Trump says he wants full Afghanistan pullout but sets no timeline

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Trump says he wants full Afghanistan pullout but sets no timeline

President Donald Trump on Tuesday renewed his desire for a full military withdrawal from Afghanistan but added that he had not set a target date, amid speculation he might make ending the United States’s longest war part of his re-election campaign.

“We’re there 19 years and, yeah, I think that’s enough … We can always go back if we want to,” Trump told a White House news conference.

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Asked if the Thanksgiving holiday on November 26 was a target, Trump said: “No. I have no target. But as soon as (is) reasonable. Over a period of time but as soon as reasonable.”

The US has already begun to withdraw its forces as part of an agreement signed with the Taliban armed group in the Qatari capital Doha on February 29. By the second quarter of 2021, all foreign forces are supposed to withdraw, ending the US’s longest war.

The Taliban launched an armed rebellion after it was toppled from power by a US-led invasion in 2001.

Trump’s comments come as authorities in Afghanistan said they had released about 900 Taliban prisoners across the country on Tuesday, approximately 600 of them from the notorious Bagram jail near Kabul.

The release is a part of a pledge by the Afghan government to free up to 2,000 of the armed group’s prisoners in response to the Taliban’s three-day ceasefire offer, which began on Sunday to mark the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr.

Prisoner release

On Tuesday, the Afghan government urged the Taliban to extend the ceasefire – only the second in nearly 19 years of war – which has mostly held across Afghanistan, providing a rare respite from the conflict’s grinding violence.

Withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan was part of Trump’s 2016 election campaign [File: Leah Millis/Reuters]

“For better management of the prisoner issue, it is important to extend the ceasefire,” Javid Faisal, a spokesman for Afghanistan’s national security adviser, told a news conference.

The release was part of a prisoner swap under the Taliban-US agreement, as a precursor to peace talks between the armed group and an inclusive Afghan delegation aiming to end a two-decades-old war.

Taliban spokesman Suhail Shaheen, in a statement on Twitter, welcomed the release of 900 prisoners as “good progress” and said the group would in turn free a “remarkable number” of prisoners soon.

However, he said nothing about extending the ceasefire, which expired at midnight (19:30 GMT) on Tuesday.

Last month, the Taliban rejected a call by the Afghan government for a Ramadan ceasefire.

‘Bring peace’

Fighting between Taliban and Afghan forces had intensified before the ceasefire, and the government said it would resume an offensive against the armed group in the wake of its deadly attacks nationwide earlier this month.

“As per the guidelines of our leaders, and based on the agreement (the US-Taliban peace deal), we will not return to the battlefield,” a Taliban member, Noor Rahman, told Reuters after being released from Pul-e-Charkhi prison, located on the outskirts of Kabul.

Another freed prisoner, Qari Ahmad Sayeed, said he was delighted to be free, adding, “I hope this will result in bringing peace to the country.”

Faisal said all released Taliban members were being given new clothes, cash and transport home. The process was expected to be completed by midnight – the same time the ceasefire ends.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, while welcoming the latest developments, has insisted that freed Taliban prisoners should not return to the battlefield.

President Ashraf Ghani has said his administration is ready to begin peace negotiations, seen as key to ending the war.

Government negotiators would be headed by Ghani’s former rival Abdullah Abdullah after the two signed a power-sharing deal last week that ended a months-long political crisis.

Prisoner releases began in April, but have been slow and marred by wrangling between the Taliban and the government, which was to free 5,000 prisoners under the Doha pact, while the Taliban would free 1,000 members of the Afghan security forces.

Before this week’s releases, Kabul had already freed about 1,000 Taliban inmates, while the group released about 300 Afghan security force captives.

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Police searching for Baltimore suspect shot officer, carjacked another driver

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Police searching for Baltimore suspect shot officer, carjacked another driver

Police in Baltimore were searching for a gunman who led police on a chase, shot an officer and carjacked at least one person in order to make his escape Tuesday night, police said.

The officer, who was struck in the abdomen, is expected to survive and may not require surgery, Commissioner Michael Harrison said at a hospital. The bullet is thought to have grazed him without striking any internal organs, the commissioner said.

“The officer was wearing body armor, which we believe very likely saved his life,” Harrison said.

The officer attempted to pull over an erratic driver who he believed was intoxicated about 9:30 p.m., the commissioner said.

After crashing, the driver fled on foot and the officer gave chase on foot, police said. The suspect is believed to have turned and fired, striking the officer at least once, Harrison said.

The gunman carjacked at least one person in a blue Toyota Camry in order to escape, and police believe he may have carjacked a second person but that had not been confirmed, Harrison said.

“There is a suspect on the loose who is armed and dangerous, who has fired, and shot, a police officer, and thank God that officer is doing OK at this moment,” Harrison said. “But we need help apprehending this violent offender tonight and as soon as possible.”

The officer, who has not been identified, was in good spirits at a hospital and gave his commanding officer a thumbs-up, Harrison said.

Mayor Bernard C. “Jack” Young hailed the officer’s bravery. “This officer put their life on the line for the residents of our City,” Young said in a statement.

Phil Helsel

Phil Helsel is a reporter for NBC News.



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What we know about the death of George Floyd: 4 Minneapolis police officers fired after ‘horrifying’ video hits social media

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What we know about the death of George Floyd: 4 Minneapolis police officers fired after ‘horrifying’ video hits social media

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The FBI is investigating the death of a man after he was restrained by police in Minneapolis.

Storyful

Government officials and Minnesota locals alike expressed outrage after a video surfaced showing a white police officer kneeling on the neck of a black man and ignoring his pleas for help until first responders put him, unresponsive, on a stretcher. 

The man, identified at 46-year-old George Floyd, died at a local hospital, according to police. The case echoes the death of Eric Garner, another black man who died while a white officer restrained him, ignoring pleas of “I can’t breathe.” 

The four officers involved in the Monday incident were fired Tuesday, and the attorney for Floyd’s family, Ben Crump, called for their arrests. The officers have yet to be officially identified, but attorney Tom Kelly told The Associated Press he is representing Derek Chauvin, the officer seen with his knee on Floyd’s neck. Kelly declined further comment.

Here’s what we know so far: 

What’s in the video? 

A video taken by a bystander circulating on social media shows Chauvin with his knee pressed into Floyd’s neck while the man repeatedly says he can’t breathe. 

Floyd repeatedly pleads with Chauvin, at one point crying out for his mother and saying “everything hurts.” 

Two officers are featured prominently in the video — Chauvin and an officer who stands between bystanders and the officer on top of Floyd. 

“He’s talking, he’s fine,” one officer says to a person off-camera. 

GBI says investigation wrapping up: Man who filmed Ahmaud Arbery shooting arrested

“He ain’t fine,” the person replies before calling the officer a “bum” and saying he’s “enjoying what’s happening.” 

Chauvin keeps his knee pressed into Floyd’s neck and Floyd stops talking. About four minutes into the video, Floyd becomes unresponsive. Bystanders approach Chauvin and the officer draws something, causing one of the people off-camera to say, “He’s got mace.” 

Bystanders repeatedly ask the officers to check for a pulse. Chauvin doesn’t remove his knee from the man’s neck until EMS puts an unresponsive Floyd onto a stretcher, roughly four minutes after he stopped responding. 

What is a ‘neck restraint’?

The Minneapolis Police Department’s Policy & Procedure Manual defines a neck restraint as a “non-deadly force option.” 

The handbook reads: “Defined as compressing one or both sides of a person’s neck with an arm or leg, without applying direct pressure to the trachea or airway (front of the neck). Only sworn employees who have received training from the MPD Training Unit are authorized to use neck restraints.”

The book has two types of neck restraints: 

  • Conscious Neck Restraint: The subject is placed in a neck restraint with intent to control, and not to render the subject unconscious, by only applying light to moderate pressure. 
  • Unconscious Neck Restraint: The subject is placed in a neck restraint with the intention of rendering the person unconscious by applying adequate pressure. 

Minneapolis Police Chief Medaria Arradondo, speaking to reporters Tuesday, was asked about the use of the knee on Floyd’s neck during the arrest.

“We clearly have policies in place regarding placing someone under control,” Arradondo said, explaining that those policies “will be part of the full investigation we’ll do internally.”

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What do police say happened? 

The Minneapolis Police Department released a statement Monday that said officers responded to a report of a forgery in progress just after 8 p.m.

Police discovered a suspect and ordered him to get out of his car. 

“After he got out, he physically resisted officers,” MPD said in a statement. “Officers were able to get the suspect into handcuffs and noted he appeared to be suffering medical distress. Officers called for an ambulance. He was transported to Hennepin County Medical Center by ambulance where he died a short time later.” 

No weapons were used by anyone in the incident, according to the MDP statement, and the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension was called to investigate the incident. 

Calling police: White woman fired after calling police on black man who asked her to leash her dog

Police on Tuesday updated the statement to add, “As additional information has been made available, it has been determined that the Federal Bureau of Investigations will be a part of this investigation.”

The Hennepin County Attorney’s Office is assisting with the investigation. 

The Bureau of Criminal Apprehension released a statement saying, “The names of the officers involved will be released once initial interviews with incident participants and witnesses have taken place.” 

Who are George Floyd and Derek Chauvin? 

Floyd, who worked security at Conga Latin Bistro, was described as a “gentle giant,” the Star Tribune of Minneapolis reported Tuesday. On Facebook, the restaurant posted pictures of Floyd, including one of him smiling at the camera in a “security” T-shirt. The caption reads, “We will always remember you.” 

Chauvin was one of six officers who fired their weapons in the 2006 death of Wayne Reyes, whom police said pointed a sawed-off shotgun at officers after stabbing two people. Chauvin also shot and wounded a man in 2008 in a struggle after Chauvin and his partner responded to a reported domestic assault.

What’s the response? 

The four officers involved in the incident were fired, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey tweeted Tuesday afternoon. 

On Facebook, Frey said, “Being Black in America should not be a death sentence.” 

“Whatever the investigation reveals, it does not change the simple truth, he should still be with us this morning,” the mayor said. “I believe what I saw and what I saw is wrong on every level.”

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz also took to social media to demand answers. Sen. Amy Klobuchar called the video “horrifying” and “gut-wrenching” and called for an investigation. 

More: Indiana lawmaker accused of racism for posting meme of black children celebrating ‘free money’

“The lack of humanity in this disturbing video is sickening,” Walz tweeted. “We will get answers and seek justice.”

Former Vice President Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, called for a “thorough” FBI investigation.

“George Floyd deserved better and his family deserves justice,” Biden tweeted. “His life mattered. I’m grateful for the swift action in Minneapolis to fire the officers involved — they must be held responsible for their egregious actions.”

Protesters filled the intersection in the street where Floyd died on Tuesday night, chanting and carrying banners that read, “I can’t breathe” and “Jail killer KKKops.” They eventually marched about 21/2 miles to a city police precinct, with some protesters damaging windows, a squad car and spraying graffiti on the building.

A line of police in riot gear eventually confronted the protesters, firing tear gas and projectiles. Some protesters kicked canisters back toward police. Some protesters stacked shopping carts to make a barricade at a Target store across the street from the station, and though steady rain diminished the crowd, tense skirmishes stretched late into the evening.

Crump, who is also part of the team representing the family of Ahmaud Arbery, the black jogger who was shot and killed after allegedly being pursued by a white father and son in Georgia, called the firing of the four officers a good “first step” in a statement.

On Twitter, Crump called for the four officers to be arrested on murder charges. 

“How many ‘while black’ deaths will it take until the racial profiling and undervaluing of black lives by police finally ends?” Crump said in a statement. 

Contributing: The Associated Press.

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Four Minneapolis officers involved in the arrest of a black man who died in police custody were fired Tuesday after video showed an officer kneeling on the handcuffed man’s neck, even after he pleaded that he could not breathe and stopped moving. (May 26)

AP Domestic

Read or Share this story: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2020/05/26/george-floyd-minneapolis-police-officers-fired-after-public-backlash/5263193002/



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Excerpts: When Afghanistan was still considered the ‘just war’

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Excerpts: When Afghanistan was still considered the ‘just war’

My arrival coincided with a season of returns. Before I came to Kabul, I had met Afghan refugees who had fled during the Taliban rule to Delhi. They had been part of an exodus that commenced in the 1970s, at the onset of the country’s spiral of conflict.

By 2006, however, the direction of movement was reversed. Nearly 3 million refugees had come back to the country in the years following the defeat of the Taliban.

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Many of them were drawn to the capital for its relative security and the opportunities it offered. The majority were subsistence farmers returning from Pakistan and Iran.

There were also labourers, entrepreneurs, politicians and professionals. Along with these came foreign aid workers, consultants and journalists.

As the capital, Kabul was the centre of many of these forces, the city where all the gains and all the changes of the era arrived first and hit most powerfully. It was where worlds collided: the new with the old, the old with the ancient, the Afghan elite with the provincial migrants, the expats with the Afghans, the civilians with the government, the village with the city.

 

All these arrivals were to a city in flux. In retrospect, it was a troubled spring; but at the time there was still space for cautious optimism. Even as the war in Iraq floundered, Afghanistan was still considered the ‘just war’.

It had been five years since the Taliban government had been overthrown by the US and its allies, along with the Afghan military coalition called the Northern Alliance. It was believed that al-Qaeda had been chased out of the country.

The International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) – a UN-mandated, NATO-led mission – was established in December 2001 to safeguard the capital. In 2003 its mission was extended beyond Kabul.

There was a rush of foreign aid to rebuild the ruined country after decades of war. Afghans, tired of conflict and lawlessness, had responded with hope and optimism.

The 2004 elections had replaced the Transitional Authority established during the Bonn Conference with Hamid Karzai as president of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan.

From the relative security of Kabul, it was possible to discern the gains made in education, women’s rights and infrastructure.

But already there were signs of unravelling: the resurgence of Taliban factions across the country, as well as rising discontent with the corruption and cronyism of the government.

Aid funds were poorly utilised – even the capital had little access to water, electricity and transport. More ominously, it was becoming a target for suicide bombings, explosions and kidnappings.

In February 2006, Foreign Policy magazine and the US-based Fund for Peace released their second ‘Failed State Index’. Afghanistan was placed at number ten on the list. It was a time that was not quite war, and certainly not peace.

In places, the bodies of old jeeps and tanks were used to build houses. The door of a vehicle became a bridge, the metal became sheltering walls. The fragments of the past had been rearranged into a new landscape.

 

The cycle of conflict that began in 2001 was underlaid by previous years of ethnic strife and sectarian violence, which resurfaced after the defeat of the Taliban [in 2001].

And there was more to it than military gains or losses. It was fuelled by the glut of weapons in the country, and the absence of a strong central government in the 1980s and 90s. It was shaped by the shadow economy of the opium trade, and the competition between different factions to control its gains.

Across the country, there had been displacement and erosion of civil society institutions and networks. The cities had poor infrastructure, the countryside had few livelihoods.

Within the government, there were high levels of official graft, and a legacy of war crimes and impunity. And there was the tsunami of aid money that brought corruption in its wake.

As the capital, Kabul was the centre of many of these forces, the city where all the gains and all the changes of the era arrived first and hit most powerfully. It was where worlds collided: the new with the old, the old with the ancient, the Afghan elite with the provincial migrants, the expats with the Afghans, the civilians with the government, the village with the city.

Taran Khan is an author and journalist based in the Indian city of Mumbai [Photo: Jonathan Page]

On this first journey, I was accompanied by my husband and a friend. Our assignment was to teach video production techniques to employees of a radio and TV station run by the Afghan government. We arrived full of ideas, certain we would have the time of our lives.

As I watched, the city transformed. Bare branches of trees gradually grew denser with blossom, infusing the air with a heady smell. Small streams and rivers filled up with water. From behind the ruins of mud walls, I saw new homes rising. The debris of war was everywhere.

In places, the bodies of old jeeps and tanks were used to build houses. The door of a vehicle became a bridge, the metal became sheltering walls. The fragments of the past had been rearranged into a new landscape.

Each day, we drove to work through the chaotic traffic of Kabul. Amid the snarls were large SUVs, their bodies emblazoned with the logos of different aid organisations, their radio antennae waving like irritable tentacles. There were also grey minivans called Town Aces, pronounced ‘Tunis’ by the Afghan commuters who packed into them.

The drivers would beat out the names of their destinations to a rhythm on the door without pausing for breath. ‘Karte Seh Karte Char Barchee Barchee Jada Jada Chowk Chowk Chowk,’ I heard.

Yellow-and-white Corolla taxis nosed in, along with cyclists and pedestrians.

Sometimes, the military convoys of ISAF soldiers would be stuck in the traffic too, and being by their side meant being uncomfortably aware that while they may be the intended targets of attacks, it was often the civilians beside them who bore the brunt of the explosions.

At every charahi, or crossroads, Kabul’s army of street children sold magazines and chewing gum and phonecards, or washed the windscreens of the cars waiting to move ahead.

In our commute of about an hour from Kolola Pushta to west Kabul, we crossed several landmarks and changing terrain, glimpsed in flashes through our car windows. It was only once we reached our workplace, and were in the company of our colleagues, that we walked.

Excerpted with permission from Shadow City, Taran Khan, Chatto & Windus, an imprint of Vintage

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Coronavirus LIVE Queensland updates: police withdraw about one in 20 fines as the border stoush continues

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Coronavirus LIVE Queensland updates: police withdraw about one in 20 fines as the border stoush continues

If you suspect you or a family member has coronavirus you should contact (not visit) your GP, local hospital or 13HEALTH.

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Woman sues police department after officers allegedly stomp her stomach, leading to a miscarriage

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Woman sues police department after officers allegedly stomp her stomach, leading to a miscarriage

A woman named Emerald Black is suing the Californian city of San Leandro after an alleged June 7, 2019 attack by police officers that she claims caused her to miscarry. Her attorneys filed a lawsuit against the city and its police on Monday.

According to the lawsuit, on the date in question, Black had just been released from the hospital for a pregnancy exam which confirmed she was at high risk for a miscarriage.

After the exam, Black, still dressed in “hospital clothing,” was a passenger in a car driven by her fiancée. When police pulled her fiancée over for having expired registration tags, Black informed officers she was pregnant and she was asked to remain in the car when police talked with her fiancée outside of the car.

Then, police allegedly yanked Black from the car, “taunted her, piled on top of her and stomped on her stomach leaving a shoe mark,” according to the court filing.

The attack caused Black to miscarry, she says. Now she’s suing for physical injuries, embarrassment, humiliation and emotional distress both from the incident and loss of her child.


A police officer.
Robert Alexander/Getty

The lawsuit alleges that police violated Black’s constitutional rights under the Fourth Amendment which prohibit excessive force and unlawful seizure since Black was allegedly unarmed, noncombative and had committed no crimes.

“Defendants had no probable cause or even reasonable suspicion to use any force whatsoever against Plaintiff. Therefore, the use of any force, was unlawful and excessive.”

Black’s lawyer also claims that the officers violated the state’s Bane Act which protects citizens from any intimidation that interferes with their civil rights. Lastly, lawyers accused police of false seizure and arrest.

Newsweek reached out to Black’s lawyers and the Leandro Police Department for comment. This story will be updated with any response.

This is not the first time police have been accused of mishandling a pregnant woman.

In May 2019, a Texas police officer shot and killed a woman during an arrest after she shouted, “I’m pregnant.” The woman had allegedly tried to grab the officer’s taser to use it against him.

In July 2019, New York City paid a $610,000 settlement to a woman who was shackled and handcuffed by police minutes before giving birth. Shackling pregnant prisoners during labor has been banned in New York state since 2009.

In July 2018, North Miami Beach police officer Ambar Pacheco was arrested after she allegedly kicked Evoni Murray, a pregnant woman, in the stomach. The woman was rushed to the hospital and gave birth to a healthy child. Pacheco was later charged with aggravated battery.

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Conservative Commentator Rips ‘Weak, Insecure Coward’ Trump In Blistering Column

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Conservative Commentator Rips ‘Weak, Insecure Coward’ Trump In Blistering Column

Conservative commentator and CNN host S.E. Cupp didn’t hold back on President Donald Trump in a new column, calling him out for attacking people who can’t defend themselves.

Specifically, Cupp targeted his consistent pattern of “picking on the dead and harassing their surviving family members,” as she wrote in an op-ed in the New York Daily News. 

Trump in recent days has been tweeting a baseless conspiracy theory that implies MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough might have killed a congressional intern in 2001, Lori Klausutis.

Klausutis worked in one of Scarborough’s Florida district offices when he was a Republican member of Congress. She was found dead in the office one morning, and authorities later determined that she had fainted due to an undiagnosed heart condition and fatally struck her head on a table.

Klausutis’s widowed husband, Timothy Klausutis, has asked Trump to stop spreading the “vicious lie,” but Trump has refused. 

“Even someone with just a modicum of decency and awareness of social mores would know better than to drag the deceased and their relatives through the muck for no good reason at all.”

But Trump, she said, “has neither decency nor awareness.”

And she noted Trump’s longtime pattern of using the deceased to advance his own agenda, mocking the late Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and suggesting that the late Rep. John Dingell (D-Mich.) might be in hell. 

Cupp said Trump was “punching down” by attacking those who can’t defend themselves. 

“Punching down — even at the dead — isn’t the mark of a strong, secure, courageous man,” she wrote. “It’s the mark of a small, weak, insecure coward with no impulse control, compassion or common decency. That’s our president.”

Read her full column here.



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Nonketotic hyperglycinemia

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Nonketotic hyperglycinemia

  • AliefendioÄŸlu D, Tana Aslan Ay, CoÅŸkun T, Dursun A, Cakmak FN, Kesimer M. Transient nonketotic hyperglycinemia: two case reports and literature review. Pediatr Neurol. 2003 Feb;28(2):151-5. Review.

  • Applegarth DA, Toone JR. Glycine encephalopathy (nonketotic hyperglycinaemia) : review and update. J Inherit Metab Dis. 2004;27(3):417-22. Review.

  • Applegarth DA, Toone JR. Glycine encephalopathy (nonketotic hyperglycinemia): comments and speculations. Am J Med Genet A. 2006 Jan 15;140(2):186-8.

  • Coughlin CR 2nd, Swanson MA, Kronquist K, Acquaviva C, Hutchin T, Rodríguez-Pombo P, Väisänen ML, Spector E, Creadon-Swindell G, Brás-Goldberg AM, Rahikkala E, Moilanen JS, Mahieu V, Matthijs G, Bravo-Alonso I, Pérez-Cerdá C, Ugarte M, Vianey-Saban C, Scharer GH, Van Hove JL. The genetic basis of classic nonketotic hyperglycinemia due to mutations in GLDC and AMT. Genet Med. 2017 Jan;19(1):104-111. doi: 10.1038/gim.2016.74. Epub 2016 Jun 30. Erratum in: Genet Med. 2018 Jan 04;:.

  • Dinopoulos A, Matsubara Y, Kure S. Atypical variants of nonketotic hyperglycinemia. Mol Genet Metab. 2005 Sep-Oct;86(1-2):61-9. Review.

  • Hoover-Fong JE, Shah S, Van Hove JL, Applegarth D, Toone J, Hamosh A. Natural history of nonketotic hyperglycinemia in 65 patients. Neurology. 2004 Nov 23;63(10):1847-53.

  • Kikuchi G, Motokawa Y, Yoshida T, Hiraga K. Glycine cleavage system: reaction mechanism, physiological significance, and hyperglycinemia. Proc Jpn Acad Ser B Phys Biol Sci. 2008;84(7):246-63. Review.

  • Stence NV, Fenton LZ, Levek C, Tong S, Coughlin CR 2nd, Hennermann JB, Wortmann SB, Van Hove JLK. Brain imaging in classic nonketotic hyperglycinemia: Quantitative analysis and relation to phenotype. J Inherit Metab Dis. 2019 May;42(3):438-450. doi: 10.1002/jimd.12072. Epub 2019 Mar 20.

  • Swanson MA, Coughlin CR Jr, Scharer GH, Szerlong HJ, Bjoraker KJ, Spector EB, Creadon-Swindell G, Mahieu V, Matthijs G, Hennermann JB, Applegarth DA, Toone JR, Tong S, Williams K, Van Hove JL. Biochemical and molecular predictors for prognosis in nonketotic hyperglycinemia. Ann Neurol. 2015 Oct;78(4):606-18. doi: 10.1002/ana.24485. Epub 2015 Aug 10. Erratum in: Ann Neurol. 2016 Mar;79(3):505.

  • Van Hove J, Coughlin C II, Scharer G. Glycine Encephalopathy. 2002 Nov 14 [updated 2013 Jul 11]. In: Pagon RA, Adam MP, Ardinger HH, Wallace SE, Amemiya A, Bean LJH, Bird TD, Ledbetter N, Mefford HC, Smith RJH, Stephens K, editors. GeneReviews® [Internet]. Seattle (WA): University of Washington, Seattle; 1993-2017. Available from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK1357/

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    South Africa: Today’s latest news and headlines, Wednesday 27 May

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    South Africa: Today’s latest news and headlines, Wednesday 27 May

    For all the latest news in South Africa, be sure to check out headlines making waves across the country on Wednesday 27 May.

    Following a controversial postponement on Tuesday, Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma and the National Coronavirus Command Council (NCCC) are scheduled to address the nation on Level 3 lockdown regulations. Meanwhile, the South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) struggles to honour Relief of Distress grants, further embattling the country’s most vulnerable citizens.

    TODAY’S LATEST NEWS IN SOUTH AFRICA, Wednesday 27 MAY

    Rescheduled: Dlamini-Zuma, NCCC to address South Africa

    With the date for South Africa’s move to Level 3 lockdown drawing ever-nearer, the NCCC, tasked with amending regulations of the Disaster Management Act in line with government’s risk-adjusted approach, is expected to provide clarity on the reopening of the economy.

    The NCCC, chaired by Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Minister, Dlamini-Zuma, has yet to officially gazette Level 3 lockdown regulations, leaving the window for change wide open, despite earlier assertions by President Cyril Ramaphosa.

    Dlamini-Zuma’s briefing comes amid a stern public condemnation of government’s continued tobacco ban, with the minister’s relationship with self-confessed cigarette smuggler, Adriano Mazzotti, coming under the microscope. Dlamini-Zuma has denied being ‘friends’ with Mazzotti, despite allegations of the two holidaying together in Europe.

    Social Relief of Distress Grants: Sassa making slow progress

    With more than 3 million unemployed South Africans applying for financial assistance – in the form of the unique R350 Social Relief of Distress Grant – Sassa’s administrative systems have buckled under the weight.

    Despite the electronic application system being launched two weeks ago, Sassa has only managed to process 75 000 claims. Adding insult to injury, Sassa spokesperson Paseka Letsatsi confirmed that only half of those applications would be eligible for payment. Letsatsi explained that the vetting process had found that “some are getting the UIF or some of them are on National Student Finance Aid Scheme (NSFAS)”.

    Letsatsi remained confident that the severe backlog would be cleared, adding that Sassa staff were working “around the clock” to ensure all eligible beneficiaries received assistance.

    MetroRail unlikely to operate at Level 3 lockdown

    The Gauteng Legislature’s Portfolio Committee on Roads and Transport says the opening of rail during level 3 lockdown could spell a public transport catastrophe.

    The committee said it is was not pleased with the measures presented by the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa’s administrator, Bongisizwe Mpondo, on their readiness to receive passengers under level 3 lockdown regulations.

    “As the bulk of working class citizens go back to work, trains are expected to be operational effective 1 June 2020. However, plans presented by PRASA are short of a Gauteng province integrated system and could lead to a public transport disaster during level 3,” the Committee said.

    According to the statement released, it has emerged that Metrorail will only have one line in operation in the Gauteng province.

    “This move only addresses the north Gauteng commuters, leaving out all other regions in the province.”

    Moreover, issues of safety, security and screening measures presented by Mpondo were not reassuring to the committee.

    “Some of the doubts were prompted by the fact that PRASA has no indication on average figures of their daily commuters, therefore, making PRASA’s mitigation plans feeble, as they are not informed on any context including that of daily commuters.”

    According to the Chairperson of the Roads and Transport Committee, Dumisani Dakile, while they understand PRASA is under administration and faces immense challenges, it has to put the passengers’ lives first. (Source: SAnews)

    School vandalism, theft and lack of PPEs threaten reopening plans

    Although classrooms are scheduled to reopen to Grade 7 and 12 pupils next week, a wave of vandalism and theft, added to the dire lack of personal protective equipment (PPE) promised by national government, could spell disaster for the back to school plan.

    The Council of Education Ministers (CEM) has condemned the looting of schools supplies and PPEs, after classrooms in both Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal were ransacked. KwaZulu-Natal Education MEC Kwazi Mshengu noted with grave concern the fact that 463 schools had been vandalised during lockdown.

    Adding to the education sector’s woes, two Cape Town schools have already been forced to close, before even officially reopening, due to teachers testing positive for the coronavirus.

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    Kayleigh McEnany: ‘Peculiar’ That Joe Biden Doesn’t Wear Mask In His Home

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    Kayleigh McEnany: ‘Peculiar’ That Joe Biden Doesn’t Wear Mask In His Home

    White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany made a dig at former Vice President Joe Biden on Tuesday for wearing a face mask in public but not in his own home, claiming it was a “peculiar” move.

    The comment came in response to a reporter’s question about President Donald Trump’s apparent criticism of Biden for wearing a mask in public on Memorial Day. In Delaware, where the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee lives, wearing a mask in public is required by law as part of public health efforts to mitigate the spread of the coronavirus.

    “The president’s excited to see that Joe emerged from the basement,” McEnany said at the White House press briefing. “It is a bit peculiar, though, that in his basement, right next to his wife, he’s not wearing a mask, but he’s wearing one outdoors when he’s socially distanced.”

    She added that the president wasn’t “shaming anyone” and noted that Trump wore a mask in private during a tour of a Ford plant last week in Michigan. Publicly, Trump appeared barefaced for much of the tour, despite a Michigan executive order that required facial coverings to be worn in any enclosed public space.

    The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s federal guidelines also call for people to wear cloth face coverings in public, in concert with social distancing rules. Masks are not required in the home among household members. 

    When Reuters reporter Jeff Mason pointed to this guidance, McEnany said that “it’s recommended but not required, so it’s the personal choice of the individual, but it didn’t strike him as a very data-driven decision.”

    Biden had appeared with his wife, Jill Biden, at the Delaware Memorial Bridge Veterans Memorial Park on Monday to lay a wreath, marking his first public appearance in more than two months. 

    Sharing an image of Biden during the outing, Fox News political analyst Brit Hume attempted to mask-shame the Democratic front-runner on Twitter ― a move that was met with swift backlash. The president then retweeted Hume’s comment. 

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