Daily News Roundup

 

WEDNESDAY JUNE 3

Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden has slammed US President Donald Trump for ordering protesters forcibly removed from near the White House so he could have his picture taken holding a Bible in front of a church.

Cities across the US have seen widespread protests since George Floyd, an African-American man, died at the hands of police in Minneapolis on May 25.

Protesters had been demonstrating in Lafayette Park near the White House, but they were forcefully and violently moved on by police to clear the area for the President.

Moments after the park was cleared, Mr Trump walked across to pose with a Bible in front of St John’s Church, which had been damaged by fire during protests.

After a night that saw heavily armed military forces and federal officers swarm the city, the President tweeted on Tuesday: D.C. had no problems last night. Many arrests. Great job done by all. Overwhelming force. Domination. Likewise, Minneapolis was great (thank you President Trump!).

Joe Biden mounted one of his most aggressive attacks on Mr Trump, criticising his disregard of core constitutional values and for being “more interested in power than in principle”.

“He thinks division helps him,” Mr Biden said in a speech at Philadelphia’s City Hall.

“This narcissism has become more important than the nation’s wellbeing.”

Mr Biden criticised Mr Trump’s decision to pose with a Bible, saying “if he opened it instead of brandishing it, he could have learned something.”

“When peaceful protesters are dispersed by the order of the President from the doorstep of the people’s house, the White House — using tear gas and flash grenades — in order to stage a photo op at a noble church, we can be forgiven for believing that the President is more interested in power than in principle,” Mr Biden said.

Mr Trump hit back on Twitter, calling Mr Biden “politically weak”.

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The father of a man who died in the Central Queensland town of Blackwater last week has backed Queensland Health’s response to his son initially testing positive to COVID-19.

Rodney Turner issued a statement on social media last night, saying media scrutiny on his son Nathan Turner’s death had made his loss even harder to take and that the family now wanted to be left alone.

“I completely understand the reaction of Queensland Health to this situation,” Mr Turner said in his statement.

“As a matter of public interest they had to take precautionary action based on the evidence they had before them.

“I understand that the potential risk of a communicable disease required immediate action from Queensland Health and the public needed to be informed.

“What I don’t understand is how a false positive came about in the first place.”

Nathan Turner, 30, was found dead in his Blackwater home by his partner Simone Devon early last week.

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Joe Exotic, the protagonist of Netflix’s docuseries Tiger King, has lost his Oklahoma zoo to arch rival Carole Baskin after a US judge ruled in her favour as part of a $1 million trademark dispute, reports AP and the ABC.

Joe Exotic fraudulently transferred ownership of his zoo to his mother to avoid paying previous legal fees to Ms Baskin

He is currently serving a 22-year prison sentence for plotting Ms Baskin’s murder and killing some of his tigers

The docuseries following the saga was number one on Netflix in Australia in April

US District Judge Scott Palk granted control of the private zoo, previously run by Joseph Maldonado-Passage, also known as Joe Exotic, to Ms Baskin’s Big Cat Rescue Corp.

Ms Baskin had sued Mr Exotic for trademark and copyright infringements and won a $1 million civil judgment against him. The most recent judgment found that

 The Netlfix series traces the exotic animal market in the United States and, in particular, the small private zoos that showcase those animals to the public.

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A NSW South Coast family has been reunited with their cat, Tank, after he fled the family home as bushfires threatened their community in January..

Amid the chaos of the Black Summer bushfires, which destroyed homes to the north, south and west of Narooma, five-year-old Tank ran away.

But, just as his owner, Carol Ingram Taylor, had given up hope of ever seeing him again, Tank was found alive.

Badly malnourished and scarred from his five month-long adventure, Ms Taylor and her grandchildren said they were “over the moon” at having Tank returned to them.

Macie has been reunited with her cat, Tank, after he fled during the Black Summer fires.

He had wandered 14km from his home, but was found alive.