Bhinneka News Online: Monday Briefing: Jury to hear opening arguments in Derek Chauvin trial for George Floyd's death

Monday, 29 March 2021

Monday Briefing: Jury to hear opening arguments in Derek Chauvin trial for George Floyd's death

TOP NEWS

The world's eyes are on Minneapolis, the ship is no longer stuck, and there's a new robot in town

A jury will gather today to hear whether the deadly arrest of George Floyd, which ignited a global protest movement ten months ago, amounts to murder as opening arguments commence in the trial of former Minneapolis policeman Derek Chauvin.

“It’s been a long time coming,” a gospel choir sang on Sunday evening at a prayer service attended by Floyd’s relatives. “But I know a change is gonna come.”

The jury, including three alternates, is made up of six white women, three white men, three Black men, one Black woman and two multiracial women.

“I’m thankful that it is a diverse jury,” Paris Stevens, a cousin of Floyd who works as a nurse in North Carolina, said in a telephone interview. “I’m very anxious because you don’t know what’s going to happen, but I’m just glad that this process is starting.”

See our interactive graphic on the videos of alleged police misconduct that went viral, and our photo essay on a summer of Black Lives Matter protests.

↑ Protesters march in Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S., March 28, 2021

WORLD

↑ The container ship Ever Given after it was partially refloated, in the Suez Canal, Egypt, March 29, 2021

A massive container ship blocking Egypt’s Suez Canal for nearly a week has been partially refloated, raising hopes the busy waterway will soon be reopened for a huge backlog of ships.

Myanmar security forces killed a man in the main city of Yangon as activists called on ethnic minority forces in the diverse nation to back their campaign against military rule. After the bloodiest day since the military coup with 114 deaths on Saturday, thousands of people took to the streets in numerous towns again today.

England’s stay-at-home lockdown order has ended with people allowed to meet up outside in groups of six for the first time in nearly three months, though Prime Minister Boris Johnson has urged caution due to rising coronavirus cases in Europe.

Robert Costigan thought the worst was behind him when he saved two family properties from bushfires a summer ago. This year, they floated away. Costigan’s ordeal is familiar to thousands living outside cities on Australia’s densely populated east coast.

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BUSINESS

Nomura and Credit Suisse have warned they are facing significant losses after a U.S. hedge fund, named by sources as Archegos Capital, defaulted on margin calls. Breakingviews columnists explain how the Archegos mess revisits Wall Street's weak spots.

Visa says it will allow the use of the cryptocurrency USD Coin to settle transactions on its payment network, the latest sign of growing acceptance of digital currencies by the mainstream financial industry. The USD Coin is a stablecoin cryptocurrency whose value is pegged directly to the U.S. dollar.

"I get an email almost every morning from some SPAC seller telling me to do a SPAC with them," said Johnny Boufarhat, CEO of Hopin, a virtual events platform. "It's interesting, but it also doesn't make sense for us." We explain how the American SPACs rocket has failed to take off in Europe.

U.S. robotics company Boston Dynamics has unveiled a new robot called Stretch, designed to perform one very specific warehouse job: moving boxes.