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Miami police shock the world with class act

Miami police6

DNT- Miami: As American cities go up in flames with Americans of all race joined together to protest the murder of George Floyd, police departments have been confronted with how best to deal with protesters. Some departments have elected to meet force with force and the result have been less than desirable.

But the police department did the unexpected.

As our correspondent Julio Manning reported, police officers met the charging protesters with the symbolic kneel that was first introduced by NFL Quarterback Colin Kaepernick. With all police officers kneeling, the diffused crowd was seen embracing police officers in what became an emotional scene that could become a turning point in this national crisis.

One officer tearfully remarked “the notion that this is an us-versus-them engagement needs to be done away with because this country belongs to all of us. At some point we put down our uniform and become civilians too.” The crowd began to cry and joined the police in a series of prayers of forgiveness.

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Obama issues statement on the death of George Floyd

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Former US President Barack Obama has issued a statement on the death of George Floyd, the black man who died after being pinned down by a white police officer in Minneapolis on Monday.

Obama, 58, released a statement via his Twitter page, saying it “cannot be normal” in 2020 and urged the Minnesota authorities to ‘ensure that the circumstances surrounding George Floyd’s death are investigated thoroughly’.

Obama, U.S. first black president, added: “This shouldn’t be ‘normal’ in 2020 America. It can’t be normal. If we want our children to grow up in a nation that lives to its highest ideals, we can and must do better.

“It was fall mainly on the officials of Minnesota to ensure that the circumstances surrounding George Floyd’s death is investigated thoroughly and that justice is ultimately done.

“But it falls on all of us, regardless of our race or station – including the majority of men and women in law enforcement who take pride in doing their tough job the right way, every day – to work together to create a “new normal” in which the legacy of bigotry and unequal treatment no longer infects our institutions or our hearts.”

“It’s natural to wish for life “to just get back to normal” as a pandemic and economic crisis upend everything around us,” he said.

“But we have to remember that for millions of Americans, being treated differently on account of race is tragically, painfully and maddeningly “normal” – whether it’s while dealing with the healthcare system, or interacting with the criminal justice system, or jogging down the street, or just watching birds in a park.”

Obama’s statement was released shortly before it was announced that Derek Chauvin, the officer who knelt on Floyd, has been arrested and charged with third-degree murder and manslaughter.

 

 

Source: Peacefmonline

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Nigerian Air Force researchers unveil new ventilator

ng vent

Nigeria’s Air Force Institute of Technology, based in Kaduna, has unveiled locally made ventilators that it hopes will be a game changer in the country’s fight against Covid-19.

“The ventilators will go a long way to help not only coronavirus patients but also others with respiratory illnesses,” the leader of the research team, Captain Osichinaka Ubadike, told the BBC.

He said materials for the ventilators were all sourced locally in the northern state of Kaduna.

A ventilator takes over the body’s breathing process when disease has caused the lungs to fail, which can happen with Covid-19.

This gives the patient time to fight off the infection and recover.

Nigeria currently has nearly 9,000 cases of coronavirus and some say the figures could be much higher as testing levels are still very low across the country.

 

 

Source: BBC

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Biden calls for “calm” as Trump calls for “shooting” in respective responses to rioting

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The two men who will contest each other for the presidency of the United States issued two diverging and patently unique responses to the riots that have followed the viral video killing of an unarmed black man on the streets of Minneapolis on Wednesday.

BIDEN:

At a fundraiser, Democratic challenger Joe Biden appealed for calm while also calling for justice for the Floyd family and acknowledging the legitimate grievances of the protesters about systemic racism and police brutality.

“I urge the protesters to exercise their rights peacefully and safely. But people all across this country are enraged and rightly so. Every day African Americans go about their lives with constant anxiety and trauma of wondering, “Will I be next?” Sounds like an exaggeration but it’s not. These tragedies, these injustices, cut at the very heart of our most sacred of beliefs: that all Americans, equal in rights and in dignity, are part of an ingrained systemic cycle of racism and oppression…throughout every part of our society,” Biden said

TRUMP:

In a tweet on Friday Trump said “I can’t stand back & watch this happen to a great American City, Minneapolis. A total lack of leadership. Either the very weak Radical Left Mayor, Jacob Frey, get his act together and bring the City under control, or I will send in the National Guard & get the job done right….., which he has the right to do as president.

But then he reported that he had spoken to the Governor of Minnesota. “Just spoke to Governor Tim Walz, and told him that the Military is with him all the way,” Trump said, in a reference to the governor of Minnesota. “Any difficulty and we will assume control but, when the looting starts, the shooting starts. Thank you!”

Twitter took an unprecedented step Friday in limiting the public’s ability to view the president’s tweet threatening shooting, saying it “violated the Twitter Rules about glorifying violence.” The tweet is hidden unless a user clicks to display it, and users cannot like or reply to it.

In 1967, Miami police Chief Walter Headley used the phrase “when the looting starts, the shooting starts” during hearings about crime in the Florida city, invoking angry reactions from civil rights leaders, according to a news report at the time.

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Zambia pays French firm $5 million for advise on debt management

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The Republic of Zambia, facing an external debt of over US$11 billion, has awarded a contract of about US$5 million to a French financial consulting company to provide them ‘advisory services’ on how to manage their finances.

The decision to seek consulting help was made during a cabinet meeting in December 2019 in their quest to strengthen their ” liability management of dept portfolio.” Consequently a bidding process was initiated and Lazard Feres of France emerged as winners. The Finance Ministry announced in a dateless press statement that the other five competitors have been informed on May 26 of the decision to award the contract to the French company.

The statement did not state if any of the five competing companies was Zambian-owned. But experts are scratching their heads as to why a country that has been in the new as having been taken over by foreign interests to the extent that some citizens are calling their country “Chambia” (Chinese-owned Zambia) would compound its perceived injured sovereignty by awarding such a contract to yet another foreign company.

Zambia’s debt to GDP is among the highest in Sub-Saharan Africa at 91.65% in 2019 and projected to be 95.46% in 2020. The east African country has been rumored to have lost control of some state assets to Chinese control with allegations that China has too much influence in the country.

See the full press release below

 

 

 

 

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Nigeria hospitals rejecting patients over virus fears

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More Nigerians are dying because they are not receiving hospital treatment for other diseases than are killed by the coronavirus itself, the head of the country’s Covid-19 task force says.

Boss Mustapha told a media briefing that it was sad and unacceptable that both private and government hospitals were rejecting patients because of fears of contracting Covid-19.

“Statistics have shown that there is a drastic drop in the percentage of attention being paid to other ailments not related to Covid-19,” he said.

“Truth be told, we are having more deaths from non-attendance to other diseases than even Covid-19,” he said.

Mr Mustapha did not give the number of those who have died because of non-attendance at medical facilities.

But some hospitals have completely shut down, saying they lack personal protective equipment (PPE) for staff.

The main doctors’ association has told its members not to treat patients showing symptoms of Covid-19 without adequate PPE.

There have been reports of sick people who have been turned back at the gates of hospitals over fears that they had coronavirus.

Nigeria has nearly 9,000 confirmed cases of the virus although experts say very little testing has been done so the true figure is likely to be much higher?

 

 

Source: BBC

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Twitter hides Trump tweet for ‘glorifying violence’

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Twitter has hidden one of President Donald Trump’s tweets from his profile, saying it violates rules about glorifying violence.

But instead of being deleted, it has been replaced with a warning and can be viewed by clicking on it.

The warning says “Twitter has determined that it may be in the public’s interest for the Tweet to remain accessible.”

It is the latest in an escalating row between Twitter and the White House.

Mr Trump was tweeting about the US city of Minneapolis, which has seen consecutive nights of protests following the death of a black man in police custody.

The president said he would “send in the National Guard”, and followed that up with a warning that “when the looting starts, the shooting starts.”

That second tweet was hidden by Twitter for “glorifying violence”.

Twitter’s policy of adding a warning to, rather than deleting, tweets that break its rules when it comes to major public figures was announced in mid-2019. But the social network has never used it on Mr Trump – nor deleted any of his tweets before.

“This is the bravest and riskiest thing I’ve ever seen Twitter – or any social media giant – do,” said Carl Miller, from the Centre for the Analysis of Social Media at UK-based think-tank Demos.

“This pours rocket fuel over the online-harm-versus-free-speech debate. Online content policy doesn’t get more incendiary than this.”

The same post remains unaltered on Facebook, without any warning attached.

 

 

Source: BBC

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Nigeria’s coronavirus case count hits 8,915

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Confirmed cases of coronavirus in Nigeria now total 8,915.

The Nigeria Center for Disease Control made this known late on Thursday night, May 28.

According to the Center, Nigeria recorded some 182 new cases to push its tally to 8,195.

It says deaths related to the virus have risen to 259, with 2,592 persons discharged so far.

Breakdown of new cases

Lagos-111

FCT-16

Akwa Ibom-10

Oyo-8

Kaduna-6

Delta-6

Rivers-5

Ogun-4

Ebonyi-4

Kano-3

Plateau-2

Gombe-2

Kebbi-1

Kwara-2

Bauchi-1

Borno-1

 

 

Source: en.as.com

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Coronavirus: Champagne sales sink in a world with little to celebrate

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Global champagne sales are forecast to slump by a third, or 100 million bottles, this year as the coronavirus crisis shuts bars and restaurants worldwide and hammers economies.

The collapse is akin to a wartime depression, the champagne producers’ group CIVC told Reuters on Thursday. Lost sales could total over 1.7 billion euros ($1.9 billion) in 2020, and the downturn could last for many years, it said.

“When someone looses a job or someone dies in his family, they don’t want to celebrate, so we’ll certainly see that risk hitting us for several years,” said co-chairman Maxime Toubart.

The sales estimates are based on a 75% fall in April and May, and Toubart’s CIVC co-chairman Jean-Marie Barillere predicted they would remain below-average until the end of the year, including the festive holidays.

“We hope it will improve when hotel, cafes and restaurants reopen and people return to a more normal and more optimistic life, but it is hard to say how fast that happens,” he said.

“We are preparing to difficult times ahead.”

Last year champagne producers sold nearly 300 million bottles for a record 5 billion euros.

A rebound in sales to key export markets will not be instant, including the United States where a sharp rise in unemployment may change consumption patterns, Toubart said.

The price of some champagne could fall later this year if producers seek to sell their surplus in bargain sales.

In a bid to cut stocks, CIVC decided on Thursday that some of this year’s grape harvest will not be allowed to be bottled until 2022.

Spain’s cava producers also expect to be severely hit by the crisis but Italian prosecco makers have seen sales edge higher.

 

 

Source: Reuters

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George Floyd’s brother calls for officers to get death penalty

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“People are torn and hurt because they’re tired of seeing Black men die,” Philonise Floyd told CNN about the resulting protests in Minneapolis.

Philonise Floyd brother of George Floyd (who was recently choked to death by a police officer), is calling on the four officers involved in the death of his brother to get the death penalty.

In an interview with CNN on Thursday, Philonise Floyd spoke about his brother, an unarmed Black man who died Monday after a white Minneapolis police officer kneeled on his neck, and the resulting protests that have erupted this week in the city.

The demonstrations turned violent in some areas, leading to looting and one person being shot and killed at a pawn shop. Philonise Floyd compared protesters to children who act out because they aren’t being heard and want attention.

“I want everybody to be peaceful right now, but people are torn and hurt because they’re tired of seeing Black men die. Constantly, over and over again,” he said.

He went on to call for the arrest of the police officers responsible for his brother’s death, who were fired on Tuesday.

“These officers, they need to be arrested right now. They need to be arrested and held accountable about everything because these people want justice right now,” Philonise Floyd told Camerota, before explaining that justice to him meant “these guys need to be arrested, convicted of murder, and given the death penalty.”

“They need to. They took my brother’s life. He will never get that back. I will never see him again. My family will never see him again. His kids will never see him again,” he said.

Through tears, Philonise Floyd said that no one showed “compassion” in the resulting videos of the moments before, during, and after his brother’s death.

“It hurts a lot. I grew up with him. That was my oldest brother. I love him. I’m never going to get my brother back,” he said through sobs. “We need justice. We need justice. Those four officers need to be arrested. They executed my brother in broad daylight. People had to film that. People had to see that. People pleaded for his life … Nobody should have to witness that.”

Philonise Floyd addressed the protests again, stressing that he doesn’t want people to “lash out like that, but I can’t stop people right now because they have pain.”

“They have the same pain that I feel. I want everything to be peaceful, but i can’t make everybody be peaceful,” he said.

On Wednesday, George Floyd’s sister Bridgett Floyd spoke to “Today” and also called for the officers involved to be charged.

“I would like for those officers to be charged with murder because that’s exactly what they did. They murdered my brother; he was crying for help,” she said, wearing a shirt reading, “I can’t breathe,” which is what her brother told the officers arresting him before he died.

Bridgett Floyd also stressed the importance of these officers being barred from working in another state.

“I don’t need them to be suspended and able to work in another state or another county. Their licenses should be taken away; their jobs should be taken away, and they should be put in jail for murder,” she said.

Also on Wednesday, Minneapolis mayor Jacob Frey called on the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office to criminally charge the police officer who kneeled on Floyd’s neck and “not turn a blind eye.”

“I’ve wrestled with one fundamental question: Why is the man who killed George Floyd not in jail?” said Frey in a press conference. “If you had done it, or I had, you’d be behind bars right now. I’m calling on the Hennepin County attorney to charge the arresting officer in this case.”

Frey also stressed the need for justice for not only the Floyd family: “George Floyd deserves justice, his family deserves justice, the Black community deserves justice.”

 

 

Source: huffpost.com

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