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The death of George Floyd during his arrest on 25 May last year sparked widespread protests against police brutality, such as pictured in LA on 28 May 2020. The officer who knelt on Floyd's back and knee, Derek Chauvin, was convicted of murder and manslaughter charges by a jury on 20 April 2021. Photo: Matt Gush / Shutterstock. 

Chauvin found guilty of Floyd murder

Former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin on Tuesday was found guilty of second-degree and third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter in the death of George Floyd. A jury convicted him. He faces up to 40 years in prison and will be sentenced in around eight weeks. Chauvin in May 2020 had knelt more than nine minutes on Floyd’s neck while arresting him for allegedly using a counterfeit $20 bill. Floyd’s death had sparked widespread protests. Sources: FT, DW, The Guardian, AP.   

J&J benefits outweigh risks, says EMA

The European Medicines Agency on Tuesday said a warning about a rare type of blood clot with low blood platelets should be added to the Johnson & Johnson coronavirus vaccine product description. It had analysed eight cases, one of which was fatal, out of more than 7m people who received the jab in the US. The EMA also concluded that the benefits of the vaccine outweigh the risks. Johnson & Johnson said it would resume rolling out its vaccine in Europe. It had stopped shipment after US regulators called for a halt while analysing the thromboses cases. Sources: BBC, Reuters, The Guardian, FT.

China’s Xi to attend US climate summit

President Xi Jinping of China is set to attend US president Joe Biden’s global climate change summit. Biden had invited 40 world leaders to the summit that is taking place on 22 and 23 April and will be streamed online. It will be the first meeting between Biden and Xi, albeit virtual. China and the US are the world’s two biggest greenhouse gas emitters. The Chinese foreign ministry said Xi would deliver an “important” speech. Sources: France 24, The Guardian, Reuters.

Football Super League collapses

Plans for a controversial Super League to rival Uefa’s Champions League collapsed after six English clubs withdrew. Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester United, Manchester City and Tottenham on Tuesday all ditched the project amid a backlash from fans, Uefa warnings over their Champions League future and legal uncertainty. This leaves Real Madrid, Barcelona and Atlético Madrid from Spain and Italy’s Juventus, AC Milan and Inter Milan, who said the proposal would be revived in some form. Sources: AP, BBC, Sky.

Chad president dies of battlefield wounds

The president of Chad, Idriss Déby, died on Tuesday of wounds suffered during a visit to the north of the country where soldiers have clashed with a rebel group. Déby spent more than three decades in power. Government and parliament have been dissolved, the country has imposed a curfew and borders have been shut. A military council under the leadership of Déby’s son will govern for the next 18 months at the end of which Chad should hold elections. Sources: BBC, DW, Al Jazeera, CNN.   

Zelenskiy wants Putin meeting

Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskiy in a video address on Tuesday invited Vladimir Putin to meet in the Donbass region to discuss an end to the conflict there that has been going on since 2014 when Russia annexed Crimea. Ukraine is seeking Nato membership for military protection and has called on the EU to impose sanctions against Moscow. Russia has recently been building up troops along its western border to Ukraine. Sources: Reuters, CNN, DW.  

Press freedom ranking drop

Luxembourg dropped three places in the 2021 edition of the World Press Freedom Index, ranking 20th. Back in 2014, the country ranked fourth. Reporters Without Borders, which compiles the index, listed poor transparency, newsroom cutbacks and a decline in advertising revenue among the challenges faced by journalists in the grand duchy. It also criticised that transparency on important pandemic data was established only gradually last year. Sources: Delano, Reporters Without Borders.

Luxembourg unemployment down

The number of jobseekers in March 2021 decreased by 787 people compared to February, with jobs agency Adem counting 18,689 registered jobseekers, an unemployment rate of 6.1%. Compared to March 2020, unemployment was up 1.6%. Companies posted 3,910 vacancies last month. The total number of jobs available via Adem was 8,194 on 31 March 2021, up 10.9% compared to March 2020. Source: Adem.

New terrace rules anger sector

As part of covid-19 laws to be voted by parliament this week, the government is tightening rules on terraces allowed to open. The new text specifies that a terrace must be open on at least three sides and allow air to circulate freely. This means that closed tents or chalet-like structures won’t be allowed to operate. Industry lobby group Horesca criticised the move, saying the health ministry should have been more specific from the start. Sources: Delano, RTL.

Latest Luxembourg covid-19 update

Out of 9,310 coronavirus tests carried out on Monday, 175 were positive (1.88%), the health ministry said on Tuesday. The number of active infections was at 2,939 with the reproductive number at 0.95. There were 83 people receiving hospital treatment (up from 79 the previous day), with another 38 patients in intensive care (up from 37). Source: Health ministry.

Netherlands to lift some lockdown measures

Dutch caretaker PM Mark Rutte said the Netherlands would start lifting some coronavirus lockdown measures starting 28 April. Non-essential shops will be allowed to re-open without shoppers having to make appointments. A nightly curfew will be lifted. The government is allowing restaurants, bars and cafés to open terraces from noon to 6pm and two visitors will be allowed at home, up from one. Source: ABC, Reuters.

Elephants trample suspected poacher

A herd of elephants trampled to death a suspected poacher at Kruger National Park in South Africa. Three suspected poachers were fleeing rangers at the park when they ran into a breeding herd of elephants. Rangers apprehended one suspect, another managed to escape and the third was found badly trampled and died of his injuries. Sources: CNN, ABC, Washington Post.  

Apple unveils new products

Iphone maker Apple on Tuesday hosted its annual spring launch event, presenting a slew of new products, including an updated iPad Pro, a redesigned iMac featuring the company’s new in-house M1 chip, a purple iPhone, the next generation of Apple TV and a new device, the AirTag, which attaches to items like keys or wallets to help owners locate them. Sources: CNN, The Verge, BBC.  

Netflix shares slide

Streaming platform Netflix added 4m subscribers in the first quarter of the year, missing its target of 210m global subscribers at 208m subscriptions taken out at the end of March. Shares dropped more than 10%. Netflix experienced a pandemic lockdown boom in 2020 when it added 16m customers during the first quarter. The group expects to spend $17bn on content this year and said numbers should pick up as popular shows return. Sources: FT, Yahoo Finance, BBC.  

TikTok sued on behalf of European children

Social media app TikTok is being sued over allegedly illegally collecting personal information of children who use the platform. A former children’s commissioner for England, Anne Longfield, launched the case on behalf of millions of UK and European Economic Area minors. She says the app breaches data protection law by collecting personal information without sufficient warning, transparency and consent, and without parents and children knowing what the company does with their private information. Sources: FT, The Guardian.

Today’s breakfast briefing was written by Cordula Schnuer