’22 minutes of horror’: 14-year-old boy killed in London sword attack • FRANCE 24 English

time now for our press review with Leo
McGuinn and we’re going to start in the
United States and the news that
marijuana May well be reclassified uh
can you tell us more about what that
actually means Leo yeah as you can see
from this headline in the Washington
Post it’s exactly as you say marijuana
is set to be reclassified as a lower
risk drug the measure if enacted would
not legalize marijuana at a federal
level but still represents a milestone
that could prove to be a political win
for President joee Biden and that in an
election year for more than 50 years
marijuana has been classified as a
schedule one controlled substance in the
same tier as heroin for example under
the Justice Department’s proposed change
it would go to the L risky section
schedule three in the same category as
prescription drugs such as ketamin
anabolic steroids and testosterone the
historic policy shifts comes as a drug
is e easier than ever to obtain in the
US and it’s become multi-billion dollar
industry the majority of Americans now
live live in states where you can
legally buy weed 38 states have
legalized medical marijuana programs
with 24 have approved recreational
marijuana but what does this
reclassification actually mean for the
United States we’ll stick for the
washing with the Washington Post for
that question they say that while the
move from schedule one to schedule 3 is
not getting people out of jail the
rescheduling in itself would have the
some impact particularly on research and
marijuana business taxes some critics
though say that rescheduling weed is too
incremental they want to keep the focus
on removing it completely from the
controlled substances list which doesn’t
include such items such as alcohol or
Tobacco For example and now you cross
the pond for a next story um a fairly
horrific sword attack left a 14-year-old
dead in Northeast London yesterday how
has the British press been reacting to
that yeah this attack makes all of the
UK front pages Bar None I’ll show you a
couple starting with the independent
they have that image on the front page
this morning it’s footage of the killer
being taken down with a taser the
36-year-old went on a ramp page in he
not in Northeast London killing one a
14-year-old boy and injuring four two of
them were police officers the guardian
have this headline 22 minutes of horror
that’s how long the whole timeline of
events lasted they know that the police
are left scrambling for answers the
suspect still hasn’t been interviewed
he’s still in hospital receiving
treatment for his inj injuries I’ll
stick with the guardian who have this
analysis piece this morning uh they say
that a string of killings shines a
spotlight on the advocacy of mental
health in the UK and mental health care
in terms of possible motive the police
are inquiring as to whether the suspect
has a history of mental ill health there
have been many recent cases over the
past few years including attackers
suffering from schizophrenia and and
they say that while each tragedy is
shocking and appalling in its own way
there seems to be common themes with
each one medical supervision is often
halfhazard or barely existent a warning
of the perpetrators behaviors are often
ignored police and Health Services fail
to share Vital Information and substance
abuse is often a factor one expert says
that these people are not being taken
seriously enough until it’s too late he
estimates that about 600 homicides in
the UK of about 600 homicides in the UK
each year about 10 to 20% on average
involve a killer who’s mentally ill one
study found that most killings were
potentially preventable it finishes by
remarking that prevention is key and
high quality and consistent me medical
support would lead to a 50% reduction in
such crims and to Georgia now where as
we’ve seen earlier today Mass protests
have continued over a bill which is seen
by many as targeting media and press
Freedom yeah violent scenes in the
capital last night as we saw earlier in
the program Riot police firing teer Gas
and Water cannons into the crowd I’ll
start by bringing you a couple of
national newspapers this is civil
Georgia which is actually the country’s
most read paper they report statements
from two leading Watchdogs who say that
the police have resorted to using
disproportionate Force against peaceful
protesters they accuse forces of using
pepper spray from close range without
prior warning protesters also say they
did not have enough space to leave the
area and avoid the pepper spray Georgia
to today have this accusing SPN Spas the
Georgian Special Forces of randomly
attacking peaceful protesters they say
that numerous individuals have been
grabbed over the course of the night by
both marked and unmarked groups of
police and beaten in front of the
cameras as they’re pulled behind police
lines I want to finish on this story by
bringing you this profile in the
telegraph this morning of former prime
minister billionaire Bina ianes who is
now a kind of Shadow leader in the
country they note the irony of a man who
set Georgia on course for European
integration is now the one to steer it
towards the kemins Embrace that’s how
they put it ianes is the country’s most
powerful man critics claim he’s behind
plans to revive a Putin style law
designed to crush dissent the law would
force organizations receiving more than
20% of their funding from abroad to
register as foreign agents it’s been
dubbed a Russian law analysts believe
Russia’s inv invasion of Ukraine served
as an inflection point for Georgia in
its relations with the West now it’s
black or white either you pick Russia or
you pick Ukraine and it appears that Ian
is picking the Russian side according to
the Telegraph and because of that
georg’s dream of joining the EU very
much hangs in the balance and Leo you
got a finish on a lighter note or what
seems like a lighter note a town in
Japan has taken unusual action to stop
tourists from visiting what is going on
here yeah this is the town of Fuji
kawaguchiko in Japan in the foothills of
Mount Fuji as you can see from this
headline in the LA Times they’re
building a screen to block Mount Fuji
the town is known for Scenic photo spots
of the iconic Mountain I can bring you a
closer of that you can see that
beautiful image there but those who live
there are sick of misbehaving foreign
tourists their concerns over littering
crossing road with byy traffic and
trespassing into private properties the
town has tried other methods signs
urging visitors not to run into the road
and to use designated cross crosswalks
they’ve even tried security guards but
none of these methods have worked so
they’ve resorted to building a black
mesh net which will be completed in just
a few weeks time it will be 8 ft high
and almost completely block the view of
Mount Fuji so if you’re going to Japan
anytime soon maybe you need to revise
your itinerary because you won’t be able
to see Mount Fuji if you go to this town
thank you very much leam mcin that’s
zero tolerance for litter bugging
instagrammers and that’s all we have
time for now but do stay tuned for more
news coming up on France 24

IN THE PRESS – Wednesday, May 1: Marijuana may be reclassified as a lower-risk drug in the United States, which would be a major win for President Biden. Also, a horrific sword attack leaves a 14-year-old dead in London, leading one newspaper to question potential mental health service failings. In other news, police in Georgia are accused of unnecessary violence as they crack down on protests. Finally, a town in Japan is introducing new measures in order to dissuade tourists from visiting.
 

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