Jubilation across the US as sense of relief is tinged with awareness of difficulties ahead

People across the country react as Chauvin was found guilty on all three charges in the killing of George Floyd

A prison sentence will not protect black people from the violence of the policeSince last May, the world has been waiting for justice for George Floyd, who was killed on the streets of Minneapolis after trying to use a counterfeit $20 bill at a convenience store. Today, the jury found police officer Derek Chauvin guilty on all counts: second-degree murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter. It was an emotional verdict, in what has been an emotional year since his killing. How are we to receive this moment?This verdict has been a long time coming. And it’s been a painful, difficult wait. Many times, I have had to remind people that it was Derek Chauvin who was on trial, not George Floyd. Over and over, people questioned Floyd’s history, his drug use and his actions – anything, that would shift the blame for his own death away from Derek Chavin. As WEB Du Bois once wrote: “Nothing in the world is easier in the United States than to accuse a black man of a crime.” That is still true today. Continue reading...

Derek Chauvin has been convicted of murder for killing George Floyd by kneeling on his neck for more than nine minutes, a crime that prompted a wave of protests in support of racial justice in the US and across the world. The jury swiftly and unanimously convicted Chauvin of all the charges he faced – second and third degree murder, and manslaughter – after concluding that the white former Minneapolis police officer killed the 46-year-old black man through a criminal assault by pinning him to the ground so he could not breathe properly. A lack of oxygen in turn caused brain damage, heart failure and death in May last year

Crowds gathered outside a courtroom in Minneapolis reacted in jubilation when jurors returned a verdict of guilty on all three charges against the former police officer Derek Chauvin, on trial for the klling of 46-year-old George Floyd

Analysis: The testimony against the ex-officer was damning – it was clear this case was different from so many that had come beforeThe trial saw 44 witnesses and 15 days of testimony. And, in the end, less than a day to decide that Derek Chauvin, the white former Minneapolis police officer, was guilty of murdering George Floyd.It is a landmark moment not just in the history of US policing and criminal justice, but around the world. George Floyd’s death came to embody the struggle for racial justice and equality in so many ways they are impossible to condense: from forceful calls for police reform in Minneapolis and new legislation in Washington, to a reckoning on the history of British imperialism in the UK and a resurgence in activism over Indigenous deaths in custody in Australia. Continue reading...

Derek Chauvin’s trial for the killing of George Floyd has cast a spotlight on racist policingThe trial of white former police officer Derek Chauvin for the killing of George Floyd has been one of the most high-profile cases in America’s recent history and cast a spotlight on racist policing in the United States.Floyd’s death on the streets of Minneapolis triggered a wave of protests and civic unrest that spread from Minnesota out across the US and eventually around the world, forcing a reckoning with institutional racism. Continue reading...

How a gentle giant beloved by family and community became a man who would ‘change the world’

Tobacco, travel and hospitality stocks lead fallers on the FTSE 100 index, as European markets have worst day this year

John Sullivan’s departure will leave both countries’ embassies without their top diplomats at key momentWashington’s ambassador to Moscow has announced that he will return to the US for consultations, days after the Russian government recommended he leave the country during what it said was an “extremely tense situation”.John Sullivan’s departure will leave both countries’ embassies without their top diplomats at a crucial moment, with Washington and Moscow recently announcing new sanctions, a Russian military buildup near Ukraine, and concerns about the opposition leader Alexei Navalny’s health while in detention. Continue reading...

We would like to hear from Black parents in the US on how they explain the role of the police to their childrenIf you are a Black parent, you’ve probably had “the talk” with your children, telling them to comply with police if they are stopped. It is a rite of passage for Black people, who are disproportionately killed by law enforcement officers.George Floyd’s death last year in Minneapolis sparked yet another discussion about the relationship between the Black community and law enforcement, and the role of police in society. Yet the violence continues. Since testimony in the trial of Derek Chauvin, the police officer charged with murdering Floyd, began in March, more than 60 people have died at the hands of police, about half of them Black or Latino. They include Daunte Wright, 20, of Brooklyn Center, a Minneapolis suburb, and Adam Toledo, 13, of Chicago. Continue reading...

Experts argue that Tasers ‘expand the repertoire of violence’ and can have deadly consequencesTasers are often cited as a crucial tool in combating police violence in America, with proponents claiming that the “less lethal” weapons can help departments avoid deadly encounters.But the police killing of Daunte Wright in Minnesota – in which officials say an officer mistook her gun for her Taser – has resurfaced criticism of stun guns. Continue reading...

Kristi and Happy Wade’s home-security video of incident went viral while couple treated with antibiotics and rabies vaccineA North Carolina couple’s home-security video went viral after they were attacked by a rabid bobcat.“I won’t soon forget the look in that cat’s eyes,” Kristi Wade told the New York Times. “It had its sights set on me, and that’s when I ran.” Continue reading...

US vice-president in the late 1970s whose bid for the White House in 1984 ended in dismal defeat as Reagan won by a landslideThough his long political career did not warrant such a disaster, Walter Mondale, who has died aged 93, gained an unwelcome place in American political history. In 1984, challenging the incumbent president, Ronald Reagan, he won only 13 of the nation’s 538 electoral college votes, the worst defeat ever suffered by a Democratic presidential candidate. Only Alfred Landon had put in a worse performance: his 1936 Republican campaign against Franklin Roosevelt foundered with a mere eight of 531 electoral votes.Reagan’s performance in his televised debates with Mondale had revealed early signs of the former actor’s growing mental confusion, but he romped into his second term with 59% of the popular ballot and 525 electoral votes. Had Mondale not scraped a razor’s edge victory in his home state of Minnesota he would have become the nation’s all-time loser, winning only the three electoral votes of the irrepressibly Democratic District of Columbia. Continue reading...

English opinions will not decide a Scottish referendum, but the union would be easier to sell if it offered more than Tory ruleFilling in the census recently, I hesitated before choosing British over English from the menu of national identities. The correct answer is both. Team GB for the Olympics, England for the World Cup. After that, it gets hard to separate the different cultural elements that connect me to the country in which I was born but that my immigrant parents chose. In the chemistry of belonging, Britishness is a compound, not a mixture.I resented the strain of Brexit demagoguery that sought to narrow patriotic affiliation, excluding those of us who felt an attachment to Europe. I have Scottish friends who dread the prospect of a second independence referendum because their preference for staying in the UK will be cast as deficient national pride. Continue reading...

Until recently, same-sex couples in New York could only be recognised as equal parents after birth. But my partner and I are the first to benefit from a new law

Minnesota senator says ex-president never had any intention of reining in big companies for pursuing anti-competitive practicesIn a new book, the senator and former presidential candidate Amy Klobuchar condemns Donald Trump for “a whole lot of bluster with limited results” on her chosen subject, antitrust.Klobuchar cites his appointment of conservatives Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh to the supreme court as proof Trump never had any intention of reining in giant companies for pursuing anti-competitive practices, whatever he told the little guy out on the campaign trail. Continue reading...

Unless we do, police violence will rage on, and Black communities will continue to live in fear of the people ostensibly sworn to protect themOn the night of 30 May last year, I was standing at the mayor of Atlanta’s podium, wondering what I might say to keep my hometown from burning itself to the ground before the sun came up in the morning.The fury erupting in the streets of Atlanta in George Floyd’s name that night was the cry of generations, and it was a righteous cry, and it was justified. Standing there before those TV cameras, I thought of Mr Floyd in his last moments on Earth, his neck crushed under the knee of a cop who once took an oath to serve and protect his community, his partner standing watch while Mr Floyd cried out for his mother in heaven and died. Continue reading...

The California governor is facing a motley mix of political opponents, from Caitlyn Jenner to Republican John Cox, a businessman who lost by 24 pointsAs the California gubernatorial recall effort heats up, Gavin Newsom is preparing to face off against a motley mix of political challengers – including a reality TV star, a former Facebook executive, a Los Angeles billboard model, and a Republican businessman who lost the last gubernatorial race by 24 points.California election officials are expected to verify by the end of April that Newsom’s opponents have collected enough signatures to force a recall later this year – likely sometime in November. Continue reading...

The veteran quarterback survived benchings, doubting coaches and an injury that almost cost him his life. He walks away from football a heroIf the NFL ever renames its Comeback Player of the Year award after Alex Smith, the reasons will go much deeper than a three-time Pro Bowl quarterback who returned to the field after a gruesome leg fracture threatened his life.Smith announced his retirement on Monday after 16 NFL seasons that even the most imaginative Hollywood screenwriter couldn’t have dreamed up. In his moving retirement announcement on Instagram, Smith understandably talked about perseverance and wanting to be able to take walks with his wife and how he’ll now school his kids in the backyard. But there was a line in there that seemed a bit off: “Football wouldn’t let me give up.” Continue reading...

Closing statements were made in the murder trial of the former police officer yesterday. Plus, former vice-president Walter Mondale has diedGood morning.Jurors in the trial of former police officer Derek Chauvin over the death of George Floyd will start their first full day of deliberations this morning, after closing arguments were made yesterday. Continue reading...

In Seattle, 43% of citations since 2017 have gone towards homeless people, while Black cyclists received citations at nearly four times the rate of white cyclistsOn the streets of Seattle, 130 vendors sell non-profit Real Change’s weekly newspaper for $2 apiece. They’re no strangers to police attention: King county has a law requiring all cyclists to wear a helmet, but not all do. Some vendors on bicycles have received citations; others are just stopped by police.But on 19 March 2019, a vendor was riding a bright green rental bike when a driver struck him in a hit-and-run. Witnesses said the driver was at fault. As the vendor lay on the street, receiving medical treatment before going to the hospital, police officers mocked him. Ultimately, the man – who was homeless and of self-described “mixed-race” – received a citation for not wearing a helmet. The driver received no citations at the scene. Continue reading...

Stephen Vest was left homeless after the Camp fire destroyed Paradise. He died last year after a chaotic incident in which police shot at him 11 timesThrough the overhead lights from his car, the security guard saw that Stephen Vest was injured. The dark-haired 30-year-old’s left arm appeared to be bleeding as he walked out of the park just before 8pm on a warm night last October.“What’s wrong? What happened? What can I do to help?” the guard asked Vest from his car. Continue reading...

Collaborative of seven digital, TV and radio outlets from El Paso, Texas, and Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, join forces to report on immigration through ‘different lens than most national media’Editor Bob Moore sits at his desk in El Paso, Texas, and turns up the volume on his Zoom meeting English-language channel, where a simultaneous interpreter helps him understand his Spanish-speaking counterpart, Rocío Gallegos, who also sits at her desk, across the border in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico.It’s Monday, time for another editorial meeting at the first binational, bilingual border journalism project in the US – or maybe anywhere. Continue reading...

Stars such as Jeremy Lin and Chloe Kim have long endured racist taunts, but they have recently started to speak about their experiences“Tell Yao Ming, ‘Ching-chong-yang-wah-ah-soh’”.Those were the words Shaquille O’Neal casually tossed out in a 2003 TV interview when referring to the Houston Rockets’ Chinese star. Whether, as O’Neal claimed, it was meant as a joke or not, it was the kind of language Asians in America have had to endure for years. Continue reading...

Psychiatry has long failed to explain depression. Our research into psilocybin suggests a new approach could offer answersMental illness is the 21st century’s leading cause of disability, affecting an estimated billion people across the world. Depression is the number one contributor: more than 250 million people have this condition globally. The number of people prescribed antidepressant medications, the first-line treatment for depression, increases each year, and the market for them is valued at approximately $15bn (£11bn). Yet depression prevalence rates have not decreased since accurate record-keeping began. One reason for this paradox is the failure of science to adequately explain how and why depression occurs.Related: ‘The ketamine blew my mind’: can psychedelics cure addiction and depression? Continue reading...

Teens gather in Twin Cities to condemn the killings of Daunte Wright and George Floyd as Chauvin trial continues“National guard, go home!” hundreds of teenagers chanted in a heavily fortified Minneapolis on Monday, as part of statewide high school walkouts over the police killings of Daunte Wright and George Floyd.In neighboring Saint Paul, more than a hundred students took their grievances over police brutality to the capitol, where lawmakers inside the fenced-in statehouse could be seen peeking out through the curtains to look at protesters outside. Continue reading...

Former senator and ambassador lost one of the most lopsided US elections in history to Ronald ReaganWalter F Mondale, the former vice-president and liberal leader who lost to Ronald Reagan in one of the most lopsided presidential elections, has died at the age of 93.A towering figure in the Democratic party who resolutely put humility and honesty before the glitz of mass communication, Mondale’s death marked something of an end of an era in US politics. He was described by a biographer as the last major American politician to resist the allure of television. Continue reading...

Peter Cahill says congresswoman’s comments supporting protesters could lead to appealThe judge overseeing the trial of Derek Chauvin has expressed frustrations with recent comments by the Democratic US representative Maxine Waters, in which she expressed support for protesters against police brutality, saying the remarks could lead to a verdict being appealed and overturned.Related: Daunte Wright and George Floyd: another chapter in America’s recurring tragedy Continue reading...

Medical examiner’s determination means it will be difficult for prosecutors to bring homicide charges in Brian Sicknick’s deathBrian Sicknick, a Capitol police officer injured while confronting rioters during the 6 January insurrection, suffered a stroke and died of natural causes, the Washington DC medical examiner’s office ruled Monday, a finding that lessens the chances that anyone will be charged in his death.Investigators initially believed the officer had been hit in the head with a fire extinguisher, based on statements collected early in the investigation, according to two people familiar with the case. And they later thought the 42-year-old Sicknick might have ingested a chemical substance – possibly bear spray – that could have contributed to his death. Continue reading...

Ethan Nordean and Joseph Biggs charged with conspiring to stop 2020 election certification and leading Proud Boys to CapitolA federal judge has ordered two leaders of the far-right Proud Boys group to be detained in jail pending trial for their involvement in the 6 January attack on the Capitol in Washington DC.Both were indicted in one of many Proud Boys conspiracy cases to stem from the investigation into the assault on the building that followed a pro-Donald Trump rally. Continue reading...

The Derek Chauvin murder trial heard closing arguments on Monday before the jury was expected to begin considering a verdict over the death of George Floyd that is anxiously awaited by millions of Americans. The prosecutor Steve Schleicher told jurors the key to the case lay in video footage of Chauvin pressing his knee on to Floyd’s neck, even as he pleaded for his life, right to his last words of 'I can’t breathe'. The former Minneapolis police officer’s attorney, Eric Nelson, told the jury that his client's actions followed the 'reasonable force' guidelines for police officers when considering all the factors that Chauvin had to take into account on the day of Floyd's death

No one can be sure how far might a radicalised Republican party goIn 1944, George Orwell felt that the word fascism had “lost the last vestige of meaning” so liberally had it been used. But fascism remains very much alive. Decades after Orwell’s message, one of the challenges today is to identify and name it. Whether the label could be applied to Donald Trump had divided expert opinion, until the 6 January assault on Capitol Hill by a mob whose passions had been inflamed by his speech earlier that day. This melted the resistance historians of fascism like Columbia University’s Robert Paxton felt to using the f-word. The use of violence against democratic institutions, he wrote, “crosses a red line”.If anyone wondered what American fascism might look like then they could start with the proposed congressional “America First Caucus”, which emerged this weekend from the office of extremist Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene. Carrying the torch for Trumpism, this fringe agenda conceals its racial argument behind muscular populist ones. The caucus plans were welcomed by legislators who had fanned the flames of the Capitol riot. Before being elected to Congress, Ms Greene peddled conspiracy theories, made racist statements and indicated support for the execution of Democratic leaders and FBI agents. She renounced those beliefs on the eve of being kicked off congressional committees but made no apology for having held them. Continue reading...

Rolling coverage of the latest economic and financial news

We all knew that eventually, money and corporate interest would mutate the game at the top level into something approaching RollerballIn my children’s novel Future Friend, which I began writing in January 2020, the future is imagined as a dystopian universe where the presence of mutant viruses infecting the air mean that no one goes out. When it was published, in the midst of lockdown, I was therefore congratulated by some for my previously unacknowledged psychic powers. A not so noticed feature of the Future Friend world, however, is that football is still played there: but only in one stadium, above the clouds, and only the super-rich can go and watch games there. So, given Sunday’s Super League news, I say, just call me Nostradavidmus.Or don’t bother. Because of course we all knew this was coming. We all knew that eventually, money and corporate interest would mutate the game at the top level, beyond what it already in so many ways has, into something approaching Rollerball. Continue reading...

Former sheriff’s deputy Stephen Broderick was arrested without incident on Monday morningA former sheriff’s deputy in Texas was taken into custody on Monday following a manhunt after three people were fatally shot in Austin, authorities said.Related: ‘Exceptional’ North Texas football recruit among those killed in Austin shooting Continue reading...

Prosecutor said authorities believed they had done what they needed to do by seizing a pump-action shotgun in March 2020The 19-year-old man who allegedly shot dead eight people at a FedEx facility in Indianapolis last week never appeared before a judge for a hearing under a state “red flag” law which was invoked after his mother called police to say her son might commit “suicide by cop”, a prosecutor said on Monday.Related: Indianapolis shooting: gunman bought two rifles after police seized his shotgun Continue reading...

The scandals under Johnson are a far greater threat than the accusations of hypocrisy that felled John Major’s government

The Democratic representative Maxine Waters has come under criticism from the Republican house minority leader, after she expressed support for protesters against police brutality at a rally on Saturday in Brooklyn Center, the Minneapolis suburb where Daunte Wright, a 20-year-old Black man, was shot and killed by police last week.Waters said she would 'continue to fight in every way that I can for justice', prompting the Republican minority leader, Kevin McCarthy, to accuse Waters of 'inciting violence in Minneapolis'

Ex-attorney general William Barr also signs deal; Barrett’s book is on how judges should not bring personal feelings into decisionsThe former attorney general William Barr and supreme court justice Amy Coney Barrett have reportedly signed book deals – with Barrett paid a reported $2m for a volume on how judges should not bring their personal feelings into the way they rule.Related: Republicans demand action against Maxine Waters after Minneapolis remarks Continue reading...

All my well-worn routines have changed – from my morning walk to my local coffee shop - and now I don’t really know who I am, or how to behaveI love reading about pandemic brain fog because it gives me an excuse for my current stupidity. It is pleasant to think that my inability to recall the dog’s name or what I did for the past hour are symptoms of a global malaise, rather than of my mental decline. That is not to say that I am not getting stupider – I definitely am – but it’s nice to pretend something else is at work.The most recent piece I read emphasised the impact of the lack of new experiences. We have “evolved to stop paying attention when nothing changes” and the sameness of pandemic days is unhelpful for “pattern separation”, one of the key processes in encoding memories. Continue reading...

Finally, Americans appear willing to bring the troops home. Will they stay there?Last Wednesday, President Joe Biden announced he would withdraw all US ground troops from Afghanistan by September 11, the two-decade anniversary of the attacks that brought on the war. Then he visited the fallen at Arlington National Cemetery. A reporter asked him whether his decision was hard to make. “No, it wasn’t,” Biden replied. “To me, it was absolutely clear.”Biden’s clarity shone through in the reasons he gave for terminating the mission in Afghanistan. Criticizing the grandiose and ill-defined objectives pursued by his successors, Biden refused to order US soldiers to engage any longer in a mission they could not achieve. He acknowledged that war among Afghans would likely continue, but he resolved to remove Americans from combat. Continue reading...