Cincunri Sakia

Kamis, 01 April 2021

COVID-19: Surge in cases in France 'very, very sad', says Boris Johnson - as he warns of impact on UK - Sky News

Boris Johnson has described a surge in coronavirus cases in France - which has plunged the country into a third national lockdown - as "very, very sad" and suggested the UK could be impacted within weeks.

Schools in France will be closed for at least three weeks and domestic travel will be banned for a month as President Emmanuel Macron battles to keep a check on rising infections.

The lockdown measures taken by Mr Macron are the latest in recent action by European leaders, amid a third wave of COVID-19 cases spreading across the mainland continent.

Speaking on a campaign visit to Hartlepool on Thursday, ahead of next month's by-election in the town, Mr Johnson spoke of how previous coronavirus waves in Europe had soon travelled to the UK.

"I'm afraid you can see what's happening in France... and it is, you know, very, very sad because they're facing it again," he told employees at Hart Biologicals.

"All the experience of the last year is that, when they get it in France and they get it bad, two or three weeks later it comes to us."

Meanwhile, England's chief medical officer, Professor Chris Whitty, said Mr Johnson's government should remain "cautious" in lifting lockdown restrictions, as he suggested the UK could remain vulnerable to COVID-19 variants for the next year or two.

He told a Royal Society of Medicine webinar: "What we don't want to be is in a situation where we look back in six months and say 'If we'd only just been a bit more cautious for a month or two we would've actually got through (vaccinating) the whole population, we'd have understood a lot more, we'd know how to deal with this, we'd probably have a few variant vaccines on the stocks'."

He added: "I don't think though this should be seen as an indefinite posture, I think this is a matter of probably the next year or two whilst we understand how to do this and find a way of responding rapidly to variants."

As he announced France's latest lockdown in a televised address to the nation on Wednesday night, Mr Macron warned the country would "lose control if we do not move now".

Europe's third wave of infections has already seen other countries such as Italy and Germany tighten their COVID restrictions.

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Earlier on Thursday, a senior World Health Organisation (WHO) official described European countries' COVID vaccination programmes as "unacceptably slow".

Dr Hans Kluge, WHO's regional director for Europe, added: "As long as coverage remains low, we need to apply the same public health and social measures as we have in the past, to compensate for delayed schedules."

EU leaders have been subject to heavy criticism over the slowness of the rollout of COVID vaccines across the bloc, when compared to Britain's vaccination programme.

According to latest EU figures, as of 28 March, 13.6% of adults in the bloc have received a first dose of a COVID vaccine, with 5.8% having received both doses.

In the UK, as of 31 March, 59.1% of adults have received a first dose and 8.6% have received both doses.

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2021-04-01 19:13:38Z
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Derek Chauvin trial: George Floyd's girlfriend tells of first kiss and addiction - BBC News

A view of the George Floyd mural at 38th Street and Chicago Avenue a day before opening statements in the trial of former police officer Derek Chauvin, who is facing murder charges in the death of George Floyd, in Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S., March 28, 2021.

George Floyd's girlfriend has given emotional testimony as the murder trial of former US police officer Derek Chauvin enters its fourth day.

Courteney Ross told the court of their first kiss, and their struggle with opioid addiction.

Meanwhile a paramedic said he had to indicate Mr Chauvin should move off Mr Floyd's limp body when he arrived.

The white officer was filmed kneeling on African-American Mr Floyd's neck for more than nine minutes last May.

It sparked global protests over policing and racism.

Mr Chauvin, 45, denies charges of murder and manslaughter.

What did Floyd's girlfriend say?

Ms Ross is the first person to testify who personally knew Mr Floyd.

She told the court that she met Mr Floyd in 2017 in the lobby of a Salvation Army homeless shelter, where he worked as a security guard and she was waiting to see the father of her son. She said Mr Floyd asked if she would pray with him.

"It was so sweet and at the time I had lost a lot of faith in God," she said, adding that they kissed that night.

She said their first meeting was "one of my favourite stories to tell".

Ms Ross said they both suffered from chronic pain, and were addicted to opioids.

"Addiction, in my opinion, is a lifelong struggle," she said. "It's not something that comes and goes, it's something I'll deal with forever."

She did not specifically address whether Mr Floyd was using opioids on the day he died.

A statement from Floyd family lawyers Ben Crump and Antonio Romanucci denounced "defence attempts to construct the narrative that George Floyd's cause of death was the Fentanyl in his system".

"We want to remind the world who witnessed his death on video that George was walking, talking, laughing, and breathing just fine before Derek Chauvin held his knee to George's neck, blocking his ability to breathe and extinguishing his life," it said.

What was the paramedic's testimony?

Paramedic Seth Bravinder said Mr Floyd appeared not to be breathing and had no pulse when he and his partner arrived at the scene.

Several officers were on top of Mr Floyd and the paramedics had to ask them to move, he said.

"They were still on top of him," Mr Bravinder told the jury.

He initially thought that a struggle was taking place but quickly realised that Mr Floyd was limp.

Asked about video footage showing him gesturing to Mr Chauvin, Mr Bravinder said he wanted to "have him move" and this was "so we could move the patient".

Mr Bravinder cradled Mr Floyd's head as they transferred him to a stretcher to prevent it from hitting the road.

The medics decided to put Mr Floyd in the ambulance and move away from the crowd to focus on resuscitating him.

They stopped their ambulance two blocks away to intensify efforts to resuscitate him. When Mr Bravinder, who had been driving, got into the back of the ambulance he saw a flat line on the heart monitor.

"It's not a good sign," he said.

What else has happened at the trial?

In opening statements Prosecutor Jerry Blackwell told the jury that Mr Chauvin had "betrayed his badge" by kneeling on Mr Floyd's neck, and using "excessive and unreasonable force" to detain him.

Defence lawyers have indicated they will argue that 46-year-old Mr Floyd died of an overdose and poor health, and the force used was reasonable.

Bodycam footage played in court on Wednesday showed Mr Floyd pleading with officers during his arrest, saying: "I'm not a bad guy".

In separate footage from Mr Chauvin's body camera, he is confronted by a bystander about the arrest after Mr Floyd is taken away in an ambulance.

"We had to control this guy because he's a sizeable guy," Mr Chauvin told Charles McMillian, as he got back in his squad car. "It looks like he's probably on something."

Several witnesses have taken the stand in the opening days of the trial.

Darnella - the teenager whose film of Mr Floyd's death sparked global protests - said she "stays up apologising" to him for "not doing more".

Shop employee Christopher Martin told the court he briefly interacted with Mr Floyd as a customer inside Cup Foods shortly before his arrest.

He said Mr Floyd "appeared to be high" because he struggled to respond to a simple question, but he was lucid enough to able to hold a conversation. He described Mr Floyd as "friendly and approachable".

Mr Martin told the jury he had sold Mr Floyd a packet of cigarettes, and received a counterfeit note as payment. Mr Martin described knowing the bill was fake by its colour and texture, but added that Mr Floyd "didn't seem to know it was a fake note".

He said he had considered letting the shop deduct it from his wages instead of confronting Mr Floyd, but then decided to tell his manager. Another employee went on to call the police.

Mr Martin, who witnessed the arrest, said he felt "disbelief and guilt" because "if I'd have just not taken the bill, this could have been avoided".

Throughout the testimony, Mr Chauvin has been taking almost constant notes.

Why is this case so important?

The video footage of Mr Chauvin kneeling on Mr Floyd's neck last May was watched around the world.

It sparked mass demonstrations against racism and police brutality..

"I'm tired of hearing about black people dying," one protester in Washington DC said. "I'm tired of being afraid just by being stopped by the cops."

Five pieces of context to understand the US protests

But despite the global outcry this is not an open and shut case. In the US, police are rarely convicted for deaths that occur while they are on duty, if they are charged at all.

The verdict in this case will be widely seen as an indication of how the US legal system treats deaths that occur while in police custody.

Three other officers charged with aiding and abetting second-degree murder will go on trial later in the year.

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2021-04-01 17:27:05Z
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Aung San Suu Kyi faces new charge under Myanmar’s secrets law - Al Jazeera English

Myanmar’s deposed leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, has been charged with breaking a colonial-era official secrets law, her lawyer said on Thursday, the most serious charge against the veteran opponent of military rule.

Myanmar has been rocked by protests since the army overthrew Suu Kyi’s elected government on February 1 citing unsubstantiated claims of fraud in a November election that her party won.

In a new measure to stifle communication about the turmoil, the junta ordered internet service providers to shut down wireless broadband services until further notice, Reuters news agency reported, citing telecoms sources.

Suu Kyi and other members of her National League for Democracy (NLD) have been detained since the coup and the junta had earlier accused her of several minor offences including illegally importing six handheld radios and breaching coronavirus protocols. Her lawyers say the charges she faces are trumped up.

Her chief lawyer, Khin Maung Zaw, told Reuters by telephone that Suu Kyi, three of her deposed cabinet ministers and a detained Australian economic adviser, Sean Turnell, were charged a week ago in a Yangon court under the official secrets law, adding he learned of the new charge two days ago.

A conviction under the law can carry a prison sentence of up to 14 years.

Myanmar has been rocked by near-daily protests since the February 1 coup. On Thursday, protesters again took to the streets of cities across Myanmar, defying a security force clampdown that has killed at least 535 people. Activists burned copies of a military-framed constitution in protest against Senior General Min Aung Hlaing’s power grab.

The demonstrations came as fighting intensified between Myanmar’s military and ethnic rebel groups in the country’s border areas – a development that a United Nations special envoy said increased the “possibility of civil war at an unprecedented scale”.

The DVB news outlet reported that 20 soldiers were killed and four military trucks destroyed in clashes with the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), one of Myanmar’s most powerful rebel groups. The fighting in the far north comes days after Myanmar military aircraft began bombing positions of another group, the Karen National Union (KNU) in the country’s east.

The clashes in the east have sent thousands of people fleeing to the Thai border.

[embedded content]

Tanee Sangrat, spokesman for Thailand’s foreign ministry, told reporters on Thursday that Bangkok was “gravely troubled” by the increasing casualties. In some of the strongest comments from Thai authorities yet, Sangrat also called for a de-escalation of the situation, an end to violence and the further release of detainees.

Thailand was working with Southeast Asian countries for a peaceful solution, he added.

‘Constitution bonfire’

Meanwhile, a group of deposed members of parliament, mostly from Aung San Suu Kyi’s party, have vowed to set up a federal democracy in a bid to address a longstanding demand from minority groups for autonomy. The Committee for Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH) also announced on Wednesday the scrapping of a 2008 constitution drawn up by the military that enshrines its control over politics.

The military has long rejected the idea of a federal system, seeing itself as the central power vital to holding the fractious country together.

Social media posts showed copies of the constitution, or in some cases imitations, being burned at rallies and in homes during what one activist called a “constitution bonfire ceremony”.

“The new day begins here!” Dr Sasa, international envoy of the CRPH, said on Twitter, referring to what for now is a largely symbolic move.

#Burn2008

Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw @CrphMyanmar, who has full democratic mandate from people of Myanmar through 2020 general election, has abolished 2008 constitution. In support of the action, people are burning down 2008 constitution books all over country. pic.twitter.com/WXFKEaEdkk

— Civil Disobedience Movement (@cvdom2021) April 1, 2021

Anti-coup protesters burn a paper copy of the 2008 Constitution in Yangon's Hlaing township today, following an announcement by the CRPH– a body representing some of Myanmar's elected lawmakers– that the Constitution has been abolished. #WhatsHappeningInMyanmar pic.twitter.com/k4JlsUoQeD

— Myanmar Now (@Myanmar_Now_Eng) April 1, 2021

Fires also broke out overnight and early on Thursday at two shopping centres in Yangon owned by military-controlled conglomerates, with photographs of the flames and smoke posted on social media.

In New York, the UN special envoy on Myanmar Christine Schraner Burgener told a closed briefing of the 15-member UN Security Council that the military was not capable of managing the country, and warned the situation on the ground would only worsen.

The council must consider “potentially significant action” to reverse the course of events as “a bloodbath is imminent”, she said.

“This could happen under our watch,” she said in a virtual presentation obtained by The Associated Press, “and failure to prevent further escalation of atrocities will cost the world so much more in the longer term than investing now in prevention, especially by Myanmar’s neighbours and the wider region.”

‘Failed state’

The opposition of ethnic armed groups to “the military’s cruelty … (is) increasing the possibility of civil war at an unprecedented scale”, Schraner Burgener warned.

“Already-vulnerable groups requiring humanitarian assistance including ethnic minorities and the Rohingya people will suffer most,” she said, “but inevitably, the whole country is on the verge of spiralling into a failed state.”

The council’s statements have so far expressed concern and condemned violence against protesters, but dropped language calling the takeover a coup and threatening possible further action due to opposition by China, Russia, India and Vietnam.

[embedded content]

The United States on Wednesday urged China, which has significant economic and strategic interests in Myanmar, to use its influence to hold accountable those responsible for the coup.

While Western countries have strongly condemned the coup, China has been more cautious and the government’s top diplomat Wang Yi called for stability during a meeting with his Singaporean counterpart on Wednesday.

“China welcomes and supports ASEAN’s adherence to the principle of non-interference … and the ‘ASEAN approach’ in playing a positive role in promoting the stability of the situation in Myanmar,” China’s foreign ministry said in a statement after the meeting, referring to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

In a sign of stepped-up shuttle diplomacy, the foreign ministers of Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines are also due to meet Wang Yi in China this week.

ASEAN members, of whom Myanmar is one, have pledged not to interfere in each other’s affairs but, led by Indonesia, some countries have been actively pushing diplomatic efforts to defuse the crisis.

Still, the military has up to now appeared impervious to outside pressure.

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2021-04-01 14:25:02Z
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Aung San Suu Kyi faces new charge under Myanmar’s secrets law - Al Jazeera English

Myanmar has been rocked by protests since the army overthrew Suu Kyi’s elected government on February 1 citing unsubstantiated claims of fraud in a November election that her party won.

A conviction under the law can carry a prison sentence of up to 14 years.

The clashes in the east have sent thousands of people fleeing to the Thai border.

[embedded content]

Thailand was working with Southeast Asian countries for a peaceful solution, he added.

‘Constitution bonfire’

The military has long rejected the idea of a federal system, seeing itself as the central power vital to holding the fractious country together.

Social media posts showed copies of the constitution, or in some cases imitations, being burned at rallies and in homes during what one activist called a “constitution bonfire ceremony”.

“The new day begins here!” Dr Sasa, international envoy of the CRPH, said on Twitter, referring to what for now is a largely symbolic move.

#Burn2008

Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw @CrphMyanmar, who has full democratic mandate from people of Myanmar through 2020 general election, has abolished 2008 constitution. In support of the action, people are burning down 2008 constitution books all over country. pic.twitter.com/WXFKEaEdkk

— Civil Disobedience Movement (@cvdom2021) April 1, 2021

Anti-coup protesters burn a paper copy of the 2008 Constitution in Yangon's Hlaing township today, following an announcement by the CRPH– a body representing some of Myanmar's elected lawmakers– that the Constitution has been abolished. #WhatsHappeningInMyanmar pic.twitter.com/k4JlsUoQeD

— Myanmar Now (@Myanmar_Now_Eng) April 1, 2021

Fires also broke out overnight and early on Thursday at two shopping centres in Yangon owned by military-controlled conglomerates, with photographs of the flames and smoke posted on social media.

The council must consider “potentially significant action” to reverse the course of events as “a bloodbath is imminent”, she said.

‘Failed state’

The opposition of ethnic armed groups to “the military’s cruelty … (is) increasing the possibility of civil war at an unprecedented scale”, Schraner Burgener warned.

[embedded content]

The United States on Wednesday urged China, which has significant economic and strategic interests in Myanmar, to use its influence to hold accountable those responsible for the coup.

In a sign of stepped-up shuttle diplomacy, the foreign ministers of Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines are also due to meet Wang Yi in China this week.

Still, the military has up to now appeared impervious to outside pressure.

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Myanmar protesters rally as Thailand slams military crackdown - Al Jazeera English

Activists in Myanmar have burned copies of a military-framed constitution in protest against Senior General Min Aung Hlaing’s power grab, as neighbouring Thailand expressed “grave” concern over the security forces’ escalating crackdown on anti-coup protesters.

People again took to the streets of cities across Myanmar on Thursday, defying a security force clampdown that has killed at least 535 people since February 1 when the military deposed Aung San Suu Kyi’s elected government.

The clashes in the east have sent thousands of people fleeing to the Thai border.

Thailand was working with Southeast Asian countries for a peaceful solution, he added.

[embedded content]

Myanmar has been rocked by near-daily protests since the army deposed Aung San Suu Kyi’s elected government, citing unsubstantiated claims of fraud in an election held last November. Aung San Suu Kyi, 75, and other members of her National League for Democracy (NLD) are being held in detention.

The military has accused her of several minor crimes, including illegally importing six handheld radios and breaching coronavirus protocols, but a domestic media outlet reported on Wednesday that she could be charged with treason, which can be punishable by death.

One of her lawyers, Min Min Soe, said no new charges were announced at a hearing in her case on Thursday. The lawyer held on Wednesday his first video conference with Aung San Suu Kyi since her arrest, and said the deposed leader “looks healthy, her complexion is good”.

Her lawyers say the charges she faces are trumped up.

‘Constitution bonfire’

The military has long rejected the idea of a federal system, seeing itself as the central power vital to holding the fractious country together.

Social media posts showed copies of the constitution, or in some cases imitations, being burned at rallies and in homes during what one activist called a “constitution bonfire ceremony”.

“The new day begins here!” Dr Sasa, international envoy of the CRPH, said on Twitter, referring to what for now is a largely symbolic move.

#Burn2008

Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw @CrphMyanmar, who has full democratic mandate from people of Myanmar through 2020 general election, has abolished 2008 constitution. In support of the action, people are burning down 2008 constitution books all over country. pic.twitter.com/WXFKEaEdkk

— Civil Disobedience Movement (@cvdom2021) April 1, 2021

Anti-coup protesters burn a paper copy of the 2008 Constitution in Yangon's Hlaing township today, following an announcement by the CRPH– a body representing some of Myanmar's elected lawmakers– that the Constitution has been abolished. #WhatsHappeningInMyanmar pic.twitter.com/k4JlsUoQeD

— Myanmar Now (@Myanmar_Now_Eng) April 1, 2021

Fires also broke out overnight and early on Thursday at two shopping centres in Yangon owned by military-controlled conglomerates, with photographs of the flames and smoke posted on social media.

The council must consider “potentially significant action” to reverse the course of events as “a bloodbath is imminent”, she said.

‘Failed state’

The opposition of ethnic armed groups to “the military’s cruelty … (is) increasing the possibility of civil war at an unprecedented scale”, Schraner Burgener warned.

[embedded content]

The United States on Wednesday urged China, which has significant economic and strategic interests in Myanmar, to use its influence to hold accountable those responsible for the coup.

In a sign of stepped-up shuttle diplomacy, the foreign ministers of Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines are also due to meet Wang Yi in China this week.

Still, the military has up to now appeared impervious to outside pressure.

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George Floyd trial: Footage shows him pleading 'I'm not a bad guy' - Metro.co.uk

New footage shows George Floyd begging police not to shoot him after he was stopped for allegedly trying to use a fake $20 note.

The footage – shown to the jury at the murder trial of ex-police officer Derek Chauvin – shows one officer aiming a gun at Mr Floyd, who insists ‘I’m not a bad guy’.

Appearing to cry he says: ‘Please don’t shoot me, please, man.

‘Please, man, I didn’t know.’

An officer is also heard telling him to ‘stop resisting’, to which Mr Floyd replies: ‘I’m not.’

As the officers try to put Mr Floyd into the police car, he tells them he is claustrophobic, adding: ‘I’m a (going to) die, man…I’m not a bad guy.

Mandatory Credit: Photo by Pool Video Via Court Tv/Ny Times/ZUMA Wire/REX (11840092p) On the third day of the trial of former Minneapolis police officer, Derek Chauvin, the prosecution enters into evidence police body cam footage of George Floyd's life and death struggle with police. George Floyd Murder Trial, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA - 31 Mar 2021 Chauvin was captured on tape on May 25, 2020 pressing his knee onto Mr. Floyd's neck for some nine minutes during an arrest. Chauvin was later charged with second-degree murder and manslaughter. Floyd's death sparked outrage all around the world and resulted in massive protests against police brutality and racism. — **Jurors saw the new bodycam footage on Wednesday**, the third day of Derek Chauvin’s murder trial (Picture: Rex)

The footage goes on to show Mr Floyd being knelt on as he says a number of times: ‘I love you mama’ and ‘I can’t breathe’.

Jurors watched it for the first time as the murder trial continued on its third day on Wednesday.

chauvin, 45, faces three charges of second and third degree murder and second degree manslaughter.

He is accused of killing an unarmed Mr Floyd, 46, by pinning him to the pavement for what prosecutors say was nine minutes and 29 seconds as he lay face down and handcuffed.

At Hennepin County courthouse in Minneapolis, the jury heard that Chauvin had defended himself to a bystander as Mr Floyd was taken away by an ambulance.

Charles McMillian, 61, who recognized Chauvin from the neighborhood, told the officer he didn’t respect what Chauvin had done.

Mandatory Credit: Photo by Pool Video Via Court Tv/Ny Times/ZUMA Wire/REX (11840092x) New police bodycam footage of the arrest of George Floyd is shown to the court on the third day of the trial of former Minneapolis police officer Chauvin. George Floyd Murder Trial, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA - 31 Mar 2021 Chauvin was captured on tape on May 25, 2020 pressing his knee onto Mr. Floyd's neck for nine minutes during an arrest. Chauvin was later charged with second-degree murder and manslaughter. Floyd's death sparked outrage all around the world and resulted in massive protests against police brutality and racism. — The previously unseen trial footage shows Mr Floyd telling officers ‘I’m not a bad guy’ (Picture: Wire/REX)

Mandatory Credit: Photo by Pool Video Via Court Tv/Ny Times/ZUMA Wire/REX (11840092m) On the third day of the trial of former Minneapolis police officer, Derek Chauvin, the prosecution enters into evidence police body cam footage of George Floyd's life and death struggle with police. George Floyd Murder Trial, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA - 31 Mar 2021 Chauvin was captured on tape on May 25, 2020 pressing his knee onto Mr. Floyd's neck for some nine minutes during an arrest. Chauvin was later charged with second-degree murder and manslaughter. Floyd's death sparked outrage all around the world and resulted in massive protests against police brutality and racism. — Geroge Floyd’s death sparked outrage all around the world (Picture: Rex)

‘That’s one person’s opinion,’ is heard responding. ‘We gotta control this guy ’cause he’s a sizable guy… and it looks like he’s probably on something.’

Mr Floyd was 6’4 and 223 pounds, according to the autopsy, which also found fentanyl and methamphetamine in his system. Chauvin’s lawyer said the officer is 5’9 and 140 pounds.

The jury also heard from Christopher Martin, 19, who worked at Cup Foods, where Mr Floyd allegedly tried to use the fake $20 note to buy cigarettes.

Mr Martin testified on Wednesday that he watched Mr Floyd’s arrest outside with ‘disbelief and guilt’.

‘If I would’ve just not taken the bill, this could’ve been avoided,’ he said.

He told jurors he immediately believed the $20 bill was fake but he accepted it, despite believing the amount would be taken out of his paycheck,, because he didn’t think Floyd knew it was counterfeit and ‘I thought I’d be doing him a favour’.

In this image from video, witness Christopher Martin answers questions as Hennepin County Judge Peter??Cahill presides Wednesday, March 31, 2021, in the trial of former Minneapolis police Officer Derek Chauvin at the Hennepin County Courthouse in Minneapolis, Minn. Chauvin is charged in the May 25, 2020 death of George Floyd. (Court TV via AP, Pool) — Christopher Martin testified that he watched Mr Floyd’s death with ‘disbelief and guilt’ (AP)

Mr Martin then second-guessed his decision and told a manager, who sent him outside to ask Floyd to return to the store. But Floyd and a passenger in his SUV twice refused to go back into the store to resolve the issue, and the manager had a co-worker call police.

Mr Martin said that when Floyd was inside the store buying cigarettes, he spoke so slowly “it would appear that he was high.” But he described Floyd as friendly and talkative.

Floyd’s death, along with the harrowing bystander video of him gasping for breath as onlookers yelled at Chauvin to get off him, triggered protests around the world and a reckoning over racism and police brutality across the US.

Chauvin’s defense has argued that Floyd’s death was not caused by the officer’s knee, as prosecutors contend, but by his drug use, heart disease, high blood pressure and the adrenaline flowing through his body.

They also insist that Chauvin did what he was trained to do in the situation.

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.

For more stories like this, check our news page.

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2021-04-01 09:35:00Z
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China manoeuvres near Taiwan fuel concerns of potential attack - Financial Times

China has stepped up its military posturing around Taiwan over the past week, a trend that is set to fuel growing concerns that Beijing might move closer to attacking the island.

Taiwan and Japan on Monday both reported incursions into their respective air defence identification zones, the first simultaneous announcement from Taipei and Tokyo.

Taiwan said that ten Chinese military aircraft, including fighters and an anti-submarine warfare aircraft, had flown into its ADIZ, while Japan recorded an ASW plane inside its zone just east of Taiwan.

The parallel manoeuvres followed the largest-ever incursion into Taiwan’s air defence zone last Friday, when 20 Chinese aircraft, including bombers and fighters, entered the area.

The forays came as Washington has begun to ready for the growing risk of a war over Taiwan, which Beijing claims as part of its sovereign territory. Senior US officials fear that China is flirting with the idea of seizing control of Taiwan, a scenario that would almost certainly drag in Washington and some of its allies.

Monday’s incursions also followed the arrival in Taiwan of the US ambassador to Palau, alongside the Pacific island nation’s president. Palau is one of 15 countries that have diplomatic relations with Taipei rather than Beijing, and the visit was an unusually bold move compared with the restraint Washington has long practised with regard to sending its diplomats to Taiwan.

Surangel Whipps, president of Pulau which is one of just 15 countries to have diplomatic relations with Taiwan, travelled to Taipei last week with the US ambassador to his country. The joint visit was considered a bold move by the US © AFP via Getty Images

Friday’s manoeuvres came after the US and Taiwan announced an agreement under which their coast guards would co-operate.

Some experts interpreted the Chinese military’s moves as a gradual step-up but agreed that the manoeuvres also featured new patterns of behaviour.

The People’s Liberation Army has flown more regular sorties into the south-western corner of Taiwan’s air defence zone, where the Taiwan Strait meets the Bashi Channel, since last summer. This is a crucial corridor for the Chinese military into the open waters and airspace of the western Pacific.

The territory would be essential for submarine warfare in any conflict over Taiwan, which explains why anti-submarine warfare aircraft have been involved in most of the almost-daily incursions. But while the forays usually consisted of short, straight flights in and out of the ADIZ, ASW aircraft flew all the way past the southern tip of Taiwan into the western Pacific and back over the past week.

“These latest [incursions] are more about political messaging than about military operational significance,” said Admiral Lee Hsi-ming, former chief of the general staff of Taiwan’s armed forces. “Flying around Taiwan is not a breakthrough for them. They operated circular flights with H6 bombers when I was in office.”

“I believe that this time, they did not have enough time to prepare,” Lee added. “So in order to express their determination towards the US, they flew out into the western Pacific but did not do a full circle.”

Map of East China Sea air defence identification zones

Some analysts, however, saw the latest moves as an escalation.

“Y-8 and Y-9 aircraft have not done this before,” said Su Tzu-yun, an analyst at the Institute for National Defence and Security Research, a think-tank backed by Taiwan’s defence ministry, referring to the ASW flights. “We are going to see more of that as they start to expand the scope of their regular operations from the south-west of Taiwan to the south-east.”

The incursion reported by Japan also followed an unprecedented approach. A patrol aircraft and a surveillance plane flew in a northern direction off Taiwan’s east coast before turning back and leaving Japan’s ADIZ through the Miyako Strait, Tokyo said.

The Miyako Islands, a tiny archipelago between Okinawa and Taiwan, have been a hotspot for Chinese air force manoeuvres in recent years because the Strait — as with the Bashi Channel — is one of the PLA’s main air and sea corridors to the open Pacific. Four of the five Chinese air incursions reported by Japan over the past year have occurred in this area.

In previous manoeuvres, Chinese aircraft flew only relatively short sorties to the south-east of the Miyako Islands before turning back. Monday’s flights marked the first time they had flown so close to Taiwan’s east coast, where the largest hardened shelters for protecting military aircraft against missile and air attacks are located in a mountainside in the town of Hualien.

“With its regular operations in the south-western corner of Taiwan ADIZ, the PLA has already changed the status quo and asserted that ‘This is my backyard’. They have even included this area in their annual training plan,” said Lee.

People familiar with Taipei’s military strategy said if the PLA expanded a regular presence to the airspace east of Taiwan, it would undermine the island’s security in a much more drastic manner.

Video: Will China and the US go to war over Taiwan?

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https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMiP2h0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmZ0LmNvbS9jb250ZW50L2FkZDI4NTY3LWFlOWQtNDc0My05ZmU2LTY4M2VhNGI1ODRhZNIBP2h0dHBzOi8vYW1wLmZ0LmNvbS9jb250ZW50L2FkZDI4NTY3LWFlOWQtNDc0My05ZmU2LTY4M2VhNGI1ODRhZA?oc=5

2021-04-01 06:25:37Z
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Kamis, 01 April 2021

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