Palestinian president Abbas postpones parliamentary elections
29 April 2021
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas announced Thursday the indefinite postponement of parliamentary elections that had been scheduled for May 22.
Driving the news: Abbas said the delay was due to the fact that Israel had not committed to allowing Palestinians in East Jerusalem to vote. Another unspoken reason is that a split in his Fatah party has opened the door for a potential Hamas victory.
- Abbas made the announcement at the end of a meeting with representatives of all Palestinian factions.
- The representatives agreed that the elections would be postponed until the Palestinians in East Jerusalem can vote.
- Abbas also plans to establish a national unity government.
What he's saying: Abbas said at the meeting that Israel had informed the Palestinian Authority once again on Thursday that it had no response to their request about voting in East Jerusalem. The reason given was that the government formation process in Israel is ongoing.
- Abbas said that statement meant Israel would not allow voting in East Jerusalem.
The other side: As it became clear this week that Abbas would opt for a postponement, Israeli officials were attempting to get the word out that they were not to blame. Go deeper.
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.