The Verdict

In one of the most significant trials in generations, and after ten hours of deliberations, the jury in the Derek Chauvin trial has delivered its unanimous verdict in the killing of George Floyd: Guilty on all three counts.

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The headlines:

* Covid-19 deaths are accelerating, WHO warns, as world records most cases ever in a single week (CNN)

* A review of 19 deaths of Black Americans involving police officers shows that, despite public outrage, guilty verdicts are rare. (NYT)

* The Biden administration is privately weighing how to handle the upcoming verdict in the trial of former Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin, including considering whether President Joe Biden should address the nation and dispatching specially trained community facilitators from the Justice Department. (AP)

* U.S. Ambassador To Russia Returns To Washington As Relations Sour Further (NPR)

* White House closes in on ‘families plan’ spending proposal centered on child care, pre-K, paid leave (WaPo)

* Wealth advisers to the 1% say there's sheer panic over President Joe Biden's plan to bring the individual exemption down to 2009 levels. Now there's a mad dash among wealthy families to pass on their millions before they can no longer do so tax-free. [HuffPost]

* Covid-19: U.S. to advise against travel to 80% of countries (BBC)

* The country is increasingly split into camps that don’t just disagree on policy and politics — they see the other as alien, immoral, a threat. Such political sectarianism is now on the march. (NYT)

* 65% of Those 65 and Older Fully Vaccinated. (CNN)

* There’s been a “dramatic deterioration” of press freedom since the pandemic started to tear across the world, Reporters Without Borders said in its annual report published Tuesday. The group’s new World Press Freedom Index, which evaluated the press situations in 180 countries, painted a stark picture and concluded that 73% of the world’s nations have serious issues with media freedoms. (AP)

* Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) signed a controversial bill into law that critics say constitutes a direct attack on the First Amendment in the guise of combating “public disorder.” DeSantis praised the bill's protections for "all" of the state's monuments -- likely a reference to those honoring the Confederacy. Florida Democrats staunchly opposed the bill. [HuffPost]

* Iran Rattled as Israel Repeatedly Strikes Key Targets (DNYUZ)

* This is the most dangerous moment to be unvaccinated (WaPo)

* Employees of the two main U.S. immigration enforcement agencies were directed to stop referring to migrants as “aliens.” Memos issued by Customs and Border Protection, as well as Immigration and Customs Enforcement, tells employees to use the words “non-citizen” or “migrant,” in guidelines set by the Biden administration. [HuffPost]

* Scientists turn to robot pollinators amid declining bee populations (NHK)

* The Village Voice Returns, and It’s ‘Very Village Voice-y’ -- It's a quarterly for now (NYT)

* Lettuce Sentenced To Slow, Painful Death In Vegetable Crisper Drawer (The Onion)