George Floyd died from lack of oxygen caused by restraint, lung expert testifies

  • Dr Martin Tobin: ‘Mr Floyd died from a low level of oxygen’
  • Knee on neck and handcuffs in prone position starved him of air

A leading pulmonary expert has told the Derek Chauvin murder trial that George Floyd was killed by a lack of oxygen because a knee was pressed into his neck while he was held facedown in handcuffs.

As the trial entered its ninth day of testimony, Dr Martin Tobin, a pulmonary and critical care specialist for 40 years, told the jury that the 46-year-old Black man was caught in a “vice” between Chauvin and the street as the breath was squeezed out of him.

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White House expresses concern over Northern Ireland violence – video

The White House has expressed concern over a week of riots in Northern Ireland, with Joe Biden joining Boris Johnson and the Irish prime minister in calling for calm after what police described as the worst violence in Belfast for years. The president’s press secretary, Jen Psaki, said that Biden remained ‘steadfast’ in his support for a ‘secure and prosperous Northern Ireland in which all communities have a voice and enjoy the gains of the hard-won peace’

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Biden condemns US gun violence as ‘international embarrassment’ – video

In his first gun control measures since taking office, Joe Biden announced a half-dozen executive actions aimed at addressing the proliferation of gun violence across the nation that he called an ‘epidemic and an international embarrassment’. Greeting the families of gun violence victims and activists in the Rose Garden, Biden thanked them for their presence and continued action. And he assured them: ‘We’re absolutely determined to make change.’ But the announcement underscores the limitations of Biden’s executive power to act on guns, facing as he is an evenly divided Senate, where Republicans remain near-unified against most proposals

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Joe Biden announces first steps to curb ‘epidemic’ of US gun violence

President condemned gun violence as an ‘international embarrassment’ after series of recent shootings around the US

Joe Biden, under pressure to act after a slew of mass shootings, has announced his first steps to curb the “epidemic” and “international embarrassment” of gun violence in America.

The president has prioritised the coronavirus pandemic and economic recovery during the first two and half months of his presidency. But a series of recent shooting tragedies in Georgia, Colorado and California led to renewed calls for urgent action on guns.

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George Floyd died from lack of oxygen, says breathing expert – video

George Floyd died from a lack of oxygen, which damaged his brain and caused his heart to stop, a medical expert testified on Thursday at the former police officer Derek Chauvin’s murder trial. Floyd’s breathing was too shallow to take in enough oxygen while he was pinned face down with his hands cuffed behind his back for nine and a half minutes as Chauvin knelt on his neck and back, said Dr Martin Tobin, a lung and critical care specialist at the Edward Hines Jr VA hospital and Loyola University’s medical school in Chicago

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Derek Chauvin trial: testimony resumes after police expert says use of force ‘not reasonable’ – live

Shortly after Tobin has taken the stand, he gives his opinion on Floyd’s cause-of-death: “Mr Floyd died from a low-level of oxygen and this caused damage to his brain...and it also caused a [pulseless electrical activity] arrhythmia that caused his heart to stop.”

“The cause of the low-level of oxygen was shallow breathing, small breaths...shallow breaths that weren’t able to carry the air through his lungs down to the essential areas [in] his lungs,” Tobin says in response to further questions, noting shortly thereafter: “There are a number of forces that led to the size of his breath became so small.”

The Chauvin trial testimony has resumed.

Prosecutors have called their first witness of the day: Dr Martin Tobin, an expert in critical care and pulmonology.

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Joe Biden to announce executive actions to address gun violence – live

Calls are mounting for the Biden administration to set up a national tracking system of Covid-19 deaths among frontline healthcare workers to honor the thousands of nurses, doctors and support staff who have died and ensure that future generations are not forced to make the same ultimate – and in many cases needless – sacrifice.

Health policy experts and union leaders are pressing the White House to move quickly to fill the gaping hole left by the Trump administration through its failure to create an accurate count of Covid deaths among frontline staff. The absence of reliable federal data exacerbated critical problems such as shortages of personal protective equipment (PPE) that left many workers exposed, with fatal results.

Related: Calls mount for Biden to track US healthcare worker deaths

The number of unaccompanied migrant children arriving at the US-Mexican border hit a record high last month, the US Customs and Border Protection agency said today.

According to CBP’s newly released figures, 18,890 unaccompanied children arrived at the southern border in March, representing a 100% increase from February.

Related: Migrants held in overcrowded Texas facility, photos released by congressman show

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The biggest impediment to a new nuclear deal with Iran? Domestic politics | Holly Dagres

Though a return to the JCPOA seems likely, both Washington and Tehran have complex internal obstacles to overcome

The United States and Iran are in a staring contest, and neither wants to blink first – at least that’s how the BBC Middle East editor, Jeremy Bowen, described the current political impasse.

Since president Joe Biden took office on 20 January, the countries have been locked in a stalemate over the joint comprehensive plan of action (JCPOA), which the Donald Trump administration withdrew from in May 2018, reimposing sanctions on Iran – despite the country not having violating the multilateral accord. These actions prompted Iran to speed up its nuclear programme after May 2019 by incrementally breaching aspects of the JCPOA.

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Monkeys thought to have escaped private collection on loose in Cincinnati

  • Alarmed residents spotted monkeys late on Wednesday night
  • Monkeys were seen swinging from trees in city graveyard

At least five monkeys are on the loose in Cincinnati after being spotted swinging from the trees in a graveyard in the Ohio city’s West Side neighborhood.

Local media reported that residents called the police in alarm after spotting the escaped monkeys late on Wednesday night. Video of the creatures also circulated on social media.

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UK Covid variant now most common in US, says CDC chief – video

The B117 variant of coronavirus first detected in the UK is now the most dominant in the US, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Wednesday.

During the White House coronavirus response team’s briefing, Dr Rochelle Walensky warned the rising number of coronavirus cases in dozens of US states is probably attributable to the spread of variants 

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The protesters who gather every day to demand justice for George Floyd

A small but determined group rise early to take their spot outside the Minneapolis courthouse – and they stay all day

Behind the Hennepin county courthouse in downtown Minneapolis, which is heavily fortified for the murder trial of Derek Chauvin, a small but determined core of seven protesters gathers every day.

Sometimes there are many more protesters, sometimes not so many. But always this group, there hoping to witness justice for George Floyd, who died under the knee of Chauvin in south Minneapolis last May.

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Fauci thanks US health workers for sacrifices but admits PPE shortages drove up death toll

Exclusive: top expert says health workers ‘have lived up to the oath they take’ but says shortages of protective gear have contributed to excess deaths

Dr Anthony Fauci thanked America’s healthcare workers who “every single day put themselves at risk” during the pandemic, even as he acknowledged that PPE shortages had contributed to the deaths of more than 3,600 of them.

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Derek Chauvin trial: expert witness says George Floyd’s health deteriorated as officer continued using force – live

Prosecutors are asking Anderson about the initial 27 May processing of the Mercedes SUV, and the second search in December 2020.

Anderson, presented with photos of the Mercedes interior during the first processing, said was asked whether there was a pill there.

Prosecutors have now called McKenzie Anderson to testify, a forensic scientist with Minnesota’s criminal apprehension bureau.

Anderson has been a “crime scene team” leader with the bureau of criminal apprehension since 2016. Anderson headed the crime scene investigation in Floyd’s death. Anderson, a technician, and a photographer from her team, arrived at the scene around 1:15 am on 26 May, 2020.

SA Reyerson testimony is now complete. Onto the 2nd BCA witness in the case, McKenzie Anderson. She was the crime scene lead on death of #GeorgeFloyd investigation. Continued #DerekChauvinTrial coverage live right now on @FOX9. pic.twitter.com/s3NxFP8B23

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Tiger Woods driving at 87mph in 45mph zone at time of car crash, police say

  • Police reveal details of crash that left golfer seriously injured
  • Officials have said drugs and alcohol not a factor in accident

Tiger Woods was driving at speeds up to 87mph (140km/h) in a 45mph zone when he was involved in a serious car crash earlier this year, Los Angeles police revealed during a press conference on Wednesday.

Los Angeles county sheriff Alex Villanueva said the speed was “unsafe for the road conditions” and Woods did not brake in the run-up to the collision, perhaps because he pressed the accelerator instead of the brake pedal in a state of panic. Villanueva said Woods will not receive a citation over the crash and blamed the incident of Woods’s excessive speed and loss of control of the vehicle.

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Jordan Peterson ‘shocked’ by Captain America villain espousing ‘10 rules for life’

Ta-Nehisi Coates’s new comic sees Red Skull mobilising young men against ‘the feminist trap’ and other Petersonian targets

In the new issue of Captain America, the superhero’s longtime nemesis Red Skull espouses his views about “10 rules for life”, “the feminist trap” and “chaos and order” – and Canadian psychologist Jordan Peterson is none too pleased.

Written by the award-winning author Ta-Nehisi Coates, the Marvel comic features a version of the villain who looks to radicalise young men by telling them “what they’ve always longed to hear … That they’re secretly great. That the whole world is against them. That if they’re men, they’ll fight back. And bingo – that’s their purpose. That’s what they’ll live for. And that’s what they’ll die for.”

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Biden announces US has administered 150m Covid vaccine doses – as it happened

– Joan E Greve and Maanvi Singh

Matt Gaetz, the Florida Republican congressman who is being investigated over child sex trafficking charges, and who reportedly shared nude pictures of women with colleagues, is speaking at former president Donald Trump’s resort in Doral, at a rally for a pro-Trump women’s group.

Politico reports:

Women for America First announced late Tuesday that Gaetz would be a speaker at the three-day “Save America Summit.” This is the same group that helped organize the “March for Trump” rally in Washington that took place just hours before the Jan. 6 riots at the U.S. Capitol that left five people dead.

The organization praised Gaetz as one of the “few members of Congress” willing to “stand up & fight on behalf of President Trump & his America First agenda.” Women For America First says on its website that “We won’t be pushed around by bullies who tell us who we are ‘supposed’ to like. And we’re not going to keep quiet just because the Washington, D.C. power elites and mainstream media want us to!”

Related: Katie Hill: Matt Gaetz backed me but he must quit if nude-photo reports are true

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Arkansas is first state to ban gender-affirming treatments for trans youth

Lawmakers overrode the governor’s veto despite criticism that the measure would harm an already vulnerable community

Arkansas has become the first state to ban gender-affirming treatments and surgery for transgender youth, after lawmakers overrode the governor’s objections to enact the ban on Tuesday.

The state’s governor, Asa Hutchinson, had vetoed the bill on Monday following pleas from pediatricians, social workers and the parents of trans youth who said the measure would harm a community already at risk for depression and suicide. The ban was opposed by several medical and child welfare groups, including the American Academy of Pediatrics.

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‘Momentous error’: Italian businessman mistakenly blacklisted by Trump to sue

Alessandro Bazzoni’s bank account was closed after he faced sanctions in a case of mistaken identity

A small business owner in Italy is preparing to sue the US Treasury after accidentally being put on a sanctions blacklist before Donald Trump left the presidency.

Alessandro Bazzoni, who owns a graphic design company in Sardinia, has been unable to trade since 19 January, when his business was slapped with sanctions as part of the Trump administration’s crackdown on blacklisted Venezuelan crude oil.

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Value judgment: Donald Trump tumbles down billionaires’ rankings

While the richest got spectacularly richer during the pandemic, the ex-president plummeted nearly 300 places in the Forbes list

It’s been a glorious pandemic for the world’s richest people. Forbes annual billionaire poll includes a record-breaking 2,755 billionaires, with Amazon founder Jeff Bezos once again topping the list, the media company said on Tuesday.

The ranks of the super wealthy swelled as the coronavirus pandemic threatened the lives and livelihoods of millions across the planet but stock markets continued to hit new highs.

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First US trachea transplant offers hope to Covid patients with windpipe damage

  • Social worker, 56, treated at Mt Sinai hospital in New York
  • Some patients left with serious damage from ventilators

Surgeons in New York City have performed the first windpipe transplant in the US, giving a woman who suffered severe asthma a new trachea, the tube that transports air from the mouth to the lungs.

Doctors say such operations could help Covid-19 patients left with serious windpipe damage from breathing machines.

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