AP News in Brief at 6:04 a.m. EDT
Protests turn subdued after new charges in Floyd case
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Demonstrations in cities across the U.S. to condemn racism and police abuses remained large but turned notably more subdued on the eve of a Thursday memorial service for George Floyd that kicks off a series of events to mourn the man whose death empowered a national movement.
The calmer protests came on the same day that prosecutors charged three more police officers and filed a new, tougher charge against the officer at the center of the case.
The most serious new charge Wednesday was an accusation of second-degree murder against Derek Chauvin, who was caught on video pressing his knee to Floyd’s neck. The three other officers at the scene were charged for the first time with aiding and abetting second-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter.
If convicted, they could be sentenced to up to four decades in prison.
The move by prosecutors punctuated an unprecedented week in modern American history, in which largely peaceful protests took place in communities of all sizes but were rocked by bouts of violence, including deadly attacks on officers, rampant thefts and arson in some places.
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8:46: A number becomes a potent symbol of police brutality
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — All protest movements have slogans. George Floyd's has a number: 8:46
Eight minutes, 46 seconds is the length of time prosecutors say Floyd, a 46-year-old black man, was pinned to the ground under a white Minneapolis police officer's knee before he died last week.
In the days since, outraged protesters, allies and sympathetic companies have seized on the detail as a quiet way to honor Floyd at a time of angry and sometimes violent clashes with police. Even as prosecutors have said little about how they arrived at the precise number, it has fast grown into a potent symbol of the suffering Floyd — and many other black men — have experienced at the hands of police.
In Boston and Tacoma, Washington, demonstrators this week lay down on streets staging “die-ins" for precisely 8 minutes, 46 seconds. In Houston, churchgoers held candles and bowed their heads in silence, experiencing the crawl of time.
ViacomCBS, owner of MTV and Nickelodeon, stopped its programming earlier this week to air a silent, somber video honoring Floyd for 8 minutes, 46 seconds.
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Hong Kong outlaws insulting China's national anthem
HONG KONG (AP) — Hong Kong’s legislature approved a contentious bill Thursday that makes it illegal to insult the Chinese national anthem.
The legislation was approved after pro-democracy opposition lawmakers tried to disrupt the vote. The bill was passed with 41 lawmakers voting for it and just one voting against. Most of the pro-democracy lawmakers boycotted the vote out of protest.
The pro-democracy camp sees the anthem bill as an infringement of freedom of expression and the greater rights that residents of the semi-autonomous city have compared to mainland China.
The pro-Beijing majority said the law was necessary for Hong Kong citizens to show appropriate respect for the anthem.
Those found guilty of intentionally abusing the “March of the Volunteers” face up to three years in prison and a fine of up to 50,000 Hong Kong dollars ($6,450).
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Pandemic hits poorest hardest as India, Pakistan cases jump
The United Nations and the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement are urging that governments and others unite in developing a “people’s vaccine” to protect everyone against the coronavirus.
Their appeal came ahead of a vaccine summit in London organized by the Global Vaccine Alliance that is seeking to mobilize billions of dollars of funding for a COVID-19 vaccine.
The “people’s vaccine” should protect the affluent, the poor, the old and young, said a statement by the U.N. and the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement. That is a “moral imperative that brings us all together in our shared humanity,” it said.
It said the pandemic is also raising risks of other diseases as it disrupts childhood immunization programs, leaving at least 80 million children under the age of one at risk of diseases like measles, diphtheria and polio.
The urgency of finding a way to stem outbreaks was evident as India on Thursday reported yet another record number of new infections, at 9,304, with 260 deaths in the previous 24 hours.
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Ex-defense chief Mattis rips Trump for dividing Americans
WASHINGTON (AP) — In an extraordinary rebuke, former defense secretary Jim Mattis on Wednesday denounced President Donald Trump's heavy-handed use of military force to quell protests near the White House and said his former boss was setting up a “false conflict" between the military and civilian society.
“I have watched this week's unfolding events, angry and appalled,” Mattis wrote.
The criticism was all the more remarkable because Mattis has generally kept a low profile since retiring as defense secretary in December 2018 to protest Trump's Syria policy. He had declined to speak out against Trump, saying he owed the nation public silence while his former boss remained in office.
But he’s speaking out after this past week’s protests in response to the death of George Floyd in police custody.
Trump responded on Twitter Wednesday evening by calling Mattis “the world’s most overrated General.”
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Protests eclipse pandemic, but White House fears resurgence
WASHINGTON (AP) — For weeks, President Donald Trump has been eager to publicly turn the page on the coronavirus pandemic. Now fears are growing within the White House that the very thing that finally shoved the virus from center stage — mass protests over the death of George Floyd — may bring about its resurgence.
Trump this week has eagerly pronounced himself the “president of law and order" in response to the racial unrest that has swept across the nation, overshadowing the pandemic that has claimed the lives of more than 105,000 Americans and imperiled his reelection prospects.
But political dangers for the president remain.
Thousands of Americans — many without protective face masks — have jammed the nation’s streets over the past week in defiance of social distancing guidelines from governors and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The White House coronavirus task force, which has dramatically scaled back its operations as states reopen their economies, is scrambling to track the potential impact on infection rates.
Any uptick in cases in the weeks ahead could slow the economic rebirth that Trump’s advisers believe he needs before he faces voters again in five months.
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Amid virus, those in India's largest slum help one another
KOHIMA, India (AP) — There are no secrets in the tightly packed lanes of Dharavi, India’s largest slum. Everyone knows when an alcoholic husband turns violent, when children are scolded, or when a family has its television turned up too loud.
So, news that someone had been hospitalized with the new coronavirus rocketed through the 1 square mile (2.5 square kilometers) that is home to around a million of Mumbai’s poorest residents.
Born and bred in Dharavi, Kunal Kanase watched authorities ignore everyday disasters, like overflowing sewers and domestic violence. He knew better than to wait for help.
The 31-year-old student and community activist hounded government helplines trying to get authorities to quarantine the neighbor's family. Unable to get through, he tweeted at the Mumbai police, who quickly came to take the man's family to a quarantine center.
“I used to teach his two children and felt good for the family since they were relatively safer now,” he said from the tiny two-room apartment he shares with his parents and younger brother.
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Brooklyn bishop accused by 2nd man of sex abuse in the 1970s
NEW YORK (AP) — The Roman Catholic bishop of Brooklyn, already under a church investigation for alleged sex abuse, has been accused by a second man of abuse in the 1970s, when the bishop was a parish priest in New Jersey.
Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio “repeatedly sexually abused” Samier Tadros starting when he was about 6 years old, according to a March 9 letter that Tadros' lawyer sent to the attorney representing the Archdiocese of Newark. The letter alleges the abuse happened in Holy Rosary Church in Jersey City.
DiMarzio has previously denied the accusations made by the first accuser. In a statement to The Associated Press, he also denied the accusation leveled by Tadros. “There is absolutely no truth to this allegation,” he said. “This is clearly another attempt to destroy my name and discredit what I have accomplished in my service to God and His people.”
Joseph Hayden, DiMarzio's attorney, said in an email to the AP, “We have uncovered conclusive evidence of Bishop DiMarzio's innocence.” Hayden declined to share the evidence with the AP.
DiMarzio's case has drawn interest because it is among the first conducted according to procedures Pope Francis issued under a new church law that went into effect last June.
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Police: Well-coordinated thieves capitalize on protest chaos
OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Police in a small San Francisco Bay Area community were about to help authorities in neighboring Oakland keep the peace during a protest when a more pressing crisis hit home: groups of thieves had pillaged malls, set fire to a Walmart and stormed a car dealership.
By the time San Leandro officers arrived at the Dodge dealership, dozens of cars were gone and thieves were peeling out of the lot in $100,000 Challenger Hellcat muscle cars.
Nearly 75 vehicles were stolen Sunday, including models driven through glass showroom doors to escape. It's one of the most brazen heists law enforcement has seen in a wave of thefts nationwide targeting big box electronics stores, jewelry shops and luxury designers while officers have been busy patrolling protests over the police killing of George Floyd.
“It was very strategic,” Sgt. Ray Kelly of the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office said about the auto thefts and other recent heists.
Many of the smash-and-grab thefts have coincided with or followed protests over the death of Floyd, who struggled to breathe as his neck was pinned down by a white Minneapolis police officer's knee. They have been carried out by caravans of well-coordinated criminals who capitalize on chaos, communicate via messaging apps and use both the protests and other tactics to throw police off their trail. While opportunists have sometimes joined the frenzy, police and experts say there is a sophistication that suggests a level of planning that goes beyond spontaneous acts.
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Coronavirus strands merchant ship crews at sea for months
ATHENS, Greece (AP) — For nearly four months, Capt. Andrei Kogankov and his oil tanker crew haven’t set foot on dry land. With global travel at a virtual standstill due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Russian captain was forced to extend his normal contract. He still doesn’t know when he’ll be able to go home.
Countries across the world have imposed lockdowns, shut borders and suspended international flights to curb the spread of the new coronavirus. The move was deemed essential to prevent rampaging contagion, but merchant ship crews have become unintended collateral damage.
With more than 80% of global trade by volume transported by sea, the world’s more than 2 million merchant seafarers play a vital role.
“In some ways, they’ve been the forgotten army of people,” said Guy Platten, secretary general of the ICS. “They’re out of sight and out of mind, and yet they’re absolutely essential for moving the fuel, the food, the medical supplies and all the other vital goods to feed world trade.”
About 150,000 seafarers are stranded at sea in need of crew changes, according to the International Chamber of Shipping. Roughly another 150,000 are stuck on shore, waiting to get back to work.