The countrys Biggest Oil Field retreats. And greece signs a maritime deal with its leaf for an exclusive Economic Zone and while there is tension with turkey over Natural Resources in the mediterranean. It is now just after 16 g. M. T. And in the coming hours george floyd will be laid to rest his death sparked the biggest anti discrimination protest in the United States since the Civil Rights Era the 8 minutes and 46 seconds a white Police Officer in minneapolis kept his knee pinned on the neck of mr floyd a black man who was already handcuffed and under arrest for its death sparked weeks of demonstrations across 50 us states and countries around the wild protesters demanded an end to racism and Police Brutality mr floyd will be buried next to his mothers grave in texas he was 46 years old. On the topic a name is in minneapolis for us where people are gathering to pay tribute at the site where george floyd dias can be how his is outside the white house but 1st lets go live to john hendren who is at the fountain of praise chance in texas where George Floyds Funeral Service will be held john that funeral is due to begin rise about now talk us through what the program might and kate. Thats right if these buses werent behind me you would be able to see the door but the reason the buses are there is that the reverend al sharpton was just leading the family members of george floyd into the chamber it is a significant ceremony its going to last about 3 hours and thats just the official time and there are a number of speakers there will be song readings there will be dignitaries there will be there will be a Statement Given by joe biden we are told that is being given on video to members of congress will speak and there will be 3 pastors who speak before the reverend al sharpton gives the eulogy after all of this George Floyds body will be taken to be buried nearby here in houston next to his mother but this is an epic ceremony 500. 00 people will be allowed inside that is unusual during the coronavirus era and that doesnt count the hundreds of people thousands of people were told be filed by just behind me yesterday in order to view the body of george floyd and of course this is been happening at memorials in minneapolis in North Carolina where he was born and there are remembrances going on all across the country so its especially unusual that it happens in this coronavirus era there will be a number of dignitaries inside some of them may be surprised. It has been growing outside the church as well and talk us through what people a talking about is there that sense of defiance and anger weve been hearing across the country. Theres absolutely a sense of defiance it is certainly a somberness among the people who knew george floyd we just spoke to a couple of women who knew him growing up and they said its tragic that this should happen to such a good man that he was very generous but they also said that is tragic it is that he seemingly died for nothing that something good has come out of this and that is this movement and we expect the reverend al sharpton to urge people to call out for them to continue this movement against young africanamericans or africanamericans of all ages being mistreated in some cases killed by the police and so there is there is a sense that this is a tragedy and that it happened for no good reason but that some good is coming out of it when were hearing people say that it least if george floyd had to die that something might change were seeing change in Police Departments across the u. S. There is this movement to defund them youll hear about that from the taj after me perhaps. But its a movement that bait to continue going to reverend al sharpton and others call out for that movement to continue even as they celebrate the life of george florida john hendren there for us outside the funeral and well be talking to john throughout the day but for now thank you very much john lets now go to natasha she is in minneapolis minnesota natasha your at that very spot where george floyd was killed and people there have came to gather to how are they remembering him today. Its been a. Quiet morning but as the morning has progressed the crowd keeps growing im looking at a sign that says rest in power george floyd certainly one of the many signs that resonates particularly today as hes laid to rest i spoke to a woman who says that today yes its a sad and somber day but she says she has felt so encouraged by what has happened in the several broad radius over the last few weeks she says it has been a unifying experience where people of multiracial multiethnic have come together for an outpouring of grief and anger she says that she would describe this place as a sanctuary and in a literal sign of rebirth someone told me that yesterday right here where youre looking at. Someone was baptized but i also spoke to an africanamerican man whos been coming here every day for the last 2 weeks biking from downtown he says he really needs to be here he says hes been thinking a lot about george floyd hes a hairstylist that he said george floyd has prompted him to think about what would happen if a customer unbeknownst to him handed him a counterfeit 20. 00 bill he said what i end up dead as well. Natasha i see that the man has been Promising Police reform but hes still refusing to commit to defunding the Police Department as some of the protesters there have been demanding how is that being received by the community. Well there are reasons for the community to be frustrated especially when youre talking about someones life being at risk protesters dont want another. Africanamerican man to die in Minneapolis Police custody and what theyve seen is that despite reforms such as officers wearing body cameras or being trained in deescalation techniques the complaints against the minneapolis Police Department have only continued to grow in the last 5 years force was used by the police against africanamericans 7 times more frequently than white people so theres still a lot of frustrations that these reforms have not gone far enough now 9 City Council Members pledged on sunday at a rally that they would disband the minneapolis Police Department and create what they describe as a Public Safety system that is part of something they partner with the community but details are a bit slim the city council says though with 9 majority votes they have a veto proof majority as you mentioned the mayor is saying that he supports reform but he does not support the Police Department this is the start of a conversation a stasia Business Leaders and residents are starting to ask themselves what would this look like and would a new system and i were just talking earlier would something that replaces a minneapolis Police Department not suffer from the same type of concerns regarding systemic and institutionalized racism toward black people and people of color natascha going to aim that for us on the streets of minneapolis thank you very much and. In the white house President Donald Trump has been tweeting about his popularity ratings well also taking aim at the democratic president ial frontrunner joe biden hes also now suggested that a 75 year old protester who was injured after being shoved by the police could be from and teeth well lets now bring in our White House Correspondent can be help that hes in washington d. C. For us kimberly weve been hearing from the president on twitter this morning as usual and it looks like hes very much in campaigning lot already. In Campaign Mode and youre right one of those tweets really striking a nerve here in the United States many concerned about the president s tone and tenor with regard to the tweet suggesting that one of the protesters in buffalo new york earlier this week that was pushed down by a police 75 year old man still recovering in hospital that the u. S. President now suggesting that he may have stages for the cameras and that he may be a member of t. V. Now the governor of new york state andrew cuomo who is not a particular fan of President Donald Trump has reacted to this in just the last half hour or so calling the president s comments reckless irresponsible cruel he says of this moment of anger and anguish the if there ever was a moment he feels decency he should apologize for that because it is wholly unacceptable well the u. S. President has for the most part not apologize for that tweet and fact has not apologized for his heavy handed approach to quelling much of the end rest that has occurred around the United States in fact pushing the governors to do more to call in the National Guard now the u. S. President does not have anything on his public schedule right now but we do know that he is planning to try and take his message to the states and he wants to try and bring back his make America Great again rallies in fact we know that the campaign is considering a number of options that would involve social distancing Many Americans restless to get out of their homes after these stay at home orders now it appears the u. S. President is restless himself trying to perhaps counter some of the negative poll numbers hes been experiencing as a result of his handling of coronavirus as well as the social unrest it shows that his the democratic president ial nominee joe biden leading the u. S. President if the election were called today by 10 Percentage Points can be held at that White House Correspondent thank you very much company. Well lets talk about this a little more with the assistant professor of Political Science at Howard University in iambic us or she is also the author of american while black African Americans immigration and the limits of citizenship dr carson is speaking to us from washington d. C. Thank you for being with us today dr today is very much a day for grieving do you feel that mourning can be reframed here as a way to potentially reenergize the Civil Rights Movement around the conversations the country has been having i mean for sure but i think you know this is been you know an ongoing fight think the rest of the world is finally paying attention in its own ways and the rest of our country is finally paying attention so the Civil Rights Movement has been an ongoing i think that it did in 1960 percent. A struggle throughout i think now this is been a catalyze moment and we will see that just more energy from the more any more energy from the fact that there need to be done to be corrected for any of us to be in this country when you talk about the things that we need to correct and weve obviously seen a lot of protests here pushing for Police Reform in some cases defunding the police do these protests give the police further justification to further militarize and it feels very us and then how might the discourse need to be reframed to rather have the police feel that their role is protecting protesters rather than facing off against them. Well i mean i think for a long time the police have not necessarily lived up to the promise of protecting you sorry i think actually it was more the police viewing the rest of us civilians as combatants in that as communities that are in need of care now part of that has just been the ways in which we have conducted police say over the last 2030 years where weve seen you know military i mean military sound weaponry being given to local Police Departments i think thats ridiculous that the military is to protect us from you know foreign and domestic enemies there is no reason that hair l. Helicopters and other kinds of long range weapons another thing need to be held back Police Departments who are really dealing with merely sort of small skirmishes on a day to day basis i think we think about policing is you know its always this sort of a life and death kind of situation but thats not the reality and i think we had you there for too long to create a narrative where the police have to always protect themselves but if the police dont see themselves as citizens and dont see themselves as having a role in protecting citizens then everybodys a suspect so i dont think that the protests do anything but howard the brutality. Because weve seen the violence that police have been unleashed on on the very quiet public in many cases i mean that quiet in terms of volume but quiet in this if people have been nonviolent if people show up in pepper sprayed in their face right over my back police you talk about people being shoved there let me ask you then to respond to the tweets from donald trump this morning about the protest or the 75 a protester who was shot i mean there have been very different groups that have participated in the protests some of them more violent than others but one could argue that there hasnt been a huge amount of rhetoric around unity and more yet many more rhetoric around division coming from the white house whats your take. Well this is what donald trump ders i mean donald trump has been stoking the fires of division of the way to the white house i mean this is was a tactic for winning 26 you know he did it very well he is a showman he understands his base he understands what they see i mean even as were having these conversations about defunding the police right that we can reallocate resources to other much needed Community Resources hes been saying i want law and order so he is clearly not really helping to resolve anything in this particular moment and now obviously all of this is happening within the context of a Global Pandemic one which the u. S. Is still very much suffering through and george for it himself spent the last few weeks of his life recovering from the coronavirus and just as weve been covering here the pandemic is absolutely laid bare the inequality is in the u. S. There of course and c. D. C. Figures american African Americans making up 13 percent of the population but i believe 30 percent of cases what impact does this pandemic hadnt inspiring this movement. Well i mean i think what the pandemic unfortunately has done is give us an opportunity to slow down and i say unfortunately because it shouldnt take a pay did for us to be paying attention to the loss of life i mean we could go through a litany of names of people who died over the past few years goolies violence or vigilante violence it would actually absolutely be you know appalling probably too many of your viewers but i will say because of the pandemic people have been kept in homes theyre watching news more often theyre probably getting news that they probably know paid much attention to and i think theyre having to digest this in ways that they had before so it was sort of like a perfect storm moment i mean when you add on that the bigger you quoted black people are 3 times more likely to die from coat 19 and this just on top of all of the just the the that emergency is in this is very right we say relation for all we know that you could look really bad race and you could almost determine that peoples lives will be shorter you can look bad zip code and know who is more likely that had asthma and other respiratory illness rates you can look. Barrys and see who is more likely to die in childbirth and cold it just exacerbated all of these inequities that we see in American Society and because of that the assistant professor for Political Science at Howard University great to get you in science landy here on out of there lets now take you back to the fountain of prayers church in houston where the funeral of george floyd has literally just start any minute weve seen people come into the church they are the family members of george floyd walked in led by the reverend al sharpton you might be able to see him at the bottom of your screen there and black and white he is expected to be giving the eulogy in a sense we do also expect to hear a video message from democratic president ial hopeful. Joe Biden Joe Biden did visit george boyds family in houston on monday night as well as some other civil rights figures and we will be bringing you much much more of that funeral and the subsequent events here on aljazeera. Not a belgian in a city of and 12 has removed a statue of a colonial era king after it was defaced by antiracism protesters activists have long petitioned to remove statues of king leopold the 2nd he was belgian longest serving monarch millions of people were killed under his brutal reign of a modern day democratic republic of congo. And in the u. K. Thousands of people have signed 2 new petitions theyre calling for the removal of a statue of a british colonialist at Oxford University a campaign to remove the stature of sessile rhodes from Oriel College has now been underway for several years well we can speak now to our correspondent laurie chalons who is in oxford for us laurie the university has previously insisted that the statue would stay with modifications that im quoting here would draw attention to this history and do justice to the complexity of the debate whats the state of that debate now. Well the state of the debate here amongst these people who come to protest is that there is no debate are having to speak very quietly as were in a moment is our. Big for the memory to exploited for all people here in the black large Mass Movement around the world its a solemn moment here right now the status of it here is this the people who have covered feel that the time for words is done and the statue of this. Incident this talk of the building over there behind me must for. Us. They should tear him down that he is on representative of the more values of inclusion and racial diversity this is a man who is an arch imperialist of the 19th century and they say that theyve been calling on Oriel College to take down the statue for several years now but that were all college has declined to do so. Because of the black cause Massive Movement because of the way this weekend was in recent days. The campaign to get rid of the statue of sort of gross has come back to the forefront of political discourse. And we now have a free media folks are currently writing to new Orleans College inviting them to make it planning permission to remove the statue but its the moment at least that stands for real college may well make that decision but they havent done it yet and i know there was a similar debate about the road stop to our university of cape town in south africa and i know many activists in this conversation offend its not about not wanting to remember but about not wanting to celebrate these figures and it seems that this may be just part of the beginning of a reevaluation of studies about across the u. K. Well yeah as weve seen in recent days with the protests. And. Sitting. Around. The. Veneration of historical figures like sesame rice is hugely contentious issue but it has been for some years you have the statue of liberty. In the United States which was the focus for the protests in charlottesville some time ago years ago that led to the death of the protest compare and in bristol just a few days ago there was the statue of a former slave a british slave ever constant there was actually written down and thrown into the river you have a statue of the figures like Winston Churchill was. Defeated over in london a few days ago as well so these historical figures you come from times when Race Relations were slightly different. Very much part of the the going debate the ongoing protests that have flared up again since i was Matter Movement flared up again with with the killing of george lloyd challenge that for us in oxford thank you very much for. Now lets take you to some other news and burundis president pierre increases or has died at the age of 55 a government statement says he died of a heart attack on monday he was due to step down from office an organist after the recently held president ial elections in currencies that had been in power since 2005 well our correspondent malcolm webb now joins us on the phone from nairobi from where hes been monitoring all those developments malcolm weve been talking about how young and choruses it was at the age of 55. 00 what more have we learned about is death. Well the government said he went into hospital on saturday and they say that the cardiac arrest on monday and then made and thats when he passed away and they just made the announcement just within the last couple of hours by tweeting a scanned statement theres a lot of skepticism already among karelians on social media and elsewhere about the stated cause that. Iran currently has wife about 10 days ago denise and community to the 1st lady of the relief through here to nairobi seeking medical treatment for a reason that officially was on this closed but a lot of the local press here in kenya reported that she was suffering from cope with 19 and now theres going to be cool a lot of speculation and guessing from burundi and from the day about this claim that the president has a heart attack it is worth noting that during the the only country in africa that hasnt had any policies to try and limit the spread of kenan the message from the government has been largely one of denial just a few weeks ago president reagans either himself was out on the campaign trail supporting the campaign for his chosen successor the president ial candidate for the ruling party in those rallies there were thousands of thousands of people and almost no measures taken to try and stop the spread of the virus. Senior executives of the World Health Organization were victims from the country for criticizing there has been a position from the government very much of denial and also a lack of testing and lack of knowledge of exactly how far the virus is spreading that now can increase the theres always been a very controversial man and he was set to remain very powerful even after the stepping down in august what kind of a legacy does he leave now. The legacies one thats right he was widely criticized certainly any from from outside britain the one of the thing that will bring the inactivity in the opposition would say that in the last 5 years of his rule the new freedom of the political space has been closed to term in office from 252005 to 2015 it is you know went around then. It caused a lot of unhappiness people took to the streets opposition activists said that was against the constitution he denied that protest too are met with a brutal dryland crackdown and have a sense of being continual suppression of any voices that are critical particularly by the youth wing of the ruling party called the inborn recruit able to much more widely described as a militia being widely accused across the country of political killings executions intimidation extorting money and thats why a lot of Rights Groups say that the political space in berlin the now almost completely nonexistent is under those conditions that byelection took place last month and to indeed the chairs and successor was announced the winner even the remaining opposition there is Rights Groups the word they need. Commenting from abroad said that this election wasnt free and fair not come whether our correspondent on a late developments for us from nairobi thank you very much neal. Now an armed group backing libyas war he for hafter that entered the countrys Biggest Oil Field facility and asked employees to stop work has now retreated Libyas National Oil Corporation says the oil field has resumed operations the amount of pipeline running from the Sharara Oil Field reopened on sunday after being closed by find his back in january almost all of libyas oil exports had stopped Khalifa Haftar his forces seized the fear during an offensive early last year. From tripoli heres our correspondent put up the white head with all the latest developments the Current Situation now in a. Field about 700 kilometers south of the capital tripoli is that the group that stalled with the oil field and threatened the employees and forces the shah darwin of production has pulled out why because of trade bill mediation like local tribal leader tribal leaders mediated and negotiated with the. Group but it seems also that the. Group were threatened by this Statement Issued by the endo see thats the National Oil Corporation the state oil field the state oil for here in tripoli which threaten to be feared the whole case to the general prosecutor and also threatened that closure of oil fields is impacting the countrys economy severely especially. A shot of oil field is the countrys biggest Oil Producing good fielder and a shot our own good feel oil fields in southern libya are the all the producing oil fields after the blockade of the oil christened in central libya by after us forces now the only group seems to be affiliated to the warlords liefer have to but its still part of the Petroleum Facilities guard at the southern the branch of the. Petroleum facility got i have to explain this to you that its complicated and its confusingly of a lot in the south a little bit the Petroleum Facilities guard in southern libya shifted allegiance several times over the past 2 years when have to as forces took control of the stars in early 2019 they sided with have to and then after that the siding with the government the National Guard now the Southern Branch is divided between have the g. N. A. T. The group that stormed ultra and pulled out is affiliated warlord Khalifa Haftar and now video has emerged in libya that appears to show military officers from the United Arab Emirates Training Forces an oil to have. As you can see there theyre being trained on a russian made and Defense System called the s one russian maton areas have been instrumental in helping have to its forces. Well still ahead on al jazeera and al jazeera investigation on corruption in iraq e. Agriculture. In mexico is reopening. In cases and doubts we speak to the man at the head of the countrys coronavirus response. Weve got quite a bit of rain in the forecast across asia the nation over the next few days that does include the Korean Peninsula it also includes said japan for this line of cloud and rain down into central and southern parts of china thats the main by you fronts actually and that will of course bring those standard downpours in once again as we go on through quite a stay further north its moving across the sea a line of thunderstorms gathering they will extend the way across the Korean Peninsula through the sea of japan facing a good part of japan as we go on through thursday and that could be some localized flooding across the southern half of honshu and on into a queue sheer that we have got the usual showers continuing further south across much of Southeast Asia little cluster of storms just to the east of the philippines and will bring some increasingly wet weather in here as we go through the next couple of days still rather wet into that eastern side of indonesia still very wet for a good part of thailand more of the same here as we go on through. That weve got the cloud and the rain across eastern parts of india as up was a northwest an amount about where we are seeing seeing some flooding at the moment i think the showers here will ease as we go through the next couple of days but some big downpours gathering right along the eastern coast. But. Examining the impact of todays headlines extraordinary times require extraordinary measures but these should not be at the expense of our privacy setting the agenda for tomorrows discussions on nodal life that was in these walls and now there is no live in the one global experts in discussion in this democracy why are people not voting International Filmmakers and the world class journalists. On ill just say are. Aljazeera. Ever. Had and will watching aljazeera thats for money about top stories this hour George Floyds cough and has arrived at the fountain of Christ Church and his hometown of houston where people have been gathering to attend his funeral his death in Police Custody sparked 2 weeks of pie
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