U.S. police officers kill 449 in 2024: statistics

China

U.S. police officers kill 449 in 2024: statistics

2024-05-26 13:17 Last Updated At：16:37

Police officers in the United States have killed 449 people so far this year, with only nine days where American police did not kill anyone, according to the latest data from the "Mapping Police Violence" website.

In 2023, U.S. police officers killed 1,353 people, with African Americans 2.9 times more likely to be the victims of such lethal force than white people.

It has been four years since the death of George Floyd, but due to the intense partisan gridlock in the U.S. Congress, the law named after George Floyd, the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, has still not been passed by Congress.

The police reform long called for by the U.S. public is still pending.

After the tragic killing of George Floyd in 2020, some members of the U.S. Congress attempted to advance the legislation of the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act.

The bill included provisions such as chokeholds and no-knock warrants would be banned for all federal law enforcement agencies, and a national registry of police misconduct will be set up and maintained by the Department of Justice. The bill will also make it easier to both prosecute and sue individual police officers in cases of misconduct.

The legislation is aimed at enhancing accountability for police misconduct and reforming police training and policies.

In March 2021, the Democratic-controlled U.S. House of Representatives passed the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act. However, after the bill was sent to the Senate, it became stalled and gridlocked due to severe partisan disagreements, particularly over whether to end qualified immunity protections for law enforcement officers.

A U.S. Supreme Court law grants police officers, government officials, and others a degree of immunity from civil lawsuits in the course of their official duties. Republicans argued that eliminating "qualified immunity" would expose police and related agencies to a deluge of lawsuits, while Democrats pointed out that "qualified immunity" allows abusive police officers to avoid punishment for their actions.

Despite the public outcry for police reform, the proposed legislation stalled in the Senate due to partisan disagreements, leaving meaningful nationwide reform unachieved. Meanwhile, numerous states have passed hundreds of laws in recent years which restrict public demonstration and protest activities.

China's CPI expected to continue growing moderately in future: official

2024-06-17 15:57 Last Updated At：16:37

China's consumer price index (CPI), a main gauge of inflation, was up 0.3 percent year on year in May, and it is expected to continue growing moderately in the future based on the price trend, according to officials on Monday.

At a press conference in Beijing, officials from the National Bureau of Statistics briefed the situation of CPI in May and gave the prediction over its trend in the future.

Liu Aihua, a spokeswoman of the National Bureau of Statistics, said that the consumer price in May had three characteristics.

First, it kept flat in the year-on-year increase.

"In May, CPI rose 0.3 percent from a year earlier, staying flat from the previous month. Of which, food prices fell by 2 percent year on year, with the decline 0.7 percentage points narrower than the previous month, while non-food prices increased 0.8 percent, 0.1 percentage points lower than April. Service price grow by 0.8 percent, the same as the previous month," said Liu.

Second, the consumer price showed a slight seasonal decline from the previous month. On a monthly basis, the CPI inched down 0.1 percent in May. The decrease was smaller than the 0.2-percent drop on average in the same period of the last 10 years.

Third, the core CPI rose moderately. In May, the core CPI apart from food and energy was up 0.6 percent year on year, keeping a moderate upward trend.

"Regarding the trend of CPI in the future, based on the current price trend of food, manufactured consumer goods and services, CPI will continue to rise moderately. For food, as a large number of seasonal fruits and vegetables being put on market, food price will remain at a seasonal low. In terms of manufactured consumer goods, its total supply is sufficient, which is conducive to the stability of prices. As for service, its price is expected to continue rebounding as demand for services further recovers," Liu said.