Tag Archives: WorldNews

Revealed: Phoenix officer brutalized woman during minor traffic stop, then took her to jail

1843.jpg?width=1200&height=630&quality=8

Body-cam footage shows an officer with a history of misconduct claims slammed 23-year-old Mariah Valenzuela to the ground within seconds of traffic stop

One week after police in Phoenix, Arizona, were caught on camera surrounding a parked car and killing a man inside, a young woman is coming forward with footage of a brutal assault by another officer in the department.

Mariah Valenzuela, 23, was pulled over one night in January for a minor traffic violation. Body-camera footage obtained by the Guardian shows that the officer involved, Michael McGillis, would not tell the unarmed woman why he stopped her, and that seconds after she said she didn’t have ID on her, he tackled and slammed her on to the ground, injuring her head, face, hands and legs.

Continue reading…

Afghanistan faces ‘catastrophe’ as Covid-19 cases grow: Red Crescent

facebook_default_pic.jpg

KABUL (REUTERS) – Afghanistan faces “catastrophe”as growing Covid-19 cases stretch a health infrastructure already severely weakened by decades of war, the Afghan Red Crescent Society said on Tuesday (July 14).

Some 34,740 coronavirus cases and 1,062 deaths from the respiratory pandemic have been officially reported in Afghanistan, according to government figures.

“Afghanistan is on the edge of potential health, social and economic catastrophes caused by Covid-19 as the disease places a crippling burden on one of the 10 most fragile states in the world,” the Red Crescent Society said in a statement.

“The real toll of the pandemic on the Afghan population is expected to be much higher and remains under-reported due to limited testing and weak health systems,” it added.

Red Crescent Secretary-General Nilab Mobarez said acute protective equipment shortages and difficulties in accessing remote regions were hampering its Covid-19 response.

But it was expanding mobile health teams and adding thousands of community volunteers to try and detect and prevent the disease, which it said it expected to spread over coming weeks.

Afghanistan’s health department said it was concerned that less than a third of those confirmed to have the disease were women, which officials believed was due to a lack of female access to healthcare in a deeply conservative society.

“The Ministry of Health is concerned about women’s access to health services, especially now that we are at the height of the corona crisis…What we have done is to hire more female staff, and we have separated (out) wards for women in hospitals,” Health Ministry deputy spokeswoman Masouma Jafari said.

Let’s block ads! (Why?)

Boris Johnson’s mandatory mask policy has riled the Tory old guard | Katy Balls

An edict seen by some as un-Conservative is exposing divisions over the prime minister’s cautious approach to the pandemic

In the fortnight before the UK went into lockdown, Boris Johnson appeared in a video chat with Dr Jenny Harries to answer a series of questions about coronavirus. The deputy chief medical officer went over the regular symptoms, the low risk of large gatherings and the cons of face masks for all. She told a nodding prime minister that masks should only be worn if a medical professional tells you to, otherwise you could contaminate the mask and transfer the virus: “It’s really not a good idea and it doesn’t help.”

Fast forward four months and that advice – along with several other parts of their conversation – has gone out of the window. The government has announced that face coverings will soon become compulsory in shops and supermarkets. Following in the footsteps of Scotland, and after a weekend of mixed messages from ministers, the new rule will come into effect on Friday 24 July, with a £100 fine for anyone caught not wearing one.

Continue reading…

Indian IT hub Bangalore locks down again

tl-bangalore-140720.jpg?itok=gGb19v-_

BANGALORE, INDIA (AFP) – India’s IT hub Bangalore will go back into lockdown on Tuesday (July 14) as the number of coronavirus cases in the country surged towards a million, with about 500 people dying daily.

After imposing one of the world’s strictest lockdowns in late March, India has been steadily easing rules to lessen the huge economic impact.

But infections have continued to soar, passing 900,000 on Monday with almost 24,000 deaths, according to Health Ministry figures that many experts say underplay the severity of the situation.

Mumbai and the capital New Delhi have been the worst hit so far but the southern city of Bangalore, home to more than 13 million people, has emerged as a new hotspot.

A seven-day lockdown in the city is set to begin at 8pm (1430 GMT), the government announced earlier. Transport will be banned except for emergencies and only shops selling essential items allowed to open.

Firms in Bangalore’s lifeblood IT sector handling the back-office operations of global corporations can operate, but with only 50 per cent of staff allowed on premises at any one time.

A new lockdown has also been imposed in the western city of Pune, which on Monday reported a record 1,333 new infections, taking the total to 40,000 with 23 deaths.

Other states, including Uttar Pradesh – India’s most populous with 200 million inhabitants – Tamil Nadu and Assam have also introduced new restrictions.

Kerala in the south, which earlier won plaudits for its handling of the pandemic, has also implemented tight controls in around a dozen areas, including state capital Thiruvananthapuram, until July 23.

The state has seen cases shoot up to over 8,000 following the return of people from Gulf countries, where Keralites make up a substantial proportion of foreign workers.

Kerala’s communist-led government last week extended until July 2021 rules on the wearing of masks, social distancing and limiting numbers of people at weddings and funerals.

In a glimmer of hope, Delhi, which apart from several “containment zones” has seen activity return to normal, on Monday reported 1,246 new infections – the lowest in 35 days.

The crowded megacity’s government, which has struggled with overflowing hospitals and morgues, has put on hold plans to turn sports stadiums into coronavirus care centres.

“If a successful battle against coronavirus has been fought anywhere in the world, it is in India,” Home Minister Amit Shah said on Sunday, saying the country was in a “good position”.

Related Stories: 

Let’s block ads! (Why?)

Third of Bangladesh underwater as monsoon drenches region

yq-bflood-14072022.jpg?itok=PWoZHatG

SUNAMGANJ, BANGLADESH (AFP) – Almost four million people have been hit by monsoon floods in South Asia, officials said Tuesday (July 14), with a third of Bangladesh already underwater from some of the heaviest rains in a decade.

The monsoon – which usually falls from June to September – is crucial to the economy of the Indian sub-continent, but also causes widespread death and destruction across the region each year.

“This is going to be the worst flood in a decade,” Bangladesh’s Flood Forecasting and Warning Centre chief Arifuzzaman Bhuiyan told AFP.

The heavy rains have swollen two main Himalayan river systems – the Brahmaputra and the Ganges – that flow through India and Bangladesh.

Mr Bhuiyan said about a third of flood-prone Bangladesh – a delta-nation crisscrossed by hundreds of rivers – was underwater, and at least 1.5 million people were affected, with village homes and roads flooded.

In north-central Bangladesh, the Brahmaputra river was almost 40cm higher than normal and threatening to burst its banks, district administrator Farook Ahmed told AFP.

Most villagers were trying to stay near their flood-damaged homes, but some 15,000 had fled severely affected areas, officials said.

With a 10-day forecast pointing to rising waters, Mr Bhuiyan said if more rivers burst their banks some 40 per cent of the nation could be flooded “in a worst-case scenario”.

In Assam, north-east India, more than 2.1 million people have been affected since mid-May.

At least 50 people have died so far – 12 in the past week as floodwaters surged – with tens of thousands of mostly rural residents evacuated to relief camps, officials said.

Emergency services personnel wore head-to-toe bright-orange suits to protect themselves from the floods and coronavirus – which has infected almost 17,000 people in Assam – as they used boats to reach stranded villagers.

“We have two challenges here, one is Covid-19 and another is (the) flood,” the head of a local rescue team, Mr Abhijeet Kumar Verma, told AFP.

In Nepal, at least 50 people have died in landslides and floods triggered by the monsoon rains, with homes swept away and roads and bridges damaged.

“We are distributing food and relief goods from helicopters to about 300 displaced families after the roads were blocked by floods and landslides,” district official Gyan Nath Dahal told AFP.

Let’s block ads! (Why?)

What they said: Full text of US statement on the South China Sea and China’s response

rk_ch-usfalg_140720.jpg?itok=545uzvdK

Following is the full text of the United States’ formal rejection of China’s resource claims in the South China Sea, and below is the full text of China’s response to the US statement.

STATEMENT FROM MICHAEL R. POMPEO, US SECRETARY OF STATE

The United States champions a free and open Indo-Pacific. Today we are strengthening US policy in a vital, contentious part of that region – the South China Sea. We are making clear: Beijing’s claims to offshore resources across most of the South China Sea are completely unlawful, as is its campaign of bullying to control them.

In the South China Sea, we seek to preserve peace and stability, uphold freedom of the seas in a manner consistent with international law, maintain the unimpeded flow of commerce, and oppose any attempt to use coercion or force to settle disputes. We share these deep and abiding interests with our many allies and partners who have long endorsed a rules-based international order.

These shared interests have come under unprecedented threat from the People’s Republic of China (PRC). Beijing uses intimidation to undermine the sovereign rights of Southeast Asian coastal states in the South China Sea, bully them out of offshore resources, assert unilateral dominion, and replace international law with “might makes right.” Beijing’s approach has been clear for years. In 2010, then-PRC Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi told his Asean counterparts that “China is a big country and other countries are small countries and that is just a fact.” The PRC’s predatory world view has no place in the 21st century.

The PRC has no legal grounds to unilaterally impose its will on the region. Beijing has offered no coherent legal basis for its “Nine-Dashed Line” claim in the South China Sea since formally announcing it in 2009. In a unanimous decision on July 12, 2016, an Arbitral Tribunal constituted under the 1982 Law of the Sea Convention – to which the PRC is a state party – rejected the PRC’s maritime claims as having no basis in international law. The Tribunal sided squarely with the Philippines, which brought the arbitration case, on almost all claims.

As the United States has previously stated, and as specifically provided in the Convention, the Arbitral Tribunal’s decision is final and legally binding on both parties. Today we are aligning the U.S. position on the PRC’s maritime claims in the SCS with the Tribunal’s decision. Specifically:

– The PRC cannot lawfully assert a maritime claim – including any Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) claims derived from Scarborough Reef and the Spratly Islands – vis-a-vis the Philippines in areas that the Tribunal found to be in the Philippines’ EEZ or on its continental shelf. Beijing’s harassment of Philippine fisheries and offshore energy development within those areas is unlawful, as are any unilateral PRC actions to exploit those resources. In line with the Tribunal’s legally binding decision, the PRC has no lawful territorial or maritime claim to Mischief Reef or Second Thomas Shoal, both of which fall fully under the Philippines’ sovereign rights and jurisdiction, nor does Beijing have any territorial or maritime claims generated from these features.

– As Beijing has failed to put forth a lawful, coherent maritime claim in the South China Sea, the United States rejects any PRC claim to waters beyond a 12-nautical mile territorial sea derived from islands it claims in the Spratly Islands (without prejudice to other states’ sovereignty claims over such islands). As such, the United States rejects any PRC maritime claim in the waters surrounding Vanguard Bank (off Vietnam), Luconia Shoals (off Malaysia), waters in Brunei’s EEZ, and Natuna Besar (off Indonesia). Any PRC action to harass other states’ fishing or hydrocarbon development in these waters – or to carry out such activities unilaterally – is unlawful.

– The PRC has no lawful territorial or maritime claim to (or derived from) James Shoal, an entirely submerged feature only 50 nautical miles from Malaysia and some 1,000 nautical miles from China’s coast. James Shoal is often cited in PRC propaganda as the “southernmost territory of China.” International law is clear: An underwater feature like James Shoal cannot be claimed by any state and is incapable of generating maritime zones. James Shoal (roughly 20 meters below the surface) is not and never was PRC territory, nor can Beijing assert any lawful maritime rights from it.

The world will not allow Beijing to treat the South China Sea as its maritime empire. America stands with our Southeast Asian allies and partners in protecting their sovereign rights to offshore resources, consistent with their rights and obligations under international law. We stand with the international community in defence of freedom of the seas and respect for sovereignty and reject any push to impose “might makes right” in the South China Sea or the wider region.

STATEMENT FROM A SPOKESMAN FOR THE CHINESE EMBASSY IN WASHINGTON

On July 13, 2020, the US Department of State issued a statement that disregards the efforts of China and Asean countries for peace and stability in the South China Sea, deliberately distorts the facts and international law including the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), exaggerates the situation in the region and attempts to sow discord between China and other littoral countries. The accusation is completely unjustified. The Chinese side is firmly opposed to it.

China’s position on the South China Sea issue has been consistent and clear-cut. While firmly safeguarding its territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests, China has been committed to resolving disputes through negotiation and consultation with countries directly involved, managing differences through rules and mechanisms, and achieving win-win results through mutually beneficial cooperation.

The situation of the South China Sea has remained peaceful and stable and is still improving. China and other littoral countries have maintained dialogue and communication through consultation mechanisms on maritime affairs, and worked to promote cooperation over the South China Sea. Within the framework of fully and effectively implementing the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea, China and Asean countries are advancing the consultation on a Code of Conduct in the South China Sea and are making visible progress.

The United States is not a country directly involved in the disputes. However, it has kept interfering in the issue. Under the pretext of preserving stability, it is flexing muscles, stirring up tension and inciting confrontation in the region. Under the pretext of endorsing rules, it is using UNCLOS to attack China while refusing to ratify the Convention itself. Under the pretext of upholding freedom of navigation and overflight, it is recklessly infringing on other countries’ territorial sea and airspace and throwing its weight around in every sea of the world. We advise the US side to earnestly honour its commitment of not taking sides on the issue of territorial sovereignty, respect regional countries’ efforts for a peaceful and stable South China Sea and stop its attempts to disrupt and sabotage regional peace and stability.

Let’s block ads! (Why?)

Prison CEOs Say They Had No Clue Guards Pepper-Sprayed Hundreds of Immigration Detainees

200713_Adelanto.jpg?w=1200&h=630&crop=1

Private prison executives claimed at a congressional hearing Monday to be unaware of any recent instances of guards pepper-spraying immigration detainees at the facilities they run. It was a shocking claim: Detainees have been pepper-sprayed on more than a dozen occasions since late March, and Immigration and Custom Enforcement’s own press office has confirmed many of the incidents the CEOs say they know nothing about. 

Monday’s hearing focused on the often abysmal conditions in for-profit immigration detention centers during the coronavirus pandemic. One question from Rep. Donald Payne (D-N.J.) to four executives testifying virtually was hard to misinterpret. “So no one is aware of any time that rubber bullets, or pepper spray, or tear gas has been used by officers at your facilities against detainees since the COVID-19 pandemic?” he asked. “Are you all categorically denying it?”

In response, CoreCivic CEO Damon Hininger, Management and Training Corporation CEO Scott Marquardt, and LaSalle Corrections executive director Rodney Cooper said they were aware of no such incidents. GEO Group CEO George Zoley said he was aware of one incident in California. 

Here’s the video of Rep. Payne asking about uses of pepper spray, tear gas, and rubber bullets. pic.twitter.com/zJ1DC402Ol

— Noah Lanard (@nlanard) July 13, 2020

In reality, people at CoreCivic facilities have been pepper-sprayed on at least four occasions. At LaSalle, it’s happened on at least five occasions. And at GEO Group detention centers, the total is also at least five. Hundreds of immigrants and asylum seekers have been exposed to pepper spray during those uses of force. There have been no recent documented cases of pepper spray at Management and Training Corporation centers. (All of these companies have contracts with ICE, which pays them to house immigration detainees at their facilities.)

I’ve broken the news of several uses of pepper spray at for-profit ICE detention centers in recent months. In one case, guards at a GEO Group detention center in Louisiana left nearly 80 women trapped in a pepper spray-filled dorm after a COVID-19 briefing.

Later in the hearing, Rep. Kathleen Rice (D-N.Y.), the chair of a border security subcommittee, asked Hininger of CoreCivic to address the fact that one of his own spokespeople confirmed that pepper spray was used against detainees at a CoreCivic detention center in New Mexico.

Hininger said he misunderstood Payne’s question and confirmed that pepper spray was used at the Torrance detention center. He didn’t mention other incidents in Arizona and Georgia.