Joe Biden Calls For an End To Violence

The former vice president, Joe Biden, has called for an end to the violent riots and looting, which were sparked by major demonstrations throughout the United States over the death of George Floyd, in an emotional new statement.

The presumptive Democratic presidential nominee posted a lengthy message to his Medium page during the weekend titled “We are a nation furious at injustice”.

In it, Mr Biden suggested he supported protests against the death of Mr Floyd, a 46-year-old unarmed black man who died after a white police officer in Minneapolis restrained him for more than eight minutes by kneeling on his neck as he pleaded for air, according to charging documents.

However, the former vice president noted that “burning down communities and needless destruction” was not a “necessary” form of protest.

“These last few days have laid bare that we are a nation furious at injustice,” Mr Biden began. “Every person of conscience can understand the rawness of the trauma people of colour experience in this country, from the daily indignities to the extreme violence, like the horrific killing of George Floyd.”

Tinubu Admonishes Party Leaders To safeguard Primaries

There may be no going back on transparent and democratic primaries for the choice of governorship candidates by the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Edo and Ondo states, it was learnt yesterday.

At a meeting with nine APC governors, National Leader Asiwaju Bola Tinubu said democratic primary as a core element of internal democracy should not be jettisoned.

A source at the meeting held at the State House, Marina, Lagos, said Tinubu,  a former governor of Lagos, emphasised the importance of primary to democracy, admonishing party leaders to safeguard it in the preparation for the choice of standard bearers.

The Progressives Governors’s Forum, led by Kebbi State Governor Atiku Bagudu, unfolded plans last week to mount pressure on President Muhammadu Buhari to support their push for right of first refusal to two of their colleagues, Ondo State Rotimi Akeredolu (SAN) and   Edo State Governor Godwin Obaseki, for the governorship.

The polls will hold in Edo in September and Ondo in October. No fewer than 10 chieftains are competing for the ticket in Ondo APC with Akeredolu, who is seeking a second term.

In Edo, other contenders have stepped down for Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu, who is challenging Obaseki at the shadow poll. The Edo governor is also seeking re-election.

Last week, National Working Committee (NWC) announced that direct primary will be adopted for the Edo APC shadow poll.

At yesterday’s two-hour parley, the following nine governors were in attendance.

The Nation

Oshiomhole insists on direct primary in Edo

National Chairman of All Progressives Congress(APC), Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, has insisted on direct primary to pick Edo Governorship candidate on June 22.

He stated this after a meeting with members of the National Working Committee (NWC) and Governors elected under on the platform of the party.The Chairman disclosed this after the meeting, which lasted for over three hours at the National Secretariat in Abuja.

The Nation

Buhari Pushes COVID 19 Battle To States

THE Federal Government has pushed the battle to contain Coronavirus to states and communities, Chairman of the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on the pandemic, Mr. Boss Mustapha, said on Sunday.

According to him, the Federal Government will henceforth only provide supervision and coordination.

Mustapha, the secretary to the government of the federation (SGF), spoke on Sunday at the State House after members of the PTF briefed President Muhammadu Buhari and discussed their recommendations on the next phase of the battle.

With him at the briefing were Minister of Health Dr. Osagie Ehanire; National Coordinator of the PTF Dr. Sani Aliyu; Director-General of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) Dr. Chikwe Ihekwaezu, and Minister of Interior Rauf Aregbesola.

Mustapha said: “The ownership of the next stage will be the responsibility of the states  because we have gone into community transmission.

Tha Nation

Ekiti State Governor Relaxes Lockdown

EKITI State Governor Kayode Fayemi has relaxed the state’s lockdown to allow residents to pursue their businesses from Mondays through Fridays from 6am to 8pm.

Fayemi, who stated this in a broadcast yesterday evening, added that public officers on Grade Level 8 and above are to resume for duty. Those on Grade Level 7 and below are to remain at home till further notice.

The governor stated that the new directives take effect from today, adding that consultations are underway to reopen religious worship centres, schools and big markets in the state.

The Coronavirus Is Disappearing In Italy

The coronavirus is disappearing in Italy, with some Italian doctors suggesting the virus is losing its potency.

Alberto Zangrillo, who heads Milan's San Raffaele Hospital in the badly hit northern region of Lombardy, told Italian TV on Sunday that "in reality, the virus clinically no longer exists in Italy," Reuters reported.

"The swabs that were performed over the last 10 days showed a viral load in quantitative terms that was absolutely infinitesimal compared to the ones carried out a month or two months ago," Zangrillo added.

Zangrillo urged Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte's government to continue lifting lockdown measures, saying that warnings of a second wave of the virus were creating unnecessary fear in Italy.

"We've got to get back to being a normal country," he said. "Someone has to take responsibility for terrorizing the country."

Matteo Bassetti, the head of San Martino Hospital's infectious-diseases clinic in Genoa, in northwestern Italy, agreed with Zangrillo that the coronavirus was not as lethal as it used to be.

"The strength the virus had two months ago is not the same strength it has today," Bassetti told an Italian news agency, adding that "it is clear that today the COVID-19 disease is different."

Yahoonews/Reuters

Trump Calls Governors Weak For Failing To Dominate

Following a weekend in which protests over the death of George Floyd raged in virtually every major American city, President Trump on Monday told U.S. governors they were “weak” for not being more aggressive in enforcing laws against the demonstrations.

“You have to dominate. If you don’t dominate, you’re wasting your time,” Trump said during a video teleconference with governors, law enforcement and national security officials, audio of which was obtained by CBS News.

“They’re going to run over you,” the president said. “You’re going to look like a bunch of jerks. You have to dominate.”

“You’ve got to arrest people,” he continued. “You have to track people. You have to put them in jail for 10 years and you’ll never see this stuff again."

Trump’s comments came after a weekend of unrest over the death of Floyd, a black man who died after being pinned to the ground by a white Minneapolis police officer one week ago. In cities across the country, protesters broke curfews, set fires and looted stores, and police responded with shows of force, lobbing flash bangs, spraying tear gas and firing rubber bullets.

In Washington, D.C., Sunday, fires burned as demonstrators clashed with law enforcement for the third straight evening outside the White House. On Friday night, Secret Service agents rushed Trump to a White House bunker designed for use in emergencies like terrorist attacks as hundreds of protesters fought with police about 100 yards from the executive mansion.

Federal Government Lifts Ban On Religious Gatherings

The Federal Government on Monday lifted the ban on religious gatherings across the country.

This was disclosed by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation and Chairman of Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19, Boss Mustapha, at the daily media briefing in Abuja.The PTF submitted its recommendations and the PRESIDENT has approved the following for implementation over the next four weeks spanning 2nd – 29th June, 2020, subject to review-

Cautious advance into the Second Phase of the national response to COVID-19; application of science and data to guide the targeting of areas of on-going high transmission of COVID-19 in the country;

“Mobilisation of all resources at State and Local Government levels to create public awareness on COVID 19 and improve compliance with non-pharmaceutical interventions within communities; sustenance of key non-pharmaceutical interventions that would apply nationwide and include: ban of gatherings of more than 20 people outside of a workplace;

“Relaxation of restriction on places of Worship based on guidelines issued by the PTF and protocols agreed by state governments.”

Details shortly…

The Nation

Obama Calls For New Generation of Activists To Bring About Real Change

Former President Barack Obama on Monday addressed the nationwide protests over the death of George Floyd, praising the “overwhelming majority” of peaceful demonstrators, condemning the violence brought on by a “small minority” and calling on a “new generation of activists” to “bring about real change.”

“The waves of protests across the country represent a genuine and legitimate frustration over a decades-long failure to reform police practices and the broader criminal justice system in the United States,” Obama wrote in an essay published on Medium.com. “The overwhelming majority of participants have been peaceful, courageous, responsible, and inspiring. They deserve our respect and support, not condemnation.”

The former president then lauded police in Camden, N.J., and Flint, Mich., for publicly supporting peaceful protests before criticizing demonstrators who have been acting violently. 

"On the other hand, the small minority of folks who’ve resorted to violence in various forms, whether out of genuine anger or mere opportunism, are putting innocent people at risk, compounding the destruction of neighborhoods that are often already short on services and investment and detracting from the larger cause," Obama wrote. "Let’s not excuse violence, or rationalize it, or participate in it. If we want our criminal justice system, and American society at large, to operate on a higher ethical code, then we have to model that code ourselves."

Obama dismissed suggestions by some activists that "only protests and direct action can bring about change, and that voting and participation in electoral politics is a waste of time."

"I couldn’t disagree more," he explained. "The point of protest is to raise public awareness, to put a spotlight on injustice, and to make the powers that be uncomfortable; in fact, throughout American history, it’s often only been in response to protests and civil disobedience that the political system has even paid attention to marginalized communities. But eventually, aspirations have to be translated into specific laws and institutional practices — and in a democracy, that only happens when we elect government officials who are responsive to our demands.”

Yahoonews

Congo Declares New Ebola Case

Authorities in Congo announced a new Ebola outbreak in the western city of Mbandaka on Monday, adding to another epidemic of the virus that has raged in the east since 2018.

Six cases have been detected, four of which have died in the city, a trading hub of 1.5 million people on the Congo River with regular transport links to the capital Kinshasa.

Mbandaka is 1,000 km (620 miles) from an ongoing outbreak that has killed over 2,200 people in North Kivu province by the Uganda border, where containment efforts have been hampered by armed conflict.

The new outbreak is Congo's eleventh since the virus was discovered near the Ebola River in 1976.

"We have a new Ebola epidemic in Mbandaka," health minister Eteni Longondo told reporters. "We are going to very quickly send them the vaccine and medicine."

The Ebola virus causes hemorrhagic fever and is spread through direct contact with body fluids from an infected person, who suffers severe vomiting and diarrhoea.

The discovery is a major blow for Democratic Republic of Congo, which has suffered three Ebola outbreaks since 2017. It is also combating a measles epidemic that has killed over 6,000 and COVID-19, which has infected over 3,000 and killed 71.

"This outbreak is a reminder that #COVID19 is not the only health threat people face," World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus tweeted.

The health ministry was two days away from declaring the end of the eastern North Kivu outbreak in April when a new chain of infection was confirmed. No new cases have been detected there in over 30 days.

Ebola was detected in Mbandaka in 2018, leading to fears it could spread fast there, or reach Kinshasa, which is home to 10 million people.

However, the use of a vaccine and swift containment efforts including mobile handwashing stations and a door-to-door education campaign kept it at bay.

Reuters

Activist Tamika Mallory's Speech Goes Viral: 'We Learned Violence From You!'.

The former Women’s March co-chair said Black America was in a “state of emergency” at the Friday demonstration, where she was joined by community leaders including Jamie Foxx , Floyd’s close friend, former NBA star Stephen Jackson , and others.

“This is a coordinated activity happening across this nation, and so we are in a state of emergency. Black people are dying in a state of emergency,” said Mallory, 39, who formerly worked with Al Sharpton ‘s National Action Network in New York City.

Mallory addressed the burning of buildings and looting of businesses in Minneapolis during a week of high-pitch protests in the city and others throughout the country, in which demonstrators took to the streets to speak out against a history of racial violence in the United States.

“We cannot look at this as an isolated incident. The reason buildings are burning are not just for our brother George Floyd,” she said. “They’re burning down because people here in Minnesota are saying to people in New York, to people in California, to people in Memphis, to people across this nation, enough is enough.”

“We are not responsible for the mental illness that has been afflicted upon our people by the American government, institutions, and those people who are in positions of power.

“I don’t give a damn if they burn down,” Mallory added.

“I don’t give a damn if they burn down Target, because Target should be on the streets with us, calling for the justice that our people deserve. Where was AutoZone at the time when Philando Castile was shot in a car, which is what they actually represent?”

Referring to law enforcement officers who are paid by U.S. citizens’ tax dollars, Mallory argued that companies and individuals who are silent against the brutality of Black Americans are just as responsible for the violence happening on the streets.

“So if you are not coming to the people’s defense then do not challenge us when young people and other people who are frustrated and instigated by the people you pay. You are paying instigators to be among our people out there throwing rocks, breaking windows and burning down buildings,” she said.

A protester takes a knee in front of San Jose Police officers during a protest on East Santa Clara Street in San Jose, Calif., on May 29, 2020, after the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. (Photo by Dai Sugano/MediaNews Group/The Mercury News via Getty Images)

“And so young people are responding to that. They are enraged. And there’s an easy way to stop it. Arrest the cops. Charge the cops. Charge all the cops. Not just some of them. Not just here in Minneapolis. Charge them in every city across America where our people are being murdered.”

Mallory demanded that elected officials and leaders to do their jobs to ensure that America is the free country it espouses to be for all Americans and not just an exclusive few.

“It has not been free for Black people and we are tired. Don’t talk to us about looting. Ya’ll are the looters!” Mallory shouted.

“America has looted Black people! America looted the Native Americans when they first came here, so looting is what you do. We learned it from you.

“We learned violence from you! So if you want us to do better, then damn it, you do better!”