center matter what. al-jazeera bringing the news and current affairs that matter. how does the. emotional scenes outside the courthouse as the trial of george floyd's alleged murder of begin. hello i'm adrian forgotten this is our 0 live from doha also coming up another death in police custody sparks outrage this time in mexico a woman dies from a broken neck halftone officer pins her down. slashing the number of directly elected m.p.'s the sweeping overhaul of hong kong's political system approved by

china's parliament. and workers of an amazon warehouse an alabama close home with a former union choice that could echo far beyond the state. it was a death that sponsor america's latest reckoning with racial injustice and ignited protests across the world now the man charged with murdering george floyd has gone on trial in minneapolis minnesota in the opening arguments on monday the prosecution and defense laid differing narratives of the events that led to floyd's arrest and death john hendren reports from minneapolis under penalty of perjury the most watched civil rights trial in america open with a stark accusation of murder mr garrett schama betrayed this bad.

when he used excessive and unreasonable force upon the body of mr george for. that he put his knees upon his neck and his back grinding and crushing him until the very breath no leisure gentlemen until the very life was squeezed out of them as opening arguments began in the trial of the police encounter that sparked a racial revolution in the streets the lawyer for the white former minneapolis police officer accused of murdering a black man named george floyd shot back you will learn that derek children did exactly what he had been trained to do over the course of his 19 year. the use of force is not attractive but it is a necessary component of police that long ago the prosecution's 1st witness a police dispatcher who watched on police cameras as officers knelt on the back and

neck give george floyd's then she did something she'd never done before she called the police on the police alerting a sergeant to what seemed to her like an unusual use of force. floyd was on the ground so long she said she thought the video had frozen i don't know if they had to use force or not they got something out of to back up the squad and all of them sat on this man the central question in this case is this did chauvelin kill floyd using unreasonable force is the prosecution suggests or did a combination of drugs covert 19 and heart trouble kill him as the defense contends those arguments are the beginning of what's likely to be a month from long trial filled with painful and potentially inflammatory testimony . with jurors watching new evidence and really watching that disturbing 9 minutes of video with george floyd using his final breaths to cry out for his life at the. minneapolis is boarding up and bracing for the final verdict and the possibility it

could revive the riots of the long and violent summer of 2020 outside the heavily fortified courthouse floyd's family made it clear it is american racial justice that is on trial they say choice the system. they want us to trust a system. where this is a chance to show us. that we can trust you. judge peter cahill says it's a police officer that's on trial not race but once the jury has its say in the racially charged case of a black man who died under the knee of a white police officer the crowds in the streets of minneapolis and cities across the u.s. will render their own verdict on racial justice in america john hendren al-jazeera minneapolis. ronald sullivan as a professor of law and director of the criminal justice in 6 years of harvard law school he says that live streaming is added a new element to the trial. with respect to what's going on inside the courtroom

every study available shows that after the 1st couple hours everyone forgets that the cameras are there so the lawyers are behaving for the cameras the witnesses tend to forget that they are there and people behave in the way that they would normally behave the difficulty is exposure by the jury so right now we have we live in a world where you can pick up your cell phone you can pick up your tablet you can turn on your computer or you can turn on the television there are so many sources of information now and with this being live streamed all over the world the likelihood that a a juror will turn on some device and see a headline about this case is extra ordinarily high now i know that the judge told them don't watch the news but that seems insufficient when you pick up your phone

you get these these suggestions of what you should read in in these articles pop up so it's going to be it's going to be tough in the jurors are under a duty to report if they hear something about the case so we'll see what happens there but that's going to be to struggle with this case being broadcast all over the world a death in police custody in mexico that storing comparisons with the george floyd case is causing widespread outrage a mexican president has promised justice after an officer was filmed meaning on the back of a refugee from el salvador who later died an autopsy showed that the neck a been broken and coppa reports. facedown and barefoot salvadorian refugee viktoria esperanza salazar died on a roadside in the mexican resort town of to police officers threw her body in the back of a pickup after restraining her on the pavement a state prosecutor says offices used excessive force. the police

technique of body control that was applied of the level of force used was disproportionate immoderate and with a high risk to life. salazar's mother says police treated her daughter like an animal yeah. they already gave her reports that my daughter's nick was broken and they broke a lot of ribs because there were 3 men and a woman on top of her. the death is an embarrassment to mexico just as it began hosting a u.n. summit on gender equality on monday mexico has one of the west straights of gender based violence in the world last year an average of 10 women died every day and the day before the summit families of femicide victims rallied outside the president's residence president lopez obrador says those responsible for staff will be punished this year. i want to say to her family members to salvadoran and mexican women to the women of the world to women and women that they should be punished they are

already in the process of being prosecuted we know impunity. it's not clear why salazar was arrested but have family members say they'll fight for the dignity she was denied in. barbara and. china's top law just as of body has unanimously approved sweeping changes to hong kong's electoral system over of since the city's ledges of council will increase from 70 to 90 but those directly elected by the public will be caught from $35.00 to 2040 of them will now be appointed by approved beijing election committee which would. chooses hong kong's chief executive $117.00 elected district councilors have also been removed from the body plans for a major overhaul were unveiled earlier this month during the national people's congress beijing has repeatedly said that only so-called patriots could administer the semi autonomous region 7 vines is

a writer broadcaster and author of defying the dragon hong kong and the world's largest dictatorship he joins us now live via skype from hong kong good to have you with us stephen hong kong's new vetting committee will receive help from national security authorities in assessing loyalty to beijing what are your thoughts on this well that's a 2 stage process they get vetted by this committee service they then are chosen by members of this probe aging body i mean what we're looking at is the end of. election system the end of any kind of real representative government i mean even before this hong kong's legislature was only half composed of people who were directly elected but the votes as the other up came from some very small constituents that so-called functional constituencies is all gone up most 20 percent of the legislature will be directly elected but the only people allowed to

run for those seats will be people who've been vetted and pre-selected before they can even get into the election and i think as everybody knows that means that there won't be any real opposition figures but there will be some nominal opposition figures i mean people forget that in china itself there are 8 science the chinese problems party people forget this because they're so relevant and i suppose that will be the fate of goldbach is there anything left of the one country 2 systems. well the hans at that is not much there is still in hong kong a greater scope for freedom of expression than there is on the chinese mainland but you know the new what is being called the work terrors rampage the education system through the media even through the arts recently so what is left as

a major all the work of independence is still the judiciary but even there erosion is taking place i mean we now have special courts with hand-picked judges who will be judith cases concerning national security there is intense pressure from the leftist media on any judge who dares to as they see it not not give harsh enough sentences on protesters so you know the judiciary is still standing but rather shaky legs where stephen does this leave the political opposition in hong kong now. well most of the political leaders in hong kong either in jail waiting for trial some hopes of going to self exile i think that the political opposition in hong kong is very busy reassessing what can be done it seems unlikely for example that the government will allow street protests anymore

so that the trying to think you know where is the scope for doing things and i think what will happen in hong kong is what you see in all orthoptera regimes is that defiance goes underground and he's expressed in all sorts of subtle but if you like keeping the flame alive type of ways i assume that's what will happen yeah good to talk to stephen many thanks indeed for being with us. we'll get a weather update next here on al jazeera then sweeping changes at the top of brazil's government the defense and foreign ministers are among those removed by president johnson hour plus. on the talks about not just outside paris france is the biggest vaccination center as the country exonerates immunization campaign.

but. now wind has been a feature of the last few days down the red sea through the series and down the gulf this is the showers a seasonal windy tends to drop the temperatures and bring some dust with it as bahrain qatar in the u.a.e. is doing that but things are weakening and the breeze down the red sea is also weakening largely because of what's happening in the black sea in the jian this is a bit of late winter coming back to turkey but time to get to wednesday snows like to fall in line is about 10 degrees in the stamboul much the same in ankara and that strong wind will whip down for the in the small island and towards northern egypt and the levantine coast 11 for example there are a few showers inland in iran but otherwise the winds died down about this time and temperature where they should be the middle thirty's would be fairly typical now this system is going to keep moving slowly east was in the wettest time looks like being late in the week for example in gaza we've got for thursday and friday breezy

or windy and a couple of shower days is pretty normal for this time of the i just thought you might be interested to see it. now most of the seasonal right has gone from south africa now that sat out from angola that runs out today i'll see it sunshine wind direction very much to turning the temperature but nothing seems extreme to me for the next few days. meets the minimalists a turkish couple and their daughter decide to quit at the right place hoping to hit the time with us. let's just throw everything away outers their world exposed the simple living movement aimed at reducing personal consumption credit and clock times i hope to be happier as a result. a simple life on al-jazeera. world

in the arab world. would like. well again this is al jazeera let's remind you of the main news this hour a white police officer charged in the killing of george floyd is going on trial in minneapolis prosecutor gerrie black will describe how derrick chosen knelt on floyd's neck while he and his fellow officers ignored floyd saying i can't breathe at least 27 times chauvinistic fence argued that he was simply following police procedure on the floor and strong views that contributed to his death. mexico's president has promised that there will be justice after the death of a refugee from el salvador in police custody a female police officer was filmed kneeling on her back and all to see showed the

woman's neck had been. china's top let's just reserve body has unanimously approved sweeping changes to hong kong electoral system the number of seats is increasing from 70 to 90 but those directly elected by the public will be cut from 35 to 20. brazil's president jaya balsam our own has replaced 6 ministers in a major government shake up foreign minister. was the highest profile casualty his attacks on beijing have been blamed for hampering the country's access to corona virus vaccines also known as been under growing pressure over the spiralling scale of the pandemic want to get a kiev reports. brazil's president. has been under increasing political pressure as the pandemic has spiraled out of control in one week he has seen businessmen bankers and lawmakers take a stand and basically say that he must change his policies and stop downplaying the

virus or he'll lose all support last week. and congress pressured him to fire the health minister this week they pressured him to change the foreign minister and . was very close to both or not his family and like the president himself a devoted donald trump follower and that's what i was ended up resigning after being accused of destroying brazil's foreign policy in isolating the country in the midst of a pandemic he bashed china brazil's main trading partner and supplier of vaccines but i did not act on his own he acted on behalf of. was not happy to see him go the president may have caved to pressure by substituting with a career diplomat but at the same time he announced a ministerial reform and fire the defense minister a moderate military was against involving the armed forces and politics chile's

president sebastian pinera says that he will ask congress to postpone election for a new constitutional assembly due to growth of r.'s concerns or less in america who said newman reports. i'm in southern in the city of there which is under total lockdown that's why you see soldiers behind me trying to enforce these restrictions and many others that have been in place here for more than a month as a most of the country cope with 19 infections continue to soar out of control and that is why the president. has asked congress to approve a bill to a tool to allow the postponement of elections that were due to take place here in chile on april 10th and 11th instead. until the 15th of may at the moment hospitals are 96 percent full the air force is having to medivac patients from one side of the country the other in search of critical care beds and

so the opposition had been. opposed to postponing the elections up until now it seems that everybody is now on board and believes that politics are less important than saving people's lives england is now allowing small gatherings of 6 people president as the 1st fave phase of relaxing long term restrictions or swimming pools tennis courts golf courses and sailing clubs a reopening on sunday the u.k. confirmed more than 30000000 adults and received the 1st vaccine shots bus it's a different story across the channel in europe where restrictions are typing due to surging infections france's president tomorrow mcallen is scaling up his government's vaccination campaign after a slow start the government is mobilizing bore health workers are opening mass vaccination census for the 1st time and some don't does a warning that it's too late to slow a 3rd wave of reports from just outside paris. france's biggest kovac

vaccination center the national velodrome in sac all time near paris where the french cycling team is training for the tokyo lympics the elite athletes are an unusual destruction for those waiting the elderly are being prioritized in the country's vaccine rollout the began in december people like money cooper hopes that being immunized will allow her to resume a more normal life about the idea is to have more freedom it's my 1st start after the 2nd hopefully i can look after my grandchildren in the school holidays an average of 2000 people are vaccinated each day but cycle times men says the operation will be soon scaled up with a drive in facility and more staff new virus variants are placing actual pressure on us because more people want to be vaccinated and fast you says people are scared cases in schools are going up before the pressure is rising dozens of mass vaccination centers like this one are being prepared around the country after

french president about all mark or promise to accelerate the country's immunization campaign levick synastry vaccination is a national priority there are no public holidays no weekend for the vaccination campaign we have to vaccinate as much as possible in all of acceleration centers open at the national level or maximum mccraw has stepped up the sense of urgency that was lacking at the start of the vaccine campaign so far one in 10 people has received a 1st dose in france compared to haul for britain's adult population the government has blamed pharmaceutical companies for failing to deliver enough doses to the european union now some doctors say that a lack of facilities and bureaucracy could hinder progress. the priorities having enough doses then it must be easier and simpler to take appointments and we need to offer x. nations not just a mix you know drums but more locally to make it easier for everyone to find a vaccination center macro wants 30. people immunized by mid june with every adult

offered the possibility of a job by august the president is gambling on a major facts in push to avoid another national lockdown but with daily infection cases rising fast hospitals in many regions saturated it's likely to be a challenging race to the finish line natasha butler al-jazeera cycle on evenin. ships are once again sailing through egypt so as col on monday a giant container ship was blocking the canal for 6 days was finally moved from toria gate in the reports. after being stuck in a maritime traffic jam for almost a week this ship was one of the 1st to resume its journey along the suez canal on monday night it will take several days though before shipping along this vital waterway returns to normal and not of the likeness of navigation resumed at 6 pm local time is from both sides within 12 hours 113 ships will cross in different

convoys either from port side or from suez this means that within 3 days or 3 and a half days the delay will be resolved earlier on monday the stricken ever given which had been blocking the world's busiest shipping lane for 6 days was finally free. much to the delight of the crew of the dredger who'd worked round the clock to clear thousands of keep it metres of sand around the giant container ship. 10 tug boats then pulled it out of the bank and into deeper water it has taken as quick as possible to do this and the high tides will have helped insult a jeffords as well as well but i think it's fantastic news for the suez canal so the suez canal authority needs chipped i think a really good job has been delayed by all involved 12 percent of global trade normally passes through the suez canal between the red sea and the mediterranean while the immediate crisis is over experts say the ever given is mishap raises long

term questions about the canal sustainability is going to be a lot of head scratching and thinking not only about making supply chain more resilient but i'm sure a series canal thora who's having a good heart think as well about how to make the the canal itself more. the ever given is now in a why deception of the canal where it's being inspected for damage bringing an end to a crisis that's disrupted billions of dollars worth of global trade victoria gates and be al jazeera the used process movement in thailand fighting for reform of government on the one a key is trying to regain momentum most of its leadership was jailed during a recent legal crackdown using a review a revived royal defamation law school typeless been speaking with parents of those behind balls and reports now from bangkok. defiant at their quarter rivals earlier this month protest leaders put it she would lock known as penguin. and. the

cool known as wrong. but they were hidden from the cameras this week at least made certain to keep them out of sight as they arrive for criminal court hearings both face charges of sedition and royal defamation. at a tribute for the arrested protesters penguin's mother she would walk is now growing more worried about her 22 year old son but says she's staying strong for him. penguin's been in jail since february 9th and 2 weeks ago started a hunger strike until there was granted. he always tells us to be patient to make sacrifices and be proud of him no matter what happens to him he's not harming anybody only expressing his honest opinion to make his homeland a bitter place both penguin and wrong have been charged with multiple counts of insulting the monarchy and king corn each one could carry a 15 year sentence they've been denied bail repeatedly just last year prime

minister said the king told him not to use the last majesté law but clearly that directive has not only changed as now the war of defamation law is being used to intimidate and scare protesters and their leadership around 80 cases have been filed since november. proud soaring supports the monarchy and strongly believes in thai traditions a mother herself she feels that parents need to take action if their kids are protesting for royal reform. my kids have to listen to their parents when told that they shouldn't criticize the king it's a sacred institution of our country it's fine if you criticize the government bring those parents and penguins parents really should have warned their children. rooms mother city judo rotten a cool says she has some regrets for her daughter taking care of wrongs cats while she's away gives her comfort. like i will if i could go back in time i'd still give my daughter the same warnings i gave before if you want to involve yourself with

politics they'll be consequences you may go to prison you may not be able to bail yourself out and you may lose your freedom. and at this stage both protest leaders have traded their freedom for what they see as the battle of their generation deep reform of thailand's power structures scott heiler al-jazeera bangkok. ballots are being counted on a land by allison workers in alabama on whether to form a union if they do they'll be the 1st of the retail giants u.s. employees to unionize but amazon is fighting that possible the same what's become a david and goliath battle she had pretends he reports since early february nearly 6000 workers at this warehouse in bessemer alabama have been mailing in their ballots for a united nations vote that's received global attention on tuesday the vote count will finally begin and if they succeed this will be the 1st amazon warehouse in the u.s. to be unionized clearly there will be implications for the rest of us on the hundreds

of thousands of workers in the us as amazon gets. more profitable work you say they need a voice to ensure they're not just treated as robots they treat you more like a product or a statistic than an actual human diabetic and i don't have time to stop to check my blood sugar they have just constant. you can't get done what they want you to get done then you have no worth inside of their system disposable. 85 percent of the workforce at this warehouse is black those campaigning for union organizations say the growth of the black lives matter movement in the us was integrity to the decision to fight for labor rights here we're dealing with an uprising in the. press is speaking up against and jeff didn't begin to get oppressors and forth alone you know we have taken it we have taken the abuse we

have taken the neglect and now what we're witnessing across america is people rising up and saying enough of them though. amazon didn't respond to our request for an interview but the company has been vigorously fighting the united nations campaign forcing workers to attend lectures against united nations even reportedly getting the timing of traffic lights outside the warehouse changed to prevent union activists from handing out pro you the picture of the workers and their cause the company's also released videos extolling what it says are the benefits of being an amazon employee. if the warehouse workers succeed they will join the retail wholesale and department store you know all w d s u but this is going to be a long drawn out process with results likely to be challenged in court you get a sense of the old really are stacked against those trying to unionize this warehouse but even if they fail organizers hope that the concept of a unionized i was on workforce has now been firmly implanted i'm in fact since this

campaign began the r.w.d. as you said has received hundreds of inquiries from hours on warehouse workers around the country now looking to unionize several times the al-jazeera. prosecutors in the u.s. have added further sex trafficking charges to the case against the british socialite socialite elaine maxwell a revised indictment also introduces a 4th alleged victim my ex was accused of conspiring with her former boyfriend jeffrey epstein to sexually abuse girls the new york fancier killed himself in prison while awaiting trial. it's good to have you with us adrian fenty going to here in doha the headlines on al-jazeera the white police officer charged in the killing of george floyd is going on trial in minneapolis prosecutor gerrie blackwell described how derek cho vin knelt on show its neck while he and his fellow officers a.