Evening Briefing: Federal inquiry into Minneapolis police

April 21, 2021

Your Wednesday Evening Briefing

By Remy Tumin and Jade-Snow Joachim

Good evening. Here's the latest.

Victor J. Blue for The New York Times

1. The Justice Department is opening an investigation into whether the Minneapolis police routinely uses excessive force, a move that signals changes in the works.

Attorney General Merrick Garland announced the investigation a day after a former officer, Derek Chauvin, was convicted of murder in the death of George Floyd. Mr. Chauvin's guilty verdict represented a rare rebuke of police misconduct and could send him to prison for decades. He is being held in solitary confinement for 23 hours a day because of fears for his safety, as he waits to be sentenced.

Our analysis from June found that the Minneapolis Police Department used force against Black people at seven times the rate of white people. Above, a memorial for Mr. Floyd in Minneapolis yesterday.

Mr. Floyd's death last May set off a wave of protests around the country. Here's how Republican-led states are introducing new measures governing protests.

Continue reading the main story

Allison Zaucha for The New York Times

2. While the nation was waiting for a verdict in the Derek Chauvin trial, yet another police killing emerged.

Ma'Khia Bryant, a Black 16-year-old girl who the police say threatened two girls with a knife outside her foster home, was fatally shot in Columbus, Ohio, by a white officer responding to a call about an attempted stabbing on Tuesday afternoon. On Wednesday, law enforcement authorities released new body camera footage and 911 calls that showed the chaotic moments surrounding her death.

Continue reading the main story

The girl's death, less than an hour before the jury in Minneapolis handed down its guilty verdict in the murder of George Floyd, touched off protests in Ohio's capital city.

James Estrin/The New York Times

3. The F.D.A. found failures to disinfect equipment and prevent contamination after inspecting a Baltimore plant where up to 15 million doses of Johnson & Johnson's coronavirus vaccine were ruined.

An inspection report cited nine violations, including the design of the building and improperly trained employees. The F.D.A. noted that no vaccine manufactured at the plant has been released for use in the U.S.

Separately, President Biden called on every employer in America to give employees paid time off to get vaccinated, the administration's latest move to try to persuade about half of the nation's adults who have yet to receive a shot to do so.

Danish Siddiqui/Reuters

4. India is overwhelmed by the world's worst Covid crisis.

With new daily coronavirus cases nearing 300,000 on Wednesday, India is surpassing U.S. records from the height of its surge and becoming a global epicenter. The health care system is buckling under the strain, with one of the most alarming aspects of India's second wave being the dwindling oxygen supply; at least 22 people died from loss of oxygen in one hospital after an accident. Above, New Delhi.

The outbreak in India is driving a global surge: 5.24 million new cases were reported around the world last week, more than in any seven-day period since the beginning of the pandemic, according to new data from the World Health Organization.

Justin Lane/EPA, via Shutterstock

5. President Biden will pledge to cut U.S. emissions nearly in half by the end of the decade, a target that would require Americans to transform the way they live. Above, a power plant in New York City.

The target is timed to a closely watched Earth Day summit meeting that Mr. Biden is hosting on Thursday and Friday to show that the U.S. is rejoining international efforts to combat climate change. Nearly 40 countries — including China, India, Canada and Brazil — will attend virtually.

Experts said significant actions across the economy would be required to meet the goal, particularly in the two biggest sources of emissions: cars and power plants. The woman tasked with implementing Mr. Biden's policies is his senior climate adviser, Gina McCarthy, who saw the Trump administration dismantle her previous climate work.

The Times is hosting a live Earth Day event about climate change and public health at 1:30 p.m. Eastern on Thursday. R.S.V.P. here.

Alexander Nemenov/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

6. President Vladimir Putin warned the West not to cross what he called a "red line" with Russia in his annual state of the nation address.

He delivered his speech as about 100,000 Russian troops were massed on Ukraine's border and protesters were taking to the streets. Russia's response would be "asymmetric, fast and tough" if forced to defend its interests, Mr. Putin said. He stopped short of announcing any new military or foreign policy moves.

Opponents of Mr. Putin had called for protests across Russia on Wednesday in support of Aleksei Navalny, the opposition leader who is on a hunger strike in a Russian prison. Before the rallies, the authorities arrested dozens of protest leaders in 20 cities.

If you've found this newsletter helpful, please consider subscribing to The New York Times — with this special offer. Your support makes our work possible.

Erik McGregor/LightRocket, via Getty Images

7. The Manhattan district attorney will stop prosecuting prostitution, part of a nationwide shift to change law enforcement's approach to sex work.

The district attorney, Cyrus Vance Jr., asked a judge to dismiss 914 open cases involving prostitution and unlicensed massage, some dating back to the 1970s and 1980s, along with 5,080 cases in which the charge was loitering for the purposes of prostitution.

Manhattan will join Baltimore, Philadelphia and other jurisdictions that have declined to prosecute sex workers. The office will continue to prosecute other crimes related to prostitution, including patronizing sex workers and sex trafficking.

Andrea Chronopoulos

8. If "languishing" is 2021's dominant emotion, YOLO — "you only live once" — may be its defining work force trend.

Flush with cash and burned out by the pandemic, some workers are quitting their jobs to take a chance and move where they've always dreamed of living, be closer to family or finally start a pet project. Others are switching to jobs that give them more of a work-life balance.

"I realized I was sitting at my kitchen counter 10 hours a day feeling miserable," a 33-year-old lawyer said. "I just thought: 'What do I have to lose? We could all die tomorrow.'"

Another trend, this one concerning, during the pandemic: Research has started to confirm that Americans — and women in particular — are indeed drinking more.

Derrick L. Turner/Michigan State University

9. In 1879, a botanist buried 20 bottles of seeds on a college campus. A secret society of scientists is still studying his stash.

Every 20 years, under the cover of darkness, scientists dig up a bottle from a secret location at Michigan State University, making it one of the world's longest-running experiments. The experiment's caretakers then scatter the seeds over a tray of soil and see which ones grow. Last week, they set out to unearth another bottle containing over 1,000 seeds. But first, they had to find where to dig.

In other underground discoveries, officials in Maryland announced they had located the site of a cabin where Harriet Tubman lived with her family as a young adult. The discovery of a coin from 1808, the year her parents were married, led archaeologists to the site.

Nick Athanas

10. And finally, birds that cheat in the mating game.

Male tanagers are meant to be noticed, sporting deep black feathers with splashes of eye-catching color. To achieve this flashiness, the birds must forage for plants that contain special color pigments, which make their way into the feathers. Many scientists have long theorized that those colors then send a signal to females that the male is a worthy mate.

But a new study upends that theory. It turns out that male tanagers have microstructures in their feathers that enhance their colors. Like evolutionary Instagram filters, they may make the males appear to be more attractive mates than they truly are.

Have a colorful night.

Your Evening Briefing is posted at 6 p.m. Eastern.

Want to catch up on past briefings? You can browse them here.

What did you like? What do you want to see here? Let us know at briefing@nytimes.com.

Here is today's Mini Crossword and Spelling Bee. If you're in the mood to play more, find all our games here.

Continue reading the main story