Elijah McClain: Family of murdered black man to receive $15m

Colorado city officials have confirmed the family of a black man who died following a confrontation with police will receive a $15m (£11m) settlement.

Elijah McClain, 23, died in 2019 in the city of Aurora, three days after being stopped by three officers and injected with a potent sedative.

The McClain family – who filed the federal civil rights lawsuit last year – has demanded accountability.

The payout represents the highest wrongful death settlement in the state.

Legal representatives for McClain’s mother Sheneen told local TV station CBS4 Denver that she was thankful for the community’s support and remained hopeful her son’s death would lead to “badly needed reforms”.

Details of the agreement have not yet been made public by the city.

McClain’s case was among several to receive renewed attention following the death of another unarmed black man – George Floyd – last year.

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The young man was walking alone in the Denver suburb of Aurora on 24 August 2019 when he was stopped by three police officers responding to an emergency call about a “suspicious person” matching his description.

There was a struggle after McClain resisted contact with the officers, who wanted to search him to see if he was armed.

On body cam footage McClain, who was autistic, can be heard saying, “I’m an introvert, please respect my boundaries.”

Officers wrestled McClain to the ground and put him in a chokehold.

McClain’s family has alleged that the officers used excessive force for about 15 minutes as McClain vomited, begged for them to stop, repeatedly told them he could not breathe and briefly lost consciousness. The officers also threatened to set a police dog on him, the family said.

The officers called for assistance, with fire fighters and an ambulance responding. A fire medic injected McClain with 500mg of the drug ketamine to sedate him.

He was declared brain dead on 27 August.

More than two years later, the three officers and two medics involved in McClain’s death were indicted on 32 charges, including manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide.

Family and friends have described McClain as an “angel among humans”. A massage therapist by trade, he reportedly played his violin to animals at a shelter that were waiting to be adopted “so they wouldn’t be lonely”.

The $15m settlement in Aurora is not as large as the $27m payout made by the city of Minneapolis to the family of George Floyd earlier this year, but it is by far the largest in city history.

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Afghanistan: Concern over pace of refugee resettlement

Concerns have been raised about the pace of Northern Ireland’s involvement in the UK government’s scheme to rehome Afghan refugees.

Families have now been resettled in England, Scotland and Wales but no one has come to Northern Ireland.

The Stormont Executive said plans to rehome 840 people from Afghanistan were at an “advanced stage”.

Alliance MP for North Down, Stephen Farry, said there are “huge frustrations” around the scheme.

Mr Farry told BBC Radio Foyle he feared the plight of Afghan refugees “had very much fallen down the political agenda” since the fall of Kabul in August.

“The promises made by the UK government have made in terms of bringing people to the UK, even those haven’t been fulfilled yet,” he said

“We’ve essentially had a trickle of people coming in”.



Image caption,

Some Afghan refugees in the UK have been living in hotels for two months

Many of those who have come to the UK are now waiting in hotels to be allocated permanent housing, Mr Farry said.

“I suspect what will happen is when we move to that next phase, the move to long-term housing, that’s when Northern Ireland may come into play,” he added.

A spokesperson for the Executive Office said that of the 840 people who would come to Northern Ireland, an initial 360 were “expected to arrive in the first year”.

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The spokesperson said: “The exact timing of the arrival will depend on the Home Office identifying Afghan families for whom the housing that is available here will be suitable and organising the transport for those families from Britain.”

Plans to ensure “all the necessary support arrangements are in place are at an advanced stage,” the spokesperson said.

“No Afghans have arrived here so far, but we have worked hard to get into a position to welcome the first group of families – who are currently in bridging accommodation in England, Scotland and Wales – as soon as possible,” they added.



Image caption,

Sinead McLaughlin said there had been “no formal communication” about the number of refugees to come to NI

The chairwoman of the Executive Office committee, Foyle SDLP assembly member Sinead McLaughlin, said there had been an unacceptable lack of information around the resettlement plans.

“Ultimately this is about resettling people who have had a traumatic experience, who have had to leave their homeland,” she said.

“I have had no formal communication, and the committee had had no formal communication on the Northern Ireland allocation, in terms of numbers.”

‘New life in the UK’

Thousands of people fled Afghanistan when the country fell to the Taliban in August, as United States and UK troops withdrew after 20 years on the ground.

About 15,000 people eligible to come to the UK were evacuated in the final two weeks, including 8,000 Afghans who had worked alongside British forces.

A UK government spokesperson said the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme was “one of the most generous schemes in our country’s history.

“It will give up to 20,000 further people at risk a new life in the UK,” they said.

“We continue to do all we can to enable British nationals and eligible Afghans to leave the country”.

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Philippines to allow fully vaccinated tourists from ‘green’ countries

The Philippines will soon allow the entry of fully vaccinated foreign tourists from countries with high vaccination rates and low numbers of Covid-19 cases, the government said on Friday.

 

The national inter-agency task force on Covid-19 is finalizing the guidelines and will announce when tourists from “green” countries may start to visit, presidential spokesman Karlo Nograles said.

“There are just a few tweaks that we need to make on the guidelines,” added Nograles, who is also the spokesman for the task force.

“We are putting the entire world on advance notice that we will eventually open up our shores to tourists from green list countries,” he said.

The green list currently includes 43 countries, territories and jurisdictions including China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, Pakistan, Rwanda, Falkland Islands.

The Philippines has been closed to foreign tourists since March 2020, when the government closed borders and imposed a lockdown in a bid to curb the spread the coronavirus.

The decision to start allowing foreign tourists would help efforts to boost the local economy, said Tourism Secretary Berna Romulo Puyat.

“Allowing tourists from green countries or territories that have the majority of its population vaccinated and with low infection rate, will greatly help in our recovery efforts, increasing tourist arrivals and receipts among others,” Puyat said in a statement.

“This move will likewise aid in bolstering consumer confidence, which is a large contributor to our gross domestic product growth,” she added.

The Philippines’ Covid-19 caseload totalled 2.82 million on Thursday, with 46,422 deaths. The number of daily cases has been decreasing, prompting government to further ease restrictions.

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Covid: Canada authorises Pfizer vaccine for children aged 5-11

Canada has authorised the use of the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine for children between the ages of 5 and 11.

Trials of the vaccine children showed similar safety and efficacy results to those recorded in trials among adults 16 to 25, according to Pfizer.

Health Canada had said it would only approve the vaccine for children if its analysis demonstrated benefits outweighed any possible risks.

It is the first Covid-19 vaccine approved for this age group in Canada.

“This is very good news for adults and children alike,” said Dr. Supriya Sharma, a senior medical advisor with Health Canada at a news conference Friday. “It provides another tool to protect Canadians, and to the relief of many parents, will help bring back a degree of normality to children’s lives.”

Reported coronavirus cases in Canada have been on a downward trend since mid-September. But after rapid uptake in the spring, vaccination rates have plateaued in recent months.

Nearly 75% of all Canadians are fully vaccinated, according to Health Canada’s most recent data, including 84% of those 12 and older.

Pfizer-BioNTech submitted a request for approval of a child-sized dose of its mRNA vaccine on 18 October. Its clinical trial data showed that the vaccine was highly effective at preventing Covid-19 in that age category.

US approves vaccine for children aged five to 11

The paediatric doses that will be given to younger children will be one-third of what has been provided to those ages 12 and above, with doses given 21 days apart.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said last month that Canada had a deal with Pfizer to procure 2.9 million paediatric doses of the vaccine shortly after its approval.

Also on Friday, the US Food and Drug Administration authorised booster shots of both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccine for all adults 18 and older who received a second shot of either Pfizer or Moderna at least six months ago. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will review and vote on the decision on Friday afternoon.

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Ladies without plastic - Green Menstruation. Environmental challenge by Sofonie Dala, Angola. Day 3

 Women without plastic - Key to reduce our carbon footprints 👣 

Greetings for the day! 

Welcome to the 3rd day of the Green Menstruation Challenge!

Today we have Luísa in our show. She will share with us about her personal hygiene.

Good morning!

Good morning, thanks.

Please introduce yourself.

My name is Luisa João, I am 35 years old. 

Ok. Which of these pads do you use?

I use this one, the reusable pad.

Why?

Because it's more practical and economical for me. It allows me to save money. 

But for my daughter I buy this one, the disposable one. 

Can you tell us, why? 

Because my daughter doesn't accept to wash. 

So you think that using washable menstrual pads is more sustainable? 

Yes, for me reusable pads are more suitable. After using I can easily wash and dry. 

Over 100 billion sanitary napkins, tampons and applicators are dumped into landfills every year. When wrapped in plastic bags, feminine hygiene waste can take centuries to biodegrade. The average woman uses over 11,000 tampons over her lifetime, leaving behind residue far beyond her lifespan. 

Here are some other steps you could take to make your period more sustainable (and potentially healthier):

1) Choose reusable menstrual hygiene products like menstrual cups, period underwear and reusable sanitary napkins.

2) choose organic cotton if you can ― and support transparent brands.

3) Demand that corporations make plastic-free sanitary products.

4) Help make menstruation a bigger public policy priority.

CEO of Kan Royal Group enstooled Nkosohene of Sefwi- Wiawso

 The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of “Kan Royal Group of Companies”, Mr. Kwame Amoah Nyame, has been enstooled Nkosohene of Sefwi Wiawso.

With the stool name Nana Adu-Kwasi Botafo II, the business mogul swore the customary oath to the Paramount Chief of Sefwi-Wiawso Traditional Area, Katakyie Kwasi Bumangama II and his elders.

This was after he had gone through the necessary customary rites.

The new chief was out-doored and presented to the large family and the people of Sefwi-Wiawso during the 2021 Elluo Festival (Yam Festival).

In his acceptance speech, Nana Botafo thanked Katakyie Bumagama and the entire Traditional Council for the confident reposed in him.

He urged the people of Sefwi-Wiaso to rally behind him as he had plans to accelerate the development of the area.

Nana Botafo pledged to use his rich business experience to lure more investors to the newly created Western North Region to ensure rapid development to reflect on this year’s theme for the Elluo Festival which was “Uplifting the image of Sefwiman and beyond”.

He commended the government for the introduction of Community Mining Programme which sought to create sustainable jobs for the unemployed youth in the Region and the country at large.

He thus, urged authorities to speed up the processes of acquiring mining license to enable investors take advantage to programme to mine responsibly in the area.

Mr Augustine Yaw Blay, the Executive Secretary to the Vice President and Oheneba Kwabena Osei Agyapong were enstooled as Abuafohene and Ntotoyhene of Sefwi-Wiawso Traditional Area respectively.

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U.S removes sanctions on Burundi

 The US government removed sanctions placed on Burundi six years ago on Thursday, crediting elections, a fall in violence, and reforms by President Evariste Ndayishimiye.

President Joe Biden issued an executive order revoking the sanctions announced in November and December 2015 that targeted eight powerful military and security officials in the central African country, including then-Public Security Minister Alain Guillaume Bunyoni, who was the number two official in the government.

The situation in Burundi “has been significantly altered by events of the past year, including the transfer of power following elections in 2020, significantly decreased violence, and President Ndayishimiye’s pursuit of reforms across multiple sectors,” Biden’s order said.

“The United States recognizes the positive reforms pursued by President Ndayishimiye, while continuing to press the Government of Burundi to improve the human rights situation in the country and hold accountable those responsible for violations and abuses,’ said Wally Adeyemo, deputy secretary of the US Treasury, which administers sanctions.

Burundi had descended into violence in April 2015, after President Pierre Nkurunziza launched a bid for a third consecutive term in office, despite concerns over the legality of such a move.

That move led to the deaths of 1,200 Burundians and send 400,000 fleeing the country.

US and UN officials said at the time that they feared the country could plunge into civil war marked by genocide, and the eight hit with sanctions were considered key instigators of the violence and human rights abuses.

Nkurunziza held a lock on power until June 2020, when he died just weeks after the election of his designated successor, Ndayishimiye.

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