Los Angeles police officer accused of repeatedly punching man is charged

A Los Angeles police officer who was seen on video repeatedly punching a man in an encounter in April has been charged with felony assault, prosecutors said Tuesday.

Officer Frank Hernandez, 49, is set to be arraigned Thursday, the Los Angeles County district attorney's office said.

"This is a disturbing case of the illegal use of force at the hands of a police officer," District Attorney Jackie Lacey said in a statement "We believe the force was neither legally necessary nor reasonable."

Prosecutors say that Hernandez and his partner responded to a call of a trespasser at a vacant lot in Boyle Heights on April 27 and that "during a confrontation between police and the victim, Hernandez is accused of illegally punching the unarmed man more than a dozen times in the head, neck and body."

NBC news

India and China: How Nepal's new map is stirring old rivalries

Nepal's parliament is expected this week to formally approve a revised map of the country, including three areas it disputes with its giant neighbour India.

The redrawing of the map covers a relatively small region high in the Himalayas but it has stirred simmering tensions between two of the world's biggest powers, India and China.

In Nepal, which is sandwiched between the two, people have reacted angrily, protesting and accusing India of disregarding the country's sovereignty.

In recent months a new Indian road on a strategic mountain pass fanned tensions, as did a revised map put out by Delhi showing disputed areas as belonging to India.

source; BBCnews

George Floyd protests: Lawyer arrested twice after spitting on black teenager and slapping another the next day

A lawyer who spat on a teenage protester during a demonstration over George Floyd’s death has been arrested twice in two days.

According to eye witness reports from the scene on Saturday, Stephanie Rapkin, a white 64-year-old resident of the Milwaukee suburb of Shorewood, parked her car in the middle of an intersection to block an anti-racism protest, angrily ignoring demands that she get back into the car and move it.

As seen on video shot by bystander which has since been widely shared online, Ms Rapkin angrily refused, then spat in the face of a young black protester who approached her, angering the crowd. She was arrested at her home later that night, but not transported to the Milwaukee County jail because of restrictions in place to stop the spread of Covid-19.

The next day, Ms Rapkin was arrested again after an altercation with protesters outside her home who were chalking the sidewalk with messages including “racist” and “I spat on a child”.

Outcry in South Africa after woman found stabbed and hanging from tree

The hashtag #JusticeForTshego has been trending on Twitter in South Africa after the horrific killing of 28-year-old Tshegofatso Pule.

Her stabbed body was found hanging from a tree near Johannesburg.

She was eight months pregnant, local media are quoting police as saying.

There are high levels of violence against women in South Africa and last year President Cyril Ramaphosa said the country was one of "the most unsafe places in the world to be a woman".

Crime statistics released last year showed that 2,930 adult women were murdered in a 12-month period from 2017 to 2018, which amounts to one murder every three hours.

Why Donald Trump's Poll Numbers Are Seriously Slipping

President Donald Trump's poll numbers are slipping less than six months outside of the election while former Vice President Joe Biden is seeing his support rise amid a stubborn pandemic and growing protests over the death of George Floyd.

Fifty-five percent of people in a CNN poll published on Monday said they would vote for the presumptive Democratic nominee, while 41% said the same for Trump, who shocked pollsters after he defeated former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in a close presidential election in 2016. The CNN poll is not an outlier.

The National Interest

Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury agree terms of two-fight deal

Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury have agreed in principle to meet in two blockbuster fights, according to Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn.

Hearn has been negotiating with Fury’s camp for several weeks and he said the terms were in place for the British world heavyweight champions to go head to head.

No contracts have been signed yet, but Hearn expects WBA, IBF and WBO belt holder Joshua to face WBC champion Fury to determine the undisputed king of the heavyweight scene in 2021.

The Nation

Breonna Taylor: Protesters call on people to 'say her name'

George Floyd, the black man killed in police custody in the US, has become a rallying cry for equality and justice in some of the largest protests against racism since the 1960s.

Protestors have chanted his name for 13 days and his face has been painted in murals from Syria to Belfast.

But other names too have been on the lips of protesters, in particular that of Breonna Taylor, a health worker shot eight times by police who entered her apartment in Louisville, Kentucky on 13 March.

Activists are calling on people to "Say Her Name" as part of a movement to remember black women who have not attracted the same attention as other cases.

On Friday, when Ms Taylor would have turned 27, mourners gathered for a vigil in Louisville and people shared birthday messages on social media writing, "you should have been here to celebrate".