Americas

Thousand people a year killed by police in the US
Americas

Thousand people a year killed by police in the US

Since 2015, police have killed nearly a thousand people a year in the US with firearms, with a total of 5400 victims to date. According to the Washington Post, 463 people died at the hands of the agents this year.There was also tension at the American newspaper office following the backdrop of racial protests for the killing of George Floyd by the police. The editors of the Washington Post split after Wesley Lowery, Pulitzer Prize 2016 and a newsroom star for his investigations into police brutality at the center of the debate these days, left the newspaper after being threatened with dismissal by director Marty Baron.

Baron is perhaps the editor of America’s most illustrious newspapers, after having won the Pulitzer at the Boston Globe for the scoop on the paedophilia of the clergy, on the investigations, the Oscar-winning film “Spotlight” was shot, and other awards of excellence Washington Post journalism. The director previously asked Lowery to follow the editorial line of the newspaper, which forbids journalists from expressing too personal opinions on Twitter and television.

In the meantime, Joe Biden has made it known that he does not agree with the De-fund the police campaign. The initiative has been promoted during the protests against George Floyd’s death, to remove or reduce the funds to the police department and use them to solve economic and local communities’ problems. As his proposal on criminal justice made clear months ago, the former vice president doesn’t believe the police should be deprived of funds, said the spokesman Andrew Bates.

Led by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate leader Chuck Schumer, the dems today announced legislation to reform the police and justice.Among the main points, the demilitarization of the police by limiting the transfer of military weapons to local and state departments, the obligation of video cameras on the dashboard of cars and on the body of agents to combat police brutality, ban tightening of the neck, warrantless searches in drug cases, and put an end to racial profiling.”This moment of national anguish is turning into a national action movement as Americans across the country peacefully protest to demand an end to injustice,” said Pelosi.

Dem MPs, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate leader Chuck Schumer, observed 8.46 minutes of silence in the Emancipation hall of Capitol Hill, the same time that an agent held his knee on the George Floyd’s neck causing his death. An act of respect for Floyd but also for the other victims of police brutality. Deputies and senators remained on one knee, another gesture of protest against racial iniquities.

Lawmakers from US, EU form alliance to counter China
Americas, Europe

Lawmakers from US, EU form alliance to counter China

Following recent Chinese overtures in Hong Kong, in a unique effort, Members of Parliament (MP) from the US and Europe have formed an alliance to look into the issue.

18 MPs from the US and Europe have come together to form the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC). The cross-continent initiative will also look into China’s role in the COVID outbreak.

US Senators Marco Rubio and Robert Menendez are part of the alliance. Other representatives are from the European Parliament, the UK, Australia, Canada, Germany, Japan, Norway, and Sweden.

The group will work towards a “strategic approach” on issues about China.

Rubio, without mincing words, said, “China, under the Chinese Communist Party, presents a global challenge.” The IPAC will coordinate the response to that “challenge.”

The alliance will work towards safeguarding the international rules-based order, uphold human rights, and promote fair trade. The 18 member body will also work for strengthening security and promoting national integrity.

The US has objected to discriminatory trade practices of China in the past. Recently tension between the two has flared up over how China handled the novel Coronavirus crisis. The death toll in the US, from the viral infection, has crossed over a hundred thousand.

The US government has also raised concern over China tightening grip over the semi-autonomous region of Hong Kong.

China in late May announced that it would impose National Security law in the former British colony. The US, UK, Australia reacted sharply over this move. The US announced that it would take steps that might alter Hong Kong’s special trade and economic relationship with the US.

Recently the US Congress passed a bill allowing the US President to take steps against Chinese human rights violations against the Uyghurs.

Senator Rubio and Menendez are known for their hardline stand against China. The two had introduced the bill to impose sanctions against China in then Congress in 2019, against human rights violations in Xinjiang province.

China has increased its patrol in the South China Sea. It is also intruding on the Indian side of the Line of Actual Control (LAC).

Coronavirus: 62,200 deaths in Latin America, 20,000 new cases per day in the United States
Americas

Coronavirus: 62,200 deaths in Latin America, 20,000 new cases per day in the United States

The coronavirus pandemic continues to besiege Latin America, and in the last 24 hours, the infection curve is soaring with 1,238,101 cases (+84,163), while the deaths have reached 62,195 (+2,851). This is what emerges from the data of 34 Latin American nations.

Brazil continues to attract the attention of experts both for the number of infected people, 645,771 (+30,830), and for the number of deaths which are 35,047 (+1,005). Peru came in second with 187,400 total cases (+5,162), and Chile third with 122,499 infections (+1,448). Among the nations with more than 5,000 infections, there are Mexico (110,026), Ecuador (41,575), Colombia (36,635), the Dominican Republic (18,708), Argentina (21,037), Panama (15,044), the Bolivia (12,245), Guatemala (6,154) and Honduras (5,880).

According to Worldometer, there are now 2 million coronavirus cases in the US and 111,000 victims. But the most alarming figure – underlines the New York Times based on its database – is that we still travel to an average of over 20 thousand new cases per day: 21,614 on Thursday, especially in the south of the country and in part of the west coast characterized by new outbreaks. Great concern is also linked to the possible surge of the infections due to the protests taking place across the United States. The surge in cases in certain parts of the country, in fact, may be related to the number of states beginning to loosen lockdown restrictions and the number of people protesting police brutality and anti-blackness.

The number is lower than the April peak of new coronavirus cases, but the number of new cases shows passing the peak doesn’t mean the pandemic is over. According to New York Times, more states have seen a rise in new cases than those that have seen a decline. According to its database, 18 have seen a rise over the past two weeks, 15 have seen a decline, and 17 have stayed roughly the same. The coronavirus COVID-19 is affecting 213 countries and territories around the world and 2 international conveyances.

Libya has registered another 30 new coronavirus infections in the last 24-hours, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in the country to 239. The Libyan National Center for Disease Control announced on its Facebook page, adding that while the dead remain 5 and the cured 52, the currently positive people rise to 182. India overtook Italy as the sixth country most affected by the coronavirus pandemic after another peak of confirmed infections in a single day. The Indian Ministry of Health on Saturday detected 9,887 new cases, bringing the total to 236,657. The dead in the country are 6,649 so far.

Las Vegas bets on brisk Business amidst infection scares
Americas

Las Vegas bets on brisk Business amidst infection scares

Latin America does not look prepared to open up its economy for any kind of recovery from the pandemic led closed down. In the rest of America, some cities have been severely hit by the pandemic that the others. Las Vegas has braved the pandemic with low numbers of contractions and has now decided to open up its casinos to resume work. But chances of contraction are still high.

As people will start to travel across cities, it might need just constant vigilance to ensure contraction does not happen when social distancing becomes a challenge. Brazil for example had opened itself up and now reported the third wave of cases of contractions and consecutive deaths, surpassing even Italy in the toll.

As Nevada hopes to recover from the close down losses, one the biggest resorts and casinos opened up in Las Vegas. Jobs have been lost one too many as the industry is completely dependent on travel and free moving tourist.

As Vegas opened up gradually, people can be seen throwing caution to wind as normal life resumes and musical fountains start to play of Elvis’ Viva Las Vegas. But as the coronavirus pandemic threat continues, analysts are warning that a total return to normalcy for gaming stocks might not be as quick as hoped. Despite a slow trickle back to booking activity, Morningstar senior equity analyst Dan Wasiolek estimates it could take until 2023 before Las Vegas revenues return to pre-COVID-19 levels.

New York city mayor Bill de Blasio has said that the city will brave coming back to work from next week starting Monday. The city intends to keep the hygiene protocols in mind at all times and would provide two million free face masks to small businesses and set up a hotline for them to reach for questions.

Construction, manufacturers, wholesalers and retailers with curbside pickup can resume operations with certain restrictions under the initial phase. The second phase would be resumption of services in eating outlets. The most vulnerable at dental clinics which are finding it tough to acquire personal care equipment at the moment.

With George Floyd’s death leading to mass protests across the US, medical fraternity fears another wave of infections and contractions amongst civilians that had taken to roads and looted and burnt public property.
Pricing has been changed for a lot of the Vegas properties that are hopeful to draw back guests, according to Brian Egger, an analyst with Bloomberg Intelligence. With gaming floors operating at about 50% capacity, events yet to come back, and clubs remaining closed for at least the first phase of reopening, revenue streams aren’t going to be as diverse as before.

Guerrillas in Manhattan, amid provocations and looting
Americas

Guerrillas in Manhattan, amid provocations and looting

Another night of systematic looting in New York despite the curfew for COVID-19. In the United States, policemen are becoming targets, hit by off-road vehicles in Manhattan, in the Bronx, but also Buffalo, north of the state, while in Las Vegas, a bullet hit an agent in the head. He was trying to disperse a violent demonstration in front of the Circus Circus casino. He is now in critical condition. While thousands of protesters gather outside the police headquarters in the southern part of Manhattan, Governor Andrew Cuomo and Mayor Bill de Blasio decided to anticipate the curfew in New York from 11 am to 8 pm and to make it last at least for the whole week.

The protests were transformed into urban guerrilla warfare by the infiltration of radical groups of various origins or into raids organized by criminal gangs who take advantage of the chaos. Donald Trump promises to restore law and order, threatens to use the army, but shows little understanding of what is happening when, in inviting governors to use strong manners, he compares the current rebellion to the Occupy Wall Street movement of 2011. «It was a real misfortune until someone said enough and wiped them out. Nobody has heard of it for years, until today: I am hearing about Occupy now». In the president’s words, Occupy is synonymous with Antifa, the violent radical groups that Trump would like to ban as terrorist organizations.

According to Trump’s opponents, it makes no sense to compare today’s violence and chaos to the nine-year-old movement, that confined itself to peaceful protests, with demonstrators arrested almost only for resistance to the public force, perhaps for an unauthorized motorcade. Occupy was not violent, and it had an organization, an order service that managed to calm the troublemakers, and avoid infiltrations. Today, the picture is different: massive but unorganized protests, organized in the social networks, within which the extremist Antifa groups move. Former Occupy radicals may have merged, seeking provocation and confrontation, as well as groups of rebels and common criminals who practice looting as a proletarian expropriation or simple theft.

Destructions and looting are carried out by small groups that move from street to street with military technique: they attract the attention of the police in one point and strike elsewhere. Some of the most prominent stores were devastated and looted in central Manhattan the other night before curfew, included Microsoft, Michael Kors, Nike and Nintendo. Everything is well organized: some break the windows by throwing bricks, others arrive with City bike’s stolen bicycles to take away the stolen goods. “It’s the coordinated gang work,” says the police. “They are not provocateurs who come from outside: they are from here, we know them.”

Biden in best position for any U.S. Presidential candidate, Will he be able to leverage it?
Americas

Biden in best position for any U.S. Presidential candidate, Will he be able to leverage it?

United States is gearing up for 2020 Presidential elections amid the mist of coronavirus pandemic and fire of latest civic unrest across the nation following death of George Floyd in police custody sparking anger against the black Americans violence.

Latest polls conducted by ABC News and Washington Post show the clear lead of former Vice President Joe Biden against President Donald Trump. The polls indicate Biden ahead by a 53% to 43% margin keeping the registered voters into account.

The polls are a clear indication of how Joe Biden is in the best position for any Presidential contender, ever since the electronic polling began in 1930s.

In more than 40 polls done in May, each one of them showcased Biden leading ahead of Trump. This makes him the first challenger since Jimmy Carter in 1976 to lead in every poll in May.

Also, Biden has been leading in average in every single poll for any month. His average has never dipped below 4 points. This puts Biden in strongest position for any Presidential challenger.

The most impressive point is the consistency of Biden’s lead, the latest ABC news/ Washington post polls being the latest examples. In May, Joe Biden rose up by 6 points in polls on an average.

The fundamental result of each of these polls is indicative of one thing – unpopularity of President Donald Trump. He is clearly not a favorite. The approval-disapproval rating of Trump in ABC news/ Washington Post polls was -8 points. His average is -10 points. In fact, in the past three years of his Presidentship, Donald Trump has never had a positive approval rating.

The only two other Presidents who had negative approval ratings and they ended up losing the reelection were Jimmy Carter in 1980 and George H.W. Bush in 1992.

This year has been the ultimate test of President of the United States. The COVID-19 pandemic hitting the country and practically sweeping the economy and lives has been troublesome and an ultimate nightmare. And with the latest civil unrest with protesters on streets with slogans of “Black Lives Matter” post a series of violence against Black Americans has been the last bit. When the country is in need of a true leader to dilute the situation and bring calm, the acts of President Trump have only been unsettling. From neglecting the WHO recommendations to fight the pandemic spread and flaunting “non-masked” attire in public, to tweeting controversial statements regarding latest protests, President Trump has failed the litmus test of a true President.

Keeping these scenarios in mind and popularity of former Vice President Joe Biden, it would be no surprise if he emerges as the new President of United States. But next few months are real test as campaigns will pace up. It is to be seen if Biden can continue to dominate the polls and win the electoral elections.

US may reconsider joining WHO, but with ‘conditions’: Top US official
Americas

US may reconsider joining WHO, but with ‘conditions’: Top US official

The White House on 31 May said that it might reconsider joining the World Health Organization (WHO).

However, the US government has attached condition to its decision to revise its decision on WHO. The first condition for rejoining is the world health body should limit its reliance on China, and secondly, the organization must put an end to corruption.

Earlier on 29 May, the US President Donald Trump announced the US withdrawal from WHO. Ever since the COVID crisis broke out, the US has accused the WHO of sharing misinformation about the viral disease, in collusion with China.

The novel corona virus has killed more than 300,000 people worldwide. The US National Security Advisor Robert O Brien, in an interview with a news channel, said that WHO must initiate reforms, out an end to corruption, and reduce reliance with China.

Defending Trump’s decision to leave the world health body, O’Brien said that the world organization should have reacted quickly to check the spread of the virus from China.

Following the termination of WHO membership, the US intends to spend the $400 million on other public health organizations with worldwide reach.

O’ Brien said the amount which earlier US used to spend on aid to WHO, will now be given to health workers in Africa through the President’s Emergency Plan For AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). PEPFAR is a US government initiative to mitigate health concerns such as HIV/AIDS epidemic and help save people affected by such diseases. Similar aid will be provided to international NGOs such as the Red Cross and the Doctors without Borders.

In addition to that, the aid money will also be donated to hospitals engaged in fighting severe diseases.

O’Brien shared how the US government and the US citizens’ tax money is used in Africa to protect people from HIV/ AIDS. According to him, the WHO isn’t saving the lives of African people who have HIV/ AIDS.

The top official from Trump administration accused the communist government of China of controlling WHO.

Speaking on the recent escalation of tensions between the US and China, the advisor spoke about the US policy on Hong Kong. O’Brien said the US would take “proportionate” measures to check China’s growing ambitions about Hong Kong.

George Floyd death sets Minneapolis ablaze, unrest across U.S.
Americas

George Floyd death sets Minneapolis ablaze, unrest across U.S.

On the third night of protests after death of George Floyd, 46 in police custody, the protesters set ablaze a police station in Minneapolis.

The protests unfolded across U.S. cities after a harrowing video recorded in Minneapolis was released showing a police officer kneeling on the neck of resident George Floyd, even when he kept saying “I can’t breathe”, leading to his death.

This incident sparked anger among U.S. citizens lending them on streets protesting against racism and brutality by police against African-Americans.

Mr. Floyd’s family is demanding for implication of accused police officers over murder charges. However, prosecutors are said to be still gathering evidence.

On Friday morning a CNN journalist, Omar Jimenez was arrested with his camera crew at the site of protests by police in Minneapolis for not “moving from the site”. This has further added fuel to the long criticized unlawful and inhuman conducts by police officials in the U.S. Some have also called it as “suppression of media.” The team was released 1 hour later, post Minneapolis governor’s apology for arrest.

Latest protests in Minneapolis

Minneapolis police department’s third precinct, the epicenter of the Floyd incident was mustered by protesters on Thursday. The police, in an attempt to disperse the crowd, fired tear gas and rubber bullets. But the area was soon breached by crowd and set on fire along with 2 more nearby buildings.

Minneapolis mayor Jacob Frey called the protests “unacceptable” but acknowledged that there is a “lot of pain and anger”.

President Donald Trump’s outlook

President Trump criticized the Minneapolis mayor for “lack of leadership”. He also said that National Guard would be sent to fix the situation.

President Trump tweeted, “These THUGS are dishonoring the memory of George Floyd, and I won’t let that happen. Just spoke to Governor Tim Walz and told him that the Military is with him all the way. Any difficulty and we will assume control but, when the looting starts, the shooting starts.”

This has sparked the anger even more as it seems that President is “glorifying the violence”. Twitter has too mentioned the tweet to be violating the rules of social media platform.

The protests against violence and racism against black Americans has extended to various cities of U.S. including Denver, Colorado and Columbus in Ohio with mass rallies being carried out.

What happened to George Floyd – the incident unfolding!

On Monday, responding to reports of counterfeit money use, the police officers approached Mr. Floyd who was in his car. The police officers involved say that when he was asked to step away from the car, he resisted and was then handcuffed.

However, the video released shows otherwise, where a police officer is seen pinning him down with his knee on Floyd’s neck. Mr. Floyd in the video can be clearly heard saying “Please, I can’t breathe”, “don’t kill me.”

Four officers of Minneapolis Police Department have been identified in the incident – Derek Chauvin, Tou Thao, Thomas Lane and J Alexander Kueng.

In the latest development, Derek Chauvin, who is seen kneeling on Mr. Floyd’s neck has been arrested with murder charges.

The country-wide unrest following a long history of violence against black Americans by police officers has taken a violent note and is worrying.

Trudeau takes a firm stand against gun use in Canada
Americas

Trudeau takes a firm stand against gun use in Canada

Amidst getting back on tracks against a war with an unseen enemy, the coronavirus led pandemic, the Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, has had to take some hard decisions which might not have gone well with the gun lobby.

Trudeau has now banned the use of 1500 different types of assault style gun use in Canada. This comes after a sad incident of a gunman opening fire and going on a killing spree in Nova Scotia where 22 innocent people lost their lives.

According to an Ipsos general study, most public is in support of Trudeau’s decision. Making a format announcement the government agrees that the intent is not to target rifle users and hunters but on the use on general public.

Protestors who have been victims to gun shooting in the past are not happy with the PM’s decision because they feel a complete ban would be the right thing to do that to only hold a ban on 1500 assault style guns only.

Currently, 52percent Canadian citizens feel any use of guns should be made illegal. Some believe it is an eye wash decision which is politically driven and will not have any effect on the crime rate in the country. Surprisingly hand guns are not covered in the ban, though statistics shows more instances of them being used in homicides in 2018. They accounted for almost 58 percent of such cases.

According to the ban now, effective immediately, there is a ban on buying, selling importing, exporting or dealing in any kind of military styled assault arms in Canada. This has put many gun owners in a corner and they may not even have the advantage of a buy in as of now. The gun lobby has not put in their right foot forward but that might just happen in the coming months, as not all variety of guns have been placed under the ban.

Twitter corrects Trump for the first time
Americas

Twitter corrects Trump for the first time

Twitter dared to correct the President of the United States for the first time, to be exact two tweets in which he evoked the risk of electoral fraud after the Governor of California Gavin Newsom and other Democratic colleagues introduced or are considering voting by mail due to coronavirus. The company reported the two tweets with the ‘verify the facts’ notice and a link explaining that the tycoon’s statements are unfounded, according to CNN, the Washington Post, and other media.

A Twitter spokesman reported that Trump’s tweets contain potentially misleading information about the voting process and have been marked to provide additional context. Twitter’s provocation comes a few hours after the social network refused to remove the tweets, in which the president re-launched the conspiracy theory that the former deputy and now opinionist of MSNBC channel, Joe Scarborough, may have a part in the death of a former parliamentary collaborator, Lori Klausutis, in 2011.

The request to remove the tweets was presented by the Klausutis’ widow man. Trump immediately expressed his anger on the same platform with heavy accusations. Twitter is interfering in the 2020 presidential election. They are saying that my statement on the vote by mail, which will lead to massive corruption and fraud, is incorrect based on fact-checking from the Fake News of CNN and the Washington Post, he said. ‘Twitter is completely suppressing free speech and I as president won’t allow that to happen!’ Trump added in a series of tweets.

001 - Twitter corrects Trump for the first time
001

President Trump has over 80 million followers on Twitter. He uses the social platform as a propaganda tool, a threat against enemies, and a megaphone of his ads. It is not the first time that Trump has claimed full freedom of speech on social media, intolerant of every rule, even when it comes to putting a dam on fake news or misleading claims. Up to now, Twitter has always defended itself by claiming that it cannot remove or censure political leaders because public opinion has the right to know and evaluate each of their comments.

But now the company, repeatedly pressed by several parties, is adjusting the shot in a battle that promises to be hot. Meanwhile, Trump, attacked by the Democrats for playing golf on Memorial Day weekend when America remembered the fallen of all wars, and the 100,000 coronavirus victims, used Twitter to launch an accusation similar to his predecessor: “Wasn’t Obama surprised when he was playing golf in a Virginia field, despite his wife Michelle inviting people to stay home before and after his game in an important public service message? Completely two weights and two measures”.

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