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Joe Biden's emotional voice on the call to George Floyd's family told the story of his presidency: "I wish I were there just to put my arms around you."
The most powerful man in the world was calling Tuesday from the Oval Office to a cellphone in Minneapolis, just minutes after a jury convicted a white former policeman for Floyd's murder during a brutal 2020 arrest.
"We're all so relieved," Biden told the family and their lawyer Ben Crump, who tweeted a video of the more-than-three-minute exchange, played out on speaker phone.
"Nothing's going to make it all better," Biden said, "but at least now there's some justice."
A politician whose own seemingly charmed life was turned upside down by searing family tragedies, Biden has long been a master at showing compassion.
His willingness to mourn American Covid-19 deaths -- now numbering over 568,000 -- helped set him apart from Donald Trump during last year's election.
And the Democrat's well of emotional strength runs especially deep when it comes to the traumas -- historic and current -- facing Black Americans.
Biden may be white, but as former vice president to Barack Obama, the first African American president, he has unique credentials with the community.
When his campaign to become president hit an especially low ebb last year, it was a powerful Black politician, congressman Jim Clyburn, who pulled him up and set him on a remarkable path to victory.
Entering the White House, Biden brought Kamala Harris as his vice president -- the first person of mixed race and the first woman to hold the office.
African Americans tend to vote overwhelmingly for Democrats in nearly every US election.
Biden, though, has tried to convince the Black community that he doesn't just consider them political chess pieces -- that he actually cares about their unique plight.
The murder trial of former policeman Derek Chauvin gave him that chance.
'Change the world'
Earlier Tuesday, while jurors were still deliberating, Biden courted controversy by telling reporters in the White House that evidence in the case was "overwhelming."
"I'm praying the verdict is the right verdict," he said.
Accusations immediately flew that Biden was pressuring the court or inadvertently risking a mistrial.
Others said Biden was being classic Biden, a renowned gaffe machine.
Press Secretary Jen Psaki answered that Biden was just being himself -- a man who reacts in the face of suffering.
"He understands people are exhausted, they are tired," she said. "He recognizes their loss and their trauma and he wants to put reforms in place."
In his post-verdict phone call, Biden recalled something George Floyd's young daughter Gianna had told him after her father's murder.
"I think of Gianna's comment: 'My daddy's going to change the world,'" Biden said. "We're going to start to change it now."
The conversation, joined by Harris and Biden's wife Jill, alternated between moments of intense feeling and laughter.
"You better all get ready because when we do it, we're going to put you on Air Force One and get you here," Biden promised the Floyds.
"Jesus Lord!" one of the family exclaimed.
Later, in a formal televised speech, Biden spoke to the whole nation, not just one African American family. His message, however, was the same.
"Systemic racism is a stain on our nation's soul," he said.
Then he insisted that Gianna had been right about George Floyd's death.
"Daddy did change the world. Let that be his legacy."
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Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga sent a ritual offering Wednesday to the controversial Yasukuni shrine that honours war dead, including perpetrators of the country's World War II atrocities on its neighbours.
South Korea expressed "deep disappointment" at Suga's offering to the shrine to mark a spring festival, while China also protested the move.
The Yasukuni shrine in Tokyo honours some 2.5 million war dead, mostly Japanese, who perished in the country's wars since the late 19th century.
But it also honours senior military and political figures convicted of war crimes, and has frequently been a source of sour relations with countries that suffered from Japan's military atrocities -- particularly China and South Korea.
Suga's predecessor Shinzo Abe, who stepped down last year for health reasons, visited the shrine in person on Wednesday.
The prime minister sent a sacred tree but was not expected to visit the shrine.
South Korea's foreign ministry expressed "deep disappointment and regret" over Suga's tribute and urged Japan's leaders to "face history squarely and humbly and truly reflect on the past".
"Japan should keep in mind that is the basis of a future-oriented Korea-Japan relationship."
Chinese foreign affairs ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin also urged Japan to "draw a clear line with militarism and take concrete measures to earn the trust of its Asian neighbours and the international community".
"We firmly oppose Japanese politicians' erroneous practices."
A 2013 visit to the shrine by then-prime minister Abe sparked outcry from Beijing and Seoul, as well as a rare diplomatic rebuke from close ally the United States.
© 2021 AFP
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New Yorkers who have been vaccinated against Covid-19 were able to get an unlikely freebie Tuesday: a marijuana joint.
Activists celebrating the recent legalization of recreational pot in New York state handed out free doobies in Manhattan to anyone with proof they had received at least one vaccine shot.
"This is the first time we can sit around and legally hand people joints," said Michael O'Malley, one of the organizers of the "Joints for Jabs" giveaway in Union Square.
"We're supporting the federal effort to roll out vaccinations. And we're also trying to get them to federally legalize weed," he told AFP.
Organizers chose April 20 as the date as a way to mark 4/20, an annual day of celebration amongst cannabis fans.
Marijuana activists also handed out free weed in Washington DC.
Several dozen, relaxed looking people formed an orderly queue as the distribution of joints in New York began at 11:00 am (1600 GMT).
One woman held a sign that read "pro-vaxx, pro-weed." The giveaway was due to last until 4:20 pm.
They only had to wait ten minutes at most in the spring sunshine. They showed their vaccination card, in paper or via phone, gave their email address and a joint was theirs.
There seemed to be little verification required to prevent someone from queuing twice.
"We are not really being very careful," admitted O'Malley.
Sarah Overholt, 38, left with two joints in her pocket after showing vaccination cards belonging to herself and her 70-year-old mother.
For Overholt, marijuana and the vaccine are essential.
"I smoke every day and I am a better person if I smoke, trust me," she said with a smile.
"Everybody should get vaccinated. It should not be weed that is getting them there. But if it works, then it works," added Overholt, who received her first vaccine shot on March 25 and gets her second on Thursday.
Alex Zerbe, a 24-year-old a trader who came from his nearby office, agreed. He has already had both doses and said he smokes a joint once or twice a day.
"I can get a joint anyway, but (the giveaway) is just cool you know," Zerbe told AFP.
By 11:30 am, between 150 and 200 joints had already been distributed, out of some 1,500 rolled in advance by a handful of volunteers.
On March 31, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo signed legislation allowing adults 21 and over to purchase cannabis and grow plants for personal consumption at home.
Several US brands, particularly in food and drink, have launched various incentives for vaccinated patrons in recent weeks, from donuts to hot dogs and beer, in an attempt to counter vaccine hesitancy.
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