Thousands of Paris protesters defied a virus-related police ban and rallied Tuesday against racial injustice and heavy-handed police tactics, as global outrage over the death of George Floyd in the United States kindled frustrations across borders and continents.Clapping, cheering and waving signs reading “Black Lives Matter” and “Police Everywhere, Justice Nowhere,” the largely young, multiracial crowd streamed to the main Paris courthouse and rallied peacefully while police monitored closely from nearby corners.
Chanting “I can’t breathe,” thousands marched peacefully through Australia’s largest city, while thousands more demonstrated in the Dutch capital of The Hague and hundreds rallied in Tel Aviv. Expressions of anger erupted in multiple languages on social networks, with thousands of Swedes joining an online protest and others speaking out under the banner of #BlackOutTuesday.World Outrage Grows at Floyd’s Death; EU ‘Shocked, Appalled’ EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell’s remarks in Brussels were the strongest so far to come out of the 27-nation bloc, saying Floyd’s death was a result of an abuse of powerDiplomatic ire percolated too, with the European Union’s top foreign policy official saying the bloc was “shocked and appalled” by Floyd’s death.
As protests escalated worldwide, solidarity with U.S. demonstrators increasingly mixed with local worries.
“This happened in the United States, but it happens in France, it happens everywhere,” said Paris protester Xavier Dintimille. While he said police violence seems worse in the U.S., he added, “all blacks live this to a degree.”
Floyd died last week after a police officer pressed his knee into his neck for several minutes even after he stopped moving and pleading for air. The death set off protests that spread across America — and now, beyond.
Fears of the coronavirus remain close to the surface and were the reason cited by the police for banning Tuesday’s protest at the main Paris courthouse. Gatherings of more than 10 people remain banned in France as part of virus confinement measures.
But demonstrators showed up anyway. Some said police violence worsened during virus confinement in working class suburbs with large minority populations, deepening a feeling of injustice.
Similar demonstrations were held in other French cities in honor of Adama Traore, who died shortly after his arrest in 2016, and in solidarity with Americans demonstrating against Floyd’s death.
The Traore case has become emblematic of the fight against police brutality in France. The circumstances of the death of the 24-year-old Frenchman of Malian origin are still under investigation after four years of conflicting medical reports about what happened.
The lawyer for two of the three police officers involved in the arrest, Rodolphe Bosselut, said the Floyd and Traore cases “have strictly nothing to do with each other.” Bosselut told The Associated Press that Traore’s death wasn’t linked with the conditions of his arrest but other factors, including a pre-existing medical condition.
Traore’s family says he died from asphyxiation because of police tactics — and that his last words were “I can’t breathe.”
“I can’t breathe” were also the final words of David Dungay, a 26-year-old Aboriginal man who died in a Sydney prison in 2015 while being restrained by five guards.
As 3,000 people marched peacefully through Sydney, many said they had been inspired by a mixture of sympathy for African Americans amid ongoing violent protests in the U.S. and to call for change in Australia’s treatment of its indigenous population, particularly involving police. The mostly Australian crowd at the authorized demonstration also included protesters from the U.S. and elsewhere.
“I’m here for my people, and for our fallen brothers and sisters around the world,” said Sydney indigenous woman Amanda Hill, 46, who attended the rally with her daughter and two nieces. “What’s happening in America shines a light on the situation here.”
A total of 432 indigenous Australians have died in police detention since a 1991 Royal Commission inquiry into Aboriginal deaths in custody, according to The Guardian newspaper. Australia has also never signed a treaty with the country’s indigenous population, who suffer higher-than-average rates of infant mortality and poor health, plus shorter life expectancy and lower levels of education and employment than white Australians.
Even as U.S. President Donald Trump fanned anger by threatening to send in troops on American protesters, Canadian Premier Justin Trudeau refrained from directly criticizing him, and said the protests should force awareness of racism everywhere.
“We all watch in horror and consternation what’s going on in the United States,” he said. “But it is a time for us as Canadians to recognize that we, too, have our challenges, that black Canadians and racialized Canadians face discrimination as a lived reality every single day. There is systemic discrimination in Canada.”
More protests in various countries are planned later in the week, including a string of demonstrations in front of U.S. embassies on Saturday.
The drama unfolding in the U.S. drew increasing diplomatic concern.
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell’s remarks in Brussels were the strongest to come out of the 27-nation bloc, saying Floyd’s death was a result of an abuse of power.
Borrell told reporters that “like the people of the United States, we are shocked and appalled by the death of George Floyd.” He underlined that Europeans “support the right to peaceful protest, and also we condemn violence and racism of any kind, and for sure, we call for a de-escalation of tensions.”
German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said peaceful protests in the U.S. following Floyd’s death are “understandable and more than legitimate.”
“I can only express my hope that the peaceful protests do not continue to lead to violence, but even more express the hope that these protests have an effect in the United States,” Maas said.
More African leaders are speaking up over the killing of Floyd.
“It cannot be right that, in the 21st century, the United States, this great bastion of democracy, continues to grapple with the problem of systemic racism,” Ghana President Nana Akufo-Addo said in a statement, adding that black people the world over are shocked and distraught.
Kenyan opposition leader and former Prime Minister Raila Odinga offered a prayer for the U.S., “that there be justice and freedom for all human beings who call America their country.”Like some in Africa who have spoken out, Odinga also noted troubles at home, saying the judging of people by character instead of skin color “is a dream we in Africa, too, owe our citizens.”
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Month: June 2020
Social Media, Music World Go Dark for Black Out Tuesday
Though Black Out Tuesday was originally organized by the music community, the social media world also went dark in support of the Black Lives Matter movement, joining voices around the world outraged by the killings of black people in the U.S.
Instagram and Twitter accounts, from top record label to everyday people, were full of black squares posted in response to the deaths of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery and Breonna Taylor.
Most of the captions were blank, though some posted #TheShowMustBePaused, black heart emojis or encouraged people to vote Tuesday since seven states and the District of Columbia are hosting the largest slate of primary elections in almost three months.
Rihanna, Alicia Keys, Radiohead, Coldplay, Kelly Rowland, Beastie Boys and were among the celebrities to join Black Out Tuesday on social media.
“I won’t be posting on social media and I ask you all to do the same,” Britney Spears tweeted. “We should use the time away from our devices to focus on what we can do to make the world a better place …. for ALL of us !!!!!”
Spotify blacked out the artwork for several of its popular playlists, including RapCaviar and Today’s Top Hits, simply writing “Black lives matter.” as its description. The streaming service also put its Black Lives Matter playlist on its front page, featuring songs like James Brown’s “Say It Loud — I’m Black and I’m Proud,” N.W.A.’s “(Expletive) the Police,” Sam Cooke’s “A Change Is Gonna Come” and Childish Gambino’s “This Is America.”
The opening pages of Apple Music and iTunes focused on supporting Black Lives Matter, and SiriusXM said it will be silencing its music channels for three minutes at 3 p.m. EDT in tribute to “all of the countless victims of racism.”
The company said it “will continue to amplify Black voices by being a space where Black artists showcase their music and talents, and by carrying the message that racism will not be tolerated.”
Some on social media questioned if posting black squares would divert attention away from posts about the Black Lives Matter movement.
“this is the 4th completely different flyer i’ve seen for it,” Grammy-nominated singer Kehlani tweeted about Black Out Tuesday. “”this is the only one without the saying go completely silent for a day in solidarity. the messages are mixed across the board and i really hope it doesn’t have a negative effect.”
When musician Dillon Francis posted that the hashtag for Black Lives Matter was blank on Instagram because users were posting black squares, rapper Lil Nas X responded with: “this is not helping us. bro who the (expletive) thought of this?? ppl need to see what’s going on.”
Several music releases and events were postponed as a result of Black Out Tuesday. Interscope Geffen A&M Records said it would not release music this week and pushed back releases from MGK, 6lack, Jessie Ware, Smokepurp and others. Chloe x Halle said its sophomore album will come out June 12 instead of Friday, while the group Glass Animals postponed the Tuesday release of its new single “Heat Waves.” Instead of being released Wednesday, singer Ashnikko will drop her song “Cry” and its video on June 17.
A benefit for the Apollo Theater will take place Thursday instead of Tuesday, and South by Southwest postponed an event planned with Rachael Ray.
“At SXSW we stand with the black community and will continue to amplify the voices and ideas that will lead us to a more equitable society,” the company said.
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Australia Investigates Treatment of Journalists at US Protest
Australia’s foreign ministery Tuesday said it would investigate an assault by U.S. police and security forces on two Australian television journalists outside the White House as U.S. President Trump had the area cleared for a photo opportunity.Foreign Minister Marise Payne said she has asked the Australian Embassy in Washington to investigate the incident in which the journalists can be seen on video being slammed with a riot shield, punched and hit with a baton while broadcasting from the protest.Video showed Australian TV reporter Amelia Brace being clubbed with a truncheon and cameraman Tim Myers being hit with a riot shield and punched in the face by police clearing Washington’s Lafayette Square of protesters Monday. The square is directly across the street from the White House.DC Episcopal Bishop: ‘I Am Outraged’ by Trump Church Visit Budde said the church was ‘just completely caught off-guard’ by the visit, with ‘no sense that this was a sacred space to be used for sacred purposes’ The incident was widely broadcast in Australia, causing consternation in a country that has been a close U.S. ally. The journalists said they were later shot with rubber bullets and tear-gassed, which Brace said left the pair “a bit sore”. Payne said wants further advice on how she would go about registering Australia’s strong concerns with the responsible local Washington authorities, indicating a formal complaint would follow.U.S. ambassador to Australia Arthur B. Culvahouse Jr. said on Twitter: “We take mistreatment of journalists seriously, as do all who take democracy seriously.” He said the U.S. stays “steadfast in our commitment to protecting journalists and guaranteeing equal justice under law for all.”Trump Threatens Wide Use of Military Force Against ProtestersDeclaring ‘acts of domestic terror’ have been committed by violent demonstrators, president vows to end ‘riots and lawlessness’ that has spread throughout countryLocal police — with support from military personnel — had forcibly cleared the square of peaceful protesters to allow U.S. President Donald Trump to conduct a photo opportunity.Trump has faced fierce criticism for his handling of days of protests over the death in police custody of an unarmed African-American man in Minneapolis.George Floyd died after a white police officer knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes.
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China Reduces Paperwork for Gold Exporters
China’s central bank and customs authority said on Tuesday they would simplify procedures for companies exporting gold, following a slump in domestic demand for the metal. The economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic led dealers to sell gold in China, the world’s largest bullion consumer, at massive discounts versus the international spot prices. Companies applying to export gold no longer need to submit physical gold inventory certificates approved by the State Council, China’s cabinet, or gold production capacity certificates, the central bank said. The People’s Bank of China and the General Administration of Customs said in a statement the changes were aimed at reducing paperwork to make the process more convenient. Analysts said they were unlikely to have a significant impact on gold flows. China has strict controls on exporting gold, and typically consumes much more gold than it produces. But prices in the country in April fell as much as $70 an ounce below international prices — the biggest discount since Reuters records going back to at least 2014 — and are now around $20 below international rates. In April, China’s exports of gold via Hong Kong exceeded its gold imports via the territory for the first time since at least 2011, and Switzerland, which usually sends tens of tonnes of gold to China every month, shipped no metal to the country at all.
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Ghana’s China-Backed Harbor Project Raises Fears for Livelihoods
Demolition of Accra’s iconic James Town fishing community began late last month, to construct a China-funded multi-million-dollar fishing harbor. Local authorities pulled down over 300 temporary and permanent structures, including businesses, a school, and places of worship in the largely poor, densely populated area. While many are excited about the prospect of development, the demolition has also raised fears for already precarious livelihoods, as Stacey Knott reports from Accra.Camera: Stacey Knott Produced by: Rod James
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US Ambassador to Germany Grenell Steps Down
U.S. Ambassador to Germany Richard Grenell, a close political ally of President Donald Trump, has resigned after little more than two years in the job, an embassy spokesman said on Tuesday.
“Ambassador Grenell resigned from his post and the State Department on June 1,” said the spokesman.
Robin Quinville, deputy chief of mission at the embassy, will take over as Charge d’Affaires until a new ambassador is confirmed but the spokesman said any questions on Grenell’s successor should be directed to the White House.
In his two years as ambassador, Grenell has not been shy to voice criticism of German policies on NATO and its involvement in the NordStream 2 gas pipeline from Russia.
Germany’s dpa news agency reported last month that Grenell would step down soon after the U.S. Senate confirmed Representative John Ratcliffe, also a political ally of Trump, as the permanent director of national intelligence (DNI).
In February, Trump had named 53-year old Grenell as acting DNI.
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Africa Rises in Rage Over George Floyd Death in US
Minneapolis. Washington. Houston. New York. Detroit. Philadelphia. Atlanta. In recent days, rage in these and other cities over police brutality against black Americans has spread across the United States. But the outrage has also spread to Africa. Officials on the continent have expressed concern over developments in the U.S. following the death of George Floyd, the black American man killed in police custody in the city of Minneapolis last week.The head of the African Union described Floyd’s death as an act of “murder,” while South Africa’s ruling party is calling for calm in the U.S.Statements from the African continent could portend a shift in global relations — and hopefully, analysts say, make a bigger point: whether you live in Minneapolis or Monrovia, George Floyd’s death affects us all.
In Addis Ababa, African Union Commission Chairman Moussa Faki Mahamat took the U.S. government to task over the death of Floyd. Going a step further, the former Chadian prime minister used a powerful word that many protesters are using to describe Floyd’s death: Murder.
Meanwhile, U.S. embassies in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and the Democratic Republic of Congo issued rare statements of concern over Floyd’s May 25 death and called for accountability after the arrest of a police officer on third-degree murder and manslaughter charges.
Why? Because, in the words of Carine Kaneza Nantulya, Human Rights Watch’s Africa advocacy director, George Floyd is all of us.
“This is the eternal struggle of any member of a minority community. … It’s going to touch anyone who has had previous experiences of abuse and oppression, be it because of one’s race or religious background, or sexual identity, you name it. And at the same time, it touches me in a way that it is bringing up issues that could be very, very easily forgotten as well. And I guess the struggle, and I think a challenge for every for every institution like the African Union, for leaders around the world, for organizations like ours, is to find the tools to forge ahead, to move to move ahead and to address some of some of the deeply seated social economic issues that are the trigger factors for this,” Kaneza Nantulya said.’A perilously low value on black lives’For decades, African leaders have publicly chafed at what they view as paternalistic treatment from Western nations. This tragic incident, says Andrews Atta-Asamoah, an Addis Ababa-based researcher for the Institute for Security Studies, could compel the African Union to take the lead.“This is a broader issue, and it fits into a broader systemic crisis which the AU can engage the U.S. on, in terms of what needs to be done. Between the AU and also the diaspora community, I think this is an opportunity for the AU now to begin to emphasize exactly what the African-American community go through on a day-to-day basis,” Atta-Asamoah told VOA.
And, Kaneza Nantulya says, this strong statement from African leadership could also spur citizens across Africa to demand that the AU stand up for them, too.
“It’s important because I think, beyond the United States, it reminds us of what Africans in all their diversity have the legitimacy and the right to ask — not only their government, but also the African Union. I was looking at some of the some of the comments and responses to the chairperson’s tweet when the statement was out. And it was very interesting how people from Cameroon, people from different countries were like, ‘OK, violence also exists in our own countries, and people die in the hands of security forces.’ So that’s another expectation. It’s a layer of expectation that’s now being put on the African Union because of that statement,” Kaneza Nantulya told VOA.
This week, as fires burned across the U.S., South Africa’s ruling African National Congress party also weighed in on the mounting crisis, saying the deaths of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery and Breonna Taylor show that “American society places a perilously low value on black lives.”
But, rights groups are quick to chime in that no society is perfect. Human Rights Watch has documented how coronavirus lockdowns across much of the continent have spurred security forces to cross lines. In Lagos and Nairobi, security officers shot and killed teenagers while attempting to enforce the restrictions.
And in April, soldiers entered the Johannesburg home of Collins Khosa, a father of three, and accused him of violating lockdown regulations. His family says they dragged him outside, slammed him against a cement wall, kicked, slapped and punched him. He died hours later, and military authorities exonerated the soldiers implicated in his death. His family is challenging that in court.
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Barr: Law Enforcement Must ‘Dominate’ Streets Amid Protests
U.S. officials vowed to “maximize federal law enforcement presence” in the nation’s capital after days of violent demonstrations led to fires across Washington and left scores of businesses with broken windows and dozens of police officers injured. In a call with governors Monday, President Donald Trump and Attorney General William Barr also encouraged more aggressive action against those who cause violence during protests across the country following the killing of George Floyd, a black man who died after a white Minneapolis policeman pressed his knee into his neck for several minutes even after Floyd stopped moving and pleading for air. The demonstrations have turned violent in several cities, with fires ignited in Lafayette Park across from the White House. The comments from Trump, Barr and other federal officials appeared aimed at avoiding similar scenes Monday night. But there were also questions about whether using more aggressive law enforcement measures against demonstrators protesting police brutality would only increase tensions. Barr told the state leaders that law enforcement officials must “have adequate force” and “go after troublemakers.” “Law enforcement response is not going to work unless we dominate the streets,” Barr said. Officers kneel with protesters during a protest against the death in Minneapolis in police custody of African-American man George Floyd, in Downtown Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. June 1, 2020.Trump said he was “taking immediate presidential action to stop the violence and restore security and safety in America.” The president urged governors to deploy the National Guard, which he credited with helping calm the situation Sunday night in Minneapolis, and demanded that similarly tough measures be taken in cities that also experienced spasms of violence, including New York, Philadelphia and Los Angeles.”Mayors and governors must establish an overwhelming law enforcement presence until the violence has been quelled,” Trump said. “If a city or state refuses to take the actions that are necessary to defend the life and property of their residents, then I will deploy the United States military and quickly solve the problem for them.” Trump directed Barr to “lead federal law enforcement efforts to assist in the restoration of order to the District of Columbia,” Justice Department spokesperson Kerri Kupec said.Minutes before Trump spoke Monday evening in the Rose Garden of the White House, police and members of the National Guard took aggressive action, using tear gas and flash bangs, to move back peaceful protesters who were outside Lafayette Park, across from the White House. Law enforcement officials had made a decision earlier Monday that they needed to extend the security perimeter around the White House after multiple fires broke out in Lafayette Park the night before, according to a law enforcement official who would not publicly discuss the security protocols and spoke on condition of anonymity. After speaking in the Rose Garden, Trump then walked slowly out of the White House gates, senior aides and security with him, across the park to the landmark St. John’s Church, where every president, including Trump, has prayed. It had been damaged Sunday night in a protest fire.Trump then stood alone in front of cameras and raised a Bible — and declared, “We have a great country,” he said. “Greatest country in the world.”Officials in Arlington, Virginia, later ordered the county’s police, who were helping with crowd control in Lafayette Square under a mutual aid request from U.S. Park Police, to leave Monday night. Arlington County Board Chair Libby Garvey tweeted that she was “appalled” that the mutual aid agreement was “abused to endanger their and others safety for a photo op” by Trump. A statement from the county said it was “re-evaluating the agreements that allowed our officers to be put in a compromising position that endangered their health and safety, and that of the people around them, for a purpose not worthy of our mutual aid obligations.”A Justice Department spokesperson declined to comment when asked whether Barr was involved in the decision to use tear gas on protesters outside the White House. A U.S. Park Police spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Between the protests and the response to the coronavirus pandemic, the National Guard has been deployed at its highest level in recent history, surpassing the number of troops sent to the Gulf Coast during Hurricane Katrina in 2005. More than 66,700 soldiers and airman have been activated — 45,000 to assist with the pandemic and more than 17,000 to help with the protests. Other law enforcement resources are also being mobilized. The Justice Department deployed the U.S. Marshals Service and agents from the Drug Enforcement Administration to supplement National Guard troops in Washington on Sunday. By midnight, Barr had ordered the FBI to deploy its Hostage Rescue Team, an elite tactical unit, to the streets of the nation’s capital, a senior Justice Department official said.Barr was traveling around Washington on Monday night to observe the protests, according to the senior Justice Department official, who would not discuss the matter publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity. The U.S. Park Police and Secret Service have had dozens of officers out in riot gear in Washington for the last few nights, in addition to the Metropolitan Police Department. U.S. Customs and Border Protection was also sending officers, agents and aircraft around the country to assist other law enforcement agencies “confronting the lawless actions of rioters,” the agency said. The officers were being deployed in several states, though the official declined to provide specific details, citing security concerns.Several major cities have enacted curfews, and District of Columbia Mayor Muriel Bowser set a 7 p.m. curfew for Monday and Tuesday. Violent demonstrators ignored the 11 p.m. curfew the night before as they set buildings and trash cans on fire and broke into stores to steal items from the shelves. Most of the protesters have been peaceful and tried to discourage violence. Trump, Barr and others have tried to blame some of the civil unrest on left-wing extremist groups, including antifa, and other “anarchists.” Short for anti-fascists, antifa is an umbrella term for far-left-leaning militant groups that resist neo-Nazis and white supremacists at demonstrations.The FBI is using its network of regional joint terrorism task forces to “identify criminal organizers,” and federal prosecutors across the country have been instructed to share information and utilize federal riot, arson or terror statutes against any “violent radical agitators” who attempt to hijack protests to cause destruction.The Justice Department has vowed to treat the “violence instigated and carried out by antifa & other similar groups” as domestic terrorism. Although there isn’t a specific federal domestic terrorism statute, prosecutors could charge other offenses and seek enhanced sentencing. Between 600 and 800 National Guard members from five states — Delaware, New Jersey, New York, Ohio and Utah — are being sent to D.C. to provide assistance, senior Defense Department officials said. Those troops are either already on the ground or will arrive by midnight.In addition, officials said that soldiers from Fort Bragg, North Carolina, and Fort Drum, New York, were heading to D.C. and would be based outside the city in case they are needed. They would be prepared to respond, but the officials said they are hopeful those troops will not be needed. If they are sent in, they are not expected to be conducting any law enforcement. The officials declined to say how many active-duty troops were en route.
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Confederate Monument in Alabama Partially Removed Overnight
The base of a Confederate monument in Alabama is all that remains Tuesday morning in Birmingham’s Linn Park. Live video recorded overnight shows crews worked into the early morning hours dismantling the top portion of the obelisk in pieces. It comes about a day after protesters tried to remove the monument themselves during a protest over police brutality, including the death of George Floyd. The stone pieces were hauled off on a flatbed truck. It’s unclear where they were taken. Crews were expected to return later Tuesday to finish removing the monument.BIRMINGHAM, AlabamaThe base of a Confederate monument in Alabama’s largest city was all that remained Tuesday morning after crews worked overnight to dismantle it.Workers began Monday night removing the top portion of the obelisk in pieces in Birmingham’s Linn Park, about a day after protesters tried to remove it themselves during a protest over police brutality, including the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis.Officers kneel with protesters during a protest against the death in Minneapolis in police custody of African-American man George Floyd, in Downtown Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. June 1, 2020.Monday’s protest was peaceful and many police officers kneeled in solidarity with demonstrators who denounced police brutality. However, tensions flared around 9:30 p.m. as police moved to clear the streets of about 200 people because of the city’s 8 p.m. curfew.A city police officer was injured after demonstrators hurled rocks at officers, police said.Asbury Park Press reporter Gustavo Martinez Contreras was streaming the protest live on Twitter when he was arrested and issued a ticket for failing to obey an order to disperse. He was released from police custody on Tuesday..The curfew had exempted credentialed members of the media.The protest came after 28 similar events took place in the state over the weekend. Incidents of vandalism in Trenton and Atlantic City led to more than two dozen arrests.
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World Outrage Grows at Floyd’s Death; EU ‘Shocked, Appalled’
World outrage at George Floyd’s death in the U.S. was growing Tuesday as the European Union’s top diplomat said the bloc was “shocked and appalled” by it and thousands marched in Australia’s largest city.
In France, protests were planned for the evening in Paris and across the country after calls from the family of a French black man who died shortly after he was arrested by police in 2016. A protest was also planned in The Hague, Netherlands.
Floyd died last week after he was pinned to the pavement by a white police officer in Minneapolis who put his knee on the handcuffed black man’s neck until he stopped breathing. His death set off protests that spread across America.
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell’s remarks in Brussels were the strongest so far to come out of the 27-nation bloc, saying Floyd’s death was a result of an abuse of power.
Borrell told reporters that “like the people of the United States, we are shocked and appalled by the death of George Floyd.” He underlined that Europeans “support the right to peaceful protest, and also we condemn violence and racism of any kind, and for sure, we call for a de-escalation of tensions.”
Protesters around the world have expressed solidarity with Americans demonstrating against Floyd’s death.
Thousands marched through downtown Sydney on Tuesday. The protesters in Australia’s largest city chanted, “I can’t breathe” — some of the final words of both Floyd and David Dungay, a 26-year-old Aboriginal man who died in a Sydney prison in 2015 while being restrained by five guards.
The demonstrators carried placards reading, “Black Lives Matter,” “Aboriginal Lives Matter,” “White Silence is Violence” and, referring to those protesting in cities across the U.S., “We See You, We Hear Your, We Stand With You.” Other placards read, “We’re here because they aren’t,” with depictions of Floyd and Dungay.
The protesters, who appeared to number around 3,000, marched from Hyde Park to the New South Wales state Parliament, with plans to continue to the U.S. Consulate.
“It’s just gut-wrenching the climate of what’s happening in America, and it’s also happening here in Australia, though it’s subtle. Racism is real for me,” said one of the protesters, Aoatua Lee.
Around 2,000 demonstrators had gathered in Australia’s west coast city of Perth on Monday night to peacefully protest Floyd’s death, and rallies are planned for other Australian cities this week.
An indigenous Australian lawmaker called on governments to use Floyd’s death as an opportunity to reduce deaths of indigenous people in custody.
Linda Burney, the opposition spokeswoman on indigenous Australians, said Tuesday that more than 430 indigenous people had died in Australian police custody since 1991.
“I think we should be using it as an opportunity,” Burney told Australian Broadcasting Corp., referring to Floyd’s death. “Whether we like it or not, it doesn’t take much for racism to come out of the underbelly of this country.”
“It seems to me that there are lots of things that state and territory governments could do, and the federal government could do to lower the number of Aboriginal people in custody,” she added.
While indigenous adults make up only 2% of the Australian population, they account for 27% of the prison population.
Opposition leader Anthony Albanese backed Burney’s call. “There are far too many indigenous Australians who are incarcerated today. As a percentage of the population, this is a tragedy and it’s one that must be addressed as an absolute national priority,” Albanese told reporters.
Meanwhile, more African leaders are speaking up over the killing of Floyd.
“It cannot be right that, in the 21st century, the United States, this great bastion of democracy, continues to grapple with the problem of systemic racism,” Ghana’s president, Nana Akufo-Addo, said in a statement, adding that black people the world over are shocked and distraught.
Kenyan opposition leader and former Prime Pinister Raila Odinga offered a prayer for the U.S., “that there be justice and freedom for all human beings who call America their country.”
Like some in Africa who have spoken out, Odinga also noted troubles at home, saying the judging of people by character instead of skin color “is a dream we in Africa, too, owe our citizens.”
And South Africa’s finance minister, Tito Mboweni, recalled leading a small protest outside the U.S. Embassy several years ago over the apparent systemic killings of blacks. Mboweni said the U.S. ambassador at the time, Patrick Gaspard, “invited me to his office and said: ‘What you see is nothing, it is much worse.'”
In Europe on Monday, thousands spilled across streets in Amsterdam to denounce police brutality, and those demonstrating in Paris urged the French government to take police violence more seriously and held up signs like “Racism is suffocating us.”
Some government leaders have seen the U.S. unrest as a chance to highlight what they see as American hypocrisy on protest movements at home versus abroad.
Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam questioned the foreign criticism over an imminent national security law being imposed in the semi-autonomous Chinese territory.
“They take their own country’s national security very seriously, but for the security of our country, especially the situation in Hong Kong, they are looking at it through tinted glasses,” Lam said Tuesday.
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Asian Markets Again in Positive Territory
Asian markets are once again proving resilient to the upheaval caused by the coronavirus pandemic, fraying diplomatic ties between the United States and China and the escalating social unrest in the U.S. Tokyo’s benchmark Nikkei index finished Tuesday’s trading session 1.1% higher. Hong Kong is 0.7% higher in late afternoon trading, while Shanghai is up 0.2%. Sydney’s S&P/ASX is 0.3% higher, the KOSPI index in Seoul gained 1%, and Taiwan’s TSEC index is up 0.4%. In oil futures trading, U.S. crude is selling at $35.69 per barrel, up 0.7%, while Brent crude, the international standard, is selling at $38.73 per barrel, up 1%. In equities futures trading, the Dow Jones and S&P 500 are down, but basically unchanged, while the Nasdaq is up 0.2%.
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Australian Bushfire Probe Scrutinizes Communication Problems
Claims that communication problems during Australia’s deadly summer of bushfires left communities dangerously exposed are coming under scrutiny Tuesday when hearings resume at a Royal Commission. With just months before the start of the next wildfire season the nation’s highest form of inquiry is looking at ways to make Australia more resilient and safer. For almost eight weeks the huge Green Valley fire raged near the border of New South Wales and Victoria. It was ignited by lightning in December. But emergency crews called in from across Australia were using different radio frequencies and were often unable to contact each other. Some firefighters say that in the heat of battle the result was a dangerous lack of information. The Royal Commission into the ‘Black Summer’ blazes is investigating calls for an overhaul of the communications network.
Greg Mullins, a former New South Wales Fire and Rescue Commissioner, says the response to the Green Valley blaze highlighted how out-dated the current system is. “We had fire-fighters from every state and territory assisting. But, for example, Melbourne Metropolitan Fire Brigade units in regional New South Wales not being able to speak to the local units on their radio channels. Country Fire Authority from Victoria, the same issue,” he said.FILE – Firefighters battle the Morton Fire as it burns a home near Bundanoon, New South Wales, Australia, Jan. 23, 2020.Emergency authorities say that liaison officers were deployed to boost cooperation between crews from different jurisdictions that included volunteers and professional firefighters. But the New South Wales Rural Fire Service concedes there is plenty of work to be done to fix the problems permanently.
The Black Summer blazes in Australia killed more than 30 people, destroyed 3,000 homes and scorched 12 million hectares of land. FILE – A member of the Australian Defense Force picks up an injured Koala after it was treated for burns at a makeshift field hospital at the Kangaroo Island Wildlife Park on Kangaroo Island, January 14, 2020.It is estimated that one billion animals died in the disaster. South-eastern Australia is one of the world’s most fire-prone regions. The fires last summer were exacerbated by a long drought, and were the worst in the nation’s modern history.
The impact of climate change on bushfires is also being examined by the commission, as well as land management. Scientists say that global warming is influencing the frequency and severity of the fires in Australia.
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Rwanda Set to Announce New COVID-19 Restrictions
Rwanda says it will announce new restrictions on containing the coronavirus Tuesday, a stark reversal of the country’s plan days ago to ease restrictions, including motor vehicle travel throughout the country. Rwanda’s latest move is linked to the east African country’s first recorded death from the coronavirus and a surge in cases over the weekend. Rwanda recorded 11 new cases Saturday as the country’s first person to die of the virus was laid to rest. Rwanda also decided to continue restrictions on motor vehicle travel between provinces and the City of Kigali in an effort to protect the public from the spread of the virus. Rwanda has confirmed 370 COVID-19 cases and one death.
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Police: 4 St. Louis Officers Hit by Gunfire During Protests
St. Louis police said four officers were hit by gunfire after protests that started peacefully Monday became violent overnight, with protesters smashing windows and stealing items from businesses and fires burning in the downtown area.The police department said on Twitter early Tuesday that the officers were taken to an area hospital with injuries that were not believed to be life-threatening. It was unclear who had fired the shots.The chaos in St. Louis followed continued protests Monday in Missouri over the death of George Floyd and police treatment of African Americans, with gatherings also held in Kansas City and Jefferson City. The nationwide protests were sparked by the May 25 death of Floyd, a handcuffed black man who pleaded for air as a white Minneapolis police officer pressed his knee against Floyd’s neck until he stopped breathing.Monday’s protests came after peaceful daytime protests Sunday led to spurts of chaos overnight into Monday, with vehicles and buildings damaged and officers firing tear gas after being pelted with rocks, fireworks and Molotov cocktails.On Monday afternoon, several hundred people rallied peacefully outside the justice center in downtown St. Louis, including Mayor Lyda Krewson and St. Louis Public Safety Director Jimmie Edwards. Protestors later walked to the Gateway Arch National Park and then onto nearby Interstate 64.But later Monday, protesters gathered in front of police headquarters, where officers fired tear gas. Some protesters smashed windows at a downtown 7-11 store and stole items from inside before the building was set on fire. Moments later a car was set on fire and other businesses broken into and looted.On Monday afternoon, Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas and Police Chief Rick Smith kneeled with protesters gathered at the Country Club Plaza entertainment district and had what police spokesman Sgt. Jake Becchina later described as a good conversation with the crowd.A man holds a sign with a target as he joins other protesters during a protest against the death in Minneapolis police custody of African-American man George Floyd, in St Louis, Missouri, May 29, 2020.Not long after, Becchina said items were thrown at police and pepper spray was used. More people began to arrive later in the evening and he said about “half a dozen”people had been detained, some who had sacks of rocks and bags of urine.Nearly 2,000 protesters gathered early Monday evening on the Capitol grounds in Jefferson City, carrying signs reading “white silence is violence” and “say their names.”Police estimated that more than 1,500 people turned out in O’Fallon, about 35 miles (56.33 kilometers) west of St. Louis. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported that Police Chief Tim Clothier locked arms and marched with protesters, saying he wanted to show support for their cause.“We do not agree with what happened. We do not want to condone the behavior of that one officer,” Clothier said.Republican Gov. Mike Parson said Monday that the Missouri National Guard and the Missouri State Highway Patrol are ready if violence persists.“We support peaceful protesters and we are committed to protecting the lawful exercise of these rights,” Parson, a former sheriff, said. “But violence and destruction will never be the answer. It does not help us achieve justice or peace. Instead it terrorizes innocent people and families, destroys our communities and creates more anger and pain.”Tensions boiled over Sunday in Kansas City and Ferguson, the city in St. Louis County that became synonymous with the Black Lives Matter movement after the August 2014 killing of Michael Brown, a black 18-year-old, by a white police officer.Just as in 2014, the Ferguson Police Department was a focus of demonstrators on Sunday for a second night. Police began dispersing the crowd shortly after 10 p.m., but some people damaged windows at Ferguson Brewing Co. just down the street. Minutes later, after someone threw a Molotov cocktail at a police car, officers responded with tear gas and ordered protesters to clear the area.St. Louis County police reported that two officers suffered minor injuries. One was hit by fireworks, the other by a rock. Six people were arrested, police spokesman Benjamin Granda said.Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt said Marcus Marvin Hunt was arrested Saturday in St. Louis and accused of distributing information on making explosives and destructive devices. Schmitt said a person in St. Louis was charged with organizing and promoting a riot. The second suspect’s name wasn’t released.
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2 Las Vegas Shootings, 1 Officer Shot Amid Floyd Protests
An officer has been shot in Las Vegas and authorities are responding to another shooting as people protest the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, authorities said.The officer was shot in the area of the Las Vegas Strip and an officer was involved in a shooting in the downtown area, the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department reported early Tuesday.Protesters have been rallying for days across the country over the death of George Floyd, who was seen on video pleading that he couldn’t breathe with a white police officer pressing his knee into his neck for several minutes before he stopped moving.Police in Las Vegas said Monday that 338 people were arrested during three nights of protests. Officers used tear gas and pepper balls to disperse crowds late Saturday downtown and Sunday on the Las Vegas Strip.Police said suspects were jailed despite a local court policy calling for most people accused of misdemeanor crimes to receive court summonses instead of time behind bars to help prevent the spread of the new coronavirus.
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Nigerian E-health Start-up Improving Access to Quick Malaria Testing During Pandemic
The World Health Organization has warned that malaria deaths in Sub-Saharan Africa could double this year to 769,000 due to disruptions caused by the coronavirus pandemic. Nigeria has the highest cases of malaria in the world but with the global focus on controlling the spread of COVID-19, many malaria patients are not getting to hospitals and intervention could fall through the cracks. Nigerian technology startup Wellahealth is trying to bridge the gap with rapid malaria testing. Timothy Obiezu reports from Abuja.Camera: Emeka Gibson
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Hong Kong Leader Accuses US of ‘Double Standard’ Over Protests
Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam said the violent protests across the United States are an example of foreign governments applying a “double standard” when it comes to China’s approach to quelling a year of anti-Beijing protests. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced last week that it no longer considers Hong Kong autonomous from China’s autocratic rule after the mainland’s rubber-stamp parliament approved a bill that would prevent and punish acts of “secession, subversion or terrorism activities” that threaten national security, and allow Chinese national security organs to set up agencies in Hong Kong. Lam told reporters Tuesday that the U.S. and other governments who have criticized China “are very concerned about their own national security, but on our national security…they are looking at it through tinted glasses.”People walk past extra barricades that have been erected near the Legislative Council in Hong Kong on May 26, 2020, ahead of planned protests.She called reporters’ attention to the reaction in the U.S. over the pro-democracy demonstrations in Hong Kong last year, and compared that to how local governments in the U.S. are handling the unrest sparked by the death of a black man in police custody in Minneapolis last week. With 1,300 American businesses operating in the financial hub, Lam warned the United States will be “hurting their own interests” if the Trump administration suspends Hong Kong’s preferential status that has made the city a top U.S. trading partner. Hong Kong’s government announced Wednesday that Lam will lead a delegation of senior Hong Kong officials to Beijing on Wednesday to present her views on the planned national security laws to Chinese government officials.
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Officials Worry Protest Crowds May Spread Coronavirus
Anger over the death in police custody of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minnesota, has exceeded fear of COVID-19 infection, as thousands have crowded into city streets across the country to protest. But public health officials are worried that these demonstrations may have given the coronavirus that causes COVID-19 the upper hand. More than 100,000 people in the United States have died of the disease so far. People in close proximity transmit the virus through droplets they release when they breathe, talk, cough and sneeze. For months, officials have canceled concerts, theater performances and large gatherings of all kinds to avoid creating conditions that spread the coronavirus. Some states and cities have been slowly reopening, as the number of new cases has seen a slow decline overall despite pockets were the number of cases is increasing. While many expressed empathy for the protesters’ anger, officials say the past several days of crowds have been just what they have been trying to avoid. “How many super-spreaders were in that crowd?” New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo asked Monday. “How many young people went home and kissed their mother hello? Or shook hands with their father, or hugged their father, or their grandfather, or their grandmother, or their brother, or their sister, and spread a virus?” “Protest, just be smart about it,” Cuomo said. “With this virus, you can do many things now, as long as you’re smart about it.”New York Governor Andrew Cuomo speaks to reporters during a news conference at the National Press Club after meeting with President Donald Trump about response to the coronavirus disease pandemic at the White House, May 27, 2020.The New York City health department’s official Twitter account posted tips for protesters to lower their risk of spreading the virus, including wearing face coverings, staying 6 feet from other groups, and not yelling. “Use signs & noise makers instead,” the post says.Many protesters came out, despite the risks. “George Floyd was killed like an animal. And we’re tired. This is the norm. This is not something that’s new,” demonstrator Diedre O’Brien told VOA from behind a mask during a protest outside the White House this weekend. Studies show that African Americans are roughly three times as likely to die in a police encounter as white people. As an African American woman with asthma, O’Brien added, “I am definitely in the reach of COVID, which has been killing black people at a disproportionate rate, as well.” African Americans make up roughly a quarter of COVID-19 deaths but only 13% of the U.S. population, according to The COVID Tracking Project. While “there’s no doubt in my mind” that large demonstrations “can become breeding grounds for this virus,” Harvard University epidemiologist Michael Mina said, “the one benefit is that they tend to be outside,” where virus transmission seems to be lower. Many demonstrators are keeping some distance apart, which is helpful, and wearing masks, which offer some protection. “Will they be sufficient to stop any transmission? Probably not,” Mina said. Standing next to a highly infectious person for a long period of time will still put someone at risk. On the plus side, testing capacity is better than it was at the beginning of the outbreak, Mina said. “I think (virus) spread that occurs within groups of protesters probably will not overwhelm the laboratory system at this point,” at least in larger cities, he said. When someone tests positive for coronavirus infection, health officials try to track down everyone they have been in contact with recently. That is going to be extremely difficult if they attended a protest with thousands of people, he added. If infections do spike, Mina noted, it may be hard to pin it on the protests. Many businesses are reopening at the same time, and people are moving around more than they have in months. “It’s another one of these things that we have to balance as a society,” he said — disease prevention against economic damage. Or “in this case, balancing freedom of speech and freedom to protest against the epidemic” and public health.
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Joe Biden Seeks to Clinch Democratic Party Nomination in Nearly a Dozen Primaries Tuesday
June 2 was supposed to be the finish line for what seemed like an endless 2020 U.S. presidential primary campaign. In most election years, a party’s nominee for president of the United States is locked up by then. For the last 33 months, 33 people campaigned for the Democratic nomination for president. The June 2 primary states could possibly crown a nominee. But then the coronavirus pandemic hit and dramatically scrambled the campaign calendar. In mid-March, states started to postpone their primary elections to prevent crowds at voting places and to buy time to expand vote-by-mail opportunities. Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico, South Dakota and the District of Columbia were already scheduled to hold primary elections next Tuesday. However, in an effort to contain the spread of the coronavirus, six other states postponed their primaries until June 2 — making it the second biggest day for selecting delegates behind “Super Tuesday” on March 3 when roughly a third of all the delegates to the Democratic national convention were chosen. The six states are Connecticut, Delaware, Indiana, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Rhode Island.WATCH: Tuesday primary electionsSorry, but your browser cannot support embedded video of this type, you can
Voters drop off ballots in the Washington State primary, March 10, 2020 in Seattle.Currently, five states hold elections by mail only. Most of the other states allow voters to request an absentee ballot without needing an excuse, such as military duty, disability or being away from home on Election Day. A few states still require a valid excuse and are not making an exception for the coronavirus. Steven Mulroy, a University of Memphis law professor who represents several voters, is suing the governor of Tennessee to loosen absentee ballot requirements. “It is an unreasonable burden on our fundamental right to vote to require that we vote in person when we know that congregating with others in person creates a significant risk of infection and then transmission of the disease to other people, many of whom will have underlying conditions that make them particularly vulnerable,” Mulroy said. Idaho was among 13 states that moved their primaries to June 2 or beyond. The state decided to conduct the primary by mail only. More than 400,000 people — 47% of Idaho’s registered voters —- asked for absentee ballots, an “unprecedented response,” according to the secretary of state’s office. The deadline for Idaho voters to turn in their ballots is June 2.
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Eight US States Holding Party Elections on Tuesday
Eight U.S. states and Washington, D.C., are holding Democratic and Republican Party primaries on Tuesday.Four of the primaries had been scheduled weeks ago but were delayed because of fears of the coronavirus pandemic.The voting involves picking nominees for seats in the Senate and House of Representatives in the November 3 national election.But the day’s voting could also officially hand former Vice President Joe Biden the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination to face President Donald Trump in November.Biden, who served two terms as second in command to former President Barack Obama, is already the presumptive nominee, with more than 20 other candidates having dropped out of the Democratic nomination race. Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, the last of Biden’s vanquished foes, remains on ballots and could pick up more delegates to the party’s national convention in August. Depending on how many delegates Sanders wins, it could be enough to prevent Biden from numerically clinching the presidential nomination ahead of other state primaries in June and into July.FILE – Former U.S. vice president Joe Biden, left, and Senator Bernie Sanders greet each other with an elbow bump before the start of the 11th Democratic Party 2020 presidential debate in a CNN Washington Bureau studio in Washington, March 15, 2020.Biden needs 425 more delegates to secure the 1,991 majority of convention delegates needed to win the nomination, with 479 at stake in the Tuesday voting.Voters are headed to polling places or voting by mail in Indiana, Maryland, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island, all of which postponed their original voting dates because of the coronavirus threat. Other regularly scheduled votes are set in the states of Iowa, Montana, New Mexico and South Dakota, along with the vote in the city of Washington.The elections are occurring as the U.S. is engulfed in days of protests over the death last week of a black man while in police custody in Minneapolis, Minnesota, along with the limited reopening of businesses throughout the country that were closed because of the coronavirus threat.As a result, voter turnout could be lower than usual, although mail-in balloting has boosted voter participation in some states during the pandemic.Key racesIn the Eastern state of Maryland, Democratic Congressman Kweisi Mfume took over the late Congressman Elijah Cummings’ seat several weeks ago in a special election. But he faces several opponents in a party primary for the nomination to a full two-year term, including Cummings’ widow, Maya Rockeymoore Cummings.In the Western state of Montana, Sen. Steve Daines, the Republican incumbent, is heavily favored in a party primary. A likely victory for Daines would set up a key November Senate contest against Gov. Steve Bullock, who unsuccessfully sought the Democratic presidential nomination and is also favored in his Senate primary contest.Republicans now narrowly control the Senate, but a prospective Daines-Bullock contest in the November election would be one of the key races determining Senate control starting next January.A Senate Republican primary is set in the Western state of New Mexico, with several contested congressional primaries scheduled in the Eastern state of Pennsylvania and four contested House primaries in the Midwestern state of Iowa.
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What Is US Military’s Role in Times of Civil Unrest?
More than 17,000 members of the U.S. National Guard are supporting state and local law enforcement, as they respond to civil unrest in 23 U.S. States. Those members, along with the approximately 45,000 National Guard members supporting the COVID-19 response and the hundreds of others helping with the U.S. southern border wall mission, wildfire and flood response, and cyber support, combine for a historic total of at least 66,700 activated for domestic operations, as of Monday. What is the National Guard? The National Guard consists of civilians who serve the United States as soldiers or airmen on a part-time basis. Unlike Marines, sailors or regular soldiers and airmen, the National Guard is tasked with a dual mission to support state and federal operations. State governors can call them to service during local or state emergencies such as storms, earthquakes or civil unrest. “We are here to protect life and property, and preserve peace, order and public safety,” General Joseph Lengyel, chief of the National Guard Bureau, said Monday. Minnesota, where African American George Floyd died in police custody last week, is among the states that have deployed the National Guard to help with civil unrest. The state’s top soldier, Army Major General Jon Jensen, said on Sunday that members have responded to fires, provided security for hospitals and ambulances, created traffic control points and secured critical infrastructure, such as the federal reserve of Minneapolis. He added that his soldiers were armed after receiving an FBI warning about “credible, lethal threat” against his forces. The U.S. president can also activate the National Guard for federal missions, such as fighting the war against terrorism in the Middle East. The current number of National Guard activated for domestic operations far surpasses the number of members activated in 2005 after Hurricane Katrina, when more than 51,000 were activated to assist with recovery in several southern U.S. states. Members of the Georgia National Guard stand in front of shattered glass at the CNN Center in the aftermath of a demonstration against police violence, May 30, 2020, in Atlanta.But as the domestic deployment of the National Guard has swelled in recent days, the commander of the Georgia National Guard cautioned Sunday that U.S. citizens should not continuously accept the military, rather than law enforcement, to provide security within the United States. “While we’re glad to do it and honored to do it, this is a sign of the times that we need to do better as a country. … We stand ready to do this mission anytime we’re called on to do it, but I pray I never have to do it again,” Army Major General Thomas Carden, the adjutant general of the Georgia National Guard, told reporters. What other military assets are involved in keeping the peace? Currently, no active duty service members have been requested to help with the recent civil unrest. An official confirmed to VOA on Monday that hundreds of military police from three Army bases have been ordered to prepare to deploy to Minnesota, should the governor ask for active duty assistance. Chief Pentagon spokesman Jonathan Hoffman said Saturday the military had raised the alert of several units as “a prudent planning measure,” although no request for active duty assistance has been made from Minnesota Governor Tim Walz. Under the Insurrection Act of 1807, the president can deploy the military “to suppress, in any State, any insurrection, domestic violence, unlawful combination, or conspiracy.” If deployed, it would be the first time that active duty military service members kept the peace amid civil unrest within U.S. borders since the Los Angeles riots of 1992. The California city erupted on April 29, 1992, after a jury found four L.A. police officers not guilty in the beating of an African American man that was filmed by a bystander and broadcast around the globe. Active duty service members were also deployed within the U.S. to keep the peace and maintain order in the 1950s during desegregation, during the 1967 Detroit riots, and following the death of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. In 1968.
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WHO Confirms New Ebola Outbreak in Northwest DRC
The World Health Organization on Monday confirmed a second outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus in the Democratic Republic of Congo, just as an initial outbreak appeared to be ending.At a briefing Monday in Geneva, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said this new outbreak is near the northwestern city of Mbandaka in the DRC’s Equateur province.Provincial Governor Bobo Boloko Bolumbu also confirmed four deaths on local radio. He said samples were sent to the INRC, the national medical research headquarters in Kinshasa, for secondary confirmation. He urged the population to remain calm, maintain good personal hygiene and not greet people “with your hands.”In 2018, Equateur province had an Ebola outbreak that killed 33 people before it was brought under control.Elsewhere, the eastern DRC has been battling an outbreak of the deadly virus since 2018. That outbreak left more than 2,240 people dead. The DRC is also grappling with a measles breakout, the world’s largest, as well as the novel coronavirus, which causes the COVID-19 disease. Close to 3,200 coronavirus cases have been reported in the DRC, according to the Johns Hopkins University, which is tracking cases. Seventy-two deaths have been reported.
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US Race Solidarity Protests Erupt in Cities Worldwide
Protests have erupted in cities around the world in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter demonstrations in the United States. The protests follow the death in Minnesota of George Floyd, a 46-year old black man, last week in police custody. In central London, demonstrations turned violent Sunday as police tried to clear a road junction outside Parliament. Police made 23 arrests. Protesters accused the police of triggering the violence, an accusation that authorities denied. “We came out here peacefully to protest the injustice in the U.K.,” one demonstrator told reporters. “It’s now a global issue with the murder of George Floyd, everything that’s going on in the world.’Hundreds of people also gathered in central London’s Trafalgar Square chanting, “George Floyd, Say His Name.” Demonstrators also chanted, “I Can’t Breathe” as they marched on the U.S. Embassy — the words spoken by Floyd as Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin kneeled on his neck for more than eight minutes as Floyd lay handcuffed and prone on the ground after he was arrested on suspicion of using a counterfeit bank note. He was pronounced dead later that day. Chauvin was arrested Friday and charged with third-degree murder and manslaughter.Demonstrators stop a bus as they block the street in Sloane Square in London on May 31, 2020 after marching on the US embassy to protest the death of George Floyd, an unarmed black man who died after a police officer knelt on his neck for nearly…Smaller protests broke out in the south London suburbs, home to many ethnic minority communities. “Can you imagine, we are in a whole world pandemic, and people are still brutalizing innocent people,” said a protest organizer named Aba. “When they stop, when police stop brutalizing innocent black people, then we’ll stop.” The U.S. protests resonate with minority communities in Britain, said lawyer and activist Shola Mos-Shogbamimu. “Police brutality exists in the United Kingdom. Racial profiling exists in the United Kingdom, and it’s existed for the longest time,” Mos-Shogbamimu told VOA in an interview Monday. “And it means for a lot of black people, particularly young black men, that they are targeted simply because of the color of their skin. What you are seeing right now is we’re getting more mobile phone (video) evidence. And social media platforms have become the wireless platform to communicate this information worldwide, in real time, instantly.” British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said Sunday that the government wants to see a de-escalation of tensions in the United States and for people in the U.S. to “come together.”Some critics, including many British lawmakers, argue the demonstrators were putting lives at risk by not adhering to social distancing guidelines amid the coronavirus pandemic. “Racism did not stop when (the) coronavirus hit the planet,” Mos-Shogbamimu said.People protest in Berlin, Germany, May 31, 2020 after the violent death of the African-American George Floyd by a white policeman in the USA against racism and police violence, among other things with a sign “Who do call when police murders”.Hundreds of protesters also gathered in Berlin over the weekend. Remnants of Germany’s Berlin Wall were daubed with graffiti mourning the death of Floyd and demanding justice. Several thousand people marched in New Zealand’s largest city, Auckland, and in the capital, Wellington, and other areas Monday to show solidarity with U.S. demonstrators. Some 4,000 New Zealand protesters demonstrate against the killing of Minneapolis man George Floyd in a Black Lives Matter protest in Auckland, June 1, 2020.
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US Issues ‘Demonstration Alerts’ as People Worldwide Voice Support for Protests
The State Department is issuing “demonstration alerts” in Amsterdam, Sydney, Bermuda and elsewhere as demonstrations in support of growing protests over the death of George Floyd continue with plans to assemble near U.S. diplomatic posts.U.S. government personnel and U.S. citizens are advised to avoid areas of demonstrations and exercise caution, as “demonstrations intended to be peaceful can quickly turn confrontational and escalate into violence,” said the Some 4,000 New Zealand protesters demonstrate against the killing of Minneapolis man George Floyd in a Black Lives Matter protest in Auckland, June 1, 2020.Protesters in Auckland marched to the U.S. Consulate and chanted slogans familiar at U.S. protests, including “black lives matter” and “no justice no peace.”Monday’s demonstrations followed those Sunday in Britain, Brazil, Canada and other countries.Thousands of protesters gathered in central London to voice their support for those in the United States who have turned out to condemn police conduct since Floyd’s death last week in Minneapolis, Minnesota.London protesters held signs saying, “racism has no place”, “justice for George Floyd” and “I can’t breathe” — a reference to Floyd’s words during his arrest.Protesters in Denmark marched to the U.S. Embassy in Copenhagen on Sunday, carrying placards with such messages as “stop killing black people.” In Germany, protesters carried signs saying, “hold cops accountable.”Some information in this report came from the State Department.
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