UK cops criticised after runaway calf rammed by squad car
London, June 17: A UK police force has been strongly criticised by ministers, animal rights groups and outraged members of the public after a squad car ramming into a runaway calf on the streets of west London was caught on camera.
UK Home Secretary James Cleverly demanded a “full, urgent explanation” for the incident over the weekend and Surrey Police said on Sunday that the officer who was driving the police car has been removed from frontline duties pending the outcome of investigations. The 10-month-old calf named Beau Lucy had escaped from Staines Moor on Friday and is recovering after being hit twice by a police car on Raleigh Road in Feltham, west London.
“I fully appreciate the distress our handling of this incident has caused and will ensure that it is thoroughly and diligently investigated,” Nev Kemp, Deputy Chief Constable of Surrey Police, said in a statement in the wake of the outrage the footage unleashed over the weekend.
“In addition to an internal referral to our Professional Standards Department, we have also referred the matter to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) for independent consideration. At this time, the officer who was driving the police car has been removed from frontline duties pending the outcome of these investigations,” he said.
Addressing concerns for the wellbeing of the injured calf, the police said she is now back with her owner and “recuperating with her herd” after sustaining a large cut to one leg and cuts and grazes.
“She continues to be monitored by a vet and our rural officers are staying in contact with the owner for updates. I can confirm that on the night, efforts were made to contact local vets without success and efforts were simultaneously being made to identify the owner. Why these were unsuccessful and what more could and should have been done will form a key part of the investigation,” Kemp added. (PTI)
Biden’s reelection team launches $50 mn ad campaign
Washington, June 17: President Joe Biden’s reelection campaign said Monday it will spend $50 million through the end of June on a new ad campaign that includes efforts to spotlight Republican Donald Trump’s felony conviction.
The costly advertising push comes with Election Day still more than four and a half months away. But Biden’s campaign says it wants to more clearly define the choice between the two candidates ahead of the first debate between them in Atlanta on June 27.
A central part of Biden’s campaign strategy is highlighting Trump’s far-reaching policy proposals for a second term and firing up disaffected Democrats and independent voters. The campaign producing an ad that leans heavily into Trump’s conviction, and including it in such a large advertising buy, indicates a renewed effort to make Trump’s legal problems an election issue in ways Biden’s team previously resisted. The new ad campaign includes more than $1 million geared toward media reaching Black, Hispanic and Asian American voters, and an ad highlighting Trump’s conviction on 34 felony counts in a New York hush money case. That spot will air on general market television and connected TV on streaming devices and cell phones in battleground states, as well as on national cable. (AP)
Germany’s youth at risk from loneliness, warns Minister
Berlin, June 17: Young Germans are acutely susceptible to feelings of loneliness in modern society, according to a new study published on Monday as the government launches a campaign highlighting the issue.
“Who knew that younger people are among the loneliest after coronavirus? This finally deserves attention,” Family Affairs Minister Lisa Paus told the Funke media group of newspapers.
“We must take loneliness, including that of young people, seriously and take action,” Paus said, noting that the issue also impacts political participation and, ultimately, democracy.
According to the study by the Bertelsmann Foundation, an independent think-tank in the north-western city of Gutersloh, almost half of 16 to 30-year-olds in Germany feel lonely.
More than a third (35 per cent) of 2,532 respondents in this age group said they were moderately lonely, while 10 per cent said they were “very lonely”.
In response to the issue, a government-sponsored campaign week titled “Together out of loneliness” will run until Sunday, with many different events planned across the country.
Compared with studies conducted in 2021 and 2023, slightly fewer young people now said they were socially and emotionally lonely. (IANS)