Here are the headlines you Need2Know for Wednesday, April 21, 2021:
CHAUVIN GUILTY
THE VERDICT: Derek Chauvin was found guilty on all counts in the killing of George Floyd. After about 10 hours of deliberations, the jury returned the unanimous verdict as the country looked on: guilty of second-degree murder, guilty of third-degree murder, guilty of manslaughter. Chauvin’s bail was revoked and his sentencing date was scheduled for about two months from now. CHEDDAR
THE REACTION: The verdict was met with relief by many Americans who watched the video that sparked worldwide protests against police brutality. Civil rights leaders hailed it as a small but important step toward racial justice. President Biden addressed the nation, calling the verdict a “too rare” step of delivering “basic accountability” for Black people for a “murder in full light of day.” The president also called on Congress to pass a national policing overhaul bill. AP
OHIO POLICE SHOOTING
Just before the Chauvin verdict was being read, a 16-year-old Black girl in Columbus, Ohio was fatally shot by a police officer. Police say the girl, Ma’Khia Bryant, had been threatening two other girls with a knife when the arriving officer shot her several times. The Columbus mayor said that based on body cam video, the officer “took action to protect another young girl in our community." COLUMBUS DISPATCH
COVID-19: LATEST DEVELOPMENTS
India reported a seventh straight day of 200,000 new coronavirus cases. The capital of New Delhi, with a population of 22 million, has just two dozen ICU beds available. In Europe, J&J will resume the rollout of its vaccine after regulators said the benefits of the shot outweighed the risk of rare blood clots. In the U.S., the seven-day average of new cases is finally starting to decline. Hawaii will start to ease its complex travel restrictions, first for vaccinated residents traveling between islands and then for “mainlanders” later this summer. WASH POST
RUSSIA ESCALATION
Russian President Vladimir Putin is delivering his annual state of the nation address today, a day after new satellite photos showed the Russian military has been building up its presence in Crimea and along its border with Ukraine to an extent greater than previously known. Ukraine’s president warned his country of the possibility of war and addressed Putin directly, proposing that the two meet. Putin has been taking an increasingly aggressive tone with the West as he deals with growing dissent at home over the treatment of Alexei Navalny. WSJ
PRICE HIKE ON AISLE 2
Procter & Gamble noted in its latest earnings report that it would start raising prices on household staples in September, the latest consumer giant to respond to increasing commodity costs. P&G will hike the price of feminine care products, baby supplies, and adult diapers. Rival Kimberly-Clark recently warned it would raise prices on diapers and toilet paper this summer. Coke, Hormel, J.M. Smucker and General Mills are also planning to hike prices to protect profit margins as the cost of many raw materials keeps going up. BLOOMBERG
NEW APPLE STUFF
Apple, as expected, announced a new iPad Pro with its top-of-the-line M1 chip, in its first media event of the year. But, as they say, that wasn’t all. The company also unveiled the following: a redesigned iMac that comes in seven colors and has an M1 chip, Bluetooth-enabled item trackers called AirTags, a spruced up Apple TV and redesigned remote, a new purple iPhone 12, a rebuilt Podcasts app with in-app subscriptions and a new season of its beloved show Ted Lasso. THE VERGE
SUPER LEAGUE: 2021-2021
The plan for a breakaway super league for the best soccer clubs in the world lasted approximately two days. In the face of widespread backlash from the sport’s ruling bodies, its fans, and even presidents and prime ministers, all six of the English clubs have announced they will withdraw. Several of the other clubs are also reportedly in the process of bailing out. Chelsea fans went so far as to block the team’s buses from arriving for a Premier League match in protest of the plan. ESPN
NETFLIX HITS A WALL
A trend that has been predicted by some in the entertainment industry is starting to come true: Netflix is losing steam, just as its competitors are gaining on it. The streamer reported earnings that showed subscriber growth dramatically slowed in the first quarter, even more than expected. Netflix gained just 4 million subs in the period, down from 16 million in the same period last year and below the 6 million it had forecast. The company blamed it on a “lighter content slate” and said it was spending a record $17 billion on new content this year. VARIETY
COVID DENIER GETS COVID
The country singer Ted Nugent, who had called the pandemic a hoax and a “leftist scam," says he’s been so sick with COVID that he could “hardly crawl out of bed.” Still, Nugent told fans he would not get the vaccine because “nobody knows what’s in it,” which is not true. STAR TELEGRAM
LEFTOVERS: DOGE DAYS
Dogecoin, the cryptocurrency that started as a joke, is now worth about the same as Ford Motor. The meme-based digital coin, a favorite of Elon Musk’s, has been up as much as 400 percent in the last week, giving the total value of Dogecoins in circulation a value of about $50 billion at the peak. That’s still relatively small potatoes compared to Bitcoin, which has a market cap higher than $1 trillion. REUTERS
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