Biden is officially Trump’s challenger
Former V-P clinches Dem race by securing 1,991 delegates
Washington, June 6: Joe Biden said on Friday that he had secured the delegates needed to clinch the Democratic nomination and face Donald Trump in November’s US presidential election.
“Folks, tonight we secured the 1,991 delegates needed to win the Democratic nomination,” the former vice president said on Twitter.
“I’m going to spend every day fighting to earn your vote so that, together, we can win the battle for the soul of this nation.”
Mr Biden passed the 1,991 threshold to secure his party’s nomination as counting continued from Tuesday’s round of Democratic primaries.
He had been the presumptive Democratic challenger since Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders dropped out of the race in April and endorsed his onetime rival’s run at the White House.
Mr Biden reached the threshold with the country wracked by protests over the death of AfricanAmerican George Floyd at the hands of police.
Floyd’s death has reignited long-felt anger over police killings of AfricanAmericans and unleashed a nationwide wave of civil unrest unlike any seen in the US since Martin Luther King Jr’s 1968 assassination.
“This is a difficult time in America’s history. And Donald Trump’s angry, divisive politics is no answer,” Mr Biden wrote in a post on Medium.
“The country is crying out for leadership. Leadership that can unite us. Leadership that can bring us together.”
Mr Biden’s response to the protests has been in marked contrast to Trump, who threatened to deploy the military against American citizens.
In his first major public speech since going into isolation in mid-March because of the virus outbreak, Mr Biden called Floyd’s death a “wake-up call for our nation” and accused Mr Trump of turning the US into a “battlefield riven by old resentments and fresh fears.”
This is a difficult time in America’s history. And Donald Trump’s angry, divisive politics is no answer. The country is crying out for leadership. Leadership that can unite us. — Joe Biden
Berlin, June 6: Thousands of people rallied across Australia to honour George Floyd and voice their support for the Black Lives Matter movement Saturday, part of a worldwide wave of solidarity that has also sought to highlight racial discrimination outside the United States.
Further protests were planned over the weekend in European cities, some defying restrictions imposed by authorities because of the Covid-19 pandemic. In Sydney, protesters won a last-minute appeal against a Friday ruling declaring their rally unauthorised. The New South Wales Court of Appeal gave the green light just 12 minutes before the rally was scheduled to start, meaning those taking part could not be arrested. Up to 1,000 protesters had already gathered in the Town Hall area of downtown Sydney ahead of the decision.
In Brisbane, organisers said about 30,000 people gathered, forcing police to shut down major downtown streets. The protesters demanded to have Australia’s Indigenous flag raised at the police station.
In Seoul, protesters gathered for a second straight day to denounce Floyd’s death. Wearing masks and black shirts, dozens of demonstrators marched through a commercial district amid a police escort, carrying signs such as “George Floyd Rest in Peace” and “Koreans for Black Lives Matter.”
In Tokyo, dozens held a peaceful protest. In Paris, police banned a protest planned for Saturday, citing the risk of spreading Covid-19 and fears of unrest. The police decree noted that social distancing norms ban gatherings of more than 10 people.