04 July 2021
One of Serbia’s five-member rowing team tested positive for COVID-19 upon arrival in Japan, an official said Sunday. This is the third visiting Olympian to test positive for the virus ahead of the games, which are set to begin later this month.
Why it matters: Japan's government has faced heavy criticism for deciding to host the Olympic Games in spite of rising cases.
- A member of Uganda's Olympic team tested positive on arrival in June, followed by a second member confirmed as having the virus days later.
Details: The unidentified Serbian athlete was sent to a medical facility, while the other four members of the rowing team were isolated in a separate facility in Tokyo, per Reuters.
- The athlete was found to have the virus during an antigen test conducted at Tokyo's Haneda airport.
State of play: According to Reuters, Tokyo confirmed 716 new coronavirus cases Saturday, the highest increase in more than five weeks.
- Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike announced in June that all public viewing during the Olympic Games had been canceled.
Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times
Section2Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.
Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.
The state of play: The transcripts were released as former officer Thomas Lane seeks to have the charges that he aided in Floyd's death thrown out in court, per the Times. He is one of four officers who have been charged.
- The filings also include a 60-page transcript of an interview with Lane. He said he "felt maybe that something was going on" when asked if he believed that Floyd was having a medical emergency at the time.
What the transcripts say:
- Floyd told the officers he was claustrophobic as they tried to get him into the squad car.
- The transcripts also show Floyd saying, "Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead."
- Former officer Derek Chauvin, who had his knee on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes, told Floyd, "Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk."
Read the transcripts via DocumentCloud.