Show an ad over header. AMP  

Trump administration notifies UN of intent to withdraw from World Health Organization

07 July 2020
 Dan Ackermann

The Trump administration informed the United Nations and Congress on Tuesday that the U.S. is officially beginning the process of withdrawing from the World Health Organization. The UN is now "in the process of verifying with the WHO whether all the conditions for such withdrawal are met," according to a spokesperson.

Why it matters: President Trump's decision to formally withdraw from the UN's global health agency — which will take effect on July 6, 2021 — comes as the pandemic continues to accelerate both in the U.S. and around the world. The U.S. is by far the largest donor to the WHO out of any country, contributing more than 14% of its total budget.

  • The move will impact international responses not only to the coronavirus pandemic, but also to diseases like polio.
  • For many countries that lack critical health infrastructure, the WHO functions as their Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

What they're saying: "To call Trump’s response to COVID chaotic & incoherent doesn't do it justice," tweeted Sen. Bob Menendez, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. "This won't protect American lives or interests—it leaves Americans sick & America alone."

The backdrop: President Trump announced in April that his administration had halted funding to the WHO, accusing the agency of "mismanaging and covering up" the coronavirus crisis on behalf of China and claiming that the U.S. "has a duty to insist on full accountability."

Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times

Section2

Newly 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.