Daily News Roundup

 

TUESDAY, June 2

President Donald has described then rioting and looting across the US as a “total disgrace” and said he will mobilise “heavily-armed military forces” to stop it.

In a dramatic escalation of the country’s national crisis, the President said he had recommended every governor to deploy the National Guard to “dominate the streets” to have an “overwhelming presence” to quell the violence.

“First we are ending the riots and lawlessness that has spread throughout our country. We will end it now,” he said from the Rose Garden.

“Today I have strongly recommended to every Governor to deploy the National Guard in sufficient numbers that we dominate the streets. Mayors and Governors must establish and overwhelming law enforcement presence until the violence has been quelled.

“If a city or state refuses to take the actions that are necessary to defend the life and property of their residents, then I will deploy the United States military and quickly solve the problem for them.”

He said the nation has been “gripped by professional anarchists, violent mobs, arsonists, looters, criminals, rioters, Antifa and others”.

The announcement follows days of violent protests that have gripped the nation in the wake of the death of George Floyd, who died after being pinned down by white police officer Derek Chauvin for nearly nine minutes.

Mr Trump described the protests in Washington DC as a “total disgrace”, and said he would dispatch “thousands and thousands of heavily-armed soldiers, military personnel and law enforcement officers” to “stop the rioting, looting, vandalism, assaults, and the wanton destruction of property”.

He also announced a strict 7pm curfew, saying “organisers of this terror… will face severe criminal penalties and lengthy sentences in jail”

The President’s press conference came as it was revealed an independent autopsy into the death of George Floyd has found he died from “asphyxiation from sustained pressure” to both his neck and back, the family’s lawyer said today.

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Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has apologised to the family of a Central Queensland man whose death was wrongly attributed to COVID-19.

Her apology has come after confirmation Blackwater man, Nathan Turner, did not die of coronavirus, igniting an angry backlash among residents of the tight-knit central Queensland community.

“You know I really want to say to the family that we’re incredibly sorry that that has happened,” the Premier said.

“To the family I know that is still grieving and I don’t want them to be stressed anymore, I know it is a very tough time for them but we do know that the coroner made that finding yesterday and we accept that finding.”

After a social media post yesterday afternoon revealed his fiancee, Simone Devon, had been told that a post-mortem examination confirmed Mr Turner, 30 did not have COVID-19, Facebook was flooded with irate comments.

An online petition demanding an apology from Ms Annastacia Palaszczuk and Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young also quickly attracted more than 2,000 supporters.

Mr Turner was named as “Australia’s youngest COVID-19 victim” on May 27 when the Premier announced he had tested positive for coronavirus after being found dead at his Blackwater home.

He had been ill for some time and had a “complicated medical history”, but Ms Palaszczuk said he had been displaying symptoms prior to his death and his fiancee had also been unwell.

Australian College of Rural and Remote Medicine president Ewan McPhee told ABC Capricornia the negative coronavirus result was not a surprise.

“You would expect for this tragic event to have been related to COVID, that there would have been significant cases within the community and clearly that isn’t the case,” Dr McPhee said.

“It’s certainly extraordinary that the same town has had two false-positive cases and it begs the question as to whether the testing is accurate and being done correctly. I think that warrants investigation.

“We all have to act on that information and the disruption it causes community is quite significant.”

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An invisible roadside fence designed to reduce the number of animals being killed on Queensland roads is being trialled on the Sunshine Coast, reports the ABC.

Concerned about the amount of roadkill on her street, Mudjimba resident Christine Pitcher lobbied the local council for virtual fencing to be installed in the area.

“I spoke to various neighbours about it and they were pretty upset about what was happening … particularly because some kangaroos were being hit and being left to die,” she told the ABC.

“There were also a couple of people in the street that hit them and had damage to their cars.”

The council and the University of the Sunshine Coast began a small trial of the fencing in August 2018, and with community support it has since expanded across the region.

The virtual fencing is based on European technology, and includes a device attached to a pole by the side of the road.

The device is triggered by vehicle headlights and emits a buzzing sound and flashing light to warn nearby wildlife of approaching vehicles.

Ms Pitcher said since it was introduced at Mudjimba in January, she had not seen one dead kangaroo.

A Sunshine Coast Council spokesperson said the monitoring of all trial sites was “still in progress” and would be reviewed later this year.

A trial of the fencing is also underway on Victoria’s Phillip Island, where swamp wallabies and possums are common roadkill victims.

Dr Christine Connelly, a lecturer in environmental science at Victoria University, said the technology showed “real promise” because of its ability to protect, but not displace, animals.