On a cold, bleak morning in Minneapolis, the mood on Wednesday was anything but.
Tiffany Blomgren and her seven-year-old son Greer stood in front of the Cup Foods on the corner of 38th and Chicago, staring quietly at the place where George Floyd, who was black, took his last breaths under the knee of a white Minneapolis police officer.
Covered in flowers, candles and paintings, the site has become a shrine to Floyd.
His death from asphyxiation when the officer, Derek Chauvin, restrained him last year sparked weeks of global protests and mass unrest across the US, laying bare the racial injustices that have persisted here for centuries and the unequal treatment people of colour frequently endure from police.
"We said this is a place to remember him but now it's also a place to celebrate him, so we wanted to come and see and have those feelings of comfort and then also support for the community," Ms Blomgren told The National.
A block away from George Floyd Square, as the intersection is now known, dozens of paper tombstones lined a drainage field.
On each tombstone, in simple black writing, was the name of someone who has been killed by police in the US.
At the front is the marker for George Floyd. Flowers have been placed in the surrounding grass.
Lisa and Rick Wheeler watched as their nearly three-year-old grandson Felix weaved through the tombstones.
They know Felix is too young to understand why they were there, but they wanted him to know when he grows up that he was present for a defining moment in US history.
“This is a generational memory,” Ms Wheeler said. “It’s a point in history and hopefully a very important point.”
The collective sense of relief could be felt in cities across the US after Chauvin was convicted of all three counts against him, including third-degree murder.
Fears abated of a new wave of unrest that could have ensued if Chauvin had been acquitted, and people celebrated in the streets after the verdicts were announced.
“It’s like a dark cloud has been lifted,” resident Aaron Taylor said.
But he said the verdict was only the start of what needed to happen in a country where police – who are granted sweeping latitude to use deadly force – are seldom held accountable in the killings of black people.
“There is still a lot more work to be done to where people of colour can drive down the street and not be profiled or have a situation like this ever happen again,” Mr Taylor said.
Jamil Stamschror-Lott, a therapist, who lives just a few streets from where Floyd was killed, said he was surprised by the verdict.
“Black folks have learned not to get their hopes up too high as it relates to these tragic matters,” he said. “US history has shown us we will have it quickly stripped away.”
Mr Stamschror-Lott said the past year had taken a tremendous toll on the city’s black community.
He noted that while yesterday’s verdict was a step in the right direction, it came under the shadow of another police killing in the area.
Last week, Daunte Wright, a 20-year-old father, was shot and killed during a traffic stop in a Minneapolis suburb. His death sparked further protests in the city and many people said their attention now will turn to the officer who fatally shot him.
The officer, Kim Potter, immediately resigned and has been arrested and charged with second-degree manslaughter. Wright is to be buried on Thursday.
US Attorney General Merrick Garland announced on Wednesday that the US Justice Department is opening an investigation into policing practices in Minneapolis.
“Yesterday’s verdict in the state criminal trial does not address potentially systemic policing issues in Minneapolis,” Mr Garland said.
The new investigation will review the entire police department and may result in major changes to policing there.
ENGLAND SQUAD
Goalkeepers: Jack Butland, Jordan Pickford, Nick Pope
Defenders: John Stones, Harry Maguire, Phil Jones, Kyle Walker, Kieran Trippier, Gary Cahill, Ashley Young, Danny Rose, Trent Alexander-Arnold
Midfielders: Eric Dier, Jordan Henderson, Dele Alli, Jesse Lingard, Raheem Sterling, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Fabian Delph
Forwards: Harry Kane, Jamie Vardy, Marcus Rashford, Danny Welbeck
Pharaoh's curse
British aristocrat Lord Carnarvon, who funded the expedition to find the Tutankhamun tomb, died in a Cairo hotel four months after the crypt was opened.
He had been in poor health for many years after a car crash, and a mosquito bite made worse by a shaving cut led to blood poisoning and pneumonia.
Reports at the time said Lord Carnarvon suffered from “pain as the inflammation affected the nasal passages and eyes”.
Decades later, scientists contended he had died of aspergillosis after inhaling spores of the fungus aspergillus in the tomb, which can lie dormant for months. The fact several others who entered were also found dead withiin a short time led to the myth of the curse.
Ferrari 12Cilindri specs
Engine: naturally aspirated 6.5-liter V12
Power: 819hp
Torque: 678Nm at 7,250rpm
Price: From Dh1,700,000
Available: Now
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Global state-owned investor ranking by size
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China
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Japan
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Canada
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Our legal consultant
Name: Dr Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
Kathryn Hawkes of House of Hawkes on being a good guest (because we’ve all had bad ones)
- Arrive with a thank you gift, or make sure you have one for your host by the time you leave.
- Offer to buy groceries, cook them a meal or take your hosts out for dinner.
- Help out around the house.
- Entertain yourself so that your hosts don’t feel that they constantly need to.
- Leave no trace of your stay – if you’ve borrowed a book, return it to where you found it.
- Offer to strip the bed before you go.
How to protect yourself when air quality drops
Install an air filter in your home.
Close your windows and turn on the AC.
Shower or bath after being outside.
Wear a face mask.
Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.
If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Specs
Engine: Duel electric motors
Power: 659hp
Torque: 1075Nm
On sale: Available for pre-order now
Price: On request
The specs
- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
- Power: 640hp
- Torque: 760nm
- On sale: 2026
- Price: Not announced yet
Why it pays to compare
A comparison of sending Dh20,000 from the UAE using two different routes at the same time - the first direct from a UAE bank to a bank in Germany, and the second from the same UAE bank via an online platform to Germany - found key differences in cost and speed. The transfers were both initiated on January 30.
Route 1: bank transfer
The UAE bank charged Dh152.25 for the Dh20,000 transfer. On top of that, their exchange rate margin added a difference of around Dh415, compared with the mid-market rate.
Total cost: Dh567.25 - around 2.9 per cent of the total amount
Total received: €4,670.30
Route 2: online platform
The UAE bank’s charge for sending Dh20,000 to a UK dirham-denominated account was Dh2.10. The exchange rate margin cost was Dh60, plus a Dh12 fee.
Total cost: Dh74.10, around 0.4 per cent of the transaction
Total received: €4,756
The UAE bank transfer was far quicker – around two to three working days, while the online platform took around four to five days, but was considerably cheaper. In the online platform transfer, the funds were also exposed to currency risk during the period it took for them to arrive.
Monster Hunter: World
Capcom
PlayStation 4, Xbox One
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