as a conservative, I’m troubled voices are stifled by liberal tech leaders. At same time, I’m extremely dedicated to the First Amendment which governs much here.”
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Burundi Government: President Nkurunziza Dies of Heart Attack
Burundian President Pierre Nkurunziza has died after suffering what the government said was a heart attack, two months before he was scheduled to leave office.Nkurunziza died at the Karusi Hospital in eastern Burundi late Monday, two days after he reported feeling unwell and was taken to the facility, the government reported in a news release posted Tuesday on social media.URGENT: Le Gouvernement de la République du Burundi annonce avec une très grande tristesse le décès inopiné de Son Excellence Pierre Nkurunziza, Président de la République du Burundi, survenu à l’Hôpital du Cinquantenaire de Karusi suite à un arrêt cardiaque ce 8 juin 2020. pic.twitter.com/PP46kKzAM5
— Burundi Government (@BurundiGov) The Burundian national flag is taken down at the independent square in downtown Bujumbura as Burundi mourns the death of Burundian President Pierre Nkurunziza, June 9, 2020.In late 2018, Burundi ordered the U.N. Human Rights Council to close its office in eastern Burundi, after a report alleging the “involvement of the regime in systematic abuses and a risk of genocide.”In mid-May, Burundi expelled four officials from the World Health Organization without explanation, despite the coronavirus pandemic. Nkurunziza – a born-again Christian and, like his wife, a pastor – had claimed God gave special protection to faithful Burundians.Burundi Expels WHO OfficialsHealth Ministers expelled prior to election despite pandemic fearsThe country officially had 83 confirmed cases and one death as of Tuesday, though the French news agency, Agence France-Presse, said doctors in Bujumbura confidentially spoke of many unreported cases and deaths.U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres offered his condolences to Nkurunziza’s family as well as residents of Burundi, according to a statement released Tuesday by Guterres’ spokesman, Stephane Dujarric. Gervais Rufyikiri, who served in the Senate and then, from 2010 to 2015, as second vice president, told VOA that he and Nkurunziza “worked together on many projects, some of which contributed to Burundi’s development.” Rufyikiri didn’t specify what he considered his accomplishments, but he acknowledged “the national economy did not turn out as we had hoped.”Burundi remains one of the globe’s poorest countries, according to the World Bank, with most people living in poverty, especially in rural areas. The late president found his strongest support in those areas, where he was considered a man of the people because he helped with harvests and organized prayer services. After the coup attempt in 2015, he moved from the then-capital, Bujumbura, to his northern hometown of Ngozi.The two men’s relationship ruptured in 2015 when Nkurunziza decided to seek a third term. Rufyikiri fled the country.Speaking from exile in Switzerland, he added, “My wish for Burundi is not to go back into violence as we experienced in the past. … Whenever there is war, many people shed tears.” Nkurunziza had not intended to surrender all the privileges of leadership after leaving the presidency. The ruling CNDD-FDD party anointed him its Eternal Supreme Guide in 2018. The government said that when he stepped down, it would send him off with 1 billion Burundi francs – about $535,000 – plus a villa.VOA Central Africa Service’s Geoffrey Mutagoma also contributed to this report.
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Family, Friends, Strangers Pay Tribute to George Floyd
Family, friends, and people who never knew him filed into the pews of the Fountain of Praise Church in Houston Tuesday for the funeral of George Floyd — the African American man whose death while in the custody of white Minneapolis police lit the fuse of protests against racism around the world.A line of Houston police officers stood by while Floyd’s gold coffin was wheeled into the church.“George Floyd was not expendable. This is why we’re here,” Democratic Congressman Al Green of Houston told the crowd. “His crime was that he was born black. That was his only crime. George Floyd deserved the dignity and respect that we accord all people just because they are children of a common God.” Philonise Floyd, brother, of George Floyd pauses at the casket during a funeral service for Floyd at The Fountain of Praise church, June 9, 2020, in Houston.Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden, who met with Floyd’s family Monday, taped a eulogy played at the funeral.”No child should have to ask questions that too many black children have had to ask for generations: Why? Now is the time for racial justice. That is the answer we must give to our children when they ask why,” Biden said. Award-winning singer Ne-Yo performed, saying Floyd “changed the world.” And like many funerals, there were some light moments. His aunt, Kathleen McGee, chuckled as she remember Floyd as a child, recalling him to be a “pesky little rascal, but we loved him.” Floyd’s casket is being taken by a horse-drawn carriage to the Houston suburb of Pearland, where he will be buried next to his mother. Hundreds are enduring the legendary Texas sun and heat, lining the streets between the church and cemetery. A mourner adjusts his protective face mask as he waits for the funeral for George Floyd at the Houston Memorial Gardens cemetery in Pearland, Texas, June 9, 2020.Many of those marches turned violent, prompting governors to deploy the National Guard to restore order. There are also calls for cities to defund police departments. The Minneapolis city council overwhelmingly backs such plan in the face of opposition by Mayor Jacob Frey. Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner announced he will sign an executive order that bans chokeholds in the city. In California, Governor Gavin Newsom ordered the state’s police training program to stop teaching chokeholds. Denver’s police chief has also banned chokeholds and Washington Seattle Governor Jay Inslee says he wants to make it mandatory for police officers to report bad behavior by other officers and not just stand by while an atrocity may be committed.
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First African American Leads US Military Service Branch
An African American officer will now lead a U.S. military service branch for the first time in history, after the Senate confirmed Gen. Charles Brown Jr. on Tuesday as U.S. Air Force Chief of Staff in a unanimous vote of 98-0.Prior to his confirmation, Brown served as the commander of U.S. Pacific Air Forces, responsible for Air Force activities in the U.S. and Indo-Pacific Command theater spread over half the globe. He also served as the deputy commander for U.S. Central Command, which overseas U.S. military activity in the Middle East, from July 2016-July 2018. Before that, he was the commander of U.S. Air Forces Central Command. Brown’s historic confirmation comes as the country is engulfed in protests over racial and social injustice after African American George Floyd died in police custody last month. “I’m thinking about how my nomination can provide some hope, but also comes with a heavy burden. I can’t fix centuries of racism in our country, nor can I fix decades of discrimination that may have impacted members of our Air Force,” Brown said Friday in a video to the Air Force. “As the Commander of Pacific Air Forces, a senior leader in our Air Force, and an African-American, many of you may be wondering what I’m thinking about the current events surrounding the tragic death of George Floyd. Here’s what I’m thinking about…” – Gen. CQ Brown, Jr. pic.twitter.com/I2sf1067L6
— PACAF (@PACAF) Senate Armed Services Chairman James Inhofe, R-Okla, questions Gen. Charles Brown Jr., nominated for reappointment to Chief of Staff of the U.S. Air Force during a hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, May 7, 2020.Sen. Jim Inhofe, chairman of the Senate Armed Services committee, called Brown an “inspiring leader — brave, authentic, and unifying” — whose expertise in the Indo-Pacific theater will be an asset as the military turns more of its focus toward that part of the globe. Former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Adm. (Ret.) Mike Mullen, called Brown’s confirmation Tuesday “a big step in the right direction,” but he worried about a shrinking pool of African American leaders in the U.S. military. “I left some eight-and-a-half years ago, and I worry a great deal that we’ve regressed since that time because the numbers just aren’t there,” he said.
Brown, an F-16 fighter jet pilot, has flown nearly 3,000 hours and 130 combat hours during his more than 35 years of service. He was commissioned in 1984 as a distinguished graduate of the ROTC program at Texas Tech University. Brown was nominated March 2 to replace Gen. David Goldfein, who is expected to retire in the coming weeks from the top Air Force job. Goldfein, another command pilot, served as vice chief of staff of the Air Force, director of the Joint staff and commander of U.S. Air Forces Central Command prior to becoming chief of the Air Force.
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Panda Escapes From Enclosure at Danish Zoo; Returned Safely
One of Copenhagen Zoo’s giant pandas escaped from its enclosure early Monday and roamed the park before staff were able to sedate it and bring it back. Xing Er, a 7-year-old male who arrived at the zoo last year, was seen on surveillance video breaking out of the newly built, 160 million-kroner ($24.2 million) Panda House that also houses female panda Mao Sun. Zoo spokesman Bengt Holst said that on the video staff could see how “the male panda crawls up a metal pole, which is studded with three rows of electrical wires … and then crawls out into the garden.” He said the park now was looking at making changes to security around the enclosure “to ensure that it does not happen again. ” Zoo staff reacted “quickly and efficiently,” the animal was corned and sedated with a dart without being harmed, he said. Monday’s incident happened before the animal park opened to the public. “It doesn’t change the fact that we want to avoid that kind of situation in the future,” Holst said. The enclosure to house the pandas from China’s southwestern city of Chengdu, was inaugurated by Queen Margrethe and other dignitaries in April 2019. Beijing lends out pandas as a sign of goodwill. Any cubs born during the 15-year loan period are considered China’s property.
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National Park Service Says Extra Fencing near White House to Come Down
The National Park Service says it will remove much of the tall metal fencing surrounding Lafayette Square across from the White House by Wednesday. Officials erected the fence early last week to bar access to the park shortly after police aggressively cleared a crowd of largely peaceful demonstrators from the area of the square using chemical irritants and rubber bullets. In the days since, crowds have continued to gather outside the park daily to protest. The demonstrators have converted the fencing to a crowdsourced memorial wall, filled with posters, names and paintings of black men and women who died during encounters with police. A National Park Service spokeswoman did not immediately respond Tuesday to a question from The Washington Post about what would happen to the artwork when the fence comes down. She said some fencing will remain in areas that suffered damage during demonstrations or where safety hazards exist. Officials have also lined the entirety of the Ellipse — the sweeping green lawn south of the White House — with more than 1.5 kilometers of fencing, reinforced by white concrete barriers. The Park Service says they plan to remove that fencing by Wednesday as well.
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Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea Agree to Demarcate Border after Skirmishes
Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea have agreed to jointly map out a disputed border area after skirmishes between their troops left several wounded and property destroyed. Officials from the two countries are asking hundreds of traders and farmers who relocated because of the clashes to return to the disputed area but, some are reluctant.Officials from Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea agreed to work on defining their disputed border after a crisis meeting Monday night.Cameroon’s South Region Governor Felix Nguele Nguele said in the past two weeks there have been several skirmishes along the border with Equatorial Guinea’s military.Nguele said while nobody was killed, several troops were wounded, and goods were destroyed on both sides of the border.After the meeting Monday, he said Cameroon instructed local officials and traditional rulers to meet with their Equatorial Guinean peers to map out a proposed border.Nguele said after local officials agree on a proposed new border, the central governments in Malabo and Yaoundé will be able to decide if there will be a new demarcation or not. But for the time being, he said, people should go about their daily activities peacefully.Farmers and traders last week fled the border town of Kye-Ossi after tensions with troops on both sides.Justo Javier Ndong Engon is governor of Equatorial Guinea’s Kie Ntem Province on the border with Cameroon.He said at the meeting the two sides agreed to return troops to their barracks while waiting for the governments to find a lasting solution to the border dispute.Engon said the crisis meeting resolved that border authorities ask community leaders and chiefs to urge farmers to return to their farms and traders to their shops. He said both sides ordered an end to the destruction of goods and asked that farm produce like maize, cassava, tomatoes and vegetables – which were stuck at the border – be given access into Equatorial Guinea.Engon did not say how many Equatorial Guineans were affected by the conflict.Cameroon said on its side about 350 farmers and traders had fled the border in the last few weeks but that many were returning.Cameroonian vegetable seller Derric Sama said despite the assurances that troops have pulled back, he will not return to Kye-Ossi.He spoke via a messaging application from the town of Ebolowa, where he relocated.”It is not the first time the military from Equatorial Guinea cross over to destroy our goods or seize vegetables and fruits from us. Cameroon government tell us every time that they will solve the problem, but no solution seems to be coming,” said Sama.It’s not the first time tensions have erupted along the two countries’ border.In August, Equatorial Guinea began to erect a wall along the 183-kilometer border, sparking condemnation from Cameroon.Cameroon said Equatorial Guinea constructed markers on its territory and instructed the military not to tolerate any unlawful intrusion.Equatorial Guinea has also often sealed its border with Cameroon, complaining of security threats posed by illegal immigration.In December 2017, Equatorial Guinea said it had arrested 30 foreign armed men from Chad, the Central African Republic and Sudan on the border who planned to destabilize the government.Cameroon said at the time it also arrested 40 additional heavily armed men but gave no details.
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Five US States Holding Political Party Primaries on Tuesday
Voters in five U.S. states went to the polls Tuesday for political party primary elections, but the balloting in the southern state of Georgia was slow, with voters reporting long lines and officials saying there were problems with voting machines not working.In the state’s largest city, Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms urged voters to be patient, saying the long lines and voting machine issues were widespread.”This seems to be happening throughout Atlanta and perhaps throughout the county,” Lance Bottoms wrote on Twitter. “If you are in line, PLEASE do not allow your vote to be suppressed. PLEASE stay in line.”A person stretches as voters wait in a line in Georgia’s primary election at Park Tavern in Atlanta, June 9, 2020.Georgia’s secretary of state, Brad Raffensperger, had warned ahead of the election of the possibility of long lines because of the continuing recommendations in many parts of the U.S. that people in public places maintain a two-meter distance from each other to curb the spread of the coronavirus.Jon Ossoff, a 33-year-old chief executive of an investigative TV production company, leads a large field of Georgia Democrats seeking the party’s nomination to oppose incumbent Republican Senator David Perdue, a close ally of President Donald Trump, in the November election.Ossoff faces six other Democrats in the party primary but needs 50% of the vote to avoid an Aug. 11 runoff election. Perdue has no Republican challengers in his bid for a second six-year term in the Senate.Elections also are being held in Nevada, South Carolina, North Dakota and West Virginia.The spread of the coronavirus pandemic in the U.S. has pushed state election officials to institute new measures to allow absentee voting by mail, even as Trump has contended, without evidence, that mail-in voting will lead to widespread voting fraud.On Tuesday, Nevada is staging an all-mail election, while North Dakota, Georgia and West Virginia sent applications for absentee ballots to voters to allow them to vote by mail if they desire.
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Hong Kong Crisis Through the Eyes of 5 Hong Kongers
Hundreds of activists and ordinary citizens in Hong Kong marked the first anniversary of the city’s anti-government movement by staging protests across the Asian financial hub on Tuesday. On June 9 last year, about one million Hong Kongers staged a peaceful protest against a proposed extradition law that would allow individuals to be sent to China for trial. The government at the time insisted on pressing ahead with the law, prompting more people to take to the streets in a series of mass protests that plunged the former British colony into one of the deepest crises in its history. More than 8,900 people, of whom about 40% were students have been arrested in more than 1,000 protests since the protests began June of last year.
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New Zealand Celebrates End of Coronavirus Restrictions
New Zealanders gathered at restaurants and cafes Tuesday to celebrate the official end of their long coronavirus quarantine period. After more than two months of restrictions that brought everyday life to a standstill, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern lowered the four-tiered lockdown system first imposed in March to its lowest tier, scrapping all virus-related restrictions on public gatherings, including sports and weddings, while keeping New Zealand’s borders closed to international travel. New Zealand has had a total of 1,504 confirmed coronavirus infections with 22 deaths out of 5 million citizens, according to the Johns Hopkins University’s COVID-19 dashboard. COVID-19 is the disease caused by the coronavirus. Despite the return of normal life within its borders, Antarctica New Zealand, the government agency responsible for carrying out environmental research on the continent, said Tuesday it will cut back research visits to its Antarctica base to prevent spreading COVID-19 outside the country. FILE – UK National Health Service employee Anni Adams looks at new NHS app to trace contacts with people potentially infected with the coronavirus disease being tested on Isle of Wight, Britain, May 5, 2020.Separately, a FILE – A view of medical personnel working in Mt. Sinai Hospital Morningside during the coronavirus pandemic on May 18, 2020 in New York City.According to the latest figures from U.S.-based Johns Hopkins, the number of COVID-19 infections worldwide now stands at 7,142,462 confirmed cases, with 407,009 deaths. The United States is the leader in both categories, with total infections at 1,961,187 and more than 111,000 confirmed deaths. Following the U.S. with the most coronavirus infections is Brazil, with 707,412 confirmed cases. The South American country’s 37,134 deaths are the world’s third-highest after the U.S. and Britain, which now stands at 40,680. The government of Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has come under fire for allegedly manipulating the country’s official coronavirus data.FILE – A patient with symptoms related to COVID-19 is brought to a field hospital by workers in full protective gear in Leblon, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, June 4, 2020.The firestorm began last Friday after the health ministry took down a website that published the number of deaths and infections and replaced it with a site that only published the latest casualties for the last 24 hours. The controversy deepened after the ministry released two different sets of data. The ministry issued a statement the next day saying the discrepancy was due to incorrect data supplied by local authorities. Critics say the allegedly manipulated data is part of Bolsonaro’s dismissal of the pandemic as nothing more than “a little flu” and his disdain of quarantines and social distancing guidelines because of its impact on the Brazilian economy.
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Accused Darfur War Criminal Ali Kushayb in ICC Custody
A former militia leader accused of war crimes in Sudan’s Darfur region is now in the custody of the International Criminal Court. The ICC said in a statement Tuesday that Abu Kushayb surrendered himself voluntarily in the Central African Republic. Kushayb is accused of commanding Janjaweed militia that attacked Darfur villages in 2003 and 2004, as part of a counter-insurgency strategy by the government of Sudan, then led by longtime president Omar al-Bashir. Among other crimes, Kushayb is accused of enlisting and arming fighters, and personally taking part in attacks on four villages where the killing, rape, and torture of civilians took place. The ICC issued a warrant for his arrest in 2007 that accused him of 22 counts of war crimes and 28 counts of crimes against humanity. The ICC said a date for Kushayb’s first appearance before the court has not been established.
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EU Rejects Any US Attempt to Invoke Iran Nuclear Deal
The European Union’s top diplomat said Tuesday that since the United States has already withdrawn from an international agreement curbing Iran’s nuclear ambitions, it can’t now use its former membership of the pact to try to impose a permanent arms embargo on the Islamic Republic.
The accord, which Iran signed with the U.S., Britain, Germany, France, China and Russia in 2015, has been unraveling since President Donald Trump pulled Washington out in 2018 and reinstated sanctions designed to cripple Tehran under what the U.S. called a “maximum pressure” campaign.
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Kelly Craft have said that extending a permanent U.N. backed arms embargo against Iran is now a top priority for Washington.
But speaking to reporters Tuesday after talks with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell insisted that since the U.S. has pulled out of the nuclear deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, it can no longer claim to have a role in it.
“The United States has withdrawn from the JCPOA, and now they cannot claim that they are still part of the JCPOA in order to deal with this issue from the JCPOA agreement. They withdraw. It’s clear. They withdraw,” Borrell said.
On Monday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov accused the Trump administration of unleashing a politically motivated campaign against Iran and he called for “universal condemnation” of the U.S. attempt to get the U.N. Security Council to impose a permanent arms embargo.
The EU sees the nuclear deal as a key pillar of regional and world security and has struggled to keep the pact alive despite U.S. pressure. Borrell is tasked with supervising the way the pact is applied and to help resolve disputes between the parties.
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Burundi’s Government: President Nkurunziza Dead at Age 56
The government of Burundi says President Pierre Nkurunziza has died at the age of 56. The government released a statement on Twitter that said Nkurunziza died of cardiac arrest Monday at the Karusi hospital in eastern Burundi.URGENT: Le Gouvernement de la République du Burundi annonce avec une très grande tristesse le décès inopiné de Son Excellence Pierre Nkurunziza, Président de la République du Burundi, survenu à l’Hôpital du Cinquantenaire de Karusi suite à un arrêt cardiaque ce 8 juin 2020. pic.twitter.com/PP46kKzAM5
— Burundi Government (@BurundiGov) FILE – Evariste Ndayishimiye speaks to the media after voting during presidential and general elections at Bubu Primary school in Giheta, May 20, 2020.Nkurunziza was due to step down in August after his chosen successor, General Evariste Ndayishimiye, won the 2020 presidential election.
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Turkey: 2 Journalists Detained Over ‘Espionage’ Probe
Turkish police on Monday detained two journalists for questioning as part of an investigation into alleged “political and military espionage,” the state-run Anadolu Agency said.The two journalists — Ismail Dukel, the Ankara representative of TELE1 television channel, and Muyesser Yildiz of the OdaTV news website — were being questioned by anti-terrorism police, the agency reported.OdaTV said Yildiz, who has reported on military issues, was detained following a raid on her home. Police searched her house and confiscated electronic material, the website reported.Last month, authorities charged seven journalists — including two OdaTV editors and a reporter — with violating laws governing the intelligence agency, for stories on the death of an intelligence officer who was reportedly killed in Libya. The journalists will go on trial later this month.The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists ranks Turkey among the top jailers of journalists worldwide, alongside China and Saudi Arabia.As many as 85 journalists and other media workers are currently in jail under Turkey’s broad anti-terrorism laws, according to the Turkish Journalists Syndicate, including many who were detained in a crackdown following a 2016 coup attempt.Turkey maintains that the journalists are prosecuted for criminal acts and not for their journalistic work.Separately, prosecutors issued warrants to detain 149 people — most of them former police officers — for alleged links to a network led by U.S.-based Muslim cleric, Fethullah Gulen.Anadolu Agency said 74 people, including six former police chiefs, were being sought by prosecutors in the western province of Balikesir, 42 were sought be authorities in northwestern Bursa province while 33 of the suspects were detained in Gaziantep, near the border with Syria.Turkey blames Gulen’s network for the failed 2016 coup. About 77,000 people have been arrested and around 130,000 others, including military personnel, have been dismissed from state jobs in the ongoing crackdown on Gulen’s network.Gulen, who has been in self-imposed exile in the U.S. since 1999, denies involvement in the coup attempt, which killed about 250 people and injured around 2,000 others.
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Protesters Heartened by Swift Reform, But Vow Broader Change
In the two weeks since George Floyd’s killing, police departments have banned chokeholds, Confederate monuments have fallen and officers have been arrested and charged amid large global protests against violence by police and racism.The moves are far short of the overhaul of police, prosecutors’ offices, courts and other institutions that protesters seek. But some advocates and demonstrators say they are encouraged by the swiftness of the response to Floyd’s death — incremental as it may be.”Everywhere you look, you see something that gives you hope,” said Frank James Matthews, 64, an activist in Alabama. “But we have no illusions because something that’s embedded like racism is hard to kill.”Matthews spent years pushing for the removal of a Confederate monument in Birmingham near the site where four black girls died in a racist church bombing in 1963. The city took down the obelisk last week after protesters tried to remove it themselves during one of the many nationwide demonstrations over Floyd’s killing by police in Minneapolis.At a memorial for Floyd on Monday in Houston, Bracy Burnett said it was hard to tell if the changes that have taken place since Floyd’s death will last.”It’s a start, but you can’t expect an oppression of 400 years to be eliminated in a few months, a few years,” Burnett, 66, said.Tancey Houston Rogers, 49, said she’s seen more progress in addressing racism and police brutality in the last two weeks than she’s seen in the past.”Now, we’ve got to take it forward,” she said.Floyd died May 25 after a white Minneapolis police officer pressed his knee into Floyd’s neck for several minutes even after Floyd stopped responding. Prosecutors have charged that officer, Derek Chauvin, with second-degree murder. Three other officers at the scene were charged with aiding and abetting.Minneapolis has since banned chokeholds, and a majority of the City Council has vowed to dismantle the city’s 800-member police agency. Police in Denver have also banned the use of chokeholds and required officers who intentionally point their gun at someone to notify a supervisor and file a report.Police officers have also faced charges for violent conduct during protests.Savano Wilkerson said he worries about a backslide on reform if national attention shifts away from Floyd’s case. He’s also concerned about convictions against the officers charged in Floyd’s death.”It’s not really a win yet because they could easily get off,” the 22-year-old resident of West Palm Beach, Florida, said during a phone interview on Monday.The recent protests are the country’s most significant demonstrations in a half-century — rivaling those during the civil rights and Vietnam War eras.During the push for civil rights in the 1960s, activists also won some quick concessions from authorities, said Ashley Howard, an assistant professor of history and African American studies at the University of Iowa.”If you want to take the cynical view, cities want to get back to business as usual,” she said. “They don’t want property defaced. They don’t want to be on the front page of the newspaper.”But Howard said she sees perseverance and a long-term vision for a “radical alternative” among the marchers and is hopeful for more substantive changes.Civil rights icons Xernona Clayton and Andrew Young also predicted a broader impact from the protests.”There’s going to be a new consensus emerging about how to maintain law and order in a civilized society,” said Young, a confidant of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. who went on to become a congressman, United Nations ambassador and Atlanta mayor.Young said organizing protests during the civil rights era was harder, so that delayed some of the movement’s victories.Clayton said another difference was how receptive people in power were to demonstrators.”They’re at least talking about making the change and wanting to make the change,” said Clayton, who served as King’s office manager in Atlanta and organized protest marches and fundraisers. “The people who have been the perpetrators — as I call them — are talking differently.”
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As City Reopens Governor Proclaims ‘New York is Back’
Governor Andrew Cuomo took the New York City subway into midtown Manhattan Tuesday and proclaimed, “New York is back!” as the city begins to reopen after being shut down by COVID-19.Cuomo told reporters he took the subway to show citizens it was safe to ride and that he “wouldn’t ask anyone to do anything I wouldn’t do myself.Considered the epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic in the United States, New York City began to slowly reopen Monday with residents going back to work after 78 days. Construction, manufacturing and wholesalers are able to resume work as are retailers, who had been deemed nonessential.Cuomo acknowledged the pandemic is not over and urged New Yorkers to stay smart, keep washing their hands and wearing masks. He said as long as they are controlling it, the city can operate.The coronavirus killed more than 500 people a day in New York City during the peak o the pandemic in early to mid-April. By the end of last week, the number of deaths per day had dropped to single digits.The number of people testing positive for the virus was down to 200 to 300 per day at the start of last week, compared with more than 6,000 a day in early April.
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China, Singapore Plan Covid-19 ‘Bubble’ for Essential Travel
Planes jetting between Singapore and China next week will be carrying some of the first passengers of the two nations’ “Covid-19 travel “bubble.” Before then flights linked to China were starting to become a political matter, as the nation took issue with places from the United States to Vietnam for canceling travel in the wake of the virus emergency.A new world of travelPassengers have to be sponsored by a government agency or a company and were able to start applying for the “fast lane” for essential travel on Monday, according to Singapore’s trade and foreign ministries. Approval means residents can travel between China and Singapore without a quarantine if they test negative for the virus and follow other rules. Flights had become yet another global flashpoint of the Covid-19 chaos, particularly in the already tense relations between the world’s two biggest economies. The U.S. was like most nations that had suspended flights from China to curb the virus, but tensions escalated this month when both sides moved to restrict airlines from the other nation. Both sides have since eased up on the planned restrictions.Signs of economic lifeThe joint decision by China and Singapore to allow some travel also eases up on virus-related limits. “It will be a long while before life returns to near normal, but we are beginning to see some light,” the Singapore Minister of Transport Khaw Boon Wan said of the plan to increase flights, via a Facebook post. “However, recreational travel will have to take a back seat for now.”The limited flights are mostly meant for business and official travel. With the coronavirus spreading around the world from the start of the year, international travel has plummeted to near oblivion. However some nations that were able to curb the spread have struck agreements with their neighbors to form a “bubble” of limited travel without a quarantine, because of the lower risk of each other’s citizens passing on the virus. Denmark and Norway have done that, for instance, as have Australia and New Zealand. Singapore, along with South Korea and Canada, are working with the latter two nations on opening up to further travel as well.China heavily involvedThe fast lane will allow for essential travel between Singapore and six cities in China: Shanghai, Guangdong, Tianjin, Chongqing, Jiangsu and Zhejiang. That could help facilitate business for companies such as LabMed, which produces personal and protective medical equipment in China and sends it to Singapore to be distributed to the rest of the world. The company has contracted out to GEODIS to handle logistics, a sector that has become more complicated with Covid-19.“During the current pandemic, we are even more intimately involved in the business of local customers who partner with us,” Rene Bach-Larsen, the managing director for the Southeast Asian subregion at GEODIS, said. “As an essential service, we continue to fast track their growth, using for instance, specially arranged weekly scheduled flights to many destinations.”Help for the economyWhile some Singaporeans question whether the fast lane is a safe public health decision, the increased business travel is expected to aid the economic recovery in China and Singapore. China’s gross domestic product contracted 6.8% in the first quarter of the year because of Covid-19, marking the first contraction in about three decades. Singapore forecast GDP would contract between 4% and 7% in 2020, the worst the economy will have seen in more than half a century.To take advantage of the travel bubble, passengers have to apply to their respective governments and, if approved, pay for and pass the coronavirus test twice – before departure and after landing. They will then be allowed to travel on an approved itinerary but will not have to quarantine for two weeks, as is common in other nations.
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New Study Suggests COVID-19 Outbreak Began in Wuhan Earlier Than Reported
A study by U.S. researchers suggests the novel coronavirus that was first detected in central China may have begun spreading well before the outbreak was first revealed to the world. According to scientists at Harvard Medical Center, Boston University of Public Health and Boston Children’s Hospital, satellite images of hospital parking lots in the city of Wuhan showed “a steep increase” in traffic starting in August of last year and peaking in December, when Beijing first alerted the World Health Organization about the new disease that has since been dubbed COVID-19. The imagery reveals that one of the hospitals surveyed, Tianyou Hospital, had 285 vehicles in its parking lots in October 2019, compared to 171 cars the year before, an increase of 67 percent. The study also said the rise in hospital traffic during that time coincided with numerous online word searches for “cough” and “diarrhea” on the Chinese search engine Baidu. FILE – The Wuhan Huanan Wholesale Seafood Market, where a number of people fell ill with a virus, sits closed in Wuhan, China, Jan. 21, 2020.The novel coronavirus is believed to have originated at a market in Wuhan in late December 2019. The researchers say that while it could not confirm if the increased hospital traffic was directly related to COVID-19, “our evidence supports other recent work showing that emergence happened before identification at the Huanan Seafood market.” A summary of the study, which is still under peer review, was posted Monday on Harvard’s “Dash” online repository for medical research.
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Anger, Activism Grow Over Police Abuse Amid French Lockdown
With France confined to fight the virus, a video circulated online in April showing a young man lying on the bloody ground next to two police officers — and quickly set off protests in struggling neighborhoods around the Paris region.
Sometime before, the man had been on a motorcycle. Then, he crashed into a suddenly opened police car door. Whether the door was opened on purpose or not is unclear, but what was clear was the anger the video sparked. A protest that night in the town of Villeneuve-la-Garenne led to others in a dozen Paris suburbs and similar neighborhoods around France in the ensuing days.
The relationship between police and marginalized residents of France’s low-income neighborhoods, many of whom are Arab or black and trace their roots to former French colonies, has long been tense. Safety measures intended to curb the spread of COVID-19 further empowered police — but also empowered community activists using apps or online sleuthing to track and challenge what they see as an abuse of police power.
George Floyd’s death in the U.S. has resonated especially loudly in places like Villeneuve, one of many banlieues, or suburbs, where poverty and minority populations are concentrated in France. Floyd-related protests against police violence and racial injustice have been held around France, and more are planned for Tuesday evening.
In a pivotal moment for modern France, rioting engulfed the country for three weeks in 2005 after two boys who were running from police, Zyed and Bouna, were electrocuted while hiding in an electric generator in the Paris suburb of Clichy-sous-Bois. A state of emergency was declared and almost 3,000 people were arrested.
Despite billions of euros in government improvement programs for the banlieues since 2005, tensions with police persist, and the deaths of other young men periodically rekindles anger. Protesters marching in solidarity with Floyd notably called for justice for Adama Traore, whose death in police custody in 2016 is still under investigation.
“The anger (in those neighborhoods) is so present and police impunity so frustrating that we don’t need much for it to blow up,” said Ilyes Ramdani, editor-in-chief of the Bondy Blog, which was founded in 2005 to tell the stories of young black and Arab French people in the banlieues.
Under France’s strictest virus lockdown measures, from March 17-May 11, the government restricted people’s movements to a kilometer (half-mile) around their homes and required that anyone leaving their homes carry a signed paper stating why. Punishments included fines starting at 135 euros (about $150), or even prison.
On the first day punishments were doled out, 10% of the fines given in the entire country were given in the region of Seine-Saint-Denis on Paris’ northern edge, where unemployment is twice the national average, almost one person out of three is an immigrant, and many others are the descendants of immigrants.
Government officials defended the fines as necessary to fight the virus in a region with especially high infection rates.
But police union leader Yves Lefebvre lamented that the lockdown measures “again made the police a repressive tool.”
“Public services have deserted these neighborhoods,” and police are the only presence left, which “necessarily leads to confrontation,” he said.
Lefebvre, general secretary for Unité SGP Police-Force Ouvrière union, said trust has been broken because “police only enter those neighborhoods to restore order.”
The Villeneuve incident is being investigated by prosecutors and by the French state police watchdog agency, which said it received 166 citizen reports of problematic police behavior and seven formal complaints of police abuse during the 54 days of France’s coronavirus lockdown.
Under pressure to act, Interior Minister Christophe Castaner pledged Monday to ban police chokeholds and said more officers will be equipped with cameras to help ensure that identity checks don’t lead to discrimination against minorities.
Frustrated activists are taking matters into their own hands.
At the start of the lockdown, Sihame Assbague, an anti-racial profiling activist and journalist, started to collect reports of police harassment, citing “a multiplication of police violence videos on social media.”
She’s cross-referencing and verifying about 40 cases, most of them from videos she’s received. “I don’t expect much from the state or public authorities, but what I know is they respect strength. That’s why it’s important to organize,” she said.
Amal Bentounsi, whose brother Amine was shot in the back and killed by the police in 2012, founded a group to support families of victims and provide legal help to bring abusive police to court. The officer who killed her brother was sentenced to a five-year suspended prison sentence — a rare legal victory for families like hers.
In March, Bentounsi and three other families launched an app called Emergency-Police Violence designed to record abuses.
“The idea is for people to develop the habit of filming, not to make buzz, but to create a tool for citizens to contradict the police’s version of events and dissuade police who will be filmed” from abusing their authority, Bentounsi said.
Users can record arrests live, and the videos are directly uploaded onto the app’s server so they can be salvaged if the phone is seized or broken.
Since March, the app has been downloaded more than 30,000 times.
Their group wants to encourage people to press charges, even if chances of conviction are slim, Bentounsi said. The government says numbers of police abuses “aren’t big enough for it to be an issue. We want to change that. Because if there are no charges, there are no statistics.”
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