George Floyd: Chauvin murder trial continues as House set to approve Covid relief – live updates
Vote expected to pass along party lines when House reconvenes this morning
- George Floyd: First jurors seated in Derek Chauvin’s murder trial
- House poised to approve Joe Biden’s $1.9tn Covid relief plan
- Arkansas bans nearly all abortions in sweeping measure
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10.32am GMT
The exchanges between potential jurors, attorneys and the judge at the outset of Derek Chauvin’s murder trial illustrated yesterday the challenges in seating a jury in such a well-known case. Judge Peter Cahill has set aside at least three weeks for jury selection. Opening statements are scheduled no sooner than 29 March.
Amy Forliti, for the Associated Press, writes that the three jurors who were selected yesterday – two men and one woman – all said they had heard some details about the case against Chauvin but would be able to put aside what they heard or opinions they had formed and make a decision based on evidence in court.
10.22am GMT
Also coming down the track from the House of Representatives this week has been the PRO Act, which was passed yesterday. It will almost certainly face a filibuster attempt from Republicans in the Senate, which hasn’t stopped Sen Bernie Sanders urging all of his colleagues to get behind it. David Brenna writes for Newsweek:
The act would strengthen the rights of American workers to strike for better wages and working conditions, introduce new protections for union elections, and give the National Labor Relations Board the power to fine employers who violate workers’ rights, among other reforms.
Sanders appealed to colleagues on Twitter to take up the bill on Tuesday. “The trade union movement is the last line of defense against a billionaire class that won’t be satisfied until they have it all,” Sanders said.
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