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Three takeaways from the George Floyd murder trial

Three takeaways from the George Floyd murder trial

Here are three takeaways from yesterday's testimony at the trial of former Minneapolis policeman Derek Chauvin, accused of killing George Floyd, a Black man whose death in May led to protests against racial injustice in cities worldwide: * Floyd's girlfriend Courteney Ross, 45, testified they were a loving couple who struggled with an addiction to painkillers. Chauvin's lawyers argue Floyd's death was the result of an overdose, but the Floyd family's lawyers said in a statement: "Tens of thousands of Americans struggle with self-medication and opioid abuse and are treated with dignity, respect and support, not brutality." Months ago the…
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A ‘grinding and crushing’ knee on George Floyd

A ‘grinding and crushing’ knee on George Floyd

JONATHAN ALLEN FORMER Minneapolis policeman Derek Chauvin squeezed the life out of George Floyd when he arrested him last May, a prosecutor told jurors in his opening statement at Chauvin's trial on murder charges on Monday. Jerry Blackwell, a prosecutor with the Minnesota attorney general's office, told jurors that officers who wear the Minneapolis police badge pledge to never use "unnecessary force or violence." "You will learn that on May 25, Mr. Derek Chauvin betrayed this badge when he used excessive and unreasonable force upon the body of George Floyd," Blackwell said. He displayed a still image from a bystander's…
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Minneapolis to pay $27 million for George Floyd’s death

Minneapolis to pay $27 million for George Floyd’s death

JONATHAN ALLEN THE US city of Minneapolis will pay $27 million to settle a lawsuit by the family of George Floyd over his death in police custody, a case that stirred national protests over racial injustice and police brutality. Floyd, a 46-year-old Black man, died in May as Derek Chauvin, a white Minneapolis police officer, kneeled on his neck for nearly nine minutes. Floyd's dying pleas for help were captured on widely seen bystander's video, which helped spark one of the largest protest movements ever seen in the United States. The trial of Chauvin, who was fired by the police…
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Catholic NGO boss accused of racism and abuse in Sudan

Catholic NGO boss accused of racism and abuse in Sudan

MOHAMMED AMIN, BEN PARKER and PAISLEY DODDS IN the wake of George Floyd’s death and the Black Lives Matter protests that followed, Catholic Relief Services told its staff it was launching an initiative to stamp out racism within the NGO, one of the world’s largest charities. Soon after, its American boss in Sudan sent staff a reminder for the launch. The same day – 28 July – he was arrested on a charge of verbal abuse for calling a security guard a “slave”.  The allegations of racism weren’t the first against Driss Moumane – at least three whistleblower complaints had…
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Prince Harry and Meghan tell Britain: end ‘structural racism’

Prince Harry and Meghan tell Britain: end ‘structural racism’

MICHAEL HOLDEN BRITAIN’S Prince Harry and his wife Meghan have called for an end to "structural racism", saying it holds back young people of colour, in their latest foray into politically sensitive issues usually avoided by the British royal family. In an interview for The Evening Standard newspaper, Harry said Britain could be a better place if white people understood more about those "of a different coloured skin" "For as long as structural racism exists, there will be generations of young people of colour who do not start their lives with the same equality of opportunity as their white peers,"…
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‘This can’t go on’: U.S. workers plan nationwide strike to protest racial injustice

‘This can’t go on’: U.S. workers plan nationwide strike to protest racial injustice

NELLIE PEYTON FAST-FOOD, nursing home, airport and other frontline workers across the United States are planning a mass strike on Monday to protest systemic racism and inadequate protections for Black people against coronavirus. The Strike for Black Lives is expected to draw tens of thousands of workers in over 25 U.S. cities, according to a coalition of national labor unions and social justice groups that have organized it. Some workers will strike all day and others will walk off their jobs for 8 minutes and 46 seconds, the amount of time that a white police officer knelt on the neck…
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