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Four former Minneapolis police officers are indicted on civil rights charges in the death of George Floyd; new US jobs fell, and unemployment rose; genetically modified mosquitoes released for the first time, and more news
A federal grand jury has indicted four former Minneapolis police officers on civil rights charges in the death of George Floyd. The officers are charged with depriving Floyd’s rights, ABC reported. The indictment alleges the officers denied Floyd’s rights when they saw him “in clear need” of medical care. The charges allege the officers “willfully failed to aid Floyd, thereby acting with deliberate indifference to a substantial risk of harm.”
Four ex-cops: Derek Chauvin, who was already convicted last month on state murder charges, as well as Chauvin, Tou Thao, J. Alexander Kueng, and Thomas Lane are the sentenced.
Former officers Tou Thao and J. Alexander Kueng were also charged over their failure to intervene in Chauvin’s use of unreasonable force, CNN reported.
The number of new US jobs added last month fell nearly 75% below expectations as the unemployment rate increased, spurring increasing talk of inflation.
Economists had predicted the number of new jobs last month would top 1 million, NBC reported.
However, only 266,000 jobs were added in April, according to the latest monthly employment report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Unemployment rose to 6.1% in April, up 0.1% from March.
It marks the slowest job improvement since January, CNN reported.
In a landmark experiment, genetically modified mosquitoes will be released into the wild in the United States for the first time in an attempt to combat diseases such as dengue and Zika. The test will occur in the Florida Keys, led by the biotechnology company, Oxitec.
The test comes as almost all current methods for controlling the disease-spreading mosquitoes, such as spraying or fogging chemical insecticides, have failed, as the species has become resistant.
The specific mosquito species targeted in the test are known as Aedes aegypti. They account for only 4 percent of the total mosquito population in the Florida Keys. However, this species is responsible for almost all mosquito-borne diseases to humans, IFL Science reported.
A number approved the test of federal and local agencies, including the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), as well as an independent advisory board.
Dogecoin virtual currency reached an all-time high, rising by 100 percent in value this past week, and is now the fourth-biggest digital coin, the Daily Mail reported. With a market capitalization of $78 billion, Dogecoin, founded in 2013, now has more value than many established companies and brands.
By comparison, Sherwin-Williams, valued at $75.8 billion; Dell Technologies, $75 billion; Moderna, $63.1 billion. Dogecoin’s value is now double of Ford at $45.2 billion in toward her at $42.1 billion. The digital currency enjoyed a rise following tweets by Tesla CEO Elon Musk.
