No Life Signs From Tower Disaster | Chauvin Gets 22.5 Years

They’re searching for a miracle. But with four confirmed deaths and 159 people missing, hopes are fading as dozens of rescuers probe the rubble of half of the 12-story Champlain Towers South in Surfside near Miami. Caution is paramount for fear of shifting debris and dooming potential survivors, but more than 36 hours since the last person from Thursday’s collapse was found alive, the wait for loved ones is agonizing. Meanwhile Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis promised a thorough investigation, while the National Institute of Standards and Technology has dispatched scientists and engineers to collect samples and help determine what might have precipitated the disaster.

Sources: Miami Herald, NYT, The Hill

Survivors and families of Surfside victims need your support. Please click on the button below and join Miami-area organizations in giving what you can.

2. Derek Chauvin Gets 22.5 Years for Killing George Floyd

A Minnesota judge on Friday sentenced former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin to 22.5 years for killing George Floyd, a crime that ignited a historic movement to combat U.S. police violence against people of color. The department veteran, who horrified Americans by kneeling on Floyd’s neck for more than nine minutes, offered condolences to his victim’s family. Prosecutors had sought 30 years. Judge Peter Cahill said Chauvin, 45, abused his “position of trust” with “particular cruelty” in passing a sentence that exceeded state guidelines by 10 years. It wasn’t enough for many, but Floyd’s sister, Bridgett, said it showed police brutality is “finally being taken seriously.”

Sources: CBS, CNN

What do you think? Was Chauvin’s sentence appropriate? Tell us here.

3. Coming Up: Ballot Fight Goes to Court

It’s on to plan B. Following Senate Republicans' filibuster blocking Democrats’ voting rights legislation this week, the Justice Department yesterday sued the state of Georgia, hoping courts will overturn restrictions on ballot access the agency says aim to squelch the voice of the Black electorate. Part of a campaign among GOP-run states, the Peach State’s law, enacted in March, limits voting by mail, strips local jurisdictions’ ballot control and even prohibits poll workers from offering voters water. The suit faces long odds in the Supreme Court, which in 2013 defanged the Voting Rights Act’s enforcement of ballot access in southern states.

Sources: Washington Post, Reuters, CNN

4. Meet Afghanistan’s New Power Partner

It’s the graveyard of empires, but that doesn’t seem to bother Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. Turkey’s president recently offered to help with the American withdrawal from Afghanistan by securing Kabul’s international airport, which scores points with the new U.S. president and provides Turkey with a foothold in the troubled country. It dovetails nicely with Erdoğan’s recent empire-building, OZY’s Butterfly Effect observes, from military operations in Syria to diplomatic expansion in Africa to defending oppressed Muslims in India — if not in inconvenient China. It also reveals Biden’s vows against “cozying up” to authoritarian regimes came with an outsourcing caveat.

Sources: OZY

5. Also Important …

Colombia’s president says his helicopter was hit by gunfire near the Venezuelan border yesterday, but it did not injure anyone or bring down the aircraft. A Pentagon task force reported Friday that it could not explain various “unidentified aerial phenomena,” but said there was no evidence to suggest the airborne objects were extraterrestrial. And a man in Würzburg, Germany, fatally stabbed three people and injured others yesterday.

In the Week Ahead: Former President Donald Trump holds his first rally as a private citizen in Ohio today, campaigning for a challenger to a Republican House member who voted in January to impeach him. The Tour de France bicycle race also begins today. And Thursday is the 60th birthday of Britain’s late Princess Diana, for whom a statue will be unveiled.

Listen Up! Join Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Trymaine Lee for MSNBC’s Into America podcast about being Black in America.These stories, told by people who have the most at stake, explore what it means to hold the nation to its promises. The latest episode explores the traditions of Black summer communities like Sag Harbor Hills on Long Island that have provided some with a refuge of freedom and joy.

Today on The Carlos Watson Show, ESPN legend Stephen A. Smith joins the show to share hot takes on everything from his path to success to his friendship and respect for Skip Bayless. In an unusually candid interview, he opens up about how his mother shaped him — and the importance of historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs). Don’t miss his all-time top three athletes … you’ll be surprised. Watch now.

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History finds a way. Our ancestors were happy enough with steam engines, but progress may take us back to sailing, as today’s monster ships are horribly dirty, expelling as much carbon worldwide as South America’s onshore sources, the New York Times Magazine reports. Like other sustainable tech, today's sails are far more efficient. Derided as “fantasy” by the shipping industry, designs are being developed by 40 companies, with ideas ranging from futuristic cylindrical “rotor” sails to square rigging like cargo ships of centuries past. Other designs call for huge kites to pull ships along, saving carbon and money.

Source: NYT Magazine

2. Google Admits It Just Doesn’t Know

Will the pope be next? Google signaled this week that it isn’t the infallible source some believe. “It can sometimes take time,” search results may tell you, for reliable sources to provide answers more worthy than posts from nameless trolls in Transnistrian boiler rooms. That’s especially useful when researching reports of UFOs or mind-controlling vaccine nanoparticles. It’s the search giant’s latest attempt to control the misinformation washing over its platform. The move was welcomed by social media monitors, who see it as a flashing light they hope will prompt users to pause before passing along something that might be utterly wrong.

Source: Recode

3. In Two Days, Two Distinct Human Species Emerge

We were not alone. While it’s long been known that Homo sapiens shared Europe with Neanderthals, two skulls have turned anthropologists’ understanding of human evolution on its head. Yesterday, it was a cranium, dated as old as 300,000 years, secreted in a well for 80 years in northeastern China. Analysis indicates it’s a hitherto unknown species dubbed “dragon man.” While that hominin is closely related to Homo sapiens, another species announced in Israel on Thursday is less advanced and may have predated Neanderthals. While scientific debate continues, one thing is clear: Our family tree is bigger than we knew.

Sources: Science, CNN, Science News

4. ‘Strong Britain’ Sing-along Cues Crickets

In a patriotic exercise that drew comparisons to Russia and North Korea, British Education Secretary Gavin Williamson urged schoolchildren nationwide to sing yesterday. But it wasn’t “God Save the Queen,” but the new “Strong Britain, Great Nation.” Many schools refused to participate, and one former rugby star tweeted that kids should take a knee. Scottish leader Nicola Sturgeon thought it was a joke as students up north were mostly vacationing, while Welsh officials said nobody asked them. Now there’s no walking it back, and Prime Minister Boris Johnson will have to endure new memes of him coiffed like Kim Jong Un.

Sources: The Guardian, WSJ (sub)

5. Lightning Strikes Again for North-South NHL Final

The Lightning secured Tampa Bay’s fourth Stanley Cup Finals berth last night, defeating the New York Islanders 1-0. In the middle of a second-period Islander power play, the Lightning's Yanni Gourde took advantage of a shift change to fire into an empty net. The defending champs, angling for their third cup, will face the legendary Montreal Canadiens, who on Thursday eliminated another hot-weather upstart, the Vegas Golden Knights. Montreal has won a record 24 top trophies and hopes to end a 28-year drought when the finals begin on the heavily refrigerated ice of Tampa’s Amalie Arena on Monday.

Sources: CBS, ESPN, Bleacher Report

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