Статті

Baltimore protesters pulled down a statue of Christopher Columbus and threw it into the city’s Inner Harbor on Saturday night.Demonstrators used ropes to topple the monument near the Little Italy neighborhood, news outlets reported.Protesters mobilized by the death of George Floyd at the hands of police have called for the removal of statues of Columbus, Confederate figures and others. They say the Italian explorer is responsible for the genocide and exploitation of native peoples in the Americas.According to The Baltimore Sun, the statue was owned by the city and dedicated in 1984 by former Mayor William Donald Schaefer and President Ronald Reagan.A spokesman for Baltimore Mayor Bernard C. “Jack” Young told the Sun the toppling of the statue is a part of a national and global reexamination over monuments “that may represent different things to different people.”“We understand the dynamics that are playing out in Baltimore are part of a national narrative,” Lester Davis said.Statues of Columbus have also been toppled or vandalized in cities such as Miami; Richmond, Virginia; St. Paul, Minnesota; and Boston, where one was decapitated. 
…

A 24-year-old woman died Saturday of her injuries after she and another woman were hit by a car on a closed highway in Seattle while protesting police brutality, authorities said.Summer Taylor of Seattle died in the evening at Harborview Medical Center, spokeswoman Susan Gregg said.Taylor and Diaz Love, 32, of Portland, Oregon, were hit by the car that barreled through a panicked crowd of protesters on Interstate 5 early Saturday morning, officials said.Dawit Kelete of Seattle drove the car around vehicles that were blocking I-5 and sped into the crowd about 1:40 a.m., according to a police report released by the Washington State Patrol. Video taken at the scene by protesters showed people shouting “Car! Car!” before fleeing the roadway.Love is in serious condition in the intensive care unit at Harborview, Gregg said.Love was filming the protest in a nearly two-hour-long Facebook livestream captioned “Black Femme March takes I-5″ when the video ended abruptly; with about 15 seconds left, shouts of “Car!” can be heard as the camera starts to shake before screeching tires and the sound of impact are heard.A graphic video posted on social media showed the white Jaguar racing toward a group of protesters who are standing behind several parked cars set up for protection. The car swerves around the other vehicles and slams into the two women, sending them flying.The driver, who was alone, fled the scene after hitting the protesters, Trooper Chase Van Cleave told The Associated Press. One of the protesters got in a car and chased the driver for about a mile. He was able to stop him by pulling his car in front of the Jaguar, Van Cleave said.Troopers arrived, and the driver was put in custody, Washington State Patrol Capt. Ron Mead said.Kelete was described by offices as reserved and sullen when he was arrested, according to court documents. He also asked if the pedestrians were OK, the documents say.Kelete was booked into the King County Correctional Facility on Saturday morning on two counts of vehicular assault. Bail was denied.A judge found probable cause to hold Kelete on an investigation of vehicular assault. He faces a second court hearing on Monday at which the judge will determine if he can be released on bail, according to court documents.A protest sticker is posted on a handrail above Interstate 5 on July 4, 2020, in Seattle, where two protesters on the highway were injured after a car barreled into them earlier in the day. One of the victims died.It was not immediately clear if Kelete had an attorney who could speak on his behalf.Officials were trying to determine the motive, as well as where he got onto the interstate, which had been closed by the state patrol for more than an hour before the women were hit. Mead said they suspect Kelete drove the wrong way on a ramp. Trooper Rick Johnson said the driver went through a barrier that closed the freeway before striking the women.Troopers did not know whether it was a targeted attack, but impairment was not considered a factor, Mead said.Kelete has a Seattle address. He is listed in public records as a student who attended Washington State University between 2011 and 2017, majoring in business and commerce. His enrollment status could not be confirmed because the university was closed Saturday.The Washington State Patrol said Saturday evening that going forward it won’t allow protesters to enter I-5 and would arrest pedestrians on the freeway.Seattle has been the site of prolonged unrest following the May 25 death of George Floyd while in police custody in Minneapolis. The incident sparked nationwide protests. Dozens of people were arrested this past week in connection with protests as demonstrations continue after authorities cleared the “Capitol Hill Occupied Protest” zone Wednesday morning.Protesters had shut down the interstate for 19 days in a row, Mead said at a news conference.The State Patrol responded by closing sections of the interstate to keep drivers and protesters safe.“In a time that requires care and flexibility, we are exercising the safest means possible to avoid injuries or worse to motorists, protesters, WSDOT personnel and our troopers by closing the roadway and separating protesters from vehicular traffic,” Chief John Batiste said in a statement on June 27, responding to complaints about the road closures.Mead emphasized that the freeway is “simply not a safe place” for pedestrians and said he hoped protesters would cease what he termed “unlawful behavior” in blocking the interstate.“My hope is, as a result of this tragedy, protesters will reconsider their desire to be on the interstate because I cannot guarantee their safety, plain and simple,” Mead said.Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan said the city stands beside the friends and family of the victims.“No one should risk their life for demanding better from our city, state and country,” Durkan said on Twitter.Protesters were on the freeway for more than an hour before the car drove around the blockade around 1:36 a.m., Mead said.The state patrol tweeted out two pictures of the driver’s car with significant damage to its bumper and windshield.                  
…

Some statues of figures from America’s slave-owning past have been yanked down by protesters, others dismantled by order of governors or city leaders. But the largest Confederate monument ever crafted — colossal figures carved into the solid rock of a Georgia mountainside — may outlast them all.Stone Mountain’s supersized sculpture depicting General Robert E. Lee, Confederate President Jefferson Davis and General Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson mounted on horseback has special protection enshrined in Georgia law.  Even if its demolition were sanctioned, the monument’s sheer size poses serious challenges. The carving measures 190 feet (58 meters) across and 90 feet (27 meters) tall. An old photo shows a worker on scaffolding just below Lee’s chin barely reaching his nose.Numerous Confederate statues and monuments to American slave owners have come down across the South amid recent protests against racial injustice. Stone Mountain hasn’t escaped notice.  After organizing a protest where thousands marched in neighboring Atlanta,  Zoe Bambara, 19, held a demonstration June 4 with a much smaller group — her permit allowed no more than 25 — inside the state park where the sculpture has drawn millions of tourists for decades.FILE – In this Aug. 1, 2015, photo, Confederate flag supporters climb Stone Mountain to protest what they believe is an attack on their Southern heritage, during a rally at Stone Mountain Park in Stone Mountain, Ga.”The Confederacy doesn’t celebrate the South; it celebrates white supremacy,” said Bambara, who is Black. “The people on that mountain, they hated me. They didn’t know me, but they hated me and my ancestors. It hurts to see those people celebrated and a memorial dedicated to them.”Still, Bambara admits she’s at a loss for what should be done with the massive monument, conceived some 50 years after the Civil War ended but not finished until 1972.The sculpture’s creators used dynamite to blast huge chunks of granite away from the mountain, then spent years carving the detailed figures with hand-held cutting torches.  Dicey, priceyErasing the carving would be dangerous, time-consuming and expensive.The stone is likely too durable for sandblasting, said Ben Bentkowski, president of the Atlanta Geological Society. Controlled explosions using TNT packed into holes drilled in the mountainside would work, he said.”With the logistics, the safety aspect of it, you’d have a budget certainly north of $1 million, I suspect,” Bentkowski said. “You’ll need insurance for the project, you’ll need hazard pay for people working on the surface of it. It could easily take a year or more.”There’s also a sizable legal obstacle.When Georgia lawmakers voted in 2001 to change the state flag that had been dominated by the Confederate battle emblem since 1956, language to guarantee the preservation of the Stone Mountain sculpture was included as a bargaining chip.  The law states that “the memorial to the heroes of the Confederate States of America graven upon the face of Stone Mountain shall never be altered, removed, concealed, or obscured in any fashion.”Ryan Gravel, an Atlanta-based urban designer, noted the law doesn’t mandate maintenance. He suggested allowing nature to take its course, letting vegetation grow over the sculpture from its nooks and crannies.”I think we’re in a moment where pushing the limits of that law is possible,” Gravel said. “And certainly the scale of the challenge at Stone Mountain warrants that.”Other ideas — such as adding a bell tower atop the mountain in honor of the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. — have failed to take hold. And Democratic proposals to strip the protective language from Georgia law have fallen flat with the Republican-controlled Legislature.Governor’s remarksAsked whether Stone Mountain still deserves special protection, GOP Governor Brian Kemp didn’t give a direct answer when speaking to reporters June 26.  “As I’ve said many times, we can’t hide from our history,” Kemp said, while citing the new hate crimes law he signed the same day as a significant step in fighting racial injustice.Stone Mountain wasn’t a battle site and had little historical significance to the Civil War. But 50 years after the war ended, the exposed surface of the mountain’s northern face sparked an idea among the United Daughters of the Confederacy.  “It looked like a giant billboard,” said Stan Deaton, senior historian for the Georgia Historical Society.The group hired sculptor Gutzon Borglum — who later would carve Mount Rushmore — to design a massive Confederate monument in 1915.That same year, the movie “The Birth of a Nation” glorified the Reconstruction-era Ku Klux Klan and Stone Mountain played a key role in its resurgence, marking its comeback with a cross burning atop the mountain on Thanksgiving night.Budget problems plagued the Stone Mountain project and work on the sculpture languished until the state bought the mountain and surrounding land in 1958 for a public park. Finishing the monument gained renewed urgency as the civil rights movement brought unwanted change to defiant Southern states.  “It became the centerpiece of the park,” Deaton said. “There was never any doubt that the state’s intention of finishing this was of a piece with massive resistance.”An estimated 10,000 people attended the monument’s dedication in 1970. Another two years passed before its official completion.Family theme parkFive decades later, the park at Stone Mountain markets itself as a family theme park rather than a shrine to the “Lost Cause” mythology that romanticizes the Confederacy as chivalrous defenders of states’ rights. Its website highlights miniature golf and a dinosaur-themed attraction while downplaying the Confederate carving, Confederate flags and brick terraces dedicated to each Confederate state.FILE – Paula and Michael Smith pose for a photo with their grandson, Evan, 10, in front of a giant carving of Confederate figures during a visit to Stone Mountain Park, June 29, 2020.Paula and Michael Smith of Monticello, Georgia, visited Stone Mountain on Monday so their 10-year-old grandson could see the monument for the first time.”The mountain itself is absolutely breathtakingly beautiful and the carving is an engineering marvel,” said Paula Smith, a 70-year-old white woman who dismissed talk of removing or altering the carving as an attempt to “steal American history.”Jarvis Jones climbs the steep hiking trail on the back side of Stone Mountain several times a week. The 29-year-old Black man said he tries to avoid seeing the carving.”I definitely understand everyone wants their history to be represented,” Jones said. “But when it comes to the oppression of other people, I think it needs to change.”
…

President Donald Trump kicked off a “Salute to America” Saturday night on the grounds of the White House with a speech that revisited the language and themes of the one he delivered a night earlier at Mount Rushmore.In his speech, the president vowed to “safeguard our values” from enemies within, including leftists, looters, and agitators.He went on to say the United States would “never allow an angry mob to tear down our statues, erase our history.”The president also suggested a coronavirus vaccine could come “long before the end of the year.”Earlier Saturday, Democrat Joe Biden, Trump’s presumptive opponent in the November election, used a different tone, tweeting: “Our nation was founded on a simple idea: We’re all created equal. We’ve never lived up to it — but we’ve never stopped trying. This Independence Day, let’s not just celebrate those words, let’s commit to finally fulfill them.”Crowds of spectators turned out along the National Mall for the event, including a large Independence Day fireworks display, despite the city’s concerns about the coronavirus. Crowds started to form Saturday morning along the mall but were smaller than a year ago and many wore masks, according to the Associated Press.Among them was nurse Zippy Watt from Riverside, California, who came to see the military flyover and fireworks with her husband and their two daughters. They wore matching American flag face masks even when seated together on a park bench.”We chose to wear a mask to protect ourselves and others,” Watt told the AP. She said she is “more of a Trump supporter” because of what she sees as socialist tendencies and high taxes in her state.Streets were blocked off around D.C. as the district saw a number of protests for racial equality and police reform.Earlier at the White House, several hundred invited guests gathered, most not wearing masks, on the South Lawn around tables decorated with flowers and small U.S. flags.Trump’s guests were doctors, nurses, law enforcement officers and military members as well as officials from the administration, said Judd Deere, deputy White House press secretary. He said the event was a tribute to the “tremendous courage and spirit” of front-line workers and the public in the pandemic.Interior Secretary David Bernhardt said plans for the July Fourth celebrations include a milelong firing of 10,000 fireworks that he called “the largest in recent memory.”Interior Department officials said they would have 300,000 face masks to give to spectators who came to the National Mall for the festivities, although there was no indication that people would be required to wear them.Bernhardt said visitors would be encouraged to wear masks and keep a 2-meter distance from one another.D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser has criticized the plans, saying they go against established health guidelines.“We know this is a special event for the Department of Interior. We’ve communicated to them that we do not think this is in keeping with the best CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) and Department of Health guidance,” she said.She noted the event would take place entirely on federal property, which means she does not have the right to shut down the holiday festivities.Bowser has asked city residents to avoid large crowds and to celebrate July Fourth near their homes.Many other U.S. cities have canceled or scaled back their firework displays this year because of the pandemic and concerns of large groups of people gathering.However, sales of fireworks have been strong, indicating that many Americans are planning to celebrate the holiday in their backyard, according to the Associated Press.   
…

The World Health Organization (WHO) said on Saturday that it was discontinuing its trials of the malaria drug hydroxychloroquine and combination HIV drug lopinavir/ritonavir in hospitalized patients with COVID-19 after they failed to reduce mortality.The setback came as the WHO also reported more than 200,000 new cases globally of the disease for the first time in a single day. The United States accounted for more than one-fourth of the total 212,326 new cases recorded on Friday, the WHO said.”These interim trial results show that hydroxychloroquine and lopinavir/ritonavir produce little or no reduction in the mortality of hospitalized COVID-19 patients when compared to standard of care. Solidarity trial investigators will interrupt the trials with immediate effect,” the WHO said in a statement, referring to large multicountry trials that the agency is leading.The U.N. agency said the decision, taken on the recommendation of the trial’s international steering committee, does not affect other studies where those drugs are used for nonhospitalized patients or as a prophylaxis.Another branch of the WHO-led trial is looking at the potential effect of Gilead’s antiviral drug remdesivir on COVID-19. The European Commission on Friday conditionally approved remdesivir for use after it was shown to shorten hospital recovery times.The solidarity trial started out with five branches looking at possible treatment approaches to COVID-19: standard care; remdesivir; hydroxychloroquine; lopinavir/ritonavir; and lopanivir/ritonavir combined with interferon.WHO Director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters on Friday that nearly 5,500 patients in 39 countries had been recruited so far into its clinical trials and that interim results were expected within two weeks.Eighteen experimental COVID-19 vaccines are being tested on humans among nearly 150 treatments under development.Mike Ryan, WHO’s top emergencies expert, said on Friday that it would be unwise to predict when a vaccine could be ready. While a vaccine candidate might show its effectiveness by year’s end, the question was how soon it could then be mass-produced, he said.
…

The world saw a record 24-hour increase in the number of coronavirus cases Saturday — 212,326, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported.The United States, Brazil and India led with the largest increases, the A tour group riding Segways rides down Miami Beach’s famed Ocean Drive on South Beach, July 4, 2020. The Fourth of July holiday weekend began Saturday with Florida logging a record number of people testing positive for the coronavirus.While the number of coronavirus infections has risen drastically recently, the nation’s average daily death toll has gradually declined because more of the recent positive cases are younger people who are less likely to have severe outcomes.However, the percentage of positive tests is rising in places. In Florida, for example, the percentage of positive tests rose to 14.8% compared with 8.3% two weeks ago, according to a Reuters analysis. The WHO says a rate of more than 5% is concerning.’Let’s not blow it’Elsewhere around the world, England took its biggest step toward a return to normal Saturday when it allowed pubs, barbers and movie theaters to reopen.”Let’s not blow it now,” Prime Minister Boris Johnson urged fellow Brits as they headed out for a pint or a haircut.As other countries have emerged from lockdown, authorities have been working to quash virus clusters as they have popped up.Police officers enforce a lockdown at public housing towers in response to an outbreak of the coronavirus disease in Melbourne, Australia, July 4, 2020.Some examples:— Australia’s Victoria state locked down nine public housing towers and three more Melbourne suburbs after 108 new cases. Premier Daniel Andrews said 3,000 people lived in the towers and “there will be no one allowed in … and no one allowed out.”— Authorities in northeast Spain ordered a lockdown of El Segriá County around the city of Lleida, home to more than 200,000 people, after health officials recorded a jump of 60 cases in 24 hours. The outbreaks were linked to agricultural workers in the rural area.— And Tokyo confirmed 131 new cases, exceeding 100 for the third day in a row and hitting a new two-month high, prompting Governor Yuriko Koike to ask residents to avoid nonessential out-of-town visits.People wearing face masks to help curb the spread of the coronavirus walk through a shopping area in Tokyo, July 3, 2020. Japan lifted a seven-week pandemic state of emergency in late May.Concerns are rising about a resurgence of infections as Japan is now nearly back to business as usual after its state of emergency was lifted in May.— France said it was sending medics to its South American territory of French Guiana, where infections have surged as the virus swept neighboring Brazil.Over the past week, 1,400 new COVID cases were confirmed in French Guiana, with a population of just 300,000, according to French health officials. The military is flying patients from saturated facilities to the French Caribbean island of Martinique for treatment.— Finally, in South Africa, a growing hot spot as the pandemic picks up speed in parts of Africa, confirmed cases have climbed to more than 177,000, with a record 9,063 reported in the most recent 24-hour period.If Africa’s most developed country is struggling to manage the pandemic, that’s ominous for less-prepared African nations. Confirmed cases across the 54-nation continent are now above 433,000.The Associated Press contributed to this report.
…

NATO’s non-combatant military alliance in Afghanistan said Saturday it has arranged its “largest supply ever” of personal protective medical equipment to help Afghan security forces fight the coronavirus. 
The announcement by the 38-nation Resolute Support mission came just days after news reports said the pandemic was sweeping through Afghan security forces, undermining their ability to counter increased battlefield attacks by Taliban insurgents.
 
“More than 1.4 million masks, 500,000 gloves, 460,000 gowns & surgical supplies are on their way to ANA (Afghan National Army) and ANP (Afghan National Police) across Afghanistan,” the alliance tweeted.
 
It reiterated NATO’s commitment to support the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces (ANDSF) in their efforts to secure peace in the country.
 
A recent Washington Post article quoted unnamed Afghan security officials in four provinces as reporting suspected infection rates of 60 to 90 percent among personnel.
 
The outbreak has reportedly reduced the number of Afghan forces available to conduct counter-Taliban operations and other vital tasks, including taking up duty at security outposts.
 
The Afghan Defense Ministry rejected reports of large-scale infections among security forces, saying all necessary measures have been taken to prevent the spread of the virus at military bases and outposts.
 
As of Saturday, the public health ministry said that confirmed COVID-19 infections in Afghanistan, a country of 37 million, have risen to nearly 33,000. It noted that 826 patients have died. COVID-19 is caused by the coronavirus.
 Public health officials have warned that the actual numbers are much higher, citing limited testing capacity, among other challenges facing the war-hit health care system, and that up to 26 million people in the country could become infected in the coming months.
 
There are also reports the outbreak is circulating among top Taliban commanders and fighters, although insurgent officials have denied them.
 
Afghan authorities acknowledge stepped up insurgent attacks in recent weeks have killed and injured hundreds of security forces. The fighting has also killed scores of civilians.
 
The violence comes as Afghan rivals prepare to hold peace talks to negotiate a cease-fire and a power-sharing arrangement.
 
The proposed dialogue is stipulated in a landmark pact the United States signed with the Islamist Taliban in February to end nearly two decades of hostilities in Afghanistan.The commencement of long-awaited intra-Afghan peace talks, however, is tied to the conclusion of an ongoing prisoner swap between the Afghan government and the Taliban.
 
Kabul still has to free about 1,000 Taliban prisoners out of 5,000 it is required to release. The insurgents have released about 740 Afghan out of a promised 1,000.
 
The U.S.-Taliban deal requires all American and allied troops to leave Afghanistan by July 2021, subject to assurances the insurgent group will prevent transnational terrorists from using the country for international attacks and engage in a political reconciliation process to end violence.
 
Meanwhile, the NATO senior civilian representative to Afghanistan, Stefano Pontecorvo, has cautioned Taliban violence is hampering efforts to jumpstart intra-Afghan peace talks.
 
Pontecorvo released the statement via Twitter after updating NATO members in Brussels on the situation in Afghanistan.
 
“We also discussed the situation on the ground — Taliban violence has to go down, it is simply unacceptable and it is creating an issue, a problem for getting to the peace talks,” he said.
 
 
…

A statue of Christopher Columbus in Waterbury has been decapitated amid protests over racial injustice and the legacy of the 15th-century navigator.Columbus Statue Vndalized: ‘Stop Celebrating Genocide’A statue of Christopher Columbus in Rhode Island has been vandalized on the US holiday named for himThe Republican-American reports  that photos shot Saturday show the headless statue outside Waterbury’s City Hall.The statue had been the focus of a standoff earlier in the week between its supporters and Black Lives Matter protesters who wanted it removed.Changing Columbus Day to Indigenous Peoples’ Day Gains National ApprovalFor many Americans, the annual Columbus Day holiday honors the heritage and contributions of the 17 million-plus Italian Americans living in the United States. But honoring navigator Christopher Columbus has long been considered by many as an affront to Native Americans who were in the so-called New World long before Columbus arrived in 1492. Several Columbus statues in Connecticut have been removed in recent weeks as anti-racism protesters have argued that the renowned explorer was responsible for the exploitation and genocide of Indigenous people.Crews removed a Columbus statue from its pedestal in Hartford on Monday, and city leaders said it would be placed in storage until a decision is made on what to do with it.  The Waterbury statue was donated to the city in the 1980s by UNICO, an Italian American organization. 
…