presidential daily brief

The man whose death inspired a global movement will be interred next to his mother in Houston today. Though the funeral will be private, about 6,000 attended a public memorial in Houston yesterday, where Floyd lay in an open casket. Meanwhile, peaceful protests have spread beyond cities and into smaller and more conservative towns across the country. That suggests the wider population of American voters may not see the demonstrations as simply an urban, liberal cause, but as a unifying national movement against racism.

Read OZY co-founder Carlos Watson on where we go from here.

Derek Chauvin, the former police officer who knelt on George Floyd’s neck for nearly 9 minutes, made his first court appearance Monday as he was formally charged with second-degree murder and his bail was set at $1 million. Meanwhile, congressional Democrats and states including New York unveiled new legislative measures to ban controversial policing tactics like chokeholds. As activists advance the idea of defunding or dismantling the police, President Donald Trump called U.S. police “the finest law enforcement anywhere in the world” and tweeted a call for “LAW & ORDER!”

Review some big ideas on solving systemic racism from OZY.

In recent years, negotiations between the two Koreas were believed to be improving, with multiple summits held in 2018. But now that’s suffered a setback: North Korea has stopped answering a daily call on a liaison hotline between the two nations. It says if Seoul doesn’t stop defectors sending leaflets across the border, it will close all such hotlines today as a prelude to shutting down communication completely. Some analysts believe this is a desperate move on Pyongyang’s part, as both sanctions and COVID-19 are likely taking a toll on the country’s stability.

As if you didn’t know. After 128 months of growth, the longest expansion on record, the National Bureau of Economic Research has officially declared America’s pandemic-sparked downturn a recession. Some economists theorize it will be deep, but will only last a couple of months. Still, even though May’s 13.3 percent unemployment rate was an improvement from April, it was higher than at the peak of the financial crisis recession in 2009. Some predict unemployment will still be in double digits in December, and even more optimistic analysts acknowledge that it will likely take a long time to return to normal.

Harry Potter actor Daniel Radcliffe wrote an open letter about author J.K. Rowling’s recent transphobic comments, telling readers who are disappointed in her, “If you found anything in these stories that resonated with you and helped you at any time in your life — then that is between you and the book that you read, and it is sacred.” U.S. prosecutors say Britain’s Prince Andrew misrepresented his willingness to cooperate with investigations of sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. And a tweet by religious leader Jerry Falwell containing blackface and Ku Klux Klan imagery has roiled his community.

We heard you! Responding to our question about whether you would try meat alternatives in response to shortages, Marie S. said, “It was always cringe worthy to even think of details at a meat facility but NOW the thought of coughed, sneezed on meats is sending me to veggie heaven for the foreseeable future.”

When they said “listen to your elders,” this was not what they meant. British newspaper mogul Frederick Barclay, 85, is suing three of his nephews for allegedly covertly recording about 150 hours of private conversations via bugs placed in the conservatory of the Ritz Hotel in London. Now the defendants say installing secret listening devices in a luxury hotel was a “necessary and reasonable” measure to protect their family fortune, though they accepted that their uncle was entitled to damages for the breach of privacy.

As global protests against police brutality continue, law enforcement around the world is adjusting. French police — who’ve come under scrutiny over the 2016 case of Adama Traoré, whose last words, like George Floyd’s, were “I can’t breathe” — will no longer use chokeholds, officials announced. Other new measures will attempt to combat racism in the police force. Meanwhile, a pilot program in New Zealand in which police were armed with guns, spurred by last year’s mass shooting at a mosque in Christchurch, has been suspended after communities pushed back.

Read OZY on the international backlash against police brutality.

They’re on the home team. Before the COVID-19 pandemic forced a huge number of employees to start doing their jobs from home, just 33 percent wanted the option of remote work. Now, after months of not commuting, 77 percent do — a massive increase that could be a deciding factor for some offices that are still struggling with how to bring employees back safely, OZY reports. Just a tiny percentage of offices are pushing for people to return as soon as lockdown restrictions lift, and some analysts think employees’ demands to work from home could mean some will never reopen at all.

Today, they’re teaching you how to spill tea. Multiple current and former employees of color spoke out yesterday about a culture of racism at Bon Appétit, including allegations from assistant editor Sohla El-Waylly that only white editors are paid for appearing in videos. The incident was sparked by the resurfacing of an old Instagram photo of Editor-in-Chief Adam Rapoport, who is white, dressed as a Puerto Rican for Halloween. Now Rapoport is stepping down “to reflect on the work that I need to do as a human being.” El-Waylly says she hopes his replacement is a person of color.

Brazil had hoped to become the first South American country to host the women’s soccer tournament, but with more COVID-19 cases than any other nation on the continent, officials have decided 2023 just can’t be their year. Instead, they’re backing the last remaining South American bid, from Colombia, against a joint bid from Australia and New Zealand and another from Japan. FIFA is expected to announce the host of the expanded event — which will increase to 32 teams from last year’s 24 — on June 25.

Listen to OZY’s podcast on the history of women’s soccer.