U.K. sends patrol ships to British island amid post-Brexit fishing dispute with France
06 May 2021
The United Kingdom's government announced Wednesday it has deployed two Royal Navy patrol vessels to the island of Jersey "as a precautionary measure," as tensions over fishing rights escalate with French officials.
Why it matters: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said in a statement the government took the action amid threats of "a blockade" of French fishing boats at the island.
- French officials on Tuesday threatened "retaliation measures" including cutting off electricity to the self-governing dependency of the British crown over the dispute — driven by what French officials say is a breach of the Brexit deal by the U.K. on fishing licenses.
Of note: Jersey, an island off the coast of northwest France, gets 95% of its electricity from France via underwater cables.
For the record: The issue of fishing territory was a major sticking point during Brexit negotiations.
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.