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US Muslims protest alarms for police rehabilitation in wake of Floyd killing
In the rouse of George Floyd’s death in police custody, many of the Muslim organisations in the United States have come together to call for reshaping to policing practices and to support Black-led organisations.
“The victimization of unarmed Black Muslims has a long and troubling history,” said a coalition statement signed by more than 90 civil rights, advocacy, community and faith organisations and released on Monday. “As American Muslims, we will draw on our diversity, our strength, and our resilience to demand these reforms because Black lives matter.”
The put forward changes include prohibiting racial profiling and manoeuvers that restrict the flow of blood or oxygen to the brain, such as chokeholds; making it legally easier for prosecutors to hold law enforcement accountable; and redirecting police funding “into community health, education, employment and housing programs”.
The disclosure also calls for the establishment of “a federal standard that use of force be reserved as a last resort, only when absolutely necessary” and after exhausting all reasonable options.
“These demands are a floor for our groups and not a ceiling. Some would call for much more,” said Farhana Khera, executive director of Muslim Advocates, one of the statement’s co-conveners.
“We’re also urging all American Muslims to call their members of Congress right now and to demand a stronger response from them.”
Source___Aljazeera
Coronavirus cases surpass 8 million globally
Not less than 8 million people have been reported to have the coronavirus around the world. More than 3.8 million have recovered, while at least 435,662 have died, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.
WHO head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreysus has affirmed that countries need to “stay alert to the possibility of resurgence” as new clusters of cases emerge in Beijing and more than 100,000 cases of coronavirus are reported across the world every day.
The jobless rate unexpectedly held at 3.9 percent over the three months to April – despite a record slump in overall economic output during that period – as firms turned to the government’s job retention scheme to keep employees on their books.
The US, Brazil and the UK have reported the most deaths.
The US has by far the highest number of cases and deaths, but Brazil’s outbreak now the second-worst in the world.
For now, the number of people claiming job-related benefits also increased by a monthly 23.3 percent in May to 2.8 million.
Source___Aljazeera
US pull out emergency use of hydroxychloroquine
Emergency use of the anti-malaria drug hydroxychloroquine as a cure for Covid-19 has been halt by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
The FDA said that new proofs from clinical trials meant that it was no longer useful to believe that the drug would produce an antiviral effect.
US President Donald Trump later back- it promoting the use of hydroxychloroquine as a treatment of Covid-19.
In March, the FDA granted the emergency use of the drug for some serious cases.
But on Monday, the agency said clinical studies had suggested that hydroxychloroquine was ineffective in treating the deadly virus and failed to prevent infection among those exposed to it.
Responding to the FDA’s decision, Mr Trump said that he had previously taken the drug preventatively with no side effects.
“I took it and I felt good about taking it,” he told reporters on Monday, adding: “I can’t complain about it, I took it for two weeks, and I’m here, here we are.”
The 74-year-old president said that many people had told him it had saved their lives.
The results prompted the World Health Organization (WHO) and others to halt trials over safety concerns.
Nevertheless, The Lancet recently retracted the study when it was found to have serious shortcomings and the WHO has restart its trials.
Source___BBC News
Instagram ‘will Surpass Twitter as a news root’
Photo-sharing app Instagram is set to surpass Twitter as a news root or source, research finds.
The 2020 Reuters Institute Digital News report found the use of Instagram for news had doubled since 2018.
It’s use is the strongest among young people. It said nearly a quarter of UK 18-24-year-olds used Instagram as a source of news about the pandemic.
But social media platforms were also among the least-trusted sources.
Just 26% of people said they trusted social media as a source of information about the virus. A similar percentage said they trusted news that had been shared via chat apps such as Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp.
National governments and news organisations, by contrast, were both trusted by about 59% of respondents.
Instagram is now used by more than a third of all people who answered the survey, and two-thirds of under-25s. And 11% use it for news, putting it just one point behind Twitter.
“Instagram’s become very popular with younger people”, said Nic Newman, lead author of the report. “They really respond well to stories that are told simply and well with visual images”.
Well recognize visual stories in present months have helped – climate change, the Black Lives Matter movement, and the coronavirus have all seen large engagement on the platform.
Source___BBC
India soldiers died in a fight with Chinese forces
Three Indian soldiers lose their life in a fight with Chinese forces in Ladakh in the disputed Kashmir region.
The Indian army said senior military officials from both sides were “meeting to defuse the situation”, adding that both sides suffered casualties.
China did not confirm any casualties, but accused India of crossing the border and attacking its soldiers.
A foreign ministry spokesman called on India not to take unilateral actions or stir up trouble.
The spokesman, Zhao Lijian, was quoted as saying that India had crossed the border twice on Monday, “provoking and attacking Chinese personnel, resulting in serious physical confrontation between border forces on the two sides”.
China’s Global Times newspaper reported that “solemn representations” had been made with India over the incident.
The clash comes amid rising tensions between the two countries. India has accused China of sending thousands of troops into Ladakh’s Galwan valley and says China occupies 38,000 sq km of its territory.
Fights were reported at a number of places even last month.
Source___BBC
Ganu enlisted as 15th official political party in the Gambia
The Independent Electoral Commission, IEC, yesterday make known the registration of Gambia Alliance for National Unity, Ganu, formed by Ex attorney general Sheikh Tijan Hydara.
‘According to the IEC, the colours of the newly formed party are a sea green and sky blue. The party’s symbol depicts people in a circle holding hands as a sign of unity. The motto is ‘Ganu is the solution’ and the secretariat located at Brusubi Phase 1.’
Asked to name the executive members of the party, an insider rolled out the following names: Bakusa Tunkara as the deputy leader, Alhaji Momodou Sanyang as national mobiliser, Nfamara Jammeh as interim executive secretary, Mariama Singhateh as women’s leader and Kaddy Ceesay as the women’s mobiliser.
The enlisting of Ganu makes it the 15th official political party in the country.
Other parties registered recently include Gambia For All, National Peoples Party, All Peoples Party, Citizens’ Alliance, and Gambia Action Party.
Source__Standard Newspaper
Nigeria Celebrate 21 Years Of Successive Civil Rule
Today is Democracy Day for Nigeria, a day marked by the Federal Government to honour the late businessman and politician, Moshood Abiola, believed to have won the 1993 presidential election.
This is the second time Democracy Day is being celebrated in Nigeria on June 12 since the return of democracy in 1999, as it was previously marked on May 29, to remember the day power was handed over to a democratically-elected government after years of military rule.
It was first marked as Democracy Day on the new date in 2019 after President Buhari on June 6, 2018, announced that the day would hold on June 12 of every year.
Following that decision, the House of Representatives on December 6, 2018, passed the bill seeking to amend the Holiday Act, which was also passed by the Senate on May 16, 2019, after it was put to a voice vote.
On June 12, 2019, none of the former Heads of State and Presidents attended the Democracy Day celebrations held at the Eagle Square in Abuja, the nation’s capital.
In a briefing disclosing Friday as a public holiday, the Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola, commended Nigerians for their dogged determination and sacrifice which led to democratic governance in the country.
Source Channels TV
Imam Leigh says he will not step down from NHRC
Imam Baba Leigh has made known that he will not step down as a member of the National Human Rights Commission.
Dozens of Gambians took to social media and called on the imam to step down from the rights body after this paper broke a story last week of the commission recommending to the government to protect the rights of LGBT persons in its 2019 annual report. They said protecting LGBT rights starkly contradicts Islamic teachings, of which the imam is a leading propagator.
But commenting on the controversy for the first time, the Kanifing Estate Mosque imam said those calling for his resignation are “jealous” of his popularity and influence as an imam and an award-winning human rights defender.
“I declined to comment because the issue at hand came from people who are merely seeking relevance in society. It is well known that Imam Baba Leigh is a household name. This is why many relevant seekers attack people like me to get attention. I am because of my name and religion,” he told journalists at a press conference yesterday.
He said he would“not waste” his time responding to people who don’t deserve his response.“The Gambia is small. We know those who struggle for popularity and they think they can use me to earn themselves popularity. Have you asked The Gambia as a conservative and predominantly religious country to withdraw its membership from the AU and Ecowas just because the AU and Ecowas are signatories to certain conventions that are not compatible with our beliefs? No,” he charged.
He said those who are asking for his resignation have forgotten that he has been a human rights activist for the best part of his life. “I was a founding member of Gamcotrap and since then I have been speaking for women, the powerless and voiceless. I was there fighting for those who were arrested illegally and tortured. I was doing that until I was forced into exile. No one called for Baba Leigh to resign at the time because there was nothing lucrative. Today I am asked to resign because I am an imam and at the same time a commissioner. What jealousy, selfishness and ignorance!” he said.
Source__Standard Newspaper
Nigeria Covid-19 cases Exceeds 14,000
Nigeria yesterday recorded its highest daily increase of COVID-19 cases with 681 new infections, bringing the country’s total to 14,554.
According to the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), Lagos state reported more than half of the new cases with 345 infections.
Rivers state was a distant second with 51 new cases.
Other states with new infections include Ogun (48), Gombe (47), Oyo (36), Imo (31), Delta (28), Kano (23), Bauchi (18), Edo (12), Katsina (12), Kaduna (9), Anambra (7), Jigawa (5), Kebbi (4), Ondo (4), and Nasarawa (1).
The health agency also noted that while 4,494 people have recovered from the disease, 387 have died as a result of the virus.
Source___Channels TV
Gambian man indicted in US with maltreatment of coup plotters in former President Jammeh’s regime
A Gambian man living in the United States has been indicted with maltreating political prisoners in his home country following a failed coup in 2006.
Michael Sang Correa, 41, was a member of a feared paramilitary unit known as the “Junglers” in Yahya Jammeh’s regime.
It has been described as a “hit squad” for then President Yahya Jammeh.
Mr Correa is disclosed to have entered the US in 2016 as bodyguard for Gambia’s vice-president Isatou Njie Saidy on a trip to the UN but did not return home.
Soon after, President Jammeh lost the presidential election. He initially tried to extend his 22-year rule but was forced out when West African countries sent troops to the tiny nation.
How was Correa found?
Mr Correa was working as a labourer in the city of Denver before he was arrested and detained by immigration officials a year ago, according to Colorado’s top prosecutor Jason Dunn.
Mr Correa has briefly appeared in court in the US on one count of conspiracy to commit torture and six counts of inflicting torture.
“As federal prosecutors, our mission is to seek out injustice and to hold accountable those who perpetuate it, regardless of where it occurs,” said Mr Dunn.
He said the Gambian national was charged under a federal law that has only been use twice before, allowing foreigners suspected of committing torture in other countries to be prosecuted in the US.
“We are not only holding accountable a man who has allegedly committed horrific acts of torture against his own people, but demonstrating to the people of The Gambia, and indeed the entire world, that the United States stands for the rule of law and against those who abuse human rights,” he told reporters.
Truth, Reconciliation and Reparations Commission (TRRC) has been investigating human rights violations committed during Mr Jammeh’s rule, including extrajudicial killings, torture and arbitrary detention.
Source__BBC
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