Minneapolis, June 9 (IANS) Bail was set at $1.25 million for a sacked Minneapolis police officer accused in the death of George Floyd, an African-American man who died in the US city on May 25 while in police custody.

Derek Chauvin, who made his initial court appearance, would have to pay that amount to be released with no conditions while awaiting trial, Hennepin County District Judge Jeannice Reding ordered on Monday.

But she also gave the defendant the option of receiving conditional release by posting $1 million bail, reports Efe news.

Those conditions include being law-abiding, making future court appearances, not working in any security capacity, not possessing firearms, not leaving the state of Minnesota and not having any contact with Floyd's family.

Neither Chauvin nor his attorney, Eric Nelson, objected to the bail amount or the bail conditions during the 15-minute court appearance, which took place via remote video feed starting at 12.45 p.m..

Chauvin did not enter a plea on Monday but is expected to do so at his next court appearance scheduled for June 29.

The defendant, who is being held at the Oak Park Heights Correctional Facility near Stillwater, Minnesota, has been charged with unintentional second-degree murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter.

Three other police officers who were at the scene and involved in Floyd's arrest have been charged with unintentional aiding and abetting second-degree murder and aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter.

Third-degree murder, defined in the Minnesota Statutes as an unintentional killing during a dangerous act with a depraved mental state, carries a maximum prison sentence of 25 years.

Unintentional second-degree murder, meanwhile, is defined under state law as unintentional killing while committing or trying to commit certain felonies and is punishable by up to 40 years in prison.

That latter charge against Chauvin was added by Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, an African-American, after he took the lead in the case.

The other three officers - Alexander Kueng, Thomas Lane and Tou Thao - also were charged by Ellison.

Kueng is African-American, while Lane is white and Thao is of Southeast Asian Hmong descent.

Bail for Kueng, Lane and Thao was set last week at $1 million with no conditions and at $750,000 with conditions that mirror those established for Chauvin.

All four of those now ex-police officers were involved in a May 25 incident in which Chauvin could be seen in bystander video kneeling on the neck of the 46-year-old Floyd for nearly nine minutes even though the suspect - and bystanders - repeatedly pleaded for mercy.

Floyd was arrested on suspicion of passing a counterfeit $20 bill at a grocery store.

His death has triggered a series of demonstrations over the past two weeks in the United States, where night-time curfews were imposed in around 40 cities in a bid to halt rioting and looting.

Democrats unveil ambitious bill against police violence 

Democratic lawmakers have unveiled an ambitious bill designed to reform US police departments, including language to prohibit the tactics that caused the death of unarmed African-American man George Floyd and which would facilitate lawsuits against officers who unjustly injure or kill people.

The legislation on Monday, pushed by African-American and progressive lawmakers in the Congressional Black Caucus, seeks to respond to the overwhelming public indignation that Floyd's murder has unleashed, reports Efe news.

Thousands of protesters have taken to the streets in hundreds of US cities over the past week or more to protest Floyd's death, along with other recent examples of police violence and systemic racism against African-Americans.

"This moment of national anguish is being transformed into a movement of national action as Americans from across the country peacefully protest to demand an end to injustice. Today, with the justice and policing at the Congress is standing with those fighting for justice and taking action," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said on Monday while announcing the "Justice in Policing Act" at a press conference along with some 20 Congressmen and senators.

The bill would prohibit officers from using chokeholds or other acts to restrain suspects that could cut off their breathing, tactics that many police departments around the country have already banned but which are still used regularly in certain parts of the US.

In addition, the bill would prohibit judges from approving warrants for police drug raids on residences without first knocking and announcing themselves as police.

The bill would also formally state that police tactics that are racially discriminatory are illegal and would require police departments to deliver data to a federal government database on the use of force so that any negligent police conduct can be catalogued and monitored.

Also, the bill would make it easier for victims to sue police departments for civil rights violations.

The bill specifically states that it is not only geared at preventing police abuses in African-American communities, but also against Latinos, Asian Americans and Native Americans, according to the Congressional Black Caucus president, Karen Bass.

However, the bill does not address the demand being made by the Black Lives Matter movement and many progressives who have been demonstrating since Floyd's death that police departments be "defunded", that is have their funding severely reduced or eliminated, and those funds invested in local communities.

Although police departments receive a significant amount of federal funding, their main budgetary contributions comes from state and local governments and it is expected that budgetary decisions will be made below the federal level, as the Minneapolis City Council did on Sunday by committing itself to dismantling the city's police department.

Taking to Twitter, President Donald Trump reacted to the Democratic bill, saying: "LAW & ORDER, NOT DEFUND AND ABOLISH THE POLICE. The Radical Left Democrats have gone Crazy."

Trump made his comment suggesting that the Democrats want to "defund and abolish" the police even though the bill does not mention the issue of police financing.

Before unveiling the legislation, about a dozen Democratic lawmakers knelt at the US Capitol for eight minutes and 46 seconds - the length of time the white Minneapolis police officer knelt on Floyd's neck, killing him - in a sober tribute to all those who have lost their lives to "police brutality" in the US.

Pelosi led the lawmakers - including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer - in the gesture, and all of them wore "kente cloths" from Ghana around their necks, multi-coloured scarf-like garments of cotton or silk that the Congressional Black Caucus has often used to symbolize their work and their African roots.

The tribute began with Pelosi's reading of the names of Floyd and others who have died in recent years in police custody.

NYC begins reopening 100 days after 1st COVID-19 case

After nearly three months of lockdown, New York City has entered the first phase of reopening, 100 days since it reported the first COVID-19 case.

"This is a powerful day," said New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio on Monday at a press briefing in Brooklyn.

"It is the day that we start to liberate ourselves from this disease."

He thanked New Yorkers for their cooperation in the battle against the coronavirus, urging people to remember the lessons while going forward, reports Xinhua news agency.

"We got this far by the hard work and discipline. We gotta stick to it so we can get to the next phase," he said.

According to the phased reopening strategy designed by the New York state government, businesses permitted to reopen in phase one include construction, manufacturing, wholesale and curbside and in-store pick-ups for nonessential retail.

The Mayor said last week that more than 30,000 construction sites will reopen during the first phase, and up to 400,000 non-essential workers in various sectors including construction, manufacturing, wholesale and curbside retail would go back to work.

As most people commute on public transit, the city will add 20 new miles of bus lanes to help some 750,000 New Yorkers to get around more easily with more frequent service and less crowding, de Blasio said on Monday.

The New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) has taken a series of measures to ensure safety, including installing no-touch payment scanners and distributing masks and hand sanitizers.

Meanwhile, disinfection of train cars will continue every night between 1 a.m. to 5 a.m., and the MTA is using ultraviolet light lamps to kill the virus on subway trains, buses and stations.

New York sate Governor Andrew Cuomo rode the 7 Train to Grand Central Station Monday morning.

At a briefing later, Cuomo, who grew up in New York City, said the subway cars "are cleaner than they have ever been in my lifetime".

He urged people to keep following necessary guidelines including social distancing and wearing face coverings, or there would be a resurge.

"New Yorkers bent the curve by being smart," he said. "Stay smart."

Cuomo said 35,000 coronavirus diagnostic tests will be done per day in New York City in phase one at over 240 sites across all five boroughs.

Meanwhile, more resources of testing, treatment and education will be distributed to the hardest-hit neighbourhoods with a majority of lower-income and minority populations.

The city will also prioritize 15 sites for those who have participated in recent protests over George Floyd's death, and the governor once again encouraged protesters to get tested for free.

New York City has been the epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic in the US partly due to a high level of population density in offices, residential areas and the public transit system.

It faced critical shortages of medical supplies and personal protective equipment, as well as inadequate testing capacity during the peak of infections in March.

It is also the last of New York state's 10 regions to finally enter phase one of reopening after achieving all seven benchmarks including shares of total hospital beds available and ICU beds available.

So far, the city has reported over 207,000 COVID-19 cases, accounting for more than 10 per cent of the country's total.

The positive rate of daily COVID-19 testing dropped from 59 per cent nine weeks ago to 2 per cent on Sunday, as a result of both expanded testing capacity and a slowing rate of infection, said Cuomo.

According to the state's strategy, a region must stay in each phase for at least two weeks, during which the city and the state will closely monitor the trend of the COVID-19 curve.

De Blasio said earlier this month that New York City could be ready for phase two by July.

Canada to ease border restrictions for families to reunite

 Canada will begin to allow some family members separated by temporary COVID-19 travel restrictions to cross the border into the country, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said.

"We are bringing in a limited exemption to allow immediate family members of citizens or permanent residents to come to Canada," CBC News quoted Trudeau as saying on Monday.

"This is an incredibly difficult time to be apart from a spouse, a child, or mom or dad."

Anyone who enters the country will have to self-quarantine for 14 days, he said.

"And if you don't follow these rules, you could face serious penalties."

The Canada Border Services Agency said the exemption applies to foreign nationals who are immediate family members of Canadian citizens and permanent residents, and who do not have COVID-19 or are showing any signs or symptoms of COVID-19, "or who do not have reason to believe they have COVID-19".

Immigration Minister Marco Mendicino clarified that the exemption applies in the context of Canada's temporary deal with the US banning non-essential travel (meaning no recreational visits) across the shared border, while keeping it open to commercial traffic and essential workers, reports CBC News.

That deal remains in effect until June 21.

"It's important to note that the exemption we announced today is very incremental, it's very targeted," he said.

"To be clear, the immediate family exemption does not mean the border will now be open to weekend travellers, or those seeking just to attend a personal or social gathering," Mendicino added.

Through this exemption, the government is defining an 'immediate family member' as someone's spouse or common-law partner; dependent child; parent or step-parent or the parent or step-parent of the person's spouse or common-law partner; guardian or tutor.

Outside of its US agreement, the government barred entry to most non-residents back in March.