Whole families are falling victim as African Americans are hit disproportionately hard by the coronavirus pandemic
Last weekend, at two churches in New Orleans, two pastors read from separate passages of the Bible as they buried four members of the same family. Each had died within days of each other after contracting the novel coronavirus.
Related: 'A nightmare all over again': after surviving Katrina, New Orleans battles Covid-19
Continue reading...In Georgia’s northern mountains, workers scale daunting heights in search of the pine cones seeds that produce Europe’s favourite Christmas tree. But while foreign importers line their pockets, the climbers hazard all for a pittance
It takes Ramaz Chelishvili just a few seconds to reach the top. Soon, a pine cone falls to the ground. Then another. One by one, cones keep dropping, until none are left in the tree. Chelishvili, as fast as he climbed up, gets back down.
“I try to not think of anything up there, just focus. The problem is, if you lose concentration, then you might fall,” he says.
Continue reading...A Georgia man who was videotaped slapping a female reporter’s bottom on live TV was arrested on Friday on a misdemeanor charge of sexual battery.
Related: Los Angeles police officer charged with groping dead woman's breast
Continue reading...Symbols at University of Georgia and Georgia College & State University fuel renewed calls for hate crimes law
Swastika symbols on two Georgia university campuses have students and parents on edge.
Swastikas were drawn on message boards recently in Creswell and Russell halls at the University of Georgia, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.
Continue reading...After losing the race for Georgia governor in 2018, Stacey Abrams will lead a nationwide voting rights campaign. Her goal is to export lessons she learned fighting voter suppression in Georgia, and to mobilize a base of progressives and marginalized communities to help Democrats win the White House in 2020
Continue reading...After hammering the Bahamas and leaving at least 30 dead, Hurricane Dorian began raking the south-east US seaboard, with the eye hitting the North Carolina coast on Thursday evening.
The threat to the US remains real but in the Bahamas the storm has left such terrible devastation that the authorities were still struggling to get aid to stricken areas and the death toll is expected to rise, perhaps steeply.
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Sarah St George, chairman of the Grand Bahama Port Authority, told the Guardian that the “force and size” of Dorian took everyone by surprise, a situation made worse by the hurricane stalling over the archipelago.
“Grand Bahama is not in good shape at all because 70% of it was under water,” St George said. “On the north side of the island the water was coming up to the second floor of their houses. My assistant Tammy was on the roof of her house for 30 hours hanging on to a coconut tree with her 8-year-old daughter Ariana. Her grandmother lost her grip and slipped off the roof and drowned. There was no way of getting to them. They’ve lost everything.”
In the president’s continuing battle against his own incorrect statement that Alabama was under threat from Hurricane Dorian, which has left at least 23 people dead, he has just now been tweeting what he claims is evidence he knew what he was talking about.
It is not.
Just as I said, Alabama was originally projected to be hit. The Fake News denies it! pic.twitter.com/elJ7ROfm2p
I was with you all the way Alabama. The Fake News Media was not! https://t.co/gO5pwahaj9
Over the weekend, projections for #HurricaneDorian have continually skewed further north and east, leaving Alabama outside the anticipated path. While we are thankful for that, we remain #AlwaysReady to help our sister states. #OneTeamOneFight #OneGuard pic.twitter.com/7TbFKpd2Zh
Continue reading...Video shows the scale of catastrophe as the storm continues to move away from the Bahamas and towards Florida
Kari Paul logging off for the evening. Please stay tuned tomorrow for more updates as Dorian reaches the US coast and the picture of effects on the Bahamas become clearer.
Here are the latest updates from this afternoon:
The death toll for Hurricane Dorian climbed to seven, Prime Minister Hubert Minnis said on Tuesday night, according to CNN. The death toll, which was at five earlier in the day, has been expected to climb as survivors of the natural disaster face ongoing food and medicine shortages.
Continue reading...State representative Erica Thomas says she was verbally attacked in supermarket while shopping with her nine-year-old daughter
A pregnant African American lawmaker in Georgia said she was verbally attacked in a supermarket Friday by a middle-aged white man who used profanity, called her vulgar names and told her to “go back where you came from” as her nine-year-old daughter looked on.
Erica Thomas, a Democrat and Georgia state representative from Austell, said the man was irate that she was in an express line with too many items. Thomas said she was in a line for customers with 10 items or less because she cannot stand for long periods of time.
Continue reading...Police in Georgia have released dramatic bodycam footage showing the moment a newborn baby girl was discovered alive in a plastic bag. Local residents called the police on 6 June after hearing cries from a wooded area. Forsyth county sheriff’s office has released the footage in the hope of receiving more information about ‘Baby India’
Continue reading...‘National security’ measure seriously escalates tensions after clashes in Tbilisi during protests against visit by Russian MP
Vladimir Putin has banned Russia’s airlines from flying to Georgia, a day after a Russian lawmaker’s visit to the country prompted violent clashes between protesters and police.
The ban is a serious escalation in tensions between the neighbouring countries, which fought a war in 2008. The suspension of flights is designed to put pressure on Georgia’s tourism industry, which accounted for 7.6% of the country’s GDP in 2018. More than 1.4 million Russians visited Georgia last year.
Continue reading...Unrest sparked by anger at ruling party and Russian MP addressing parliament
Protesters gathered outside Georgia’s parliament for a second successive night of protests on Friday evening, demanding snap elections and the resignation of the country’s interior minister.
Clashes with police the previous night left more than 200 people injured and caused the parliamentary speaker to resign.
Continue reading...The unrest was sparked by the appearance of a Russian MP, who was allowed to chair a session of parliament
Police in Georgia used tear gas, rubber bullets and water cannon to stop protesters storming the country’s parliament early on Friday, leaving dozens requiring medical treatment. Thirty-nine police officers and 30 civilians had been treated in hospital for injuries after the clashes, with the number likely to rise, said David Sergeenko, an adviser to the prime minister.
Thousands had rallied through the night outside the building in the centre of the capital, Tbilisi, after a Russian MP was allowed to chair a session of parliament on Thursday.
Continue reading...After being beaten in Tbilisi six years ago, the country’s LGBT activists are ready to be bold
Six years on, the violent scene remains imprinted in the minds of Georgia’s LGBT community: dozens of gay rights demonstrators being beaten in the streets of Tbilisi by black-frocked priests and far-right protesters, some bearing clubs and other weapons. The modern-day pogrom in 2013 seemed like a warning: whatever Georgia’s aspirations to join Europe, its queer community would be left behind.
But this week activists are planning the country’s first LGBT pride events in a gambit to convert the underground explosion of queer culture in Georgia into political change. Arrayed against them are conservative and Christian activists and a police force that says they can’t guarantee the safety of the protesters. Many fear the violence of 2013 could be repeated.
Continue reading...Sweltering heat, storms and possible twisters were expected to hit the southern plains and south-eastern states on Memorial Day, on the heels of deadly tornadoes and flooding.
Related: Are hurricanes getting stronger – and is the climate crisis to blame?
Continue reading...Robert Smith, a billionaire investor, surprises students at Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia, by using his speech at a commencement ceremony to pledge to wipe the debts of the 2019 class. 'This is my class – 2019 – and my family is making a grant to eliminate their student loans. I know my class will make sure they pay this forward,' he said
Continue reading...Researchers believe Casimir Pulaski’s skeleton indicates the 18th-century cavalry officer may have been female or intersex
Researchers believe a famed Polish general who fought in the American Revolutionary war may have been a woman or possibly intersex.
Related: Close calls: when American presidents diced with death
Continue reading...The Atlanta-based rapper 21 Savage did not talk about his British citizenship before because he didn’t want to get deported.
Continue reading...The rapper 21 Savage was arrested in Atlanta early on Sunday morning by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice).
Related: 'I'm the gay Tupac': Jussie Smollett plays first concert since alleged attack
Continue reading...Four victims have been rescued, authorities say, as more than 600 DHS officials will be in the city on Sunday for protection
Federal authorities say 33 people have been arrested in Atlanta, Georgia, on sex trafficking charges before the Super Bowl this weekend.
Related: The NFL is 70% black, so why is its TV coverage so white?
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